The Last Invasion
Just Sniff It!
Zeke Wells stumbled over the cat, cursing at it. "Felix, dumb animal, move!" The tabby cat replied with a hiss, turning its eyes to a set of empty food dishes. Zeke sighed loudly, "Like you really need more food, fat cat." Another hiss, backed by a barley-missed scratch, sent him into the kitchen to find a can of Meow Mix.
A few moments later, he was slouching on a chair, watching the animal gulp down its meal. "Sorry," he muttered to Felix, wondering how mad his mother would be to come home to find a dead cat. That was, if she ever decided to come back from Asia. He had seen her a week ago, barely had a chance to say anything to his mother, before she left on another one of her trips.
Zeke pushed the thoughts away, to exhausted to care much about anything, and dropped his head on the counter. Slowly, he raised it again, noticing the blinking light on the answering machine. He reached over, punched the button, and dully listened. If it was that kid calling about his fake ID again . . .
"Hey Zeke, it's Casey. We, uh, have a problem, call me back soon. Oh, and I'm going to be needing some skat, lots of it." Casey's voice stumbled over the words, the fear and apprehension evident in his tone of voice. Zeke's brow furrowed as he grabbed the phone and dialed Casey's house. His frown increased when there was no answer. "Skat, why would Casey want skat? He doesn't do drugs." Zeke murmured aloud, walking over to a desk drawing, yanking it open, and shifting through its contents. He found the phone book and began to flip through its pages.
"Stokely here, what do you want?"
"Gee, Stokely, not a real morning person, are you?"
"Zeke? Damn, what do you want?"
"Nice to talk to you to."
"I'm hanging up."
"No, wait, sorry. You talked to Casey lately? He left some weird message for me."
"Yeah, actually, he left me a message to. Sounded kind of scared about something. You try calling him?"
"Uh-huh, but no one was home."
Stokely paused before sighing, "That's right, his parents went out of town. I think he's staying with his Uncle, hang on, I wrote down the address." Zeke smirked as he heard a loud crash in the background, followed by Stokely cursing, before she picked up the phone again, out of breath. Zeke chuckled, "Hey Stokely, is Stan over there with you? I hear a whole lot of yelling."
"Oh, shut up. You want the address or not?"
"Hit me."
"With pleasure," Stokely muttered before rattling off the street. Zeke frowned, "That's right by me, just a few houses away. I've got a bad feeling about this; why don't you come over and we can go over to his Uncle's house, check things out. I'll get our . . . supplies together."
- - - -
Casey eyed Riva no longer with a sense of fear and apprehension, but with awe and reverence. And, in return, the alien didn't survey him as a lower being, but with respect. Fifteen minutes had passed since the boy had seen proof that Riva couldn't be an Atlantian. They both reclined in their chairs, obviously at ease with one another, sharing stories and bits of information.
"So, what exactly happens when one of those worms gets in your head? Does it just, take over?" Casey asked, noting the slight shutter that passed over Riva. She closed her mismatched eyes, and he noticed another distinguishing difference between her and humans. Instead of the same shade skin eyelids, they were like solid liquid, constantly changing shades of aqua. "Uh, Riva?" Casey started uncertainly, drawing her from her memories.
"Huh? What, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just that maybe you shouldn't close your eyes when in public."
Riva sighed as her eyes flashed open, "Ah, yes, yes, of course. You see, my race not only dwells on land, but also in water," she explained, "But to answer your previous question, about the worms, I believe you called them. They usually enter through a cavity in the head, most likely the ear cavity in humans; it would be the most direct route to the brain.
"Once in the skull, they secrete a liquid that is pumped through your blood stream, soaked into your muscles, giving the worm complete control. While the liquid is traveling around the body, the parasite burrows into the brain, deep down towards the bundle of nerves located towards the neck. They wrap part of themselves around the spinal cord, and simply gain control. That's all I know, from Mary Beth's observations. She did a few . . .experiments."
Casey cringed, momentarily wondering who the poor souls might have been at Mary Beth's mercy. He quickly shook his head clear of the thoughts, changing the subject, "How long was Mary Beth on Earth, anyway? I thought she was only here a couple of days."
Riva's abrupt laugh surprised him as she replied, "Oh, no. She was here for at least a few months. I can't be sure when she escaped, but she had plenty of time to adjust here." His jaw dropped, "Months! How could she possibly have been here months?"
"She did not infest your school right away, Casey Conner. Mary Beth was quite intelligent in Atlantian standards, she must have laid low for awhile to simply observe until she felt it was time to begin her invasion." Riva replied with a minimal shrug.
Casey sunk into his chair; unable to believe an alien had lived on Earth for months without detection. Living right next to his uncle! "This is unbelievable," he muttered, running a hand down his face. He was to busy mumbling to notice Riva stand and look out the window, summoned by a loud noise outside. She frowned as she watched the commotion, finally gaining Casey's curiosity.
"What's going on?" He asked, dragging himself from the chair to pull back the curtain and peer outside. "There seems to be a group of humans gathered at your house, banging on your door. How very strange."
"Wait a minute, that's Zeke! And Stokely! Come on, we better stop them before they break the door down."
"Casey! Casey, are you in there man? Open the door already!" Zeke yelled at the top of his lungs, pounding on the door with his fist. Stokely stood nervously beside him, also calling Casey's name and trying to look in the windows.
They both looked up as the very person they were screaming for came jogging across the yard, followed by a hesitant girl, eyeing them uncertainly. "Zeke, Stokes, hey! You got my message? Well obviously-"
"Cut the chit chat Case, who's she?" Zeke interrupted, gesturing to Riva. Casey replied without thought, "She's the alien." In a flash, Stokely and Zeke produced pens filled with powder, wielding them like swords, Zeke's nearly up Casey's nose before he could utter a word.
"You know the drill, sniff it," Zeke ordered as Stokely kept her pen trained on Riva, determined but not quite certain. Casey pushed the pen away with a roll of his eyes, "No, guys, she's not that kind of alien. If you'd just let me explain-"
"Sniff it, Casey!" Zeke snapped, this time more forcefully, "Just sniff it, get high for a little bit, and we'll know you aren't one of them." He spat the last word out, shooting a glare at Riva. Casey sighed loudly, taking the pen from Zeke and jamming it up his nose. "You owe me," he grumbled before inhaling deeply.
Stokely and Zeke waited with baited breath as Casey dropped the empty pen, grabbing his suddenly reeling head. Zeke offered him a steady hand, glad to see the boy not suddenly foaming at the mouth, as an alien would. Leaning heavily on Zeke, Casey dropped onto the front steps of his Uncle's house, clutching his head. Zeke and Stokely soon joined him, pointing to Riva, "So, who's she?"
Just Sniff It!
Zeke Wells stumbled over the cat, cursing at it. "Felix, dumb animal, move!" The tabby cat replied with a hiss, turning its eyes to a set of empty food dishes. Zeke sighed loudly, "Like you really need more food, fat cat." Another hiss, backed by a barley-missed scratch, sent him into the kitchen to find a can of Meow Mix.
A few moments later, he was slouching on a chair, watching the animal gulp down its meal. "Sorry," he muttered to Felix, wondering how mad his mother would be to come home to find a dead cat. That was, if she ever decided to come back from Asia. He had seen her a week ago, barely had a chance to say anything to his mother, before she left on another one of her trips.
Zeke pushed the thoughts away, to exhausted to care much about anything, and dropped his head on the counter. Slowly, he raised it again, noticing the blinking light on the answering machine. He reached over, punched the button, and dully listened. If it was that kid calling about his fake ID again . . .
"Hey Zeke, it's Casey. We, uh, have a problem, call me back soon. Oh, and I'm going to be needing some skat, lots of it." Casey's voice stumbled over the words, the fear and apprehension evident in his tone of voice. Zeke's brow furrowed as he grabbed the phone and dialed Casey's house. His frown increased when there was no answer. "Skat, why would Casey want skat? He doesn't do drugs." Zeke murmured aloud, walking over to a desk drawing, yanking it open, and shifting through its contents. He found the phone book and began to flip through its pages.
"Stokely here, what do you want?"
"Gee, Stokely, not a real morning person, are you?"
"Zeke? Damn, what do you want?"
"Nice to talk to you to."
"I'm hanging up."
"No, wait, sorry. You talked to Casey lately? He left some weird message for me."
"Yeah, actually, he left me a message to. Sounded kind of scared about something. You try calling him?"
"Uh-huh, but no one was home."
Stokely paused before sighing, "That's right, his parents went out of town. I think he's staying with his Uncle, hang on, I wrote down the address." Zeke smirked as he heard a loud crash in the background, followed by Stokely cursing, before she picked up the phone again, out of breath. Zeke chuckled, "Hey Stokely, is Stan over there with you? I hear a whole lot of yelling."
"Oh, shut up. You want the address or not?"
"Hit me."
"With pleasure," Stokely muttered before rattling off the street. Zeke frowned, "That's right by me, just a few houses away. I've got a bad feeling about this; why don't you come over and we can go over to his Uncle's house, check things out. I'll get our . . . supplies together."
- - - -
Casey eyed Riva no longer with a sense of fear and apprehension, but with awe and reverence. And, in return, the alien didn't survey him as a lower being, but with respect. Fifteen minutes had passed since the boy had seen proof that Riva couldn't be an Atlantian. They both reclined in their chairs, obviously at ease with one another, sharing stories and bits of information.
"So, what exactly happens when one of those worms gets in your head? Does it just, take over?" Casey asked, noting the slight shutter that passed over Riva. She closed her mismatched eyes, and he noticed another distinguishing difference between her and humans. Instead of the same shade skin eyelids, they were like solid liquid, constantly changing shades of aqua. "Uh, Riva?" Casey started uncertainly, drawing her from her memories.
"Huh? What, what's wrong?"
"Nothing, just that maybe you shouldn't close your eyes when in public."
Riva sighed as her eyes flashed open, "Ah, yes, yes, of course. You see, my race not only dwells on land, but also in water," she explained, "But to answer your previous question, about the worms, I believe you called them. They usually enter through a cavity in the head, most likely the ear cavity in humans; it would be the most direct route to the brain.
"Once in the skull, they secrete a liquid that is pumped through your blood stream, soaked into your muscles, giving the worm complete control. While the liquid is traveling around the body, the parasite burrows into the brain, deep down towards the bundle of nerves located towards the neck. They wrap part of themselves around the spinal cord, and simply gain control. That's all I know, from Mary Beth's observations. She did a few . . .experiments."
Casey cringed, momentarily wondering who the poor souls might have been at Mary Beth's mercy. He quickly shook his head clear of the thoughts, changing the subject, "How long was Mary Beth on Earth, anyway? I thought she was only here a couple of days."
Riva's abrupt laugh surprised him as she replied, "Oh, no. She was here for at least a few months. I can't be sure when she escaped, but she had plenty of time to adjust here." His jaw dropped, "Months! How could she possibly have been here months?"
"She did not infest your school right away, Casey Conner. Mary Beth was quite intelligent in Atlantian standards, she must have laid low for awhile to simply observe until she felt it was time to begin her invasion." Riva replied with a minimal shrug.
Casey sunk into his chair; unable to believe an alien had lived on Earth for months without detection. Living right next to his uncle! "This is unbelievable," he muttered, running a hand down his face. He was to busy mumbling to notice Riva stand and look out the window, summoned by a loud noise outside. She frowned as she watched the commotion, finally gaining Casey's curiosity.
"What's going on?" He asked, dragging himself from the chair to pull back the curtain and peer outside. "There seems to be a group of humans gathered at your house, banging on your door. How very strange."
"Wait a minute, that's Zeke! And Stokely! Come on, we better stop them before they break the door down."
"Casey! Casey, are you in there man? Open the door already!" Zeke yelled at the top of his lungs, pounding on the door with his fist. Stokely stood nervously beside him, also calling Casey's name and trying to look in the windows.
They both looked up as the very person they were screaming for came jogging across the yard, followed by a hesitant girl, eyeing them uncertainly. "Zeke, Stokes, hey! You got my message? Well obviously-"
"Cut the chit chat Case, who's she?" Zeke interrupted, gesturing to Riva. Casey replied without thought, "She's the alien." In a flash, Stokely and Zeke produced pens filled with powder, wielding them like swords, Zeke's nearly up Casey's nose before he could utter a word.
"You know the drill, sniff it," Zeke ordered as Stokely kept her pen trained on Riva, determined but not quite certain. Casey pushed the pen away with a roll of his eyes, "No, guys, she's not that kind of alien. If you'd just let me explain-"
"Sniff it, Casey!" Zeke snapped, this time more forcefully, "Just sniff it, get high for a little bit, and we'll know you aren't one of them." He spat the last word out, shooting a glare at Riva. Casey sighed loudly, taking the pen from Zeke and jamming it up his nose. "You owe me," he grumbled before inhaling deeply.
Stokely and Zeke waited with baited breath as Casey dropped the empty pen, grabbing his suddenly reeling head. Zeke offered him a steady hand, glad to see the boy not suddenly foaming at the mouth, as an alien would. Leaning heavily on Zeke, Casey dropped onto the front steps of his Uncle's house, clutching his head. Zeke and Stokely soon joined him, pointing to Riva, "So, who's she?"