Chapter 2 - Maybe it wasn't so bad

Cassandra and the robot stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. This couldn't be real. Before her stood a bright yellow robot with piercing blue eyes that blinked at her cautiously. What did it want? She glanced around to see if anymore were around. To her relief and dismay, they were alone.

A whoosh of air and hydraulics accompanied the robot's sudden movement. It went down on one knee before her. As the robot drew closer, she drew further away; leaning back until she fell to the ground.

"Don't, please don't hurt me." She scrunched up her face in a way that made her look like she was in pain as she pushed herself back across the grass in a futile attempt to get away. The robot cocked its head at her words and drew away. Could it understand her?

A few beeps and boops along with some radio static erupted from the robot's chest. Cassandra watched in fear as the robot beat its chest and whirred in disappointment. Is it trying to talk? Her brain toyed with the idea for a moment while the robot fell to both knees before her. The robot buzzed some more and inched closer to her. This sent Cassandra into a panic. As the robot reached out to touch her, she screamed.

The robot fell back at the sudden high-pitched noise coming from the human. Cassandra scrambled to her feet and tripped into a run. She ran and ran, across the field, up the hill, to her bike; she never looked back. She peddled hard and fast home. Whatever she found was not from this earth. The only time she stopped her bike was to vomit out all the fear that had welled up inside her. She did not turn around or say hello to any of the familiar faces that yelled to her with concern, she went straight home with a look that said she had just met death himself.

With shaking hands, she rolled her bike into the garage. She still didn't look back; if it was following her, she didn't want to know.

"Cassandra!" her mother yelled as she pushed her way into the garage. "Where have you been? What happened to your clothes?" Her mother grabbed her shoulders and spun her around. "You're shaking sweetie, what happened?"

"N-nothing mom, I just hit and branch and went over the bars. I wasn't paying attention."

"Are you alright? You must've fallen hard. You're all scuffed up."

"Yes, mom I'm fine, it threw me into some bushes. The bike is fine, by the way."

"Oh, I'm not worried about the bike." She chuckled "You were just gone for so long; I was getting worried. One of your friends called and said they saw you riding here like a madman covered in dirt. Come on, lets get you inside and cleaned up. I'd better get your clothes in the wash before those stains set it." Cassandras mother pushed her up the stairs and into the house. "Oh my." Said her mother as she tugged at her curly brown locks. "You are going to need a shower young lady; you've got dirt and leaves all through your hair."

After a long, hot shower, Cassandra plopped herself down onto the couch. Their small television was playing one of her little brothers' favorite cartoons; it was part of his Saturday ritual. The smell of rice and chicken flooded the house as their mother cooked away.

"Where did you go Cassie? We were supposed to go to the park today." Her little brother turned during a commercial.

"I'm sorry Lucas," She ruffled his matted curls, he really needed to brush his hair more "something happened, and it escaped my mind. Why don't we go tomorrow?"

"Okay! Just don't get lost again."

"Oh, trust me, I don't plan on it."

"Lucas! Cass! Dinner!" yelled their mother from the kitchen. Lucas scrambled to his feet to grab his food; Cassandra, less hurriedly, followed suit. Their kitchen was probably one of the largest rooms in the house. Her mother loved to cook, and when their father was alive, he did the best to make their mother happy. Their father wasn't actually dead but as far as Cassandra was concerned, he had died a long time ago.

Once everyone got their plates filled, they headed back to the kitchen to watch the nightly news. Monica, Cassandras mother, didn't get out much; watching the news was her nightly ritual to catch up on what was going on in her community. Cassandra and Lucas chatted about a new game he had gotten that week while her mother tuned in.

"Cas?" interrupted her mother. "Isn't that the trail you take?" Monica pointed at the screen.

Cassandra followed her mother's pointed finger to the news flash on the television. Reporters were standing by a mile-long trench with men in yellow suits examining the area in the background. She could see her footprints in the dirt behind the reporter. She coughed as she sucked in a sudden breath of air, causing her chicken to momentarily get stuck in her windpipe; she was frantic.

"Goodness girl!" Her mother patted her on the back as she coughed. Monica's face twisted as the gears turned in her head; she looked at her daughter with suspicion. "Were you there?" Cassandra's face blanked. "Is that why you were covered in dirt?!"

"N-no mom," out came her lie in a stutter "I didn't take that trail today."

"Cassandra Mille Higgins! What were you thinking? You have no idea what would have been down there!" Her mother threw herself onto the couch, furious with her daughters' irresponsible actions.

"Cassie's in trouble! Cassie's in trouble!" Chanted her little brother.

"I'm sorry!" She threw her fork down "There wasn't anything there anyways."

"That doesn't matter!"

"Mom it's fine. I just fell into the hole, once I got out, I left."

"You need to be more careful." Her mother settled back behind her TV tray. "If you see anything suspicious you need to call the police, not go exploring."

"Okay." Sighed Cassandra. She had no immediate intentions of returning to the crash site, but she wanted to know what that thing was that she saw.

As the household wound down for the night, Cassandra's thoughts were plagued by the metal beast that stood above her that morning. Its piercing blue eyes, human like face; it had to be an alien. Humanity was good with robotics, but they had not yet created sentient beings, had they?

"Cassie." Her brother said. He had just beaten a hard boss on the video game he had been playing; he had been working on it all week. Lucas turned to find his sister lost in thought with a blank stare. "Cas." He tried "Cassie!"

"What?" she jumped, looking down at him sitting crossed legged on the floor.

"I beat it!" He pointed at the dead, pixelated monster on the television.

"That's great Lucas, see, I told you, you could do it."

"What's wrong with you?" He cocked his head to the side at her downhearted tone. "You've been acting weird ever since you got home. Did you see an alien? I bet you saw an alien out there!" He scrambled to the couch. "Was it green with big eyes?"

"No-"

"Big pink blob?"

"No-"

"Giant robot!" he stood with his hands in the air

"Wha- NO! There was not an alien, just a bunch of dirt."

"Aww, that's lame." He hopped down and picked up his controller. "A giant robot would have been cool."

"Scary you mean." She laid back down onto the couch.

"So, it was a robot!" Lucas had crawled across the floor and beside her ear before screaming with excitement.

"Gah! Lucas!" She sat up and rubbed her ear "Don't do that! No, there was no robot."

"But you just said!" he whimpered.

"I said it would have been scary."

Lucas slinked back down to the floor, keeping heavy eye contact with his sister for added effect. "If there's a robot, I'm the first to know."

"Okay weirdo." She chuckled. "I'm going to bed."

Cassandra laid in bed with her eyes wide open; every time she closed them she saw those eyes staring back at her. They rotated like cogs as they concentrated on her. Its eyelids squinted and opened; it examined her like a specimen.

Abruptly, she sat up in bed. She had the image so clear in her head. Hopping up, Cassandra made her way to her desk and grabbed her sketch pad; her hand worked furiously as she drew the eyes that pasted themselves to the back of her eyelids. Two hours had passed before she finished. She was pleased with her rendition; even on paper they looked alive.

The urge to sleep finally overtook her as she slid the drawing into her folder. Drawing the eyes gave her relief: they were no longer stuck in her mind.

As Cassandra closed her eyes to sleep, she saw the robot again. This time, though, the thought did not carry fear. She looked at it in a new light; maybe the creature wasn't so bad.