Cameron James sat at his computer, plugging in figures and always coming to the same conclusion: whatever was in the London sky, was definitely not of human origin. More to the point, he was sure it was not of Earth. Extra-terrestrial. His first thought was of little green men, in those small spacecrafts with the little bubbles on top, but he shook that thought away. The Earth's previous encounters with aliens had proved that. The Sycorax on that Christmas Day a few years back, the giant spider web in the sky the year after that… and then there'd been that invasion of those… Darleeks, yes, that was their name, with the planets in the sky.

His phone rang. He picked it up straight away, hoping that everybody in his family was okay. "Hello?" he asked.

"Cameron," his older sister's voice said, hardened by the day at the office. "You're an astronomy student. What's this thing in the sky? Phones are going crazy down here, and frankly, we don't have the resources, and we have to make a statement to the public."

"It's alien," Cameron said. "I've been running all sorts of calculations and programs, but it just keeps coming up with the same result. That thing is not from Earth."

"I was afraid of that," she said. "Okay, thanks. What do you think we should say it is?"

"Light phenomena," he answered, almost straight away. "Caused by the sun's rays being scattered in the Earth's atmosphere and stratosphere and –"

"Atmosphere, got it," she interrupted, before he could go into all the obscure layers surrounding the earth.

"Uh, yes, and they were scattered, and they've formed this illusion. Tell them that it shouldn't last long, and everything should be back to normal before long."

"Okay, thank you, Cameron," she said. "I knew I could count on you."

"Lucy?" he asked. "What's it like in London?"

"Traffic accidents on all major roads," Lucy James replied. "People preoccupied with what's up in the sky rather than what's on the road in front of them. People are panicking everywhere."

"Okay," he said. "Give mum my love. I'd come home, but I'm kind of needed here."

"That's okay," she said. "Just do what you need to to get this sorted out."

"There's only one person that can sort this out," he said.

"Well, it's a shame he doesn't exist," Lucy smiled sadly. "I'd better get back to work. Bye Cameron."

"Bye Lucy," he said, hanging up the phone. "He does exist," he then added to himself. "I'm sure of it."

"Where are we going?" Acatha shouted after John. "Do you know how far it is to the police station from here?"

"Not far," he said, and started walked again. She rolled her eyes, made sure she had her clarinet, and sped after him.

"You're crazy," she said.

"That is something I am told almost all the time," he smiled. "Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment," she said. He pretended not to hear her. She ended up following him to the police station, where a press conference was taking place outside, explaining the situation. He stopped a few metres from the microphones.

"Light phenomena?" he asked. "Who told them this?"

"So, it's not light phenomena?" she asked.

"Of course not, don't be stupid."

"I'm not stupid," she said defensively. "I could be just as smart as you."

"I highly doubt that, Emma," he said. "Or is it Michael?"

"It's neither," she said. "Look, did you want to talk to my sister or not?"

"Oh, yes, where is she?"

"She's that one," Acatha replied, pointing to the woman talking avidly to the microphones.

He looked between them. Lucy James had long, flowing blonde hair, and warm brown eyes. Her cheekbones where high, and she was very, very tall. He looked at the identical form of Acatha. "Ah, yes, I see the resemblance."

"Really?" she asked sarcastically. "Come on, we'll wait for her inside. That thing is giving me the creeps."

"Are you sure she works in there? It's extremely small."

"It's bigger on the inside," she told him. "Trust me."

"Really?" he asked, interested. "How is it bigger on the inside? Oh, that's very remarkable." He followed her inside, and stopped. "I thought you said it was bigger on the inside."

"It's a figure of speech, genius," she said, frustrated. "Lucy's desk is over here."

"Are you sure we're allowed in here?" he asked.

"You don't strike me as the kind of person that would care," Acatha replied, sitting down in her sister's chair. She typed in the password and brought up the file about the murders.

"How did you know the password?" he asked, fascinated.

"She's been using the same password for everything since third grade," Acatha told him. "I learnt it years ago, figured it would be the same now. She really should learn to change it though."

"So what's the password?"

"Nice try," she said.

"Afternoon, Lucy," a passing officer said, waving cheerily at her.

"Afternoon," she said back, keeping her head down in the hope that she wouldn't be recognised. Then she realised that she was Lucy's identical twin, and that she already had. "Here we go, Mr Smith," she said to the man. "All the information about the killings, and the pictures of the victims."

"Amazing," he said. "What are they doing here? And more importantly, what are they doing here in the twenty-first century?"

"What are dead bodies doing in the twenty-first century?" Acatha asked. "I don't know, why don't you ask them."

"No, the Stiltskins."

She stared at him with a blank face.

"The Stiltskins are… oh, you must be Lucy," he said to a woman standing behind Acatha.

"What are you doing here?" Lucy asked her sister, as Acatha spun around in her chair.

"I was showing Dr Smith the images of the dead bodies. He specialises in forensics, and I was hoping he might be able to help out."

The man held out a piece of paper confirming what she'd just told Lucy. She stared at him strangely.

"How did you get into my computer?"

"Lucy, you really need to learn how to change your password," Acatha squirmed. "It's been the same since third grade."

"First grade," Lucy corrected automatically. "Hey!"

"Do you want to know who killed these people or not?" Dr Smith asked.

"That would be very nice," Lucy said. "Then we can nail them and leave them to rot in a cell where they belong."

"What do you have for a murder weapon?"

"We're still getting our forensics department to analyse the stab wounds, but as yet we can't find anything that matches."

"You won't find anything. These are made by –"

"Lucy!" somebody called from across the room. "Need you over here!"

"Hold that thought," she said. "I'll be right back."

"There's no time to… hold that thought," he said. "Michael, do you trust me?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really, no," he said.

"Then I trust you," she smiled. "Why?"

"Do you believe in aliens?"

"No way," she said. "My brother does though."

"Where's your brother?"

"Oxford University. He's studying astronomy."

"Ah, a man of the stars. We need to go see him."

"Oxford's an hour away. And the roads are blocked. How are we going to get there?"

"Come with me."


Hey guys, thanks for reading :)

I hope you're enjoying the story so far. I haven't looked at it for a while, but I just had a brilliant idea for Chapter Three, and I'm on exams, so it's the perfect procrastination from studying. It should be ready very, very soon.

Anyway, you know the deal. If you liked it, or you just want to say hi, REVIEW! If you don't write, then you might not know, but they mean a lot. If you don't like the story so far, don't say anything - just leave.

I love everybody who loves my work... and all those who just read it :)

Love, gabielle.