I saw them first but they saw me, too.<\/p>\n
They were orange and wore masks with tubes that twisted out of their mouths and noses. I couldn\u2019t tell what they were but I was sure they were aliens, just like the ones my older brother Matt would tell me were hiding in my bedroom closet and under my bed. <\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as you fall asleep,\u201d he\u2019d say, \u201cthey\u2019ll jump out and get you. <\/p>\n
Aliens love little girls!\u201d <\/p>\n
I ran to him since he was an expert on these kinds of things. He was on our back porch playing cards with Grandma and Mom, Buster the beagle at his feet, while he joked about how bad they were getting thrashed by a ten-year-old. Not just any ten-year-old, though, a genius ten-year-old. <\/p>\n
At least that\u2019s what Matt always told me.<\/p>\n
I reached his side just as he was throwing up his arms in a triumphant gesture. <\/p>\n
Grandma threw down her cards.<\/p>\n
Mom high-fived him. \u201cAnother win. I can\u2019t believe it.\u201d She smiled when she saw me. \u201cWhere have you been, Steph?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOut front.\u201d <\/p>\n
She winked. \u201cI think it\u2019s about time for some of Grandma\u2019s birthday cake. What do you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSweet!\u201d Matt replied.<\/p>\n
I nodded. As soon as Grandma and Mom went inside to light the candles, I pulled on Matt\u2019s arm. \u201cCome here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something out front. Come look.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWait. I want some cake first.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled on his arm again. \u201cNow.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cGeesh, Steph. You can wait at least five minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I had to hold back the tears as we sang Happy Birthday. My mouth was dry, my throat stuffed with cotton. What if the aliens came to get me while we were dilly-dallying with birthday songs and celebrations?<\/p>\n
Grandma closed her eyes to make a wish; she took a deep breath, and blew out the candles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you wish for, Grandma?\u201d Matt asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I tell you, then it won\u2019t come true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on. That\u2019s an old wives\u2019 tale.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sighed. \u201cAlright. I wished for another happy and cancer-free year. I\u2019m already pushing it, you know. There hasn\u2019t been another person to live to sixty in at least ten years.\u201d Her eyes shifted. \u201cI\u2019m the oldest person in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
They ate cake silently. I didn\u2019t want any. My stomach was all cartwheels and somersaults. <\/p>\n
As soon as Matt swallowed his last bite, and with chocolate icing smeared on his lips, I grabbed his arm. \u201cCome on!\u201d<\/p>\n
This time he followed me. Our ten acres in rural Ohio were spotted with fruit and maple trees. Mom had a garden where she planted beans, onions, tomatoes, and flowers, but the rest of our yard was a field that Matt had to mow every week because the grass grew quick and thick and tickled our legs when it was high.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s so important?\u201d<\/p>\n
I pointed to the tree that an alien had been hiding behind. \u201cIt\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn alien.\u201d<\/p>\n
His neck strained. He squinted. \u201cI don\u2019t see anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was right there. It\u2019s probably hiding somewhere else now.\u201d My voice softened to a whisper. \u201cI think it saw me.\u201d <\/p>\n
He put an arm around my shoulders. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Steph, we\u2019ll find it. I won\u2019t let it hurt you.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a large stick in the bushes lining the house. He pulled it out and held it in front of him like a sword. \u201cAliens hate sticks,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
I shadowed him, my sweaty hands gripping the back of his shirt, as we darted from one tree to another until we were eyeing the alien\u2019s hideout from an arm\u2019s length away. My heart was racing. <\/p>\n
We crept closer.<\/p>\n
The screams were raw and piercing. Matt took off towards the shouting at the back of the house but my strides were no match for his longer ones. When I got there the orange aliens had invaded the porch. Two of them were holding Mom down while three others were dragging Grandma away. Buster was running in circles, nipping at their heels. Spittle rocketed from his mouth when he barked and lunged at one of them. The alien kicked him away.<\/p>\n
Matt raced towards them and jabbed at an alien with his stick before sidestepping and jabbing at another. <\/p>\n
Two syringes were pulled out. Both Mom and Grandma were injected.<\/p>\n
I hid behind a tree, hot tears spilling from my eyes. <\/p>\n
Grandma was taken. Mom lay on the ground, unmoving. They left Matt and I. <\/p>\n
The stick didn\u2019t keep the aliens at bay.<\/p>\n
Matt found me sometime later. It felt like it\u2019d been hours but he said it\u2019d only been minutes. I was curled in a fetal position, my hands over my ears, my eyes shut tight. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re gone,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s okay now. I have to call the police.\u201d<\/p>\n
I hugged Buster who was sitting up, alert. Matt dialed from his cell phone and relayed our address. \u201cAn ambulance, too,\u201d he said. \u201cMom\u2019s not moving.\u201d <\/p>\n
He appeared to listen. \u201cNo, she\u2019s breathing. But they injected her with something.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the call ended, he stood ready, eyes alert, his stick raised high. <\/p>\n
I learned two things that day: One, you should always keep your birthday wishes to yourself. And two, aliens might wait and watch in the dark shades of night but they bite during the clear light of day.
\n<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere do you think they took her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt cocked his head, closed his eyes. \u201cProbably outer space.\u201d His eyes popped open. \u201cTeralf,\u201d he said. \u201cDefinitely Teralf.\u201d<\/p>\n
We were sitting on the porch where Grandma had been taken and Mom had been injected. Buster lay between us, his aging body tired from playing. The weather was warm and a soft breeze ruffled the leaves of the newly budding trees.<\/p>\n
It was two days after the attack. The police and EMTs had come and gone. Mom looked okay, physically anyway. Grandma was missing. The police didn\u2019t believe us about the aliens. They said Grandma had left of her own free will.<\/p>\n
I petted Buster\u2019s head and he turned it so that I could reach him better. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s Teralf?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt explained that it was a newly discovered exoplanet that hadn\u2019t yet been fully explored but intelligence suggested was a planet that could support life. The aliens, he said, were probably natives of Teralf and mad as hell that we\u2019d discovered their home. <\/p>\n
I knew that humans had colonized at least five other planets a few years before I was born. As far as I knew, none of them had any living life forms. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut why would the aliens take Grandma?\u201d I asked Matt.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey probably want to study her so they can learn how to fight humans. Grandma would be the best specimen. I mean, she\u2019s never had cancer and everyone gets cancer. If they can figure that out, then they\u2019ll know how to beat us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I snuggled closer to Buster. He snuggled back.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you think she\u2019s okay?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. I hope so.\u201d He shrugged his shoulders. His hair was sticking out in places. Bags were under his eyes. He\u2019d been staying up late on what he called \u201cguard duty.\u201d <\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t sleep either but it was because of the nightmares. Orange aliens with beady, black eyes and enormous hands waited there in my sleep. Sometimes I saw Grandma in them but it scared me most of all because she\u2019d started turning orange, too.<\/p>\n
Matt found the mass the next day. It was brown and black, and grew quickly. Within two hours, it had spread up Buster\u2019s back to his neck.
\nI cried the entire way to the vet.<\/p>\n
Buster knew something was wrong because he kept looking at me with those large, watery eyes and whimpering. Matt held him in his lap and whispered words of comfort in his ear.<\/p>\n
Standing in the office, the vet explained that it was too late; the cancer had spread too much, too far.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut how?\u201d Matt asked. \u201cThe mass wasn\u2019t there yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not quite sure.\u201d The vet shook her head. \u201cSome experts think that animals are now developing the Super Cancer just like humans.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut cancer isn\u2019t contagious, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why is the cancer spreading?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not spreading. It\u2019s just\u2026 I don\u2019t know what it\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could feel Buster\u2019s heart beating under my hand. It was drumming too fast. I hated that he was scared. My throat tightened when the vet said that the nice thing to do would be to euthanize him. I knew what euthanize meant. It meant that Buster wouldn\u2019t be sleeping at the end of Matt\u2019s bed anymore and that I wouldn\u2019t feel his slippery tongue on my face every morning.<\/p>\n
Matt insisted on staying in the room but I waited outside the door. When it was over, the vet gave us lollipops. Mine was Root Beer, my favorite flavor. I threw it in the trash on the way out.<\/p>\n
We buried Buster in his favorite place next to the garden. <\/p>\n
As the evening dragged the sun low, the sky faded yellow to gray to black. I thought of Grandma then, and Buster, who were probably in heaven now. <\/p>\n
My stomach tensed at the thought that Mom or Matt could develop cancer. Then I would be alone and there would be no one to protect me from the orange aliens that I knew watched me every night.<\/p>\n
When Matt asked me why my eyes were wet and red, I blamed it on my allergies.<\/p>\n
Matt was the next to go.<\/p>\n
It was a Friday in October and I wasn\u2019t feeling well. I remember because we\u2019d had a test in school about the differences between cancerous and benign melanoma. There were pictures of moles and masses of different colors and sizes, and we had to match them with the appropriate terms. <\/p>\n
Some of the images were of people, and dogs and cats, even fish, but most of the pictures were of plants because the trees and crops had recently begun to develop the Super Cancer, too.<\/p>\n
Looking at the pictures had made my heart race and my stomach roil. I\u2019d excused myself to the restroom and was relieved that no one else was in there to hear me retching into the toilet.<\/p>\n
I knew that I was going to fail the test.<\/p>\n
There was a car in the driveway when I got off the bus. It was black and the windows were tinted. A tall man with dark hair and a grim face opened the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cStephanie Collins,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I felt my eyes open big. How did this guy know my name and what was he doing in the house? I stood on the threshold, not sure if I should enter.<\/p>\n
Matt stuck his head out the door. \u201cWhat are you doing just standing there? Mom made cookies. If you want any you\u2019d better come inside.\u201d<\/p>\n
The thought of cookies didn\u2019t make me move any faster.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome on!\u201d Matt rolled his eyes. <\/p>\n
I shuffled forward. Three men in suits were in the living room. Two of them were eating cookies on the couch and another was standing just past the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello, Stephanie,\u201d they said in unison.<\/p>\n
I took a small step back.<\/p>\n
The door slammed shut. I spun around to see a man standing behind me. He smiled and held out his hand. \u201cI\u2019m Mr. Bell. And these are my friends,\u201d he gestured towards the two on the couch, \u201cMr. George and Mr. Roberts.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at them.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t be rude, Steph.\u201d Matt gestured towards the man\u2019s open hand. <\/p>\n
I shook it and then drew my hand away. It felt slimy.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome here, Steph,\u201d Mom said. <\/p>\n
I hadn\u2019t noticed her sitting in one of the high-backed chairs that flanked the couch. I sat on her lap. She was warm. I leaned back against her, rested my head on her chest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese men are here because Matt has performed well in school,\u201d Mom said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey want him to go away to a special school.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of special school?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA school for really smart kids. A science school.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t say anything for a few minutes and then I asked, \u201cAm I going to the school, too?\u201d<\/p>\n
I could see Mom hesitate. She shook her head. \u201cOh Steph, it\u2019s only for certain kids. I don\u2019t think you\u2019d like it much.\u201d<\/p>\n
The men were talking then, about the school, and where Matt would be staying, but I wasn\u2019t listening much. I was mad at Mom because she was letting these men take Matt away and I was mad at Matt for going. But I was also mad that I wasn\u2019t going to the school, too.<\/p>\n
I still wasn\u2019t talking to anyone when it was time for Matt to leave. He was in the backseat of the car, one of the men backing it out of the driveway, when I screamed at him, my cheeks burning and hands clenched, that I hated him and never wanted to see him again, and how could he possibly leave us?<\/p>\n
I found the stick later. It was lying on my bed. There was a note with it. \u201cYou\u2019re in charge now,\u201d it said. \u201cDon\u2019t let the aliens win.\u201d<\/p>\n
We had Super Cancer tests every month for the next four years. This time it was a big one; this time the testing was on our bodies.<\/p>\n
First, we had to do pushups and sit-ups and pull-ups and then when we were all tuckered out from that, we had to do timed sprints on the track. <\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t doing so well with the push-ups and stuff but I knew I would pass the running test. I\u2019d always been good at running. All I had to do was pretend that the aliens were behind me and I\u2019d beat everyone, even the boys, every time.<\/p>\n
Afterwards, there was a lot of talk about the cancer in the locker room. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s how I learned about Impeder.<\/p>\n
It smelled citrusy like real tangerines, not the artificial ones that we\u2019d been eating for the past year. Those ones had a slightly antiseptic smell. Not this. This smelled good.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo ahead. Try it,\u201d one of the more popular girls said. We were in the locker room changing our clothes after gym class.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cImpeder. What do you think it is?\u201d<\/p>\n
I shrugged my shoulders. Mumbled, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for you,\u201d she said. \u201cProtects against the cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt does?\u201d I hadn\u2019t heard about anything that could protect against the Super Cancer. Wouldn\u2019t it be all over the news if it could do that? And wouldn\u2019t Mom have gotten some for us?<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course it does.\u201d She tossed her hair back and started slathering some on her arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow does it do that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWow. You don\u2019t know anything, do you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another girl added her two cents. \u201cYou\u2019d think some of those brains her brother has would\u2019ve rubbed off on her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGuess not.\u201d A third girl said. She giggled.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, you want to try it?\u201d the girl with the Impeder said.<\/p>\n
I turned away. \u201cNo thanks.\u201d Some of the other girls eyed me sympathetically as I walked to my locker in the corner of the room but I ignored them. I just wanted to go home.<\/p>\n
I asked Matt about it when he called later.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome of the girls at school said that Impeder can prevent the Super Cancer. Does it?\u201d I could hear his roommate using the flight simulator in the background. I tried to crush the feeling of fear that Matt was training to fly a spaceship.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just a ruse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s a ruse?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA scam that stupid people believe. Listen,\u201d he said, \u201cyou can\u2019t believe everything people tell you, no matter who they are.\u201d Matt\u2019s voice was serious. \u201cI don\u2019t care if they\u2019re the President of the United States. You can\u2019t trust anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Mom? I can trust Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, ya. You can trust Mom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I can trust you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course you can trust me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo then you\u2019re wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
I could hear Matt sigh. \u201cAll I\u2019m saying is that there are some people out there who only care about themselves. Take this Impeder. Some greedy company started this lie that the sun is causing the Super Cancer and now everyone\u2019s buying up this lotion without really thinking about it. I mean, the sun\u2019s been around forever and the animals and trees never got cancer like this before. So why would the sun all of a sudden be causing cancer when the sun is the same as it\u2019s always been? And now this company is raking in millions because people are lazy and don\u2019t want to think for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t say anything but I smiled. He\u2019d confirmed my suspicions that the Impeder girl in the locker room was a hare-brained twit. <\/p>\n
I slept better than usual that night but I still slept with the stick firm in my right hand.<\/p>\n
By the time I was a freshman in high school, the notion that the sun was causing the Super Cancer had taken off. Impeder was in everything: lotions, soaps, shampoos, contact lenses. It was manufactured in pill and liquid form. It was added into our already modified and artificial foods: cereal, fruit, vegetables, bread, milk, cheese, orange juice.<\/p>\n
The only benefit I could find was that the tangerines tasted more real than real ones. Well, what I could remember of the real ones anyway. <\/p>\n
Nobody was talking numbers- whether or not the amount of people developing the Super Cancer had dropped since Impeder had become a staple. I guess all that mattered was that people thought it was helping.<\/p>\n
I was sitting in History class watching a janitor rake the-dirt-that-once-was-grass so that it laid out in a nice fan-shaped pattern when the teacher\u2019s words caught my attention. He had been talking about the history of space exploration and I\u2019d been pretending to be bored like the rest of the students but the subject matter was making my heart race and palms sweat. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that brings us to Teralf,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
I shifted in my seat. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe latest exoplanet to be deemed appropriate for life as we know it. The perfect planet, some say, which is why the United States established a settlement there about two years ago.<\/p>\n
A handful of United States\u2019 citizens call Teralf home. Just scientists now but in a hundred years or so, your grandchildren could be living there.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited for him to say something about the aliens but the bell rang and everyone jumped out of their seats to rush to their next class. Someone shoved me out of the way and my book slid out of my hands and across the room. <\/p>\n
The teacher picked it up.<\/p>\n
\u201cStephanie,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d like to speak with you.\u201d <\/p>\n
He held my book between his hands. I wanted to dash to my next class but I couldn\u2019t leave without it. <\/p>\n
I shuffled to his desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour assignment on space exploration was quite fascinating.\u201d<\/p>\n
My cheeks warmed. He likes it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut perhaps more suited to a fiction assignment in English class. I\u2019m not sure where you acquired this idea about aliens, Stephanie, but it\u2019s rather absurd. You do know that there\u2019s no evidence of any other type of life form on Teralf, let alone these orange extraterrestrials you call Teralfians, don\u2019t you? \u201d<\/p>\n
I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI realize,\u201d he continued after a moment, \u201cthat you\u2019ve been through some difficult times over the past few years with your grandmother\u2019s\u2026 disappearance, shall we say, but this is a little alarming.\u201d He set the book down. <\/p>\n
I eyed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m trying to say, Stephanie, is that if you need to talk to someone\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
I grabbed the book and ran. I couldn\u2019t stop and before I knew it, I was running down the hallway. Students looked up at me; some of them shouted after me, their voices echoing in the long, concrete hallway but I didn\u2019t stop. I threw open the school doors and there it was: freedom.<\/p>\n
I rushed after it.<\/p>\n
The janitor dropped his rake and darted after me but he couldn\u2019t keep up. His heavy footfalls stopped after the first half-mile and he was bent over gasping for air when I glanced back. The wind whipped cold air at me but I didn\u2019t care. <\/p>\n
I briefly wondered what Mom would do when I showed up at the house in the middle of the school day but the thought evaporated as the half-mile turned into a mile into another mile and soon I was running up Hades\u2019 Hill not far from our house.<\/p>\n
I reached the edge of our property and cut through our yard. The maple and apple trees that were blooming the day Grandma was taken were now black and withered. Some of them had toppled over. It was a desolate landscape.<\/p>\n
\u201cMom! I\u2019m home!\u201d The book thudded when I dropped it on the kitchen table. \u201cMom!\u201d I went room-to-room calling out for her. There was no answer. <\/p>\n
She was gone.<\/p>\n
I waited five hours before I made the decision to search the woods next to our property. <\/p>\n
I took a flashlight, a knife, and my cell phone. For some reason, I also took some water and a couple of protein bars. <\/p>\n
As an afterthought, I grabbed the stick.<\/p>\n
The anticipation was the worst part. I stared at the lifeless foliage. <\/p>\n
Most of the trees had collapsed, their trunks swallowed by black, cancerous moles; dead sticks and undergrowth could trip me up, entangle me. <\/p>\n
My hands trembled. What if I fell onto one of those furry, malignant moles? I told myself it wasn\u2019t possible but I couldn\u2019t shake the feeling that I would contract the cancer from it.<\/p>\n
A cloud crossed the sun. It would be dark soon. I had to go. Now.<\/p>\n
Branches reached up, snagged at my jeans as I moved into the woods. <\/p>\n
I yelled for Mom. <\/p>\n
My teeth chattered. My hands and feet were so cold that I couldn\u2019t feel them. There was a loud noise, a howl, and then I was running, my feet pounding into the dirt and the smell of decay deep in my nose and mouth.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, I was back in the house, standing in the shower with my clothes on, the faucet turned all the way up. I was still shivering. And I was angry. I hadn\u2019t been able to do it. <\/p>\n
My sobs were loud.<\/p>\n
I left Matt a message on his cell phone. <\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Matt. It\u2019s Steph. I haven\u2019t seen Mom since this morning. I searched some of the woods but couldn\u2019t find her and she\u2019s not answering any of my calls. I was wondering if you\u2019ve heard from her.\u201d <\/p>\n
I huddled in my favorite comforter, the green and blue one Grandma had made for me when I was five and had insisted that the one I had was for little girls because it was pink, and I tried hard to stop crying. I knew that something bad had happened. This wasn\u2019t like Mom. She was responsible. She didn\u2019t disappear for hours and not answer her cell phone. She didn\u2019t abandon her kids.<\/p>\n
When Matt called back in the morning, I was certain that Mom had been abducted by the aliens, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m coming home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s ok. You have work to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI already booked a flight for two o\u2019 clock. You don\u2019t have to go through this by yourself, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
He came with a woman and four other men. They scoured the grounds with some brand new and expensive-looking scientific gear. <\/p>\n
\u201cWho are these people?\u201d I asked Matt. He was nineteen now but still growing. He looked taller every time I saw him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve known most of them since I started the Science program.\u201d He yelled out to one of them. \u201cMake sure you guys check the woods.\u201d<\/p>\n
The man saluted him. \u201cWill do, bro!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are they doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking for Mom. What do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut shouldn\u2019t we call the police?\u201d<\/p>\n
He studied me. \u201cI want to check things out before we call the police. We\u2019ve got lots of equipment they don\u2019t have. We might be able to find something they can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was about to ask him what he thought they\u2019d find but he picked up a long, thin apparatus and walked off towards the woods. I didn\u2019t really have to ask anyway. I knew they were looking for aliens.<\/p>\n
I moved into Matt\u2019s D.C. apartment a week later. <\/p>\n
D.C. was more impersonal than Ohio. The people scuttled out of their homes only when needed and scurried by to avoid the sun\u2019s malignant rays. I could run on the trails for hours and not even pass another person. I found that I liked it.<\/p>\n
There was a mock Tofu pop stand just outside our apartment so I picked some up for Matt and I. The vendor looked me up and down. \u201cBetter cover them arms and legs up, girlie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt wasn\u2019t home yet so I ate his Tofu pop.<\/p>\n
My school books were sitting on the kitchen table but I brushed past them to the large picture window and pulled up the Sun Shields. Across the street, workers were building an underground network, a whole community where people would live, go to school, and work without ever having to step outside. It was called the Impeder Shelter. They were being built in every city in the world.<\/p>\n
The blasting and hammering were so loud that I didn\u2019t hear Matt until he was standing next to me. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on?\u201d <\/p>\n
I jumped. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat shelter\u2019s a mistake.\u201d He shook his head. \u201cAn expensive one. Did you know that some of the condos down there are selling for billions of dollars?\u201d<\/p>\n
I shook my head.<\/p>\n
\u201cA one-bedroom apartment is several hundred thousand. And people are buying them up like crazy.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI bet the CEO of Impeder is fat and happy,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd all for nothing,\u201d Matt continued, his voice rising. \u201cThey build houses in the ground and hibernate year-round to avoid the sun but where\u2019s the proof that it causes the Super Cancer? Show me how all of this,\u201d he gestured around the room and then outside toward the shelter, \u201cis decreasing the rate of cancer. Show me!\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared. He was in a mood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if it\u2019s the aliens?\u201d I hadn\u2019t meant to say it out loud but it spurted out anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cancer. What if the aliens are causing the Super Cancer?\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head. \u201cI don\u2019t have time for this, Steph.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what if they\u2019re doing it? What if they\u2019re trying to kill us off because we colonized one of their planets?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt let out a sigh. \u201cWe\u2019ve already looked into that. We still haven\u2019t found any substantial proof that aliens exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you know they do. You saw them.\u201d<\/p>\n
He threw up his hands. \u201cLook, I\u2019m not supposed to tell anyone this but here\u2019s the truth. The sun isn\u2019t causing the cancer. It\u2019s the soil. It\u2019s something in the ground. We discovered it a few days ago but the government won\u2019t listen. We told them the facts, showed them the truth but they want more proof.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt my mouth drop open. \u201cBut if people are moving underground into the Impeder- \u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c-it\u2019s a death sentence,\u201d he finished. <\/p>\n
The star actor on Impeder\u2019s commercials was in D.C.<\/p>\n
I stepped to the curb across from our apartment as his SUV rolled to a stop in front of me and the door opened. A man strained, rocked himself out of the driver\u2019s seat, his fat face and pudgy hands soaked in sweat, and opened the passenger door.<\/p>\n
The actor stepped out, saw me, smiled. His teeth were opals against dark skin. \u201cWell, hi there kiddo.\u201d<\/p>\n
My hands clenched. \u201cHi.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you checked out your new Shelter? Your parents got you a place down there yet?\u201d His voice radiated confidence. Happiness. Fakeness.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey should. I heard it\u2019s quite spectacular. Came to check it out for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded. Turned away. But he kept talking to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cGot something special here for the kiddos.\u201d <\/p>\n
My teeth clenched. I wasn\u2019t a kid. Not anymore, anyway.<\/p>\n
A purple bottle slid out of his hand into mine.<\/p>\n
\u201cNew flavor,\u201d he said. \u201cMade for the kiddos but the parents really like it because all of the research and development was done right here in D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n
People gathered around, nudging each other out of the way to get a bottle.
\nI was surprised that Matt hadn\u2019t mentioned that Impeder was manufactured here in D.C. since he had such a dislike for it. I opened the bottle, smelled deeply. Grape. <\/p>\n
The address on the back of the bottle was familiar. 121 Lockwood. My stomach flipped. Wasn\u2019t that the address where Matt worked?<\/p>\n
I took the metro. Next to me, a mother watched her two kids with her eyes half closed as one of them licked the other\u2019s eyeballs. The kid turned to me, asked if I wanted a lick. I would\u2019ve laughed if I\u2019d been in the mood. Instead, I handed him the Impeder.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrape,\u201d I said. \u201cEdible, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
They argued over it. One hit the other. Their mother closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
The building at 121 Lockwood was easy to find because it was imposing and emblazoned with the purple and green Impeder logo. People rushed by, their heads down, carrying briefcases. <\/p>\n
\u201cNeed some help, miss?\u201d <\/p>\n
The security guard was young. He wasn\u2019t tall but filled out his uniform nicely with lean muscle.<\/p>\n
Sweat dripped down my sides. I shook my head. What was I doing here?<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you looking for your parents?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Just got a little turned around, I guess.\u201d I shrugged my shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re here for the tour then? They\u2019re serving up taste-tests of the new flavor today. Come on. I\u2019ll get you to the front desk.\u201d<\/p>\n
He took me through the security gate and inside the building where a long line of people waited for their ticket. <\/p>\n
\u201cLook,\u201d he said. \u201cI can get you in faster. You don\u2019t have to wait in this line.\u201d<\/p>\n
I followed him down a flight of stairs and through a locked door labeled \u201cPersonnel Only.\u201d My alarm bells didn\u2019t start clanging until we went into a little office and he locked the door behind me. Before I could react, he pinned me on the desk with his hands holding me down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou yell and I\u2019ll kill you,\u201d he said. His Taser pressed against my neck. <\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t make me use this.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t think past the pulsing of blood in my ears. <\/p>\n
He moved to unbutton his pants and I reacted instinctively, shoving him and kicking him in the groin. I was out of the office and running down the hall when I heard him slam the door and yell out after me.<\/p>\n
The hall was austere, quiet. No one appeared, curious about the commotion.<\/p>\n
My footfalls were loud on the linoleum and I could hear him behind me. He was fast.<\/p>\n
But I was faster. I threw open a door and bolted up a set of steps. At the top, there was another door. I went through it.<\/p>\n
On the other side was a large room. The orange of the aliens\u2019 skin was shocking against the sterile white walls. They turned their heads to look at me in the doorway. There were hundreds of them.<\/p>\n
I screamed. Then I passed out.<\/p>\n
I woke to bright light and a pinching feeling in my arm. The aliens had me. They were experimenting.<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t see past the glare but garbled voices surrounded me, hemmed me in. I struggled to sit up and I was pushed back down. <\/p>\n
One of them bent over me, said something. I punched at it. Missed.<\/p>\n
It motioned to the others and they stepped away. It turned off the light. Peered down at me.<\/p>\n
It was touching its head, pulling at it, until it became elongated like some kind of wretched Halloween mask, and shrieks erupted from my throat like vomit.<\/p>\n
It ripped its head off. I looked up at the bloody stump that had been its head but it wasn\u2019t bloody and it wasn\u2019t a stump. It was Matt.<\/p>\n
The second time I woke up we were barreling down the highway at break-neck speed. I was lying with the seat down in the passenger side.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re fine,\u201d Matt said. \u201cJust passed out from the shock.\u201d He held out a bottle of water and a candy bar. \u201cEat this. It\u2019ll make you feel better.\u201d
\nI shoved his hand away and sat up. <\/p>\n
\u201cLook, I know you\u2019re mad and that\u2019s okay. You have every right to be mad, but you don\u2019t know the whole story. Once you know-\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are we going?\u201d I interrupted. \u201cAnd why are you driving so fast?\u201d My heart was racing but I didn\u2019t want Matt to know. I glared at him. \u201cAre you an alien? Have you been hiding it this whole time?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt sighed. \u201cOne thing at a time, Steph.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWell you better start talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst off, we\u2019re going to the airport.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the airport\u2019s that way.\u201d I pointed east.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to a different one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause they\u2019re coming after us.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked behind me. There was no one on the highway, in either direction. <\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s coming after us?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose things you call aliens.\u201d<\/p>\n
My throat tightened. \u201cYou can\u2019t be serious.\u201d<\/p>\n
He leaned forward, reached into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet. <\/p>\n
\u201cOpen it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did. His picture stared back at me with the letters FBI inscribed at the top.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re in the FBI?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt nodded. \u201cWe were on a secret mission. Investigating Impeder. That\u2019s why I was in there when you\u2026 fainted.\u201d He glanced at me. \u201cWhat were you doing in there anyway?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo way,\u201d I said. \u201cIt\u2019s your turn to answer questions. Why were you investigating Impeder?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt looked in the rearview mirror, sped up. \u201cYou know how I told you that there\u2019s something in the soil that\u2019s causing the Super Cancer?\u201d
\nI nodded<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like Impeder was able to isolate the source. Steph, they\u2019ve been putting it in their products. All of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut why? That means they want people to get cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight. And what happens when everyone\u2019s getting cancer and they have the only supposed preventative? They suddenly get really rich and powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n
We sat in silence for a few minutes; Matt tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and I stared out at the brownness of the terrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Matt,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDoes that mean those orange things aren\u2019t really aliens?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, they\u2019re not aliens,\u201d he replied. \u201cJust nerds in biosuits.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo those orange things that took grandma and mom weren\u2019t aliens?\u201d<\/p>\n
Sirens erupted behind us.<\/p>\n
Matt swore. \u201cHold on, Steph.\u201d<\/p>\n
Police cars hounded us. I sunk down in my seat, covered my eyes. \u201cWhy are the police after us?\u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the police. That\u2019s Impeder.\u201d Matt slammed on the brakes and turned the steering wheel hard. The tires screeched as the rubber slid across the asphalt and then we were driving through the dirt, the car bouncing up and down on the rocks and dead stumps.<\/p>\n
I grabbed his arm. \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI almost missed the entrance to the airport,\u201d he said. \u201cThey must\u2019ve taken the sign down.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was no road, no indication that there was an airport anywhere in the vicinity.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis can\u2019t be the way. You\u2019d better turn around or we\u2019ll miss the flight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t turn around.\u201d <\/p>\n
He was right. Impeder\u2019s men were right behind us.<\/p>\n
Matt swung the car in front of a large building, low-slung, brown like the landscape. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is it,\u201d he said. \u201cRun inside!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to be kidding me. This can\u2019t be it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGo,\u201d he yelled.\t <\/p>\n
We ran toward the building. \u201cWhat the hell is going on, Matt? This can\u2019t be an airport. There aren\u2019t even any planes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt glanced behind us so I looked too. <\/p>\n
The cars following us were sliding to a stop. Some of the men were already jumping out of their cars, running after us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know some pretty damning stuff and they\u2019ll kill us for it. We have to go into hiding.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was yelling behind us. A warning shot. <\/p>\n
I gasped. \u201cFor how long?\u201d We were almost at the entrance to the hanger.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil Impeder\u2019s brought down.\u201d <\/p>\n
A man flung open the door to the hangar. He was wearing some type of suit that reminded me of a race car driver. \u201cHurry!\u201d <\/p>\n
He pulled us toward a metallic-looking vessel in the hangar\u2019s center, its doors flung open like wings. It almost sparkled in the fluorescent light.
\nThere were two others inside. One of them was running a diagnostics check at the console and the other was pressing buttons to close the vessel\u2019s doors. <\/p>\n
They looked familiar and I remembered who they were, where I\u2019d seen them. <\/p>\n
It\u2019d been the day mom had disappeared. They\u2019d shown up with some fancy equipment to help us find her. <\/p>\n
They must\u2019ve been undercover with the FBI and forced to go into hiding, too, when I\u2019d blown their cover.<\/p>\n
I felt some guilt in ruining the investigation, these people\u2019s lives. <\/p>\n
There was shouting. Impeder\u2019s men were inside the hangar. Shots rang off the vessel.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s get this thing moving,\u201d Matt shouted.<\/p>\n
The atmosphere felt tense. Everyone moved with a nervous edge. <\/p>\n
An enormous gate slid open at one side of the hanger. I was buckled into a seat next to Matt when the countdown started.<\/p>\n
Cheers erupted at liftoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWoohoo!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYa!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can\u2019t get us now.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart dropped into my stomach. All of this- Matt being in the FBI and the investigation into Impeder- was shocking, but most frightening was the claim that there weren\u2019t aliens at all. Instead, those orange things that had taken grandma and most likely mom were scientists from Impeder.
\nI could hear the others in the background. \u201cOut of earth\u2019s atmosphere,\u201d one of them said.<\/p>\n
And now I\u2019m traveling in a spaceship to an unknown destination. I turned to Matt, \u201cWhat did Impeder do with mom and grandma?\u201d <\/p>\n
Matt grabbed my hand. \u201cWe found some evidence that they took grandma for research. Impeder\u2019s been contaminating products for decades and they wanted to know why she hadn\u2019t developed the cancer like everyone else. How had she survived?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs she still alive?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt shook his head. His eyes were glassy.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know what I was feeling- some anger, some sadness, but mostly nothing. I had long ago known that something bad had happened to grandma. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about mom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t take mom.\u201d Tears slipped down Matt\u2019s cheeks. \u201cShe\u2019s alive, Steph. You\u2019ll see her. We\u2019re going to see her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thought I heard him speaking; I thought his lips were moving, but I wasn\u2019t sure what he was saying. Then his voice was there, reassuring. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s okay, Steph. She figured it out before us, before the FBI did. She knew about the soil, the abduction. She\u2019s the one that contacted the FBI and they forced her into hiding for her safety, and for yours.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to understand,\u201d he continued. \u201cThey wouldn\u2019t let her tell you.\u201d <\/p>\n
There was anticipation then, and relief. The anger was gone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she? Where are we going?\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt\u2019s mouth slid into a half-smile. \u201cTeralf.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cTeralf? You\u2019re joking right? I felt like I\u2019d just been hit in the stomach by a fast pitch. Matt unbuckled his seat belt and walked away but he was back in a minute. <\/p>\n
\u201cLook on the bright side,\u201d he said. \u201cNow you know that Teralfians don\u2019t exist.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust because there aren\u2019t aliens on earth doesn\u2019t mean that there aren\u2019t aliens on Teralf.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt held something out to me. \u201cThere\u2019s no proof of aliens, Steph, but I got you a new stick, anyway. I know yours broke during the move.\u201d <\/p>\n
It was long and healthy. I wondered where he\u2019d found one that wasn\u2019t dead with cancer. <\/p>\n
I took the stick. It felt right in my hands. <\/p>\n
\u201cI sure hope it works,\u201d I said. \u201cThat last one was a dud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lauren B. Fawcett has a Master of Science degree in Education. A rather indecisive person with varied interests, she enjoys writing in multiple genres, including Fantasy, Western, Historical, and Science Fiction. Previous works have appeared in The Lorelei Signal, Mystic Signals, The Big Adios, and Mused-The Bella Online Literary Journal. She resides in rural Pennsylvania with her husband, Patrick, and a cat with ninja-like moves. Check out her website at www.theskinnyminny.com<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I saw them first but they saw me, too. They were orange and wore masks with tubes that twisted out of their mouths and noses. I couldn\u2019t tell what they were but I was sure they were aliens, just like the ones my older brother Matt would tell me were hiding in my bedroom closet …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2481,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-fiction-aliens-space-ships","category-fiction","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2481"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6093"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139647,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6093\/revisions\/139647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}