Eating the toast, I waited for the ping again. I thought I heard it several times before it actually sounded. I spun around like my life depended on it.
He said he would meet me at the college campus of a university in Maudesville, but not until nine p.m. that night. I would have to wait all day for the meeting. I replied back that I would be there and logged off.
Lochie and I ditched school and spent all day trying to brainstorm ideas about how to get Lola back. With no clues about who had taken her, we didn’t even know where to start looking. We couldn’t just aimlessly wander about Portview. The chances of stumbling across her were nonexistent. I checked my phone several times, expecting a message from the organization but there was nothing besides messages from my parents. They were still trying to convince me to let them pick me up. I had to ignore them.
When it got dark, it was time to make a move. We planned to hang around the college campus, trying to get a feel for the place. We didn’t really know who we were meeting with so we wanted to know the layout in case we had to leave suddenly.
Lochie went downstairs first, making sure the coast was clear. He called out that it was fine to come down. I padded after him, keen to get the whole thing over and done with. I was more nervous than I let on about meeting with the guy. There were some real kooks that trawled through the message boards, there was nothing to say he wasn’t one of them.
We went to leave, however the moment we opened the door, we were face to face with two police officers. It was too late to run in the opposite direction.
CHAPTER 21
“You’re in a hurry. Where are you going?” One of the officers asked. He was taller and older than his partner, probably about fifty. Yet he still looked like he could outrun two teenagers.
“Out for dinner,” Lochie replied. My heart was pounding, hoping the Department hadn’t put out a warrant for my arrest yet. They would often use the local police to find someone when they didn’t have the manpower for it. It was their way of shifting the costs to the state level.
Rob would no doubt know for sure by now that I hadn’t got my chip replaced. He would know I was trying to hide from them. But how did they know to look for me at Lochie’s house? I hoped their facial recognition technology wasn’t so advanced they identified him from CCTV footage at the Department.
“Right, dinner.” The shorter of the officers rolled his eyes. He seemed like the kind of man that was skeptical of anything he was told. His scowl was probably permanent too.
“We understand you know Lola Newell?” The older officer held up Lola’s photograph. It was only a few months old, taken at the county eisteddfod after she placed first in the solo singer’s category.
“We do,” Lochie answered for both of us.
“Do you know she’s currently missing?”
He nodded again. “We do.”
“We’re going door to door, trying to piece together her last movements. When was the last time you saw her?” The officer waited patiently while we were supposed to be thinking it through.
At least they weren’t there looking for me, that was a massive relief. And they were actually actively seeking Lola, that was even better. At least someone was out there hoping to stumble across her.
Lochie looked to me for an answer, I was ready for full disclosure. “She was at school the day before yesterday. She had rehearsals with her band but I hadn’t seen her since that morning. I tried looking for her at lunchtime but couldn’t find her.”
“So you’re friends with Miss Newell?”
“Best friends.”
“Have you heard from her?” He shot the questions just as fast as I could answer them.
“Not at all.”
“Was she having any trouble at home or at school? With a boyfriend, perhaps?”
“She has a great home and her boyfriend is a new thing. She is absolutely happy with both. School is also going well.”
“Can you think of any reason why she might choose to disappear for a few days?” I didn’t like what he was implying and he was completely off track. I needed to make sure he was following the right lead.
“She was fine. I know Lola better than anyone and she would never run away. She’s the most stable and normal person I know. Someone had to have taken her,” I said earnestly, hoping they would get the hint. “Lola would never disappear, she didn’t have any reason to. It would be completely out of character.”
They wrote down the notes in their book and took our names. Hopefully the names would be lost in the report when it was filed. I didn’t want anyone knowing I was spending time with Lochie. Both to protect him and to stop myself suffering any embarrassment.
When the police officers were satisfied they had extracted everything they were going to get, they left us alone. We had lost a good half hour from our tour of the college campus.
Lochie drove to Maudesville without incident and parked in the student lot. People milled around, mostly in groups as they talked animatedly among themselves. The campus lights were already on as the sun slid down beyond the horizon. It would have been a nice place to hang out if the circumstances weren’t so horrible.
We found the area where we were to meet the guy and did a circle around it a few times, looking for the best ways to flee if we needed to. There were a couple of good hiding places to wait out a pursuit if it came to that too. I was comfortable we would be able to escape if worse came to worse.
“We’ve still got an hour,” Lochie said, checking his watch. “Do you want to grab some dinner?”
My stomach grumbled at the mere mention of the word. I nodded eagerly and we found a quiet table at a campus café. We were surrounded by students attached to their phones and laptops.
“I guess this will be us next year,” Lochie commented, gesturing to the other tables before taking a bite of his burger. “Kind of looks a lot like high school.”
“I’m thinking some time off might be a better option,” I replied, wondering if I would be allowed to stay on Earth after disappearing.
“Maybe travel around Europe?”
“Something like that.”
He must have picked up on my nerves because his next words could not have been more appropriate. “We’re going to find her, you know. It’s going to happen.”
“You don’t know that,” I pointed out, instantly regretting my sharp tone. I didn’t mean to sound so snarky. “I’m sorry. You’ve been so great and I didn’t mean to throw that back at you.”
“It’s okay,” he sighed. “You’re worried about Lola. I can relate.”
“I know I keep asking, but why are you doing this for me?” I had to ask because without knowing, I kept expecting him to turn me away at any moment.
“Because of fourth grade.”
I wished Lochie came with a key so I could decipher everything he said. “You’re going to have to remind me what happened in fourth grade.”
“It was the moment I fell in love with you.”
Surely I didn’t hear right. “Excuse me?”
“It was quiet time where we were supposed to be finishing our work but most people were already done. You were talking with Belle Rodriguez,” Lochie started, leaning back in his chair to tell the story. I was hanging on every word. “She must have said something funny because you giggled. I thought you were the most beautiful thing in the world and I knew I loved you.”
I didn’t remember that particular day, or even Belle Rodriguez. He had to be making the whole thing up, probably so he could tease me about believing him later. “You’re joking, right?”
Lochie shook his head, he looked disappointed for just a moment before taking a sip of his soda.
“You don’t love me, Lochie. Seriously.”
“Ah, but I do.”
“You hate me, we fight all the time,” I argued, nothing was making sense. I seriously believed I was in a dream. Either that or Lochie had taken a blow to the head sometime in the last few minutes.
“Do you know
how cute you look when you’re angry?” He continued before growing serious. “Look, I know you don’t feel the same way about me, so fighting with you is the only way I actually get to talk to you.”
I shoved my burger into my mouth so I didn’t have to say anything. It was difficult processing what was happening right now. As I did, I caught a glimpse of the oversized clock above the cashier.
“It’s almost nine, we need to get moving,” I said quickly, picking up a pile of fries to take with me. Lochie followed me out, not saying a word. I felt awful that he had just confessed something huge to me and I was completely ignoring it. But right now, my brain was focused on Lola. Everything else would have to wait. Besides, I didn’t know what to say to him. Everything seemed awkward now.
We hurried over to the meeting point, a tree tucked away in an alcove of the courtyard. I finished the chips as we waited. The silence between us was deafening.
As nervous as I was, when footsteps approached, I was relieved. At least there was someone else to talk to for a few moments. And hopefully they would lead us straight to the organization that had Lola.
“Amery?” The guy asked.
“Jacob?”
He nodded. He was smaller than I expected, Lochie could have him knocked to the ground easily. He wore a black fedora hat, trying to cover most of his face. All his clothes were completely black. He reminded me a bit of Zorro, he only needed a thin moustache. He looked Lochie up and down. “I told you not to bring anyone.”
“Lochie is just a friend, he’s cool,” I tried to settle his nerves. His movements were jerky, like he was highly strung. It was like watching a spring ready to recoil.
Jacob didn’t appear happy but he continued on anyway. “How do I know you’re not one of them?”
“Because they have my friend, I’m trying to find them so I can get her back,” I explained. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her, trust me.”
He eyed me suspiciously as he pursed his lips. “Fine. How much do you know about the organization?”
“Nothing, really.”
“I’d better start from the beginning,” Jacob sighed. “The organization is referred to as the Originals. They say they represent the human race – the original inhabitants of Earth. Their main concern is preserving our planet and warding off any invasions. They believe there is a government conspiracy to slowly integrate aliens into our society. From there, they will increase the numbers until we are overtaken by a new race.”
“I’m sorry, aliens?” Lochie interjected incredulously. In hindsight, I guess I really should have given him a bit of a heads up before we met with Jacob.
Jacob nodded, continuing unfazed. “Aliens, as in beings from other planets, yes. Their numbers will grow and they will breed with humans until there is no way we can get rid of them and reclaim our Earth. In only a few generations, it’s possible we will have nothing but crossbreeds. There will be no pureblood humans.”
Even though I knew only part of what he was saying was true, it was still startling to hear it out loud. We were integrating with the human race, but we didn’t have plans to completely take over and multiply. That wasn’t any part of the project that I had heard about. We would have been happy just being able to live on the planet.
Lochie stared at Jacob, I could tell he was having problems processing what he was saying. It was hard to believe, after all. The entire story sounded like something a lunatic would spout off about while wearing aluminum foil as a hat.
“So why do the Originals think that’s what’s happening? Where are they getting their information?” I asked, keen to get to the bottom of the organization. It seemed like they knew enough of the project to be dangerous but not enough to understand.
“According to the rumors, they have connections in the government. Public servants that don’t agree with what’s going on and want to do something about it.”
“And how do you know so much about them?”
“People talk and they talk to me,” Jacob said, shrugging. “The Originals are keen to recruit as many true believers as possible. They think the only way we are going to protect our race is to band together. Like their motto says: ‘Protect Our Own’.”
“Protect our own? It sounds like racism in its purest form,” I replied. They didn’t even know what they were protecting their own from. I’m sure no-one in the Originals actually knew an alien. It was more like plain fear of the unknown to me.
“The Originals believe humans will be fighting for their rights in the near future,” he continued. “According to them, it’s already started so they need to act swiftly.”
“What do you mean, already started?”
“Aliens are amongst us.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Lochie laughed. “It’s not like they could hide anywhere.”
Jacob turned to Lochie, staring him in the eyes and not blinking for an incredibly long amount of time. “If they looked like humans, who would know?”
A chill ran down my spine. Perhaps it wasn’t a good idea bringing Lochie with me. I didn’t want him putting two and two together. He might say he loved me, but the moment he found out what I truly was, he would be running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.
Jacob turned back to me. “If your friend is being held captive by the Originals, there’s a chance she might be one of them.”
“She’s not an alien,” I replied, not even wanting to go down that path and waste time. “Where can I find the Originals? Do they have a headquarters or someone I can contact? I need to find them.”
“They hold meetings somewhere but I don’t know where, only full members can attend. Their identity is highly protected. The government is keen to close them down because they’re getting too close to the truth.”
Never a truer word could be said. “Do you have any clues? An inkling where they could be hanging out?”
Jacob shook his head. So far, he had appeared to be completely honest with me, I didn’t have any reason to doubt him on this either. “I can only tell you what I hear and nobody divulges things like that. Not even the closest of friends.”
“I understand.” My mind raced, wondering if I had left anything out, whether there were any more questions I wanted to ask. I kept drawing a blank. “Thank you for meeting with us.”
“I was never here.” Judging by the conspiratorial tone to his voice, I got the feeling Jacob kind of liked the whole cloak and dagger thing. He probably didn’t even believe anything he said, he just enjoyed being a covert operative.
“Of course,” I replied. “We were never here either. But if you find out anything more, will you private message me? I really need to find my friend.”
With a nod of the head and a tip of his fedora hat, Jacob disappeared into the night. Lochie and I were left alone in the alcove. Thoughts whirled around and around in my head but they didn’t seem to settle on anything. Knowing more about the Originals was good, but Jacob didn’t say anything that would really help me find Lola. All I could think of was how we had wasted the entire day waiting for the meeting when I should have been out there searching. Every minute that passed meant Lola was in further danger.
“That guy was nuts,” Lochie said. “Aliens and a government conspiracy? That’s stuff from The X-Files, not real life. Tell me you don’t believe any of it.”
I was about to do the best performance of my life. “Of course not. But these guys have Lola so I need to get inside their head.”
“It kind of sounded like you did believe him.”
“I believe there are a lot of things that are unexplainable in the world,” I said carefully. I felt awful for lying to him, even if I had been doing it for seventeen years. “If they believe aliens are going to take over, then that’s their prerogative.”
Lochie stared me in the eyes. “They think Lola is an alien.”
“No, they don’t.” At least I wasn’t lying on that one. The Originals knew Lola wasn’t an alien, but they did know I was one and was
using her as bait to trap me.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because I just am.”
Lochie grew very quiet, so quiet I was beginning to wonder what was going on inside his head. It was a pity we didn’t have cool powers like in the movies. Mind reading would come in handy some times.
“We should go home,” I sighed, trying to get him to say something. It wasn’t going to get Lola back if we stood around the campus all night. Lochie didn’t move. “Lochie? It’s getting late.”
His eyes flicked up to meet my own. “Are you the alien they’re looking for?”
CHAPTER 22
A million thoughts flashed through my mind all at once. Are you the alien they’re looking for? I had never been asked straight out if I was an alien before. I mean, who even thinks to ask something like that? It wasn’t like it was a standard question like how are you?
To make it worse, the person asking me was the one person I really didn’t want to tell my secret to. “Don’t be silly, why would I be an alien?” I finally replied, trying to pretend like it was the craziest notion in the universe.
“Because, according to the conspiracy nut, they’re looking for aliens. Your note said to meet with them. Why else would they be interested in you? You’re a teenage girl,” Lochie persisted. “An amazing girl, but just a girl.”
“My parents are in the FBI, remember? They probably think they know something and can get to them via me.” That sounded surprisingly plausible, even to me and I knew it was a lie. It was also kind of true, bonus.
“Then why did you have a microchip in your shoulder?”
“What’s with the twenty questions?” Answering a question with a question was just a delay tactic, but I needed the extra few seconds to concoct an answer. Lochie couldn’t know the truth or he would leave me at the campus and never want to see me again.
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