“Do you think they can be trusted?”
“Do you?”
She frowned. “No. They scare me.”
“Me too,” he admitted, especially since Keegan was excited by their arrival. Anything Keegan liked was bound to be bad. “Do you see anything evil manifesting from them like you did with the greys?”
“They’re not the same as the greys. I don’t know what the difference is, exactly. They’re beautiful to look at, but…”
“You think appearances can be deceiving?”
“Pretty much.” She adjusted her coat collar and shrugged. “What can I do about it? Nothing. So I don’t.”
She’d given up, and while a part of him couldn’t blame her, another part felt the need to give her some hope. “It can’t be hopeless. Humanity has to survive.”
“You’re probably right. I need to get back to work.”
“You don’t expect to be one of the survivors, do you?”
With a half-hearted chuckle, she asked, “And why would I be? There’s nothing special about me.”
He wanted to argue with her but decided against it.
“Good luck on finding another job.” She smiled at him before she headed back into the building.
Reluctant, he went in the opposite direction to his car so he could report to work.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Alex sat in the waiting room at Dr. Reyes’ office, hoping this would be his last visit. Ever since the Annunaki healed him, Dr. Reyes had him undergo a series of tests to make sure he could give him a clean bill of health. Alex drummed his fingers on the armchair and glanced at the clock. With any luck, he’d be able to tell Autumn the good news.
Dr. Reyes opened his office door. Alex watched as he said good-bye to an older man who’d just finished a session with him. When Dr. Reyes motioned for Alex to come into the office, Alex stood up and did as instructed. He went straight to the chair where he usually sat and waited for Dr. Reyes to sit across from him.
Alex scanned the room, taking in all of Dr. Reyes’ degrees and awards. Then his eyes fell on something he hadn’t noticed before. It was a symbol he’d seen on Masonic Lodges. The compass intersecting the edge of a square and the G in the center was familiar enough. But as many times as he’d driven by the lodges, it never once occurred to him to ask what that particular symbol meant.
Dr. Reyes retrieved a folder from his desk and sat across from Alex. “How are you feeling today?”
“Great,” Alex replied, smiling.
He opened the folder and looked over the contents.
Alex crossed his legs and glanced around the room, noting the picture of Dr. Reyes in front of a pyramid. “I don’t remember seeing that picture before.”
Dr. Reyes looked up from the folder. “I’ve had it up there for about six years now. You probably didn’t notice it before because you were preoccupied by the things going on in your life.” He shut the folder and smiled. “I take that as another good sign.”
“Good sign?”
“Yes. You’re becoming more aware of your surroundings. When we aren’t doing well, it’s easy to get stuck in our own world, even to the point where we block out everything going on around us.”
Alex caught sight of another pyramid, except this one wasn’t in Egypt. “Where was that picture taken?”
“Palenque, Mexico. That is called the Temple of the Inscriptions.”
“Wow.” He noted a couple of other pyramids on the wall behind him. “You went to all of these places?”
“Yes. I like to travel.”
Especially to pyramids, he noted before turning his attention back to Dr. Reyes.
“You know, the Annunaki built those pyramids when they were here the first time,” Dr. Reyes said.
Surprised, Alex asked, “They did?”
“The pyramids all point to portals where they could cross from their world into ours. Are you familiar with the idea of Stargates?”
“Not really. I mean, I know there are movies and TV shows about them.”
“Well, Stargates were used by the Annunaki around the world. They built the pyramids as markers to designate where the Stargates were located here on Earth. Back then, of course, people believed they were gods and worshipped them.”
“I guess that makes sense. The female Annunaki who healed me opened my mind. In an instant, I saw a view of the whole universe. It was amazing. You see something like that and you realize how much more there is to life than this existence.”
Dr. Reyes nodded. “I haven’t had a similar experience, but I imagine you’re right. I’ve been anticipating their return.”
“We’re living in exciting times,” Alex said.
“We are indeed.” He put down the folder and smiled. “Well, I see no reason to keep you coming back.”
“I get my clean bill of health?”
He chuckled. “Yes, and I’m happy for you.”
Alex joined him in standing and shook his hand. “Thank you for everything, doc.”
“If you need to come back for anything, you’re certainly welcome to, but—and I mean this in all sincerity—I hope you never have to return.”
“Me too.” Alex laughed.
This time when Alex left the office, he took a deep breath, glad he didn’t need psychiatric help anymore. He couldn’t remember a time when he felt freer. After he got into his car, he started it up and headed over to the mall to celebrate the good news with Autumn.
***
An and nine Annunaki stormed into the Canadian hotel where the Bilderberg Group assembled in secret. He knew their plans to get rid of him. He had exposed their plans for global domination and they were, predictably, searching for a way to recover from the blow, but their plans were in vain. Their use had run out. It was time to get rid of excess garbage.
He forced the locked doors to open, the other Annunaki following close behind. The one hundred and thirty group members turned their startled gazes in his direction, but his attention was on the three Annunaki who sought to betray him. He’d deal with the traitors first.
“So,” An began as he headed for the front of the large room, “you’ve sought to dethrone me.”
The three Annunaki stood together, chins raised in defiance.
“You can’t claim sole authority over the Earth,” one of them said.
“Yes,” another added. “We demand full equality when you establish your reign.”
An stared at them for a moment, noting their determination, and laughed. “Did the war in Heaven teach you nothing? I was made higher than the rest of you. At least they—” he glanced at the nine Annunaki who stood behind him—“have more sense than to try to usurp my authority. Because of this, the Earth will be divided into ten kingdoms instead of thirteen.”
Before they could protest, he called down a lightning bolt from heaven and struck them with it. All at once, they were gone.
Turning to the group of humans, he stepped toward them. “Your time is up.”
A man stood and shouted, “You can’t do this to us! You promised you would give us eternal life and our own kingdoms as long as we followed your orders. You demanded the elimination of the majority of the world’s population and the centralizing of the banks. We followed your orders!”
An let out a low growl. “I did promise those things, and I will deliver on those promises today.”
Several people relaxed, though most had the good sense to stay on their guards.
“I will give you eternal life where you’ll be lord over your own kingdom,” An said. “You’ll get to rule over your own little cell in a place called Hell.”
“No such place exists,” one of the women argued despite the trepidation in her voice.
“Oh, Hell is very real,” An said. “You pathetic humans. You were made lower than the angels, and yet God wants to give you the Earth for an inheritance? Earth is mine!”
He sent forth more lightning from the sky. The Earth rumbled, and the nine Annunaki sent forth fire a
nd wind to devour the hotel in a gulf of flames. Sprouting black wings, they flew out of the blaze, but not before one of the Bilderberg members shot An in the head. Two Annunaki caught him and carried him out of the inferno.
Chapter Thirty
Autumn glanced up from the sales sign she was putting up on the winter clothing that hadn’t sold and saw Alex walking through the store. She called out to him and waved. When he saw her, he moved in her direction.
Alex stopped beside her. “Did you hear the news?”
“What news?”
“Someone shot An. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.”
Shocked, she lowered the sign she was holding instead of putting it on the rack where sweaters hung according to size. “Dead? But I didn’t think the Annunaki could die.”
“That’s what I thought too. Apparently, we were wrong.”
She didn’t know what to think. If the aliens were of a spiritual nature, they shouldn’t be able to die. “Are they sure he’s dead?”
He shrugged. “The shooting happened a couple hours ago, and he hasn’t moved or anything.”
She shook her head and placed the sale sign up. “I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t. Why would someone want to kill him? He hasn’t done anything to harm anyone.”
“No. That’s not what I meant. I just don’t see how they can die when they have the eternal fountain of youth at their disposal. It seems that they should heal from anything.” She didn’t even bother mentioning the spiritual aspect of the equation because every time she did, he laughed it off. If he wasn’t open to recognizing the spiritual forces around him, then there wasn’t much else she could do about it. Clearing her throat, she added, “I guess the Annunaki aren’t as invincible as we thought they were.”
“That’s a shame.”
She didn’t agree but kept her thoughts to herself.
“Anyway, three other Annunaki went back to their planet,” he continued. “They have to decide whether or not we’re ready to evolve. They say the elite’s plan to wipe out a good portion of our planet and the recent attack on An might be proof we’re still too warlike to enjoy permanent peace.”
She went to the rack of winter coats and put up another ‘sale’ sign. “Well, it’s hard to sympathize with the elite dying if they wanted to get rid of us because of overpopulation.”
“Granted, that’s true, but An’s plan was to send them to prison, not kill them. There are humane ways to take care of criminals.”
Nodding her consent, she went to the last rack of clothing that was part of the sale. “Apparently, someone thought there was a better way to take care of them.”
“Do you agree with it?”
“I think something should have been done to stop them. Did it have to be murder? Of course not. I’m just saying that someone thought the end justified the means, that’s all.”
“I hope the Annunaki don’t give up on us and return to their planet. I’d like to think we’re not as bad as the greys.”
She wouldn’t be upset to see the Annunaki go but held her tongue.
“Anyway, are you ready to eat?” Alex asked.
Scanning her section of the department store, she saw that she was finished and nodded. “Yeah. I’m ready. Let me clock out and get my things.”
While he waited, she went to the employee lounge and collected her things. She just put on her coat when Katie ran into the small room.
“Did you hear the terrible news?” Katie asked.
Autumn paused when she realized Katie was crying. “Yes, but Katie, it’s not like you knew An or anything.”
“But he came to give us a better life. How could someone do this to him?”
“Damn good thing they did,” Hampton said, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms. “Maybe now we can start exposing all of the corruption among the governments of the world.”
Katie wiped her eyes and glared at him. “How can you be so cold? Even if he was an alien, he deserved better than this.”
Hampton let out a dry chuckle. “Oh please. He was a holographic image. Nothing more. It’s all part of Project Blue Beam. Satellites giving us a holographic space show where we see our ‘messiah’. This ‘An’ isn’t really dead. You can’t kill a hologram.”
Katie rolled her eyes. “Project Blue Beam? That’s lame. If this was Project Blue Beam, then every nation would have seen the major religious figure of their belief system, and then after everyone saw their specific god, it would morph into the ‘true’ god. An is the same to all people. He didn’t start out by appearing as different gods first.”
“So they modified it.” Hampton shrugged. “It’s still from the same source.”
“Oh good grief. Don’t tell me you’re one of those conspiracy theory nut jobs.”
“You need to wake up and see what’s going on around you,” he told her. “The signs are everywhere.” He shook his head. “Kids. Autumn, you know this alien thing is a bunch of B.S., don’t you?”
Autumn groaned. “I’m not involved in this.”
Ignoring their protests to take a side, she pushed past Hampton and hurried to Alex. Work was hard enough to go to without Alicia there to talk to. She didn’t need to get tangled up in useless arguments. For the first time since the day she decided to stop fighting what was happening, she had the urge to have a good cry. All she wanted was for her sister and good friend to come back while people around her bickered over whether or not conspiracy theories were real!
At least she had one friend who wasn’t caught up in fighting over stupid things. And Alex was doing better. The demon that haunted him was no longer a problem. It was the only bright spot she could see in this whole mess.
***
Two days later, Devon was sorting through the things in his office, trying to decide what to shred and what to turn back in to his superiors. He couldn’t wait to get out of this job. It’d been too long since he felt like a human being. He longed to get an ordinary job and be an ordinary person again.
A knock on his office door caught his attention. Looking up from the papers in one of his folders, he saw his supervisor, and by the serious look on the man’s face, Devon gathered this wasn’t going to be a pleasant conversation.
“Devon,” his supervisor began as he sat across from him, “I understand that times, being what they are, would lead you to want to quit, but I’m afraid I can’t let you.”
Devon frowned. “Why not?”
“We lost a lot of people in those two vanishings. We’re understaffed in some places around the nation.”
“So no one is allowed to quit?”
His supervisor shrugged. “I’m sorry. My hands are tied.”
Devon sat back in his chair and tried to absorb the reality that he really couldn’t walk out of his office in two weeks and never look back.
His supervisor sighed before leaning forward. “Look, if it makes you feel better, I talked my boss into letting you have a raise. I know it’s not what you wanted, but considering the state of the economy, you could do worse.” He stood and added, “Oh, your funds are no longer in US dollars. We’re transitioning to a global currency. There’s going to be a crash in a month, and at that time, the Annunaki will implement their new system.”
Devon’s eyebrows furrowed. “But with An dead, aren’t they rethinking their plan to stay on Earth?”
“That’s the official story, but you know there’s always the real one beneath the surface.”
Glancing at his supervisor, he asked, “Does that mean An isn’t really dead?”
“Probably not.”
“Then why stage his death?”
“That’s anybody’s guess. Even I don’t know everything.” Smiling, he tapped Devon’s desk. “It’ll be fine. Once we get those super soldiers going, they will protect us when the greys return, and once we get the chip to enhance our bodies, the super soldiers won’t be superior to us. The super soldiers are here to do our bidd
ing, not for us to do theirs.”
As his supervisor left, he turned his attention back to the open folder on his desk, his anger and frustration mounting to the point where he thought he might scream. He was stuck. Trapped. Just as he’d been stuck in a never ending nightmare since they hired him. They owned him. His life wasn’t his own, nor would it ever be. He rubbed his eyes. What was he supposed to do? What could he do? Whether he liked it or not, this was his lot in life.
In one swift motion, he shoved everything on his desk to the floor. It wasn’t enough to quell his raging emotions, but there was nothing else he could do so he put his head on the desk and closed his eyes. Taking deep breaths, he willed himself to calm down.
“Devon? What’s wrong?”
Reluctant, he looked up at Vanessa who stared at the messy floor. He didn’t feel like going into the whole sordid story with her. The only person he cared to talk to was at the mall, and no doubt, she’d assume he lied about wanting to quit. Then she’d probably never speak to him again.
“Devon?” Vanessa asked.
He blinked and focused on her. “I dropped some things. By accident.” It was an obvious lie, but it was the best he could offer.
“Okay,” she slowly replied with a raised eyebrow.
“You look like you’re feeling better,” he said, quick to change the topic.
“Did you hear the news? The elite are dead! All of them. We no longer have to worry about their plans for reducing the population. It’s terrible that An died, but I’m so relieved he got the truth out.”
“But the Annunaki might not be the benefactors they claim to be.”
She laughed. “Or they might be. They’re already protecting us. It’s such a relief to no longer fear the future.” She knelt down and started collecting the things he’d thrown off his desk.
Kneeling beside her, he helped. He didn’t have a good feeling about the Annunaki, and even as good as removing the elite seemed to be, he worried that the Annunaki might eventually pose a greater threat.
Once his things were back on the desk, Vanessa returned to her office and he was left alone to ponder his future, thinking there was no way Autumn would want to be a part of it. And that depressed him more than anything else.
Return of the Aliens Page 18