The Leader

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  Return of the Aliens

  Novella # 3:

  The

  Leader

  Ruth Ann Nordin

  The Leader - Smashwords Edition

  Published by Ruth Ann Nordin at Smashwords

  Copyright © 2010 by Ruth Ann Nordin

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Photo images Getty Images LLC. www.photos.com All rights reserved – used with permission.

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please do. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Dedicated to my long-time good friend, Melanie Nilles, whose love of science fiction has inspired me to consider writing my own science fiction tale.

  Chapter One

  Two months later...

  Devon knew it was a bad idea to come here. He had no business tempting fate. As long as he stayed away, she would most likely give up on her suicidal pursuit to find out what was going on. And yet, he couldn’t stay away. Or maybe it wasn’t that he couldn’t but more of the fact that he didn’t want to.

  Whatever the case, one thing was for sure: this was a bad idea. But that didn’t stop him from entering the mall, nor did it stop him from stepping into the store where she worked. His gaze drifted up to the camera set at the entrance. No longer did the stores hide the fact that they had surveillance. Now it was all in the open.

  Any pretense of privacy was being eroded right in front of everyone, and very few people seemed to notice or care. It was unfortunate. They were trading freedom for security, and in the end, it would be their undoing. But this was the aliens’ plan. How nicely it all fit into place.

  “Can I help you?” a young blond woman asked as she came up to him.

  He wondered if he should ask for her co-worker or just “look”. But then, what would he look for in the women’s section of a store? Finally, he said, “I have a matter to discuss with someone who works here. She’s 5’4”, a light brunette, probably in her early 30’s.” And pretty. He willed that thought away.

  “Oh, you mean Autumn.”

  So that was her name. “Right.”

  “She’s outside on a break. She likes to smoke a lot.” She rolled her eyes and giggled.

  “Thank you,” he replied, deciding that women as young as the woman in front of him had limited appeal.

  His boss preferred those types—probably because they weren’t smart enough to figure out what a loser he was. But then, his boss didn’t want smart; he wanted easy. And the type standing in front of him would fit the bill. Sighing, Devon headed out of the mall through a doorway that wasn’t blocked off by security. He found Autumn sitting alone on a bench a few stores down and took his time in approaching her.

  She put out her cigarette but remained sitting. She stared ahead, not seeming to be looking at anything in particular. He wondered what she was thinking. He was aware that they were being watched, but he’d been aware of that ever since he started his job a good seventeen years ago, though he hadn’t been a human guinea pig until seven years later.

  He stopped in front of her and realized she had her eyes closed. “Autumn?”

  She jerked and sat up straight.

  An amused smile crossed his face. “I didn’t realize this bench was a good place to nap.”

  “I’m not sleeping,” she denied, even though it was apparent she was dozing off. She gave him a good look. “What are you doing here?”

  He sat next to her. He would have asked if he could, but he figured she’d say no. “I came to talk to you. How have you been doing since the explosion?”

  Her eyebrows furrowed. “You have a lot of nerve, you know that? You spent all that time warning me to leave matters alone and now you’re digging them up?”

  “I’m not digging anything up. I just thought I’d ask a question.”

  “What do you care? You set a bomb, and three people died that day.”

  He shook his head. “I told them to stay away from that plant. It’s not my fault they didn’t heed my warning.”

  “You’re amazing, really amazing.” She pulled out a cigarette and lighter. He noted the slight trembling of her hands. “One minute you’re telling me I better watch what I say and where I go and the next, you’re claiming to be a good Samaritan.”

  “I’ve never claimed that. The goal was to scare people, not harm anyone. Sometimes unpleasant side effects are part of the job.” He mentally kicked himself. Why was he telling her this? He knew better than to reveal anything personal to anyone.

  “I find it hard to believe you care about anyone but yourself,” she muttered and lit up her cigarette.

  “Well, you’re wrong.” He did care, and that was a problem because it was probably a matter of time before they found out and conveniently replaced him with someone who didn’t. “I do what I have to do.”

  “Oh really? And does that thing hovering around you tell you what to do?”

  His head snapped in her direction. “There’s nothing hovering around me.”

  She shrugged, said, “Whatever,” and took a puff of her cigarette.

  The way she casually stated that gave him an uneasy feeling in his gut. “I don’t,” he insisted, unsure if he was trying to convince him or her.

  “You must not see it.”

  A shiver crawled up his spine. He didn’t want to ask it but felt compelled to. “See what?”

  “The black shadow that lurks near you. It’s standing behind you.”

  He glanced back. “I don’t see anything.”

  “I know. I didn’t see it until those people vanished. Ever since then I’ve become aware of a spiritual world around us.”

  “Spiritual? As in God?”

  “I think so. It’s the only logical explanation for angels and demons hanging around.”

  “You’re a nut.”

  She glared at him. “You’re the one bombing places and I’m the nut?”

  “Yes, you are.” He stood up. Nothing was behind him. There wasn’t anything dark and creepy hovering nearby. She was probably schizophrenic or something. “You should get some pills for those hallucinations you’re having.”

  “I haven’t come across a single person who sees them, so I’m not surprised you’d say that.”

  The way she casually made her comments bothered him. She was either psychotic or telling him the truth. He couldn’t believe he wanted to see her. She’d been the first person who had seemed completely human to him; someone who wasn’t manipulative or part of the nightmare that had become his life. But she turned out to be a complete nut, and that sorely disappointed him. “Seriously, get some help for that.”

  Her response was to take another puff of her cigarette.

  “And it wouldn’t hurt to stop smoking. It’s a filthy habit, you know.”

  She looked him in the eyes and said, “It’s touching your shoulder.”

  For a moment, just a brief one, he thought he felt a cold touch on his left shoulder. Great. Now she was making him imagine things. Deciding not to add more fuel to the fire, he spun on his heels and left.

  A waste of his time. That’s all it was. One big waste of his time. Spiritual things. A world where demons and ang
els ran around but no one could detect them, except for a select few like Autumn. He shook his head. It couldn’t be real. There was no way it could be real.

  He returned to his car and got in, quickly looking over his shoulder and to his side. Nothing. There wasn’t anything there. And yet...and yet... He shivered and started the car.

  How many times had he told people that government conspiracy theories were crazy, even though he knew the truth? He lived the truth every day of his life. He knew things he wished he didn’t and had heard conversations he wished he hadn’t. Plans were in the works to collapse the worlds’ economies so a one world currency would go into place. There were plans to devastate areas through manipulating the weather. Increased earthquakes, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts... Plans to unite the governments into a one world order. So many things were happening behind the scenes, and God help him but he was a part of it; he was responsible for some of it.

  He chuckled and shook his head. God help him? Now she had him thinking of God.

  He drove to one of the exits in the parking lot and rolled his window down where a security guard stood. Taking out his government ID, he handed it to the guard who scanned it over.

  “Drive safe, Mr. Patrick,” the man said with a solemn nod.

  Devon took his ID back, nodded in return, and drove off, watching in the rearview mirror as the driver in the car behind him stopped so he could pass through the security clearance. This was the new world people were quickly being thrust into, and by the time they woke up and realized that it wasn’t because of their safety but to control them, it would be too late.

  He came to a stop at the red light and rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling as if the weight of the world was weighing down on him. He didn’t know what to do. He was in too deep. He couldn’t get out…unless he died.

  He placed his free hand on the place between the two seats and jerked. His hand had touched something that could only be described as an icy mist. Turning his eyes to the passenger seat, he thought he saw a faint distortion in the seat. As soon as he saw it, it disappeared.

  His heart pounded anxiously in his chest, and for a good moment, all he could do was stare at the empty seat and wonder if what he thought he felt and saw was real or his imagination going wild. He’d seen a lot of things in his time, but he’d never experienced something like this. In that brief instant, his very core had shaken with fear.

  A horn honked behind him.

  Directing his gaze to the light, he saw that it had turned green. With a deep breath, he pressed his foot to the accelerator and drove through the intersection. He glanced at his passenger seat. Nothing. He tentatively touched the seat next to him. Nothing.

  He released his shaky breath. Nothing. It’d been nothing. Just a figment of his imagination. Yes, that’s all it was. Nothing more.

  But no matter how hard he tried to convince himself, he was deathly afraid that Autumn was right.

  Chapter Two

  Alex took the pill out of the orange bottle, once again wondering if this was a good idea. But did he have a choice? If he stopped taking his prescription, then the alien would be back. It hated him. It haunted him. So many people thought the aliens were their friends. It was enough to make him laugh.

  How wrong they are, he thought bitterly as he plopped the little pill into his mouth and swallowed the soda. He placed the can on the table in front of the TV and sat back in his recliner. Picking up the remote, he changed the channel. What he needed was a mindless show so he could forget about everything for awhile.

  Kicking his feet up and crossing his arms, he relaxed and focused on the sitcom. For fifteen minutes, the husband and wife on the TV show bickered, and he chuckled a few times. Five minutes later and his eyes began to droop. His limbs felt pleasantly heavy, and he gave into the urge to sleep. Maybe it would be better to sleep out in the living room instead of the bed. He’d keep the lights on and the TV going. It was comforting. And he needed comforting right now.

  The commercials ended and the show came back on, but he hardly noticed. Caught in the limbo state between being awake and being asleep, he drifted off, enjoying the simplicity of it all.

  “Kill her.”

  He mumbled and turned his head.

  “They’re laughing at you.”

  His eyes flew open. No one was in the room with him. Easing out of his chair, he checked the lock on the apartment door. It was bolted. He made it a point to do a thorough examination of his apartment every time he came home to make sure no one was there.

  Of course, that didn’t keep out the alien. But the pills kept that away. How, he didn’t understand. But they worked, and he wasn’t about to question it; not after his last encounter when the ghastly thing almost killed him.

  So why was he hearing voices? It couldn’t be someone hiding in the apartment. It couldn’t be the alien.

  The pounding of his heart grew faster, and he couldn’t determine whether it was from fear or a side effect of the pill. He sat back in the chair which was now upright and placed his head in his hands.

  I’m not going crazy. I’m not going crazy.

  He rocked back and forth and repeated those words to himself.

  “The watchers are watching you.”

  He lifted his head and looked at the TV. The voice came from there. He was sure of it.

  The last three minutes of the sitcom was on. He watched it with apprehension.

  The man walked over to his wife and hugged her. “Hey, don’t worry about it, honey. You can’t help it if they want to rip your brains out.”

  The audience laughed.

  Alex sat up straight and stared at the scene in horror. This was supposed to be a comedy!

  “It’s the aliens,” the wife replied. “They’re not what they seem, and they have people working from the inside. They’re everywhere. Our neighbors are aliens in disguise.”

  “You have to be careful what you say and do. They’re onto you. You’ve figured them out,” her husband said.

  She went over to the window and glanced out of it. “I can see them moving around in the house. Do you think they assume their natural form when no one’s watching?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe.”

  “I have to go find out.”

  “No. It’s dangerous. If they see you, they’ll take out your eyeballs and make you watch as they peel your flesh off and eat it. Then they’ll have their alien friends over to barbeque the rest of you, and you’ll feel every bit of the pain as they sink their teeth into every organ of your body.”

  The audience laughed again.

  Gasping for breath, Alex scrambled for the remote and turned off the TV.

  Silence.

  Wonderful, blessed silence.

  Still panting for air, Alex wiped his forehead. Sweat literally dripped down his face. His hand trembled. He blinked several times before he realized he was seeing black spots. His pulse quickened, and he was sure it wasn’t all fear. This had to be from the pill. The voices on the TV, his physical reaction, the low humming sound tickling his ear drums...

  What’s happening to me? Why can’t I have a normal life anymore?

  And so he was back to placing his head in his hands and rocking back and forth. He struggled to take slow and even breaths, but what had begun as a slight tremble through his body became a sudden uncontrollable shaking.

  “Kill her,” the voice whispered in his head.

  He gritted his teeth and tried to hum aloud. Anything to get rid of the voice as it repeated “Kill her” over and over.

  A sharp pain sliced through the front part of his brain and trickled down his spine. Screaming, more from fright than from pain, he leapt off the chair and collapsed onto the floor. His head hit the side of the table, and he fell into the bliss of unconsciousness.

  ***

  Autumn practically sped to the hospital. She burst through the front door and ran to the intensive care unit, unable to believe that Alex had gone into cardiac arrest. When she
reached the desk to sign in, they allowed her to put on the gown, gloves, shoe coverings and face mask so she could go in to see him.

  It was an unreal experience to see him lying in the bed, a tube going down his mouth and two smaller ones going up his nose. Cords ran under his hospital gown to monitor his heart rate and other vital signs. A series of IVs were hooked up to his arms, and she could only guess what they all did, besides feed him and medicated him.

  She stood at the threshold of the white room and gulped back her tears. Of all people to end up like this, why did it have to be Alex? He wasn’t even thirty. What were the chances he had a heart attack?

  With uncertain steps, she moved forward and gingerly touched his hand. “Alex?”

  Of course, he wouldn’t respond. He was unconscious. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, unable to get enough air under the weight of the mask, but the action steadied her emotions enough so that she didn’t burst into tears. She squeezed his hand, willing him to live. Hadn’t there been enough loss over the past year already?

  Opening her eyes, she took another good look at him. There seemed to be some color in his cheeks. That was good. And his breathing was steady. He’d pull through this. He had to.

  “It’s me. Autumn,” she softly said, wondering if unconscious people had any awareness of things that went on around them. She leaned forward and brushed aside a lock of hair that had fallen to his right eye. “I don’t understand anything that’s happening. Overnight, the world’s changed, and I don’t recognize anything anymore. You and Alicia are the only ones I have left. I’ve never felt more alone in my entire life. Please don’t die on me.”

  She choked on her last word as her tears fell. She couldn’t successfully wipe them away with the mask on but did her best to clear her vision. When she did, she noticed the angel standing at the other side of the bed. Once again, he looked just like an ordinary man. He had neatly trimmed blond hair and wore a brown suit. She glanced at the nurse who glanced into the room. She wondered if the nurse would notice the angel, but the nurse smiled at her and went to the next room.