by Black, Chuck
“Hi there.”
“How … I thought … This is incredible!”
Drew laughed. He loved the expression on her face. She looked down and realized she was still holding his hand.
“You are a jerk!” She withdrew her hand, but her smile didn’t diminish. “What happened? Can you really see?”
Drew nodded. “Will you forgive me? Again?”
Sydney still looked stunned and ignored his question. “How? Did the doctors find something to help you?”
Drew told her the story of his recovery, leaving out any references to the invaders. They talked for almost an hour, and Drew was glad he had stopped to see her. The warmth of their conversation delighted him. Sydney had a test in her next class, so it was time to leave. He walked her to her class, which was on the second floor of Bisimee Hall. At the doorway, she seemed hesitant to leave. This time he would be the one to walk away.
“It was good to see you, Syd,” Drew said with a crooked smile.
“You too, Drew.” She reached out and touched his arm, and though he had learned to control his sensitivity to most things, Sydney’s touch was something else. Hundreds of synaptic waves flowed up and down his arm.
“It’s probably going to be a while before I see you again, so you take care, okay?” Drew nodded.
“Next break, when I get back to Rivercrest, maybe we can get a cup of coffee.”
Drew raised an eyebrow. “I thought that was something you didn’t want to do.”
Sydney looked away. “Yeah … I know, but I’ve been praying, and I am convinced that God hasn’t given up on you. And I haven’t either. In fact, I think God has big plans for you.”
Drew smiled. If she wanted to believe in fairy tales, that was all right by him, as long as he had a chance with her.
“I’ll look forward to that coffee,” he said, knowing full well it would never happen. The ache returned to his heart with surprising force, but there was no way out. The momentum of his life was gathering.
Drew walked away from Sydney’s class wondering if he would ever see her again. He made his way toward the stairway and descended to the platform of the first half of the flight of stairs leading to the main floor. He was in a mix of a dozen or so students and turned to walk down the second half of the flight of stairs.
That’s when he saw them.
Two massive alien warriors walked through the double doors into the building, swords drawn. The students strolled by them, headed to their next classes in complete ignorance. Drew froze, and the guy behind him slammed into his back. The student cursed, but Drew paid him no attention. His eyes were fixated on the warriors at the bottom of the stairwell.
They were looking for something … or someone. The hatred in their eyes spewed out onto the crowd of unsuspecting students. Drew’s senses peaked and his mind began registering every sight and sound around him. A young man entered the doorway and stood next to the warriors. He looked human, but there was something different about him. The man turned his head from side to side, but there was a delay in his face as he turned, almost as if he had two faces and one lagged behind the other. It was a strange and deathly trio—two alien warriors and one two-faced human. Was this how an alien could take complete control of a human? Dread built within him as he realized what was happening. One of the warriors spoke something to the man, and he opened his coat to reveal a semiautomatic MP5 submachine gun with at least six thirty-two-round 9 mm clips.
Drew jumped back and screamed for the students to go back. Within seconds, there was absolute panic as the air exploded with the concussion of 9 mm rounds being fired. Shouts and screams sounded all around him. When he saw three students collapse at the bottom of the stairs, he turned and pushed the students behind him back up the stairs.
“Go back! Go back!”
Time slowed down as Drew’s mind and senses accelerated to a level he had never experienced before. He watched as a string of bullets tore into the wall at his left. His mind registered snapshots of the bullets in their trajectory. He reached down to help a girl below him climb back up the stairs. She screamed and collapsed as Drew pulled her upward.
He glanced up and saw the two warriors standing guard over the man as he sprayed bullets into terrorized students as fast as the semiautomatic action of the rifle allowed. The malevolence on his face matched that of the alien warriors guarding him. Then one of the warriors turned and rushed back out through the front doors. Drew only got a glimpse, but it looked as though two more alien warriors were approaching with swords drawn. Somehow they looked different. Drew’s attention fell back to the gunman. For one moment, the man looked right at Drew, and it sent chills up and down his spine. The man brought the MP5 to bear on Drew, and Drew pulled the girl clear just as another burst of bullets tore into the concrete stairs beside them. Drew and seven other students made it to the second floor, but the girl he was helping had been shot in the leg and was hysterical.
“We have to tell everyone up here to get out of the building. Tell them to take the south stairs!” Drew shouted, but only two guys and one girl heard him. The other four were already running down the hall. Drew lifted the girl in his arms and ran toward Sydney’s classroom. He burst into the room, ignoring the professor’s initial exclamations of protest.
“There’s a gunman on the first floor. Take the south stairs and get out of the building now!”
The blood from the girl’s wound was all the evidence needed to convince everyone in the classroom. Drew walked toward the two closest male students. “You two—take her and get out quickly!”
Drew scanned the room for Sydney and motioned for her to come to him. He realized the two students were stunned and had not yet moved. He set the girl beside them.
“Move!”
They jumped up, and each took one of the girl’s arms and supported her over their shoulders. Then they rushed toward the exit as dozens of students followed.
“I’ll check to make sure the hall is clear first.” Drew pushed his way to the front of the doorway. He carefully opened the door to a corridor that was rising to alarm. There was no sign of the gunman yet, but Drew could hear screams below him and more 9 mm rounds echoing throughout the building. The pause in gunfire told him the gunman was reloading.
“Go!”
The first few students, including the two carrying the injured girl, rushed through the doorway, but then students at the back pushed and a bottleneck formed.
“Don’t push!” the professor yelled at the students near the back.
Twenty of the thirty-four students had made it into the hall when the gunshots resumed and the terror increased. Drew could tell that the gunman was at the top of the stairs now.
“Go back. He’s in the hallway!” But two more students bolted out into the open anyway.
Crack … crack … crack!
Drew saw one of the students fall as he pushed the remaining twelve students, including Sydney, back into the classroom. He looked at Sydney, and the absolute terror on her face was painful to see. It made Drew angry … angry that someone could cause such fear in the hearts of innocent people. He hated these invaders. Could it be—Was everything bad that had ever happened in the earth their doing?
“We must stay calm and we’ll get through this,” he said.
“What about the window?” one student suggested.
“It will be at least a twelve-foot jump, but it’s worth a try … if we have time.” Drew looked at the professor. He was a short, balding man, but he kept his wits about him.
“We need to block the door to give the students more time,” the professor said.
Drew nodded. He turned to the remaining students. “Try the window—I’ll work on the door. If we run out of time, get to the back of the room and stay low.”
The only thing movable in the entire room was one table near the front. They quickly turned it on its side and put it across the doorway.
“Stay clear of the door,” Drew said as he and the profes
sor each held the ends of the table near the wall and crouched low to the floor. Drew realized that Sydney had stayed with him. She crouched down beside him.
“Drew.”
At the quiver in her voice, Drew put a hand to her cheek. “I’m going to get you out of this.”
Sydney nodded, then flinched as a fresh burst of gunshots rang out near their doorway.
“The windows don’t open!” one student shouted in near panic across the room.
There wasn’t enough time.
“Get to the back,” Drew said.
Sydney ran to the back with the other students and slunk down behind the seats that were bolted to the floor.
No one but Drew saw what happened next, and it frightened him in the worst of ways. The alien warrior protecting the gunman walked right through the door and into the classroom. The solid door gave marginal resistance, but that was all. Drew couldn’t help but stare at him. The alien was massive and stood nearly seven feet tall. His grisly sword drawn, he scanned the room with a scowl on his face. When his gaze fell on Drew, Drew looked away toward the professor and held up his finger to his lips, hoping to hide his ability to see into this secret dimension of the alien. He chanced a look back toward the alien, and this time, there was no hiding the fact that he could see him. Their eyes locked for a moment, and fear gripped Drew. A fear rivaled only by the terror he felt the first time he saw an alien. Then it dawned on him.
What if …
The aliens and the gunman might be here for one reason: to kill Drew.
But how did they know he was here? And they did all this for one person? His heart sank as he considered all the innocent people dying because of the aliens’ hunt for him. He thought of Sydney cowering at the back of the room, waiting to die … all because of him. He knew at that moment that he could never hide from these beings.
Drew slowly stood and looked straight into the alien’s eyes. They were very dark … black, in fact. There was no iris of color to soften the harsh gaze. Surprise flashed across the alien’s face, followed by a fierce contempt and absolute hatred.
“What are you doing?” the professor cried out.
Drew saw the alien’s lips move as though he were barking out a command. Drew heard nothing, but it was evident that someone else had. The door handle turned and pushed against the table barricade. Drew fell to the floor and resumed his position against the table. Seconds later, splinters flew as five rounds exploded through the door. Drew and the professor held their ground as the gunman tried to push his way through the door, screaming obscenities. The alien warrior thrust the tip of his blade into the floor between the door and the table and forced the table away from the door with each push of the gunman. Drew was astonished that the same sword that just moments earlier had passed through the door was now able to force the table to move.
Drew pushed with all his might but to no avail. The force of the invisible alien combined with the gunman was too great. Just as the gunman was bringing the barrel of his 9 mm to bear, Drew saw a flash of light burst through the window. At first he wondered if the police had thrown concussion grenades into the classroom, but that was not the case. He chanced a quick look and was astounded yet again at what he saw.
Another alien warrior with sword drawn had charged into the room from the outer wall and stood just as tall, just as fierce, and just as massive as the one helping the gunman, but there was a different air about him. He was dressed in a white thigh-length coat and a close-fit mock T-shirt. The mix of his ancient weapon and his modern apparel was paradoxical. Was this alien the commander of this assault team?
No sooner had this white-dressed alien arrived than the dark alien warrior reached into his trench coat and pulled out a Glock 21 .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol while yanking his sword out of the floor and away from the door. This released the force on the table, and it slammed onto the barrel of the gunman’s weapon just as he fired three rounds into the classroom. The professor screamed and grabbed his leg. Drew stared, stunned.
These two aliens were not allies, but enemies.
The white-dressed warrior reacted with blazing speed, and in the next few seconds, Drew witnessed a one-on-one duel beyond any human experience. The light warrior rushed … no flew toward the dark warrior, his sword leading the way. But in that fraction of a moment, the dark warrior aimed and squeezed off two rounds.
Drew’s mouth fell open when he watched the light warrior deflect the first bullet with the flat of his sword and then tilt his chest just enough to dodge the second bullet. Now both warriors’ swords were out of position, and the aliens collided with devastating force. They slammed into the wall, and this time it was as solid for them as it was for Drew. He could not understand the apparent change in material states from one moment to the next. It was a bizarre and unearthly duel.
In the fray that followed, the light warrior dislodged the gun from the dark warrior’s grip, and it flew across the floor. Drew watched in amazement as the weapon slowly dissolved in greenish wisps of vapor until it disappeared from sight. Drew thought how much it looked like dry ice sublimating. The dark warrior drove a powerful fist into the light warrior’s chest, which threw him back and away about five feet. Both warriors brought their swords to bear on each other in a blaze of flashing steel.
Sound exploded in Drew’s ear and forced his attention back to the world of humans. The professor was trying to crawl away from the gunman’s aim through the crack in the door. Once the professor moved, the gunman slammed his body up against the door and forced his way into the room. Drew tried to gain his feet, but the door hit him hard and he stumbled backward. He recovered and stood up, only to see the gunman’s darkened eyes glaring at him. A twisted, evil smile was on his double face, and he reveled in the moment of terror he was causing his captives.
Drew stepped backward, but there was no escape.
He had seen countless movies of aliens inhabiting humans, but never in his wildest dreams did he think it was possible. Ben had believed it, and now so did Drew. Without movement, the features of the alien inside this man aligned closely with the man’s. His hands, face, legs—every part of him had a very slight double image. There was a darkness in the windows of this inhabited man’s eyes that forced Drew to admit the existence of a universal evil.
A few feet to the gunman’s right, the silent duel between alien warriors continued. Drew allowed one momentary glance that direction just in time to see the light warrior parry a thrust, then counter with a slice across the dark warrior’s right shoulder. It tore open his coat, and blood oozed through his garment. The dark warrior recoiled. Simultaneously the gunman aimed his MP5 straight at Drew’s chest, now ten feet away.
“No!”
Sydney’s scream came from the back of the room. Drew saw the gunman’s finger tighten as he squeezed the trigger. Once again, Drew’s senses flew into overdrive, and he heard the trigger mechanism release. But at the exact same moment, the light warrior’s blade sliced through the submachine gun. The firing pin jammed a fraction of an inch before hitting the primer on the next round.
Time froze, and Drew stood paralyzed by the knowledge that his execution had been delayed. He knew what he should do, but his arms and legs felt locked in amber resin. Jake had taught him to react instantly when his life was on the line, but never had he faced something like this outside of his training. He watched as the MP5 fell to the ground in slow motion and then again as the gunman pulled out of a holster the same Glock 21 handgun that the alien warrior had fired just seconds earlier. It made no sense! None of this did.
“Drew!”
Sydney’s shout was long and slow, but it shook him from his paralysis. By now the gunman was just lifting the barrel of the pistol to Drew’s chest. Drew launched himself toward the gunman, hoping to cover the ten feet between them before he got a shot off, but it was not to be. Drew saw the man’s finger tighten once again, and this time the saving alien warrior was too far and too encumbered with his fight to do any
thing. Before the gun fired, Drew knew exactly what path the bullet would fly. He dropped his right shoulder just as the gun began its recoil. He felt and heard the bullet whiz past his right ear and then heard the deafening explosion of the shot. He dived the last four feet toward the man. He could smell the burned powder from the barrel as he passed. Drew heard another shot go off, but it coincided with the powerful impact of his shoulder into the man’s abdomen. Drew slammed the man up against the front wall of the classroom, and his head hit the wall with a thump.
Drew scrambled for control over the man, but it was not necessary—the gunman was unconscious. The alien inside him, however, was not. The being was writhing about as if trying to force his unconscious host to rise up. It unnerved Drew to no end. He grabbed the gun and aimed it at the man, not sure whether to pull the trigger. He chanced a quick look over his shoulder just in time to see the light alien thrust his sword through the dark alien’s chest. Blood spilled from the wound, and the alien fell to the floor.
Drew felt like he was in some bizarre science fiction movie, and he wanted it to stop, but the oddity continued. As the dark warrior clutched his chest and gasped, his body dissolved just like the gun, but this time, the wisps of green vapor fell down through the floor. Everything about him dissolved, including his spilled blood, until there was nothing.
Drew shook his head and refocused on the gunman and his writhing invader. What should he do? Just then the white-dressed alien came and knelt down over the gunman. There was a brief and obviously contrary verbal exchange, and then the light warrior slammed his fist into the head of the gunman … and the alien. The gunman’s body jerked, and both he and the alien invader became perfectly still. The light alien warrior turned his head and looked up at Drew. Drew forced himself not to look into his eyes but continued to stare at the face of the unconscious gunman. The moment hung forever. The light alien tilted his head, and Drew knew he suspected something.