by Black, Chuck
Though Drew dared not look directly at his face, the alien’s gaze was different than that of his fallen enemy. His pale-blue eyes were just as piercing as the black eyes of the dark alien, but not as terrifying. Just when Drew felt he could take it no more, the alien fell through the floor and disappeared.
Did he know?
“You’d better put that gun down before the police get here or they might shoot you instead,” the professor said from the corner by the door.
Drew realized that the professor was exactly right, but he didn’t dare release the gun … not yet. No one here saw what he saw in the man.
“Get something to tie this guy up,” Drew yelled over his shoulder to the other students. Slowly—much too slowly—the students came forward to help. Sydney was one of the first. Two guys found a belt to tie the gunman’s hands. Sydney touched Drew’s back. “Are you okay?”
“Yes … see if you can help the professor. Somebody else call 911 and tell them what happened so they don’t come storming in and shoot somebody.”
He could hear one of the girls trying to explain the events to the 911 operator, but she was having a hard time keeping her composure.
Drew heard heavy footsteps coming down the hallway.
“They’re coming. Is he secure?”
“Yeah,” one of the students replied.
“Everybody sit down at the far wall—now.” When everyone was ready, Drew motioned for Sydney to sit at the end, and he sat next to her. He released the magazine from the gun and slid the gun along the floor to the back of the room.
“Put your hands up with your palms out so they can see they are empty.” Drew took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and lowered his head. His eyes and head hurt. It felt like a massive headache was coming on strong.
What just happened? There was so much to process … so much to think about. He reasoned that if any of this had anything to do with him, the people he cared about were in real danger, and his plan to leave had come none to soon.
He felt Sydney lean against him.
He turned and looked at her. “How are you doing?”
“I was so scared, Drew. Praise God you didn’t get shot.” Her voice trembled.
Drew didn’t respond. He was captivated by a subtle bluish glow dancing close to and all around her body. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? It was almost as though some sort of living plasma emanated from the pores of her skin, but there was nothing he had ever seen before that he could compare it to. He reached over and touched her cheek with the back of his hand, and the glow wrapped around his fingers but stayed close to her cheek.
“Remarkable …” He spoke without thinking.
“I know. He was watching over you.” Sydney leaned into his touch. Whether it was her fear or something else that had made her soften toward him, it didn’t matter—it was going to be hard to leave her. And yet, he was being catapulted out of her life again. It seemed that every possible force in the universe was working to keep them apart.
“I’m not going back to Rivercrest, Sydney.”
She looked at him, her eyes wide and questioning.
“I’m leaving, and I don’t know when I’ll be back.” Drew withdrew his hand. “I’m going to find Ben, but no one can know where I’m at.”
“I don’t understand … Why?”
“It’s complicated, but it has to do with things like this.” Drew motioned toward the chaos that had just happened. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys to his Mustang.
“They’re going to have the campus on lockdown, and I have to leave without being identified.”
Sydney looked scared and concerned.
“Please just trust me.” He took her hand and put his keys in her palm. “I need you to take my car.”
“No, Drew … I won’t—”
“Please, Sydney. I need you to do this for me. When they open campus up, get it off campus and back home. Please?”
Sydney nodded. “What is going on, Drew?”
Drew wanted to tell her … wanted to open her eyes and convince her of the truth, of the foolishness of her religious beliefs, but it was impossible.
“You’re an amazing girl, and I hope that one day I can explain it all to you, but for now I just have to disappear.”
“Disappear? How will I find you?”
He touched her cheek once more. There would be no finding him. Just then the door flew open and smashed into the table that was still partially obstructing its swing. Six SWAT team members exploded into the room shouting for everyone to keep their hands where they could see them. The professor quickly explained the situation, and the tension diffused.
Outside, emergency personnel were everywhere. Police were taking testimonies from the uninjured, and the EMTs were treating the injured. News crews were interviewing anyone who would talk to them. Parents and friends of students began showing up as well as hundreds of curious bystanders. In all the chaos, Drew slipped into the crowd and slowly lost himself in the confusion. Planning his exit from the crowd, he glanced back toward Bisimee Hall and spotted three dark invaders in deep discussion near the entrance. One of the three appeared to have authority, just as the one he had first seen back in Rivercrest. He seemed angry and began barking commands. The sight of him made Drew quiver. Drew exited the crowd on the far side away from the invaders and navigated through vehicles and buildings.
The campus was on lockdown just as he had suspected. All the roads leading in and out were barricaded, and police were in the process of blocking foot traffic. It took twenty minutes for him to find a way off campus without being seen. He called for a taxi and was driven to the bus station. He needed to leave town fast, and the next bus to Chicago didn’t leave for another five hours. He checked routes and then paid cash for a ticket to Des Moines, Iowa, under his pseudonym, Ryan Johnson.
The bus would leave in a little over an hour, and it would at least get him out of town and in the right direction. Because he was early, he was the sole occupant of the station. He sat down far enough away so that he could see the entire room and both the entrances and the exits. He pulled the back off his cell phone and popped the battery out—no more texts or calls. His head pounded in the wake of the adrenaline rush. He was exhausted, but he could not sleep. There was too much to think about—so many questions and nowhere, or no one, to turn to for answers. He pulled the bottle of ibuprofen out of his backpack and swallowed three, then chased them with some water from his water bottle. He returned the water and ibuprofen to his pack, grateful that he had thought to wear his backpack when he left his car. He had his money, ID, a change of clothes, some granola bars, and a few survival items that Jake had told him to carry at all times. There were many things he would have to replace or do without, including his gun. Losing the bulk of his supplies at the beginning of the mission was not good. At least he had the essentials.
He leaned his heavy head back against the cold, hard bricks of the station and closed his eyes. Visions of invaders with swords and guns filled his mind. Although he was sure these beings were from another world, he wasn’t convinced they were actually aliens. Just … invaders.
He replayed the horrific scene from Drayle, trying hard to remember every little detail.
“Mommy, look at me!”
At the little girl’s squeaky voice, Drew opened his eyes just wide enough to see that a woman and her little girl had entered the station. The little girl’s ebony face was framed by black curly hair with pigtails tied up with pink ribbons. She was balancing on a narrow brick ledge that bordered a handicap ramp leading up to the exit door on the far side of the large waiting room. Twenty feet away, her mother was talking to the attendant at the ticket window.
Drew took a deep, relaxing breath. Thank goodness Sydney was okay, but so many had lost their lives in the attack. It weighed heavy on his heart.
Drew was about to close his eyes again, but then his heart jolted as he saw a man with a hooded sweatshirt and dark glasses enter the stat
ion door to his right. Although he looked threatening, it was the large, dark figure that walked through the closing doors behind him that caused Drew’s senses to ramp up.
Not again.
The invader whispered into the hooded man’s ear, and he looked toward the little girl. The mother was deep in conversation with the attendant and was not yet aware of the potential danger. Drew sat up and glared at the man. Why would an invader bother with such trivial things as a little girl if they were working toward world domination?
The hooded man took a few steps toward the girl, and the invader smiled a wretched, evil smile. Drew shuddered and his heart pounded. He had the vantage point to study the chiseled face of the invader more completely than any other he had seen. The invader’s black eyes were likes holes into an empty abyss, and his sickening grin caused Drew to wonder at the darkness within the heart of this invader.
Drew stood, but just then, from behind him, another invader flew into the room with sword drawn. This invader looked similar to the one who had helped Drew at the university just a few hours ago. His cream-colored cloak did little to hide his taut, bulging muscles. He positioned himself between the little girl and the dark invader, who reached for his sword but didn’t draw. Instead he backed away without losing his evil grin. Drew wondered at the scene between the dark and light invaders and realized that the hooded man was still moving toward the little girl, who had now walked far enough up the ledge that she was no longer in view of her mother. The light invader turned and looked at the little girl. His countenance was both fierce and anxious.
Drew started walking toward the scene. His approach was to the left and behind the hooded man. The light invader glared at both of the approaching men, and Drew tried to look beyond him to the girl. He quickened his pace to try to catch up to the hooded man, but he was going to be too late.
“Be careful, little girl!” Drew called out when the hooded man was just five feet away from her. Drew was another five feet behind him. Drew’s call startled the hooded man, and he jerked about to look at Drew. At the same time, the light invader swung his sword toward the man’s feet. He tripped and fell forward. When he put an arm out to stop his fall, a knife that had been concealed in his hand and sleeve went sliding across the floor.
He hit the hard tile with a thump, then rolled toward the knife. At the same time, the dark invader drew his sword lightning fast and flew toward the light invader for an attack. Drew ran to the little girl and grabbed her hand. She screamed. The light invader took a dangerous split-second glance toward Drew in between two sword cuts and looked as though he was going to abandon the dark invader to come after him.
“Let’s go see your mom.” Drew kept an eye on the fleeing hooded man.
“Charity!” the woman screamed from the ticket counter, and began running toward them. The little girl wiggled her hand loose from Drew and ran for her mother. The woman’s face was filled with terror and anger. Drew saw the dark invader retreat and follow after the hooded man.
Drew held up his hands. “There was a man with a knife, ma’am. I was just trying to help.”
She swooped the girl, who was now crying, up in her arms. “I’m going to call the police!”
In his peripheral vision, Drew saw the light invader sheathe his sword, cross his arms, and stare at him.
Drew backed up. “I was just trying to help,” Drew pleaded, pointing in the direction that the man had fled, but there was no one there. The woman hurried back to the office ticket window and began pointing and talking. Drew went to his backpack and considered making a run for it. No matter what he did, he could not get a break. He had seconds to decide. He calculated the risks and came to the conclusion that if he got detained by the police and then connected to the university shooting, it would all be over. Even if he was released, he figured every alien invader, both good and bad, would know of him and of his location.
He looked to see what the woman was doing and noticed that the light invader was whispering to the little girl.
Drew threw his backpack over his shoulder and started making his way toward the exit. The woman looked toward him, and it seemed as though another scene was about to unfold. He quickened his pace. The light invader was still beside the little girl, but he was just watching now. The woman looked much less hysterical as she put the little girl on the ground and held her hand. They started walking to intercept Drew, and he wasn’t sure what to do. He reached the door.
“Mister?” the woman called out.
Drew stopped with his hand on the door.
“I’m very sorry. I was just scared for my daughter.”
Drew didn’t relax. He still wasn’t sure if he should stay or go.
“The ticket office said you bought a ticket to Des Moines, and Charity said that the man with the knife was scary. I figure you must be telling the truth.”
Drew relaxed and took a breath. “I’m just glad she’s okay.” He smiled at the little girl.
“I guess I’m just a little on edge with the school shooting and all. This is getting to be a crazy world.”
Drew focused on the invader behind the woman while appearing to look at her. “Isn’t that the truth.”
The three of them sat down and talked as the station began filling with people. Drew was in the most awkward of situations, with the light invader standing nearby—he simply wouldn’t leave—and Drew suspected he was waiting to find out information about him. It took every bit of his concentration to ignore the hulking form as he asked Charity what the name of her puppy was. He kept asking questions so he wouldn’t have to answer any about himself.
About thirty minutes later, a bus arrived with Charity’s grandpa. Drew watched the family talk briefly, and then the man came to shake Drew’s hand and thank him. As they left the station, Charity turned and waved at him, and he waved back. Strangely the light invader left with them.
Drew breathed a sigh of relief.
He boarded his bus and tried to lose himself in the far back corner seat. The ibuprofen took the edge off, but he was left to fight through the dull ache that remained. There was so much to process—so much to think about. Could the light invaders be trusted? They were obviously at war with the dark invaders, but why? Would mankind be any better off if they won the war? Wouldn’t humans still be conquered? Did the hooded man and the little girl actually hear the whispers of the invaders?
Drew struggled to put the pieces of this crazy puzzle together. So far, however, none of the pieces fit. He looked out the window, thankful he would soon be moving away from the chaos. He could smell the diesel from the bus’s engine as the last few passengers climbed the steps into the cabin. Drew leaned his head against the window’s cold glass, and he started to feel his body relax.
He closed his eyes and heard the bus driver make his destination call. When he opened his eyes, condensation from his breath had collected on the window around his face …
But it did not completely obscure the two ominous dark forms standing just outside the bus.
15
ESCAPE AND EVASION
A lump formed in Drew’s throat. He had seen both of these invaders before. He wiped the condensation away from the bus window to see more clearly. One of the invaders was the one who had tried to manipulate the hooded man into kidnapping or harming Charity. The other was bigger, darker, and more ominous.
Although he couldn’t be sure, Drew believed him to be the commanding invader he had seen at the university outside Bisimee Hall. His skin crawled as he looked at the black-eyed invader he decided to dub “Kurgan,” after a brutal enemy in some old movie he had seen.
Kurgan was listening carefully to whatever the first invader was telling him. Drew wanted to scream to the bus driver to leave, but he’d only draw attention to himself. The driver moved as if he had all day long. The doors closed as the lesser invader pointed first to the station and then to the bus. The commanding invader lifted his gaze to the bus, and Drew recoiled from the window. He stopped br
eathing and froze. Had they connected him to the two tragedies he helped avert? How could he hide from such beings if they were onto him?
Drew watched, horror creeping through him, as the lesser invader materialized through the bus doors and scanned its interior, studying each unsuspecting passenger. Drew ducked behind the seat in front of him and untied his shoe, then slowly began tying it. He looked forward through his eyebrows, watching the aisle for any movement. The first large black studded boot set down in the aisle to his left, and Drew could imagine the sound would have been heavy and dark. The other boot stepped up beside the first, and Drew felt like throwing up.
The invader was waiting for him.
There was no escape.
There was no hiding.
The bus lurched forward, and Drew noticed that the invader stepped slightly forward to balance himself. Drew made a mental note that the laws of momentum and gravity still applied to the invaders, at least to some degree. Drew finished tying his shoe and decided to continue to play ignorant. He straightened and didn’t glance toward the invader, but instead took his coat and bunched it into the corner behind his head. He leaned against it and closed his eyes, trying hard to convince himself that this was just a bad dream. Would the invader hear or even see his racing heart? Or perhaps—the unthinkable—could he read Drew’s mind?
Ten long, agonizing minutes clicked by, and Drew could almost feel the dark presence near him. The front-right wheel of the bus hit a bump in the road, and Drew used the jerking motion as an excuse to rouse himself from his act of slumber. He looked first out the window, then scanned left through the inner cabin of the bus until he saw the menacing form of the invader still standing … staring … waiting just two feet away.
At any moment, Drew expected a grisly blade to cut through his body, or a serial killer to start shooting people on the bus, or the engine to explode into flames, but the agony continued in a dull, aching glare of torture. Drew forced a deep breath into his lungs, then chose to stare out the window, away from the invader. If he was to die, then so be it. Perhaps he was still there because he didn’t know what he was looking for. Drew’s mind raced with a hundred bizarre possibilities. The mile markers ticked by as he replayed every fraction of every moment that had transpired both at the university and back at the bus station. And then he did it again … and again … and again, mostly to distract himself from his unwelcome and menacing observer, but also to learn and to remember.