by Zara Zenia
What the fuck? I closed this earlier! I'm sure of it.
I jumped up and ripped back the curtains. The window was wide open. For a long while, I just stared at it, stunned. I knew I'd closed it. I was never so naive as to leave my room open like this. Plus, I remembered slamming it shut, didn't I?
Leaning down to inspect the window ledge, I ran my fingers over the side and they came away with a fine black dust. Looking closer, I saw there was a faint boot print pressed into the flaking white paint.
Someone was here.
Chapter 10
Demi
The sun was setting as I exited the office. Being the last one to leave, I now noticed there was no one left in sight and I shivered at the thought of descending the stairs to the subway on my own.
Standing at the entrance to the station, I hesitated for a moment and looked over my shoulder. The feeling that I was being watched had been lurking all day and I couldn't get the image out of my mind of the dark figure on the porch. There was no way I was imagining it. I was being followed, but by who? And why?
I shivered and fled down the stairs with the wind from the tunnel kicking up my skirt. When I reached the platform, I was pleased to see there was someone else waiting, a guy about my age wearing headphones and a leather jacket. I sat on the bench beside him and enjoyed his company, even if he didn't know I was there.
When the train came rumbling to a halt, I was surprised to see most of the carriages were empty and my heart sank when I saw the guy take a seat at the far end of the train.
Nibbling my nails and trying to stay distracted, I thought about work and the presentation I had to give soon. I thought about seeing Ethan and how there were only two stops until I reached his hotel. But no matter how much I tried to feel normal, I was always looking over my shoulder and it didn't help that the train was immersed in the thick darkness of the underground, the strip lighting above reflecting in the windows. It was like being sat beside a long mirror and I cast my eyes over every empty seat to make sure there was no one nearby. Just when I began to relax, someone cleared their throat behind me.
I jumped up and looked down the length of the carriage and saw no one.
Okay, that was crazy. I definitely heard someone. I didn't imagine it.
But I must have because there wasn't a soul nearby.
The train pulled into the next stop and a group of girls giggled and gossiped as they stepped onto the neighboring carriage. Even though they weren't close by, just being able to hear them brought me a sense of comfort and I focused on their conversation.
Then something flickered out the corner of my eye. Looking up at the reflection in the window, I saw a dark figure behind me.
I screamed and leaped away but again, there was no one there.
The girls in the next carriage craned their necks to see through the small window in the door before turning back to their conversation and laughing. They probably thought I was crazy but I wasn't surprised. I'd think so too if I saw a woman on her own screaming like a lunatic.
At last, the train rolled into my stop, and I stood by the door, impatiently jigging from foot to foot as I waited for it to open.
"Come on... come on..."
When the beeping sounded, I lunged off the train and hurled myself up the stairs. By the time I reached the top, it was dark. Looking up at the sky, I saw the clouds were thick and heavy with the stars barely visible through the fog.
Keeping my head down and wrapping my coat tightly around me, I strode purposefully toward the hotel that was now somewhere I couldn't wait to be inside. I thought about its roach infested rooms, the clientele, and the way you could hear people fucking through the walls but I didn't care. Right now, it was a haven.
When the door came into view and I felt relief flood my nervous body, I placed my foot on the bottom step, and behind me, someone coughed
I banged on the door so hard my hand was aching by the time Ethan opened it. Pushing past him, I hurried inside and jumped onto the bed, pulling the covers up over me as I shook.
"Whoa! You're eager," he laughed.
"Shut up. Something's happening."
His mischievous smile disappeared and he sat beside me, worried.
"What's going on? Are you okay?"
"No! I cried and flung myself at him. "There's someone following me. I think I have a stalker."
I jumped and up looked out the side of the curtain. There was no one out in the street but there was still the sensation that I was being watched. Even up in the confines of a locked hotel room, I was sure someone was just waiting, biding their time until they decided to do whatever they wanted.
"Don't you care?" I yelled and looked at him.
He was still sitting on the bed scratching his chin thoughtfully.
"I was followed, Ethan! They were at my house last night."
"Followed?" he asked as though I'd just woken him from a dream.
"Yes! Listen to me! Last night on my way home there was something behind me the whole way. I saw it too! A dark figure, like nothing I'd ever seen before."
He froze, his mouth hanging open slightly.
"You saw it?"
I nodded, my thumb in my mouth as I tore my teeth into my nail.
"I saw it but only for a split second then it was gone. I'm sure who or whatever it was followed me here too."
Terrified, he rushed to the window and looked outside.
"You're not saying anything," I observed. "Are you not scared?"
He remained silent.
This was not what I expected. I wanted him to take me in his arms and tell me he'd protect me but he was now being furtive and aloof.
"Ethan?" I reached out and touched his arm. "What are you thinking?"
His eyes were cast down to the sidewalk as he said. "I've felt it too."
I gasped and took a step back. He turned, pulled the curtains closed and walked over to the door. Flicking the overhead light off and switching on the bedside lamp, he slid the chair across the floor and pushed it underneath the door handle.
"Aren't you going to tell me about it?" I asked.
He looked pained as he leaned against the wall and ran a hand through his hair.
"I wish I didn't have to," he said as he began to pace, the floorboards creaking beneath him as he walked the length of the room.
He paused for a minute and opened his mouth but when I thought he was finally going to explain everything, he clammed up and started pacing again. Grabbing him by his shoulders, I tried to steady him.
"Ethan, for Christ's sake will you stop."
At last, he stood still, but he was tensed up like a coiled spring and I could almost feel him vibrate with anxiety.
"Please... Tell me everything."
His eyes bore into mine with a look of sheer dread.
"I can't," he said and pulled away from me before walking into the bathroom.
I could hear the taps running as he splashed his face with water. Then, for a long while, there was nothing but silence. Sitting on the edge of the bed, I waited for him as I chewed my fingers to pieces. What the hell is going on?
Knocking on the door, I pressed my ear up against it and tried to listen for any sounds of movement.
"Ethan? Are you okay?"
Silence.
"Ethan!"
"I'm fine!" he replied and opened the door.
He looked deathly pale and his eyes were so wide and bloodshot he looked haunted.
"Okay," he relented at last and guided me over to the bed. "I'll tell you everything, but you're not going to believe me."
My hands were trembling as they sat in his. Something told me he was about to drop a bombshell but there was no way I could have possibly guessed what he was about to say. Thoughts of him being a serial killer on the run flittered through my mind and again, that unwavering feeling that he was a spy, a secret agent, someone with a secret double life.
"Listen carefully," he said. "I never wanted to lie to you but I... how do
I say it? I omitted some elements of the truth to protect you."
It sounded like a feeble excuse but I continued to listen, my heart beating faster with every passing second. Inside my dress, a bead of sweat clung to my spine.
"I'm not from here," he began, his eyes cast down to the mattress.
"That's right. You said you were from Brazil."
He looked up and shook his head.
"I lied about that," he said with a sorrowful gaze. "I'm sorry."
A rage began to bubble in my stomach.
"So, where are you from? You're certainly not American!"
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"I'm not even from Earth."
I thought he was joking and stared into his face waiting for him to tell the punchline to some hilarious joke that was so far evading me. But his face was set into a serious grimace, his jaw pulled so tight I could see the length of tendon pulled across the base of his cheekbone.
"Say that again," I said.
"I'm not from Earth," he repeated.
Silence.
What do you even say to something like that?
I stood up and walked over to the chair beside the door with an extreme urge to pull it free and run away. He must be crazy, I thought. Who says something like that?
"I'm telling the truth," he said before I could make a move. "I'm sorry."
He certainly looked as though he was telling the truth and he seemed deeply saddened by it.
"So, you're not from Earth," I said, going along with his explanation just to humor him for the moment. "So where are you from?"
For a moment, I thought I saw a tear glisten in the corner of his eye as though the very mention of his home planet was making him homesick. But he soon blinked it away and leaned over to pull back the curtain.
"Come look," he waved me over.
Nervously, I stood beside him. He pointed up to the sky where the stars shone faintly through a gap in the clouds.
"See that constellation there?"
"Isn't that Sagittarius?" I asked.
He nodded and smiled.
"That's right."
"You're from there?"
"I'm from a planet beyond it. Its name is Orba and I... am an Orban."
Looking into his eyes, I was suddenly struck with the realization that I was in the presence of a madman.
"Shut up," was all I could say.
"I'm serious!" he insisted. "You must believe me."
But I couldn't.
Tears began to trickle down my cheeks. What had I got myself into? Here I was trapped in a hovel of a hotel room with a supposed alien while someone out there stalked me.
"Is this... Is this some kinda joke?" I stammered.
He shook his head.
"I just wish you'd believe me. Therefore, I hadn't said anything earlier. How could I? But I have to tell you everything now. We're in great danger."
I thought about the figure out on the porch and the way I felt as though I was being preyed upon on the train.
"Danger..." I said. "What kinda danger?"
I was speaking without thinking, unable to comprehend what I was hearing. It was as though I was looking at myself from the outside in, imagining this surreal scene unfolding out with of my body.
"Listen," he tugged at my wrists. "There isn’t much time so I will explain all I can. I escaped Orba with my crew and crashed on Earth. We are being pursued. There are dangerous people who want us dead. And..."
Bile was rising from deep down inside of me.
"And what?" I cried as I pulled at his arms.
"And there is to be a battle. One that is coming soon and I fear I may not survive."
My stomach tightened and I rushed to the bathroom. Slamming the door behind me, I knelt in front of the toilet bowl and emptied out my stomach. Then I lay with my head against the cool, tiled wall as I tried to gather my thoughts.
Was there a way he could possibly be telling truth? I thought about all the mysterious things about him and how nothing seemed to make sense.
There was his name, the peculiar Etha Zol that now seemed as extraterrestrial as his crazy story. There was his enigmatic life, the way he didn't seem to have a past. Then I thought about all the strange things he had said that I had merely passed off as a quirk of his personality. I remembered him talking about 'human authors' and how it had made me laugh. I remembered the way he spoke of the instruments from his faraway land that made no sense to me, and how he struggled with the occasional phrase or mannerism.
Then I thought of the way we made love and how he was... blue.
Lastly, as I dragged myself up and rinsed my mouth with cold water, I remembered being a child and seeing the lights in the sky. No matter how insane his story sounded, it made sense no matter how I looked at it.
Flinging open the door while feeling a little unsteady on my feet, I rested against the doorway as I struggled with the dizziness in my head. It felt as though the world was spinning beneath me and the last grasps of reality were being pulled from my reluctant fingertips. I was standing in front of an alien, a person who most people wouldn't believe existed. I could never tell a soul about him. How could I? I'd sound as mad as he did.
As he sat with his head in his hands, he peeked out from between his fingers.
"So..." he said.
"So... I think I believe you."
He let out a long sigh.
"Are you not angry?" he asked.
On wobbly legs that felt as though they were filled with water, I walked over to the bed.
"How could I be angry?"
I tried my best to smile. Reaching out a quivering hand, I ran a finger down the side of his face.
"I can't believe I'm actually touching an alien but... you feel just like me, just like a regular person."
"I am a regular person," he said and kissed my hand. "I'm just not from here."
Sitting down beside him, I nestled my head into the crook of his neck.
"There are so many questions I have to ask you I feel like I might explode."
He wrapped an arm around me.
"Ask me anything and I'll tell you as much as I can."
There was no way I could think clearly so I blurted everything out in a long stream of gibberish.
"What's your real name? Where is your family? What does your planet look like? Is there television there? You were blue! Is this really what you look like?" I pulled at his hair. "Who's following us? How long have you been here?"
"Whoa, whoa. Hang on."
He raised his hands up.
"Okay, my name is Ethazol. One word. My mother named me after an ancient army general who was said to be a fierce warrior and a mastermind of military strategy. My family is... well right now I don't know. My planet is mostly blue and under this disguise, so am I?"
"A disguise!"
"Shhhh..."
He pressed a finger to my lips.
"In time, I will reveal all. Right now, I don't think you are ready to see me in my natural form. Although you did see some of it."
I pointed between his legs and raised my eyebrows. He nodded.
"I'm afraid I didn't think it was necessary to conceal something so private when I first arrived on Earth," he explained. "And when I met you I made the mistake of not transforming all of my body. By the way, there is no television on Orba although we are said to be the planet of a million plays. We have theaters on every street corner. As to who is following us? I wish I knew. I am as much in the dark as you are."
Wrapping my arms around him, I pulled him into the tightest hug I could muster.
"Thank you."
"What for?" he asked.
"For telling me everything," I replied in little more than a whisper. "But I have to ask you something."
He leaned back and brushed the hair from my face.
"Anything."
"Where are the others? Are there really other aliens here on Earth from your planet?"
He nodded.
There was a deep sadness in his voice.
"Who do you need to fight?"
His body sagged and he rubbed his fingers across his brow.
"There is so much to explain and in time I will tell you. Right now, I think we should sleep."
"How could I do such a thing!"
It felt as though my brain was filled with too many thoughts and any moment now it would burst open.
"Lie down," he insisted as he slid off my shoes and pulled the covers up over me. "Tomorrow I will tell you all about Orba's tyrannical politics and about the monstrous leader we escaped from. Right now, I fear that if I tell you too much..."
"If you tell me too much?"
He hesitated.
"I just don't want to upset you."
He lay down beside me and we both stared up at the ceiling. Outside, someone shouted while down the hall a door slammed.
"Am I dreaming?" I asked. "I feel as though I am."
"I feel like that too sometimes."
He slipped his hand into mine and squeezed it tight.
"Life on Earth has been hard, but the last few weeks have made it all worthwhile."
I smiled and rolled over to face him.
"Do you think you'll ever go back to Orba?"
He closed his eyes and pushed his head into the pillow.
"Never. That part of my life is in the past."
"And what about the others?"
"I think they will reside here if they survive."
There was a tension spreading across my chest that was so tight it ached.
"Is there really a chance you could die?" I gasped.
He said nothing but he didn't need to. His eyes spoke a thousand words.
I rolled back over and looked up to the cracked plaster of the ceiling as a tear rolled down my temple.
"I guess dinner's out of the question," I joked but my voice betrayed me and it came out in a sob.
"We could order room service," he said.
"They actually do that here?"
"Kinda," he said. "I mean you can ask Eugene to phone for a pizza."
The thought of food didn't seem so appealing anymore.