When Lightning Strikes (Alien Academy Book 1)

by Pixie James

“Sorry everything is taking so long. It should only be a few more minutes.” The petite brunette throws the unused water bottle away, then hits the button on my vital sign machine.

  Momma H stands up and lugs her giant purse over her shoulder. “In that case, I’m going to visit the ladies room.” I move to help her, and she waves me off. “Nonsense, girl. You’re worse for the wear. Rest your bones, I’ll be back in a minute.”

  She struggles to get going, her joints creaking with every step, but she gets it together by the time she reaches the curtain and walks steadily toward the bathroom.

  I give the tech a weak smile, take a sip of my water, then chug the rest down, not realizing how thirsty I am. “Hey. Amanda, is it?” I squint trying to read her badge. “What was up with Dr. Taggart taking pictures of me to send off to his big city doctor friends? Is he even allowed to do that?”

  “I didn’t see him taking any pictures. Not sure what you’re talking about. But, I’d be glad to get him for you.” She smiles and wipes her palms on her scrubs.

  I hold up the empty bottle and nod. “Thanks for the water. It almost makes me feel human again.”

  “Not likely.” The voice is harsh and carries a sharp edge of disdain. Two men in cheap suits barge into the room, and if I’m not mistaken, shift to block my only exit.

  “I’m sorry, can I help you?” I ask, caught off guard.

  “I’m Agent Gerald Boswell with Homeland Security.” He gestures to the man at his left, “and this is Agent Charles. We’re here to detain you under Article Twenty-Two of the Xebulin-Human Relations clause.”

  Detain? I tighten the hospital gown around me and pull the blanket over my exposed legs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you need to leave. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  The taller guy, pencil thin with a tie so tight it could strangle him, curls his lip in disgust. “Nothing wrong? I don’t fancy being made a fool of, Xebulin, and you’ve successfully hidden right under our noses, unlawfully posing as a human for the last seventeen years.” He clenches his jaw. “This is my jurisdiction, and I’ll be damned—”

  The other agent clears his throat and eyes him almost as if to warn him to calm down.

  “Xebulin? Is that some kind of freaky government term or something?”

  Agent Boswell crosses his arms. “Joke all you want, but you’re coming with us. Then you’re going to explain how the hell you managed to do this. Not reporting is explicitly against the Universal Treaty, and if you were a year older…” He gets another look from his buddy. ”Just be glad you aren’t and can still enroll in the treaty-mandated school. Get your clothes on. You don’t need medical treatment. We’re leaving.”

  They can’t be serious. I eye Agent Boswell, waiting for him to crack a smile and tell me this is all a joke, but he doesn’t. My throat tightens when he pulls out a pair of silver handcuffs, and I search the room, looking for a way to escape. Something, anything that will help me get out of here until I can figure this all out. And then it hits me.

  “Wait a minute. You can’t take me. I’m a minor. My mother’s not even here.” I sit back and smirk, feeling a little more confident. “Good luck finding her, I’ve been searching all week.”

  The quiet agent shakes his head and looks straight at me. “You don’t want to do this here. Just come with us. It will be easier that way.”

  “Hell no, dude. Do you people not watch crime shows?”

  He sighs and shakes his head. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He taps a small button on the lapel of his shirt. “Bring her in.”

  There’s a scuffle outside the curtain, and my mother lets off a string of curses. I’d know that voice anywhere.

  “Mom? Is that you?” I ask, voice cracking. Another guy in an identical cheap suit drags my mother into the room and deposits her in a chair. She’s dirty, maybe ninety pounds soaking wet, and looks like she hasn’t eaten in weeks. She’s been picking at her skin again, and she’s lost more teeth. This is the worst I’ve seen her, and it’s ripping out my heart.

  I reach for her, but only make it halfway across the floor when the burly agent who brought her in blocks my path.

  “Get out of the way! Let me see my mom!” I yell, slamming my hands against his massive chest. “Move!”

  “I can’t let you do that, Xebulin. It’s for her protection.”

  My mouth drops open in shock. “Her protection? What exactly do you think I’m going to do to her? She’s my mom!”

  “We take no chances with your kind.”

  My kind? What? Seventeen-year-old girls?

  All my strength crumbles, and tears start to fall. My mom leans back, moving her greasy hair out of her face, and gives me a smile. “Hey, Cherry girl.”

  “Hey, Momma.” I pull in a deep breath, letting my lungs fill until they’re about to burst . “Been missing you. Where you been?”

  Her arms and legs jerk uncontrollably, and she’s gnawing her thumbnail down to the nub. “Oh, you know. Here and there. You been a good girl?”

  I nod, lips trembling. “Momma, you have to tell these men to go away. They’re trying to take me somewhere. They keep telling me I’m something I’m not.” I try to twist my hair, something I’ve done since childhood to comfort myself, but the shocking reminder of it being gone slaps me in the face.

  She’s still staring at her fingers, and I call her name again, trying to keep her attention, but she’s lost somewhere in her own mind, whispering to herself.

  “You can drop the act, Xebulin. Your molecular signature has already been registered thanks to the physician who ordered your labs. Don’t bother running either. We excel at tracking by touch DNA.”

  “Act? What act? Momma, tell them they’re wrong!” My vision narrows, and I can’t get enough air. My lips are tingling, and I know I’m breathing too fast but I can’t help it. “Enough. You can stop now—whatever this is. It isn’t funny. Tell whomever put you up to this to leave me the hell alone.”

  The second man, the nicer of the two, loosens his tie. “You mean to tell me you were unaware of your origin? You had to know you were different. Off. Abnormal.”

  “Whatever. I’m done listening to you. Just go away,” I grind out between clenched teeth. I try and turn away so he’ll stop but he just keeps going.

  “Ever get the sense that you just didn’t fit? Felt uncomfortable in your own skin? That’s probably because whatever you had hiding your true self wasn’t a part of you.”

  My stomach twists into a giant knot, and I feel like I’m going to throw up. How could he know that? I’ve never told anyone.

  A harsh sob escapes, and I rush to cover it up with a cough. “So, what if I have? You just described every teenage girl who’s ever hit puberty and half of all women over forty.”

  “You didn’t think it was strange that you have eye and head discomfort when using a microwave?”

  My hackles rise. “Well, yeah. But I’ve had migraines since I was little. That doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Try again. Your kind don’t do well with large doses of radio waves, and in case you haven’t seen yourself recently, you’re purple. Blue hair and nails? Prominent forehead? You’re not a human. You never have been.”

  My skin heats, and both agents’ eyes widen in excitement. “There it is, Charles. Do you see it? The shifting of color over her arms and hands? It’s the first sign they’re experiencing an intense emotion—a precursor to some of their more…dangerous talents.”

  “Leave my mom and me alone.”

  Agent Boswell’s carefully maintained mask of indifference slips a bit, and he eyes my mom. “You really didn’t know, did you?”

  “Of course not. I told you, I didn’t. She’s not even mine. Someone dropped her on my doorstep when she was a baby. Papers and all.”

  My breath catches. “Mom? What are you talking about?”

  “Sorry, Cherry girl. You had to find out sooner or later.” She says it like she’s talking about the weather. Not telli
ng me that my entire life has been a lie.

  She licks her lips and sways with a nervous tick I’ve seen way too many times before. She’s withdrawing, and whatever hope I had that she’d choose me over the drugs disappears like smoke in the wind. “I’m sorry, baby. I just need a little bit. You know…to get me through. I’m sick…so sick..” The agent between us looks back at her, and my mom meets his gaze. “What do I have to do? For the cash?”

  I blink several times trying to clear my blurry vision. This can’t be happening. I have to get out of here. But how? And where’s Momma H?

  “You only have to allow us to take her and sign a non-disclosure agreement, promising not to speak a word of this to anyone, and the money is yours. We will handle all the paperwork, and her withdrawal from school.”

  He holds up the wad of bills with a smirk on his face, and laughs when my mom weakly lunges for it and falls out of the chair. God, she’s so skinny. So frail…

  The lump in my throat turns into a mountain when my mom asks the man, “They’ll be nice to her? No weird stuff, right?”

  “I don’t know why you’re asking that. I’m not going anywhere with them.”

  Agent Boswell narrows his eyes. “You have little choice in the matter, I’m afraid.”

  “Try me,” I challenge, jumping to my feet, and when I do, the room spins and nausea climbs up my throat. “What did you…” The spinning morphs into an all-out tilt, and I tumble back onto the bed.

  My mom’s voice is distant. “What did you do to her?”

  “Just a little sedative. Don’t worry, Ms. Aimes. She’ll be fine. We couldn’t risk her getting upset and hurting someone.”

  The water…

  “I’m so sorry, Cherry girl,” Momma whispers, kissing my cheek. “What happens now?”

  “Now, we take her, and you return to your life.”

  As my consciousness fades and I slip into a deep sleep, one last thought swims to the surface. I take it back—what I said before.

  I don’t want to disappear.

  Chapter Four

  A light breeze rustles the curtains and something warm and wet slides across my wrist. For a second, I don’t move, convinced it must be the remnants of whatever dream I’m having. I’m cozy, a mound of blankets pulled up to my chin, lying on a pillow that feels like baby angels delivered it straight from heaven. The light scents of honeysuckle and jasmine tease my nose, and I can’t help but think it smells like…home. A deep sadness washes over me and settles on my chest, weighing me down. I don’t have a home anymore. And there’s that slimy wet feeling again, this time on my arm…

  Jerking awake, I scream. Red eyes, razor sharp teeth, and—what are those? Tentacles? Antennae?—wrapped around my arm.

  Eww! Gross!

  The sheets tangle around my ankles as I scramble back against the pillows until I’m plastered to the headboard. The thing that was licking my arm tenses, then the little finger-like projections on its head lie flat against its black body and it dips down in a submissive manner.

  “Now, now, dear. Huey won’t hurt you,” a soft feminine voice says.

  Huey? This thing is a pet? Letting out another screech, I lose my footing and flop onto the floor like a dead fish.

  “Where am I? There’s been a horrible mistake...”

  The thing called Huey moves to the edge of the bed and lets out a low-pitched whine. I scan the room, desperate for anything I can use to defend myself and meet a pair of concerned violet eyes. The warmth in them is disarming, but the rest of the woman’s appearance is a shock. She’s purple, like me.

  “I can imagine this is difficult for you,” the woman says. “To wake up one day and be something completely new. Something better. It will take you a bit to acclimate but you’ll get there, dear.” Huey paws at the comforter, begging for attention, and the woman calls him twice but he doesn’t budge.

  “Oh, for stars’ sake, Huey. Now you decide to behave? Really? I’ve tried to commission you to a student for what? Ten years?” Huey’s gaze slides to hers, and I could swear he just rolled his eyes. “Will you place a hand on his regala so he’ll stand down? He believes you are in need of his services and won’t get off the duvet and give you some space until you formally dismiss him.”

  I eye the thing and cock a brow. “You want me to touch…his what?” It has four legs and slightly resembles a large Doberman, but he’s slick and mostly hairless with oversized eyes and holes for ears.

  “His regala. The eight little tentacles on his head. They’re meant to connect with you and regulate your health and emotion when in duress. He can read the imbalance within you.” I gape at her like she’s insane. “Suit yourself, but the Raska are very loyal creatures. If he has decided to be yours, he won’t leave your side until he’s sure you’re okay. And even then…he’ll follow you to the ends of the universe.”

  Almost as if the thing understands her, he inches closer and bows his head deeper. I really don’t want to touch him. But I also don’t want to be here, and there’s no way in heck I’m getting home with that thing hovering less than a foot away from me.

  With a trembling hand, I reach out to touch the top of his head, meaning to yank it right back, but the calm that infuses me through our touch stops me. I don’t even mind when the tentacles slide across my hand and weave together.

  There’s a tug deep inside me, a sensation of something blooming across my chest, and then the misery and fear that’s been assaulting me in waves since I woke up in that field relents, and I feel…okay. Calm, even.

  Huey nuzzles my hand, leaving a string of drool as he disconnects his tentacles and pulls away to jump down and sit by the door. He’s actually kind of cute. In a weird, alien kind of way.

  “Better?” the woman asks with an edge of humor to her motherly voice. Now that I’m not worried I’m going to get mauled to death by an alien house pet, I take a second to really look at her. She’s definitely not human. Her iridescent skin is a shade of deep violet and darker than the light purple tint of mine. Her ice blue hair is braided and rests over her left shoulder, and like me, her eyes are a pale purple.

  “Wondering about the difference between our exteriors? We grow more pigmented as we age. It’s a sign of nobility. The older the Xebulin, the richer their mind.” She jerks up suddenly with a horrified look on her face. “ Oh, my heavens, I haven’t even introduced myself. I’m Te’Lara, your house mother. I’m in charge of all the middle-aged female fledglings during their last two years here at Nova.”

  “But I’m not…” Get a grip, Cherise. You’re purple, for crying out loud. I let out a heavy breath and realization rears its ugly little head. “How… How did this happen? To me, I mean. How did I live my whole life…”

  “We don’t know. We haven’t seen biological suit capable of hiding an entire being like that used… well, ever really. Not in this galaxy anyway. The government officials who detained you have taken samples and should send whatever they don’t need here so we can determine its origin ourselves.”

  “So, I’m really an alien?”

  Te’Lara lets out a huff. “Well, you’re not human. You’re of Xebulis Five. And for the record, we prefer otherworldly.”

  I smirk. “Yeah, I like the sound of that, too.”

  She claps her hands together. “All right. Enough sleep. Let’s get you up, showered, and fed. Then I’ll answer any questions you have. I promise by the end of today, you’ll feel lightyears better about everything.”

  A shower and two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches later, I almost feel like a whole person again. Who knew aliens ate human comfort food, too? I miss my mom. As much as I hate to admit it, Jared’s betrayal is still fresh on my mind, but instead of getting sad, I force myself to focus on putting on the red shirt and jeans Te’Lara left on my bed and rest back against the freshly changed sheets.

  New life, right? Might as well embrace it. I mean honestly, at this point it couldn’t be worse than the old one. Plus, I’m purple. Even if I’m
not who they think I am, I can’t just waltz back into homeroom and sit down for class.

  Nerves turn my stomach into mush while I wait for Te’Lara, and Huey stirs at the door, his claws making clicking noises as he paces back and forth.

  “I’m fine you know.” He perks up and stares at me. “Yeah, I’m talking to you. Can you understand me?” He nods, then sits up tall. “ Well all right, then. Come here. Let me have a look at you.”

  Huey prowls forward, quiet as a mouse, and I can’t help but wonder if he made all that noise earlier as some sort of protest. His wet nose touches my shoulder, and the four-inch-long tentacles on the top of his head move around, sensing the air. His skin is smooth, and much softer than I first thought, and he’s actually covered in super-fine black hair. Without prompting, he rests his head on my lap, and I sit there with him in silence until I hear a soft knock at the door. It gives way with a creak, and I’m greeted with midnight black hair and the kindest eyes I’ve ever seen.

  “Hi! Cherise, right? Gosh, you really are one of us!” I reach out an awkward hand to shake hers, but she politely declines. What’s up with that? “ I’m So’Tia—Tia for short. Te’Lara sent me to give you a tour and help you gather all the things you’ll need to start classes tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow? Really? No rest for the fake human, I guess.

  She hands me a list and giggles as I stare at it wide-eyed. A few of the classes—Earth history and Earth geography—I can figure out, but the rest? Condensed Xebulin history? Touch Memory Extraction? Truth Differentiation? What are these? “There’s like eight classes here.”

  “Yep. You’ve got a crapton to learn, girl. We start primary school at age one. You have to shove sixteen years of basics into that brain of yours to qualify for the job placement testing next year. But don’t worry, the headmaster has arranged for private tutoring lessons with yours truly and a few other student alliance members.” She smiles, energy pouring off her in waves. It’s almost like she lightens the room. “Come on, I’m really excited to show you around. I’m sure your human school was awesome, but I really think you’re going to love it here.”