This isn’t real. It’s all a dream...or some elaborate hoax.
“Those who have left did so of their own accord. They did not wish for what we offered. They asked to go to another planet to continue in a lesser capacity, so we obliged them.”
Autumn frowned. How is that possible when they vanished before you made this announcement?
The alien looked directly at the camera. “Autumn Daniels, we can communicate directly with everyone, and we know your thoughts.”
Alicia grabbed her arm and squealed. “Oh my gosh! It just said my name. He assured me that I’ll be one of the first to become like them!”
“What?” Autumn stared at her friend. Her name? It didn’t say Alicia’s name. It said Autumn.
“We communicate with each person on this planet when we need to,” the alien said. “This is part of what you will accomplish when you are able to fully utilize your brain. Your consciousness will expand.”
Despite her shaking hands, Autumn put the cap back on her water and set it on the counter.
“Don’t be afraid, Autumn. Marianne is safe,” the alien assured her.
Alicia laughed. “It said that my parents are waiting to see me. When I evolve, I’ll be able to cross into the dimension where those who’ve died reside. I always knew there were other dimensions.”
“That is all for now,” the alien said. “When I return, I will bring more of my kind to get the process started on the next step in your evolution.” Then it disappeared.
President Jordan smiled. “That’s inter-dimensional travel for you.”
For some reason, Autumn wasn’t reassured about anything. Maybe they took Marianne for their research? Hadn’t aliens been abducting and experimenting on people for decades? Marianne had to be somewhere on this planet. The knot in her stomach tightened.
Alicia jumped out of her chair. “I have to call my cousin. I wonder if she got called by name too. I’ll be back.” She took the cell phone out of her pocket and dialed the number as she left.
Autumn wished she could be as happy about this as Alicia was, but she wasn’t. Something was wrong. Maybe she was the only one who sensed it. Rubbing her temples, she willed the pain killer to start working. When her headache left, she could figure out what to do next.
Chapter Four
It was a week later when Autumn saw himagain. Except this time, she wasn’t at work. This time, she was sitting on a bench outside the Bismarck capitol, staring at the red flowers spelling ‘North Dakota’ in front of the legislative building. She and Marianne used to walk the perimeter of the lawn and talk. The pain didn’t get easier. As she dabbed the tears from her eyes with a kleenex, someone whispered, We’re watching you.
She recognized the voice. It was the same one she heard her first day back at work. She hadn’t heard it since. Turning her gaze to the source of the voice, she saw a black limousine creep under the tunnel at the front entrance. Something about it made her skin crawl.
A quick look around revealed no other cars. She debated whether or not she should investigate. Had it not been for that familiar voice, she would have returned home. Since no one was in sight, she ran to the entrance and slowed as she neared the tunnel. She had entered the capitol building through the doors beneath the steps in the past—before the fateful day when the World Trade Center and Pentagon were attacked on September 11, 2001. That entrance was closed off for good. At least, that’s what people were led to believe.
She slowed and peered into the tunnel. The limousine was still there, the engine humming softly. A security guard stood at the open door and two men got out of the car. One was the same person who had returned the blouse. Another was a man she didn’t recognize. They didn’t walk into the building as she expected. Instead, they turned and waited for the third person. Only, it wasn’t a person. It was an alien. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see one. But she was.
As she watched the alien enter the building, the man from the store glanced in her direction. In the moment his eyes met hers, the alien also turned to look at her. Then a white light flashed in front of her eyes and the man and alien looked away. She blinked. The light hadn’t affected her like it should have since it was as bright as the sun. She looked back at the man and alien and realized that they hadn’t seen the light. In fact, they acted as if they hadn’t even seen her.
But they had to have seen her. They made eye contact with her! So why didn’t they call her out? She should have been relieved, so why did the cold feeling of panic wrap itself like a snake around her heart? Turning around to leave, she bumped into an elderly man who was taking keys out of his pocket.
“You don’t need keys,” she told him. “The doors are unlocked.”
He looked at her as if she were crazy. “I’m the janitor. I come here every Sunday, and I’ve always needed these keys.”
“But they just entered the building.”
“They?” He peered over her shoulder. “Who is they?”
“The men and alien from the limousine.” She glanced back. The tunnel was empty. Okay. This is getting really spooky.
When she looked at the man, he patted her on the shoulder and smiled. “It’s been a tough month.”
She waited until he walked up the steps above the tunnel before she hurried to her car. Despite the spring air, she shivered. She slipped into her car, turned the ignition and blasted the heat. Something strange is going on. This isn’t right. Something doesn’t add up. She glanced at the clear blue sky. Not a single spaceship was in sight. She saw some footage of the pyramid-shaped spacecrafts that had emerged over the capitols of every nation in the world, but those had been the only ones to descend to Earth. Then they left after ‘representative’ aliens came to speak with the leaders. The government had dispatched the military to take care of the riots, but other than that, things were calm. And maybe that wasn’t a good thing. Maybe it was too calm. Too normal. What if it was the calm before the storm?
***
Autumn spent the next three days trying to get the image of the limousine and its occupants out of her mind. What were they doing at the capitol building...and on a Sunday...and entering a portion of the building that had been closed off to everybody since the 9/11 terrorist attack? She struggled to make sense of it. All the pieces were there—right in front of her. The vanishing. The aliens. Men taking aliens to secret meetings on Sunday afternoons.
If the aliens really did come to open up dialogue, then what was with the secrecy? But then, was that really a surprise? Should she expect aliens to be honest when the governments hid their agendas? Their agendas. The thought made her shiver. What if they weren’t there to help?
Autumn glanced up from putting the sales prices into the computer. Alicia was helping a customer. Though the aliens hadn’t made an appearance before the entire world since the televised appearance with President Jordan at the United Nations, people seemed more at peace about the vanishing. Obviously, there were some who weren’t, but the general population accepted it.
Yesterday, the aliens kept the sunlight going for a full twenty-four hours to give them an example of their control over the solar system. She glanced down the aisle and saw the sun had finally shifted to its normal 3pm position. Time had resumed back to normal. They promised other signs in the days to come to prove that they were the gods of old, the gods of myths and legends. Gods who were really aliens.
She returned to the cash register and entered in the next sales price. It was too much to take in. She didn’t want to think about it. What she wanted was for her sister to come back.
Alicia walked up to the counter. “Pink is your color,” she told the customer before looking at Autumn. “Don’t you think pink and black look sharp together?”
Forcing a smile, Autumn nodded. “I always thought red and black together was too bold. Pink is more subtle.”
“Plus, it’s on sale, right Autumn?”
“25% off.”
The customer took out her debit card. “In tha
t case, I must have it. I have a job interview, and I want to look my best.”
“Good luck.” Alicia swiped the tag under the scanner. “In this economy, I feel fortunate just to work in retail.”
“Oh, the alien told me I’d get the job.”
“Really? When?” Autumn asked.
“When he gave that speech at the UN. Well, I guess it could be a ‘she’. It didn’t seem to be a specific gender. Did you think it was a man or a woman?”
“Probably neither,” Autumn replied.
“Then how does it reproduce?”
Autumn shrugged. What did she care?
Alicia giggled as she put the pantsuit into the store bag. “Obviously, if it put us here and watched our evolution, it figured out its own ways for that. Maybe they clone each other or live forever. You know, I heard that people can prolong their lives by hundreds of years if they can keep their bodies in good health. Maybe they figured out the secret. Maybe that’s part of what they’ll teach us.”
The woman swiped her card and punched in her pin number. “I certainly am ready for a change. When I was in college, I consulted a psychic and she told me that in my future, I would unlock my third eye.” She tapped the middle of her forehead. “I don’t know exactly what she meant, but I feel that a sense of destiny is upon me.”
Alicia picked up the receipt and glanced down at it. “Well, Ms. Hayden, I hope the alien was right and you get the job.”
Ms. Hayden thanked her, took the bag and receipt, and left.
Alicia turned to Autumn and squealed. “Good things are coming our way! I just know it.”
Autumn’s fingers itched to hold a cigarette. It’d been a bad idea to go back to smoking, and now that she had, she didn’t know how to quit again. Marianne had given her the support she needed for the task. And now that Marianne was gone... Choking back a sob, Autumn picked up her purse. “Do you mind if I take a break?”
“Not at all. I’m in such a good mood that even Hampton can’t get me down today. Go out and enjoy the fresh air.”
As she walked out of the side entrance, she wondered, once again, why everyone seemed normal. Instead of running around and panicking, people were...content. She watched two women pass by. They talked of what to wear for their upcoming dates.
Autumn shook her head and put a cigarette between her lips. Her hands trembled as she lifted the lighter to the end of her cigarette and lit it. Am I the only one who fears that something bad is going on? She had never felt more alone in her entire life. Inhaling the smoke, she willed the simple action to calm her nerves. Once she was done, she threw the cigarette butt out, sat on the bench, and placed her face in her hands.
“Are you going crazy too?”
Startled, she looked up. “Oh, hi Alex. Did you come to shop?” That was a stupid question. What else would he be doing there?
“No. I don’t feel like shopping. Mind if I sit?” He motioned to the spot next to her.
She shook her head and scooted over. After he sat, she asked, “How are you holding up?”
“I’m not.” He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “I feel like I woke up in a nightmare and can’t get out of it.”
“I know the feeling. Marianne always said that I let stress get the best of me.” Even as she laughed, tears came to her eyes.
He sighed. “I miss her too.”
“Are we the only ones who know that something bad happened to her? To all of them?”
“It sure seems like it.”
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. “What’s wrong with everyone? Why aren’t they searching for them?”
“You don’t believe they were taken to another planet?”
“No. Do you?”
“No. I don’t believe the aliens are good guys. I don’t know what they did with Marianne and the others, but I intend to find out.”
She lowered her voice so no one passing by would overhear. “How are you going to do that?”
“I’m going to Area 51.”
She stared at him for a moment.
“Look, I don’t know if anything is there or not, but last night when I was trying to sleep, I kept hearing ‘Area 51’ and when I woke up, one of the aliens was standing over my bed.” He gave a slight shiver.
“Alex, I don’t think these things are making personal visits to people.”
“Well, there’s one that keeps visiting me.”
“It scares you.”
“Why shouldn’t it?” he snapped. He rubbed his eyes. “I’m sorry. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep ever since the vanishing. The thing is always there, watching me. Last night was the first time it actually told me something. Maybe if I go, it’ll leave me alone.”
“Alex, that’s awful.” This made her brief encounter with the strange beings seem tame. She considered her next words. “Do you really think Marianne and the others are there? Somewhere underground maybe?”
“I don’t know. But I have to find out or else I’ll never be at peace again.”
She stared at her hands as she quickly weighed the pros and cons of her rash decision. Finally, she realized that she would do anything to get Marianne back, safe and sound. “Can I go with you?”
Straightening his back, he shot her a cautious look. “Are you sure?”
“She’s my sister. If I don’t take this chance to rescue her, I’ll never be able to live with myself. When do you plan to leave?”
“Tonight.”
“But shouldn’t you get a good night’s sleep first?”
“I won’t sleep. Not with that thing hovering over me and staring at me with its creepy black eyes.”
She saw his point. If she was going through that, she wouldn’t want to sleep either...at least not alone. “I’ll tell you what. We’ll take turns driving. That way, you can get some sleep on the way to Nevada.”
His body relaxed and he smiled. “Thanks, Autumn.” He stood. “I should pack. Is seven okay?”
“Sure. I can get off early.” And if Hampton had a fit, let him. This was her first real chance to find her sister, and there was no way she was going to blow it.
Chapter Five
The drive through the night should have worn Autumn out, but it didn’t. Something, deep down, told her that a piece of the puzzle was about to fall into place. She was doing more than sitting around and wondering what to do next. She needed this. Needed to act. To do something. Anything. Her sister was out there...or up there. She glanced at the clear sky. The stars twinkled. The spaceships were only over the major cities of the world, and North Dakota apparently was too small for aliens to bother with. Well, except for that strange occurrence at the capitol. Nothing about that was reported on the news, and it should have been.
She sighed and shook her head. Changing the radio station, she glanced at Alex who slept in the passenger seat. She wondered what the alien standing over his bed at night wanted with him. The irony wasn’t lost on her. If anyone had told her aliens visited them while they were trying to sleep a month ago, she would have called them crazy. As much as she wanted to get back to a sense of normalcy, she feared that nothing would ever be normal again.
The radio played out a soothing tune. Good. She needed something mindless to listen to. Up ahead the vacant road, she saw a figure in white standing in front of her. Startled, she pressed her foot to the brake, careful not to slam it. As she slowed, she blinked several times. She was seeing things. There was no way she could be seeing what she thought she was seeing. But as the car came to a stop, the headlights bounced off the man’s body.
This can’t be happening. First aliens and now angels?
The man in white with his wings almost hidden behind him motioned for her to leave the car so she could talk to him.
She gripped the wheel as she debated whether to obey him, wake Alex up, or just drive around him. The figure standing before her was imposing, to say the least. His expression was grim, making him seem more intimidating than he might actually be. The only ass
uring thing about him was the concern in his eyes. But even as her heart slowed, she couldn’t fully relax. After all, he wasn’t a cute little baby with wings fluttering around with a bow and arrow. Licking her lips, she decided to talk to the angel. She softly opened the door and shut it, careful not to wake Alex. Her steps were hesitant. This thing was different from the dark shadow she’d seen emanating from that man in the mall.
“You must turn back,” the angel said.
She didn’t know why but she thought he’d sound more...angelic. He sounded like an ordinary man. He even looked like an ordinary man, except for the long white robe and wings.
“Don’t go to Area 51.”
“Why?”
“There are some things you cannot change, and this will not bring your sister back. Your answer does not lie in the direction you are going.”
Hope fluttered in her chest. “Do you know where my sister is?”
“Yes. She is safe. You have no need to worry for her. Worry for him.” He motioned to Alex.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw Alex stir in his seat. “Why?”
“He must not go to Nevada.”
She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and debated the logic of pressing an angel for more information. After all, did angels engage in a question and answer session with humans? Finally, she decided to press her luck. “Why?”
“They want him there.”
“They? You mean the aliens?”
“That is what they call themselves.”
That is what they call themselves? Did that mean they weren’t really aliens? If they weren’t really aliens, then... “Who are they?”
Suddenly, he disappeared.
Surprised, she stepped back.
“Autumn?”
She turned to Alex who was opening the car door.
“What are you doing in the middle of the road?”
The Vanishing Page 3