by H. J. Lawson
I watch in horror as those who are still on the ground try to grab ahold of the legs of the ones who travel up, trying to pull them down, but it also doesn’t help. They gravitate to the ship anyway, together with those who were holding their legs.
I notice a woman who’s clinging on to someone’s legs, not letting go, and then the two of them travel up the beam together. I edge forward, trying to get a better look.
Even though I’m far from the spaceship and the people, I know the little girl is my sister, Willow. She’s being transported into the spaceship and the woman holding her legs is our mother. With my heart racing and my breath caught in my throat, I start running to them, but AJ stops me, holding my arm with all his might.
“Let me go! Let me go!” I scream at the top of my lungs, trying to break free. “They are taking my mom and my sister! I have to get them, please let me go!”
I shake vigorously, trying to get free and run towards the spaceship beams, but AJ is stronger than me, and I’m pinned in his arms.
“Paige, please calm down! They will take you, too, if you go now. Stay calm.” AJ holds both of my hands together, as I shake and protest with all my might.
“I don’t care if they take me! I don’t care. They’ve taken them, do you understand? My mother and sister are in that spaceship! Let them take me, too. They need my help. I need to get on that ship!”
“Look, Paige, you have to stop panicking. Please listen to me.” AJ tries to get my attention. “I will go instead of you. I will get your mother and sister, I promise. I will get on the spaceship without anyone knowing about it.” AJ looks right into my eyes, holding me by my shoulders and trying to calm me.
I feel like crying.
Chapter Twenty-Three
AJ looks around and sees an abandoned small store. He breaks into it, pulling me after him. It’s dark inside. We go through the store, looking for a good place to hide, as it’s still night and I need to hide from the Shadow Men. We find the stock room in the basement and enter. AJ closes the door behind us. It’s not a big area, and there are boxes lined up on the floor. We go and sit on the boxes. It’s dark here, too.
I feel unsafe with AJ, the one who made me feel so safe through all this. Just half an hour ago, I totally trusted him and felt secure with him. And now? Now I don’t know what I am doing in this basement with a Shadow Man sitting by my side.
“AJ,” I break the silence.
“Yes?”
“Do you know how to get on the spaceship?”
“Yes, I know.”
“Have you been up there before?”
“No, I’ve never been. But I’ll be there soon.”
“If you’ve never been there, then how do you know how to get onto it?” I can feel my voice trembling.
“I’m sure I know how to get on it.”
“Really? And how exactly do you know?”
“I just do.”
“I don’t believe you’ll go get my mom and sister.” I can sense he’s lying to me. I’m sure he wants me to remain calm, that’s why he tells me he’ll go there. I get up, trying to get out of the room. AJ jumps up and holds my hand.
“Paige, stop. The Shadows will get you. Don’t you understand? Just stay here till the morning comes.”
“I want to find my mother and my sister!”
“I will find them for you.”
“I don’t believe you! Just because you say ‘I know’ isn’t an explanation. That’s not grown-up talk. It’s childish. Give me a normal answer. Please.”
“Paige, how else am I supposed to tell you I know how to get there?”
“Just tell me how you know the way.”
AJ looks at me, and even though it’s dark, I can see his determination to win back my trust.
“All right. I’ll tell you everything. They communicate with me. They tell me to go, and they tell me how to go. They give me instructions. I can enter the spaceship as they show me. And you can’t come, okay?”
“Yes, I can. They are my family.”
“It’s impossible, Paige.”
“Why is it impossible?”
“Because you don’t have the black mass in you. I have the black mass inside of me.”
AJ has the black mass inside of him? “How do you know if you have the black mass inside of you?”
“I just know it. They have told me. I definitely have it.”
“When? Why?”
“To be honest, I don’t know when it happened,” AJ says softly. “It just sort of turned on when I got infected with the virus at school. The virus worked like a switch, and when it entered my body, the switch turned on. I was filled with the black mass.”
“What is the virus was for?” I ask him, trying to understand.
“The virus was to kill the humans and to activate the infected.” AJ’s voice is soft and low.
“But why do they need it? Why do they turn humans into Shadow Men?” I feel questions pouring into my head. I’m starting to understand many things now.
“Because they can’t function in the daylight. They need a human host. They basically live in the infected humans, to be able to function during the day.”
“They live in the infected humans? Why can’t they function in the daylight?”
“Because of their surface,” AJ explains. “It reflects the light and blinds them. That’s why they avoid light. That’s why they don’t come in the morning.”
It starts to make sense. That’s why it was safe to come out of the closet when we were little. That’s why Mom let us be normal happy kids during the day. There was no danger of them during the day. And now things have changed – they have sent a virus, enabling them to inhabit a human’s body, so the daytime is not safe anymore.
I notice that AJ is very sad.
“You know what I am to them?” he asks me sadly.
I shake my head. “No, what?”
“A slave. I am a slave to them. That is what they are doing to all the people who are being transported on the spaceship. The people will have the black mass inserted into them, and they will work for the Shadow Men. They are collecting people like you.”
“What do you mean? Collecting people like me?”
“Those of you who have the golden aura around them. The ones that can save humans. They need to take the ones like you.”
“AJ, why don’t you let them take me? If you’re a Shadow Man, then you must want to take me …” I can hear my heartbeat as I talk.
“It’s because you’re the symbol for the love humans keep. It makes you different to the black mass. I won’t take you because I’m not like them. I don’t think like they do.” He takes a deep breath. “They did this to me – I didn’t want them to do this to me!” He becomes angry and frustrated. “They just did! And I don’t know what to do about it.”
Unable to control himself, AJ punches the side wall with his fist. A crushing sound is heard, and I can make out a small hole in the wall. A piece of the plaster falls to the ground. I’m surprised. I’ve never seen AJ so angry, and I never knew he was so strong.
“Sorry,” he mumbles, looking at his hand.
“Does it hurt?” I ask, looking at the cuts on his knuckles. Part of me wants to see if there is anything different about his blood, so I come a bit closer and look carefully.
“No, it doesn’t hurt. Nothing does.” He swiftly wipes the blood off his skin and the cuts heal in front of our eyes.
“Wow. The cuts healed instantly!” I exclaim, amazed. “What else did they do to you besides making you their slave? Is there anything else besides this?”
“Yes. I sort of had an upgrade. I’m faster, stronger, and unbreakable. It’s pretty amazing and the only good thing about this.”
I smile. “Then would you watch the door, please? Because unlike you, I’ve not had an upgrade. I really need to sleep.” I’m so tired I could sleep standing up. “I need to be ready for tomorrow, so I can go with you to get my mother and my sister back. You need to know I’m
going, no matter what you say. Whether you want me to or not, I’ll be there in the morning.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
I wake up and discover I’m alone. AJ is gone.
Damn! I shouldn’t have slept while he was on watch. I shouldn’t have trusted him.
Leaving the basement all alone, I see the spaceship still hovering in the distance. At least it’s morning. That’s one good thing.
Looking around the store, I search for a weapon. I need to find something suitable, but I’m standing inside a low-end convenience store. All they have is junk food. Useless junk food. This is so annoying. No knives, no swords, no guns, not even a single fork! I look behind the counter, just in case, and on top of it there is a note. I read it:
“Gone to get your mom and sister. Stay here and I’ll come back for you. Don’t leave. You have everything you need right here.”
Great. He left without me! Even though I told him yesterday I’d go with him, he went without me. Typical man.
I take a deep breath as worry starts to build in my stomach. Will he be all right? What if something happens to him? What if the Shadow Men realize he’s working against them? I feel my heart beat faster and realize I do care for him. I want him to be safe. After all, he wanted me to be safe, that’s why he left without me. He’s right – the Shadow Men would capture me, even if he was by my side. I’m sure his presence wouldn’t protect me if the Shadow Men found me.
My mind then shifts from him to my family. I wonder what’s happening to them. They’re in the spaceship, I know it for sure. I watched them get taken last night. What are the aliens doing to them now? Has AJ gotten to them already or he’s somewhere else?
I sigh loudly.
What can I do now? Should I leave? If I do, AJ, my mom, and Willow and won’t find me. I need to stay. But if I stay, how can I be sure they’ll come? What if I stay here waiting for them forever?
Confused by my thoughts, I glance around. I notice a brand new baseball bat under the counter. I smile. AJ took care of getting me a weapon. I grab it and walk towards the doorway of the store to watch outside.
Other people begin to emerge from buildings. Obviously they are dazed by the night’s events; I can read it on their faces. None of them looks sick. So where are the sick ones? Maybe the sick ones have already died?
Most of the people are staring up at the sky. I also look up and see the spaceship there, hovering above the city. It’s probably the same one that took my mom and sister. I wonder if they’re still there. I look intently at the spaceship, trying to find a sign of what’s happening inside. I see nothing. It’s so high up in the sky, it’s too far from me to see any details.
People look at one another, confused. They are not sure what to do, where to go. I notice the spaceship over the city isn’t the only one; there are more of them hovering in the distance. They are everywhere. There isn’t a way to escape from them. We’re trapped. It’s only a matter of time until they get all of us.
I go back into the store to turn on the TV by the counter. I need to get the latest news. I turn it on, but the TV doesn’t work. The power is out. The spaceship must have sent out an EMP wave, knocking out any way in which the people could talk to one another. I frown. I don’t know how I will get in touch with anyone. I check my phone, but that’s also dead.
What am I going to do? How am I going to call? How can I reach my dad? I really hope he is okay. I hope they haven’t taken him. If only he could come to us. He would know what to do. We’d all be safe with him now, probably traveling to another, safer planet.
I grab a chocolate bar and start to eat it. I’m so hungry. I haven’t eaten anything for such a long time that I don’t even remember when my last meal was. When I’m finished, I reach for more.
A bell rings at the front door of the store. I jump up, turning to see who it is. I hope it is AJ, or my mother, or Willow.
It’s not AJ or my family, but a police officer with a gun on his belt. Tilley is beside him. I am so disappointed, it makes me angry and more nervous.
“We’re leaving the city and you need to come with us,” he says to me. “I’m rounding everyone up, so hurry.”
“I can’t come. I’m waiting for someone, so I’ll stay here,” I say.
“No, you have to come with me,” he insists. “It’s not my request, but the President’s.”
“The President’s?” I ask him, my eyes wide. How has he been able to communicate with the President if all the networks are dead? “How did you get an order from the President?”
He looks sternly into my eyes.
“We need to leave immediately and we’re wasting time on empty talk,” he tells me. “You need to come with us.”
He marches towards me.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not going anywhere.” I sense he’s going to grab me, so I lift my bat, swing it at him, and shout, “Tilley, run! Run away from him!”
“Tilley, you need to stay with me,” the police officer says. “Your father is waiting for you. Don’t listen to this girl. You must not leave. Your father has ordered me to take you to him. He’s waiting for you.”
Tilley doesn’t know what to do. She just stands there, looking at me with frightened eyes, then looking around herself, as if trying to figure out where to run.
“Tilley, run!” I scream again at the top of my lungs. The police officer grabs my arm and I fight him off, shaking the baseball bat and trying to break free. But he’s strong. He takes my bat and throws it away. I need a weapon. I throw myself forward with as much force as I can. It takes a lot of energy, but I manage to grab ahold of his gun and point it at him. Now I am between the police officer and Tilley.
The officer smiles slyly, making me shiver. I’m sure he’s one of them, and he knows he can recover if I shoot him. I guess the Shadow Men don’t care about being shot.
The police officer doesn’t stop grinning and he doesn’t stop coming towards me. Without thinking much, I fire the gun at him. He jolts back from the force, but keeps standing. I shoot again desperately.
What if the gunshot doesn’t do anything to him?
This time the force drops him to his knees. I use all my bullets on him, unable to stop shooting.
He’s lying on the ground, but still alive. Blood pools around him. There’s no time to hesitate. I take a frightened Tilley by the arm, and we run across the street away from the police officer as fast as possible.
Chapter Twenty-Five
We run towards a building across the street. It’s an apartment building. I look back and see the police officer, who is coming after us. I notice he’s slower, but he’s definitely moving.
“What are we going to do?” Tilley cries, frightened, not letting go of my hand.
“We’ll hide in one of the apartments. Don’t worry,” I reassure her, although I am not so sure myself. Since the alien attack, no one has wanted to let other people into their homes. No one trusts anyone these days. How are we going to get in?
I check the doors as we run. They are all closed except the one at the end, so we run towards it. As we get nearer, I notice a small old woman’s face as wrinkly as her clothes. She’s standing in the doorway with her finger on her lips. She looks at us and motions us inside. At last, someone is willing to help us. But I am still wary of strangers, so I look around, to see if I can find a Shadow Man near. Cats walk around her feet. They’re probably her pets. The old woman ushers us inside.
“Come in, come in.”
We silently follow her. We’re breathless from so much running. She has a tiny apartment.
“Take a seat here, on this coach. I will make some tea for you to drink. You look so tired,” she tells us in a soft voice.
We sit down and nervously wait for the sound of the police officer. The old woman goes into the kitchen, and we hear the kettle going.
There is a knock at the door. I jump up. The old woman slowly walks to open it.
“Please don’t open it,” I beg her. “Please! Ther
e’s one of the Shadow Men out there. Don’t open it, please!”
But she does anyway without saying a word.
I look around to find a way out, but there is no way to escape. We are trapped and out of bullets.
The door is opened. The police officer walks in with the old woman, bullet wounds in his shirt where I shot him, blood seeping from them. I gasp, and Tilley screams. Without anywhere to run, we’re glued to the coach, unable to move, looking wide-eyed at the horrifying scene.
“I’m so pissed off!” the officer tells the old woman. “I guess I’ll have to go up for a new body. Look what they’ve done to this one!” he complains, shooting me an annoyed look.
“I want to hurry and get out of this body and away from these cats!” The old woman kicks them away from her, looking angry.
Without any other word between them, they turn to me and Tilley. The old woman grabs Tilley, and the police officer grabs me.
Even though there are lots of bloody holes on his body, I still can’t fight him off. He’s too strong. Suddenly, I feel pressure against my neck and weakness slowly grips me. My body has stopped working. I’m paralyzed, but my mind remains alert. I’m conscious of my surroundings and what’s going on.
“I want to come up with you and take her body,” the old woman tells the police officer, referring to me. “Her body will be an upgrade from this old ugly one.”
Is there is an upgrade in human bodies? I think, feeling terror wash over me like a huge ocean wave. I am really scared.
We are carried out of the building. The world is upside down to me, as I’m thrown over the police officer’s shoulder. I try to move, to break free, but my entire body is frozen, so it’s impossible to do anything. I can only see, hear, and understand.
They take us to the center of the street. I can see the shadow of the spaceship on the ground. I hope that AJ is still up there.
A bright light comes down from the spaceship, bouncing off the pavement.
“Oh, no!” the old woman says, sounding rather disappointed. “I’m not allowed up. Not until the humans have been contained.”