by Darien Cox
And as he carried the tray carefully up the spiral staircase, he chose to believe that this could be his life. A relaxed, happy Elliot waiting for him in bed. The flutter of butterflies he felt just thinking about the words Elliot said to him in the pool last night. A life with the one person who’d always made him happy, regardless of their relationship status at the time.
When he stepped into the bedroom, Elliot was standing at the window that looked out onto the small backyard and thick forest behind the house. Elliot had tugged the drapes open, still beautifully naked in the dimness of the bedroom.
“Hey.” Nolan set the tray down on the end of the bed. “Waiting for the sunrise?”
“Yeah.” Elliot glanced back. “Oh damn, that smells good.”
Nolan picked up one of the coffee mugs and took a sip. “You like this house, huh?”
Elliot huffed, turning back to the window. “What’s not to like? Expected he’d have a bigger back yard. But it’s just forest as far as the eye can see.”
“It’s nice,” Nolan said. “Don’t you think? Peaceful.”
Elliot glanced over and smiled. “If this were my place, I’d put lights in those trees. Just little ones. The trees closest to the yard I’d do all up in small white lights, like Christmas trees. So the darkness wouldn’t be so…consuming.”
Nolan smiled. “I’ll buy you a mountainside estate if that’s what you want.”
Elliot chuckled and stared out the window again. “Ogden wants us to live simply, remember? Gotta blend in.”
“Yeah. How come Quint gets to blend in with a house like this, though?”
“Maybe he’s Ogden’s favorite.”
“Don’t tell JT that.” Nolan’s smile slid when he saw Elliot’s shoulders stiffen. “What’s wrong?”
Elliot stepped back and to the side, then peered around the drape.
“Elliot?”
“Oh shit. What the fuck?”
“What?”
Holding a hand up, Elliot whispered, “Stay there.”
“What’s the matter? Tell me dammnit!”
Elliot peered around the curtain again, a breath leaking out of him. “There’s something out there. Fuck.” Elliot flinched. “More than one of them.”
“Elliot you’re freaking me out! What’s out there?”
Elliot darted to his overnight bag and pulled on a pair of sweats. “Stay away from the window.”
Nolan ignored Elliot’s warning and went to the window, staring out at the woods beyond the back yard.
“Nolan!” Elliot whispered.
“Hang on,” he said. He jumped when he saw a white form flit from one tree to the next. His eyes scanned the trees edging the yard, then he saw another. Then another, like misty ghosts playing hide and seek. “What the fuck is that? Whites?”
“I don’t know. Guess so. But what are they doing so close to Quint’s yard?”
Nolan jumped when a misty figure broke through the trees and entered the back yard. It paused, staring directly up at Nolan. White hair falling just past its chin. Gray flowing garment.
Elliot stepped up behind Nolan. His hand rested on Nolan’s shoulder. “Is that the hybrid we met on the mountain? The one that took the baby?”
“I think so.”
Misty forms continued to flit through the trees behind the hybrid.
“It’s looking directly up at us.”
“It’s dark outside and it’s dark in this room,” Nolan said. “He shouldn’t be able to see us.”
“With those fucking eyes? Wouldn’t surprise me if he could.”
“Why are they here?” Nolan whispered, panic rising.
“Looking for us?”
“This isn’t even our place.”
The hybrid stood below in the dark, just beyond the tree line. Slowly, it raised one arm up toward the window.
“Is that fucker waving to us?” Elliot asked.
“I’m gonna open the window.”
“Nolan! No.”
“We’re on the second floor. It’s okay. I just want to see what he says. Not like we can go enjoy our omelets with those fuckers out there.”
“It’s a hybrid White, he can probably fucking float up here.”
“They’re not vampires.”
Elliot’s green eyes were wide and panicked. “Because vampires aren’t real! This is real.”
“Okay, okay. Just stay calm. I’m gonna open the window, all right?”
Elliot’s teeth clenched, but he nodded.
Nolan unhooked the latch and slid the window to the side. Cold air gusted into the room. They hybrid dropped its arm. It took two steps closer to the house, then stopped.
“What the hell do you want?” Nolan shouted, his breath coming out in a visible puff.
The hybrid lifted its arm in another wave. “I see you in the before,” his strange voice called up. “You with other. On field.”
Nolan glanced at Elliot.
“What do they want?” Elliot whispered.
“What do you want?” Nolan shouted.
“Ambassador with you?” the hybrid called.
Nolan’s eyes shifted to Elliot. “He’s looking for Baz.”
Elliot grabbed Nolan’s arm. “Do not. Tell him. Anything,” he whispered. “I do not trust him.”
“I know,” Nolan whispered, his entire body alert now. He stared down at the hybrid, forcing his breathing to slow, making his voice calm as he called out the window, “What do you mean?”
In the trees behind the hybrid, several similar looking figures moved closer. They lingered there at the tree line, heads tilted upward at Nolan. “I think those are all hybrids,” Elliot whispered. “Not Whites.”
Nolan nodded. The hybrid closest to them was silent, still. He turned back toward the ones lingering in the trees, and a soft chatter went back and forth between them, the language unrecognizable.
The hybrid faced Nolan again and took two steps closer. “Ambassador not with you?”
“No!” Nolan shouted. “We’ve been searching for him. You don’t know where he is?”
“Apology.”
“Why don’t you know where he is? Where did he go? Tell me!”
The hybrid waved again. “Hello goodnight goodbye,” he called out, then turned and moved slowly back into the trees.
“Wait!” Nolan shouted. “Tell me what’s going on! Wait, goddammit!”
The other hybrids stared up at Nolan for a moment, then turned and followed the other one into the woods.
Elliot leaned in next to Nolan and the two of them watched as the white forms moved deeper into the forest until they were out of sight. “They’re looking for Baz,” Elliot said. “What the fuck is going on?”
Nolan closed the window then shut the drape, danger-instinct screaming inside him. “Okay. You asked me to trust you before when the thing with Brett was going down.”
“Yeah. And that worked out so well.”
“Regardless, Elliot, I need you to trust me now.”
“Of course. What do you wanna do?”
“Don’t turn on any lights. Stay away from the window.” Nolan went to the bed and sat down, picking up his phone.
“They could search the house if they wanted,” Elliot said. “The Whites have those penetrating strobe things they use from their craft. They used them during the search for the angry nasty that escaped from the marina.”
Nolan glanced at Elliot. “I’m starting to think those hybrids don’t have the power of the Whites behind them.”
“But…why would they suddenly not?”
“Exactly. Stay calm. I’m calling Ogden.”
“Nolan?” Ogden’s sleepy voice croaked. “What’s up? Patient’s still sleeping but you can come on down if you want.”
“I’m at Quint’s up on the hill. Are you still at the warehouse?”
“Yes. What’s wrong?”
“How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?”
Ogden went silent. The words were a code they’d esta
blished long ago, to be used in the event of an urgent threat with such timeliness that Ogden should shut his yap, hold his questions, and follow Nolan’s instructions. Nolan had never used the code before now.
“Okay,” Ogden said softly. “Talk.”
“Just had a visit from seven hybrids, asking if Baz was with us. I think they’re disconnected from the Whites for some reason. And I feel strongly that if they find Baz, we’ll never know what happened or what’s really going on at the base. I believe he’s in imminent danger. He needs to be moved, right now. Somewhere secure and preferably out of the village. Quietly. Elliot and I need to get out of this house in the same manner.”
“Hold a minute.”
“Holding.”
Elliot began packing his bag quietly. When he’d finished, he moved on to Nolan’s, stuffing his personal items and strewn clothing inside. He tossed Nolan a shirt, then pulled one on himself.
Nolan pulled the shirt on, bringing the phone back to his ear. “Get your shoes on,” Nolan said. “And bring me mine?”
Elliot nodded. “You got it.”
“Nolan?” Ogden’s voice cut in.
“I’m here.”
“Can you get to the front by the beer-drinking bears in twenty minutes?”
“Yeah.”
“Leave your car and your bags. There will be a black SUV with no lights on. Both of you climb in the back of the vehicle. No talking until you’re on the main road.”
“Copy that.”
Ogden disconnected.
“What’s going on?” Elliot asked.
“Grab your phone but leave everything else. We have to get to the front of the brewery.”
“Shit.” Elliot stood. “Okay.”
“Where are our coats?”
“Downstairs.”
“Grab them on the way out, it’s cold. We’ll go out the side door. No lights. No talking. Tread quietly. You ready?”
Elliot nodded.
Chapter Twenty-One
Elliot followed Nolan down the steep, narrow road from the house, the two of them sticking close to the shadow of the tree line as they headed toward the brewery. The sky was beginning to brighten, breath coming out in cold gusts. They didn’t speak, but Nolan reached back every now and then to make sure Elliot was right behind him.
As they approached the building, Elliot saw an Arctic Angel truck leaving the lot, and the delivery dock door closing. “To the left,” Nolan said.
Once they turned the corner out front, it was eerily quiet. “There’s no car!” Elliot whispered.
“Come on. We follow Ogden’s orders until we hear something else.”
They rounded the building and moved quickly to the big wooden porch outside the front doors. Nolan leaned against one of the wooden bears.
“Now what?” Elliot said.
“We wait.”
“And what if…”
A dark SUV came round from the other side of the building, headlights off, stopping before the front porch. The windows were tinted black. “Take it this is our ride.”
“Come on.” Nolan pulled open the back door and slid in. Elliot slid in beside him, closing the door.
Quint was behind the wheel, thick coat and knit cap pulled down over his red hair. He didn’t speak, just pulled quietly out of the parking lot and headed toward the village. Elliot glanced at Nolan, who stared straight ahead, drumming his fingers on his knees.
They followed the lake, the quiet village beginning to stir with joggers and shop owners opening up for the day. Quint kept going, taking the road out of the village and ultimately through the main town of Singing Bear, where he took an exit onto the highway.
“Morning,” Quint said once they were cruising down the highway, the sun rising overhead.
“Morning,” Nolan said. “Where’s Ogden?”
“Already on route,” Quint said. “We’ll connect with them a bit further on.”
“He have Baz?”
“Yep. Shane’s driving one of the delivery trucks. Got Baz in there, along with Rhonda and Dr. Sullivan, Wiley and Tyler.”
Elliot released a breath. “Did anyone call JT and Christian?”
“Yep,” Quint said. “They’ll meet us on route as well. Same location. Then we’ll proceed to headquarters. Gonna be about an hour and half drive.”
Elliot and Nolan looked at each other. “Headquarters,” Elliot said, leaning forward. “You mean the headquarters? Where Ogden’s based?”
Quint chuckled. “That’s the one. Never been invited into the fortress, huh?”
“Not to date,” Nolan said.
“Well, you’ll be safe there, that’s for certain.”
“I’m more worried about Baz,” Elliot said. “Have you seen him? Since yesterday?”
“Oh yeah.” Quint laughed. “I stuck around, checked in a few times during the night between naps. He woke up once in pain. Rhonda gave him something that helped, but he’s real loopy this morning. Could barely keep his eyes open, but was cooperative enough when Ogden explained we had to move, fast. I helped Wiley get him dressed.” Quint wheezed with laughter. “Ogden gave Baz some of his own clothes. So your tall white buddy is currently dressed in sweatpants that ride up to his knees ’cause they’re too short and a CIA shirt.”
Elliot chuckled. “Aside from being groggy on painkillers, how did he seem?”
“Well,” Quint said, “even though he woke up in a lot of pain last night, Rhonda was pretty awestruck. Know how his legs were all messed up and cut and bruised? They’re already healing. Fast.”
“Has Baz been briefed about what’s going on? Has he said anything pertinent?”
“Not yet. Like I said he was coherent enough to follow instructions when they got him loaded up just now. Wiley says they’re gonna brief him on the way. Hopefully get some intel then.” Quint glanced in the mirror again. “Hybrids in my back woods, huh?”
“Yeah,” Nolan said. “It was fucking creepy.”
“Seen bears and coyotes and deer out there. But never aliens.”
“Yeah,” Elliot muttered. “To show up while we were there? Not a coincidence.”
“But hey,” Quint said. “Aside from all that, did you enjoy the house?”
Nolan chuckled. “Yeah. It’s great.”
Elliot smirked. “It’s great, Quint, thank you.”
“You didn’t get to eat,” Nolan said, nudging Elliot’s shoulder. “How’s your stomach?”
“Lost my appetite. Go figure.”
“We can grab some food when we meet Ogden,” Quint said. “Oop, hang on, that’s him calling now.”
Leaning over, Elliot whispered in Nolan’s ear, “Raincheck on that shower?”
Nolan’s hand squeezed Elliot’s knee. “Absolutely.”
“Okay, where?” Quint spoke into his phone. “Understood. Be there in ten.” He glanced in the back seat. “Uh, Ogden wants to see the two of you urgently so we’re stopping off a bit sooner than planned.”
“Okay,” Elliot said. “He say why?”
“Nope. But he had that tone. You know when his voice gets all hard and mean so you know he’s real worried about something.”
“We know the tone,” Elliot said. “Shit, hope Baz is all right.”
“The hybrid’s tough,” Quint said. “Suspect he’s made of damn tougher stuff than we are. Anyway, talked to JT while I was waiting for you guys. He’s got Rudy staying with Sheriff Murphy while we’re gone. Was worried about leaving Rudy alone at the house.”
“Good idea,” Elliot said. “Though Rudy will probably drive Myles batshit. What about Brett?”
“Brett’s staying behind for now, in case Ogden needs him in the village.”
“Good,” Elliot said.
Quint laughed. “Brett’s not so bad. Nolan, you didn’t tell him?”
“Tell me what?” Elliot scowled at Nolan.
“Oy. Don’t say anything to the others and don’t mention it to Ogden,” Nolan said. “But Brett was sent in to screw with our he
ads so we’d band together against him. Bond or some shit. Ogden’s afraid everyone’s gonna quit on him and leave the village.”
“Really? That’s stupid.”
Nolan looked at Elliot, eyebrows raised. “Is it? You were talking pretty seriously about leaving recently.”
“Things change.” Elliot smiled. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Nolan nodded. “I’m sure Ogden will be glad to hear that.” A smile crept onto his face.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Quint said. “No offense, but those kids you got working at the radio station just don’t have your energy, Elliot. I like your show.”
“Thanks, Quint.”
Five minutes later, Quint took an exit, and they turned into a supermarket parking lot, cruising around to the back of the building. Elliot saw the big long Arctic Angel box truck parked up next to a dumpster. Quint pulled up behind it.
The back door slid up and Tyler appeared, in gray canvas pants and a tight brown tee shirt—along with a very large gun strapped to his side. He waved them toward the truck.
“Go on,” Quint said. “I’ll wait here.”
Elliot and Nolan got out of the car. Tyler beckoned them again with some urgency, and then gave them a hand as they each climbed into the back of the truck. “Morning, Tyler,” Elliot said.
“The fuck it is. Come on, up front.”
The truck was long and spacious, the first section edged with a few random boxes of beer. Up ahead a crowd was gathered around Baz, who sat propped up on a cot. It was difficult to tell if he was awake because he wore metallic blue sunglasses over his large eyes, though Elliot could still see spider-webs of bruises fanning out the bottom.
Rhonda sat beside him and looked up, just as Ogden and Wiley bounded from their chairs. “Over here,” Ogden said. “Baz, they’re here. You awake?”