Calm!! Normal!! These words kept going through my head as Kallen and I entered the supermarket. It was my favorite place to take a day trip, being that it was one of the places I actually saw more than ten people at a time. That day, however, it became a source of anxiety.
I had to tell myself to breathe a couple of times. Kallen asked me what I wanted to buy. My list kept rotating; I was sure that I forgot what I originally planned. Why did Kallen have to scare me like that? I kind of wished he would have left me to unknowingly go through the rest of my life. I wouldn’t have been the crazy lady in the store.
Maybe it was a test. To prepare me to learn how to act “normal.” A way of scattering my brain so I would tell him everything I knew about Lalo.
I finally eased my mind by focusing on Kallen. He was suspicious of someone. Apparently it was me because he started making jokes about buying so much food. It was so I wouldn’t have to “go alone,” I told him.
“Alright. Good enough for me,” Kallen said and backed off the issue.
Although the situation was a bit daunting, especially since I didn’t know all of the details, it was great to hang out more with Kallen. We had become friends during my stay in Millsee, what little month of it I had. But we weren’t even friends that long. He was gone most of the time during the previous week.
Around 4 p.m. Kallen dropped me off at my house. My job, most of the time, allowed us to finish earlier during the day. That also meant we began way too early in the morning.
Once inside, I expected to have to probe for Lalo again, but he was sitting on the couch, watching the news. How did he know Kallen wasn’t coming in? After putting up the groceries, a yawn initiated my teary eyes. I shuffled to the couch where my brain told me to go to sleep.
Fluttering my eyelids to fight the darkness, I tried to face Lalo to ask what he did that day. He smiled and said, “Go to sleep Marli.” With that I was out.
—-
I was underground, or above it, in some dark, stone building. The sound of the city wasn’t too far away. For a moment, sirens passed by. I tip-toed down the long hall. In advance of reaching an opening, I heard voices. I froze. I checked behind me to see that I was alone then peeked around the stone wall.
“We have to find him!” A tall, extremely strong, warrior type of man said. Never had I ever seen someone that couldn’t pull off a pair of regular jeans. They were too normal for him. Too informal. His muscles bulged up under a black tee, adding to the unfitting outfit. I missed some of the conversation due to my impression of the actual man. But something wasn’t right. A chill twisted through my body. This place wasn’t safe for me. “Before he becomes lost,” the man continued. “Like the others.”
“I know he is part of the plan, but why?” another warrior guy said. “We are as strong as him. Is it really that important to waste so much time? He’s not of the highest blood.”
“It is not for me to discuss with you,” the tall man said. “They are orders.”
“All of these millions of people and you expect to find him,” the second man said and huffed.
“With the signs he will know,” the tall man said. “Do you feel that?”
“Feel what?” the second man said.
“There’s no way. He couldn’t have. Unless they—”
The second man wore a puzzling expression.
“A human,” the tall man said. “A human knows of us. They are listening.”
He surveyed the room. As he was about to see me I gasped, and my eyes opened then shut down from the light in my living room. The news was on again. The reporters were a broken record, back on the topic of the missing homeless people.
“Marli,” I heard Lalo say. He rubbed my shoulders.
I panted as I struggled to calm down from my dream. I didn’t think it meant anything specific to Lalo, but it was scary.
“Bad dream?” he asked.
“Yes.” A laugh escaped my mouth. “It was a conversation. Some men were nervous that a human was listening, and I was the human.”
Lalo took too much time to think about the dream as he lie back into the couch. “Tell me more,” he said. Lucky for him I remembered it exactly. Most dreams I forgot. Some, I remembered the subject. It was rare for me to remember the scenes. Remembering the word for word conversation was a miracle. It was like the thing downloaded and stored itself in my brain for future reference.
Lalo’s concern became clear when he made me detail the description of the two guys. He said he didn’t remember anyone like them.
“So you think this has something to do with you?” I asked.
“I need to find out,” Lalo said and changed the subject. “So I’ve been watching the news, and this story, all day. I don’t know exactly why, but the fact that these people who don’t have a home are vanishing... My memory is fighting to come back, but it can’t.”
He refocused on the news show. The camera panned away from the reporter and revealed part of the scene behind her.
“There!” Lalo said and stopped the live broadcast. He rewound the newscast and played it again. Paused it. He sprung to the TV, pointing out a detail. I pushed myself off the couch to have a closer look. Under his finger was a rock. This rock was different from the others that surrounded it. The rock was almost like glass. It was a familiar purple color, in spots. I inhaled and Lalo nodded.
“We have to go there, now,” Lalo said.
“No!” I said. “We’re not going there. That’s all the way in the city, an hour away.”
And Kallen told me to be cautious; stay at home.
“We have to,” Lalo said. “It’s a clue. I think going to the scene can help me remember. What if something bad is going to happen? We need to find out before there is nowhere to run. And besides, I need some clothes.”
He was right. He did need some clothes. I couldn’t expect him to wear the same thing every day. It would make him stick out and draw attention if I ever let him go outside.
“You’re lucky there are no stores around here,” I said. “But we have to be alert. Police are most likely continuing to patrol the area. We will become suspects if they see us fishing around for something.”
“So, we’ll get the clothes first. Then go late in the night. Or we can go in the morning.”
I sighed. “So much for sleep tonight.”
“I’ll drive back.”
“No you won’t!” I said.
Lalo closed his eyes, and chuckled. “Marli, I flew my spaceship down from outer space, and you think I can’t drive?”
“It wasn’t a spaceship. It was a meteor.”
“No, it was a spaceship disguised as a meteor.”
“All of you have these things? These spaceships designed as meteors.” I said.
“A few,” he said.
“A few,” I said. I ran to my computer. Lalo joined me. My fingers reached maximum speed as I searched for recent meteors seen and meteorites found. The last large one seen was about three months prior. It landed overseas.
“What are you thinking?” Lalo said.
“What if,” I said, “if a whole lot more of your species is coming? Or came?”
“This terrifies you?” he asked.
I hesitated.
“Be honest,” he said.
“The truth is we don’t know what you are capable of,” I said. “And why would you come undetected? Is it to harm us?”
“I see. That’s why I frighten you. You assume the unknown to be dangerous despite of the fact that I’ve proved you wrong.”
“I have to be cautious,” I said. “Lalo, you have to understand. I think a lot of people would also be cautious, or even worse, violent, in my position. They would call the police, who would contact the government, who could possibly lock you away forever. You wouldn’t have any freedom. And who knows what they would do to you? Run tests, do surgeries, give you diseases and see if you could cure them, make you work for them to further technology, or our society. You’re what we call an alien. As far as I know you haven’t been proven to exist. I have to ask why you came.
“So you should be cautious too,” I continued. “Of us.”
“Alright. Yet another reason to find out why I’m here, and if there are others, pronto.”
“Yeah,” I said. “And I need to make up some sort of story for you in case anyone finds out about you. You are an ex-boyfriend or something.”
“It’s funny you said ex instead of a friend from childhood,” Lalo said. “This should be fun.” His grin was so large, he reminded me of The Grinch from How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
“Whatever,” I said and grabbed my bag and keys. I snuck Lalo outside. Thankfully, I didn’t see Kallen’s truck sitting at his house. He must have left to visit his cousin.