Chapter Two

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Draeken strolled down the crowded main street of this utterly enchanting and very amazing town. He’d never seen anything like it during his research of this planet, and he’d studied Earth quite a bit before this surprise arrival. Sure, he’d seen many of the various holiday customs of this planet, but typically each only came once a year.

To have a whole town devoted solely to the most interesting holiday of the year, Halloween… Well, he was in heaven. He marveled at the potential for fun he could have here. How had he never seen this place listed anywhere as a travel destination before? If it turned out to be as fun as it looked, he’d make a point to visit every chance he got. If his super-secret plan worked the way it was supposed to, that is.

He’d gotten to town after dark the night before and wandered around the very interesting town. His first destination had been the hospital. He managed to search the emergency area and discover it had been a quiet night by delving into the minds of the humans. No unidentified victims or aliens had been brought in recently. He left vowing to search every inch of the town, but his energy was wearing down. He couldn’t remember the last time he’s slept a full night. Probably back at Alpha-Prime.

At the center of Nocturne Falls was a fountain with a large carved gargoyle in attendance. Several humans clamored around the huge statue, posing and taking pictures. Draeken hadn’t wanted a picture, but got the feeling the gargoyle seemed oddly alive for a creature that was supposed to be inanimate. Perhaps he’d suffered a head injury in the crash and was off his game.

For quite a while he watched the large carved rock being carefully, expecting him to lunge forward after one too many pictures and crush the nearest camera that had flashed too brightly for the last time.

The gargoyle never moved or showed any signs of life, so Draeken left the area and wandered further into the park. He found a bench out of sight of the gargoyle fountain to plop down and get some rest, waiting until daylight to search the town further. With the dawn came an idea to check the sheriff’s station. If his brother was out and about searching for him, that’s likely the first place he’d go and one he’d check in to every so often for any new discoveries.

While on the lookout for Riker, Holder or the sheriff’s office, he traversed down the main street, looking at all the wonderful orange and black decorations. The streetlights had spider web designs on them. Marvelous. The next sign he saw was a place called Delaney’s Delectables. The scent of the place lured him closer.

Ducking into the chocolate shop that smelled divine even from the street, Draeken perused the various treats in the quaint shop. He didn’t have any Earth currency on him, but he could certainly look at everything.

“Can I help you?” The cheerful voice came from over his shoulder. He turned to see a pretty woman behind a counter. A pretty, very pregnant woman. He nervously hoped the baby didn’t decide today was his or her perfect birthday.

Her gaze went to his forearm and the hated manacle, but instead of pointing to him and shouting, “Escaped prisoner on the loose!” in a shrill, loud tone, she smiled and continued to sit quietly with her warm, fertile glow filling the space around her.

Perhaps earthlings didn’t know what a manacle signified. That would be an amazing boon right now. And the truth was, how could they possibly know? Aliens living and hiding on this planet was a highly guarded secret.

Today was turning out to be awesome.

Draeken returned her smile. “No thanks. Don’t get me wrong. Your shop is amazing. Unfortunately, I left my…” Space potatoes, what was the right word? “Oh…I left my wallet behind…you know, back at home.” No. Not home. I’m an idiot. “I mean the place I’m staying.” He sounded like an idiot.

Her smile endured, but her gaze lowered to the counter. She pointed to a platter with a selection of chocolate treats with small, spiky wooden spears in them. “That’s okay, happens all the time. You can always come back later. In the meantime, want to try a free sample?”

“A free sample?” Didn’t free mean no currency involved in the transaction? Since this place was all about Halloween, would he have to do a trick? Wasn’t that the way it worked, folks got treats for doing tricks? What could he do for a trick?

“Today’s free sample is chocolate pumpkin spice fudge.”

Draeken approached the counter, picked up a little spike, put the treat on his tongue and let pure delight melt in his mouth. He moaned a little and shut his eyes as the fabulous taste of whatever this confection was dissolved across his taste buds.

“That is amazing,” he said, eyeing the plate with desire.

“I’m so glad you liked it.”

Draeken wanted to do a great trick for such a wonderful treat. He wanted to ensure his trick was worthy of the treat he’d eaten. He would read her thoughts and make a comment about what she was thinking. That would be a fine trick.

He probed her mind and found a most unusual association. He’d never come up against anything like her before. It took a bit more effort on his part, but finally he broke through the resistance of her mind’s interesting guard and caught a glimpse of her thoughts.

This woman looked like a human, she sounded like a human. Before he could stop himself or curtail his exuberant reaction to the discovery, he said, “You used to be a human, but now you’re not anymore. How extraordinary.”

Her smile disappeared. “What are you talking about?”

He tilted his head and stared into her unwavering gaze. “You are a creature of the night.” He looked outside, seeing a shaft of sun peeking in from the windows.

Draeken’s mind-reading had given him not only a luscious treat, but had revealed an unexpected trick on her part.

“You’re a vampire, right? I’ve read about your kind. But how can you walk in the daylight? Isn’t there a rule against that or something?”

“I beg your pardon?” Her sudden switch from smiling and helpful proprietor to a glaring and distrustful woman with child was perplexing. Draeken took another look into her mind. Oh no. Being a vampire was a secret. Time to go. Now!

Without answering her question, he darted out of her shop, fleeing the delectable scent of chocolate and the scene of his horrendous gaffe. So foolish not to temper his thoughts before letting his mouth run amok. Oh, well. Nothing to be done about it now.

Draeken hurried down the street and crossed to the other side, hoping the chocolatier would forget him. Unlikely, given her expression, but he hadn’t meant any harm. He’d certainly never tell anyone what he knew, although he probably should have told the vampire that before bolting out of her shop. Space potatoes!

Cursing even in his own head didn’t really help much, except it did make him feel better.

He gradually slowed his pace to match that of other shoppers. Nothing got attention faster than someone running like a crazed lunatic down the street. He forced a lazy, slow stride even though he wanted to make a mad dash down the avenue.

At the end of the block, he saw a sign signifying the sheriff’s office. It was likely the first place Riker would go to find him. If Riker had been discovered or carted off or whatever scenario might have separated them, the sheriff’s office was also a good place for Draeken to continue his own search.

Hopefully, the trouble Draeken had unwittingly caused at the chocolate shop wouldn’t hamper his search for his brother.

As he approached the sheriff’s office, he noticed a car with the law enforcement emblem on its doors drive by. There was someone in the backseat. It was probably some local punk, getting arrested for some unforgivable Halloween offense. What was unforgivable in Nocturne Falls? Hating pumpkins? Not participating in the day-to-day festival-like atmosphere, perhaps?

Draeken glanced through the side window to see what Nocturne Falls’s most wanted looked like. The wretched expression on the backseat occupant’s face sent his pulse thumping with visceral recognition.

No. It wasn’t possible. Was it? The odds had to be astronomical.

He sped his steps, following the law enforcement vehicle off the main road and to a back ally parking area. Draeken watched as the prisoner was led into the back of the sheriff’s station in handcuffs.

As if he didn’t have enough on his plate, now he was going to have to break someone out of jail. Space potatoes!

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Stella didn’t have to stress over the murder charge for long. The sheriff held tight to her arm as the two young men roused and sat up, rubbing their eyes like five-year-olds after a midafternoon nap.

The Big D wasn’t a killing device. The aim was to prevent humans from discovering aliens existed and walked among them. Anyone hit by a blast from the Defender would forget the last thirty minutes and be unconscious just long enough to make them believe they’d dozed off.

Surprise was obvious in the sheriff’s expression as he watched the two young men stand up.

“Are you boys okay?” he asked, giving her a puzzled look that seemed to say, “Now what have you done?”

Neither boy responded to the sheriff’s question. One said, “Let’s head home, dude. My belly is so empty I’m bordering on hangry.” The other young guy nodded and together they walked by, seemingly oblivious to everything around them as the older man cuffed Stella’s hands behind her back. The sheriff called after them, but they kept walking toward Nocturne Falls.

The sheriff grabbed her by the elbow and led her in the opposite direction of town. Out of the clearing, a few steps beyond some trees, they came to a dirt road. Stella spotted the police cruiser maybe a quarter mile to the north.

“I wasn’t trying to murder you,” she said, practically running to keep up with his long strides. It wasn’t easy with her hands cuffed at the small of her back.

He slowed a bit. “What were you trying to do then?”

She didn’t have a ready answer. She pressed her lips together to keep from spontaneously answering his questions under her breath.

“You’re just lucky those two kids woke up.” He picked up speed again and soon she was hustling across the primitive terrain toward his vehicle. She absolutely didn’t want to be held by an earthling authority for any length of time.

Stella wasn’t certain of the protocol that covered explaining the Big D to an earthling. The subject had never come up before. They fired it at humans and the humans didn’t remember anything. She’d blasted him twice, twice, and the sheriff had barley blinked. She’d certainly have something valuable to offer up at the next lessons learned session back in Alienn. If she ever made it home.

She took a deep breath. “It isn’t a weapon of destruction.”

“Oh?” Sarcasm was easily detectable regardless of species. He was still angry.

Stella calmed her tone, trying to see things from his side, while at the same time trying to come off as harmless. “I was only trying to…” she paused, not wanting to reveal even her non-hurtful intentions.

“What? Make me forget that you tried to shoot me? Nice try.” He then made a grunting noise that sounded a bit ferocious and pulled her arm harder.

She shot a glare in his direction, wishing she knew why he hadn’t been impacted by her memory loss weapon. Every other human it had been used on acted exactly like the two boys had, without fail. Curious.

“I have eyes and I’m not an idiot. I saw what that weapon did to the other two.” Had he forgotten the spacecraft? Maybe it had worked partially. That might be one success she could call up for the post-mission brief.

“Why didn’t it work on you then?” Her tone was a bit snarky, but she did try to temper it. “What’s different about you and those boys besides size and age?”

He opened his mouth then closed it. Instead, he returned her glare. “No comment.”

Interesting answer. What did he have to hide? She was about to ask, but they’d arrived at his vehicle. He either hadn’t seen or hadn’t bothered to scoop up her backpack with the rest of her gear. He searched her, taking her money, her ID and the Defender, but he hadn’t found her communicator. It was cleverly concealed on her belt.

He popped open the back door. “Get in. Watch your head.”

“Please don’t do this. I need to do something. It’s very important.”

“Too bad. There are consequences for aiming a weapon at a law enforcement officer and whatever you did to the other two young men, regardless of how temporary.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“To a nice jail cell in Nocturne Falls where you can think about what you’ve done.”

Stella pushed out a sigh and ducked into the backseat. At least she was headed in the right direction for the next phase of her mission. She just hoped Nocturne Falls and the people therein were as easy to manipulate as the human visitors to Alienn, Arkansas. Given how the Big D had failed her, she suspected it was going to be trickier than planned.

The sheriff added, “I’ll be checking out your credentials, including a call to Alienn, Arkansas and the local law there to find out what your real story is. I suspect you won’t tell me what I want to know willingly.”

“Touché,” she said settling into the backseat, trying to find a comfortable way to sit on her cuffed hands. There was another worry. The ID he’d taken when he’d patted her down would check out, but this bothersome information about her arrest would also lead straight to her direct supervisor, Cam, and then to their Fearless Leader.

Luckily the sheriff couldn’t test the Defender’s capabilities out on anyone. It basically looked like a small blue and white plastic megaphone, seemingly harmless.

Much like her communicator, Stella was the only one keyed to use the Defender in her possession, a safety feature Cam had insisted on. Still, it was unlikely she’d be released any time soon unless a miracle occurred. It was quite possible she’d failed at being in charge of her first big mission out of town in the first few hours.

Not only that, the leadership at home would find out about it before she even had a chance to explain anything. At least the sheriff hadn’t mentioned the spacecraft again. Small comfort as the cruiser sped toward her imminent confinement. The irony of her being jailed while on a mission to find an escaped convict wasn’t lost on her.

The sheriff turned off the bumpy dirt road and onto the smoother blacktop. She saw the sign for Nocturne Falls.

Just as she started to relax, the sheriff said, “And don’t think I’ve forgotten about that spacecraft you were hiding in the woods either. Care to explain that?”

Space potatoes!