When They Come

Alex screamed in pain as Addir sunk his teeth into her right shoulder. It hurt as nothing else could. It was burning and stinging and stabbing all at once. The pain paralyzed her, leaving her defenseless against Addir.

Was this what Death felt like? The immense pain before the calming blackness that’d welcome her? Or was her death meant to be a slow and painful decent? Was Addir going to kill her? Even though he had sounded so sincere when he said he wouldn’t want to hurt her.

Or was it that punishment he had mentioned when he pulled her out into the school hallway. This was probably Death and punishment all rolled up together.

Addir let go. And Alex snapped her eyes open. She looked at him and he looked back.

“If you’re going to kill me, do it now,” Alex breathed, her voice hoarse and barely audible over the wind whipping around them.

“Why would I do that?” Addir asked, smiling.

Alex gasped and noticed something.

The brakes were suddenly slammed and Addir tumbled over the truck’s roof and onto the road. Alex lurched forward and hit the window. The car sped up once more and drove away from the Simien. Alex watched through blurry eyes, Addir as he stood up and watched Alex and John drive away.

Alex immediately felt her shoulder for what Addir was missing. When he had bitten her, he lost his top canine teeth. Which meant they were in her shoulder. Alex groaned as she felt them an equal space apart.

She had to get them out, it was just disgusting! What kind of alien would do such a thing? Alex felt her way around the pierced flesh and attempted to grab ahold of the tooth. As soon as her fingers closed around it, it seemed to melt.

“What?!” Alex cried out loud. She tried the other one and received the same results. She felt sick.

When she pulled her hand to where she could see it, it was laced with a silvery liquid. What was that?! Was that Addir’s blood?! Now she felt even sicker.

Alex felt knee-deep in a mess she didn’t want to be in. her vision was dotted with black spots and everything seemed to blur. Before she knew it, Alex was swaying and blacked out.

She stirred. Her eyes still closed. She felt as if her alarm just went off and she was in the middle of the sleep and awake state. Alex felt her heartbeat and her breath. She was still alive. That was good. What was bad was that Earth was still in danger.

Alex slowly opened her eyes to see that she was indoors. But it was really dilapidated. As if was abandoned. She felt John’s presence next to her. Alex’s face was on a stone surface. It was cold. She needed cold at the moment. She felt as if she was burning up.

Alex slowly sat up and felt her shoulder. It was sore but didn’t hurt as much as when she received the bite.

“Alex!” John said surprised. “You’re awake,”

“Yeah…yeah, I am,” Alex said groaning. She was sore everywhere.

“I…wasn’t sure you’d wake up,” John said nervously. “I patched you up with my first aid kit—never leave home without it—but you seemed to be…” He trailed off.

“I understand,” Alex nodded. Her eyes suddenly grew wide. “How many hours have I been out?” She asked frantically.

“Umm, about three,” John said slowly. “Why?”

“Because I just screwed up bigtime. The Saimien leader—Onol—or whatever she’s called is going to destroy the Earth. It sounds so weired, I know. But their leader has a thing against humans, and she decided that if even one of us breaks her law, everyone’s condemned,” Alex explained frantically. “We have two days to fix this!”

“How?” John blinked, absorbing the information.

“Well, like you said, we’d brainstorm,” Alex replied, getting straight to the point. She set a timer on her phone. 45 hours until everything gets deep-fried.

“First of all, you need rest,” John said firmly. “You’re pale and injured. I snagged snacks and waters and tossed them into my car. We can’t live off of them. But it’s a start.”

Alex furrowed her brows. She was scared, sure. Panicked, yes. But she needed to fix this. If her parents taught her anything, it was to fix her mistakes. Whatever the cost. But John did have a point. She was sore and felt as if she could hurl. She was in no condition to go anywhere.

“Fine,” Alex agreed, crossing her arms.

John nodded and pushed off the wall. “I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere,” He said, giving her a hard stare.

“I won’t,” She snapped.

John turned and slipped out of a crack in the wall.

Alex observed her surroundings. It looked like an abandoned factory. Ivy was growing up parts of the walls, grass sprouted from the cracks in the floor, and rust could be seen almost anywhere.

She hugged her knees. Alex needed a plan. The Saimien who mentioned the machine, Xoll, it was unfortunate that he didn’t say where it was. His commander or whatever cut him off.

If only she could contact that jerk, Addir. Maybe he’d know where it was. He was a Saimien. But what rank did he have? If humans had ranks, surely the Saimiens had their own. But like she had told herself before: Addir was not of her world and he never would be.

“That’s cute that you think I’m not,” A voice purred.

Alex’s eyes grew wide. “Who said that?” Alex said panicked. It sounded like…Addir. But where was he? It didn’t sound like he was in the building…it sounded like it was coming from inside her head. But that wasn’t possible.

“I’m no where you can see. I’m miles from where you are,” Addir said.

Alex shook her head. She must be hearing things. It was all in her head. She had probably hit her head on the truck bed, and it was just a hallucination.

“You’re right about it being in your head. But its no hallucination,” He said.

Alex growled. “Get out!” She snarled. “I don’t know what you’re doing in my head or how you’re able to use ESP, but you don’t belong here,”

“It’s a very long and draining explanation.” Addir replied.

“Well spare me the garbage and leave me alone,” Alex snapped, feeling like she had a building migraine.

“But I thought you wished to talk to me. You thought I held valuable information,” Addir said mysteriously. “Well, I’m here, at your command. And who knows? I may have what you’re looking for,”

“Wait really?” Alex said, her eyes widening.

No reply.

“Addir?” Alex called.

Nothing.

She swore and leaned against the wall behind her. Well, if he decided to invade her thoughts again, she ignore him.

She shook her head. “Alex, listen to yourself, you sound like a crazy person. Then again, this is all crazy. The aliens, the bite, the mental talks. It’s a mess,”

“True, you do sound like a crazy person,” John’s voice said as he rounded the corner.

“You heard?” Alex said, feeling her cheeks warm with embarrassment.

“Everything,” John nodded. He handed her a Cliff Bar. She took it and began to devour it. “Are you sure I don’t need to take you to a mental hospital?” He asked.

“I’m fine,” Alex muttered. “But seriously. Addir was speaking with me. He was in my head. I think—I think he might know where the machine is.”

“What machine?” John asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“The Saimiens built a machine. Whatever it is, it can pull the sun towards us—or vice versa I suppose. It’s nearly impossible to stop,” Alex explained.

John smirked. “Nearly impossible?”