The Vanishing Read online

  When she got to the department store, Alicia looked relieved. She asked the male customer to wait before she ran over to Autumn and whispered, “It’s been nonstop ever since people vanished. I mean, they all want to return items they bought for their friends and loved ones. I don’t know what the price was on the blouse when he purchased it three weeks ago. Do you remember?”

  Autumn glanced at the tall, slender man in the dark suit holding an open box. “You’d think with the way he’s dressed, he would have gotten his girlfriend or wife a better gift,” she whispered. “That blouse was only $25.”

  “Thanks.” The pretty African American woman hurried back to the register and took the blouse from the man.

  As Autumn made her way to the employee lounge, the man glanced her way. A shiver ran up her spine. She blinked and quickly looked away. There was something seriously wrong with him. On the outside, he was as gorgeous as a man could get—tall, dark and handsome. But inside... She didn’t even want to think about it. She’d probably never see him again, so it didn’t matter. Once she put her purse in her locker, she grabbed a quick drink of coffee before clocking in.

  By the time she returned to the register, the man was long gone. She breathed a sigh of relief. “Is there anything new I should know about?”

  Alicia stopped flipping through a catalogue and grinned. “There is a hot guy working in the electronics department.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I meant work related.”

  “He is work related.”

  “You need a date.”

  “Don’t I know it! It’s not my fault that men don’t know a good thing when they see it.” She shrugged. “Their loss, right?”

  “I’d like to think so.”

  Alicia sighed. “We do have new jeans. They’re the relaxed fit and they even come in petite. It might be perfect for you.”

  “I’ll check them out. It’s been two years since I bought a new pair.”

  “Oops. There’s Hampton rounding the corner. I better look busy.” Alicia shut the catalogue and hurried off to a customer.

  Mr. Hampton made his way up to her. “Nice of you to come to work, Miss Daniels.”

  “I took a vacation.”

  “Without telling anyone in advance?”

  “My sister disappeared that day.” Why did she even have to explain this? “I didn’t have advanced notice.”

  “Life goes on. Some of us are still here and need clothes.”

  She bit her tongue so she wouldn’t snap at him. With the economy suffering as it was, she couldn’t afford to lose her job.

  “Next time, plan it ahead of time so I can fill in for your slot.”

  As he walked away, she stuck her tongue out at him. So what if it was childish? She’d just lost her sister and best friend for goodness’ sakes! Some understanding would go a long way.

  Two women came up to the counter and placed two shirts and a skirt in front of her.

  Autumn forced a smile and took the items. “Good afternoon. Did you find everything you were looking for today?”

  “Yes, we did,” the blond said. Then she turned to her friend. “It’s about time the truth was told. I saw one when I was a girl. My aunt was even abducted. We weren’t the only ones who had these encounters. Millions of others have too.”

  Autumn slowly rang up the clothes as she listened to them. Were they talking about aliens? As in little green men and UFO’s?

  The blond’s friend looked apprehensive. “Why would they wait all this time before contacting us?”

  “They didn’t,” the blond answered, obviously excited. “They’ve been coming down here since that Area 51 incident. The government’s known about them all along. They’ve been keeping everything classified.”

  Autumn cleared her throat. “The total comes to $50.35.”

  The blond handed her a credit card. “Do you think Area 51 was a hoax?”

  Surprised that she was talking to her, Autumn thought over the question. “I don’t know.”

  “How can you not know either way?” her friend asked. “You either thought it was real or you didn’t.”

  She tore off the receipt and handed it and a pen to the blond. “Well, if you’re asking if Area 51 is where they conduct experiments on little green men, then I say no. The government has technology that is years ahead of what we know about, so it’s logical to assume that Area 51 is where they make and test this technology. Now, if you’re asking if I believe in another intelligent species, the answer is yes. It’d be ridiculous to think that humans are the only ones in the entire universe.”

  The blond smiled. “That’s a good point, but this is not the first time aliens have come to visit us. It is the first time the government is allowing them to appear before the entire world. They’ll be broadcasting live at the United Nations at seven tonight. Isn’t that exciting?”

  The eerie feeling was coming back to her. Autumn waited until the blond signed the receipt before she tore off a copy and gave her the card back. When Autumn said ‘intelligent species’, she wasn’t thinking of the Area 51 and UFO type of phenomenon. She was thinking of something obscure that would never make it to Earth. Something that would forever remain in the far reaches of space. But having a debate about it was the last thing she wanted to do. So she simply returned the blond’s smile and handed her the bag full of clothes.

  The blond’s friend shook her head. “It’s all a hoax. There are no aliens. What we’ll see on TV is going to be a holographic image.”

  “And why would the governments of the world do that?” the blond asked.

  “To unite us into a one world government. If enough people panic over this, they’ll convince us the only way to be safe is to unite.”

  The blond laughed. “Oh come on. You need to stop listening to those crazy conspiracy shows.”

  “Well, we’ll see who has the last laugh when big brother takes over, won’t we?”

  The two women left in the middle of their friendly argument, and Autumn was glad for it. She rubbed her temples. A headache was coming on and if she didn’t take another pain pill soon, it was going to get worse. She found Alicia talking with a customer and motioned that she was going to take a break. Alicia waved for her to go.

  Grateful, Autumn left the store and entered the heart of the mall. She got a quick bite to eat and it seemed that everyone around her was talking about the aliens making their first appearance in front of the world. After she finished her muffin and soda, she went to make a purchase she vowed to never make again. She bought a pack of cigarettes and headed for the nearest bench outside the mall.

  Her hands trembled as she unwrapped the carton. She knew it was wrong to smoke, but it was either that or commit herself to the nearest mental hospital. There was only so much stress a person could handle before she broke down. She grabbed her lighter and lit the end of her cigarette. After three years of not smoking, she took her first drag and closed her eyes, savoring the taste. How she missed tobacco. So it wasn’t good for her. Did that matter when her entire world was falling apart?

  As she exhaled, she began to calm down. It’s all a dream. I’ll wake up. It’ll be Marianne’s wedding day and we’ll laugh this whole thing off. How she wished that was the case. Trying not to break down in front of everyone, she looked around. It amazed her that people could slip right back into their daily routine as if nothing had happened. She took another drag and exhaled the smoke. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Some people did talk about their missing loved ones, but for some reason, this unveiling of the aliens took precedence over the vanishings. In fact, there seemed to be an expectancy that tonight would answer their questions about the disappearances. She hoped so. Even if she didn’t fully believe aliens were real, she hoped that something might be resolved tonight.

  The watchers are watching you.

  Her head jerked up. She saw the man who’d returned the blouse walk by her. Did he say that?

  He didn’t look in her direction. He just laughed
and said something into his cell phone.

  No. It couldn’t be him. She returned her gaze to her shoes and got ready to take another puff from her cigarette.

  Autumn, we know who you are.

  Again, she directed her attention to him. It came from him. Didn’t it? There was no one else around.

  As he crossed the pedestrian crosswalk, a dark shadow surrounded him and in the midst of that shadow, she saw slanted black eyes staring back at her.

  Startled, she dropped her cigarette. “Ouch!” She jumped off the bench and swiped it off her leg. After she stepped on it, she glanced back at the crosswalk.

  The man was gone.

  She took a deep breath and scanned the full parking lot. Did it happen again? Did more people vanish? Her hands shook so badly that her lighter fell to the ground. What was going on? Were people going to be removed from the Earth until everyone was gone? And the biggest question of all kept picking at her: exactly where did the people go?

  A driver backed a car out of a parking spot. As soon as she realized it was him, she nearly cried with relief. Thank goodness. No one else was disappearing. She watched the man as he drove by. There were no shadows this time. There were no voices.

  Closing her eyes, she waited for her heartbeat to return to normal before she headed back into the mall. It was just nerves. It had to be. She’d had little sleep in the past two weeks and a great amount of stress. Even if some people could return to their lives as if nothing happened, she couldn’t. Her sister was missing. A lot of sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, relatives, and friends were missing. She recalled the announcement on the radio for people in the Bismarck area who had lost a loved one to join the support group. Maybe if she joined, she’d start getting some answers.

  Chapter Three

  Autumn stepped into the school auditorium, unsure of what to expect. The room was practically full. It gave her some comfort to know that other people were also concerned about what had happened. She didn’t feel so alone anymore. Others had been affected by losing loved ones in the twinkling of an eye. She checked her watch. Five o’clock. She could only stay a half hour before she had to return to work. Ignoring her growling stomach, she bypassed several people who lingered in the aisle so she could find a seat. She could eat after work. Right now, she needed answers.

  “Autumn?”

  She stopped and scanned the crowd.

  “Over here!”

  Her gaze focused on Alex who was standing in the middle of a row that was toward the front of the auditorium. She waved and made her way over to him, saying excuse me as she struggled to avoid bumping into anyone who was already sitting. In this large place, it was nice to see a familiar face, and they both loved her sister so they had something in common.

  “I had no idea there’d be so many people,” Alex said over the hum of voices surrounding them.

  She sat next to him and nodded. “This is good though. I went to work today and it’s like no one vanished. It was spooky.” She almost told him about the strange man she saw but decided against it.

  “Things are starting to settle down. The first week was the worst. The police had to put down some riots.”

  “Really?”

  He laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No. I rarely left my apartment.”

  He stopped laughing and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Autumn. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

  “It’s fine. I guess it’s my fault for not turning on the TV or checking the Internet.”

  “It has been hard without Marianne.”

  Her heart went out to him. He must feel the loss as deeply as she did....just in a different way. “You were supposed to be on your honeymoon by now.”

  “So much for that, huh?” He ran his hand through his hair and exhaled. “Listen, Autumn.” He shifted in his seat and leaned closer to her so that no one overheard them. “You know that I thought the whole alien thing was a joke when I first heard about it, but I was wondering...”

  “What?” Did he ask himself the same thing she did but was afraid to say it? She decided to venture on it. “You think the aliens took her?”

  He rubbed his eyes and shook his head, chuckling. “It’s crazy. But the timing is too much of a coincidence, don’t you think? I mean, one minute the president is making the announcement to the world that these...beings...exist and not even five minutes later millions of people vanish.”

  “I’ve thought the same thing.”

  He looked relieved. “You have?”

  She nodded and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what else it could be.” She glanced around the room, wondering if anyone else was thinking the same thing.

  “That’s not the strangest part.”

  She returned her attention to him, noting the anxious tone in his voice.

  “Sometimes I think I’m being watched. I even woke up in the middle of the night and thought I saw an alien standing by my bed. I’ve heard of alien encounters but I always thought they were people’s imaginings, you know?”

  She gulped. The knots in her stomach tightened. “What did it look like?”

  “Like what you’d expect it to. Gray with large slanted eyes. Like the ones you see in movies.”

  If he saw the same thing...then she couldn’t have imagined it. It had to be real. And that meant that there was something wrong with that man...and that she heard someone, or something, talk to her. “I had a similar experience.”

  “You did? One was by your bed?”

  “No. It was hovering near someone. I don’t know who he was either.”

  “So maybe they’re already down here.”

  She tucked her hair behind her ear. “They may have been here already. It’s just that for some reason they’re going public with it.”

  “But why? Why wait until now?”

  “Maybe that’s what tonight’s broadcast will be about.” She shivered despite the warm temperature in the room. She was glad she was going to be at work when it was due to air. Then she could at least watch it with Alicia. But then she’d have to go home to an empty apartment, and suddenly, that seemed like a very scary prospect.

  The people grew silent as the speaker headed up to the podium at the center of the stage, so she leaned back in her seat and tried not to give further thought to her fears.

  ***

  Two minutes after seven, Alicia got the live video on the Internet. Autumn scanned the area. No customers were in sight, and Hampton was who-knew-where. She picked up her part of the earpiece while Alicia took the other one. If Hampton didn’t hear the broadcast, then they just might make this work, though why he refused to let them go to the employee lounge to watch it, she didn’t know. Well, maybe she did. He was a control freak.

  “You ready for this?” Alicia asked.

  “No.” But curiosity was getting the best of her.

  Even though people had been talking about the grey aliens with the black slanted eyes and even though she saw a blur of it herself, she still expected something different. Different how? That is how they looked in the Area 51 video that was supposedly leaked out over the Internet a few years back. But that was supposed to be made up. This was real. And this alien stood next to President Jordan at the front of the room.

  Autumn willed her impending headache away.

  President Jordan finished his speech about how this was a new day in the course of human history. Autumn only half listened since it was the same type of spiel she’d expect. After all, the movies involving aliens had some message similar to this, except for the couple she’d seen where the aliens just came to destroy people from the very beginning.

  The alien wore a black robe, so people could only see its gray face and long gray fingers. Its black eyes dwarfed its nose and mouth. When it spoke, its voice was clear and low. “We have visited you throughout your history.”

  Autumn glanced at Alicia. “Shouldn’t it need someone to interpret what it’s saying?”

  “I hear your q
uestions regarding my language,” the alien said in a calm tone. “I am speaking in the universal language of all intelligent life forms, but you hear me speaking your language.”

  “Cute. A mind reader.” Autumn should have known. As if losing her sister, hearing voices, and aliens coming to Earth wasn’t enough!

  “We have given you advancements to help you along in your evolution as a species,” the alien continued. “But we promised to return, and now we’re here. You are now ready for the next stage in your evolution. You have come to the knowledge of the deoxyribonucleic acid which you’ve abbreviated to stand for DNA. This genetic code is what we deposited here thousands of years ago. We have helped you along in your early development, as a parent watches and cares for a child. Some names you’ve given us over the course of your existence are Atum, Ra, Gaia, Zeus, and Quetzalcoatl. Those are a few. Most of you now refer to us as aliens. We’ve watched you and assisted you when needed, even when we didn’t make our contributions known to the world. In return, you honored us with sacrifices and worship. We are your creators, or as you call us...your gods. Some of you believe us to be many. Some say we are one.”

  Autumn grabbed her purse and dug out her bottle of pain killers.

  “Girl, this is awesome,” Alicia cheered. “I always knew we were planted here by aliens!”

  Autumn plopped a pill into her mouth and unscrewed the cap of her bottled water. She didn’t know what to think. Matters of aliens...or gods...didn’t even concern her—at least not until recently. She quickly swallowed the water, wishing she could wake up to the sanity that once defined her life.

  The alien continued talking in a gentle tone that bordered on the effect of being hypnotizing. “The question on most of your minds is why we have come now, at this point in time? As I said, we have come to complete the final stage of your evolution. You have only tapped into 3% of your DNA. There is 97% left to explore. This is not junk DNA, as some of you have claimed. This is the most important part of your gene sequence, and now that you are able to manipulate it, you are ready to become like us. You will become gods.”