Return of the Aliens Read online

  That is what they call themselves? Did that mean they weren’t really aliens? If they weren’t really aliens, then... “Who are they?”

  Suddenly, he disappeared.

  Surprised, she stepped back.

  “Autumn?”

  She turned to Alex who was opening the car door.

  “What are you doing in the middle of the road?”

  “Uh...” She moved her hand through the space where the angel had been standing. All she felt was a warmth that quickly dissipated in the cool air around them. So he had been there. She hadn’t imagined it.

  Alex approached her. “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know.” She sighed and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know anything anymore.”

  “Hey, don’t worry about it.” He rubbed her back. “Everything’s out of balance.”

  She brushed her hair away from her face and looked at him. “Do we really have to go to Area 51?”

  He put his arm down and frowned. “What’s going on? I thought you agreed that this was our only lead.”

  “I know. But...” She crossed her arms, feeling vulnerable. “I saw an angel here, and he said that we should turn back.” There. She said it.

  “An angel?”

  “Well, I think it was an angel. It looked a lot like one. You know, the wings and all. Anyway, he said that we should go back.”

  “But I was told to go.”

  “I realize that.”

  He turned and took a few steps away from her before he returned to her. “I’m going. I have to go.”

  “You can’t! The angel said that you mustn’t, even though they want you there.”

  “You mean the aliens?”

  “I’m not sure. The way he said, it sounded like they’re not what we think they are. And he said that Marianne isn’t there.”

  “Where is she?”

  “I asked him but he wouldn’t say.” She was starting to get frustrated. Couldn’t the angel stick around and answer Alex’s questions? This way was getting to be complicated.

  “I’ve been going through a living nightmare, Autumn. I have to find Marianne and bring her back. I don’t want to spend my life without her. I love her.”

  She knew that. It was obvious in the way he used to look at Marianne, and she respected him for that.

  “When I do manage to sleep, I get images of Marianne. She’s comatose with all the others who disappeared, and I keep seeing the number 51. Doesn’t it make sense that whatever is happening, Area 51 is the key?”

  Alex had a point—a good one. She couldn’t deny that.

  “I’ll drive you home, but I have to keep going. I have to find out whether or not she is there. It could be that nothing is there. But I owe it to her to get her out if I can.”

  “The angel said you could get hurt.”

  Alex shrugged. “So what? She’s worth the risk. I don’t want to go through the rest of my life without her.”

  But the angel said Marianne—wherever she was—was safe. Did she believe the angel? Did she believe the alien that told her Marianne was safe? Both beings told her the same thing, but they stood on opposite ends of the spectrum. Didn’t they? What if they weren’t? What if they were in this mess together?

  She needed a cigarette. Hurrying back to the car, she dug the cigarette out of her purse. Her hands shook as she lit it. She hated this. For a moment when she spoke with the angel, she felt safe. She inhaled, struggling to grasp what was going on. Who could she trust? Maybe she couldn’t trust anyone. What if they were all screwed?

  “What are you doing?” he asked, coming up to her.

  “Trying not to run down the road screaming and pulling my hair out.”

  “I thought you quit.”

  She took another drag. “I started back up.”

  He looked as if he wanted to say something but sighed. “I can’t blame you.” After a moment of looking up at the sky, he said, “I’ll drive you back to Bismarck.”

  “No. I’ll keep going with you.”

  “Are you sure?”

  She nodded. “I don’t know who...or what...to trust any more, except for Alicia and you.” She finished smoking her cigarette and threw it on the road where she stomped on it. “Do you want to drive or sleep?”

  “I’m wide awake. I’ll drive.”

  She went to the passenger side and slipped into the car.

  He got in next to her and shut the door. “I guess we’ll find out soon enough if she’s there or not.”

  She buckled her seatbelt and settled into the seat. “Yeah. I guess so.”

  Chapter Six

  A full day passed before Alex parked the car close to Area 51.

  Autumn examined the flat landscape. Nothing was around for miles. “Why did you park here?”

  “I have an image in my mind. The alien I told you about, the one that stood by my bed, sent it to me—telepathically. It said that I would know where to go when I got here.” He took a deep breath and motioned to the still night in front of them. “This is it.”

  That didn’t make sense at all, but that was just one more thing that didn’t make sense so she wasn’t surprised. Instead, she shrugged and got out of the car. “Well, let’s find out what’s going on.”

  He turned off the car and lights.

  She waited for him to approach her before she spoke. “Where do we go?”

  “This way.” He motioned south, so they proceeded along the desert terrain in silence.

  She shivered and zipped her jacket. Though there wasn’t a breeze, she felt as if something cool passed by them. Glancing behind them, she noted that nothing out of the ordinary was in sight. Still, it spooked her to no end. Were they being watched? And if so, by what? She didn’t detect any cameras. Perhaps a satellite had picked up their location? No. Whatever it was—if it was a person or alien or something else—it was close. Suddenly, she got the nagging suspicion that they should have obeyed the angel. Well, it was too late to turn back now. They were here, and for better or worse, they had to find out if Marianne was here or not.

  He stopped.

  Surprised, she halted her steps and watched him.

  “It’s somewhere along here.” He pointed to the ground.

  Turning her attention to the sand, she squinted in the moonlight until she noticed a faint line in the ground. She knelt down and brushed the sand out of the way.

  “It continues through here,” Alex said, tracing the area with his hands. “It forms a square.”

  What would something like this be doing out here...so far from anything?

  “It’s a door.” He wiped the sand until he exposed a latch. “I think we’re supposed to go down here.”

  Autumn rubbed her forehead in disbelief as he pried the door open. Who would put a door leading into the ground out here? And more importantly, why would they do it?

  He pulled out his keychain and turned on the flashlight he had on it. “Take a look.”

  She reluctantly obeyed. Down the hole was a series of rungs. Great. It wasn’t exactly something she wanted to do—plunge into a dark abyss where who knew what laid at the end of the path. But she’d come this far, and she wasn’t about to turn back now, especially not when she was about to find out if her sister was somewhere down there. “Did the alien show you this too?” she whispered, even though there was no one around them. Well, there was no one that she could see. And that thought made her shiver. What if someone or something was watching them?

  “The alien sent me a series of images, and this is one of them,” Alex answered. “I’ll go down first and you follow. Okay?”

  She nodded.

  The descent into the darkness might have spooked her, but it wasn’t as scary as she imagined. At least no creepy, slimy creatures slithered up to kill her. If she’d been watching a movie or dreaming, that’s exactly the kind of horrible thing that would have happened. No. She wasn’t watching a movie, nor was she asleep. She reached the bottom without incident. The passage was quiet enoug
h that she could hear their breathing in the small concrete horizontal tunnel that led to more darkness. Of course. It had to be dark. She stayed close to Alex as they slowly made their way down the path. Even if Alex beamed his flashlight ahead, it was hard to make out where they were going.

  “What other images did the alien show you?” Even though she whispered the question, her voice echoed.

  “A door down here. The numbers to put into the combination to get in. And then a room full of people who looked like they were sleeping.”

  “Did you see Marianne?”

  “No. But the alien told me that I would find her there.”

  She bit her lower lip. Could it be this simple? Would they find her sister at the end of this long corridor? All she could do was press forward and find out. She continued walking beside Alex, hoping for the best but fearing that the angel was right—that they shouldn’t be here.

  They reached a steel door and he directed his flashlight to the number pad. He pressed a series of numbers that resulted in the sound of something being unlocked. That something, naturally, was the door. He turned the knob and it opened. Peeking through it, he said, “It looks good.”

  She followed him through it. It led to another dark tunnel, except this time, there was a light ahead. That meant they were getting closer to getting their questions answered. Or at least that was her hope. Something in the air stirred. Surprised because the tunnel was airtight, she glanced over her shoulder.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex whispered.

  In one instant, she was standing, aware of the pervasive feeling of cold air that swept through the corridor and circled them, and in the next instant, she was engulfed in a sudden warmth that made her collapse, rendering her unconscious.

  ***

  The first thing she became aware of as she regained consciousness was her breathing. Her lungs ached as if something had stepped on them. After a few moments of lying still, the feeling receded. Then she became aware of the cool floor. It was concrete, just as the floor had been when she and Alex started down the dark corridor. Was she still in that strange tunnel?

  Opening her eyes took effort, for her head hurt and the dim light up ahead made her wince. She closed her eyes for a moment, willing the headache aside. She groaned. Her entire body felt as if someone had taken it and bashed it against a wall. It hurt all over. She remained still, wondering what happened to her. One minute, she was standing up with Alex, and the next, a mixture of cold and warm air surrounded her. After that, everything went dark.

  Something peculiar happened; something that made her journey into the land of nightmares all that more intense. Silence hovered over her, and for some reason, that made it even more bizarre. When she could lift her head, she did. A quick glance around revealed that she was alone. Where was Alex?

  A feeling of dread welled up in her stomach. The angel had been right. They shouldn’t have come here. For some reason, she knew they took Alex and left her there. What did they want with him? They had to be aliens. It was an alien that told him to come here. Maybe they meant to lure him into a trap? That was the only plausible explanation she could come up with, especially in light of the angel’s warning.

  Finally, she managed to roll onto her back. She should be afraid here—alone in the dark, shouldn’t she? But she wasn’t. What she needed to fear was further ahead...where the light was. The question was simple: did she dare continue?

  She had to. She couldn’t leave Alex here. Whatever the aliens wanted, she couldn’t let them succeed. Besides, if Marianne was here, she had to find her. No. Marianne wasn’t here. Suddenly, she just knew that wherever Marianne was, she was far away. So now she needed to focus on getting Alex and finding a way out.

  Grunting, she rolled onto her side and pulled herself up. The aches were fading in slow intervals, so with each step she took, she felt better. She pressed forward with timid steps, not sure of what she’d find...or what she’d do when she found it. The light grew brighter and bigger. She wondered how much time had elapsed since she collapsed. Pulling out her watch, she noticed that the hands were spinning. She sighed. So much for that.

  An image came into focus, and she realized she was approaching a large rectangular window. Actually, there were a series of them lining the corridor. Along each side of the wall was a row of windows and doors. When she reached the first window, she peered into the room.

  She frowned. There was a small blue light in the corner, but the rows of bassinets had to be for babies. How many were in there? She estimated about fifty. The place looked like a nursery. An arm shot up from one of the bassinets. Startled, she jerked back. Hugging herself, she continued to the next window. Another nursery? What on earth were all these nurseries doing here?

  After about six nurseries on both sides, she looked into rooms where children were playing. The children didn’t seem to notice her. She estimated that there were twenty of them per room, and unlike other children, these played alone. One actually levitated a pen and wrote something on the paper. Another child picked up a bowling ball with little effort. Another one jumped up to the ceiling and came back down, landing on his feet. Odd children. Or maybe they were super-children.

  She passed those rooms. For some reason, they gave her an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach. They couldn’t be normal. But what were they doing here? She was near Area 51. Shouldn’t she see aliens?

  Where are you, Alex? She noted a slight drop in temperature, so she quickened her pace. Something was with her, in the hallway. She glanced over her should but didn’t see anything. Just because she couldn’t see it, it didn’t mean there wasn’t something there. If she wasn’t so spooked, she would have laughed it off. But something was wrong. Seriously wrong. And no matter how hard she tried to rationalize it, she couldn’t dislodge the feeling that she was being watched...and closely so. Oh man, she really could use a cigarette right about now!

  As she hurried down the corridor, she looked through the windows of more rooms and noticed that adults were lying—unconscious—on what seemed like hospital beds. Men and women were hooked up to monitors. Each room had only one person in it, and as she stepped up to one of the windows, she realized that this particular room had two extra people in it. She recognized the man and woman who stood above Alex’s sleeping form.

  Alex!

  She inched out of their viewing range so they wouldn’t notice her. The man with dark hair stood above Alex with a needle. She squinted. He was injecting something behind Alex’s left ear. But what? From where she stood, it was impossible to tell. There was no doubt that the man was the same one who had returned the blouse and the one she’d seen entering the capitol. The woman who wrote something on her clipboard was Ms. Hayden. So this was her new job.

  Autumn wondered how she was going to get Alex out of there. The man and Ms. Hayden looked in her direction, so she quickly stepped back. She took a deep breath and tried to figure out what to do. Should she just stay there? Should she try to hide?

  She saw the doorknob to Alex’s room turn.

  Oh great! This is just what I need! She rushed to the nearest door and realized it was locked. Things were quickly going from bad to worse!

  The door opened and the man and woman left the room.

  Autumn had nothing to hide behind. She was exposed in plain sight. Feeling like a moron, she pressed her back against the wall and tried to blend into the background. As if that was possible. The wall was light blue and she wore dark clothing.

  “I’m still kind of nervous,” Ms. Hayden told the man. “I’ve never done anything this important before.”

  The man closed the door and locked it. He glanced over his shoulder and Autumn held her breath, which was stupid. Really, just because he couldn’t hear her, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t see her.

  Suddenly the angel appeared in front of her, his wings extended enough to hide her.

  She would have yelped out in shock had it not been for the warmth that surrounded her, calming he
r down in less than a second. Since he was facing them, she could only see his back—and the majestic wings that sheltered her.

  “Devon?” Ms. Hayden asked.

  Autumn couldn’t see them, and even if she wanted to, the angel wouldn’t let her.

  The man—Devon—didn’t reply for a moment. Finally, he said, “I thought I saw someone.”

  “Where?”

  “Over there.”

  “Hmm... I don’t see anything.”

  “Must’ve been my imagination.”

  She giggled. “Well, this place is eerie.”

  He chuckled. “You get used to it.”

  Their footsteps echoed off the floor. “Do you? You’re the one seeing things, not me. And you’ve been doing this for a good seventeen years now.”

  Once Autumn heard them enter another room, the angel turned to face her. “I warned you,” the angel whispered.

  Her face grew warm with embarrassment. What could she say? He had warned her, and she came here anyway. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be sorry for yourself. Be sorry for your friend.”

  What is that supposed to mean?

  Before she could ask it, he motioned to Alex’s room. “You need to get him out of here before any more damage occurs.”

  More damage? She debated on whether or not to ask but finally decided she didn’t want to know. At least not right now. Not when her nerves had returned to high alert. Since she disobeyed the angel before—and look where that got her and Alex!—she realized she couldn’t afford to disobey him now. She rushed over to Alex’s room and tested the doorknob. “It’s locked,” she whispered.

  He waved his hand over the knob which clicked.

  He didn’t need to tell her to try again. She opened the door and shivered. The temperature had to be in the low 60s.

  “Be quick.”

  Startled, she jumped. Right. There was no time to stand around and wonder what was going on here. For most of her life, she’d heard fairytales of Area 51 and the unusual stuff going on there, but this was no fairytale, and the more she learned, the less she wanted to know.

  She took a deep breath to calm her shaky hands and detached the wires from Alex’s body. She shouldn’t have been surprised when the monitors continued displaying activity as if he was still hooked up. That must have been the angel’s doing. If I get out of here alive, the first thing I’m going to do is smoke a cigarette. She no longer cared if it was good for her or not. She needed something to settle her down.