The Vanishing Read online

  Alex’s eyes opened, and she shrieked. Quickly pressing her hands to her mouth, she stood still. Had Devon and Ms. Hayden heard her?

  “Where am I?” Alex asked, lifting the sheet. “And what am I doing in a hospital gown?”

  “Shhh...” She quickly searched the room for his clothes and found them neatly folded in the small closet. She stopped as she picked them up from the shelf. Pulling out one of the folders stacked on a higher shelf, she opened it and nearly gasped. Copies of his medical records? What was going on here?

  “You don’t have time for this,” the angel warned.

  She glanced at Alex. He stood up and walked over to her.

  “Do you see him?” she whispered as she handed him his clothes.

  “See who?” he asked.

  She glanced at the angel who motioned for them to hurry. No. Alex couldn’t see or hear the angel either. For some reason, she was the only one. But why? “Forget it. Put these on. I’ll turn my back.”

  She approached the window and looked out of it. The hallway was empty. That was good. She looked at the angel. He didn’t seem concerned at the moment, so that had to be good too. She hoped. How she hoped. Right now she just wanted them to get out of there alive.

  “I’m ready,” Alex said, coming up behind her.

  The angel pointed out the door and down the hall back to where she’d come from.

  “Let’s go this way,” she softly said as she bolted from the room.

  Alex obeyed without question, his footsteps light behind hers.

  She took a moment to look over her shoulder when she heard Ms. Hayden laugh. The angel stood in the center of the hallway, his wings extended so she couldn’t see Ms. Hayden...and Ms. Hayden couldn’t see her or Alex. Autumn didn’t know how the angel managed it, but she figured that angels had abilities of protection that humans didn’t. Angels! She couldn’t believe it. A month ago, she didn’t even believe in such things. But so much had changed in the course of a month. Her entire world had been thrown upside down, and she couldn’t tell what was real or imaginary any more. For all she knew, this was all a strange dream. One she couldn’t wake up from no matter how hard she tried.

  By the time she and Alex reached the door at the end of the corridor, she reached for it but something cold reached up and grabbed her hand. Startled, she looked up and saw something fading in and out of the light.

  Alex’s face paled. He screamed and backed up against the wall. “Get it away from me! Get it away!”

  The...thing...blew past her and approached him.

  “No! Get away from me!” He held his hands out as if to stop something.

  Autumn stood there, watching in a mixture of horror and shock as Alex sunk to the floor, trembling and whimpering. She reached out to grab the dissipating shadow but her arms went through the air. All she felt was a trace of cold air swirling in front of him. What is going on? She blinked several times, trying to find the thing, to figure out what it was.

  The angel appeared next to her and touched her shoulder.

  In that instant, she could clearly see it. It was an alien and it hovered over Alex. “He belongs to ussss,” it hissed. But it didn’t talk to her. It talked to the angel.

  “No,” the angel said.

  “Yessss.”

  “The time for decision has not yet come. You cannot claim him as long as he hasn’t made his choice.”

  The alien scowled, and as it did, its face changed. Its eyes grew smaller and turned red while horns protruded from his forehead.

  As soon as she saw the transformation, it vanished.

  The angel released his hold on her and touched Alex’s shoulder, and Alex quickly calmed. “His fate hangs in the balance. It is prudent that you never bring him here again.” The angel looked at her. “Do you understand now why I told you not to come?”

  She gulped. “Y-” She cleared her throat. “Yes.” She didn’t just see what she thought she did, did she?

  “You need not fear for Marianne or the others. They are safe, as I told you. It’s the ones who are left that are going to face the great delusion.”

  “What do you mean?” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “What delusion?”

  “Are the aliens here to help as they claim? You just saw it for yourself.” He motioned to Alex who was blankly staring ahead—who wasn’t even aware of what was going on around him. “Those who vanished are safe with God. Worry not for them. Worry for yourself. Your fate also hangs in the balance.”

  Before she could ask him what he meant, he turned his attention down the hallway.

  “Go quickly.” Then he disappeared.

  Alex groaned.

  She knelt by him. “Come on. We need to go.” She grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet.

  “What happened?” He rubbed his forehead. “I have a headache.”

  Questions could wait. Already, she could hear a group of people running from another hallway. She turned the doorknob, and the door opened. “Come on.”

  Alex stumbled forward and crossed the threshold.

  She joined him, reached for his hand, and led him down the dark corridor. It seemed to her that a light guided their way from a long distance. The closer they got to the light, the more it eluded them.

  The door behind them echoed as it opened. “Down there!” Ms. Hayden called out. “Don’t let them get away!”

  Those words must have broken Alex out of his trance, for his pace grew stronger.

  “Hold it! You are not authorized to be here!” a man yelled.

  Then we’ll be happy to leave, Autumn thought. She was out of breath by the time they reached the door.

  Alex pulled it open and motioned for her to go first.

  A gunshot fired, nearly missing them.

  Who was she to argue? Ladies first seemed good to her! She darted through the door before another shot rang through the corridor.

  Alex followed her and slammed the door shut.

  Satisfied that he wasn’t hurt, she climbed the rungs that led to the exit. Her chest hurt from the exertion of breathing, but she pressed on. Faster. She had to go faster!

  Alex was at her heels, which helped motivate her along.

  Someone pounded on the door. “It’s locked! I can’t get out!”

  Did she dare look? Was the angel there, working another miracle on their behalf? No. She couldn’t break her attention. She had to keep going.

  By the time she reached the exit, she was gasping for air. She dug her fingers into the ground and used her remaining strength to pull herself out. Alex emerged right after her. Collapsing, she watched as he hobbled to the steel door and closed it. Then he gathered the surrounding sand to cover it back up.

  Relieved, she looked up at the stars that seemed to be spinning. Realizing she was dizzy, she closed her eyes and waited for the whirling sensation to pass. When she opened her eyes, she studied the stars and noticed that some were still moving. She brought her hands up to her head and groaned. No. Those weren’t stars. They were alien spaceships. No. That wasn’t right either. Yes, they were UFOs. Many of them, and they were coming to Earth. Only, they weren’t aliens. They were of a darker, more sinister nature. They were demons.

  Demons. Angels. Really, did she believe in such fairytales? Could she afford not to? How else could she explain what just happened?

  “Autumn,” Alex said, crawling over to her, also worn out. “Autumn, we lost a day.”

  “What?” She finally turned to face him.

  “My watch. It says that it’s May 12th.”

  “May 12th? But it’s May 11th.”

  “It was May 11th.”

  A day? They had been in there for a full day? But it didn’t feel like that much time elapsed.

  Looking contrite, he got up and helped her to her feet. “I’m sorry. You were right. We shouldn’t have come here.”

  She scanned their surroundings. Nothing seemed different. It all looked like they hadn’t even gone down there. Even his car was on
the side of the road, untouched and waiting for them.

  “Let’s go back to Bismarck.” He reached for her arm.

  She leaned against him. Her strength had departed her, and she didn’t even want to contemplate the loss of time or what it might mean. She just wanted to go home and wake up to find that this had all been a dream. One terrible, frightening, nightmarish dream. She wanted to feel normal. But she feared that she’d never know the meaning of normal ever again. The nightmare, it seemed, had just begun.

  the nightmare continues in June 2010...

  Novella # 2

  “The Watchers”

  Things aren’t always what they seem. While this novella continues Autumn’s story, it also gives insight into Devon’s—and the demons he faces.