by Lisa Lace
But of course it was all in her head. Of course it had to stem back to years of being ignored or overly doted on and her relationship with her mother.
"May I suggest making an appointment with the in house psychologist?"
Mia shook her head. "I've already got an appointment with one. I made two, just to cover all the bases."
Dr. Chung smiled. "Sounds like good planning. I can write you a prescription for something to help with the migraines, if you like. But I'm afraid that's all I can do on this end."
It was better than leaving with nothing, so Mia took the prescription and went to get it filled at the store while she shopped for comfort food.
The next day, she was a mess. She didn't have the same negative perception of mental health issues that her parents had, but that didn't mean she was entirely comfortable with the prospect of having one herself.
"Be reasonable," she urged herself as she sat in her car in the parking lot, counting down the minutes to her appointment. She'd arrived almost an hour earlier than she needed to be there, which was two hours before her appointment even started since she figured she'd need time to fill out paperwork. "If there is something wrong with you, then it's been wrong with you your whole life. There's no point getting worked up about it since having a diagnosis isn't going to change anything. Maybe there's some kind of pill for it. Maybe you won't be waking up on the floor anymore."
That, at least, had to be worth whatever embarrassment or shame she might feel from something like this, right?
When she couldn't stand it anymore, she got out of the car, slinging her purse over her shoulder as she made her way to the front doors.
It was a nice little business complex area where the office was located, discreet at least. No massive neon sign with flashing letters urging people with brain problems to come on down.
It could have been an office for anything. Insurance. Tax filing. Loans.
At least no one would know as they drove by that she was about to go see a shrink.
"Oh, excuse me."
Mia looked up in time to see a tall man with violently red hair coming out of the door that she had been standing in front of. She moved quickly out of his way and flashed a quick smile. "I'm sorry. I was just standing there like an idiot."
The man stepped out, shaking his head. "Don't worry about it. I figure these kinds of things take courage, right?" he grinned at her, flashing dimples.
"Oh. Um. Yes, courage." Mia nodded. "Did you just have an appointment?" She blinked, suddenly horrified with herself for even asking something like that of a stranger. "I'm sorry, that was totally out of line and none of my business. You don't have to answer that."
The man shrugged, still smiling. "Don't worry about it," he said again. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, you know. Needing to see a doctor like this. But, no. I was just having lunch with an old family friend who works here. They don't make doctors here that can handle all I've got going on." He tapped his head and shrugged again. "Good luck in there."
"Thank you," Mia said faintly, watching as the man headed across the parking lot.
She'd been so distracted by his hair and those dimples for most of the conversation, that she hadn't even noticed until right at the end that his eyes had been gold. Something about that color stirred her memory, but it was like trying to move through dense fog and the longer she thought about it, the farther away it got. Plus, it was giving her a headache.
Shaking herself, she continued into the building.
Dr. Madison Prince was younger than Mia had been expecting. She was a tall, portly woman with dark skin and warm eyes, and she gestured Mia into the room with a soft smile.
"Please, come in. Can I get you anything?"
Mia looked around at the room. It was set up like an office, of sorts. There was a desk in front of the window that looked out over the rest of the complex, but the focal point were the chairs in the middle of the room.
Both looked plush and comfortable, dark leather meant to make the people sitting in them relax.
She noted that both chairs were identical, though she assumed that the one closest to the desk was for the doctor and the one closest to the door was for her.
In case I need to run out, she mused, and then sighed. "No, thank you. I'm fine."
"Then have a seat, and we'll get started." She gestured to the chair that Mia had correctly identified as the one she was meant to be sitting in, and Mia sat down.
Dr. Prince's degrees were framed on the wall, and there were plants and even a cascading water fountain in the corners, and overall it was a very soothing atmosphere.
Mia didn't relax.
She leaned back in the chair and put her purse in her lap, watching as the doctor got a notepad and took her own seat. "Now, I know when we spoke over the phone, you mentioned you were experiencing black outs?"
"Yes," Mia replied. "I... I guess that's the best term for it, although it's not like I pass out or anything. That I know of, anyway."
"Why don't you explain exactly what happens?" Dr. Prince suggested.
"Okay. Usually I'm doing something. The last time it happened I was going to the front door so I could get something out of my car. One minute I had my hand on the doorknob and the next I was waking up on the floor in a completely different room with no memory of getting there. And it's always little things like that. I'm washing dishes or doing laundry. On my way from one room to another. It's never when I'm laying down or anything."
Just talking about it with someone who she knew wasn't immediately going to start yelling at her or giving her worried looks like her parents or Cass might have was helpful, and Mia let herself relax just a bit.
"Hm," Dr. Prince said, writing something down. "How long of a gap do you usually have? And how long has this been happening for?"
Mia let out a breath and settled fully into the chair. "The last time it was about... nine, ten hours. It usually varies. I don't think it's ever been shorter than maybe five hours or longer than ten. It's about the same amount of time I'd spend sleeping, but I'm never rested when I wake up. This has been happening to me since I was six or seven."
Dr. Prince let out a low whistle. "That's a long time to be having this experience. I imagine it's unnerving for you."
"That's putting it mildly. I just. I wish someone would record me or something so I could see what I'm doing, but my parents think I'm making it up for attention, or at least they're telling themselves that I'm making it up for attention because it makes them feel better, and my best friend lives on the other side of the country. No one else knows."
"You've been keeping this a secret since you were a child, then?"
She nodded and in a halting voice explained how she had tried to get help when she was in middle school but how her parents had put a stop to that. "I've been to the doctor to see if it was a medical thing, but they couldn't find anything that would cause this. So I'm just at a loss, and I don't know what's wrong with me. But it gets worse every year, and I either want it to stop or just... I want to know why it's happening."
The room was silent for a long moment and Mia glanced up from her lap to look at the doctor. She was sitting there, studying her notebook with an intense expression before she put it aside and then met Mia's eyes.
"I think I can help you, Amelia," she said, voice soft.
"You can? Just like that?"
She nodded. "You aren't the first person to come into this room and tell me a story like that, and I'm more than certain you won't be the last. It's something that has happened to many people over the years. You're from Maryland, correct?"
Had she put that on a form or something? Mia couldn't remember. Or it could have just been that the woman recognized her as her father's daughter. "Yes," she said slowly. "How did you know that?"
"It's something of a phenomenon. The amount of people from the area you grew up in who have this same condition. Some might call it a coincidence, but rarely do things like this happen on such a large
scale if it's not happening for a reason."
"W-what does that mean?" Mia asked. More people had this same thing? People she'd known? People she'd grown up with? She knew Cass didn't have it, but what if everyone had just been keeping quiet because they didn't want to seem like they were crazy? What was going on here?
"It means that what's happening to all of you is external. It's not something caused by any flaw or aberration within you or any of the other people who experience this," Dr. Prince explained.
"What is it?" Because that was the big question, wasn't it? Hope was flaring wild and dangerous inside of her at the thought that maybe this meant there wasn't something wrong with her, but she'd yet to hear an explanation for what was going on.
"You're being abducted."
Mia frowned. "What?"
Dr. Prince held her hands up, as if she already knew what Mia was thinking. "I know how it sounds, believe me. And if I weren't acquainted with people who have shown me how true it is, I wouldn't believe it myself. But. That's what's happening. The time that you're losing, that's when you with them. I'm still not sure where they're taking you, but they take you and they... probe your memories, if I understand correctly. They're looking for someone."
"They being... who?" Mia asked dryly. "Human traffickers? Aliens?" And to think that she'd convinced herself that this was a good idea. Now she was sitting here being mocked by someone who was supposed to help her.
"You don't believe me," Dr. Prince murmured.
"Of course I don't believe you!" Mia exploded, frustration taking over. "I came here looking for help and answers and maybe something that would make what happens to me less terrible. I didn't expect to be ridiculed."
"Ms. Hatcher, I can assure you that I am not ridiculing you."
She snorted. "Right, okay. Because I'm supposed to believe that little green men come through the window and beam me up for a few hours every other night, right? And what, they stir around in my head for memories of my parents ignoring me and then send me back home?"
"I do know how it sounds, but I really-"
Mia was on her feet in a matter of seconds. "I'm leaving," she said. "This has been a colossal waste of my time, and if you charge me for this, you'll be hearing from my lawyer. I'm sure I don't need to remind you who my father is."
"No, Ms. Hatcher. I'm well aware," Dr. Prince sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help to you."
"I'm sure you are." She yanked the door open and marched through it, letting it slam behind her. Clearly people having fits in this building wasn't uncommon because the receptionist didn't even look up from her computer as Mia stormed by and out of the doors.
Her anger and embarrassment carried her across the parking lot and into her car, and she was pulling out onto the highway before she calmed down enough to relax. Her posture was rigid and her fingers were clenched hard on the steering wheel.
Looking back, she was a little ashamed of how she had reacted (honestly, when had bringing her father up in a conversation ever helped anything?), but she thought most of it was justified. For a minute there, she'd actually thought that she was going to get some answers. She'd actually thought that maybe some relief was in sight. That other people knew what she was going through and that things would be okay.
After what had just happened, she was feeling more lost and alone than she had before. Going home to her empty town house didn't sound appealing at all, so she just drove for a while, hoping that whatever was wrong with her wouldn't swoop down and get her when she was behind the wheel of her car.
Chapter 2: Frenzy
"It could have gone better," Madison said, looking across the wood of her desk at Asher. "In fact, I don't think it could have gone worse." It was some hours later, and her office was closed for the evening. Her receptionist had gone home, but Madison had stayed, knowing that Asher would be back later to see how things had gone. Seeing him twice in one day was rare, but the number of cases that related to him and his kind were getting rarer and rarer as time went on.
She'd half been hoping that maybe this whole thing was coming to an end, but that was definitely just wishful thinking, it seemed.
Asher shrugged. "She could have thrown something at you. Like the fountain thing," he said cheerfully, eyes on the toy in his hands that he was fiddling with, brow furrowed in concentration.
The woman scowled at him. "How can you be so nonchalant about this? Do you know what this makes me look like? I am trying to run a legitimate mental health care practice here, and every time I have to tell someone that aliens are taking them, it hurts my credibility."
"But aliens are taking them," Asher replied. "You're not lying."
"They don't know that," she insisted. "They think I'm mocking them, which is one of the worst things you can do to someone who is already fragile. I'm telling you, there has to be a better way."
The red haired young man sighed and put down the Rubik's Cube he'd been playing with, turning his golden gaze to the doctor. "I know," he said. "But there's no time. All of those people are in danger, and we have to do something to warn them. The Shaddoc aren't going to stop until they've found my uncle."
"That's what I don't understand, Asher. They've been doing this since before your uncle went missing from this planet. Why?"
He shrugged again. "I don't know. I was too young to understand it, then. Looking for weaknesses, maybe. People he was close to that they could hurt? I don't even know how they found him here. All I know is that we are running out of time."
"Time for what?"
"I... don't know."
Madison sat back in her chair and sighed, rubbing at her temples. "You don't know an awful lot about this. Are you sure you're a prince?"
Asher made a face at her. "Yes, I'm sure. I just..." He sighed and leaned back in his own chair. "Maybe if I were to talk to them? Do you think that would help?"
"I don't see how it would. They'd just think that you were working for me or something. They have no reason to believe you, Asher. That's the problem."
"You believed me," he pointed out.
She shrugged one shoulder. "I have always been more open minded than most. And the things you've shown me have been incredible. There's no way all of that could have come from this planet. But I'm not a scared patient who's just looking for answers."
"Okay, Okay. You're right. We're going to have to come up with a better way, then. Because they have to be warned, Madison. They're completely helpless when the Shaddoc have them, and-" he broke off when something trilled in his pocket.
"Cell phone?" Madison asked. "Didn't think you had one of those."
"Don't be silly, of course I do. I grew up here. But that's not what this is." He fished the device out of his pocket and flipped the top up, sliding two fingers across the screen. A series of red dots were getting closer to a fixed, shining point on the screen and Asher swore under his breath. "Do any of the people you've talked to live close to here?" he asked.
"I can't give away confidential information, Asher. That's asking for too much."
He huffed and showed her the screen. "It's really important, Maddie, okay? These aren't the ordinary crafts that they use to take the humans and mess with them. These are the holding vessels. For carting prisoners across the galaxy."
"They're planning to keep them now?" Madison demanded. "For what purpose?"
"I don't know. But there are three of them, and they are locked onto this location, and I need to know who it is."
"Alright, alright," she said, pulling out her tablet to flip through her files. "That's the other side of the Biltmore. Amelia Hatcher is the only one who lives over there." Madison frowned. "She's the one who was in here today. Do you think... Do you think they know?"
Asher's face went pale, and he was out of his chair in less than a second. "I don't know, but I have to go warn her."
"Do you think that's wise?" Madison asked, alarm written all over her face. "She's not likely to take it well."
"I think i
t's better than letting her get taken for real," Asher shot back.
Madison sighed and watched him rush through the same door that Amelia had gone through hours earlier. She didn't know how her world had gotten so complicated, but she was really starting to miss the peace and quiet she'd had before she'd realized that one of her friends was an alien and that he and his nephew were royalty on another planet.
Things had been much simpler then.
Chapter 3: Stranger
Her house was quiet, but for some reason she couldn't sleep. It occurred to her that this was one of the longest stretches she'd gone without waking up somewhere completely ridiculous, and considering it had only been a couple of days, that wasn't saying much.
Either way, she couldn't sleep.
Her bed was comfortable and warm, and her window was open to catch more of the breezes that had been drifting by, heavy with the scent of the coming fall, but she was still wide awake.
Half of her blamed paranoia. As if she expected someone to come through the window and take her.
The other half blamed Dr. Prince for making her think she was going to be taken in the first place.
It was stupid, and she should have put it out of her mind as soon as she'd left that office. Aliens, indeed. Honestly, she should have called someone and lodged a formal complaint.
But as she laid there in bed, her eyes kept straying to the window, and her mind started to wander off on the thought that there had to be plenty of things she couldn't explain in the world and that maybe this was one of them, or something.
"You're being an idiot," Mia scolded herself.
"For leaving your window open?" a voice asked from right outside said window. "That's not being an idiot, but it's not the safest thing in the world."
Mia screamed as a head poked into her window, scrambling to sit up and grope for the light on her nightstand. Once light flooded the room, she could see the figure had fiery red hair.
"You," she gasped, pressing a hand over her galloping heart. "What are you doing here? What is this?" He'd said that he was friends with someone who worked at the office... Outrage was quickly winning out against the fear, and Mia was on her feet in seconds. "Are you kidding me? It wasn't bad enough that your shrink friend had to mess with me there, but she sends you here to try and... what. Make me think you're an alien here to abduct me?"
