“We can’t do that,” he whispered in return.
“I don’t think he needs it anymore. Something happened to him since we last saw him. Maybe he’s been miraculously healed.”
He laughed.
“Miracle healings do happen.” Glancing at Devon, he asked, “Have you been healed?”
Devon blinked once.
“Oh cool! Did you see an angel?”
Devon blinked once.
“He’s pulling your leg,” the other nurse said as the elevator doors opened. “Finally. These elevators are so slow. Let’s go.”
The nurse hesitated. “I don’t know. He doesn’t want to go. What if the angel told him something? Did you get a message from the angel?”
Devon blinked once, figuring it was close to the truth. The angel tried to tell him something, and if he could go back to the room, he’d find out what it was.
“I’m taking the tube out.”
The other nurse grabbed his arm as the elevator doors closed. “You’re not authorized to do that.”
He rolled his eyes. “Something serious is going on, and it’s our duty to protect the patient. He’s still in this hospital, and that makes him our responsibility.”
The other nurse relented.
“Okay?” he asked Devon.
Devon blinked once.
As the nurse got ready to take the tube out, the elevator doors opened and a familiar set of heels echoed off the floor. Devon’s breath caught in his throat as Keegan came into view. What was she doing here?
“I’ll take it from here, gentlemen,” she told the nurses, making purposeful eye contact with them.
Their eyes grew wide and they backed away from the bed.
Devon wondered what they saw. Was it her Reptoid appearance? Did she actually permit someone to see her like that?
She turned to Devon and smiled. “Naughty, Devon. You should know better than to try to avoid doing what you’re told. You’re supposed to come with me. Government’s orders.” She waved at the nurses who stared at her with the same terrified look Devon saw Vanessa give her that time he took her to Dulce. It was after that incident when Vanessa stopped smiling.
Keegan pulled the bed into the elevator and pressed the button so the doors closed.
Never at any time had Devon felt more helpless. His only consolation was knowing she couldn’t violate his body since he was in a body cast.
She leaned forward and kissed him on the nose. “You’ve been a bad boy, Devon. Here I invested all these years into you and all for what? All so an angel can try to stop me from taking you with me?” With a pout, she crossed her arms and added, “I’m liable to think you don’t enjoy spending time with me. But don’t worry. I’ve got something special planned just for you. We’ll get you out of that cast soon enough, and then we’ll wait for your surprise.”
He didn’t like the way she snarled as her eyes flashed to their reptilian form. Closing his eyes, he braced himself for whatever horrors she had planned for him this time.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Autumn glanced at the clock in her apartment for what seemed to be the hundredth time. The angel hadn’t come to speak to her, and she needed to get to work. She couldn’t afford to miss another day of work, nor could she afford to be late. Hampton had given her a severe warning that she’d lose her job if she didn’t go to work unless she was dying in a hospital somewhere.
With other employers making the implant necessary for employment, she didn’t have much of a choice if she wanted to have food on her table and a roof over her head. As much as Hampton bothered her, she was grateful that he didn’t make the implant a mandate. She still had a job, and right now, that job bought her a little more time to stock up on food and water as Devon suggested.
Getting to her feet, she grabbed her purse and cell phone. She debated whether or not to turn the cell phone on but decided against it. The angel said not to talk to anyone, and she would be sure to obey the angel this time.
***
Alex felt the rush of memories within thirty seconds of being implanted with the chip. The female Annunaki threw the needle out while his mind took him back to that time in Area 51. Bits and pieces rushed at him. Grey aliens hovering over him. Tubes going up his nose and down his throat. Cool fingers touching his forehead. Then when their probes went lower on his body. He shivered.
The female Annunaki went over to him and rubbed his back. “It’s alright, Alex. I won’t leave you until you come through this.”
Her touch and soft tone soothed him, so he stopped resisting the memories. Closing his eyes, he let the memories emerge from their hiding place. The first thing he recalled was arriving at Area 51 with Autumn and finding that tunnel underground. There was a door at the end of the dark corridor, and he used his flashlight to see the number pad so he could punch in the combination which allowed them to open the door. They found themselves at another dark tunnel, except this time, there was a light up ahead. Just as they went forward, Autumn stopped. He asked her if she was okay before she shrieked and collapsed.
Startled, he dropped his flashlight and knelt by her. “Autumn?” he whispered, gently shaking her. But she was unconscious.
He started to pick her up, but a sudden chill swept through the tunnel. Glancing up, he caught sight of shadows that’d been hovering nearby the entire time he and Autumn had been there. It was hard to detect a form in any of them, though he was acutely aware of their presence. He shivered and picked Autumn up before he took a step back.
This was a mistake. He never should have insisted they come here. Maybe Marianne was down here somewhere, but there was no way he and Autumn were going to find her with those things lurking in the shadows. Maybe they could find another entrance. As he turned to leave, a group of shadows blocked his path. Looking over his shoulder, his suspicions were confirmed. They surrounded him. He held onto Autumn as he tried to figure out what to do.
One of the shadows stepped forward, and he caught sight of the grey alien. His jaw dropped. It was the alien who stood by his bed every night. It sneered at him and held its hand up. Extending one of its long fingers, it pointed to one of the shadows beside him. Another grey emerged from the darkness and reached for Autumn.
Alex tightened his hold on her. “No!” He couldn’t let anything happen to Autumn because he was stupid enough to come here.
The alien hissed, and other aliens stepped out from the shadows toward him, their bony hands reaching in his direction.
Gulping, he turned around, seeking out any spaces between the aliens that he might slip through while they slowly crept closer. Shaking his head and muttering no over and over, he inspected the horde of aliens who seemed to be thriving on his fear.
“A fine specimen,” one hissed, its black eyes flashing with something Alex could only describe as lightning.
“Fine indeed,” another moaned in a mixture of sexual ecstasy and intense pain.
“Please, let us go,” Alex whispered. He tried to clear his throat and speak louder, but he couldn’t even swallow. What did these things want with him and Autumn?
“We’ve been ordered to take you in for experiments,” the alien who’d stood by his bed responded in a happy tone. “We will find fit extensions through your seed.”
What was that supposed to mean?
And then one of them touched him, its fingers piercing through him like an icy needle. He screamed and made a run for it. He managed to barrel past them despite the surge of cold air that traveled through the length of his body. In a split second, he actually believed he was going to make it, but the mass of shadows slid along the walls of the tunnel and spun around him. He fell down, taking care to land on his back so Autumn wouldn’t get hurt.
The aliens came into view, their hands seeking him. He squirmed from their hands the best he could, but they closed in on him with swift precision and grabbed him. He screamed again, not knowing which was worse: the icy ripples shooting through him or the sensation of being tor
n limb from limb. His body remained warm and it remained in one piece, so he knew it was all an illusion. Even so, he never felt anything more real in his entire life.
They tried to grab Autumn but hissed and pulled back. “We haven’t been given permission to touch her,” one hissed at the others. “Leave her. We’ll bring forth children from his body and dwell in them.”
Before Alex could grasp their meaning, a white flash hovered over Autumn, and though he held onto her with all of his strength, the heat from the light forced him to let go. The light lifted her body in the air. He called out to her and attempted to stand, but the aliens clasped their hands on him and dug their nails into his skin. His screams echoed down the tunnel.
To say it felt like sharp knives piercing his flesh would have been an understatement. But in his mind came something far more worse than the physical state of his torment. A flash of fire, horns, and chains emerged, and with it came the feeling of complete and utter hopelessness as he glimpsed eternity. He didn’t know what it meant, exactly, but he was glad when the mental image and feeling of despair ended.
The aliens lifted him up and carried him down the tunnel until they brought him through a set of doors. Passing through the doors, he squinted in the bright light. He glanced at his body, surprised there was no blood anywhere. There should have been blood. And his clothes weren’t shredded either. Was it all an illusion? Did they really attack him? He tried to fight, to free himself from his captors, but it was no use. His body was paralyzed. He wasn’t going anywhere unless they wanted him to.
They carried him to the end of the hall and through another set of doors where a set of footsteps echoing off the floor caught his attention. He saw the black shoes first. Polished. Shiny. Then he lifted his gaze to the immaculate dark blue suit and on up until he saw a man’s grim expression.
A man’s face he’d seen in snippets as memories of that night came to him in his dreams. And yet, when he saw the man talking to Autumn at the mall, he didn’t make the connection. Devon. And Devon knew Autumn.
“Bring him to the table,” Devon said.
They obeyed, placing Alex on a steel table before strapping him to it. Not that Alex was going anywhere. He still couldn’t move.
Devon walked over to him, put a mask over his nose and mouth, and slipped on a pair of latex gloves. “This will sting for a second.”
Alex wanted to ask what Devon was doing—what the aliens were doing as they watched in anticipation. Next to the table was a tray with a single needle on it.
With a look at Alex, Devon placed a hand on his shoulder. “You won’t remember a thing.” Then he picked up the needle while an alien rolled up Alex’s sleeve. Devon’s eyes met Alex’s one more time. Devon whispered, “I’m sorry,” and inserted the needle into his arm.
Alex opened his eyes and glanced at the Annunaki who squeezed his hand in sympathy.
“I’m afraid there’s no turning back,” the Annunaki said in a soothing tone.
Taking a deep breath, Alex said, “It’s better I know who I can trust and who I can’t.” Then he closed his eyes and got ready for the rest of that night to come back to him.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Autumn bit her lower lip as she sat behind the counter and rung up the woman’s purchase. The angel told her not to speak to anyone, so she tried to get away with a lot of nodding, smiling, and waving. She glanced around her and sighed. The angel wasn’t anywhere. She assumed that whatever he meant to tell her was important. So where was he? And what was happening to Devon?
The knots in her stomach tensed. She just knew something was wrong. She hated sitting here at work while Devon was facing who knew what? And then Alex… How could she explain anything to him when the angel forbade it? She had to listen to the angel.
Turning her attention back to the register, she finished making the transaction and held the bag of clothes toward the woman.
The woman took the bag and left.
Hampton came up to her with an all-too-familiar scowl on his face. “Say hello and good-bye to the customers, Autumn. We’re here to sell clothes, not run a mime show.”
Autumn waved her consent, hoping it was enough to get him off her back.
“Look, I’m not going to be working here after the end of the month.”
Surprised, her eyes grew wide.
“It turns out that since I refuse to take the chip, I’m not allowed to work here. Do you have the implant?”
Autumn shook her head. She couldn’t believe this. The Annunaki and human governments assured everyone that the chip would be voluntary.
“We’re all just a number to them, Autumn. They’re branding us like cattle.”
She couldn’t argue with him, but she still couldn’t believe he was going to lose his job because he wouldn’t take the implant.
He let out a heavy sigh. “Just wait. Soon we won’t be able to buy anything unless we have that mass controlling chip. Human enhancement my—” he shrugged “you know.”
Rubbing her forehead, she let out a shaky breath. Was this why Devon mentioned saving up on food and water? Because if she didn’t take the chip, then she would end up unemployed? But if she was unemployed, then she wouldn’t even have an apartment to live in!
Hampton shook his head. “The ironic thing is that people still believe these Annunaki are the good guys, and so many of them will take that mind controlling chip. By the time the Annunaki are revealed for what they really are, it’ll be too late. More people really need to listen to Martin Conner! He’s the only one left on talk radio who has any common sense.”
As he walked off, Autumn closed her eyes, hoping he was wrong. She’d like to think someone would come along and expose the Annunaki. Perhaps the angels might step in to do that? She opened her eyes and searched for the angel, but he was still nowhere to be found.
Digging her phone out of her pocket, she debated whether or not to turn it on. She figured she better not. Setting it beside her on the counter, she reached for her bottled water and took a drink, wondering how much longer she’d be allowed to earn a paycheck. The threat of losing her job because she refused to get the implant was a morbid possibility, and despite her best effort, her hands shook.
Nerves. My nerves are completely shot. She sure could use a cigarette right about now, but her break wasn’t for another hour. Tapping her fingers on the counter, she tried to decide what she could do to pass the time.
Her phone rang.
Surprised, she jerked and stared at the phone which beeped and blinked in a ring she designated for only one person. Marianne. She hadn’t heard her phone ring that special tone since the morning of her sister’s disappearance.
Tentative, Autumn reached for the phone and checked the caller ID. Sure enough. It said Marianne. For a moment, all she could do was watch the phone light up in her hand while it continued to beep. Gulping, she selected the button to answer it.
“Hello?” she hesitantly asked, aware of the fierce pounding in her chest.
“Autumn?” came Marianne’s voice.
Autumn almost dropped the phone. “Marianne?”
“Help me, Autumn.”
Gripping the phone, Autumn asked, “Where are you?”
Marianne said something, but the static on the other end prevented Autumn from hearing her.
“Where? Marianne, you’re breaking up.”
“Dulce. They have me trapped in level six. I—”
She struggled to hear her sister through the static. “Dulce, New Mexico?”
“Yes. Please hurry. I—”
More distortion came from the other end, and Autumn bolted to her feet. “Marianne? Where? Where in Dulce are you?”
Using Marianne’s voice, Keegan whimpered and answered, “The base. There’s an underground base here. Autumn, they’re going to hurt me. Please hurry! Autumn—” Then she hung up the phone.
With a smile, she tucked the phone into her pocket and turned her attention to an unconscious Devon who was with
her on the plane, still in his body cast and on a gurney.
“Well now, my dear,” Keegan whispered as she tapped his nose. “When you wake up, things are going to get very interesting, aren’t they?”
Returning to her seat, she buckled her seatbelt and smiled.
Chapter Forty
The cab came to a stop, and the driver shook his head. “I’m not going beyond this point.”
Autumn turned her attention from her phone. She hoped Marianne would call again, but so far, she hadn’t. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she asked, “But the underground base is about a mile away, isn’t it?”
“And this is as close as I’ll get to it.”
Reluctant, Autumn got out of the cab and glanced at the late afternoon sky. If it were anyone but Marianne, she wouldn’t go. But this was Marianne, and she’d walk on hot coals with her bare feet to see that her sister was safe. Currently, that meant walking by foot the rest of the way. She took a flight all the way to New Mexico, and she wasn’t about to turn back now. As she paid the cab driver, she asked, “This road will take me to the base?”
“Yes. But lady,” the driver grabbed her hand, “are you sure you want to do this? I’ve never seen anyone come out. At least, no one who isn’t from the government.” He scanned her up and down. “You’re not from the government.”
“No, I’m not.” Forcing the worry in his expression from her mind, she cleared her throat and removed her hand from his. “Whether I make it out or not doesn’t matter. I need to know I did everything I could for someone dear to me.”
“Vaya con Dios,” he whispered.
She didn’t know what to say to that, so she nodded and turned in the direction of the base. With a deep breath, she pressed forward. She was in such a hurry after Marianne’s phone call, the only things she had with her were a coat, a purse, and a cell phone. Marianne sounded so scared. The only thing Autumn could do was rush to the airport. Looking back, she might have packed something, though she didn’t know what that something could be. It wasn’t like she was skilled with a gun or anything. She didn’t even know how she was supposed to get into the underground base.
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