Fallen + Marli & Lalo (Fallen Invasion, #3)

by Mia Mitns

  I slightly nodded. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Kallen got hit with a piece of the meteorite. He became more protective and encouraging overnight.

  Minutes later, Kallen parked on the dirt paved to be my driveway. My driveway leading to no garage.

  “Thanks,” I said and reached for the door handle.

  Kallen gently put his hand on my shoulder. “Marli, if you need any help, you know I’m here for you. And I’m not only talking about watching out for that woman.”

  Why did he have to keep reminding me?

  “Yes, thanks Kallen,” I said.

  “You don’t have to keep secrets to yourself.”

  “Kallen, is there something you want to say?” I asked. I should be probing him instead of running from his questions.

  Over parted lips, slowly air escaped from Kallen. “Marli, things are changing. We won’t be that safe for long. I don’t have all the details, but I know. And I don’t want you to get hurt. We are vulnerable out here you know. Living far away from large groups of people. Living in between large uninhabited areas of space. I don’t want to scare you, but please. If anything happens—”

  “I’ll tell you,” I said.

  Kallen nodded.

  We got out of the truck and strolled to the front door. I jiggled my keys a few times, stalling so Lalo could hide. I opened the door, and Kallen blocked my path with his arm.

  “If you don’t mind could I take a peek inside your house?” Kallen asked. “It would help me stop worrying. I just...I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I couldn’t keep you safe.”

  I hesitated for a few moments.

  What was I supposed to do? I needed to protect Lalo from Kallen, but what if Kallen was right? What if Lalo was dangerous but holding back? It would be more comforting if someone else also knew about him. But would Kallen want to trap Lalo and give him over to the authorities?

  “Marli,” Kallen said.

  “Okay,” escaped from my lips.

  Hide Lalo. Please hide.

  I prepared myself to say that Lalo was one of my friends who was visiting, or a boyfriend, someone. If Kallen developed a strange feeling, in all probability, I would tell him Lalo’s true identity.

  Stepping inside, I glanced around and noticed the house lights were still lit. Lalo wasn’t on the couch. My computer remained on my kitchen table, but closed. There was no trace of Lalo’s existence. Maybe he heard me.

  After Kallen determined that the family room and kitchen area were secure, he explored the bathroom while I stood by the couch.

  If Lalo attacked Kallen, how would Kallen defend himself?

  I was sure Lalo was much stronger. Kallen was athletic too though. But Lalo could get infuriated and make an effort to kill Kallen for no reason. My legs got to work and rapidly put me into my bathroom. I spotted the area of the celling where Lalo positioned himself the night before.

  “There’s no one in here,” Kallen said, staring at me as if he knew something was wrong.

  Although I was glad Kallen had no evidence, I began to worry but for a different reason, Lalo.

  What if Lalo left me? I couldn’t help him. He couldn’t help me. I couldn’t learn why he came. Did he even know the way back to my house if he got lost?

  Fear spread through my body as we withdrew from my bathroom to analyze the final room—my bedroom. The door was closed, not as I left it, but Kallen didn’t know that.

  Kallen’s hand slipped into his back pocket to pull out a gun.

  “Kallen?” I whispered.

  “Precautions,” he said. “Get behind me.”

  Kallen definitely couldn’t be who he said he was, so I did as he said. Kallen opened the door then promptly re-grasped the gun. He checked what he could see from the doorframe prior to entering. The area was clear.

  Kallen used the same procedure to open my closet. Lalo didn’t leap out at us. There was nothing there other than my clothes. We spent more time in my bedroom investigating yet found nothing.

  “This kind of solidifies that I’m wacky,” Kallen said when he finally declared my home was safe. “But I have these premonitions, visions. I saw you Marli. I sensed danger. And not from that woman from someone or something else.”

  “Danger?” I said.

  “Yes. Marli, I can stay with you.”

  “I’m fine for now Kallen. You checked, and now I feel safe. I’m just going to sleep all day anyway.”

  “Alright, I’ll be at my house,” he said. “I hope you’ll feel better soon.”

  “Thank you,” I said.

  Kallen took one more sweeping scan of my home before he left. The idea that he was lingering outside, waiting for something to happen, stayed with me. My suspicion was confirmed when the engine of his car didn’t make a sound until five minutes later.

  When I was sure Kallen left, I called out for Lalo, but there was no answer.

  “Lalo, please,” I begged. “Come out.”

  I generally combed through the house, checking for Lalo once again. I began to panic as the thought of him leaving crept back to the front of my mind. I rushed to reexamine my closet, dropped to my knees to look under my bed, and then ran to the kitchen to tear through the cabinets.

  Heaving, I deliberated about the places he might have run to. With an idea, I rummaged through my purse and found my keys. My hand was on the doorknob when I was tugged backwards with a cold hand. The air in my throat zapped. He caught me unexpectedly. At least I hoped it was him.

  Turning around frightened me even more. No one was there. I touched the area of my skin where I felt the frigid sensation. An almost silent and unrestrained, “Lalo,” came from my mouth.

  Then I saw an outline of a person preceding Lalo’s reappearance. “He’s nice. He’s nice.” I repeated in my head. I had to convince myself that he wasn’t a threat to me because that trick let me know what any future with him would hold. Danger. Kallen was right.

  Lalo soothed me again by rubbing my cheek. I became calm but upset that he showed me that side. I wasn’t sure I had the ability to cover up continuous lies. I was the good girl. I had always been factual, only telling the truth.

  I would have been better off not knowing about some of his skills. It was a matter of time before the government would find out. Too many people were indirectly connected including me. What would I say then? How could I lie to the government if I didn’t know what Lalo was capable of and what he wanted to do? Lying could give his species a vast advantage. What if they came to Earth to destroy us?

  I backed away from Lalo, giving myself an extra six inches of space. He squinted and shot his head to the side then brought up his hand under his chin. “Marli, why are you scared now?” a deeper voice, Lalo’s voice, said.

  I gasped. He spoke in complete English sentences and his voice changed. This could have been someone else. It had to be someone else. What if Lalo left and was replaced by a replica? Everyone in his species could look the same for all I knew. What if this was some sort of leader, a commander?

  “I learned,” Lalo said, “while you were gone. Marli, I didn’t come to hurt you. If I did, I would have done that already. And no, I’m not a different being. I’m the same ‘alien,’ as you would say.”

  He took a step forward.

  My leg jiggled. Not willing to be outdone, my hand joined in with its shaking. “W-Why? Why—”

  Lalo grasped my head until the shaking stopped. “Marli, I don’t know why I came. I can’t remember. The one thing I know, the one thing I feel, is that I have to keep you safe.”

  “You don’t know anything?” I said.

  “I’m afraid not,” he said. “And when I say afraid, I mean afraid. There could be others out there who are planning to attack me or you. We, my species for a better word, are most likely planning something. The thing is I don’t know what. All I remember was one day I would come here and Earth would become home to me as well.”

  “You as in you alone?” I asked.


  “I...” He shrugged.

  “That would explain the being Kallen saw running around my house last night,” I said. “The woman he keeps talking about.”

  “I saw it too,” Lalo said. “I think it was a female from my species. It found nothing, so we are in the clear for now. I made sure of that. The one thing I do know is that I need to find out what happened.”

  “Why don’t you start with last night?” I said. “It seemed like your meteor chased me.”

  “It’s possible,” he said. “I am linked to you in a way.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Lalo smiled. “It’s the reason why I can feel when you’re upset, know where you are, sometimes hear what you’re thinking.”

  “You can do this to everyone? All of your species can?”

  “No and no. Only a few were born like me. I do remember that so at least the amnesia hasn’t entirely destroyed my ability to recall information. Hopefully it’s temporary. Anyway, our few can link with certain human individuals. We are connected on the same wavelength, as you might say. It’s determined by your DNA.”

  Lalo paused to lead me to sit on the couch. Sitting close by, he faced me. “It’s the reason I had to find you first—you are like a key to my power.”

  Lalo’s words began to pour out as if they were being revealed to him as he spoke. “Power that could be used. If all of us found the keys to our power. But why would a human matter? Keep talking Marli. It helps me remember.”

  “If you can connect with humans, can you connect, in the same way, with others of your species?”

  “No,” Lalo said. “But some humans can connect with more than one of us.”

  “What if that...” I struggled to find a word. What would I call him without offending him?

  “Don’t waste your time worrying about making me angry,” Lalo said. “It’s unclear how much time we have to throw away. I might be bad luck. Something bad might happen because I’m here.”

  “What if an individual—” I said.

  “Just say alien,” Lalo said.

  “Okay. What if an alien could connect with high level human officials?” I said. “And intend to do evil things like take over our country or planet?”

  I couldn’t help but revert to the alien invasion idea.

  “This question isn’t helping me recall anything, so my answer is it could happen.”

  “And why is your demeanor different now Lalo?” I continued. “Yesterday you were like a child.”

  “By learning how to speak,” Lalo said, “well, most likely by remembering how to speak your language, my thoughts and memories were exercised and awakened.

  “Yesterday, I didn’t know what you were capable of either. Young earthling species tended to be cute and harmless, as far as I could remember, so I played that hand. I pretended to be young, and when I saw that it worked, I continued the behavior.

  “I was a little confused too because I also felt our connection at times. And you were uneasy, especially when I went into your room. I didn’t want to scare you. So being a child helped in that way as well.”

  “That makes sense,” I said. “So can people, I mean aliens like you, disappear?” I asked.

  “As far as I can remember I’m the only one,” he said.

  Oh no. What if he was escaped his home to come to Earth to hide? What if they were in the middle of a war? Or what if the leaders simply wanted to murder him because he was different; his power outmaneuvered theirs.

  “It’s all possible,” Lalo said.

  I flinched. Getting accustomed to the mind reading was going to take some time.

  “We have to get Kallen’s help,” I said.

  “No!” Lalo’s eyes alternated to some sort of fierce, warrior mode. “I don’t trust him.”

  “Okay,” I said. My voice was barely above a whisper.

  “He will not know anything about me,” Lalo said.

  “He won’t,” I said and tensed up.

  “I’m sorry,” Lalo said and relaxed his eyes. He placed his hand on my thigh. “My instincts tell me not to trust him because he knows something. He’s lying to you about some—” Lalo grabbed my remote and switched on the TV but instead of watching it, whipped his head to watch the door.

  I wanted to speak, but didn’t. My mouth was open for a while before I tried to see what Lalo was staring at.

  About five minutes later the threat was over when Lalo said, “How about we relax?”

  I nodded and listened to the TV. The news reporters further about the missing people in the city. Lalo’s relaxation period lasted all of a few seconds. He clutched his fist as he focused in on the story.

  By the way Lalo was on guard for the rest of the night I could tell that we were not safe. I wanted to know what was going on but figured it was best that I didn’t know. I had no extra information to accidently give out. If I happened to find myself in the company of trouble, I could possibly slip away because I would think everything was fine. But what if trouble could also read my mind? What if trouble had a connection to me?

  Chapter 4

  The next morning, Lalo assured me that he wasn’t going anywhere and that I was actually better off because he would be there to protect my home. He gave me a hug on my way to the front door because, “That’s what some humans do.” I laughed as I left, making sure I locked the door.

  As I rounded the corner of my house, I imagined Kallen scaring me. Again, the self-frightening thing. Kallen had called me a few more times to make sure I was “feeling better.” I was sure those calls provoked my behavior. I didn’t doubt he had concerns about my health and the scary woman. There were just other reasons he called too. The reasons I didn’t know about.

  Kallen was the first person Dr. Stevenson introduced me to when I moved out to Millsee. Kallen agreed to show me around town and watch out for me. He certainly did keep that promise.

  The roaring of Kallen’s truck got louder as he traveled a few seconds from his driveway to mine, breaking me from my thoughts. He slowed down as he pulled up my driveway and opened the passenger door.

  “Figured I’d give you a ride to work since you had those headaches yesterday and all,” Kallen said. “You can call anytime you finish. I’ll pick you up.”

  “But I have to go to the store later,” I said. “I’ll drive. I’m fine.”

  “I insist,” Kallen said, raising his eyebrows.

  Did Kallen have something to hide behind that look? Did he know true things about aliens and had to hide it so people wouldn’t think he was insane? Maybe he knew the woman.

  It probably would be best, for Lalo’s sake, to find out everything Kallen knew. Would he be on our side or become our greatest enemy?

  Repeating over and over in my mind as I got in the car were Lalo’s words, “I don’t trust him.” To agitate things, a force fought against me as I closed the truck door too. But I met Lalo less than two days ago. I trusted Kallen. Kallen wouldn’t do anything to me. Would he?

  —-

  That day my job consisted of inspecting one of the lakes, Lake Lakada. Kallen hung around, talking to everyone while my team waited for the rest of our members to arrive. My other colleagues updated me on what they found during the previous day. The fish and insects were migrating at their own pace. They also followed our mysterious northern route. The same route that the first set of migrating animals took. This was, in fact, the exact problem that gave me my job.

  The land animals and insects’ behavior first caught the scientists’ eyes. Some of the animals and insects, who roamed the area for decades, headed towards major cities. Then the other insects and animals that stayed behind started avoiding certain places. It took a little while to notice because the behaviors changed gradually. It was like they tried to make sure no one would figure it out on purpose. This was a very strange realization. And on top of that all of the animals, land and water, were leaving in the same direction. The migrating animals were also too early for their departure.
r />   That day Dr. Stevenson became something we never saw before, nervous.

  “I’ve called in people, more experts,” Dr. Stevenson said during our morning meeting. “Maybe they can see what we aren’t. I also talked to other scientists across the U.S. They haven’t seen these types of changes or noticed any abnormal climate or weather differences. People in South and West Texas haven’t seen unusual things either. Does anyone have a theory about why this is happening? Let’s hash this out.”

  “We already mentioned climate change,” Ashley, an ecologist, said.

  “With the effects due to global warming,” Myoko said.

  “And we found the climate hasn’t changed,” Tyree, a climatologist, said. “In fact, there is no significant difference from last year or the prior five.”

  “But could it be due to longer than normal days and shorter nights?” Ashley said. “Ignoring the climate aspect, what about considering daylight only?”

  “Would moving north help them though?” Laksha asked. “They should be going south.”

  “True,” Ashley said.

  “I think we also have to keep in mind that this was a sudden change,” I said. “What suddenly changed for them?”

  “The food supply hasn’t dwindled,” Ren said. “There is no increase in predators.”

  “Yes,” Dr. Stevenson said. “Then what is it?”

  “A different type of predator?” Kallen threw in. “Or an old one that has altered its ways.”

  “One study did show that certain animals will put themselves in danger with predators to avoid humans,” I said. “But barely anyone lives out here.”

  “And to my knowledge there hasn’t been a drastic increase in humans,” Dr. Stevenson said. “You’re looking at all of the new people of this town.”

  “No new animals have been found dead,” Ren said. “No remnants of any either.”

  “Let’s do this,” Dr. Stevenson said. “We will all meet with the new specialists...” He continued on, speaking about how some new people would be joining us, and we were to divide to make sure we weren’t missing any information.