by Ashley West
Kallel let her drive there, since he barely knew how and wouldn’t have known how to get there anyway. The traffic was terrible, and they had to contend with people trying to flee from the scene and emergency vehicles trying to get to the scene as they made their way into the city. After a while, it became clear that they weren’t going to get the car through the streets, so they parked it off to one side and continued on foot.
The screams and roaring of the Alva let them know they were getting close.
Haven hadn’t been to this particular theater in a while, but she already knew that it wasn’t the way she remembered it. For one thing, the fountain out front definitely didn’t used to be in three pieces on the ground, and the wide, tinted windows that spanned the front of the theater weren’t smashed all to hell before either.
People were streaming out of the building in a chaotic mess, trying to get away. Police cars and ambulances were parked out front, but none of the police officers or EMTs seemed to be willing to go inside just yet. As Kallel and Haven stood there, trying to figure out what to do, a scream was heard from inside and then someone went flying out the already broken window, landing in a heap on the concrete.
Haven’s heart skipped a beat until the figure moved, and it became clear that it was a man. Not her mother then. Her mother was inside somewhere and completely fine.
A cop with a megaphone walked closer to the building, and they watched as he spoke. “Stand down,” he said, voice amplified. “I repeat: stand down.”
“Is he talking to the aliens?” Haven asked, incredulous. “Do they even know what stand down means?”
Kallel nodded. “They do, but they won’t do it. The Alva are a law unto themselves. This is not going to end well. I need to get in there.”
“Okay, what’s the plan, then?”
He considered her for a moment and then sighed. “If I tell you to stay here, you’ll just follow me, won’t you?”
Haven arched an eyebrow. “If your mother was trapped in there and someone told you to stay put, would you?”
“No,” he admitted. “I wouldn’t. Alright. I’m going to take them on. They can’t resist a fight most of the time. While they’re distracted, you help people escape and find your mother. And then get out. Get to safety.”
For the first time since she’d encountered him, which, granted, hadn’t been that long ago, Kallel sounded like someone who knew what he was doing. Haven nodded, agreeing to his plan. He had enough weapons that he could handle this, surely. He knew what he was doing. She put a hand on his arm. “Be careful.”
The smile he gave her in return was surprised, but he nodded back. “On my count.”
He didn’t count in English, but she understood the sentiment behind the strange words he was saying. On the third count, they both took off at a run from their spot, heading for the broken windows.
One of the cops caught sight of them and shouted for them to stop, but they didn’t slow down. Kallel’s legs were longer, and he got there first. He climbed through the broken window and pulled the long, spear-like weapon down from his back.
Haven knew she needed to keep moving, to get to her mother, but she had to stop and stare for a second because she'd never actually seen someone wielding a weapon like that. Here it was all guns, maybe with the occasional baseball bat thrown in for variety, but this was nothing like anything she'd seen before. It had a long handle, seemingly carved out of something shiny and blue, and it had to be taller than she was. At one end it was capped with a golden sphere (for weight balance, maybe), and at the other was a wickedly sharp looking blade, curved just a bit.
Kal pulled it down and then swung it around like he did it all the time, twirling it in a way that seemed to be both for show and to warm up his muscles in using the weapon. Maybe he wouldn't be so useless after all.
Haven blinked and then cursed herself in her head for getting distracted, anything could be happening to the humans who were hiding or being held hostage or whatever, so she took off at a run again, leaving the fighting to Kallel. He was a warrior, he'd said, and when she glanced back to see him looking for the Alva to fight, she believed it.
The movie theater had never seemed so large before. Chesley wasn't a huge city, pretty moderately sized compared to some of the others in the state. The theater on Plaza was just one of many, so it didn't need to be big or flashy, but when she was running through it looking for her mother and praying that she didn't run into any creatures that might want to throw her through the window or break her in half, it may as well have been twice its size.
She caught sight of someone creeping out of one of the bathrooms on the second level of the place, and she ran up to them, breathing hard.
"Where's everyone hiding?"
The woman looked terrified, eyes wide enough that they were mostly the whites at this point. She was shaking, and even though Haven wanted to shake her to get to the point, she didn't.
Instead she tried again. "Hey. We're here to help, okay? We're going to make sure everyone gets out. Can you tell me where people are hiding? Are there hostages?"
The woman shook her head. "N-no. No hostages. They didn't ask for anything. They just...showed up! Right in the middle of the movie. Started throwing things...people. My-my husband. He went to the bathroom, and I don't know where he is!"
She put her hands over her face, crying silently.
Haven's heart went out to her. "Plenty of people seemed to escape," she said softly. "I saw them leaving. Also I know some people are hiding in here, waiting for help. He's probably fine."
"O-okay," the woman replied shakily. She let out a tremulous breath. "I think they were hiding in one of the smaller rooms. I...I don't know where, I'm sorry."
It was better than nothing. "It's okay," Haven promised. She hesitated slightly. "Do you want to come with me? I'm looking for someone, too."
The woman nodded fervently and instantly fell into step with Haven as they kept moving. The only thing to do was to poke her head into every theater room they passed. Most of them were empty, a few had been completely trashed. Seats ripped out of the floor and flung around, the screen damaged and in pieces. They didn't linger long at those rooms, not wanting to find themselves face to face with one of the creatures.
Frustrated that she couldn't find her mom, she pulled out her phone and texted her. Calling was too dangerous, but maybe she'd be able to get a text out.
A long moment passed and then a response: we're hiding in number 12.
Finally.
"Come on," Haven said to the woman and they set off at a run. Number twelve was at the end of the hall, one of the smaller rooms, showing a movie that was on its way out of theaters. There were no sounds of screaming inside, so Haven flung the door open and stepped in. Everyone seemed to be sitting on the floor or the stairs instead of in the seats, and when the door opened, flooding the dimly lit room with light from the hall, a few people screamed and prepared to run.
"It's okay!" Haven called as loudly as she dared. "I'm human. I'm not going to hurt anyone."
"Haven!"
From somewhere near the middle her mother's voice cried out, and then she was up and moving, throwing her arms around her daughter's shoulders and crushing her in a tight hug. "Haven, oh god. They're horrible, Haven. I..." Her mother was shaking, crying in her arms, and Haven let out a breath and rubbed her back in soothing circles.
"It's okay," she said softly. "We're going to get all of you out of here."
Her mother looked at her with a frown on her face. "Who's we?" she wanted to know.
"I brought back up," Haven replied, smiling slightly. "You'll see. For now, we need to get out of here. The police are out front, with the EMTs for anyone who's hurt."
"How are we getting out?" someone in the crowd asked.
"We need a plan," Haven said. Luckily, that was where she excelled. Together with the knowledge she had and what the others told her, they narrowed down the places where the Alva might be. Lurking and wa
iting didn't seem like their strong point, so Haven didn't believe that they would be waiting to lay a trap or something. They just seemed like they were there to cause as much chaos as they could. The side and back exits seemed to be a good bet, and when they heard a crash from below, Haven spared a thought to hope Kallel was as good as he said he was.
She looked around for the woman she'd come in with, hoping she was alright, and smiled when she saw her in the arms of a man a few steps down. Good for them.
"Okay," she said loudly. "Everyone clear?"
There were nods and murmurs of assent from the gathered throng, and Haven let out another slow breath. She hadn't meant to come be in charge of this. All she'd wanted was to get her mother out, but she could hardly just turn around and leave all these people to their fate alone. That wasn't going to happen.
So they moved, forming a line and moving quietly as they crept back out into the hall.
The smaller theaters never had the side exits that led outside. Instead they would have to go out into the hall and then down the stairs to get out. Hopefully no one would be there to ambush them.
Kallel was supposed to be a distraction, but there was no telling how many Alva were in the building. She felt a little bit bad about hoping they would all rush to fight him, but that was his job in the plan, and he'd suggested it, so she didn't feel that bad.
Every time they heard a roar or a crash from the main floor, they all stopped, breathing loud. Someone in the back whimpered softly and was shushed by someone else. Nothing ever came of it, though, and so they moved on.
Eventually, they made it to the door. Luckily it wasn't one of those emergency exit ones that blared an alarm when you opened the door, and she propped it open with her hip, motioning everyone through.
One of the cops noticed the movement and came around, gun raised, but when she saw that it was just the people from inside, she helped usher them to safety. Seeing that Haven seemed to be in charge of this escape, she came over to her. "Nice work," she said. "I think they were too afraid to move before."
"I don't blame them," Haven replied. "What's going on out front?"
"Who are you?" the officer asked, tilting her head.
"I came with the..." she made a vague hand gesture, not sure how to describe Kallel. Saying she'd arrived with the 'alien warrior' seemed a bit much.
But the officer understood anyway, smiling and nodding. "The guy with the spear?" she asked. "Where did he even come from?"
Haven snorted. "Not from around here."
"Ten years ago, no one would have believed there were aliens out there," the officer said. "Now you've got different kinds showing up every year. It's a brave new world. Your friend's okay. He's...well from what we can tell, he's taking on all three of the Alva at the same time. Seems to be holding his own, too."
Haven smiled, impressed. "Apparently that's what he's here to do. On Earth, I mean."
"Well, I'm not turning down the help. After that mess last year some people learned how to fight these things, but we just don't have the size to take them on properly." The officer shook her head quickly. "Do you need medical attention?" she asked. "Or you, ma'am?"
Both Haven and her mother shook their heads, and the officer moved on to speak with the others.
Haven's mother was clinging to her arm, but she looked at her with a frown. "How did you get mixed up with an alien?" she wanted to know.
"It's a long story, Mom," Haven replied. And one she planned on editing before telling her mother.
The police arranged to take people home who needed it, but Haven insisted she was staying. She put her mother in a squad car, told her to go home and that she would see her in the morning, and then went to wait with the rest of the officers who were staying. For some reason it seemed wrong to leave without Kallel.
Well over an hour had passed since they'd arrived, and she was just considering getting worried when the door opened and Kallel ducked through it.
He was on two feet, still armed, but breathing hard, and aside from a gash on his arm, he seemed to be alright. Behind him were the rest of the people from the theater, and when everyone was out, the waiting throng burst into applause.
Kallel looked startled, but he smiled and waved a bit before catching sight of Haven and coming over.
"You got out."
She nodded. "That was the plan, wasn't it?"
"It was. I...after I beat the Alva, I went looking to make sure you weren't trapped or hurt. And to make sure that everyone got out."
"I'm fine," Haven replied smiling a bit. "You were distracting them, so we all got out."
"Your mother?"
"She's fine, too. I sent her home."
"Good," Kallel said.
Haven hesitated and then leaned up and up and up some more to plant a kiss on his cheek. "Thank you," she said. "I couldn't have saved my mother without you."
He looked at her, eyes wide, a flush spreading over his face. "Thank you for your help," he said softly, and then turned to address the officers who were waiting to speak with him.
Chapter Eight: The Way It Works
Word spread quickly among the humans that there was someone there to help them. News of the attack at the theater was everywhere, and of course it had come out that Kal had been the one to help everyone.
Haven had asked not to be named, so they were just saying that it was a warrior from another planet and his human female assistant. It made Kal smile to hear it because that was how they remembered the Randoran Champion and his human female assistant. He was well on his way.
Before they had parted ways for the evening after the attack and rescue mission, Haven had given him her phone number. He'd plugged it into his comm device, knowing it would work at least for sending her messages. She'd been quiet in the car outside of her house for a moment, and then she'd looked at him, blue eyes set.
"I'll help you," she said. "My mom might be dead without your help, and...if you really think there's something I can do to stop this from getting worse, then I'll do it."
To be honest, Kallel was going to need a new plan, but he wasn't going to turn down her offer. Instead he nodded, beaming at her. "Okay," he said. "Thank you."
And then she'd gotten out of the car and gone into her house.
That had been a little over a week ago, and Kal was just now getting a direct line to the queen. It was understandable with how busy she was, and the aide had told him several times that he could just give her the message, but there was too much Kal wanted to say.
He sat on the couch in his living room with his device in hand, waiting for the screen to clear.
When it did, the queen's face was there, looking tired and more lined than it had before he'd left.
"Kallel," she said graciously, inclining her head. "I am told you're rather eager to speak to me."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Kal replied. "I just thought you should know what's been going on here."
She smiled. "Of course. I am eager for your updates."
And so he filled her in, telling her all about the attack on the theater and how he had helped save the humans there. How the human law enforcement knew they needed to aim for the soft midsection of the Alva, but were having a hard time getting close enough to do that. He didn't have an accurate number of how many Alvan stragglers there were, but he was going to get one and start tracking the attacks, seeing if there was some bigger plan at work.
The queen promised him more warriors if he needed them, and told him to keep her informed before disconnecting. Kal sat back on the couch and sighed before picking the device up again and sending Haven a message.
He hadn't expected to be in frequent contact with her, if he was honest. She didn't seem the type to send idle messages, but whenever he sent her one, she replied, and sometimes they would have entire conversations.
He felt warm every time he saw he had a message from her, and when he started to tentatively message her to say good morning or good night every day, he was surprised w
hen she would message him back to say the same. From what he had seen of her, he hadn't expected her to be so friendly, but then, he supposed it was hard to judge a person's character when they were afraid or angry.
Either way, she had agreed to help him. Kal needed a new plan, he knew that now that it had come out that things couldn't go exactly like they had before, but it didn't have to be that different.
They could still save Earth together.
First things first, they needed to figure out what the Alva were planning. The stragglers must have been hiding the year before when the Randoran had come through and killed most of them. They were the ones who had gotten away from their group and had evaded being killed. So that clearly meant they were up to something. They could be planning any number of things from wherever it was they were hiding, and Kallel and Haven needed to figure out a way to get a step ahead of them.
Can we meet? he sent her one morning while he was cleaning up his house.
He knew from talking to her that she had a busy schedule and liked things just so, so he was going to leave the timing in her hands.
About an hour later, there was a response.
When?
Whenever is good for you, he sent back, hoping that was the right thing to say. This was urgent, but rushing her wasn't going to achieve anything but making her angry, more than likely.
Another few minutes passed, and then his device made its cheery 'you have a new notification' sound. Today is fine. After five?
That works for me. I'll see you then.
The following message was a symbol that he didn't understand, but it looked like a hand maybe? With its...thumb up. Kal stared at it for a few moments and frowned, turning it this way and that to try to make sense of it. Humans were odd things, really, and he was just going to put it down as being something he wasn't meant to understand.
There was plenty for him to do before five anyway.
"It's going well, then?"
Kal smiled at the image of his mother and brother, both sitting in their home back on Horu. When he looked at their faces, his heart ached with missing them, but not in a way that made him eager to return home. There were still things left to do.
