Secrets Beyond the Moon: Strangers from the sky

by NB Blackbell

  Jasper asked, "Are the hotel lights on?" Billy observed closely. "No, Just the porch light." Jasper frowned, "Damn it. I got excited for a second." Isabel parked the car and got out, "But why just the porch light?" Jake and the others got out of their car too. "Is that the porch light, Guys? Do we have power?" Isabel glanced at the hotel. "No, It's just the one light on. It's probably a glitch." They headed into the hotel and sat down in the lobby. They talked about what had occurred that day for the next half hour.

  Meanwhile, the hotel flooded with others that were returning from the battle with the aliens. John looked up; I was so worried none of you would hear the horn. The men and women agreed that blowing the horn was a smart thing to do. John stood up on a chair and peered over at the crowd. "This war isn't over yet. We had some safety measures we were worried about and thought it best we proceed tomorrow. Perhaps tomorrow will be easier since we have already experienced it." The crowd agreed. John continued, "I'm sorry for any loses we've had today, and I know there have been a few. We knew before going into this that none of it was going to be easy. Once again, tomorrow, we'll face this situation head-on. Get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow morning we'll meet in the lobby and head out there again. Possibly this time, we will be successful." A tiny voice yelled from the crowd, "Any dead alien is a sign of success!" John nodded. "You're right."

  Everyone began to head off to their rooms. Finally, the hotel became quiet once again. Isabel was feeling a little concerned about her daughter, "I need to go tuck in Christie." She headed up the stairs with Jake shortly behind her. Jasper looked at John. "I wasn't sure we would make it back to the hotel tonight. I'm glad you guys made it." She smiled at Faith as she took Nick's hand and headed up the stairs. Billy nodded and headed off to bed too. "See you tomorrow." John looked at his wife and took a deep breath. "Man, you terrified me today." Faith nodded. "I scared myself too." He looked at her, "I'm serious. I thought I lost you, I don't ever want to experience that again. Tomorrow, you can stay here. I'm not willing to take that chance." Faith stared at him, crossly. "Don't you tell me what to do. I'm out there with you, or you're not out there."

  John growled under his breath, "Damn it, Woman." He grabbed her hand and headed up the stairs. "I just don't want to lose you." She smiled at him, "I don't want to lose you either. That's why I'm going with you, we'll keep each other safe." Just as they entered their room, a bright flash of light came through their window. The hotel lit up like a lightbulb. John pushed Faith down next to the bed and covered her head. "What is it, John? What's happening?" John whispered to her, "I don't know what's going on."

  The bright light slowly disappeared. John peered over the bed, then got up and headed towards the window. Nothing else appeared to be affected by the bright flash. He turned to Faith, "I don't know what that was, but it seems to be gone now." He walked over to the door and looked out into the hall. Jake was peering out his door too. Jake yelled, "I don't know what that was, but it seems to be gone now." John nodded, "Yeah. I don't see anything either." He shut his door and headed back into the room. He sat down in the chair and sighed. "Faith, I'm so tired. Let this be the end of the night. We need to get some sleep and be fresh in the morning so we can finish kicking the rest of the aliens' asses back to where they came from." Faith smiled. "Sounds good."

  Chapter Eighteen

  Buddy jumped up on the bed and began to lick Jasper's face. She laughed as his tongue tickled her. Jasper opened her eyes slowly, then quickly squinted her eyes. What the hell? She thought as she sat up and peered over at the window. The green fog was gone. Her eyes widened as she looked at the light rolling in across her floor and onto her bed. "Isabel, wake up," urged Jasper as she jumped onto Isabel's bed. Isabel's eyes opened, and so did Christie's. Isabel was just about to scold Jasper for waking her up in such an abrupt manner until her eyes were drawn towards the window. Isabel jumped up and ran towards it. "Jasper, do you know what this means?" Jasper and Christie both ran over to the window. Isabel continued, "We're home. We have sunshine, and the fog is gone. That ugly green fog is history."Christie peered out the window and noted, "I've never seen sunshine before." Jasper smiled at the little girl. "Buddy loves it. He loves to go for walks through the park and have the sun beat down on him." The three girls got ready and headed out into the hall.

  They could hear the rise of chatter fill the hall. Jasper ran down the stairs with Buddy on her heels. She looked out the front doors of the hotel, "Is this for real?" Nick ran up behind her. "I don't know what's going on, but this is definitely a good sign. Don't you think?" He swung open the door and walked outside to look around. "We need someone to test and see if the gas is gone." Faith ran out after them. She looked around and breathed in the air. "We're home," she said. "The air is fine, I feel great." People started to pour out of the hotel and out into the parking lot. They cheered, "The war is over!" John walked behind them and looked around in disbelief. He peered over at Billy, "This was too easy." Billy nodded in agreement and added, "Though it does look as if we have our world back."

  Isabel grabbed the cat and Christie. "Do you want me to take Buddy back to the house with me? That way, you can look around and see if everything is okay?" Jasper passed Buddy over to her. "Yeah, I'm sure it is, but I wouldn't mind looking around and making sure." Isabel smiled as she walked away. Christie was laughing and playing with Buddy all the way to the car. Jasper looked at Nick. "If this is home, what happened to all the alien bodies, and where are all the slaves?" They trudged down the sidewalk for a bit and looked around. The buildings were all there as if their world had never left. People gazed out their windows as if nothing had ever happened, smiling as they tucked their heads back in. Jasper gazed at Nick. "It's like nothing happened to them." Jake pulled up in a car. "Get in, you two." They jumped into the car and drove down the road. Jake drove slowly as they passed massive groups of people.

  "They look confused," said Jasper. Jake pulled over. Jasper got out for a moment. "Are you all right?" she asked. A lady walked over to her and inquired, "What happened? How did I get out here?" Jasper looked at the woman. "You don't remember?" She shook her head, no. Jasper took a deep breath. "What's the last thing you can recall?" She looked at Jasper. "I was watching my favourite television show, but I don't remember leaving my house." Jasper smiled at the woman. "I'm sure everything will be all right. Why don't you go home and finish your show?" Jasper turned and got back in the car. "They have no idea what has happened, It's like they never left. Perhaps, they've been affected by some sort of memory wipe." They sat for a moment and looked around. Hundreds of people wandered, looking confused.

  Jake finally drove off, "We'll know more in a bit." He drove until they arrived at where they battled the aliens the night before, "Let's look around." The group got out and began to study the area. People were everywhere, they stood gazing around like they were clueless. Groups of men from the army flew through the crowd. They tried to calm the people and directed them towards their homes. "Go home, people. Someone will come to check on you later this evening." A man in an army suit approached Jake. "Do you know what happened here?" Jake glanced at Jasper, then back at the man. "Not really, but I do know something serious happened. Do you guys know what happened?" The man shook his head. "No, I wish. This has been quite confusing. No one knows what happened." Jake stared at the man and said, "Tell me what you saw." The man peered around, then back at Jake and whispered, "All of North America and Mexico were gone. Not a soul was here; then, poof! You all showed up again. One week not a word from anyone, now, suddenly, I'm surrounded by everyone. Where did you all go?" Jake whispered back. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." He reached into his pocket and found a card with his number on it. "Take this. When you find out more, let me know, and I'll do the same for you." The man patted Jake on the back, "Sure thing."

  The guy walked away and continued leading people back to their homes. Jasper looked over. "Jesse, is that you?" A young man, around thirteen years of age, ran over towards her. "W
here's Isabel!" he yelled. Jasper reached over and grabbed ahold of him. "Are you okay?" He nodded, "I'm perplexed. I was camping one day and then all of a sudden I found myself here. How did I get here?" Jasper pointed to the car, "You go sit in the car. I'll take you home in a bit to Isabel and Nookers." Jesse walked over to the car smiling to himself. Nick stood there, staring. Jasper peered over to see what he was staring at.

  A crowd of women walked by, each one either pregnant or holding a child. "Holy crap!" said Jasper. "I've never seen so many pregnant women before in my whole life." She looked to see what was behind the women. Children appeared everywhere. She ran over towards them and asked, "Are you guys all right?" The children danced and twirled in the street, Jasper smiled. She knew they were reacting to the sun. "Hi, I'm Jasper." Some kids froze and looked at her. "You're like us," said one of the girls. Jasper smiled, "Yes. I'm like you. Where are your mothers?" The little girl looked over at her. "My mom isn't here right now; I'm looking for her."

  Jasper gazed at her. "Do you want me to help you find her?" The little girl smiled at her, "Yes, please." Jasper knew the kids were all half-aliens. 'How could she keep them safe?' she thought to herself. "Okay, well, you come with me, and we will see what we can do." A group of men wearing army gear started to gather up the children. Jasper ran over and asked them, "Where are you taking the children?" One man peered over at her and responded, "Back to the base until someone comes to claim them. This whole situation is crazy, these poor kids out here without their parents. It's our job to keep them safe, or at least try too." He smiled as he continued, Jasper looked down at the little girl. "Can you let them all know that they should not tell those men they are half-aliens?" The little girl nodded. Jasper continued, "Tell them someone will come to claim them and find them a home." Jasper walked over to Nick. "We need to get a hold of the group and find someone to claim these kids." Nick agreed. They got back into the car and headed next to Jasper's house.

  They pulled into the driveway. Jasper sat frozen. "I never thought I'd see this house again." She leaned back in the car seat, "What If all of this is a dream?" Nick glanced over at her. "There's no way we're all having the same dream. The one thing that worries me, though, is that somehow, they have created our world to trick us. I'd like to believe that's not the case, but I can't help but feel it's not over." Jasper looked over at him. "I feel that way too. I don't want to tell everyone else though and ruin this for them." She continued to look at him as if waiting for his consent. He nodded. "All right, as long as we're paying attention to everything around us, we'll stay quiet" The two smiled and got out of the car. Isabel, who was standing at the front door, motioned for them to hurry. Jasper rushed up the steps and into the house. Nookers was running across the floor, playing with a tiny kitten. "Where did he come from?" Jasper asked as she glanced up at Isabel. "I don't know," she replied. "He was just here when I got home, and the three of them have been playing ever since." Jasper ran up the stairs and into the living room. She flopped down onto the couch. "Isabel, has anyone called?" Isabel peeked around the corner from the kitchen, "Actually, yes. Faith did."

  Jasper motioned for her to come here. Isabel looked over at the young girl as she sat with Jesse playing with the animals. "She's just one of many half-alien children out there, none of them have a home. I told her to let them know not to say they were half-alien, but all of them are sitting on the base, waiting for someone to claim them. I promised her I would help her find her mom. I don't even know how I'll do that." Jake sat on the couch. He pulled out his phone. "I'm so glad this works again. The only problem is what do I say to everyone, Hey, there. How was your alien experience? How do we know who remembers what? I don't want to send anyone to the hospital with a heart attack over all of this." Billy came out of the kitchen, eating a sandwich. Jasper laughed. "Save us some too." Billy smiled at the group as he found a place to sit. "So, where did all the bodies go? Even Larzo's, Marcy's and Mark's bodies are gone, there's no evidence of them dying. That doesn't make any sense, does it?" Jake sneered at the thought, "I don't know. Who knows if any of this will ever make sense. I'm exhausted at the thought of it not being over." Jasper got up and walked out to the patio, Nick followed her. They sat quietly hand in hand, watching the main street. "The army has no clue what's going on, do they? What did that guy mean by one week? We were gone a lot longer than that, weren't we?" Nick gazed around at the city, "For sure, a lot longer than a week. The guy said North America and Mexico were missing, if they weren't affected by this, then what happened to the army jets they sent elsewhere to make sure they had devices? We haven't heard back from anyone since we last spoke before the war. Shouldn't we contact them and find out what's going on?" Jasper pulled her phone out of her pocket. "Needs to be charged, but once it is, we can get ahold of people and find out more." Isabel yelled for the others to come into the living room.

  "Look! On television, they're talking about what happened." The lady on the news continued to speak.

  Good afternoon folks. We're here with more information on the silence of North America and Mexico. This morning, the countries woke up; where were you all? What's with all the secrets? There are rumours that no one really knows what happened, that folks from these countries are in the dark about what really happened. Then other people believe aliens abducted them and then sent them back. Where would we be without the old alien tales?

  The lady laughed and proceeded on with the news. Isabel turned down the volume. "They have no clue what happened, do they? If we even talk about it, we'll be the crazy ones." Isabel rushed off into the kitchen. Jake sighed, "She's right." He got up and went to find Isabel. Billy plugged his phone in next to Jasper's. "If I get this up and running, I can do some checking to see how everyone is. It doesn't feel right us being all apart, like just because the sun is shining, we separate." Nick agreed, "Just keep your eyes open, Billy. We can't interfere with others going home. They're entitled to live their lives, just as we are. I think the problem is it felt too easy, and it all feels just a little too peculiar. The humans will adjust a lot easier. Now that we know we're half-aliens, our lives will never be the same. That might be our problem. Maybe it's because we know now that our life was a lie."

  "Jake seems okay, though," said Jasper. Nick gazed over at her and smiled. "That's good that he does, but he might just be in denial that life won't be the same."

  Jasper's phone began to ring, "Must be charged enough to receive calls." She pressed the speakerphone,

  "Hello?"

  "Jasper, it's John. I wanted to check on you guys, are you all okay?"

  She smiled when she heard his voice. "I was thinking the same, I was so worried about you and Faith. How is she?"

  He was quiet for a second but then continued. "She's sound asleep on the couch. Do you have any idea what's going on with the army surrounding the city?"

  Jasper took a deep breath, "Yup. Apparently, both North America and Mexico disappeared. I mean, all the people, of course, but the guy told us it was only a week we were all gone."

  John laughed, "A week? I don't think so, do they know what happened to us?" She leaned back in the chair and got comfortable. "Nope, they have no clue. Does everyone in the group remember?" John got quiet. "Now that I think about it, just the ones wearing masks. Anyone that wasn't wearing one seemed confused, I sent them home."

  Nick jumped into the conversation, "They have numerous half-alien kids down at the army base. They said they'll hold them there until someone claims them, someone needs to claim them right away. We can't leave them there homeless and without a family."

  John raised his voice, "But they're aliens!"

  Nick quieted him quickly. "We're half-aliens too, does that make us bad?"

  John paused. "No, you guys are my family. You're right; they're just kids. This situation is just so hard. Now we all have to deal with huge changes. Okay, so I'm on my way over after I make some phone calls, and we'll get those kids claimed right away."

  Jasper turned
the phone off. "It's going to be hard to be accepted after all of this happening. I don't think we should tell anyone about us being half-alien. If it took John a second to grasp his thoughts about half-aliens, imagine what people unfamiliar with us will do."

  About an hour later, John and Faith showed up at the house. Behind them were a dozen cars. Faith ran into the house. "John is waiting for anyone going to the base." Faith leaned against the wall and took her shoes off and headed up to the kitchen. Nick and Billy ran past Jasper, "Be back later." Jasper gave them both a quick smile. She was proud that Nick was going to go save some children.

  The little girl walked up to Jasper and said, "That was her." Jasper crouched next to the little girl and puzzled, asked, "Who was her?" She clutched Jasper's hand and peered into the kitchen.,”That's my mommy." Jasper felt taken back. "That can't be your mommy. That's Faith, she doesn't have any children, but you can talk to her if you like." They walked into the kitchen. Faith turned and smiled at the child. She paused, and her mouth fell open. The little girl looked up at Charlie, "See. I told you that was my mommy." Faith started to cry, "You're real?" The little girl ran up to her and wrapped her arms around her. "I thought I'd never see you again." Faith looked at her, "When did I last see you?" She looked up at her, "When I was born." Faith sat down at the table. "I thought I imagined you." She looked the little girl in the face. "You're my daughter." She gazed over at Jasper., "I have a daughter." The little girl looked at her and said, "My name is Sophie. I'm going to go play with Buddy. Thanks, Jasper, for helping me find my mommy." Faith looked over at Jasper.