The Watchers

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  Return of the Aliens

  Novella 2

  The Watchers

  Ruth Ann Nordin

  Ruth Ann Nordin’s Books

  Springfield, Nebraska

  The Watchers - Smashwords Edition

  Published by Ruth Ann Nordin at Smashwords

  Copyright © 2010 by Ruth Ann Nordin

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover Photo images Getty Images LLC. www.photos.com All rights reserved – used with permission.

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold. If you would like to share this book with another person, please do. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Ruth Ann Nordin Books

  http://www.ruthannnordin.com

  Dedicated to my long-time good friend, Melanie Nilles, whose love of science fiction has inspired me to consider writing my own science fiction tale.

  Return of the Aliens (series)

  Novella 1: The Vanishing

  Novella 2: The Watchers

  Novella 3: The Leader

  and more to come

  Chapter One

  Five Months after “The Vanishing”

  Screams echoed through the corridor as the elevator door opened. Vanessa Hayden glanced at Devon Patrick. “What’s going on down here?” she whispered.

  He didn’t bother looking at her. Instead, he simply said, “The less you know, the better.” and walked forward. He expected his co-worker to follow him and she did. Stopping in front of the security guard who stood before a set of double doors, he held up his badge.

  Despite the trepidation on Vanessa’s face, she followed suit.

  The guard nodded and opened one of the doors, keeping his gun in his other hand. Devon refused to make eye contact with him. The guards were well trained, and if one wasn’t careful, secrets could come to light. And that’s the last thing Devon wanted.

  The hallway was dimly lit, making him all too aware that he was a good mile underground—in the bowels of the Earth. Closed doors ran the length of the corridor, except for one, and that’s the one he was instructed to take her to. He steeled himself against what he was about to do. There was no room for weakness. They were watching. His gaze darted to the camera in the corner of the hall. The thing was small, but since he’d been there before, he knew where to find it. He stopped in front of the open door and motioned to it.

  Vanessa peered into the room lit by a blue light and stepped back.

  That was when he looked at her.

  There was no denying the fear in her eyes or the slight trembling of her body.

  “If you don’t do it, they’ll kill you,” he whispered, knowing full well they could hear everything he said.

  “But I didn’t sign up for this,” she softly replied, her voice wavering.

  “There are many things you didn’t sign up for, but it’s your job.”

  A man screamed from behind one of the closed doors and she jerked.

  Closing the gap between them, he spoke at a volume he knew they wouldn’t hear. “You won’t remember a thing.”

  Her eyes grew wide and she shook her head.

  “We’re ready, Ms. Hayden.”

  He gently took her by the arm and led her to the alien who looked just like a human woman. The only reason he knew her true identity was because she revealed it to him...except he wasn’t supposed to remember that. As long as Vanessa complied, she would live through it.

  “You’ll be out before you know it,” the beautiful blond said with a smile. “This is an ordinary procedure.”

  As soon as Vanessa made eye contact with the alien, Devon saw her relax. There. Her resistance had been willed aside. Now she would do whatever she was told.

  “You may come back for her in two hours, after your procedure,” the alien instructed him.

  “Yes.”

  He said it because he was expected to. He always said...and did...whatever he was expected to. It was part of the game. He waited until Vanessa went into the room and the alien closed the door before he turned around to walk back to the double doors. By the time the guard on the other side opened the door for him, he heard Vanessa scream. Bracing himself, he forced his expression to remain neutral as he passed the guard and returned to the elevator.

  He pressed the button that would take him further down. No matter how many times he’d been here, the screams shook him to the core. He could never get used to this. But he knew the consequences if he didn’t play along, and he wasn’t willing to die for anything or anyone.

  The doors to the elevator opened and he stepped out, ready for what awaited him.

  ***

  Alex Cameron twisted in his sheets. He could feel them hovering over him, inspecting him. Flashes of the incident when he went to Area 51 came in his nightmares—night after night. His mind was slowly putting the pieces of the puzzle together. He didn’t remember what happened when he woke up in that cold room in a hospital bed. Everything had been blank. All he remembered was running up a deep hole in the ground and being chased by security guards that tried to shoot him and Autumn.

  But three months after that night, he began having the dreams. Only, they weren’t dreams. Not really. At first, he thought they were, but a month after they started, he realized they were glimpses of that night. His memory was slowly returning.

  Though they never moved their mouths, he heard their thoughts.

  “A fine specimen,” one of the gray aliens thought to the other three around it.

  The one on his right inserted a needle into his arm.

  He tried to move but he was frozen in place, as if an invisible hand pressed down on him and kept him still. He struggled to breathe, but the invisible hand clenched his lungs. Acute pain traveled in his vein and up his arm.

  Then he woke up.

  Gasping, Alex threw his sheets off and stumbled to the bathroom in his apartment. He flipped on the switch and squinted in the bright light. With trembling hands, he grabbed the bottle of pills from his medicine cabinet and quickly opened the lid. The cabinet closed as he turned on the faucet to fill up the paper cup with water. He turned it off and plopped the pill into his mouth.

  As soon as he glanced in the mirror on the cabinet door, he wished he hadn’t. It was back...watching him. The gray alien stood behind him, silent and not moving. It just watched him like it did every night ever since his fiancé and millions of others disappeared. And ever since the aliens announced to the world that they existed. Peace and prosperity they promised the world. But this one promised him terrors—and fulfilled that promise every night. At least, it did until he saw a psychiatrist and got the pills.

  Taking his eyes off his unwelcome companion, he gulped the water down and closed his eyes. He put his face in his hands and willed the frantic pounding in his heart to slow. Is this how it would always be? Would the monstrosity in alien form continue to haunt him? It fed off his fear. It craved it. It thrived off of it. It was a parasite.

  But that’s where the pills came in. Once the pill began to work its magic, the fear ebbed from him until his mind cleared. His body relaxed and he exhaled. Opening his eyes, he looked at the mirror. The alien was gone. Relieved, he left the bathroom, decided to leave the li
ght on, and went back to bed.

  On the nightstand was Marianne’s picture. Five months had passed since she vanished, and though he’d searched for her, she was nowhere to be found. Neither were any of the other millions of people who also vanished. She was gone. And she wasn’t coming back. He caressed the frame with his thumb. They were supposed to marry four and a half months ago. If they had, she’d be with him in bed at night. Then he’d have her right by him instead of that alien who stood by his bed watching him. Watching. Always watching. And occasionally giving him thoughts to increase his fears. But that ability to plant those thoughts departed when he started taking those pills. So now, it just watched. And waited. What is it waiting for? He hoped he’d never find out because whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.

  With a long sigh, he decided it was time to let Marianne go. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life holding onto the hope those people would return. Whatever world those aliens sent them to, they were long gone. While the medicine’s numbing effect still worked on his body, he threw the picture in the trashcan beside his nightstand and settled back into bed.

  Chapter Two

  Autumn Daniels stared at the cross necklace in her hand. Whenever she had it with her, she felt close to Marianne, which was why she carried it everywhere she went. In the light, it almost seemed to glow.

  “Nice necklace,” Alicia said as she went behind the counter.

  Autumn looked over at her co-worker and smiled. “It was my sister’s. She never took it off.” She slipped the necklace into her pocket and cleared her throat. “So, what’s on sale today?”

  “Summer clothes. Anything with short sleeves is 30% off.”

  “Welcome to September,” she murmured. “I suppose shorts are on that list?”

  “Right, but those are 25%.”

  “Do we get an employee discount?”

  Alicia rolled her eyes. “2%.”

  “Are you kidding?” Autumn asked, studying her friend’s face.

  “Hampton hates the fact that there’s a sale at all.”

  “Aren’t we lucky to be stuck with him for a boss?”

  “Oh yeah. We’re the envy of the retail industry.”

  Autumn laughed, her mood growing lighter. “Yay for us.”

  Hampton left the employee lounge and headed their way.

  “Time to look busy,” Alicia whispered before she darted off for the corner of the store so she could refold the jeans lining the shelves.

  Autumn hid her amusement and worked on typing the sales’ prices into the computer.

  Unfortunately, he veered in Autumn’s direction.

  She inwardly groaned. Work would be much better if she didn’t have to interact with him. She avoided eye contact as long as she could, but as soon as he stood right in front of her and cleared his throat, she knew she had to look at him.

  “Tell Alicia that the mall will stay open regardless of what’s happening in the Middle East,” he said in his usual grim manner.

  “Aren’t the aliens here to stop us from World War III?”

  “This isn’t funny, Miss Daniels.”

  “It’s not supposed to be,” she replied. Seriously, Hampton wouldn’t know a joke if his life depended on it. “I’m just saying that was what one of them said on the news last night.”

  “Yeah...well...they also claim to be the gods from mythology.”

  She blinked in surprise. Did he suspect the truth? It seemed that she was surrounded by people who mindlessly accepted everything the aliens said. Well, except for Alex. But she had only seen him twice since they went to Nevada.

  “Anyway, what happens in the Middle East doesn’t affect us here in Bismarck. Okay?”

  She gave a slight nod and watched him as he walked off.

  As soon as he was out of viewing range, Alicia hurried back over. “What did he want?”

  “Just to tell us that we have to keep working if Iran decides to attack Israel.”

  Alicia shook her head. “If it does, then the aliens will have to intervene.”

  “So they warn us,” Autumn stated. She couldn’t understand why demons would want to save people...if in fact she saw what she thought she saw at Area 51. The event might have happened back in May, but she could still see the alien transform into a monster. And that monster had to be a demon, right? If an angel protected her and Alex, then angels existed. If angels were real, weren’t demons real too? She rubbed her forehead. Great. Another headache was coming on. It seemed to her that she continually got headaches. Picking up her purse, she asked, “Do you mind if I take a break?”

  “Go for it, girl. You need one after dealing with Hampton.”

  Autumn eagerly left the store and stepped outside. The air was slightly cool, but the leaves hadn’t changed color yet. Fall would come soon. Despite the disappearance of her sister and millions of people, the seasons still came and went. Life went on like usual. And the people around her seemed oblivious to the fact that things weren’t as “normal” as they appeared. Aliens made contact with them. Sure, they weren’t the aliens portrayed in the movies, but they were still aliens. Shouldn’t more people be reacting to this? Millions of people vanished. Shouldn’t there be more than a few groups forming to discuss this? Shouldn’t the media be investigating it?

  She took out a cigarette and lit it up. She’d given up on trying to quit. What was the point? They’d all probably be dead soon anyway. What is going on? Why are people going about their lives like a bunch of robots? And why wasn’t she affected?

  Shaking her head, she sat on the bench by the trashcan and scanned the parking lot. She straightened up when she saw Alex getting out of his car. She stood up and put out her cigarette before she threw it out. As she made her way across the pedestrian crosswalk, he reached her.

  “Hey, Autumn,” he greeted with a smile.

  “Hi. How are you doing?”

  “Fine.”

  She turned so they could walk back toward the mall. “Did you come to do some shopping?”

  “No. Actually, I came to talk to you.”

  “What about?”

  He motioned to the bench, so she sat down. When he joined her, he pulled out a letter from his pocket and handed it to her. “It’s from Marianne. She wrote me while she was finishing up her law degree. Usually, she sent emails, but this time, she chose snail mail. The storm three months ago wiped out my emails, so this is all I had left. She wrote about you and how you were the best sister in the world. I thought you might like to have it.” He took a deep breath and stared at the ground in front of him. “I don’t think she’s coming back.”

  “I expect you to move on, Alex,” she softly said as she turned the letter over in her hands. Marianne’s familiar script graced the envelope. It was dated almost a year ago. Not a day went by where Autumn didn’t miss her sister.

  “You’re not mad at me?” he asked, looking in her direction.

  “Why would I be?”

  He shrugged and let out a low sigh. “I thought you might feel like I betrayed her.”

  “I don’t feel that way. It’s different for you and me. No matter what, she’ll always be my sister. You were going to be her husband, but as soon as she vanished, that pretty much put an end to that plan. The angel just told me she was safe. He didn’t say she was returning. I don’t know if we’ll ever see those people that disappeared. But I don’t want you to waste time missing her. I’m grateful that you loved her, and she loved you too.”

  He nodded.

  She realized this was hard for him. The decision hadn’t been an easy one. “It’s okay, Alex. I’d do the same thing if the roles were reversed.”

  He relaxed. “Have you seen the angel again?”

  “Not since that night we went down to Area 51. How have you been doing? Has the prescription from the psychiatrist helped?”

  “Yes. It’s helped a lot, actually. I see the alien once in awhile, but when I take the pill, it goes away. I think Dr. Reyes is right. It’s all in my head.
”

  Maybe. She wasn’t so sure. She knew what she saw when they were leaving that underground facility, and she knew she didn’t imagine what terrified Alex. But she feared that telling him that would only increase his anxiety, which was the last thing he needed. So she chose to keep quiet.

  “There is something that still bothers me.”

  She slipped the letter into her pocket and studied him, noting the way he seemed hesitant to continue. “What is it?”

  “With everything that’s happened, someone should be questioning it. Don’t you think people are acting strange?”

  “They’re acting as if nothing happened.”

  “Exactly. There should be more of a response. It’s like no one cares. When I was growing up, I thought if aliens came to this planet, there would be a worldwide panic. At the very least, there ought to be reporters questioning what’s going on. But all I hear is how wonderful things are now that they’re here and that they’re going to lead us to a new dawn of humanity.”

  “Everyone’s too accepting of it,” she agreed. “I don’t know why everyone seems to be...oblivious to it.”

  Alex leaned back on the bench and rubbed the palms of his hands on his jeans. “I wonder if we could find out why.”

  “You really think that’s possible?”

  “In the past five months, everything’s become possible.”

  She couldn’t argue with him on that point. Her entire world had changed. On the surface, when she watched people going about their daily lives, it was easy to think things were alright. But she suspected it was all a ruse. A ruse for what though? To lull people into a false sense of security? Did the demons posing as aliens have something planned but they needed people to be ‘asleep’ until the time was right to act? Was everyone going to wake up one morning and find out the truth? She shifted uneasily.