by Emmy Oakes
*
Alexia Sian walked through the front door and glanced briefly at the cow before walking into the living room where Ronda and Ava were waiting. They stood up as she entered the lounge. “How did it go?” Ava asked.
“Did he look scary?” Ronda said bluntly.
Alexia frowned and said, “it went fine.” She dropped down on the couch and wondered what was taking Lacier so long. She picked up the remote control that was sitting next to her and turned on the television.
A bright eyed reported with even brighter red hair stared at her from inside the television and was talking rapidly. “Chaos has reared its ugly head once again today as more reports of zombie like behavior have been reported in six more countries. The mayhem is now local with our hospitals being overrun with affected people. Doctors have no treatment and are not able to rouse the victims from their lifeless state although they do mention that while they are psychically health, they are mentally unresponsive. They still do not know what is causing this phenomenon. I’m Rebecca Myers. More from me later.”
The news report ended and was followed by an annoying infomercial with a skinny blond trying to convince Alexia to buy her exercise machine. Alexia switched off the television and turned to her friends.
“Did you guys know any of this was happening?” It was the first Alexia had heard. No wonder the hospital was so busy.
“I don’t watch much TV,” Ava said, her mouth open.
“What could be causing something like that?” Ronda said.
Alexia felt nauseous. She knew what it was. Her pale face turned whiter than usual.
Ava picked up on Alexia’s fear. “Alex, what is it?”
“Oh no,” Ronda said as though the seriousness of the situation was only just dawning on her. “It’s something bad…”
Alexia nodded slowly and opened her mouth to talk but didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to panic her friends. Besides she couldn’t be sure if Temorvick was attacking Earth. Shouldn’t there be a Sian guardian stopping him?
“Alex talk to us!” Ronda’s voice was shaky. Tears were forming in her wide eyes.
Alexia felt helpless. She desperately wanted to talk to Lacier but didn’t know how to contact her or how to travel to Siania. She hadn’t gotten that far with her training yet. She looked at Ronda and Ava. They were silently staring at her, the panic in their eyes evident.
“Alex, what’s going on? Tell us,” Ava pleaded, cupping her hands together.
“I don’t know,” she finally said. “It could be a random disease or something.” Alexia knew she was lying but couldn’t tell them about Temorvick.
There was a loud, moan erupting from the hall way. The cow was mooing loudly as if to highlight the fact that Alexia was lying. Alexia felt bad for lying to her friends but she really didn’t want to scare them.
“Alex, what’s going on? Do we have to hide or…” Ronda stood up and walked to the window. She turned back to Alexia. “Are we safe with you? Or are we in more danger?” Her words seemed to wake Alexia up out of a drowsy sleep. Ava stared at her with smoldering eyes.
“You’re safe with me. In fact, I recommend you stay here.” Alexia stood up and started to rush around the room, closing curtains and making sure the windows were locked.
“Alex, you’re scaring me,” Ronda said.
“It’s okay. It honestly could be nothing.” Could be nothing, Alexia thought, trying to convince herself. Suddenly she was pining for Cynthia and hoped that she was okay.
