Vanish (22 page)

Soon.

The word came less from the creature’s mouth than from its head. Conner jerked backward, unsure of whether he had
heard
the voice or merely
thought
it.

With a deep, gargled hiss, the creature slipped down one of the side aisles and disappeared from view. Conner’s breath came in tight gasps, pupils dilated, heart racing. For a moment he stood there. Frozen.

Then he sprinted for the doors.

MITCH WATCHED THE LAST drops of gas trickle from the green Chevy Blazer into his gas can. It looked like the last vehicle on the block. They had been on a lucky streak for the final few houses. Each one had a vehicle nearly full of gas. By Mitch’s estimate, they had gotten an additional seventy-five gallons.

He handed the gas can up to Howard, who poured it into the milk tank.

“That oughta keep us running for a couple weeks,” Howard said. “Maybe next time, we can load up one of my generators and bring it along. They’re too heavy for me to get on the trailer by myself. Then we’ll see if we can’t get those gas station pumps working. That’d save a lot of time.”

Next time?

Mitch bristled at the thought. How long did this guy think they were planning on staying? He was certainly thankful Howard had come along when he did and saved their lives. He was also glad for the good night’s rest and food. But he didn’t have any intention of
staying
for very long. Not if they wanted to find answers.

Sure, Howard had built up a nice little compound. He seemed to know how to keep himself safe. But Mitch didn’t want to simply stay safe. He wanted to fight.

If Howard’s theory was true and Earth had been invaded, they needed to fight back. Find the aliens’ weakness and exploit it. Their original plan was to head east. To Washington. There was no reason they shouldn’t stick with it.

Howard poured the last of the gasoline and climbed down. Wiping his forehead with a handkerchief, he frowned and nodded up the street.

“Looks like there’s one more house up there. Let’s go see if they want to donate.”

Mitch groaned and rolled his eyes.

Howard shrugged. “Just one more house.”

Mitch grabbed the pump and gas can and headed up the street. It was a small house. A shack really. Dingy and unkempt. Paint peeled from the weathered clapboards, and the roof had a slight bow to it.

Mitch trudged around to the garage in the back. It was in even worse shape than the house. The side door was locked, so Mitch plowed his shoulder into it. The rotted jamb gave way and Mitch tumbled inside.

A Dodge van nearly filled the entire space. There was little more than a few feet on either side, so Mitch squeezed around the back in search of the latch for the overhead door. He turned it but couldn’t get the main door to open. It was jammed somehow, and it was too dark for Mitch to see what was causing the problem. Muttering to himself, he opened the gas cap and fed the hose down into the tank.

A gust of wind rattled the rafters and blew the side door shut, cutting off his light. Darkness fell around him like a cloak. And in the darkness, Mitch heard something. A soft rustle. Not wind, but movement. A chill crawled down his spine. He wasn’t alone. A dark figure stood at the back of the van.

Mitch fumbled for his flashlight and flicked it on.

The beam fell on a woman’s face. Thin and pale. Wide brown eyes stared at him. Straight dark hair fell down past sharp cheekbones to her shoulders.

Mitch’s eyes widened, and his breath caught in his throat. “
Linda
?”

Linda stared at him. “Mitch? Are you all right?”

Mitch backed away. The light trembled in his hand.

Linda tilted her head, her eyes showing concern. “I was worried about you.”

“Who are you?”

Linda blinked. “Don’t you recognize me now?”

Mitch shook his head. “You’re not real. You’re one of them.”

“No, I’m not. Mitch, it’s me.”

She took a step toward him. Mitch fell back, against the wall. His hand fumbled for his gun and drew it out. “Just stay away from me.”

Linda glanced at the gun then back at Mitch. “You’d
shoot
me?”

“Just stay away!”

“Mitch, you don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to fear them.”

Mitch brought the gun up. His teeth clenched. “What are you? Why are you doing this to me?”

Linda held out her hand. “Please don’t be afraid of me. I love you, Mitch.”

Mitch’s hand trembled. “I love you, too, baby. More than anything.”

“Then come with me.”

“No. Not until I get some answers!”

“You’ll find the answers, Mitch. They don’t want to hurt you. You’ll find the answers to everything.”

Mitch shook his head. “What’s happening? Why are they here?”

“They want to live in peace. They just want to coexist.”

“
Coexist
? They don’t want to coexist. They invaded our planet. They’re trying to destroy us!”

“They didn’t invade our world, Mitch.
We
invaded
theirs
. They were around long before we got here. They’re just trying to survive. Don’t you get it?”

Mitch stared at her. His head spun. “How… ?”

“They’re old, Mitch. They have so much knowledge.”

Mitch blinked. Old? How long had these creatures been on the planet? Millions of years? Had they evolved even before humans? “Why haven’t they contacted us before? Why haven’t we seen them before now?”

“There wasn’t a need before now. We weren’t a danger to them before. Now our technology has made us a threat. We’re destroying their world. Destroying
our
world. Polluting it. Using up its resources. Creating weapons that could destroy all life on the planet. They didn’t want to intervene, but they
had
to. To save us all.”

Mitch’s gaze fell. Is that what this was all about? Sending a message to mankind? He slowly lowered the gun. “Where is everyone?”

Linda reached out. Her fingers beckoned him. “Just come with me. I’ll show you everything. But you have to trust me.”

Mitch hesitated. His mind reeled with a thousand questions. More than anything, he wanted to find answers. More than anything, he wanted to be with Linda again.

More than anything…

A loud thump drew Mitch from his haze. Linda turned around as daylight poured into the garage. The overhead door rolled up.

Howard stood there, smiling. “What’s taking so long?”

Mitch blinked. His eyes adjusted to the light.

Howard peered at him and frowned. “What’s wrong? Did you see something?”

Mitch looked up. He stood against the back wall of the garage with his gun drawn. But Linda had disappeared.

HELEN RAN BACK TO the house, stumbling over the uneven ground. Afraid to stop. Afraid to look back. What had she just seen? Was it Devon turning into one of those creatures? Or was it one of them posing as Devon? She shuddered as she climbed onto the porch and collapsed into one of the lawn chairs. Her heart raced. There was no sign of him in the field.

Whatever that thing was, it had tried to lure her into the woods. Was there something waiting there to abduct her? Was it some kind of trap? She rubbed her temples and struggled to catch her breath. Slowly her terror subsided. She cursed the others for leaving her here all alone.

She’d be safe, they had said. The creatures didn’t come out during the day. But she had seen them in Chicago. They had taken Devon’s friend in broad daylight. They couldn’t be sure of anything. They didn’t know anything about these creatures.

Her arm tingled where Devon had grabbed her. She rolled up her sleeve. A large, purple bruise encircled her forearm.

She touched it and pulled her hand away. It was cold. It stung almost like a burn but was cold to the touch. Like Devon and Conner. Like Terrell and Ray. Now she was infected too. She shook her head. No, not her, too!

Suddenly the back door opened and Devon stepped out onto the porch.

Helen screamed and jumped out of her chair.

“Whoa!” Devon lurched backward. “What? What’s wrong?”

Helen picked up the chair and held it in front of her. “Stay away from me!”

Devon peered at her and scowled. “You crazy? What’s the matter?”

Helen glared back. “Just stay away!”

“I didn’t do anything!”

“What do you want with me?”

Devon shook his head. “What are you talking about? It’s me. Are you seeing things again?”

Helen wasn’t about to let her guard down. “I just saw
you
. A few minutes ago. You tried to get me to follow you into the woods.”

“The woods?” Devon wrinkled his nose. “You think I’m crazy? I ain’t going in those woods. I’ve been in my room for the last half hour.”

Helen tried to control her breathing. She had to keep control. “You… you said you had seen your friend. You said he had gone into the woods and you were going to follow him.”

Devon suddenly looked nauseous.

Helen frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Devon sat down and stared at the ground. “I… I
did
see Terrell this morning. I woke up to go to the bathroom and… it was early and I saw him outside by the barn. He was waving for me to follow him.”

“What did you do?”

Devon looked up at her. “Nothing. I wasn’t going out there. I thought maybe I was seeing things. I thought I was going crazy or something, so I didn’t tell anyone.”

Helen slowly straightened. She set the chair down. “They’re trying to trick us. They can’t get to us so they’re trying to bring us to them.”

“Why?” Devon shook his head. “Why are they doing this?”

Helen stared across the field. The trees rose up thick and black against the overcast sky. “There’s something in those woods.”

“You think that’s where everyone is? You think that’s where they’re keeping them?”

Helen shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Devon stood. “Man, I wish those guys would hurry up and get back.” He stopped and tilted his head. “You hear that?”

“What?” Helen listened. “I don’t hear anything.”

Devon scratched his head. “It’s like a h—” Suddenly his jaw clenched and his back arched. He fell to the ground, his hands and legs trembling.

Helen hesitated a moment. “Devon?” Then she knelt beside him. His hand was cold. His whole body trembled. He grimaced and tried to cry out but seemed unable to move.

Then his mouth opened. His eyes grew wide. He stared at her, through her. Past her.

Helen gasped. “Devon?”

There was a bright flash of light. It knocked her backward, blinding her momentarily. Her vision returned and she scrambled to her feet.

But the porch was empty. Devon was gone.

CONNER RODE BACK TO the truck. His heart was racing, more from his encounter in the library than from his ride. His arm still tingled as well. The discoloration had spread even farther up his forearm. He had gone there for answers. He had come away with only more questions.

Howard and Mitch were walking up from the garage as Conner pulled up. Mitch looked white as a sheet. Conner frowned. “What happened?”

Mitch didn’t reply. Howard only shrugged. “I think he saw something inside the garage. I think he’s in shock.”

“I saw one of the creatures inside the library,” Conner said, catching his breath. “There’s probably more of them around. We better get back to the farm.”

“In the library?” Howard shook his head. “I don’t understand. They’re never this active during the day. What’s going on?”

“I think they may be up to something,” Conner said. “Planning something. I don’t know.” He described his encounter and how the creature had communicated to him.

“Soon?” Howard said. “What d’you suppose it meant?”

“I have no idea, but I don’t think it’s good.” Conner grabbed Mitch by the shoulders and gave him a shake. “Mitch!”

Mitch blinked. Color returned to his face, and his eyes rolled down and finally focused on Conner.

“Mitch, what did you see? Was it one of them?”

Mitch stared at him for a moment, then shook his head slowly.

“What? What did you see?”

Mitch pulled away. “I’m all right. I just… I thought I saw my girlfriend. Linda.”

“Your girlfriend?”

“It was nothing. Just another hallucination.”

“Did she say anything? Did she talk to you?”

Mitch leaned against the truck and rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, she said… She told me about them. The aliens.”

“What did she say?”

Mitch looked down. “She said they weren’t really aliens. They were here before us. This was
their
planet too. She said they were only trying to keep us from destroying it. Y’know, with pollution and bombs. She said they just wanted to coexist with us. She wanted me to go with her and she’d show me the answers.”

Conner stepped back. “
Their
planet?”

He tried to process this new information. Was it possible these things weren’t aliens at all but another terrestrial life-form? one that hadn’t been discovered yet? Could there be a totally separate species of intelligent life that had evolved simultaneously with human beings? Or one that was far older and far more advanced? Developing telepathic abilities. Staying hidden. Avoiding contact.

Mitch was shaking his head. “But she just disappeared. She was just an illusion.”

Conner nodded to himself. “Maybe they were just using her image to communicate to you.”

Howard climbed into the truck. “It’s about noon,” he said. “We should be getting back. Your friends will be getting worried.”

Twenty minutes later they pulled up the long gravel drive to Howard’s farm. As they parked in the back, they found Helen sitting on the porch steps. Her face was stern and her eyes were red.

She stood up and glared at Conner as he got out of the truck. “Don’t you ever leave me alone again!”

“Alone?” Conner blinked. “What happened? Where’s Devon?”