Fallen + Marli & Lalo (Fallen Invasion, #3) (7 page)

Fluttering my eyelids to fight the darkness, I tried to face Lalo to ask what he did that day.  He smiled and said, “Go to sleep Marli.”  With that I was out.

—-

I
was underground, or above it, in some dark, stone building.  The sound of the city wasn’t too far away.  For a moment, sirens passed by.  I tip-toed down the long hall.  In advance of reaching an opening, I heard voices.  I froze.  I checked behind me to see that I was alone then peeked around the stone wall.

“We have to find him!”  A tall, extremely strong, warrior type of man said.  Never had I ever seen someone that couldn’t pull off a pair of regular jeans.  They were too normal for him.  Too informal.  His muscles bulged up under a black tee, adding to the unfitting outfit.  I missed some of the conversation due to my impression of the actual man.  But something wasn’t right.  A chill twisted through my body.  This place wasn’t safe for me.  “Before he becomes lost,” the man continued.  “Like the others.”

“I know he is part of the plan, but why?” another warrior guy said.  “We are as strong as him.  Is it really that important to waste so much time?  He’s not of the highest blood.”

“It is not for me to discuss with you,” the tall man said.  “They are orders.”

“All of these millions of people and you expect to find him,” the second man said and huffed.

“With the signs he will know,” the tall man said.  “Do you feel that?”

“Feel what?” the second man said.

“There’s no way.  He
couldn’t
have.  Unless they—”

The second man wore a puzzling expression.

“A human,” the tall man said.  “A human knows of us.  They are listening.”

He surveyed the room.  As he was about to see me I gasped, and my eyes opened then shut down from the light in my living room.  The news was on again.  The reporters were a broken record, back on the topic of the missing homeless people.

“Marli,” I heard Lalo say.  He rubbed my shoulders.

I panted as I struggled to calm down from my dream.  I didn’t think it meant anything specific to Lalo, but it was scary.

“Bad dream?” he asked.

“Yes.”  A laugh escaped my mouth.  “It was a conversation.  Some men were nervous that a human was listening, and I was the human.”

Lalo took too much time to think about the dream as he lie back into the couch.  “Tell me more,” he said.  Lucky for him I remembered it exactly.  Most dreams I forgot.  Some, I remembered the subject.  It was rare for me to remember the scenes.  Remembering the word for word conversation was a miracle.  It was like the thing downloaded and stored itself in my brain for future reference.

Lalo’s concern became clear when he made me detail the description of the two guys.  He said he didn’t remember anyone like them.

“So you think this has something to do with you?” I asked.

“I need to find out,” Lalo said and changed the subject.  “So I’ve been watching the news, and this story, all day.  I don’t know exactly why, but the fact that these people who don’t have a home are vanishing... My memory is fighting to come back, but it can’t.” 

He refocused on the news show.  The camera panned away from the reporter and revealed part of the scene behind her.

“There!” Lalo said and stopped the live broadcast.  He rewound the newscast and played it again.  Paused it.  He sprung to the TV, pointing out a detail.  I pushed myself off the couch to have a closer look.  Under his finger was a rock.  This rock was different from the others that surrounded it.  The rock was almost like glass.  It was a familiar purple color, in spots.  I inhaled and Lalo nodded.

“We have to go there, now,” Lalo said.

“No!” I said.  “We’re not going there.  That’s all the way in the city, an hour away.”

And Kallen told me to be cautious; stay at home.

“We have to,” Lalo said.  “It’s a clue.  I think going to the scene can help me remember.  What if something bad is going to happen?  We need to find out before there is nowhere to run.  And besides, I need some clothes.”

He was right.  He did need some clothes.  I couldn’t expect him to wear the same thing every day. It would make him stick out and draw attention if I ever let him go outside.

“You’re lucky there are no stores around here,” I said.  “But we have to be alert.  Police are most likely continuing to patrol the area.  We will become suspects if they see us fishing around for something.”

“So, we’ll get the clothes first.  Then go late in the night.  Or we can go in the morning.”

I sighed.  “So much for sleep tonight.”

“I’ll drive back.”

“No you won’t!” I said.

Lalo closed his eyes, and chuckled.  “Marli, I flew my spaceship down from outer space, and you think
I
can’t drive?”

“It wasn’t a spaceship.  It was a meteor.”

“No, it was a spaceship disguised as a meteor.”

“All of you have these things?  These spaceships designed as meteors.” I said.

“A few,” he said.

“A few,” I said.  I ran to my computer.  Lalo joined me.  My fingers reached maximum speed as I searched for recent meteors seen and meteorites found.  The last large one seen was about three months prior.  It landed overseas.

“What are you thinking?” Lalo said.

“What if,” I said, “if a whole lot more of your species is coming? Or came?”

“This terrifies you?” he asked.

I hesitated.

“Be honest,” he said.

“The truth is we don’t know what you are capable of,” I said.  “And why would you come undetected?  Is it to harm us?”

“I see.  That’s why I frighten you.  You assume the unknown to be dangerous despite of the fact that I’ve proved you wrong.”

“I have to be cautious,” I said.  “Lalo, you have to understand.  I think a lot of people would also be cautious, or even worse, violent, in my position.  They would call the police, who would contact the government, who could possibly lock you away forever.  You wouldn’t have any freedom.  And who knows what they would do to you?  Run tests, do surgeries, give you diseases and see if you could cure them, make you work for them to further technology, or our society.  You’re what we call an alien.  As far as I know you haven’t been proven to exist.  I
have
to ask why you came.

“So you should be cautious too,” I continued.  “Of us.”

“Alright.  Yet another reason to find out why I’m here, and if there are others, pronto.”

“Yeah,” I said.  “And I need to make up some sort of story for you in case anyone finds out about you.  You are an ex-boyfriend or something.”

“It’s funny you said ex instead of a friend from childhood,” Lalo said.  “This should be fun.”  His grin was so large, he reminded me of The Grinch from
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
.

“Whatever,” I said and grabbed my bag and keys.  I snuck Lalo outside.  Thankfully, I didn’t see Kallen’s truck sitting at his house.  He must have left to visit his cousin.

S
hopping with Lalo was interesting.  I bit my tongue, trying to hold back my laughter.  He wondered why all of the shirts made from the same type of fabric were a wide range in price.  A few shirt designs caught his attention, and he spent some time deciphering the meaning.  I stopped him after a few minutes, telling him the simple artwork didn’t mean anything.  He was so out of his element that I asked him if they wore clothes on his planet.

“The Masqysava, we wear clothes, but we don’t have as much variety,” Lalo said.  “The first time I saw so many...”  Lalo returned to the shirts with the artwork and grabbed three different shirts.  He put one on the end of the rack and held the other two next to it.

A sign due to the combination of shirts?  Was that even possible?  And the name, Masqysava.  Masqysava equals Humans as in a type of being or Masqysava equals a type of alien species?

Lalo stared at his display for a little while then pivoted around to me.

“Do the patterns mean anything?” I asked.

“That would be cool wouldn’t it?  But no, we studied this,” Lalo said and held up the shirts.

So these designers were aliens too?

“Clothes,” he said.  “In a class when I was young.”  One of the customers caught Lalo’s eye.

“What is it?” I asked as I got a good look the man who grabbed Lalo’s attention.  I didn’t know him.

“That person is familiar to me, but.  Anyway, I remembered asking why we didn’t have so many choices.  We studied your clothes, but why?”

Lalo refocused his attention to me.

“To determine the personality of humans you came into contact with?” I said.  “Find out who likes fashion, follows or sets their own trends, likes comfort over style, has money?”

“To know your culture,” Lalo said, not sure of his answer.  “In case we came into contact with you.”

“Or in case you moved here.  To know how to fit in.”

“Or to target,” Lalo said.  “Target a specific section of your population to make peace, or attack.”

“Woah,” I said.

“Yeah.  We better get moving.”

—-

J
eans, T-shirts, and a few casual shirts was what Lalo ended up with.  He said they would be easier to move around in.  I asked him if he wanted a jacket in case the air conditioning in places got too cold.  He said he didn’t get too cold or too hot.

Lalo was again in awe at the shoe store.  Hundreds of shoe designs lined the floors, which meant hundreds of shoes for him to play with.  At one point, I stopped him to remind him of my price range and budget.  I laughed to myself about having to stop him.  He was so happy in there.

Even I became glad we went to a shoe warehouse where we helped ourselves to find the perfect fit.  Memories of childhood returned when I knelt down to the floor and slid the cold metal device under Lalo’s foot to figure out his shoe size.  As my mother did with me, I pressed down at the end of the shoes Lalo put on to make sure he had enough toe space.  I stuck to approving stable shoes, and I made him walk a little bit down the aisle to make sure they were comfortable.

My mom.  My parents.
  They too would be affected if something sour was about to go down.  And I was taking care of someone who could help figure out a way to stop it.  By the looks of it, getting aliens addicted to shopping was a viable solution to thwart an alien invasion.  All we would have to do is lure them to the mall.

I glanced outside of the giant picture windows at the front of the store.  The sun was almost gone, and the sky would be extremely dark within the hour.  Our plan was to go at night, but the idea of going at night bothered me.

The site of the disappearance wasn’t in a safe part of town.  At night violence rose.  I nudged Lalo and told him we could finish shopping later.  He made his decision, running shoes of course, and we headed toward the crime scene.  Lalo exchanged the flip flops he was wearing for the shoes during the drive over there.

“Lalo, we can’t get out,” I said.  “We are going to have to drive by.  I don’t want to get on the suspect list.  The police are probably patrolling the place.”

“What about you drop me off,” he said.  “I can go undetected.”

“But if I’m constantly driving around, they will know that I am up to no good.”

“Fine,” he said and gazed out the window.

As we approached the area, the night took over the cotton candied sky.  A black bird flew down to the gravel.  The two steps it took delivered enough information, telling it to get out of there.  Other than grass and weeds I saw no other sign of life.  I slowed down and drove under part of the bridge next to where the disappearance took place.

“I don’t see any cameras and there is a parking lot over there,” Lalo said.

“What about finding clues nearby?” I said.  “Like the coffee shop that isn’t too far from here.”

“No!  We get out,” Lalo said.

“But—” I said.

“But nothing!  I will protect you!” he said.

“Don’t cut me off!” I said. 
Who did he think he was?
  “And you don’t even know what’s out there!”

“
Marli
,” he said with a stern voice.  “Please.  I
have
to find out.”

I huffed and drove a little further to make a U-Turn to get to the parking lot. 
No, don’t go
my gut said when I parked.  Three streetlights lined the bridge.  They were dim, beginning to wake up.  To add to the creepy scene, the living area under the bridge wasn’t one large area.  It was divided into sections, made from arches of the cement that supported the bridge.

Lalo reached for the door, and I grabbed his arm.  “Five minutes,” I said.  “No more than that.”

“I’ll try for less,” he said.

I stayed in the car, crossing my arms while looking out onto the seedy road and patches of dirt amongst the grass behind me across the street.  I didn’t dare shut off the car in case we had to leave in a hurry.

Lalo startled me when he tried to open my car door.

“Come on,” he said.  “We need to stick together.”

I got out and rushed him to the crime scene, the area across the street, under the bridge.  I also kept an eye on my car.  We would have to run at least a minute to get back to it.

I didn’t like how I kept getting chills, thinking that the scene was a trap.  No one was there but us.  Nothing but the underside of a bridge with a few cars passing over it, grass, and dirt.  Lalo ducked under the yellow tape.

“Hey,” he said, pointing to some graffiti under the bridge.

“That’s graffiti,” I said.

“No,” he said.  “It means something.  I’ve seen it.  I think.”

“Well,” I said and pulled out my phone.  I walked further down the tape to get a clear shot.  I took a few pictures.  I flipped through them and was satisfied with the quality.  I saw that Lalo was watching me.

“I got a good shot,” I said.

“K,” Lalo said and started searching for the rocks he saw on TV.

After roaming around impatiently for a few minutes, I heard something in the grass.  I spun around.  It remained hidden.  I mouthed Lalo’s name.

Keeping my eyes forward, I took careful steps towards Lalo.  A small patch of rocks crunched below my feet, causing me to freeze.  I waved for Lalo to come to me so we could go.  He held up his finger to say “one more minute.”  I vigorously shook my head.  I did not want to wait for what was behind the solid divider.