I ran through the halls of the building, my feet making no sound when they hit the floor. At the pace I was running any human would have been collapsed on the ground trying to catch their breath. I flew through the doors and onto the street, skidding to a halt on the edge of the curb. I looked around; everything looked so different from my planet. I looked up at the sky, but could not see any moons. How did these people know where they are? I heard the shouts of the woman with the camera device coming from behind me; I had stopped on the curb too long. I glanced over my shoulder and spotted her racing out of the doors.
“Wait!” she cried, “Wait I think I can help you! I know what you are!”
Not good. I took off to my right twisting and turning through people on the sidewalk. A few shouted at me as I passed. The woman followed closely. I needed to pick up speed. I needed to find my ship. I glanced down at my wrist. My collar was gone. There was no way I could track the ship now. I cursed inwardly and dashed around the corner, pressing myself against the wall and became invisible. The woman with the camera passed my hiding place and kept running for a few feet before stopping.
“Shoot, lost her.” she panted, “I knew they existed. I knew it.” She removed the camera from her neck and started pressing buttons. “And who is this Aeros character? Ah! Maybe she came with someone else. Then that means that there are two aliens on Earth. I knew that shooting star I had seen wasn't just a star. It was a ship! They found her in the forest.... maybe that's where the ship landed.”
The forest? What forest? I took a step closer to her, willing her to keep speaking.
“It's about six hours from here... I'll call Jack and we'll be on our way. Redwood forest here I come!” she struck th e air with a fist and ran off grinning like a Morgaian Banshee.
I stepped out of the alley and onto the street remaining invisible. I needed to find this Redwood forest. My ship should be there, and I needed to find it before any human did. After traveling at least a mile away from the hospital I made myself visible again. Approaching a woman on a bench, I smiled.
“Excuse me miss,” I said, drawing her attention to me. “I'm a little lost...”
“Oh dear, where are you headed?” she asked, smiling sweetly at me.
“I'm supposed to be meeting a friend at the Redwood forest... but I lost my navigation device...” Navigation device? Did they even use that term?
“Oh! You lost your map! Well, if you head out of town and get onto the highway. Take Market Street northeast toward South Van Ness avenue, turn right there. Once you hit that, drive until you hit Twelfth street and you're gonna have to make a U-turn. When you get to Lombard street, take a left. Go to Richardson avenue, and then you should hit the freeway. Follow Highway 101. Follow that until you hit Redwood Freeway. You'll be at the park in no time.” She beamed.
I nodded, and thanked her, then returned to the direction of the nearest cars. I would have to make it there by foot. That wouldn't take long. Becoming completely invisible I sped off, replaying the directions over and over in my head. I reached the forest in a record amount of time, stopping among the thick trees. Now where would my ship have landed. If they found me in the forest, wouldn't someone have heard about it? I walked silently through the forest, listening for the sounds of hikers or campers. After what seemed like an endless amount of time I found a group of hikers. I made myself visible, and approached slowly.
One of the men in the group turned to face me, a grin spreading across his face. “Hey there little lady, you lost?” he asked.
“Oh, no, no. I had a question.” I said quietly, cringing at the smell of his body. Something he and his friends had done made them stink.
“Hmm, okay, shoot.”
Shoot!? “I'm not going to shoot you.”
“Oh, no, that's an expression. It means go ahead.” he smiles.
I laughed, “Um.. okay, you know how they found that girl in the forest? Do you know where they found her?”
He paused, thinking for a moment. I concentrated on his thoughts and they became clear in my mind. The girl? What girl..... oh! That one. She looks like the girl... she fits her description. White hair. Pale skin. White dress. I took a step back.
“Why do you want to know? You know, come to think of it, you look an awful lot like her.” His friends stepped beside him, staring at me. “Are you that girl?”
I don't know how to answer them. If I say yes, what would they do? “That doesn't concern you. Could you please just tell me where she was found?”
“Sure it does, they said she escaped from the hospital... that hospital isn't too far from here either. So, are you her?”
I glared, “I told you, it doesn't matter. Now unless you want me alert the authorities of your illegal substances, I suggest you tell me where they found her.”
His upper lip curled into a sneer. His friends flanked his sides, their eyes hollow and dark.
“Tell me where they found her, or you will wish you were never born.” They laughed in response. “Wrong answer.”
I spread my arms out wide, and my world was covered in a dark shade as my eyes filled with black. I raised each of them off the ground, throwing them into trees and slamming them to the ground using only my mind. When they were all on the forest floor, grunting and groaning, I pinned them there, walking up to the boy who spoke to me and stepped on his chest, driving my foot in hard. He grunted.
“Tell me where they found her,” I demanded between gritted teeth.
“Not too far from here! She was found outside campground seventeen!!” he cried.
I kicked him in the chest again and began on my way. It took only a few minutes to find this campground, and when I did, there were no signs of my ship. I searched each inch of the forest floor until something shiny caught my eye. I rushed to it, and dug it out of the soil. My collar!! I picked it up, feeling the circuits humming to life beneath my fingertips. I held the ring over my finger and it quickly shrunk to fit my finger snugly. I took a deep breath and sighed. Now I could find my ship.
No comments:
Post a Comment