Not Human

Chapter 8 - News

It was 4 am when Andy roused up from a dream where she was in a mansion preparing by doing regimen training daily. It had been 5 weeks of obstacles, workouts, sparring, and target practice. She laughed at the dream. Why was she working so hard? The answer was crazy, so crazy she doubted it was real. Aliens. No, that's silly she giggled.

She laid back down staring at the ceiling, she reached out for him, her and him: Mom, dad, and brother. Her parents were all the way in Mexico on a honeymoon, while her older brother was stationed somewhere across the continent for the US military he was a Marine. They'd been gone for a while now. She still stayed at the college dorms in Ordinarily Strange a town not found on a map. She always questioned that herself about this city, the name, and the fact that not many people knew of it.

So, why was she here in this big-ass luxurious mansion? Oh, right in this dream a guy known as a Blade villain owns it, the richest man in the shitty town. Well, if it's a dream then nothing matters, right?

"Hey, bookworm, warm-up with me." She wrapped at his door less than a second a man opened it, looking like a zombie. He had no shirt or pants on. His curly locks were more curled than usual in the clutter on his head.

He stared blankly back seeing a blurry vision of a girl in front of him. He knew only one person to have short brown hair. "A-Andy?" He squeaked out. "What are...you-" He yawned before finishing his question. "Doing here?"

"Let's go get some extra practice. We could use it. Have you seen the news lately?" She whacked him on the back. "Come on!"

"Wait!" He went back into his room. She waited for him to dress and hurry it up. A minute later he was dressed in casual attire: camouflage shorts, a white t-shirt, and his glasses were on. She kept it simple too with a purple tank top and black leggings.

"Why this early, man, I'm tired." He marched on down the corridors with Andy in the lead.

"Pinch me, please?" She said, in all seriousness.

"What? He turned scarlet. "Why would I do that, weirdo?" Trying to embarrass me again, huh?

"Do it!"

"O-okay." He looked away from her expecting gaze and pinched her arm. "There...happy?"

"No, no, no." She stomped her foot, making Nixon keep distance from her. "It's not a dream," She breathed.

"What?" He asked.

"This whole alien thing."

"Yeah." He said, peering up at the moon. They had made it out of the mansion and stood at the black gates. It was cold and dark. "Now, I know why you woke me up." He laughed.

"Yeah, still thought I was dreaming." She attempted an empty laugh.

"Let's go back in." He suggested.

"Yeah." She sounded so far away. She hoped it was all a dream, but hope did nothing for what was going on.

...

Everyone was up and ate breakfast and was waiting for the instructions of the day. Blade told them no training today. So, what the hell were they supposed to do? He turned the Tv on to a news channel and everyone sat down. Andy by next Nixon on a loveseat, Zane on the family couch with Angelica, Lily, Blade, Cherry, and Jax on the end of it.

"Today we have seen some disturbing sightings." A man in a suit holding a microphone said. He was standing on the same street Lily first met that alien at. "I have some news on the sightings, and would like to believe it is all just a hoax...but-" He was cut off by a phone call. "Wait a minute." He said, clutching the phone to his ear. "Yeah, okay, do I disclose this or...okay, alright." He nodded and hung up. "Alright, it seems we have a guy who wants to talk about this. I'll be showing the images on the screen now."

"No way." Cherry gasped. The aliens were on the screen, four of them hunched over by Lily's apartment complex. Some of the photos were just blurry images or silhouettes of them. But there were a few clear pictures. The leader stared back, white-eyed, and a ferocious set of teeth. It didn't look happy being photographed.

Then, to Blade's shock, the guy who is being interviewed is Bill Ferguson. The same Bill who was his assistant for the project on the aliens.

"Yes, I saw them. I swear they're aliens. Not to be trusted, they do not want peace. They're here to take over. I repeat they're here to kill us all." Bill shivered into the microphone. His face had a s***h of three marks, and he looked weak. He survived, but how?

"Alright, Bill. What do you know about these "aliens" as you call it?" The newsman asked, without an ounce of emotion on his face. He asked him a lot of questions the last one was "where did those marks come from?" He answered, "The aliens."

Suddenly the channel flipped. They had to stop the broadcast. Then, it turned back on with the newsman looking nervous. "Okay, guys it was just all fraud. There is no such thing as aliens." The channel ended.

"That's bullshit," Jax grumbled.

"It seems it has reached the news now. Not surprised they're trying to hide it. Of course, the government would be. Now there might be panic," Nixon said, folding his arms.

"Yes, correct, Nixon." Blade nodded. "We need to up our game. We should be killing the vermin."

"What about training?" Cherry asked.

"We should be training right now or at least planning." Lily frowned. She hated not knowing what's next. She wanted to be ahead of those aliens. Right now she was creeped the f**k out. To see them outside here home. They had been watching her, but for how long?

"Now, that we are thinking more on this shouldn't we have a more bulletproof plan?" Zane suggested.

"We don't know enough about them. We are left with almost nothing to go on. We should keep Lily safe for now, and work on a plan yes everyone." Blade agreed they do need a sufficient plan. But is using Lily as bait bright? She could get killed. How many aliens are they talking about?

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Ordinarily strange: a town not on the map, not many people know of it. But it's known for its ominous vibe, the woods where bodies are sometimes found, and the killer never found. The victim autopsies say it was an animal. But do animals have acid bites or thick claws six inches long? Why is purple technology surfacing up on the road, woods, garbage? A symbol is on it, two circles overlapping each other.

"What is this?" Lily glances over Blade's shoulder at the newspaper.

"Just news."

"Oh, I see." She read: A symbol is on it, two circles overlapping each other. "No, that can't be right." She mumbled.

"What can't?" Blade asked, curiously.

"This is just like my nightmare I had like a month ago." She tugged at her hair in disbelief.

It had been a week ago since the news and the bad cover-up for the aliens had occurred. They were no closer than a month ago figuring out a plan. Luckily, the aliens don't know their whereabouts either that or they are waiting for the right moment to attack.

"That is strange." He scratched his chin. He did that when he was in deep thought. Lily has known him for five weeks and three days and in that time she felt like it had been longer. They had been in a life and death situation at the old mansion. It made them grow closer, and now this.

"There was a boy...his arms...were detached...from their sockets...and so much blood," Lily said, done holding it back. She decided it'd been long enough. She needed to talk about her nightmare. It may be important to them. "I couldn't save him..." Blade instinctively hugged her. She told him everything with great detail that made it all seem so real for her.

"No wonder you wouldn't tell me. This could mean something. I'm not sure what it means or how you dreamt this but...I know one thing for sure what you dreamt of was too true. The description of the technology is too real," He let her go and they sat down at the dining table. "I didn't even know about the technology much until the reports, and I have seen a close-up of their spaceships once. But you know about their lair."

"Lair?" She noticed Andy in the doorway.

"Yes, they must have one. Let's talk about this later. Maybe we'll be able to wrap our head around it then." He smiled and waved as she left. It was already past bedtime. Andy winked at her.

"Talking to Blade, eh?" Andy slumped an arm around her shoulders. "You wanna play cards before I brush my teeth. All this alien crap is making me forget to have some fun. How about it, normal for one day?"

"Sure." They sat down playing goldfish. Soon, Cherry, Jax, and Angelica joined the game. Then, Blade surprised them by joining, and lastly, the lone wolf by the windowsill did too.