Death From Above

Spinning. Her head was spinning. There was only darkness and the alien symbols floating around in her head. Spiraling out of control in a void of nothing, with no sense of what was happening or even a conscience thought. Suddenly, she jolts awake and gasps loudly as she does so. The light was blinding at first, but her eyes soon adjusted. Amelia Kellian sat up in her bed and looked around. She was back in her room. She wasn’t sure why, but it did bring a slight relief. That is, at least, for the moment.

She was glad to be out of the grasp of the aliens, but she was nowhere closer to the truth. If anything she was left with many more questions, and a lot more pain. Her parents disappeared without a trace two years ago, and now she finally found them. This was not how she wanted to find them. They are somewhere, floating in alien test tubes. The worst part is, she still doesn’t even know if they are ok. She also wondered about Lieutenant Aaron Schwartz, who was dragged off by that alien beast. The question she would ask now is, where is he? She was somehow back in her room, could he also be back? This was not a question she could ponder on long, so she hurried out of bed. She grabbed her phone off the side table, then she runs to the living room.

On the coffee table, was the dreamcatchers group card. She walks over and picks it up to look it over. Aaron’s number was on it. Her face lit up with a bit of hope, since she wasn’t very sure how she was going to contact him. She sat on the couch, staying on the edge of the seat, and began dialing the number. She holds the phone to her ear and listens as it starts to ring. She waits and listens carefully as the phone just continues to ring. It then goes to voicemail, and she begins to breathe heavily. Her eyes began to water up, but she wasn’t done trying yet. She called him again, and once again the voicemail picks up. A tear rolls down her cheek as she calls him another time. However, this time the call took.

“H..Hello?” A groggy, yet familiar, man’s voice answered.

“Aaron?” she asked with a gasp. It was all she could manage to say in the moment.

“Amelia? Is that you? You’re ok?” He was suddenly aware of where he was and what had just happened.

“Yea… yea, I’m ok. Are… are you ok? I saw you get taken.” She was glad he was ok, but was curious to what happened. There was a long pause before he spoke again.

“I was.. I.. maybe we should meet.” Aaron didn’t really seem to want to talk about anything over the phone. He sounded very nervous.

“Yea, I think we should,” she agreed. She also decided she would like to handle this in a more personal setting. Though, She end up making it more personal than she thought she should. “How about that dinner?” There was another slight pause, but when he does speak, he seems a bit happier.

“Yes. I think that would be a great idea. My treat.” He pauses another moment, before finishing his thought. “We can’t talk about this in public, so how about my place?”

“Yes!” she tried not to sound as excited as she ended up sounding. “That’s a good idea.” She felt awkward, since she didn’t do this much. However she couldn’t stop now, since she still had some courage left.

“I’ll send you my address, and I’ll see you then.” Aaron said, also sounding a bit nervous.

“I’ll see you then,” she replied, before the phone hung up. She flops back on the couch, and lets out a loud sigh. Part of her thought that she shouldn’t use traumatic events to get dates. Though, after what happened, she didn’t want to waste a moment anymore. She had a purpose, and an enemy.

As evening was setting in, Amelia was driving towards Aaron’s house. It was, of course, in the next town over, where the military base was. She was dressed nicely, in the only dress she owned. It was simple and black, and given to her as a gift years ago. She spent a couple of hours looking up makeup tutorials, to try to get her makeup right. She even fixed her hair, and more shockingly, she wore it down. Her dark hair with it’s natural waves resting on her shoulders. She was nervous, to say the least, but this wasn’t just a date. It really shouldn’t be a date at all, however, she was treating this as if they might not get another chance.

She pulls up to his house, and parks the car. She takes a deep breath, trying to build her courage back up, and got out of the car. Facing aliens felt easier somehow, as If life and death was simpler to face than emotional vulnerability. When she arrives at the door, she raised her hand to knock. However, before her hand connected, the door opened. Aaron was standing there dressed in his own nice, but casual outfit, while also looking very nervous. This made her feel a little better.

“Hey, glad you made it, come in.” He blurts out, trying to act casually. No doubt hoping his overwhelming display of confidence would distract from how nervous he was, even though it didn’t.

Amelia then walked in and looked around. The place seemed freshly cleaned and smelled nice because of it. She decided not to it let go seemingly unnoticed.

“Nice place you have here,” She uttered. She would then look over at him, as he shut the door.

“Thanks,” He chuckled. “We don’t have to be so formal. Let me show you your exquisite meal.” He then lead the way towards his dining room.

As they sat at the table everything was quiet for a while, neither one of them knowing how to start. They covered the silence up by eating the Italian takeout, Aaron ordered. He wasn’t much of a cook, apparently, but the food was delicious. Aaron was the first one to finally speak up.

“So, how long have you known?” His question was almost accusatory.

“A couple of months now.” She said feeling guilty for not telling him sooner. “I woke up once before, but I wasn’t able to move.” She tried to read Aaron’s expressions, but he wasn’t showing any. He was merely staring at his food.

“I’ve known for about six months,” He finally says. “Unfortunately the specific details are classified, but I will say we picked up a signal. Shortly after, I started having the dreams. We never picked the signal up again, but more cases of the dreams sprouted up. That’s when I formed the dreamcatchers group, by orders to collect information to see if the dreams were connected.” He looks up from his food and makes eye contact with Amelia who was staring with her mouth hanging open. “We took over all the space listening stations to see if we could pick up the signal again. Though, it would seem, they found a way to mask it from us.”

Amelia closed her mouth and swallowed hard as if she was swallowing the information itself. However, it still wasn’t any easier to take. She spends a few moments thinking everything over.

“What are we going to do about it?” She would finally respond. There was nothing she could do to scorn him, because she figured knowing this much might get him in trouble. She watches as Aaron leans forward and begins to speak quietly.

“That monster that attacked us on the ship, it was telepathic.”

“What?” Amelia gasped

“It was in my mind, it told me it was a prisoner, and gave me the coordinates of the ship.” He then leans back in his chair and thinks over his next words. “I’m going to give them to the general, and we can stop this now.”

“But…” Amelia cut in, unsure about the plan. “But I found something on that ship.”

“What was it?” Aaron would ask curiously.

“My parents,” She quickly answered. “They have been missing for two years.”

Aaron looked at her, thinking over what she just said. Logically, he knew the needs of the many outnumbered the needs of the few. However, he didn’t want to hurt Amelia.

“Are they…” He paused a moment, unsure how to phrase it, “alive?”

“I don’t know.” Amelia’s replied as water began to fill her eyes.

A look of sympathy comes over Aaron’s face. He had to rethink his strategy, he couldn’t be the cause if her parent’s deaths. He sighed deeply, before presenting his new plan.

“Look, I’ll report it to the General, but I’ll also mention there may be human prisoners. I’m sure he won’t want to put any civilian’s lives at risk.” His eyes were sincere as he spoke.

“Ok.” Amelia reluctantly said with a nod. She was trying to keep from crying at the thought of her parents. If a rescue could be made, that would bring relief. However, until she knew for sure if it would happen, she would fear for their safety. That is, of course, if they were alive.

“I want to help them, Amelia. We just can’t let these things continue to kidnap and experiment on people,” Aaron added, after seeing her reluctance to agree.

“Well, what do we do until then?” Amelia asked to both change the subject and learn the rest of the plan.

“Until then, we need to stay awake. They take us in our sleep, and that’s not something we can let happen anymore.” He stated, after careful consideration.

Amelia looked at him and nodded. She knew he was right. Even though how they returned after the night before was still a mystery, they couldn’t go back. It was still unclear what the purpose of the experiments were. Why would they want to improve humans? Was it just a way to play with their DNA? She didn’t know the answer. No one did.

After dinner, the atmosphere became more like a date again. They tried to take their mind off of the alien stuff. They knew what the next day would bring, along with the stress and fear. They tried playing some old board games that Aaron had hidden away in his closet. They laughed and joked and tried to get to know each other. Even if it all was just a distraction to keep them awake and less depressed, it was the most fun Amelia had in a long time. She wished this moment of happiness would last forever, but nothing ever does. So she was going to smile while she still can. A smile that was genuine.

To be continued...