Chapter Four: Rescue

A Chapter by Henry

The aliens begin putting their plans in place while Kroozi, Teddy, and Eddie search for the Deceiver, and, effectively, Patty.

4: Rescue

“Ah, Deceiver, you awaken. Good; I think I have come up with a plan that should make use of all three of us. The Living Strength should be arriving within the hour. It is now 11:30 in the morning. The Living Strength and I will be departing from this city in about an hour with a small army to the White House. Our plan from there will be rather complicated, but to give you the gist of it, my dear girl, we will overthrow the president of the United States and take over the White House, then the Living Strength will begin slaughtering the people of the area until they surrender to him. Meanwhile, I will take care of some business of my own, while you, still here in Creektown, should already be starting your job as a teacher at Creektown Middle School. Oh yes, and that hostage of ours, the girl, you can do what you please with her, though I suggest you use her as bait to lure those two friends of hers, or at least require a ransom fee from her family or something. At any rate, that should about cover things. Any questions?”

“Yeah,” said the Deceiver. “Is there any food around here?”

“Yes, there are some doughnuts in the kitchen,” the Changer replied. Any other questions?”

“Well, I’m glad you two are taking over the USA, but why do you want me to stay here and teach? Was that what the whole demolishing the school thing was about? Because I really don’t think it’s worth it to blow up a school just so I can get a position there and influence a few kids...”

The Changer smiled. “Ah, but you underestimate your powers, my dear Deceiver. The impact would be greater than you think.”

The Deceiver looked skeptical. “Even if that’s so, Changer,” (which always implies skepticism) “the school won’t be rebuilt for a good long time, using Earth technology. By the time they’re looking for new teachers, I’m sure you and Strength will already be through with your part of the plan.”

“Ah, yes. I suppose I forgot to mention this. You will make yourself a work team of able-bodied men to rebuild it for you. Oh, and here...” He paused as he grabbed a briefcase from under a table and handed it to the Deceiver, “...is $100,000. That should cover the cost of the materials. After you do it, the administrative staff will love you, and instantly oblige to allow you to teach under them. Also, remember, as always, that you are not under any circumstances to make yourself conspicuous concerning your looks. That’s the worst thing you could do here. Make yourself conspicuous only as someone trying to help out the school and become a teacher. I know I’ve emphasized it over and over, but I can tell you’ve been antsy to test the results of wearing something more attractive than what I’ve told you to. Believe me, they would not be good. You spend that money on an expensive outfit to show off in, and let me tell you right now that I will personally kill you when I find out. And I will find out. It’s not a threat, just a statement. If you decide to hinder our takeover that much, I will deem you too much of a hindrance to remain around. Now, go ahead and get some food in your stomach. The Living Strength has arrived.”

The Deceiver did go and get some food in her stomach, four jelly and two chocolate doughnuts. She hadn’t eaten in nearly twenty-four hours. She waited for the door to open and for the Changer to address the Living Strength, but she heard nothing. As it turned out, the Changer had been mistaken, and it had been the car of someone who lived in a different apartment in the complex that he had seen pull into the parking lot. The Living Strength didn’t actually arrive until 12:10 (a tad late), and the Changer departed from the apartment with him after letting the Neptunian relieve his bowels and giving the Deceiver one more word of advice.

“Deceiver, when you make yourself known as someone who wants to rebuild the school, make sure you refrain from the name Ellith MacDonald--that name has become too dangerous. In fact, you should refrain from both Ellith and MacDonald, even if they are paired with others. I don’t have any suggestions for you, but be creative and think of one. Now, we depart.” And the Changer promptly closed the outside door behind him, as the Living Strength was already waiting in the car.

“The men are waiting in and outside of Grizzly’s Gym, 2 blocks from the bus station, just like you said.”

“And you said you had around 200 men, correct?”

“Yeah, somewhere around that.”

“And all bodybuilders or the equivalent?”

“Well, pretty much. I scoured the area for gyms and whatnot, so most of the men I got were working out at them, though I did welcome any inquisitive men on the road, as long as they weren’t too weak. Those few may not be as strong as the bodybuilders, but they’ll probably be capable of whatever you want ‘em to do.”

The Changer nodded in approval. “Good, good. That should do. Now, first, we’ll go to the bus station and kill anyone who stands in our way. Then, we’ll steal four buses (in two trips) and pile the men into them. Now, Living Strength, what did you tell them to make them interested to be a part of your team? It’s essential that I know.”

The huge man smiled. “I told them that I’d be marketing a new training program this morning at 11:45 outside of Grizzly’s Gym, and that anyone who wanted to be filmed for the infomercial should come. I checked before I came, and there were just under 200 men. Most of the ones that I invited were there.”

Changer looked mildly surprised. “Well, Strength, that’s good. I wasn’t aware that you knew so much of the Americans’ culture. But there’s no time for discussion now, I’m afraid. That being the case, you need to tell them that the filming has been relocated elsewhere at the last minute, but transportation to and from it will be provided, and everyone will be compensated monetarily for their inconvenience. However, you will need to select two men to drive two of the buses--tell them the bus station gave us a big discount for renting the buses without the drivers, and that those who drive will not have to do much, just follow us, but will still be compensated more heavily than the others for such an abrupt task. If anyone decides that they want to leave for any reason, bring them to me. I will give them a reason to stay. I think that should about cover it. How much longer until we reach the bus station?”

“About five minutes, Changer.”

“Good, good,” he replied.

The trip went on silently until the two aliens reached their destination. The Living Strength parked his car on the side of the road, and he and the Changer exited it and walked towards the bus station.

“All right,” the Changer whispered as they walked, “I’ll take care of everyone in the building, you take care of the buses.”

The Living Strength nodded. “Will do.” And with that, they parted their ways. The Changer opened the door to the building where tickets and souvenirs were sold. There were only three or four employees there, but there were at least a dozen people roaming around, looking at whatever odds and ends the bus station’s gift shop happened to be selling. There was also a man buying a ticket and two people waiting in line behind him.

The Changer wasn’t as strong as the Living Strength, but he was prepared to handle a situation like this. Acting fast, he pulled a laser blaster out of his coat pocket and fired as quickly as he could. The man was a fell shot; in the space of a minute, he was the only intelligent being left alive in the building. All of his shots had pierced a head, neck, or chest, killing upon impact. Returning his gun to his pocket, he left the building, listening as the door closed behind him.

He looked at his wristwatch--12:25. They had made good time, despite his ally’s tardiness. He waited until the minute changed to 12:26 and then strode over to the buses. “Strength should be done by now,” he thought. And he was. Luckily, three of the buses weren’t scheduled to leave until after one, so they were virtually empty. The fourth that the Living Strength entered was full, ready for the scheduled departure time of 12:30, but he quickly knocked them all out cold. Actually, he killed a few, but whether alive or dead, the question arose of what should be done with them all. The Living Strength asked it after relaying his story.

“What should I do with the bodies, Changer?” he asked.

The Changer was quick. That was why he was the leader. “Drive a little past the back of the station. I saw a small wood perhaps a mile away. If you dump them into it, nobody will notice before we’re long gone. Actually, why don’t I do that? You had better go announce your plans to the men before they get antsy. You did tell them you were coming back when you went to check on them, didn’t you?”

“Of course, Changer. Of course. What do you think me, stupid?”

The aged alien said nothing as he went into the bus full of unconscious people. Within a few seconds, the bus was accelerating away. The Living Strength turned toward the remaining buses, the ones they had cleared out, and walked into a random one. When he came to Earth, he had not been accustomed to their automobile settings, but they were so much more simple than what controlled even the most common Neptunian mechanisms that he was easily able to adjust. A vehicle that drove on land was a little weird and a little primitive, but it wasn’t too bad. He turned out to be a fine bus driver, lending itself to his attempt at an inconspicuous image of all but his strength, which could not be concealed. Even his third eye was concealed by a piece of cloth matching his skin tone. To the 190-odd men waiting at Grizzly’s Gym, he was just your average American insanely buff powerhouse, only he was ten times as insanely buff as the most insanely buff man who became so from excessive doses of steroids. Luckily, he was not questioned about this--he was praised.

When he reached Grizzly’s Gym and stepped out of the bus, all of the men clapped and cheered. He waved back. “Hello, everyone,” he boomed with his great voice, waiting for the clapping and cheering to die down. When it did, he continued. “Well, I thank you all for coming out here, and I’m sorry for being late. But, as it turns out, I’ve some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that the filming has been relocated at the last minute.” The Living Strength went on with what the Changer had told him to say, hoping that his partner would show up soon so that he could give whatever reason he was going to give to those who would refuse to come. From the look of things, probably over half of the men wouldn’t want to come, though no oral declarations of this had of yet been made.

Where was the Changer? It couldn’t take that long to dump a bunch of bodies into a forest and head back! As the Living Strength finished up his announcement, having found two willing bus drivers, he saw that many men were beginning to leave, disappointment showing clearly on their faces.

“Wait!” he boomed out while everyone was still within hearing distance. “Nobody leave yet! I have forgotten to tell you the main reason the filming has relocated. My friend, who is bringing the second bus, should be able to explain it to you better than I can. If you all will wait just five minutes, you won’t be sorry! If he should not arrive within that time, I will let you all be free to go. But please, just see what will be so much better about the filming in its new location.”

That intrigued most everyone, though five or six men decided that it wasn’t worth waiting for. Fortunately, they were not disappointed this time, as the Changer showed up about three minutes later in the second bus.

He waved to all the men when we walked out, but when he was near to the Living Strength, he whispered out of the corner of his mouth, “You didn’t tell me that not all of them were dead! With that many to face, you’re lucky I didn’t end up growing large enough to be seen from a distance.”

Strength whispered back, “I am sorry about that, Changer, but it can’t be helped now. What these men want now is your reason for them to stay. Most of them are just about ready to head home if it’s not the best darn thing they’ve ever seen in their lives. It had better be good.”

“It is,” the Changer whispered back.

Then, in a voice loud enough for all to hear, he said, “Who here wants to know why we’ve moved this filming from Creektown to elsewhere?”

A cheer went up in the crowd.

“All right,” the Changer went on, “let me tell you. We’ve got someone who is going to be there that I think you’d all like to meet.” He paused as he took a picture out of his wallet. “Unfortunately, all I have is a wallet-sized picture of her, but if you would be so kind as to just take a glance at her and pass the picture on, I’m sure everyone would appreciate it.” He passed the picture to a man in the front of the crowd, who went goggle-eyed looking at it. If you haven’t guessed by now, it was of the Deceiver.

By the time the vast majority of the crowd had seen it (though some had been reluctant to relinquish such a photo), the Changer cleared his throat and made an announcement. “This lady, who is indisputably the most beautiful woman you have ever seen, is going to be at the new location. Not only that, but she is going to pose with every man who shows up--in a bikini.”

Deafening screams rose up from the crowd. Those few who hadn’t yet had a chance to see the picture were violently trying to snatch it away from whoever had it.

“All right!” the Living Strength’s voice arose into the tumult and quickly died out. A noise motivated by the beauty of the Deceiver did not easily die down. However, the Living Strength sucked a large amount of air into his lungs and yelled as powerfully as he could, “ALL RIGHT!!!”

This time, the men turned to face the powerhouse who had uttered such a mighty roar. “Okay, men. We’re going to be taking four buses, as I stated earlier. The buses are made to accommodate 52, so as many people as will fit can go ahead and hop on the buses that are already here. Now, the two that I designated as bus drivers can go with my friend here right up to the bus station. He’ll show you which buses are ours.”

Without further adieu, the men came rushing as one to the two open buses, quickly filling both up. Many ended up coming back out, as the two buses present only accommodated a little over half of them. Of course, there was plenty of room for everybody when the two other buses came rolling into the parking lot. Once everyone was situated (without heed to the fact that they hadn’t been monetarily recompensed because of all the excitement of what was to come), the four buses set off, the three in the back following the bus driven by the Changer, who was the only one who knew both where they were going and how to get there.

So the journey began.

After about five minutes of excitement and anticipation, Bartholomew Kroozi’s car became a place of doubt and skepticism.

“Kroozi, if you don’t mind me asking this, how--” Teddy began timidly.

Eddie interrupted him in midsentence. “Teddy, if you’re going to say something, say it right. Kroozi, how the heck are we going to find the aliens’ hideout with no freaking hint of a trail?”

Kroozi grinned at the boy’s candor. “Well, I’ll start with this. Where did you first see Ellith, and from what direction was she coming from?” The car had come to a stop as Kroozi waited for some general direction in which he should take them.

“It was near the ruins of CMS. Can’t remember the direction she was coming from,” said Eddie.

“I believe it was from the north,” said Teddy.

“Well, that means she probably came down Promontory,” Kroozi said, half to himself. “She could have come down my street, but I would have seen her. There are a few others streets that branch off from that road, but that branches off from Main Street. More than likely, that’s where she came from. Which means she could have come from anywhere in Creektown!” The man slammed his head into the steering wheel a few times after that realization.

Teddy nodded. “Yeah...”

Eddie didn’t agree quite so easily. “But she must live close by. I mean, she didn’t have a car! She couldn’t exactly walk from one side of town to the other and back!”

“Well, with her physique, she probably could,” said Kroozi, now sitting upright and rubbing his head.

“And that other guy could have easily given her a ride,” said Teddy.

Eddie tried to think of a disproof, but after coming up with nothing, responded with a squeaky “I don’t care”.

“Well,” said Kroozi, “we now have absolutely no trail to follow. The only thing we really have is knowledge of the Deceiver’s appearance. Wherever she has been is sure to have people who noticed her--everyone does. But would that be sufficient information to comprise a path leading back to her journey’s point of origin? That is what we must decide.”

Eddie shrugged. “Well, I don’t have a clue if it’ll be good enough, but it’s all we’ve got to work with right now. It’s that or give up.”

“Good point,” said Kroozi. “Yes, I suppose we might as well go.”

“All right,” said the pliable Teddy, “let’s get rollin’! Kroozi, why don’t you go ahead and turn that ignition, my man!”

Kroozi did not. “Teddy, I’m sorry to disappoint you, but this job has no need for a car. In fact, such a mode of transportation would only hinder it. To talk to people one-on-one, face-to-face, the best thing to do is to travel on foot. Therefore, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

Eddie opened his door, walked out of the car, and closed it behind him. Kroozi followed suit soon after, and Teddy joined them just a tad later. Leaving the car parked on the side of Promontory Road, the three of them walked up to Main Street.

The first person they interrogated was a vendor of snacks and beverages who was sitting on a chair planted on the sidewalk with a very large bag in front of him and a board containing a list of food and drink choices clenched in his hands by the bottom.

“Hello, sir,” Kroozi said to him. “You wouldn’t have happened to see a woman of incomparable beauty walking down the street today, would you have? Long brown hair, green cloak, very long fingernails? I could show you a picture for clarification if you need it.”

“Maybe I did, and maybe I didn’t,” the vendor replied. “Can’t seem to recall. But if you buy a little somethin’, my memory may just come back.” He winked at Kroozi.

The scientist/inventor rolled his eyes, but he looked on the menu board for something to buy. It was nearly dusk, so he didn’t guess anyone was dying for a cold drink. “I’ll take two bags of potato chips for these guys here,” he said after a bit.

“What kind of potato chips would you like, sir?” the vendor asked.

Eddie and Teddy tried to yell out their favorite kinds, but Kroozi didn’t acknowledge their cries. “Surprise me,” he said, beginning to run out of patience.

“All right,” the vendor replied. “but what will you get for yourself?”

Kroozi waved his words away with his hand. “Oh, I’ll be fine.”

The vendor smiled pleasantly at Kroozi. “Sir, I’m not quite sure you heard me correctly. I said, what would you like for yourself?”

Kroozi sighed. The man was annoyingly persistent. “Fine, I’ll take a bottle of water. Are you happy now?”

The vendor smiled again. “As long as you are, sir! Now, let’s see...two bags of potato chips, one dollar each...bottled water, two dollars. Add the sales tax...five dollars, please!”

Kroozi grumbled to himself as he took out his wallet. “Five dollars...that’s outrageous!” He did hand the vendor a five dollar bill without incident, however, and the vendor, still beaming, handed him a paper bag with two small bags of pickle-flavored chips and a bottle of water.

“All right, now, the information,” said Kroozi angrily.

“Ah, yes,” said the vendor. “I remember the woman. Tried to sell her some of my goods, in fact. She came from my left and kept going in that direction as far as I could see. Now, you gentleman have a nice girl hunt this evening. I only wish I could join you, but alas, I must distribute my wares for yet a few more hours. Good-bye now.”

Kroozi stared at the man when he referred to their quest as a girl hunt, but he controlled himself and stalked off without comment. He led the trio north, the direction the vendor told them the Deceiver had come from. Kroozi interrogated anyone he found along the way who looked like they may have been there for several hours. Eventually, with the sun long down and all three of them bone weary, they found themselves standing in front of a building that read ‘Creektown Central Apartment Complex’. Two people had told them that they had seen the Deceiver emerge from it.

“This had better be it,” Kroozi muttered. Teddy and Eddie were too tired to say anything; they just followed behind Kroozi like silent specters. The exhausted scientist tried to open one of the doors, but it was locked. “What the heck?” he yelled to no one in particular. “Why won’t it open?”

Teddy blinked a couple of times, his eyes barely open, before he spoke. “I think that’s someone’s apartment,” he said. “Apartment complexes aren’t like hotels--you can’t just waltz right in no matter who you are.”

Eddie shook his head. “Wait a minute, Teddy. I thought...I thought most of them had lobbies like hotels. How else would you get in if you had an apartment upstairs? You’re just going to go through someone else’s apartment every time?”

Kroozi planted a shaking hand on one of each of the boys’ shoulders. “Look, fellas--I don’t know what the deal is, but it’s late. Let’s see if we can muster enough energy to walk back to my car and take a short drive to my house. We can come back here in the morning when we’re all fresh and the sun is shining down on us. Come on, guys. Just a few more minutes, and we can sleep. As long as your parents haven’t organized a search party for you.” And Kroozi let out a long, agonized groan. “They probably have. But, we can worry about all that in the morning. For now, let’s get a move on.” And Kroozi led the way back down Main Street from the apartment complex.

They had been trekking on perseveringly for a half hour when Eddie announced an observation. “Hey, this road doesn’t seem too familiar. Not Promontory, is it?”

Nobody knew, so Kroozi opted to check the next time they came to a crossroads. When they did, he saw that they were on Almond Lane, and announced his findings to the boys.

Eddie groaned, fell to his knees, and rested his head on his arms, which he rested on the ground. “We’re never going to make it back. I think I’ll just sleep here...” And the lad sprawled himself out on the gravel on the side of the road.

“No need,” said Kroozi. Then, after a loud, long yawn, he said, “I’ve got an old friend who lives on this road. If we’ve any luck at all, we should be able to spend the night with him. Who knows, maybe he’ll even decide to help us track down Little Miss Ellith and her accomplice--”

“I rather think she’s the accomplice,” Eddie said, interspersed with several yawns. Slowly, he got up from his rough bed of gravel. “But whatever the case, I’d rather sleep in a warm...house than the cold outdoors. Let’s find this dude’s house.”

Kroozi smiled weakly. “Thought you would comply. Come on, Teddy.” For Teddy had sat down while Eddie and Kroozi were conversing. The boy made an inarticulate sound and rose with an effort, much as Eddie had just done. Resolutely, the trio stumbled down the lane, failing eyes peeled for house number 385, as Kroozi thought he remembered it was. Luckily, it was in the same direction they had been going in, especially since they probably wouldn’t have realized they were getting farther and farther from it if they were going the wrong way, such was the state of their minds by this point.

“385,” said Eddie after a time, followed by much blinking and wiping his hand across his face and hair. Bone weary, he stumbled into the yard, not even looking to see if Kroozi and Teddy had heard or followed him, though they had. The three people, stumbling so much they could have been drunk, eventually made it to the door. Eddie rapped halfheartedly upon it with his fist a few times. After a few minutes with no response, the boy struck blindly at the door in random spots. This time, he heard footsteps, and a fairly tall, burly, bald man answered the door.

“What do you want?” he asked Eddie, obviously not in a good mood (and I can’t say I blame him, given the outrageous hour).

Kroozi feebly pushed Eddie aside. “Lily, we’re tired, and we can’t find my house stumbling around in full dark. Would you mind if we stay the night here? I’ll tell you about the lads and the whole bit about what’s got us into this position--in the morning. For now, we would like sleep more than anything in the world. Please?”

Lily (as Kroozi had addressed him) nodded. “All right. For you, I’ll do it, Kroozi. Though I do have another person over tonight, too, you can sleep wherever you can find room. I am intrigued to hear what’s been going on with you lately. I’ve got some stories of my own. But, as you said--in the morning. I’m not feeling so vigorous myself.” Then, Lily stood to the side, and Kroozi, Eddie, and Teddy instantly began making their way in. Eddie fell asleep on the first carpet he found, Teddy on a couch in the same room. Kroozi waited until he found a spare room with a stack of cushions lining one wall, then was out on the very top before you could blink.

Lily smiled at their alacrity to sleep. He, in fact, decided almost immediately to follow their example, and soon was in his own bed, his body quickly approaching a state of sleep. His other house guest had been asleep nearly an hour now, having retired on a spare mattress in the kitchen. Now, the whole house was silent, everyone but Lily fast asleep, and he close to it. All the cares and the worries of the world would just have to wait until morning.

And, God be thanked, most of them did--all save one, in fact. Kroozi’s massive pile of cushions toppled onto the hard cement floor, only one cushion saving the man from a probable hospital visit and a possible death. Luckily, no one woke up from the noise (or, at least, no one got up), and Kroozi wisely decided to stay on only one cushion for the remainder of the night.

In the morning, around eight o’clock, Lily woke everyone for breakfast and a long discussion. Some members were more reluctant to comply than others, but everyone was sitting at the breakfast table by 8:20. Lily was no master chef, but he had bought a dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme, for which everyone was grateful, and he also had a half-full box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch up for grabs. By the time everyone had a doughnut in his hand, Lily began asking Kroozi about his recent goings-on.

“So, Kroozi, I am certainly intrigued to know how you came out this way on foot with two lads. What HAS been going on? More aliens?”

Kroozi grinned. “How’d you guess?”

Lily grinned back. “Isn’t it always?”

Kroozi shrugged his shoulders. “I suppose it is. In fact, it’s about an alien I discovered several years back. Do you remember when I was in Scotland--”

“Ellith MacDonald?” Lily interrupted. “She’s in the states?”

Kroozi smiled and shook his head. “We know each other too well, old chum. Yes, Ellith MacDonald is in the states--and these two lads were the ones that found her. Or rather, I believe, she found them. Isn’t that what you said, guys?”

Teddy and Eddie both nodded, their mouths full of food.

Lily goggled at him. “Really? Right here in Creektown? That’s either a mighty coincidence, or...you think she might have come to get you out of the way, Kroozi? Perhaps she tracked you down after all these years. I’m sure she wasn’t happy that she made such a mistake...”

Kroozi shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. Couldn’t really say. But I’m not sure that the Deceiver--that’s what she’s calling herself now--did it by mistake. She seems just a little too strong. Of course, a combination of overconfidence and heavily taxed strength could have caused her to make an error...she did seem rather fatigued when I talked to her. But then, I don’t know. I just don’t know. She does have some extraterrestrial powers, though, of the deceptive type. That’s why she calls herself the Deceiver. She also has a load of physical strength, from what these guys have told me. The muscles I saw firsthand, which led me to believe all that was told me about her fighting prowess. Surely she has ambitions of takeover--but she’s not alone. There is at least one other.”

Lily was fixated on his words, trying to take everything his friend was saying in. “Wow, that’s news, Kroozi. That’s real news. You think this could become a worldwide crisis? I’m asking that in all seriousness.”

“And why shouldn’t you? I think that it could be. In fact, I think it’s probable that it will be. The Deceiver herself certainly has enough power to make it become one, and we have no clue how much power her associate or associates have. For all we know they could possess even greater abilities. That being the case, the boys and I acted as quickly as possible, and tracked the Deceiver to what we’re fairly sure is her apartment complex, Creektown Central. Other than being extremely dangerous, she also kidnapped one of the boys’ friends, a girl--Patty, I believe. That’s where we were coming back from last night, actually: Creektown Central.”

Lily’s friend, who hadn’t said a word the whole morning, now spoke up. He looked to be in his twenties, and had a scraggly “haven’t shaven or brushed my hair in weeks” kind of look. “I think I know who you’re talking about. I moved out of Creektown Central about a week ago. They live somewhere on the third floor, if it’s who I think it is. It was only a few doors down from my old rooms...I could prob’ly remember where it is if I go back. Oh, by the way, the name’s Eric. Eric Grey. Well, I believe we’ve met before, Kroozi, but these guys prob’ly don’t know me. What are your names, by the way? Don’t believe I caught them.”

“Teddy,” said Teddy, “and he’s Eddie.”

Eric nodded. “Teddy and Eddie. Cool, cool. Anyway--” (he paused as he stuffed half a doughnut in his mouth) “--I think I’ve got a good pretense under which I could get back into the apartment without arousing a lot of suspicion.”

“Does everyone have to be a scholar around here?” said Teddy to no one in particular. “Not all of us have as big a vocabulary as an English professor.”

Eric smiled. “Well, some of us have to have vocabularies as large as those of English professors--those of us who are English professors. Or an English teacher, anyway. At Creektown High. Well, I was. I moved in with my buddy Lily here, as he likes to be called, because I got fired and I couldn’t pay my rent.”

“Fired? Why?” asked Eddie rather rudely.

“Ah, bringing a broadsword onto school grounds. I was going to use it as an illustrational tool during our unit on medieval literature...but so be it. But so be it.”

“You were fired for one breach of the rules?” Eddie asked, despite the man’s obvious reluctance to speak of the subject.

“No, actually. It was for several breaches of the rules over a prolonged period of time. The principal told me at that point that that was the last straw. I was fired on the spot. You got a problem with that?” he ended with, getting somewhat worked up.

Eddie nodded, even though Teddy, Lily, and Kroozi were vigorously shaking their heads and kicking him in the legs. “Yeah, I do. I don’t like rulebreakers, and neither does God. I think he’s mighty disappointed in you,” he said, ignoring the numerous kicks he was receiving.

Eric was irate. He stood. “Kroozi, can I kill this kid? Please? Tell me you wouldn’t mind.”

Lily intervened, shaking his head. “Eric, be reasonable. He doesn’t mean any harm. It’s obvious the boy doesn’t have any common sense. Cut ‘im a little slack.”

Kroozi spoke up at that point. “You were telling us how you could get into the apartment complex without making a big deal of it.”

Eric sat, gave Eddie a wary glare, and continued. “Yes, I could. I think I could get away with telling the secretary I left a few bags in my old room and that I needed to collect them. Then I could prob’ly remember where that alien room is, and you guys could go back and rescue your friend--or I could do it on the spot. Your choice, of course. It would be easier for me to get in alone--but then there’s the problem of her screaming because she doesn’t recognize me, and all the complications that go along with that...so I’ll leave it up to whoever it is that wants her out.”

Kroozi smiled amiably. “Thank you for being such a reasonable man, Eric. You have my gratitude.”

Eric rolled his eyes. “Yeah, just make up your mind already. I’ve got a few errands to run in a minute here, and I may as well make this free the captive thing one of them.”

“I’ll go!” Eddie exclaimed with his wonted alacrity.

“I’m definitely going,” said Teddy. “Definitely.”

“Well, that’s settled then, Eric,” Kroozi said before the man he addressed could put a word in. “You left it up to whoever wants the girl out, which would be Teddy and Eddie. They decided they would go with you, so they’re going with you--if you want to be known as a man true to your word.”

Eric clamped his jaw and exhaled loudly. “Get into the back of the beige station wagon parked outside. Don’t touch anything but what you need to.” Without another word, Eric stomped out of the kitchen, opened the front door, and slammed it behind him. Eddie reopened the door a moment later, and he and Teddy left the house. Kroozi couldn’t help but smile.

“So, your new roommate’s got some anger issues, eh?” he asked Lily.

The man shrugged. “Eh, I think you’d find you would, too, if someone provoked you that much. That Eddie really doesn’t know when to stop...though in all actuality, I’d have to say that he was in the right. He’s just completely without tact.”

Kroozi smiled as he did so frequently. “That’s Eddie for you. While he is a wholly tactless lad, I have found him to be more honest and more perseverant than most other people are. He’s not a bad kid, overall.”

Lily nodded. “Never said he was. However, the way he’s going, he’s not going to stay out of trouble by any means.”

Kroozi shrugged and smiled. “Well, that’s life.”

Lily shook his head and couldn’t help but smile back. “Kroozi, we have too much in common, old buddy.”

“Well, hopefully we’ll never have everything in common,” was Kroozi’s reply.

Lily shot him a questioning glance. “Why do you say that?”

Kroozi shrugged. “Eh, no reason, really. I just can’t picture myself as a bald old man with a girl’s name.”

Lily socked him in the stomach. “I’m two years younger than you. Two years younger, Bartholomew Loren.”

Kroozi, provoked to outrage, instantly kicked him in the nuts.

While two thirty-something men acted like middle-schoolers at Lily’s house, Eric and the boys made their way to Eric’s first destination.

“You won’t go with me anywhere but to the apartment complex,” Eric said as soon as he began driving, “and you’ll be in the car every time I get to it; otherwise, I’m leaving you wherever you are and skipping the apartment complex girl completely.” He didn’t leave it up for question, he simply stated it. This made Teddy and Eddie more compliant with his will. When Eric reached Wal-Mart, they stayed seated, even silent. When he entered Mattress Warehouse, they were basically statuesque. When he went to the Home Depot, they were the same until Eddie noticed him standing outside.

“Teddy,” he said, “you see him over there? Who’s that chick he’s talking to?”

Before even bothering to look, Teddy groaned. “Oh, no. It’s...not the Deceiver, is it? I don’t even want to ask.”

Eddie shook his head. “Nah, don’t worry, it’s not. Unless she dyed her hair...’cause this chick’s is red. But no. She’s shorter and a tad more chubby than the Deceiver. It’s prob’ly Eric’s girlfriend or somethin’.” He turned his head from the window.

After scrutinizing her, Teddy nodded in concurrence. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

No less than ten minutes, a passionate hug and a quick kiss later, Eric returned to the car.

“Nice babe, man,” Eddie told him.

“Thank you,” Eric replied politely.

“You’re welcome. In fact, she looks a lot like Patty, just a little bit fatter.”

Eric instantly became irate, taking great offense at the comment. “WHAT? First you tell me everything I’m doing wrong, then you call my girlfriend freaking FAT?!? Teddy, you’ll punch him for me, or I’m throwing you both on the side of the road. And make it a good punch, not a little wussy one.”

Teddy obediently launched his fist towards Eddie’s gut, but Eddie successfully grabbed and twisted the boy’s wrist before it came within three inches of him.

“You’re not going to touch me,” Eddie growled, “if it has anything to do with Patty, at all.”

Teddy cleared his throat. “Uh, Eric...”

The man dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand. “Ah, what the heck. I’ll kill him later. I guess I’ll figure out a way to tolerate him a little bit more.”

Silence continued in the back as it had for most of the trip. It was Eric who broke it a few minutes later. “All right, guys. The next stop is Creektown Central. Here’s how it’s gonna go down. We go into the lobby, I tell the petulant secretary what we’re doing here, and hopefully make it past uneventfully. If there’s trouble, I silence her with a quick jab to the back of the neck and we move up two flights of stairs. From the third floor, I should be able to recall which room the aliens are in, and hopefully rescue your friend, or if not at least get us in a good position to rescue her whenever she arrives. Oh, and if the secretary asks, you’re two of my friends who are helping me beat some game--Super Mario Bros. or somethin’. That’s probably the only legitimate reason I’d have you over short of aliens. Anyway, are we clear on this?”

“What are we going to do if we see the Deceiver?” Eddie asked.

“I shoot her in the head with my revolver,” Eric replied coolly, taking the object out of his coat and showing it to the boys. “We’re very lucky that Creektown Central doesn’t have a metal detector. Anyway, any other questions?” he asked.

Silence reigned once again in the back seat. Eddie shook his head vigorously.

“All right,” said Eric. “We should be arriving in about a minute. Try not to do anything stupid. Eddie, try not to speak unless spoken to, and then only addressing the topic asked about, with no additions and as few adjectives as possible. If either of you get us in any trouble, I will swear a personal vendetta on you. Remember my instructions, and follow them as closely as possible. I will knock on the door of the aliens’ room, with you standing behind me. I will do the talking when we’re in the lobby area. I will lead and you two will follow the entire time. That should just about cover things. Just in time, too; here comes Creektown Central--or, rather, here we go.”

Eric pulled into the parking lot, parking his car in the closest visitor space to the emergency fire staircase available, as there might very likely be need for a speedy escape. The professionalism with which the car’s three passengers open its doors, emerged from it, and closed them again was hard to match--Teddy and Eddie because they so desperately desired Patty free and with them that they used the utmost caution, and Eric because he really knew what he was doing.

The trio walked through the parking lot to the front entrance. Eric opened the front door and walked in, Teddy and Eddie trailing behind him as they had been told to do.

“Hello, Miss Larson,” he said to the secretary. “I’m just coming back here to get the last few things I left in my old room.”

The secretary, Miss Larson, glared at him. “Why didn’t you tell me beforehand that you were leaving a few things behind? And why didn’t you bring everything? You obviously weren’t lacking for space in your car.”

Eric faked an embarrassed smile. “Well, you see, Miss Larson, the truth is I forgot a few things, and the new tenant called me up and told me about them.”

Miss Larson sighed. “I’ll never get rid of you, will I, Eric? Fine, go get your things, but don’t you loiter in this apartment building, you hear me? I had to put up with more than my share of you around here when you lived here! Now go on and get your things!”

Eric smiled at her and ran up the steps, followed silently by the boys. When they reached the third floor, Eric walked to a door marked 323. He looked around, then stood still for several seconds, deep in thought. Subsequently, he announced in a low voice, “I think I know which room the aliens are staying in.”

“Well, let’s go,” replied Teddy at about the same volume.

Eric nodded and led them slightly further down the hall to room 330. He knocked on the door three times and waited for about a minute for someone to open it. When no one did, he knocked three more times, slightly louder than the first three, and waited for another minute or so.

“Well, I don’t think any of the aliens are around,” he whispered to Teddy and Eddie, “but we’ll just take a look around after I pick the lock.”

After saying this, Eric took a hairpin out of his coat pocket, pushed it into the keyhole, and turned. When he pushed the knob forward, the door opened. He gave a little chuckle. “Heh. The aliens didn’t even bother to put any kind of security system around their apartment rooms. This is too easy.”

“You sound like you’ve done this kind of thing before,” Eddie observed.

Eric coughed once, closed the door (now that they were all within area 330 of the apartment complex) and walked farther into the room without otherwise responding to the lad’s comment. “One of you turn on the lights,” he said shortly. “There should be a switch near the door.”

The lights came on within a few moments, and Teddy, who had been the one to turn them on, moved away from the light switch and followed Eric and Eddie, who had progressed several feet into the main room.

“All right,” said Eric. “Before we jump to any conclusions, I suggest we look around to see if your friend Patty’s being held in any of the rooms. If the aliens had a mission of some sort, they may have left Patty tied up and gagged here to keep her from hindering them in some way out in public. However, I don’t want you two to split off from me--first of all, if one of us finds her and there’s trouble, it would be hard to find each other instantly, and second of all, I don’t want to cause any unnecessary noise--so I’m going to do all the searching. You two just continue to follow me.”

Eric treaded silently into the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, and finally the spare room, where he found Patty not only tied up and gagged as he had surmised, but also drugged, as she wouldn’t have the slightest chance of escaping without being conscious.

“That’s her! That’s Patty!” Eddie ecstatically exclaimed far louder than he should have.

Eric glared at him sharply. “Shut up!” he hissed. “Do you want the whole freaking floor to hear us?”

Within fifteen seconds, a knock came to the door of apartment 330. “Is everything all right, in there, Miss MacDonald?” a voice asked.

“Great!” Eric muttered. “All right, we’ve got to get out of here, fast. Let me grab the girl, and--”

“No,” said Eddie, “I’ll take her.”

Eric stared at him. “All right, fine. We don’t have time to argue. You take the girl, and--you think you could land a jump from the window?”

“I’ll try,” Eddie offered, clutching Patty in his arms.

Eric shook his head. “No, stupid question. We’re almost 25 feet up in the air. With the girl in your arms, you’d never survive the fall. But that’s Jenna Liers at the door, and if I know that old hag as well as I think, she’s not going to go away until she gets an answer face-to-face with Ellith MacDonald, AKA the Deceiver, I guess. I don’t see another way out short of shooting the lady in the head--”

“Do it,” Eddie interrupted.

“Eddie!” exclaimed an appalled Teddy.

“Miss MacDonald?” old Miss Liers asked again. “Is there anything wrong?”

Eric sighed the sigh of a perplexed individual. “Well, I don’t want to shoot her, so...maybe I could just push her out of the way and we could make a run for the fire staircase. It’s not too far, and, as always, you two would just have to follow me.”

“Let’s go!” Eddie yelled.

Eric winced. “Well, no better time than the present, I suppose.” And with that, the man dashed to the door, turned the knob, shoved a startled Miss Liers out of his way, dashed to the right, pulled open the door to the fire staircase and bolted with all his might. Teddy and Eddie trailed close behind him, the latter little more than a hairsbreadth from running abreast with him.

This did them a great good within the complex walls; speed was of the essence. However, when they reached the steeply descending staircase at such speeds, all became chaos. Eddie scared the crap out of Eric and Teddy by continuing to sprint until he was at the very last step, and then he leapt, falling heavily upon the second floor landing ten steps below.

Eric and Teddy rushed down to him, Eric’s mind screaming out, “YOU MANIAC! YOU MANIAC!”, but he himself unwilling to say anything aloud for fear of discovery.

Eddie recovered from the fall rather quickly, Patty still in his arms, and cleared the flight of steps leading down to the ground in two smaller jumps, as he had not had a running start. Amazingly, he landed every jump perfectly, even the one he landed on a none-too-large step. Of course, this was probably all due to the fact that having Patty in his arms made him proceed with extreme caution and strategy, but it was still rather amazing to look upon.

At any rate, Eddie bolted to the car not far off, as did Eric and Teddy once they made it. As quickly as he could, Eric opened his door, which he had left unlocked, and motioned for the boys to do likewise. He pulled out his key, drove it into the ignition and turned, almost in one fluid motion. Instantaneously, he grabbed the steering wheel, slammed his foot down on the gas and turned appropriately. In this manner, they managed to make it back to Lily’s house in about three minutes.

Still breathless, the three emerged from the car, Patty still in Eddie’s arms, and trotted to Lily’s front door, which Eric knocked on thrice.

“It’s unlocked!” Lily’s voice called, sounding a little under the weather.

Eric grunted, turned the knob, pushed the door open, and entered through it, Teddy, Eddie, and Patty following his example soon after.

Eric immediately trudged to the couch, his head down, and collapsed on it. “We did it,” he muttered.

A hand from his right went around his side. Eric’s anger was aroused. “All right guys, get off,” he snapped, smacking the hand that was holding him. Then his expression changed from one of anger to one of alarm. The hand he touched was not the rough, hairy one of a man, but the smooth, elegant one of a lady. Turning to face the culprit, he prepared for the worst, fully expecting to look into the eyes of the Deceiver. His guess was not far off.

prev chapter