Battlefield (6 page)

Alan was nearby, standing and observing the students with great interest. Orlando glanced up and saw the Peyton boy walking with the Tait girl. Typical, of course the all-American jock would date the perfect cheerleader.
Gag me.
It was like they had been pulled out of some old fifties sitcom.

Peyton and he made eye contact, and the other guy actually waved, and then glared at Tait when she said something to him. He walked over to Orlando and took a seat at the table across from him.

“Yes? What can I do for you?” Orlando asked, looking up from his drawings.

“Nothing, I just want to sit here. I mean, if that's okay because I don't want to intrude on your personal bubble or anything,” Peyton said.

He closed his notebook and gave Peyton his full attention. “You're not. Am I going to be playing third wheel or is she sitting elsewhere?” He stared at Tait with a raised eyebrow.

She rolled her eyes. “Third wheel? Ew, no. Peyton's my twin brother. You're not on much of a winning streak right now, are you?” She sat down in the seat between the two boys.

Orlando offered her the most sarcastic and large grin he could fit onto his face. “I've got a higher score than you, Ra-Ra Barbie.”

“I take it you two have met,” Peyton said as he watched the exchange between the two. It was clear he couldn't tell if he should be sticking up for his sister, or laughing at her. Finally deciding on laughing, he started to work through his lunch. “Ra-Ra Barbie, I'm going to have to remember that one.”

Tait threw one of her French fries at her brother and another at Orlando. Peyton ate his; he, on the other hand, took the fry and sniffed it.

“What? Have you never seen a French fry before?” she asked.

“Is it really French? Your educational system is more cultured than I thought,” Alan said, once more reminding Orlando of his presence. It took everything within him to not reply to the alien and remember that he was invisible.
If I keep ignoring him, he'll go away.

He tossed the fry back at the alien so he could play with it if he so chose. “Nope, never. I live under a rock obviously.”

“Hey, you know what?” Peyton interjected quickly. “You should come to the football game tonight.”

He raised an eyebrow, trying to decide if this guy was serious or not. “You want me to come to a game?”

In the past, he'd always idolized the football team. Growing up, they were the coolest guys he could ever aspire to be. He'd been fairly decent at it in middle school even, and upon making the JV team his freshman year at Morningtide, he'd learned more than he ever wanted to about the team. Still, he enjoyed the sport. It'd be a good chance for him to go out and maybe even live a little.

“Sure, why not? We usually check out this shop called Nan's afterwards. They've got awesome malts and pie. It'd be a good chance for you to get to know some more people.” The smile on Peyton's face suggested he was being genuine enough, but that didn't change one minor detail about Orlando's current situation.

“I'm supposed to be grounded. Who knows though, maybe she'll be so shocked I actually want to go that I'll be allowed out of the house,” he said.

“Mom got you on a tight leash?”

“Yeah, something like that. So you might see me there, you might not. I'm not going to make any promises.” He shifted in his seat, glad the whole school didn't know everything about him. It was too soon for the grapevine to know details about his home life.

“I won't hold my breath,” Tait said.

Just for that, he had to find a way to come and prove her wrong, or he felt like he had to for some reason. He wasn't sure why, but he was determined not to meet whatever mental image she had of him. Sneaking out wouldn't be hard to do. Lyssa would never notice he was gone. She barely noticed when he was there.

Alan added more of his own commentary. “Wouldn't it be wise to join your comrades tonight if you are able to leave? You do have a task to perform. Wait, ask if this...game...is going to be played here?”

This was a question he didn't mind asking for his alien boss. “Is it a home game?”

“Yup, just make something up. I mean, you gotta mesh and meet people here. They can't punish you forever,” Peyton said.

“I like the way you think,” Orlando said with a small laugh. Was he actually cracking out of his shell? This Peyton kid was good at getting him to relax and drop his guard.

“If you bust out, I'll buy you pie. I imagine your house is like Fort Knox. I mean, if you can believe everything you hear,” Tait added.

“Yeah, I've got about five dogs set to kill,” he said.

“Itty bitty miniature poodles that fit in a purse, right?”

“It saves money on paying for a bodyguard.”

“Cute. Well, if I see you, I see you. If not, there's always Monday.” She gave the boys a soft, playful salute before picking up her lunch and leaving the table. She went around the room on what Orlando could only assume was official cheerleader business because she stopped wherever there was another girl in uniform.

Peyton watched his twin sister leave and then shook his head. “No comment, man, so—” He started to ramble on about something, but whatever it was Orlando missed completely because Alan started to talk over him, and loudly. It was like his voice was projecting right into Orlando's head with every word he spoke, and it was headache-inducing.

“I am sensing something strange here. It's familiar. I need to investigate this, but I will find you later tonight to help you with your infiltration at this...” he paused. “Game, football, yes? I will find you then.” He frowned when he didn't get a response from Orlando. “Do you understand what is going on?”

Orlando managed a slight nod, trying to make it match in time with whatever Peyton was going on about. He gave a weak smile. “I gotta get going to my next class. Sorry, we'll continue talking about this later.” He gave Alan a glance, trying to find a way to communicate that he knew and heard everything. His want to “infiltrate”, however, wasn't there. That sounded hostile, dangerous, and a little scary. Why couldn't he just go to a football game and enjoy it, and what he saw was what he saw?

Three hours later and he was finally home. He let the door close loudly behind him. Lyssa would still be at work, and he would be alone. He could get away with anything for the next couple of hours. One of the cats wandered by to check out the noise, and he bent over to pick up the enormous orange-and-white fluffball, carrying him into the den.

“Jimmy, how nice of you to come out and say hi.” The cat meowed at him. “Good to see you too. How are you today?” The animal struggled in his grasp the second he sat down on the white leather loveseat. “No, Jimmy. It's time for some cuddling. Your brother had a long day today and needs a hug.” This earned him back claws in his arm. “Ow! Jimmy!” He scowled and dropped the cat onto the floor again and watched him run away.

The phone rang while he nursed his wound. “My first day was fine, Lyssa. Go enjoy your break,” he said as he washed off the blood on his arm.

“What'd you learn?”

“That our house is bigger than my new school?”

“Anything else?”

He sighed. “Mas palabras en mi clase de Espanol?”

“Are the kids nice?”

“Sure, I'm totally BFFL with the quarterback of the football team, and I'm pretty sure his hot, twin sister, who's probably the head cheerleader, hates my guts. Drama, let me tell you.” He wanted to add: and I found out that my school is the headquarters for an evil alien tribe that's trying to wage war here on Earth. “You know, the usual. Oh, and I'm totally popular. I got checked out by a lot of underclassmen.”

“Sounds like you had an eventful day then,” Lyssa teased. “I'm glad you're adjusting so well. Now, I don't want you to flip out or anything, but I'm not going to be coming home right away after work.”

How convenient. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I actually might be in kind of late.” She was hesitating. He knew instantly what she was going to say. “I kind of have a date with a co-worker tonight.”

“Oh?” She hadn't had a date since high school, and that was five years ago, and because his parents weren't around to look after her, give her a hard time, and make sure the guy she was seeing was worthwhile, that meant it was his job.

“And I don't even get to meet him first? Lyssa!”

“Because I know you'd grill him to the point of no return, and I'd like at least one pleasant date first.”

“Fine, but if you're not home before midnight—”

“We're just going to a movie, all right? Then maybe some dessert.”

“And you mean actual dessert, right? Like ice cream or cake? Not lacy thongs and kinky whipped cream time?”

“Orly, really!”

“I just want to make sure he doesn't violate you.”

“He wouldn't be violating me, thank you very much.”

“Well, I don't want you to be easy either.”

“I'm not a—. I have no intentions of letting him touch me tonight all right? See, this is why I didn't want to tell you in the first place. You're freaking out on me.”

“Well, someone has to make sure you stay closed for business.”

“I'll be home later. That's all I have to say about it, and there's nothing you can do about it either.”

“Fine, whatever, bye.” He hung up the phone before she could say another word. On a positive note, now he didn't feel so guilty about breaking out tonight.

 

Alan felt bad for lying, but he knew Orlando would not have understood the real reason behind why he had come to his place of education, if one could call it that. The curriculum was false and subdued for the age of its students, and there was no instructional equipment to be found. What made sitting in a desk all day profitable for a young mind?

Orlando did not seem to be well-versed when it came to matters of the heart, which was the reason Alan was there. His betrothed was inside, somewhere, hidden amongst its walls, or maybe underground. While his mission to help the Earth people was important, he felt a lot more devoted to finding her and bringing her back home again.

Once there, he could get her protection from her tribe. She was a member of the Blue Tribe, the enemy, but their engagement could be enough to get her asylum in his country. And he needed to do this before she became too involved in her home's dirty dealings. Nothing might be able to save her then.

There were tunnels under the school just like there were under the town where his recruits lived. It couldn't have been a coincidence, not that Alan believed in that sort of thing anyway, but the tunnels littered through this area were there for a reason. He wasn't even convinced the Earth humans had made them.

There was artificial light guiding him through the underground maze. They were complex, and there were signs that offered directions with addresses and building names, but they didn't mean much of anything to him. He didn't know what Northtown Mall meant, or what the YMCA was. It was stupid of him to go into a place he was unfamiliar with. He only had one tool to guide him, and it glowed brighter and brighter as he got nearer to his fiancée. He subconsciously rubbed the bright blue and glowing bracelet he wore on his right wrist.

As it grew brighter, he began to hear voices, and he slowed his pace. The tunnel was climbing, which meant he was coming to an exit. Approaching the open door, he peeked around the doorway. A storage room of sorts, most of the tunnels seemed to be connected to those, though this was larger than the one at the school. There were a few boxes and lots of supplies.

“I don't have to give you anything, human.” Alan recognized the voice immediately. It was her.

“That was part of the deal. See, I give you what you want, and you're supposed to give me the things I need to do my work. If you don't, then I tell my superiors, who are actually your superiors, and then you get into trouble. Not the other way around, so don't even try the ‘high and mighty' attitude with me. I don't care what planet you come from,” the young man she was talking to snapped back. He had a green aura around him. If he hadn't been the charge of another tribe, she would have turned him into toast. Alan could never forget her fiery temper.

“I don't have it, so I guess you're out of luck.”

“No, Alona. You're the one who's out of luck. Now, I'm a pretty patient person, so I'm going to give you until the end of the weekend to do this for me. Ideally, I'll have the supplies on what we like to call Saturday so I can work on my assignment this Sunday, but I'm a generous and forgiving man. I'm also a diligent worker and am willing to give you my day for working, as an added day for you to get me what was promised. If you don't? I'm telling our boss, and then your precious tribe is going to be added to the list. I don't think that would be too good for you, now would it?”

“Fine, I will see what I can do. My recruits are not as efficient as you are. They have a lot to learn,” she replied stiffly.

“Obviously.”

“Can we still rely on your assistance with this next assignment?”

“This time I'll let it go, because like I said, I'm generous and forgiving. Next time this happens though, that will change. I don't let people take advantage of me more than once.”

“Understood.”

It was quiet for a moment, and Alan waited off to the side, wondering if he should move away or move closer. Footsteps left the room, and a door closed.

She muttered quietly. “Pathetic Earthling.”

“They're just like us,” Alan said softly, taking the risk to enter the room.

“You're here,” she breathed out, turning to face him. He hadn't seen her in what could be compared to as months, but she still looked the same. Her blond curls were kept close to her head, pulled into a small bun, and she wore the same simple, light blue dress he often saw her in back home. All he could see different was the tired look in her pale grey eyes. Usually they were filled with life and energy.

He stepped behind her and put his arms around her waist. “Alonauxoonamondae.” Hesitantly, he placed a kiss on her cheek. “I knew you were here.”

“I'm aware of what you do and don't know. I told you not to get involved and find me. You're not going to change my mind. You know I can't do anything about this,” she said.

“I can protect you. Let me, before too much happens, and I can't anymore. If you came back with me to my ship now, you won't be punished when all of this is over,” he whispered.

Alona faced him and put a finger against his lips. “It doesn't work that way, and you know you're in the wrong. This isn't your tribe's fight anyway. You can't make the world better for everyone. Don't get involved. I told you not to.”

“I have to if we're ever going to—”

“Then maybe you should come over to my side instead of trying to get me to do something I don't believe in.”

“I do not believe that what you're doing is right either. How can driving someone out of their home be good? Destroying another planet even, and involving them in a battle that isn't their business either? That sounds rather hypocritical don't you think? I know you don't agree either.”

“I have to. That's the difference between you and me. You choose to. I have to. You shouldn't be here.” Alona pulled herself from his arms and left through the tunnel.

It didn't take long for him to catch up with her. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him, kissing her fiercely. Doing so would no doubt make her angry with him, he was sure of it, but he had to be close to her again just one more time. There was no way he could keep surviving without his fix. At least she reciprocated his advance.

After their lips parted, she stared up into his eyes. “You know you just sacrificed your abilities by doing that, don't you?”

“How could I forget? I've lost them for much longer by doing other things with you. I'm hardly worried,” he said with a coy smile. A small price to pay for being near her. She had the power to negate the abilities of others temporarily through touch. The stronger the touch, the longer the ability was gone.

“You should be.” But she kissed him again anyway, pushing him against the wall for support. “I will change your mind, and you'll want those powers for later.”

“Doubtful, but I will indulge your fantasy for this moment in time. Please, persuade me,” he said with a smirk. All logic told him he should avoid this at all costs. The agonizing feeling inside, however, told him he had to be near her for as long as possible. He might not see her again.

“That isn't fair. I wish you would take me seriously for once. You don't listen to me,” she whispered.

“Let's not think about the politics of all this then. We can at least enjoy the moment for what it is while we have it.”

She touched his bracelet. “You still wear it?”

“How else was I supposed to find you?”

She laughed softly, running her fingers over the glowing metal. “I suppose you're right. I was forced to take mine off, but I keep it near me so you can find me.”

“Near? Where is near?” he asked as he leaned in to kiss her lips.

“Maybe you should find it.” She was so good at teasing him. He should have minded more than he did, but she had a way of making him forget how to think.

“Maybe I will then.” He kissed her once more and then sighed happily against her. “Have you ever thought of running away?”

“I believe you asked me this back before I left. You wanted me to run away to live with you at your home, yes?”

He shook his head. “No, I mean, both of us run away. Far from here. Be our own people.”

“You know that's not possible.”

“I know, but I was hoping that maybe you would indulge my imagination for a moment. Can't we just pretend for a moment that it is just us?”

Alona's eyes met his own. “I suppose. Pretending is the only way we are ever going to get along. Isn't it? So for a few more minutes, I can pretend I still love you, and that we can be together. After this, you will be my enemy, and there isn't anything you can do or say to change it.”

Before Alan could reply, she kissed him again and then pulled him along in the tunnel back toward what the Earth humans referred to as a school. He almost stopped where he stood when she said it, but her pull kept him moving forward.

“What do you mean you will pretend you still love me? You aren't pretending to love me. You do. Don't lie.”

“Fine, maybe I do, but I'm going to stop after these next few minutes. I'm going to stop, and there's nothing you can say about it. Don't make this harder than it needs to be.”

“I don't want to fight with you.”

“There's a phrase here. Shut up.” She pulled him out of the tunnel, and he found himself in a large storage facility for what looked like instruments. He'd seen pictures of them before and studied them briefly once upon a time, but how they were used and what noises they made were beyond his recollection. It was empty of people now. The students had left the premises of the school for the day. How long had he been lingering in those tunnels? Perhaps he had traveled further than he originally thought.

His eyes searched hers for some kind of rational explanation, but he found none.

“Is something wrong?” a voice asked from nearby.

Alan had completely forgotten that he was no longer invisible to Earth humans not affiliated with his cause. He faced them, ready to tell this student to move along because it wasn't their business, but when he saw the small black mask resting over their eyes, he knew that wasn't going to work. It was their business. They were a follower of Alona.

“Everything is fine,” Alan said.

The student interrupting was a male, and not far behind him was a female who guarded the door. Both were blond and in similar uniforms that matched what were referred to as the “school colors”.

“He's bothering you, isn't he? I've been looking for a good reason to practice, if I may great leader?” the girl said through gritted teeth.

“Really, violence is not necessary,” Alan said.

Alona didn't even acknowledge him. “Yes, you may, my follower. Practice as much as you'd like with this one, though I'm sure he won't put up much of a fight.” She glared at Alan. “He is pathetic. Do not do any major harm to him, or kill him. I want him to be an example. I don't want him to forget this.” And then she disappeared from sight, no doubt to return to her ship.

The girl locked the black door behind her, and vines began to grow from her skin. Long, thick, dark green vines reached their way toward Alan. A small smirk played on her lips, and then the vines lashed towards him fiercely. He did his best to dodge them, but without his own abilities he was useless. One vine made contact with his chest, and he was flung across the room, landing on a table. The papers covering it were strewn across the floor upon contact.

“I don't mean any—” Alan stopped as another vine flashed by his side and struck a piano with enough force to tear the keys off of it with one melodic crash. He shielded his face from the debris. “You don't need to do this.”

“I do if you've upset her,” she said and another launched past him and stabbed a drum before it was tossed into what looked like a large locker. She then lashed out again, and this vine wrapped around him tightly before drawing him in closer. “Stay out of our business. You don't understand it.”

The boy, who had done nothing but watch up until this point, moved close to Alan. He was forced to make eye contact with him, and the instant they did he could feel his mind drifting away from consciousness.

“Carrot,” the boy whispered.

For a moment, Alan wondered what an orange root had to do with anything, but soon his mind drifted to a new place. All he could think about was carrots.