*This is part nine of my series “Alice and the aliens”. This story is underneath my folder titled “Alice and the aliens”. Gacha Club character designs are under my forum titled “My character designs<33”. Enjoy!*
Finally, the aircraft made its ungraceful plummet down to Earth, landing right in the middle of…a parking lot?
A2614 opened the doors with a key code and stepped out, Alice, Sage, Evanna, and Victoria following after.
Yes, they did land in a parking lot, and it looked to be like an airport parking lot at that. Only, the people weren’t swarming around to and fro in an attempt to get in and out. No, the people were all suspended by plastic tubes that twisted and turned with their blood inside, their mouths open in expressions of surprise.
Alice swallowed hard as she walked on through. The scene was both comical and unsettling at the same time, for the humans were held up so much like puppets, and their eyes were so wide, so glassy…like doll eyes. It was like traversing through a B-movie of horror and hilarity, the simplicity of the humans strung up by tubes sending an overcoming bout of anxiety throughout Alice’s body.
The five of them stopped in front of the airport building itself, where all of the lights were turned on, as though it were still welcoming visitors. The doors did not creak open, but even so, Alice still thought that the fluorescent light from the windows seemed to glow like flickering flames waiting to burn them all within.
Before they all walked in, A2614 turned around to Evanna and asked:
“Is this where Captain D9302 hides?”
Alice was grateful that he asked, because she wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk in that moment. With the way that all of the humans were held up by tubes, it felt wrong to talk.
“Yes, she’s here. You can follow me. I’ll take you to her.” Evanna said with a grim expression on her face.
Even as she opened the doors and waited for them to follow, the four of them still tried to keep a close eye on her, for they were still uncertain as to where she stood.
The only living creature Alice really trusted was A2614 and Victoria. A2614, because he loved her. Victoria, because she was only a child.
But then, anybody can keep secrets, right? Anybody can have their own desires and motives, right?
Alice decided that they were good enough to trust anyway.
……………………………………………………
Evanna was leading them down the airport hallways without saying a word, without reacting to the humans in the building that were held by tubes like the ones outside. Sage was attempting to soothe Victoria, who was beginning to bawl, and Alice, who could only glance at the humans as she walked, hoped that none of them were people she knew.
“Alice, you’ve been a great help to freeing their souls. We’re so close to winning this. I can feel it.” A2614 said.
But when she looked at him, his orange eyes held hints of worry, as though he so desperately wanted to shiver but was shoving the feelings away deep inside him.
“You don’t have to say anything to make me feel better. I know what’s at stake here. It doesn’t change the fact that we have to fight.” Alice said.
She did believe in her own words, but it didn’t stop the uneasiness from lingering inside her like frenzied spiders.
A2614 sighed and pushed back his yellow hair with a green claw, his breath shaky, almost like hyperventilating. Alice got a flash of the human blond boy, Bryon, who used to become so overcome with terror whenever he was surrounded by too many people, and whenever too many people looked at him. He didn’t like to have a thousand eyes on him at once, which Alice always contributed to general anxiety.
But what if there was so much more to that? What if he was so frightened to show parts of his real self that any instance of being perceived by humans made him want to scream?
“I love you, Alice. I’ve loved you ever since the day I met you on Earth as Bryon. You’ve shown me such kindness and love, even in the moments where I stuck my hands out at the sun to gain energy. That’s how I knew that you would be able to help me and my sister get the ghosts to pass on, from your very nature alone.” A2614 said.
Alice felt herself blush from the sincerity of his words, the wholeness in his voice, but then, didn’t he say something like that earlier?
“If we’re going to fight Captain D9302, then stuff will happen. People will get hurt. Some of us may die.” A2624 said somberly, his eyes downcast.
Alice bit down on her lip, the thoughts of the very few alive people around her becoming limp on the floor, their limbs lifeless like scarecrows that didn’t have a stick to hold them upright. Humans were like that with their bones, and she supposed that since the creatures she was with were humanoid, their bodies were structured similarly.
Oh, she didn’t want to think about it, but the thoughts slithered in her mind anyway, like inconsiderate trespassers crossing into an abandoned, trauma-bound house.
“With this uncertainty right around the corner, I think it’s time that I were fully honest with you. See this mark?” A2614 asked.
He pulled up his leather jacket, for he still wore his human clothes, and showed Alice a mark on his lizard green skin.
The mark in question was completely silver, and shaped like a small square. It showed his inner bone, and it had a gelatinous quality to it.
“My race has this mark for one reason and one reason only: To sew skin onto it. It has to be from someone dear, and it cannot be from those related to us. It can be romantic love, but it doesn’t have to be. Ever since I was old enough to understand why the mark was there, I wondered if I would ever find anyone I would hold close to my heart. One of the things I wanted in life was somebody who I’d spend my existence telling stories to and confiding in my tangled-up, innermost thoughts. I wanted to bring you to space to save the universe, yes, but after it was all done…if we lived…I wanted to sew a piece of your skin on the mark to remember you by, because I’m not sure you’ll want to see me again, with everything that you know. It has to be consensual, though. You can’t just say yes. You have to really want it. Do you want it? Or do you want to talk about it later?” A2614 asked.
With every word that he said, his voice had seemed to rise in either excitement or horror. Perhaps both. Perhaps he wanted her to say yes, but at the same time, didn’t want her feelings to be all damaged.
Alice could see that he took one step away from her, and he walked in a closely-knit up slouch, as though he were a deer trying to fold itself away so that no car may crash into its frail bones.
Why did A2614 think that she may not want to see him again? Was it because of the chaos from the universe’s peril? Was it because he thought that it was all too much for her, and that he thought that she, as a human, would want to forget?
She didn’t know what his motives were when he first took her up to space and revealed his true identity, but through his words and his actions, she could see that he still loved her, and that he saw her as an equal. That even with all of his slightly-scaly skin and his two wild neon colored eyes, he was still the caring human boy she met in school.
Before Alice could say anything, though, Evanna opened up white painted doors and said quite smoothly and softly, like somebody trying to coax panic-ridden children into going on a rollercoaster:
“Captain D9302 is in here.”
Without another word, Alice followed Evanna alongside the others.
Hopefully A2614 was right about his faith in her.
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