Over the Moon (28 page)

I drove cautiously to Industrial Road. I had learned that you
never speed or ignore any traffic laws when you're driving after midnight. Even in small towns, police are out on patrol in droves at that
time of night and they are on the lookout for teens breaking laws
in cars. I didn't want to draw any attention to myself. What if I got
stopped while wearing these silly p.j.s? Why hadn't I changed? This
behavior was totally not me. I couldn't believe I was doing this. As I
neared the street's dead end, it was obvious which warehouse Evelyn
was talking about. There were only two that had been abandoned,
and one had light coming through its broken windows.

I parked my car in the dark parking lot of the Associated Foods
Warehouse next door. Adrenalin was flooding my body as I left the
safety of my Honda and crept stealthily toward the illuminated window on the ground floor of the metal structure. I shivered as I realized I had no idea what I was going to do if I were confronted by the
evil savages. Why did I think this was a good idea? It was too late to
turn back now. I promised myself I would just peek in and then I'd
call Evelyn. That's when I realized I forgot my phone.

The window was too high. I scrounged around in a junk pile
close by and found a wooden crate. I dragged it over and climbed
carefully up to peer inside. I couldn't see very well through the grimy
glass, but I saw evidence that someone had been camping there.
I had a bad feeling that was growing bigger at an alarming pace.
The voice in my head sounded a warning, run away, now! I cringed
and stepped off the box into the waiting arms of someone standing directly behind me. He grabbed me around the neck with one hand
that was as large as my head and covered my mouth with his other
claw-like appendage. The smell was overpowering. It slammed into
me, making me choke with revulsion. The atrocious odor stank like
rotten sardines combined with fresh cat crap. How had I not seen
this coming? I should have smelled this creature from a mile away.
How had he managed to sneak up on me? It was like he had just
materialized at that very moment in time when he grabbed me. I
remembered Luke's warning, "They seem to come out of the air."

"Don't scream. We don't want to have to kill you right now."
The owner of the stinky hand commanded in a raspy voice. "Nod if
you understand." Even if I did scream, there was no one anywhere
within hearing distance. We were alone in the early morning hours
at the end of a dark, deserted road that saw very little traffic during
the day and absolutely none at night.

I nodded, and the hand moved away from my mouth, gripping
my arm with iron strength. He now held both my arms, forcing them
down to my sides. He was joined by another shorter but equally
stinky creature who stuck his face inches from mine and began looking me up and down with hungry, empty eyes.

"Andrew?" I stammered the name.

"We killed your boyfriend. Too bad you couldn't watch," the
man grinned up at me, showing his jagged and xanthic teeth. He
resembled a rodent with a nose too big for his face and black, beady,
hungry eyes. The aroma was overpowering, nauseating. "Your boyfriend didn't put up much of a fight. I hope you have a little more
spunk. That will make it so much more fun to kill you. We'll torture
you first. That should be entertaining. There's so little to do on this
inane, monotonous planet. It's a very boring place. I hate the desert.
How can anyone stand to live here? It's too hot!"

My heart was immediately pierced with a sharp pain so severe
I thought I was going to die from the brutal anguish that stabbed
repeatedly at my chest, sending ripples of intense agony radiating
through the rest of my body. I gasped for air and tried to take back
my ability to think. Was he telling the truth about Andrew? They were accomplished liars and fiends. It was not in their nature to tell
the truth. I had to believe they were not being honest with me now,
and that made me instantly incredibly angry.

"Why don't you go home if you hate it here? Go back to where
you came from or find a less boring planet to invade. Nobody invited
you to come to Earth. Why don't you just leave now?" I had to ask. I
sounded braver than I was. I was trying to delay their actions while
I scrambled to think of an escape plan. I had nothing. I didn't even
have the pepper spray Andrew had insisted I carry.

"The food is simply scrumptious, there is an endless supply, and
it's so easy to overpower earthlings. You're all so weak and puny. Your
people taste so much better than Helamites. You look especially
tasty, and you smell delicious. It's just too easy sometimes. I miss
the thrill of the hunt," he maliciously answered with an annoying
snicker. I tried to struggle away from the grasp of the man behind
me. He poked something sharp into my neck that made me feel as
if I'd been stung by a whole herd of fire ants. The ground began to
move under my feet, and my knees buckled, sending me almost to
the dirt before he yanked me upright again, nearly dislocating my
shoulder. The intense burning spread through my body quickly, as
if I'd been struck by a searing bolt of lightning that flamed through
my veins.

Was Andrew really dead? No, I couldn't believe that. If he were,
nothing mattered anymore. My heartbeat was beginning to slow
back down to its normal speed. The black spots I saw were growing
larger, invading and obscuring my fading vision. The painful stinging sensation was excruciating and unrelenting. I started losing consciousness, sinking into a seemingly bottomless hole of darkness and
despair. I welcomed oblivion, hoping it would block this burning
agony. Was I dying? I honestly didn't know what death was supposed to feel like, having never done it before. I prayed that Andrew
wasn't dead, and if he were, I prayed that I would die immediately
and save myself any further pain and suffering.

When I awoke, I was inside the warehouse. I was surrounded by
broken glass and metal walls. The floor was cement, and it was
strewn with old wood and rusted, metal wreckage. It was hot, and
the air was stagnant and stunk like a garbage dump on a hot day.
It smelled like automotive oil mixed with the stench of moldy, discarded organic matter or possibly raw sewage. It made me gag until I
became somewhat accustomed to the putrid odor. I think my olfactory sense was becoming dull from the myriad of repulsive smells
it had endured since my capture. You'd think if these creatures had
such a great sense of smell, they wouldn't seek out the most disgusting, odorous place they could find. Why didn't they seem bothered by their own body odor? Hadn't they ever heard of deodorant? Did
they ever bathe?

I was tied securely to an ancient metal office chair. The ropes
were cutting into my wrists and ankles. My head throbbed, my joints
ached, but the painful burning had stopped. I was grateful for that.

Muted voices entered my ears. They sounded like gibberish,
like a foreign language I had never heard before. I remembered the
Hellites had said Andrew was dead. It wasn't true. I had to believe
he was alive. Superheroes are not supposed to die. I couldn't let emotional despair overpower and demoralize me. It was too heavy to
hold on to as it weighed me down and surrounded me, crushing
against my chest until I couldn't breathe. I fought against the incredibly distressing thought of losing him. This was so much worse than
the burning. The blackness was coming back, bringing the unconsciousness that would alleviate all this severe emotional pain. My
brain squirmed, and then a voice spoke inside my head. He is alive. I
wanted so badly to believe.

"Can we kill her now?" Their words were beginning to make
sense, and their volume had increased.

"No, we're sticking to the plan. He'll be here soon, and he can
get us into the ship. Then we'll kill her and make him fly us home."

They said "he." Did they mean Andrew? Was he truly alive?
He just had to be. I struggled to stay conscious, fighting against the
darkening gloom that was settling upon me, threatening to pull me
back into the black void.

"That's a good plan. Can we eat her then?"

"You can't be hungry already. We ate a few hours ago."

"I know, but she smells so good. Can't I have a bite now?"

"No! She's the bait. You know you wouldn't be able to stop at
one bite, and he won't get us in if we've killed her, idiot. She's our
leverage."

"Oh, look. She woke up."

They walked in front of me. I could see the greenish tint of their
pallid skin. Their yellowed, pointy teeth grinned malevolently. I recognized the rodent-faced man. He was the one who wanted to eat me now. His partner had a unibrow above his nearly colorless, gray
eyes, no neck, and a nose that reminded me of a pig's snout. His nostrils flared, and he snorted when he spoke. They looked human, but
just barely. I could envision them wearing loincloths, carrying spears,
and dancing around a bubbling cauldron in the middle of the jungle.
Unfortunately, I could also see myself in that boiling pot, screaming
at the top of my lungs. I couldn't scream now because there was duct
tape covering my mouth.

"Can we torture her? I'm so bored." The rat man whined as he
tore the duct tape from my mouth. I screamed, and he struck my
face with such force that the instant pain almost knocked me out
again. I saw stars, and I thought he had broken my jaw. Then he
quickly reapplied the tape. I could feel the blood seeping from a gash
where his blow had torn the skin on my throbbing chin.

"Not until he comes. Rex will bring him soon. I think I hear
them now."

I heard a door creak open and then slam shut. Rex and Andrew
came into view.

Rex was enormous, almost seven feet tall, and very hairy. He
looked like a Neanderthal or some prehistoric caveman who couldn't
quite stand all the way upright. His huge shoulders hunched over,
and I swear his knuckles nearly scraped the floor. He had thick,
black eyebrows that sprouted out of his face like wiry weeds. Long,
stringy, greasy hair hung over his vacant eyes. He looked more like
a giant troll than merely an ugly, stinky, overweight, almost human
cannibal. He looked like he'd feel completely at home in a circus
sideshow or in a cage at a creepy, haunted, insane asylum created
for a Halloween fright night. His scent was even more odoriferous
than the others, if that were even possible. My sense of smell was
back, further offending me. I feared I would vomit. I tried to hold
my breath until I nearly passed out again. I finally gave up and let
the bad air in.

Andrew looked even more angelic than usual when compared
to our captors. His smoldering, blue eyes were filled with outrage,
and they burned into mine like molten magma. He stared at me, and I knew he was scanning through my thoughts. I was so relieved
that he was very much alive. I desperately hoped he had a plan that
would keep us both breathing. Rex pulled him directly in front of
me. His wrists were chained together. The humongous ogre must
have beaten him. He was bruised and bleeding from his forehead.
One eye was red and swollen. I winced at his appearance.

"You don't want us to damage your pretty, little girlfriend, do
you?" Rex asked.

"No!" Andrew responded furiously. "Leave her alone!"

"You know what we want. Give it to us and you can both go
free," he promised.

"You're lying. You intend to kill us." Andrew's voice was indignant.

"Oh yeah, I forgot you can read my mind." Rex laughed, and the
others snickered.

"Can we torture her now?" Rat man begged again.

"Why not? We can use the new device we've wanted to try on
Earth people," Rex, the giant troll, agreed.

"Don't hurt her, you swine!" Andrew yelled at them.

The pig-faced man laughed and snorted as he pulled a key ring
out of his pocket. Instead of keys, it held five long, thin, scary, sharp
needles. They clinked against one another as he held them up in the
dimly lit, deserted building.

"It's our newest toy. It's a shame it doesn't work on you Helamites
who fled to Earth. It tortures you mentally. It's less messy than physical torture and is supposed to be almost as much fun to watch." We
tried it on that crazy Sonya, and it didn't even faze her. We almost
killed the whiney witch, but we thought that might be doing you
a favor. She has an evil and deliciously devious power to persuade.
She'd make a great Hellite. She traded some very helpful information about the two of you for her freedom. It was so nice of her to
suggest that your little earth girlfriend drop in and join the party,"
he maliciously explained as he ripped the duct tape from my mouth
for the second time. "We'll get rid of this so we can hear your entertaining screams. " He selected a needle. It caught the overhead light
and sparkled in his hand like a delicate silver wire. "This one is fear," he matter-of-factly stated as he thrust it up into my neck. I shrieked
out in pain. This had to be a hundred times worse than having a root
canal without the benefit of anesthesia.