The Leader (5 page)

“
You were looking for
answers, and you know your sister believed in God. She made her
decision. She was sealed.”

Finally. Now they were getting
somewhere! She turned to him and asked, “Where is she?”

“
It’s not the end, Autumn.
It’s just the beginning, but the world is going to pass through
some tribulations before it can enjoy peace. Your sister and others
who made their choice before the aliens arrived have been spared
the tough times to come.”

She rubbed her forehead, closed her
eyes, and groaned. “Are you ever going to tell me where she
is?”

Silence.

Glancing at the space next to her, she
saw that he had disappeared. She rolled her eyes. Naturally. She
should probably be grateful that he bothered to answer any of her
questions.

“
I need to talk to
you.”

Surprised, she looked over and saw
Devon standing in front of her. Standing up, she said, “I have to
get back to work. Hampton will dock my pay if my break goes too
long.” She didn’t care what the angel said. She had nothing to say
to Devon, nor did she want to have anything to do with
him.

“
I’ll reimburse you.” Devon
stepped in front of her so she couldn’t move forward.
“Please?”

“
No.”

She tried to step past him, but he
grabbed her elbow and whispered. “Fine. Let’s bargain. You want
information about what’s going on, right? You want to know what’s
going on and why?”

She almost said that she didn’t want
to know anymore, but then she remembered Alex and the mess he was
in. Maybe Devon knew something that would help Alex. After a quick
debate, she nodded.

“
Meet me at Sertoma Park by
the zoo entrance. We’ll talk there.”

“
When?”

“
When do you get off
work?”

She couldn’t believe she was doing
this. If it’d been anyone but Alex, she’d never meet up with Devon.
“Seven. I can be there at 7:30.”

“
Good. I’ll see you
then.”

The shadow appeared next to Devon’s
shoulder and snarled at her. In the same instant, the angel
appeared next to her. The demon hissed but shrank back until it
disappeared.

Autumn decided not to dwell on it.
World War III was about to erupt into full force. She had bigger
things to worry about than Devon and his problems, whatever those
were. Without another word to Devon or the angel, she took her ID
out of her pocket and went into the building.

The security guard checked her
driver’s license, nodded, and handed it back to her. “Have a good
day, ma’am.”

She tried to smile but couldn’t
because as soon as she scanned the mall, she became aware of the
spiritual world around her. Dark shadows hovered around some people
while beams of light hovered around others. She closed her eyes and
took a deep breath. When she opened them, they were
gone.

I don’t want to see any of
them. I just want to forget this is all happening.

She hurried back to work. The safe and
familiar world around her, where she avoided Hampton as much as
possible, was the only comfort she got anymore. She hung up her
coat and returned to the counter where she took a moment to gather
her bearings. She wanted everything to go back to normal. But she
had a sinking sensation that nothing would ever be normal
again.

Chapter Seven

Devon checked his watch as he waited
for Vanessa to get the clean bill of health from the psychiatrist.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes. The day had been a long one, and
tonight, he would have to fly out to Area 51. First, he had to talk
to Autumn and find out what she spoke to in that hallway. Something
about it was important. He sensed it was the key to what he’d been
desperately searching for but had been unable to find.

Realizing, he’d been
staring at the wall, he returned his attention to the magazine in
his lap. The headline warned of an approaching war between Israel
and Iran. Beneath the headline was the question:
Is this the beginning of the end?
He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. If
only people knew... This wasn’t where the real action was taking
place. But soon after he’d begun to work, he learned that the media
reported on events that masked the more pressing issues facing
mankind.

The front door opened, so he glanced
at who was entering the building. As soon as he recognized Alex
Cameron, he looked away, too ashamed to make eye contact. Devon’s
business at Area 51 had to do with what he and Vanessa did to him
there. He took a deep breath and pretended to be interested in the
article in front of him.

Alex went to the receptionist and
checked in for his appointment.

Devon purposely kept his head lowered
so Alex couldn’t see his face too well. None of the people ever
recognized him after the experiments at Area 51, but there was
always that chance they’d wonder if they saw Devon before. Devon
wondered if Alex went to see Dr. Reyes because of that night. It
wouldn’t be the first time someone visited a psychiatrist
afterwards. Pushing aside an onslaught of self-accusations, Devon
checked his watch again.

Alex sat three chairs down from him
and picked up a Reader’s Digest. Good, Devon thought. Alex wasn’t
the type of person to make conversation while waiting for an
appointment.

Vanessa came out of the office with
Dr. Reyes a good five minutes later.

“
Here’s the prescription,”
he told her as he handed her a piece of paper. “Remember to call me
if you notice any negative side effects, alright?”

She nodded. “Thank you,
doctor.”

He smiled at her before he looked at
Alex. “Mr. Cameron, are you ready?”

Alex said yes, put the Reader’s Digest
down, and stood up. He glanced at Vanessa and asked, “Have you been
here before?”

Vanessa blanched for a moment.
“Uh...no.” She sounded uncertain and shot Devon a startled
look.

Devon slightly shook his
head, a message he hoped she’d understand meant that Alex shouldn’t
know where he’d seen her before. Dr. Reyes glanced from one person
to another, making Devon apprehensive. Something didn’t seem quite
right about the psychiatrist. His gaze lowered to the paper in
Vanessa’s hand.
She shouldn’t take those
pills.
Where the thought came from Devon
didn’t know, but he’d learned that his instincts were too important
to ignore.

“
Come on,” Devon told
Vanessa. “I’ll take you to the pharmacy.”

She nodded and practically ran past
Alex who shrugged and turned to the doctor who smiled at him and
waved him into the office.

Devon waited for Dr. Reyes to close
his office door before he led Vanessa outside. Once they were in
his car, he asked, “Can I see that prescription?”

Eyes wide, she nodded and handed the
white paper to him.

He didn’t recognize the medication,
but he knew someone who would. Tapping the steering wheel with his
fingers, he wondered how much he should tell her. The less she
knew, the better. Obviously, knowing too much would drive her to
the point of suicide again. He took a deep breath. “If I pay for
it, will go see a guy I trust?”

She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not into
psychics or any weird stuff like that.”

“
No. This is a medical
doctor. He found some implants they put in me.”

“
Who? The
aliens?”

“
Yes. You remember our trip
to Dulce?”

“
Only a little.”

“
The first time I went
there, they put an implant in me.”

Her eyes grew wide and he caught a
tremble in her lower lip. “Are you saying...?” She brought her hand
up to her neck.

“
Probably around the same
place we injected Alex,” he softly replied.

“
But I didn’t think we were
doing anything to hurt him,” she whispered, her face growing
pale.

He started the car and backed out of
his parking space. “I know. You were told he volunteered for the
experiment.”

“
But...” She gulped and
shook her head. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you tell
me?”

“
Orders. I couldn’t.” Just
like his mentor couldn’t tell him. Then his mentor had an attack of
conscience and leaked some of the information to the reporters.
Shortly after that, his mentor had a heart attack, or at least that
was what the autopsy claimed. “Orders,” he repeated, the word
barely audible.

“
What else don’t I
know?”

He waited for a long moment before
answering. “I can’t tell you.” When she looked like she was ready
to demand he tell her, he asked, “Do you want a new
partner?”

Understanding lit her eyes. “Oh
God.”

Oh God, indeed.
He turned onto the main road and shifted in his
seat. “All I can do is take you to someone who can remove the
implant and any others you might have.” His gaze drifted back to
the paper. “And I can tell you that whatever you do, don’t take
these pills.”

She turned forward in her seat and
stared blankly ahead.

Knowing there was nothing else he
could do or say, he proceeded to drive.

***

Dr. Reyes glanced up at Alex from the
doctor’s report. “He says it’s safe for you to take the
pills.”

Alex shifted in his chair and ran his
hand through his hair. “Yes. He said the pills had nothing to do
with the heart attack.”

The psychiatrist waited for Alex to
continue, but when Alex didn’t, he asked, “Do you
disagree?”

Letting out a long sigh, Alex scanned
the wall where the man’s diplomas and awards were neatly arranged.
Finally turning his eyes to the doctor’s, he said, “I’m
twenty-nine. How can I have a heart attack?”

“
Young people get heart
attacks. Sure, it’s rare, but it happens. Just like young people
get diabetes and cancer. These illnesses that trouble our bodies
don’t care what age you are.”

Alex couldn’t argue that point. His
gaze lowered to his hands. Despite his better judgment, he’d taken
the pills as soon as he got home. Nothing bad happened since then.
In fact, his life finally had a sense of normality it hadn’t had in
a long time. So what was troubling him?

“
Have you had any more
trouble with the alien?” Dr. Reyes asked.

“
No.” Taking a deep breath,
he said, “You know that blond woman that was just here?”

“
Of course, I do. I walked
her out of the office.”

“
Yeah, well, I think I’ve
seen her before.”

“
How so?”

Alex shook his head. “I’m not sure. I
mean, she seems familiar and yet she doesn’t.”

“
Maybe she looks like
someone you’ve seen before?”

“
Maybe.”

Alex didn’t think so, but it was a
possibility he ought to consider. Still, there was something that
tickled the back of his mind, as if his subconscious mind was
trying to tell him something.

“
If you’d seen her,” the
doctor began, “do you have any idea where it would have
been?”

“
No. I don’t.” He rubbed
his forehead. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he was developing
a headache. “I don’t.”

“
It’s okay. Give it time.
It might come back to you.”

“
I guess.” He let go of the
urge to fight through whatever block was in his mind, and his
headache eased.
That’s odd.
Glancing at the clock, he realized his hour was
almost up. He breathed a sigh of relief.

“
Did you read through the
list of symptoms to watch out for when you take the pills?” Dr.
Reyes asked.

“
Yes.” He’d read through it
several times and couldn’t find anything that would explain voices
from the TV, a heart attack, a humming sound... “Yes, I read the
list.”

“
Good. Did you also get the
psychiatric testing I ordered?”

“
Yes, I did that too,” Alex
softly admitted, wondering what those tests would find. Was he
going crazy? Hearing voices, seeing an alien that attacked him, and
having a heart attack. None of those could mean good things. “I did
it earlier this week.”

“
Good. I’m glad to hear it.
We’ll get to the bottom of what’s going on and take care of
it.”

“
When do you think you’ll
get the results?”

“
In about a week. I’ll give
you a call when they’re in and we’ll talk about things
then.”

Alex nodded. He glanced at the clock
and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his time was up. “I see
it’s five.”

He looked at his watch. “So it is.” He
stood up and led Alex to the door.

After Dr. Reyes turned the knob, Alex
walked passed him and into the lobby.

Kill her.

Alex spun around so he could see the
doctor. “What did you say?”

“
I didn’t say anything,”
Dr. Reyes replied.