Star Singer

Thirteen

Not sure if I explained this earlier already, but just an fyi in case I did not: I only am motivated to write when I am at work (go figure) so typically you will only get one or two chapters during the week day. Also, I don't do 'long' stories, so don't be disappointed. This one still has awhile to go yet at least.

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     Anna swiftly covered her mouth to stop her own scream, her eyes widening as she stared at the two bodies, unable to look away. Mandy was screaming as she scrambled away, the high pitched sounds echoing all throughout the ship. Kelly turned and stiffened, her entire body becoming so tense that she appeared to be made of stone.

     And then Boy appeared and was yanking Anna protectively away. It had been less than three seconds since Connor and Ellie fell, headless, to the floor. Anna did not even really have time to process what was happening, but they all could hear movement as something moved about in the walls of the ship. Whatever had just killed was still nearby.

     "Come on!" Boy growled to Mandy and Kelly, who looked up at him in shock. 

     Mandy needed no urging as she crawled as fast as she could out of the room and sprinted down the hall, still wailing. Kelly did not move. People started to gather, having heard the commotion. Lauren and Simon, being closest, were the first to arrive. Lauren gasped and began to heave up what little food she had eaten while Simon forcibly pulled Kelly out of the room.

     "Someone call Singer and tell everyone to meet in the cafeteria like we planned," Simon instructed as Unwanted, Ben, Loyde, and Sirius joined them and peeked into the room.

     Within no time at all, there was a chime and Singer's voice called out to everyone via the P.A. system.

     "There has been an emergency. All personnel please report to the Cafeteria immediately. There had been an emergency. All personnel please report to the Cafeteria immediately."

     "If anyone is late, we can suspect them as the killer," Ben said as he stared at the two dead and then glanced over at Anna and Kelly.

    "Come on, Anna. Don't look at them." Boy whispered.

     The green alien gently grabbed Anna's shoulder and pulled the shaking woman away. She listlessly allowed him to push her back to the cafeteria, her mind whirring as she tried to figure out what had just happened. She had seen...something. Kelly had not even been all that far from Connor and Ellie when there had been a blur of movement. And then... But what had she seen? She couldn't figure it out, but at least it had been human sized rather than Salam sized. She smiled bitterly at the realization that she rathered this parasite thing to be infecting humans rather than the aliens.

     Mandy, Teddy, Maddy, and Child, were already seated around a table by the time the larger group got to the large room. Seconds behind them was everyone else ; no one was missing and no one had any signs of having been crawling around in the walls after murdering two people. The humans left sat at one table as the aliens, too big to fit their legs under it, stood to the side with gently swaying tentacles as they examined their nervous hosts.

     "So what exactly happened?" Ben asked as he took a seat beside Anna.

     "We - me and Connor and Ellie - were with Kelly in electrical when Anna came by to see what was going on. And I... I was watching Anna and Kelly talk when suddenly..." Mandy sniffled miserably and Sam, beside her, patted her back comfortingly.

     A few eyes landed on Anna.

     "It's kind of weird that Anna would pick that moment to go over there," Simon commented dryly.

     Anna stiffened and shifted to face him.

     "I saw the four of them go into Electrical and I wanted to make sure they weren't getting ready to start up the weapons to attack them!" Anna growled, waving over toward the aliens.

     "Oh yeah? Well I was watching the cameras when it happened and I didn't see anyone leave where they were!" Simon snapped back.

     "How do you know that? You can't see into half the rooms with those cameras and whatever did this was moving through the walls and vents!" Anna replied.

     "And how do you know that?" Simon shot back and then he leaned back in his chair with a cruel smirk, "You're being awfully defensive."

     "What?! You are accusing me of having killed two people! Of course I'm defensive!" 

     "Enough! Anna had nothing to do with it, she was speaking with me!" Kelly barked, slamming her hands on the table.

     Most everyone jumped in surprise at the outburst. Anna was most surprised of everyone; Captain Kelly Heeler who hated her guts was actually defending her? Kelly felt Anna's eyes on her and shot her an unfriendly glare.

     "As much as I may dislike Anna, I'll not accuse someone of something they could not have possibly done. Maybe she was in cahoots with these parasite things, maybe not. Regardless, there's no evidence." She grumbled honestly.

     "Ah...what...what is the plan if we find someone with a parasite?" Ben spoke up nervously.

    There was a moment of silence before Maggot raised a hand and spoke up.

    "I could eat 'em," He offered helpfully, only to be smacked by both Boy and Unwanted.

     "What, it was a joke!" He protested.

     "It would be safest to let the vacuum of space have them. Nothing can survive out there." Boy suggested.

      A few people nodded in agreement and Kelly got to her feet.

     "We need to figure this out as soon as possible so we can get on our way. Everyone, move in groups and keep an eye on each other. Otherwise, we all might as well do our jobs and make sure the ship is back in working order before we go back to the Cyber Pods." She proclaimed.

    With that, she pulled Mandy out of her chair and dragged her off toward the Command Deck. There were a few moments of tense silence and Anna could still feel hostile eyes glued to her. She looked up and saw Sirius, Simon, and Sam watching her every move. Furious and uneasy, she got to her feet as well and searched about for someone willing to move about with her. Ben noticed her gaze and got to his feet as well.

    "Hey Anna, how about that medical check up now? I didn't get the chance to do anyone else yet. We can prove your innocence this way, maybe." Ben offered with a gentle smile.

     "Yeah," she sighed, "yeah, let's do that."

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I'm curious to see if I've been too obvious. Who do you think our imposters- er no... Who our parasites are, because this is not an Among Us fan fiction after all.

Also...have I been spelling Loyde wrong? Hmm...