The Gods Among Us

Chapter 13: A Movie Special

A:

"Is this what attacked you last night," Alieen asks, stepping away from the television. I watched from the sofa the whole time as Alieen placed a CD in the player and grabbed the remote control. Hitting a series of buttons, she shows me a scene from a movie.

The scene shows two men running through a desert. Clearly, something is chasing after them, but whatever it is, it is hidden underneath the dirt.

"It is hidden in the dirt," I think to myself.

I focus on the movie as the two men keep on running. Eventually, they jump into what looks like an empty canal. A second later, the canal's wall breaks open.

"What," I say, accidentally jumping back.

As I calm myself down, I see Alieen sitting nearby. She's trying to hide behind her hands, but I can clearly hear her laughing, even without my enhanced hearing.

"Not funny," I say, climbing down from on top of the sofa.

"I'm sorry," Alieen laughs, now crying a little. "I'm sorry. It just, that was so funny. I didn't expect you to jump up so high."

I shake my head as I look back at the movie playing. The dust cloud clearing away reveals a large monster covered in orange slime. It had a large mouth and appear to have many tongues in its mouth.

"Stop the movie," I say, looking at Alieen. "Stop it now."

Alieen moving fast stops the movie. With the movie frozen, I look at the monster.

"That is it," I say, pointing at the monster while turning to Alieen. "That is it alright. That is what attacked me last night. What did you call it?"

Stepping forward, Alieen crouches down beside me. The two of us side-by-side, look at each other.

"That's called a graboid," Alieen answers. "It's the signature monster of the Tremor movie series. You know, funny enough, the four of us actually watch Tremor last night."

"The four of you," I think. "Oh. You, Matt, Alfred, and Lafayette."

"You can just call her Leia."

"I do not think Lafayette would be happy if I did. Anyway, Alieen, what can you tell me about this monster?"

"Uhh, it's a graboid," Alieen starts, "It travels through the dirt. It eats people. Well, actually, I think graboids also eat animals. I can't really be safe. Matt knows more about graboids than me. Hold on, I can grab him."

"Wait," I say, grabbing her hand. Alieen stopping, I pull her down. "Please, do not get Matt."

"Why not?"

I think back to when Matt and I talked on the roof.

"Uhhhhhh," Matt said, staring at me but at the same time, not staring at me. "Uhhhhhhh."

"Please," I beg, "Please, do not get Matt."

"Okay," Alieen says, crouching down beside me once more. "So, a graboid is what attacked you last night."

"Yes."

"A graboid," Alieen repeats, "From the movie, Tremor."

"I believe so."

"A graboid from the movie, Tremor, directed by Ron Underwood, starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, attacked you last night at your gas station."

"I guess. I cannot say for certain because I do not know who Ron Underwood, Kevin Bacon, or Fred Ward is."

"All of a sudden," Alieen says, smiling, "I feel happy Matt makes us watch the end credit."

"I really need to start watching movies," I say, looking back at the screen. Looking at the, as Alieen tells me, the graboid, I place my hand on the screen. "So wait, just to be sure, you are telling me that what attacked me last night was from a movie? Yes?"

"Yes," Alieen says with a nod.

"So, if it is from a movie, then it should not be real. Right?"

"Maybe. Then again, I've been recently seeing a lot of things that also shouldn't be real."

"Putting myself aside, what I am trying to say is that what attacked me last night is a monster from a movie. However, that cannot be right because this is a fictional movie. This monster should not exist, and yet, it is what attacked me last night. What is going on?"

"I want to ask the same thing," someone says. Alieen and I turn to see Lafayette standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. At the current moment, she is wearing a long sleeves shirt and pants that are covered with tiny white rabbits eating carrots.

Alieen:

"Hey Alieen," Leia says, rushing in to grab me. Dragging me out of the room, she looks inside our living room before facing me.

"Alieen, what in the world? Why is he back here?"

"He needed some help," I say, thinking carefully about how to talk. "Something happened last night, and he came here asking for help."

"I don't care what happened last night," Leia says, "I care about what is happening right now, and what is happening right now is that there is a complete stranger in our living room. Suspiciously staring at our t.v."

Leia peeks into the living room.

"For the record, he's still staring, and the movie is paused."

"A is not a complete stranger," I say.

"Alieen, please. Come on. Listen to what you just said. 'A is not a complete stranger'.

She repeats herself but only slower this time.

"A is not a com-plete strang-er. I mean, come on. He even said his name is A. He couldn't think of a better fake name."

"Leia," I say, "I'm sorry, but what is wrong with you recently? Why are you being so mean to A? It's not like he has done anything to you."

"Believe me when I said this," Leia says, "I'm just trying to watch out for you. I'm trying to watch out for all of us. There's something off about that guy. I can't put my finger on it exactly, but something about that guy sends a shiver down my spine."

Leia then shivers. She rubs her hands together before blowing into them.

"Hey you two," Alfred says, greeting us as he walks down the stairs. "What's going on? Why are you talking in the hallway?"

"They talking about A," Matt answers, walking in with a bottle of orange juice. He takes a sip before greeting all of us. "Morning Leia. Morning Alieen. Alfred."

"A," Alfred repeats, running down the stairs and looking into the living room.

"What is A doing back here? And why is he staring so intensely at our t.v.? Is he watching Tremor? Wait, the movie is paused. Okay, what's going on? What am I missing?"

We all look at each other. I guess we're all waiting for one of us to answer, but instead, we all just turn our heads. While Alfred is staring at us, waiting for an answer, the first person to say something is A.

"Hello Alfred," A says, walking out of the living room and nodding his head. "Hello, Lafayette. I just want to say thank you to both Alieen and Matt for everything."

"Matt," I repeat, turning to Matt as Matt looks at me.

"Anyway, there is nothing more for me here. I will leave now. I will try my best to stay away from the four of you. Bye."