Aliens Among Us

8

My mouth drops open. No. Way. No freaking way. Wait, why am I so shocked? Stanley is an alien and I believe that easily enough. So why is this so surprising to me? I guess two aliens is too much for my human mind to handle.
The questions start to churn in my head. There's more aliens? Could Maren and Stanley be brother and sister?
"Where do you come from? Do you have super strength too? Why are you telling me this?" I blurt out, not stopping for a breath.
Maren holds up her hands and stops me. "Last question first. I'm telling you this because you already know. Not just about Stanley. I have a feeling you suspected me."
I remember when I'd seen Stanley working with the wood tools and realizing that he'd reminded me of someone. I just wasn't sure who. Now I know. It was Maren. Stanley and Maren are aliens. "You're right." I say. "Stanley reminded me of you."
Maren nods. "Right. As for where I'm from, it's a long way from here. My planet is called Lorien. It got destroyed."
"Who destroyed it?" I ask, edging closer.
Maren bites her lip and glances around her. "I don't think we should discuss it here."
"Why? Someone might capture you? Or something like that?" Maren raises an eyebrow, confused. "Stanley looked around him just like you did last night." I explain. "When he left. When he . . ."
My voice breaks and at that moment, I can tell that Maren knows. She knows Stanley and I had something special. Something that doesn't happen every day. She also knows it's gone. She sees the pain that I feel. I'm surprised when she hugs me. I know she's just trying to make me feel better, but it's still a little awkward. I gently push her away and wipe my eyes.
"I'm fine. Thanks." I assure her. She still looks concerned.
"You loved him." She says as if it just dawned on her.
"Love." I correct her. "I love him."
"Right, that's what I meant." Maren quickly says. "It's not like he's dead. He's just gone."
"Thank you, Maren." I smile at the effort she's making to help me.
Maren stares at me for a moment longer, then says, "I only live about a ten minutes walk from your house. I'll stop by. We should talk. "
"Yeah," I agree. I don't even bother asking her how she knows where I live. She's an alien. She could know a lot more about me than my address. Then I remember something. "Oh, and Jay likes you. A lot."
Maybe I imagine it, but I think Maren actually blushes. "Yeah, I know. Thanks Meric. So I'll see you?"
"Okay," I say.
After lunch, Jay approaches me in the hallway. "Hey, I saw you and Maren talking during lunch. Did she say anything about . . ."
"Oh," I say. "No, but I told her that you like her."
Jay's eyes nearly pop out of their sockets. He doesn't look angry, just shocked. "You told her that I liked her?" He gawks at me.
"No, of course not." I say. I can't help but grin. "I told her that you liked her a lot." Jay almost falls over and I have to steady him.
"This is it." He says with a dazed expression. "My life is over."
I laugh. He's so dramatic. "You're fine. And she said she already knew you liked her."
"She did?"
"Yeah."
"Does she like me?" Jay asks hopefully.
"She didn't say but I think she does." I assure him.
****
After riding the bus home, I wait on my porch for Maren. Camila skips across the street and plops down next to me. She asks me what exactly happened and I try to explain the night before.
Camila looks so miserable that I wish I'd never told her. "You mean he's gone? Forever?"
"I guess so. I don't think he'll come back." I reply.
"This totally sucks!" Camila groans. "Why would he leave?"
I take a while to answer. "He left because . . . Because I asked him about his powers. It's all my fault." My voice breaks and I start to sob. Camila hugs me and I feel a tingle on my arm. Her tear has fallen on me. I look down at her and stroke her head.
"He was so awesome," Camila sniffs and I almost laugh. But I can't. We're too heartbroken.
"He is awesome." I correct her, reassuring her just as much as myself.
"Right," She agrees. Then she sits up and points ahead of us. "Who's that?"
I follow her gaze to find Maren striding towards us. "Oh," I smile when I picture Camila's amazed expression at what she's about to hear. I know I can tell Camila because she's already met an alien before. "That's Maren. She's an alien too."
Camila's mouth drops open and she screams, "WHAT?!"
I chuckle. "That's right."
Camila jumps off the porch and throws her hands in the air. "WE HAVE FOUND TWO ALIENS! OH MY GOD! THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!"
I shush her. I can't believe she's being so ignorant. "Anyone could have just heard you!"
Maren is at my side in just seconds. "You told her?" Maren sounds really angry and I wince when she speaks.
"She already knows about Stanley. Camila's the one that told me about him, actually."
Maren softens up after I explain. "Alright," Then she stares straight into Camila's eyes and says very slowly, "You can't tell anyone."
"She knows." I cut in.
"Yeah, I know." Camila says with pride, straightening up. Then she leans in towards Maren and whispers, "Do you have telekinesis and super strength too?" Maren seems astonished that Camila knows this and she looks at me suspiciously.
"What? We saw Stanley do it." I say innocently.
Maren nods, understandingly. Then she says, "His name isn't Stanley."
I must admit, this throws me back. Camila doesn't look nearly as shocked as I do but she's interested. Had the alien been lying to me this whole time? "What do you mean?" I ask Maren.
Maren glances around. There's that same look again, like she's expecting danger at any moment. "We should talk inside." Maren says. Then without waiting for an answer, she starts towards my porch, and goes inside.
Camila looks at me and shrugs. Then she follows our new alien friend. I go last.
* * * *
"So, you're an alien too?" Camila asks quickly. Maren stares blankly at her.
The three of us are seated in my living room. Camila and I sit on one side of the room and Maren sits across from us on the couch. Her legs are crossed and she's taken on a formal state, with her hands folded neatly on her lap. It's not difficult to picture her playing the role of a queen.
Camila looks at me with excitement. "She's doesn't seem very alien-like. You know, like, compared to how awesome Stanley is?"
I smile when she uses the present-tense. It makes me feel proud, yet sad, at the same time.
Maren looks offended. "I have powers." She brags. Or at least that's what I like to think. She didn't say it in a boastful tone. I just don't like Maren that much. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's her judgmentalness towards us. It's not our fault we found out about Stanley. She acts like it is. She acts like it's my fault that Stanley's gone. I guess she's right.
"Show us." Camila orders. It's like she's daring Maren.
Maren narrows her eyes. I can tell she still doesn't completely trust us. But she stands up and takes off her jacket. "Fine."
Camila scoots forward in her seat, attentively. I find myself doing the same. Suddenly, my feet come off the floor. I yelp and grab onto my armrests. I hear Camila shriek and find that both our chairs are hovering a foot off the ground.
"This is awesome!" Camila screams with her hands in the air. Then our chairs gently land on the floor. Maren seems completely calm, like nothing had happened. "Wow! That was so cool! Do you have any other powers?" Camila exclaims.
Maren closes her eyes and sighs. "I've showed you too much already. Listen, you are the only two humans that know about us."
I narrow my eyes, "You mean 'us' as in you and Stanley, right?"
Maren takes a deep breath and begins speaking. "Nine of us came here. We-"
"WHAT THE HOLY HELL!?" Camila slaps her hand over her mouth.
I stare at her, wide-eyed. Before I can scold Camila for using that sort of language, Maren continues. "Nine of us came here. We look like you, we talk like you, we live among you. But we are not you. We have powers you dream of having. We are the superheroes you worship in movies and comic books. But we are real. They caught Number One in Malaysia, Number Two in England, and Number Three in Kenya. They killed them all. I am Number Six."
Silence.
Nobody says a word.
Camila sits still, her mouth open so wide I'm afraid she's hurting herself. Then she says very slowly, "What the heck does that mean? There are NINE ALIENS LIVING HERE ON EARTH?"
Maren shakes her head. "Three of us were killed by the Mogadorians. There are six of us now." Before Camila can ask a million questions, I cut in.
"What are Mogadorians?"
"I'll explain that in a moment" Maren says. "First I need to tell you--"
"And what are all those numbers you're using?" I ask. "You're number six? What does that mean?"
Maren sighs and I can tell that we're going to be talking for a long while.
Then she starts. "My planet is called Lorien. An evil race called the Mogadorians attacked and destroyed our planet and killed everyone on it. But we escaped. Us nine garde and our nine cepans-"
"Garde? Cepan?" I interrupt. What is she talking about? Those aren't even words.
"Garde develop powers called legacies." Maren says, obviously annoyed. "I am one of the garde. Cepan are our protectors. They don't have legacies. They watch over us and train us. Anything else?"
So Sandor must be Stanley's protector! Not his father. But I don't confirm this by asking Maren. She already looks stressed as hell. Besides, I know its probably true,
"No, carry on." I say.
Maren continues. "We traveled in a spaceship to Earth. The trip took a year. We were all very young at the time. I wasn't any older than four when we left."
I imagine what that would be like. Still a toddler and your planet being destroyed by a bunch of Mog-dork-ians, whatever. I feel bad for Maren. Then I interject. "Stanley was one of those children? On the ship?"
"Yes. He's a garde as well. After landing on Earth we each parted our separate ways with our individual cepans. But the Mogadorians found us here on Earth and we were forced into hiding. Back on Lorien a charm was cast to protect us. We were each given a number. We can only be killed in order. The Mogadorians must kill Number Four and Five before they can kill me."
I start feeling sick. "Number One, Two, and Three are all dead." I say, remembering what Maren had just said. "You're Number Six?" Maren nods. I look to see how Camila is taking all this. She seems strangely quiet, watching Maren with total interest. "And Stanley. What number is he?" I ask, dreading the answer. What if he's Number Four?Maren licks her lips. "Stanley," She hesitates, deciding whether or not she should trust us. Then says, "Stanley is Number Nine."