Anadora

Four.

Roman froze, his back straightening as he stared at me with his wide, brown eyes.

'Only one person knocks like that on my door,' he muttered, a deep scowl set on his face as he pivoted and raced downstairs with echoing steps.

I followed along behind him hesitantly, reaching the bottom of the stairs with a restless Zima in my arms just in time to see Roman thrust open the double doors.

There was a man and a woman standing outside. They were tall, silhouetted by the porch light. Roman let them in wordlessly, face emotionless.

As the door closed, refraining the ice cold air from drifting inside, their attention turned to my figure at the back of the room. Their eyebrows were raised.

'Interesting,' the man mutered.

Roman distracted their odd evaluation of me by stepping in front of them, arms crossed across his chest.

'What are you doing here?' he questioned with a hard voice.

They looked down at him sceptically. 'Investigating,' the woman said vaguely, waving a hand in dismissal as she walked around Roman, towards me.

'You, my dear, are one strange looking girl,' the lady mused.

My mouth dropped open in shock. 'Excuse me?' I bristled.

She felt a lock of my braided hair in between her fingers, staring into my eyes.

'You're not human,' she muttered, firm and resolute.

I stuttered, shocked. 'Wh... what? What else would I be?'

She dropped my hair. 'I'm going to take a wild guess and say you were that asteroid that landed not 5 miles away from this location. Tell me that I'm wrong.'

My breathing was shallow. This was not meant to happen. I was not supposed to be discovered like this, not this early.

I shook my head. 'No. You're wrong. I'm a traveler and I got lost. Roman helped me.'

She turned to face a stock still, awfully confused looking Roman. 'When did she arrive here?'

He hesitated. The man rested a firm hand on his shoulder. Roman glanced sideways at him, fleeetingly. 'Yesterday,' he relented. 'Around 6.'

The woman's eyes lit up. 'Perfect timing. Well, I think it's time for some formal introductions, then. I'm Jo. Jo Daniels. Roman's mother.'

《¤》

Joe and Richard faced me across the dining table as we sat and drank tea and coffee.

They stared at me periodically throughout the pleasantries they exchanged with their son, though every word that came out of Roman's mouth was tense and minorly unwelcoming.

They had a waving relationship, I could see.

As I expected, the drinks soon began to disappear and the conversation was turned to me. Dread filled my stomach.

Richard leaned forward, arms crossed and face emotionless. 'So, what are you?'

'Dad!' Roman hissed. A glare from his father quieted him. All attention was again directed back to my figeting form.

'I, uh...' Was human? They wouldn't believe me. A Zionite from far off outer space? That would certainly destroy my mission.