Kiss My Assimilation

Chapter 4 - The Big Day

A big day it was, Annie coordinated the guys with the organizers of the show. They rehearsed like crazy to get it just right. Those guys worked hard when they had to. She tried her best to make it more comfortable. Talking with the caterers, making sure there were water bottles around. All the little invisible details.

She still felt uneasy about last night and tried to talk to Mathew about it, but he dismissed the incident as trivial.

Trivial it most certainly was not. That guy had screamed like his life had depended on it. There was no other way of seeing it, but when they had rushed inside his room he had been cool as a cucumber. A cut cucumber, but still nowhere near as frantic as he had sounded just seconds ago. Something happened in that room, and Mathew was hiding whatever it was.

Today was the big day. They had to prepare for the new year's show. Richard Kent's big new year extravaganza. It was big in every sense of the word. When Americans did something, they did it in a big way. In England, they had new year's festivities; but by God, never like this. This was like one of the guy's shows times ten. Big trucks parked everywhere. In Los Angeles no less. The logistics alone were mind boggling. Then once the equipment was here, the performers had to practice their number and boom. Perform in front of billions of spectators. Richard Kent's new year show was broadcast worldwide. She was more than impressed, she was overwhelmed.

To add to the stress, David was two hours late this morning. After last night, Annie's state of mind was not doing well. She told David that if she turned into a Gin drinking old hag it would be all his fault. David had laughed and told her he was sorry but something urgent had come up and he was delayed. David left her and went to John who was talking to technicians nearby. They conversed for a while and John headed backstage to their dressing room. Annie looked at him disappear behind a curtain in disbelief. They had so much work and these guys were taking breaks at the most inappropriate times. Normally, Annie wouldn't be so keyed up, but she wasn't used to those high stress situations like the guys were.

She followed John with the intention of giving him a piece of her mind. She walked fast in a jerky way. The way angry people walk. She didn't even knock when she opened the dressing room's door.

Nothing in her past life experience could have prepared her for what she saw behind that door.

The cat, Brian Baugmarten's cat, was on top of John who was frantically trying to push it off him. The feline had broken up in pieces and... things came out of its body towards him trying to subdue its prey. One of the... tentacles was halfway inserted in John's mouth rendering him incapable of screaming. Annie was beyond shock and disgust. She reached inside her purse and her hand grabbed the first thing it found. A mouth vaporizer. Mint. Great, let's fight this alien monster or whatever it was with a breath freshener. Bloody hell.

She ran towards the struggling John who's eyes were rolling to the back of his head suffocating. She sprayed them with the mist without thinking. Spraying a fresh minty mist might not work but she had to do something!

The stars must've aligned for her that day because as soon as she sprayed the squirming duo with it, the cat retracted back to it battered form and screamed bloody murder. So Annie sprayed some more on it. The trembling mass inside the cat seeped out of its mouth and was displayed in all its gory detail to Annie's senses. Still dousing the writhing creature with minty freshness, Annie forced herself to go closer. The orange and pink alien flesh dissolved before her very eyes in a pool of stinky smoking brownish liquid.

She heard John Bannon coughing and turned in his direction. When he got his breath back, he exclaimed: "What is happening here?" He wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve.

"And I'm supposed to know? I just got here myself!" She exclaimed near hysteria.

"This is mental," John said, just before Annie who's senses were on overload, felt the room spin. She put her hand on the nearest wall and was violently sick.

"Great, another disgusting smell to add to this already toxic atmosphere," John complained.

"Bite me," Annie replied between episodes.

"I might just do that." He replied. "Why don't you use some of that breath freshener on yourself? I might consider kissing you to thank you for saving me from this... thing."

"In your dreams Tom Jones, but if you give me Taylor Swift's number. I'll consider us even." Annie replied.

"Tom Jones!? What are you? A time traveler from the 70's? Wait what?" He said suddenly realizing the meaning of her last sentence.

"Oh, you are slow Casanova."

"Obviously."

They didn't have time to continue their absorbing conversation. They were abruptly interrupted by the sound of many people banging the door at the same time. It was barely holding up, its hinges vibrating from the sheer violence of the intervention.

Uh-oh. What now?

The door gave way and crashed down; revealing the remaining members of the Second Chance band standing there. All their eyes were trained on the pool of muck that had been an alien mere minutes ago. Their gaze focused back on them.

"Guys?" John said hesitantly.

Annie went to the right part of the huge dressing room. She still held on the mint spray. When the rest of the band started screaming and rushed forward towards John she came up and sprayed David directly in his open mouth. He stopped and started gagging and choking. She went to Mathew next, but he was prepared and knocked her on the floor with a backhand motion. Seeing stars, she saw John grab the bottle and spray him in his screaming mouth. He too fell to the floor retching. Peter grabbed John by the neck and lifted him off the ground as if he weighed nothing. Peter's mouth was foaming and his eyes were crazy with rage. Annie rushed to John's aid and took the bottle from his hand. She sprayed a good dose of the stuff into Peter's waiting mouth. He immediately let John go and both crumpled on the floor next to their two friends.

Annie hoped it wasn't too late for the guys. When the monster came out of the poor cat, there was nothing left of it but a furry skin. She looked at the guys she had taken care of for the past few weeks puking their monsters out. She was sick with fear, hoping they would be alright.

Please, God.