Been a while, but this one is pretty long, so sorry if you're a slow reader like me :P
As always, don't forget to check out the song and picture on the side <3
ENJOY!
Max~
I left the party because it was getting awkward. I kissed Tyler, I couldn't help it, I had to, he was just sitting there and... my human emotions had gotten out of hand. I was having a hard time controlling them. Back on Jupiter, my native species weren't used to strong emotions, and so many of them. Being in this human form was something I was having trouble getting used to, which only made me feel confused, agitated, aggressive, unnerved, tired... and something else I couldn't find a name for.
As I walked down the street I let my eyes glaze over, hacking into my data base files and flicking through the Earth section. There was a lot in there, but not enough to help me understand all this... this... this... AH FRUSTRATING! Frustrating? That's the one I was missing before. So many emotions, I couldn't understand them all at once. But, on the bright side, I was getting the hang of things. I could run and jump now, so that was good. My speech was getting better too, and I could control the muscles on my face more. So many expressions to learn.
My eyes unglazed and I stopped under a street lamp. The human brain confused me. There was so much of it, and no much of it unused. It was like the brain was designed for my peoples intelligence and power, but they hadn't accessed it yet.
I tilted my head to the side, looking at a car parked in front of me on the... I did a quick FILE CHECK... curb of the road. I flicked a finger, making the car alarm go crazy and the front and back lights flash on and off in time. The light of the street lamp above me burst from the power surge and bits of glass fell around me. Not on me, nothing could touch me.
I cracked my knuckles, strange movements. I had been forced to motion instead of just mind power because this body was still weak.
I sighed, it was a strange feeling, so was breathing. Breathing, hah, what a bizarre concept.
I decided to try something, so I turned and headed back to the party. I climbed one of the trees outside easily and sat at the top, looking down at the front yard of... that human's house.
Tyler came out with that girl who'd been nice to me. There was another girl with them, but I wasn't interested in her. She got in the... FILE CHECK... car. But Tyler grabbed... Vienna? And...
I fell back and dropped off the branch, but then grabbed the next one down and saved myself. That was close. I hung there staring at Tyler kissing Vienna. How could he? After I'd just kissed him. That was so... so... infuriating? INFURIATING!
Vienna left and then Tyler stood there looking up at the sky. I pulled myself up onto the branch and groaned. I laughed at groaning, because it felt funny, and it sounded funny. It was very amusing.
I zoomed in, focusing my eyes, and watched Tyler's face. He was so... handsome.
Marco came along and then they went inside. I waited for a little while, then dropped to the ground and righted myself. I'd see him on Monday at school, so there was nothing I could do until then.
I headed back to my home, or at least the place I was staying while I was here. Crash landing on a weird new planet was a strange thing. Not that we didn't know about Earth. The whole Solar System new about Earth, it was the noisiest planet in the Universe. Always sending noisy rockets and ships and satellites out. I liked sitting on the roof of my home listening to the concerts they had. Music was good here, but there was some really bad stuff too. This stuff called Country Music, aish, it made my ears hurt.
Anyway, crash landing wasn't fun. I was going to send out a help signal, but then I ran into Tyler during the storm. How could I go after seeing such a handsome him?
I approached my front door and froze, there was a strange smell in the air, something metallic. I dived on my stomach and rolled under a bench as the footpath exploded in flames beneath me.
They found me.
I rolled out from under the bench on the other side and then ran straight for the fence. I leaped over it and rushed as fast as this human form would let me down the side of the house into the back yard. If they were coming for me, I couldn't fight them as a human. I grabbed the stud in my right ear and pressed it tighter together. It beeped as the stud changed from blue to red and a shudder ran through me. I caught my reflection in the back door of the house. I was back to normal again.
I leaped up onto the roof in one bound and crawled to the top point, glancing into the front yard. There was a ship shielded in the middle of the street. I could only see it because of my trained native Juperian eyes. I knew who they were... Martians.
Two big black creatures were stepping out of the ship, covered in armour and armed with laser canons. They had four huge clawed legs, long spiked tails, and long necks with dinosaur like heads. They were about the size of a mini bus each, and lethal. My people have been at war with them for nearly a millennium.
They're the reason I'm marooned on this planet, I needed a place to hide after being shot down. And now they've found me. It's going to take forever to shake them now that I'm grounded.
I pried my ears up and listened to them. Thankfully my mother had forced me to learn their native tongue back at school. I must remember to thank her.
“Evatch ip yotg vu jketkaru itspetch gju ka,” said the taller one of the two. Which roughly translated to, 'The parasite is around here somewhere.' My mind automatically translated their dialect.
“We can't let him escape,” answered the other.
“Where did he go?”
“I don't know!” Martians aren't the brightest creatures in the Universe. The only reason they have so much power is because of their War like nature. Mars is the planet of War, everyone knows it.
“I have an idea,” the first one said. I smirked.
“Careful big guy, don't want to hurt yourself,” I whispered to myself, suppressing a laugh.
“The human boy,” the Martian continued. I froze, he better not mean what I think he means.
“The earthling boy?” the other asked, then pulled out a Techno Screen and flicked through something. “Ah yes, Tyler Montgomery.”
Those b*stards are dead!
They turned and headed towards their ship as I leaped over the roof, pulling my weapon out of my back pocket and clicking it ready to go. But I was too slow and they flew up into the air and off.
It wouldn't take me too long to get to Tyler's house from here, now that I wasn't in human form, but I'd have to change to be in public, or I'd get found out. There was a reason I chose Australia over America, I'd stolen enough science-fiction movies to know that in America I'd be on a slab being dissected right now. Australia was my safest bet, the people here were relatively easy going.
~
I snuck around the back of Tyler's house just as the ship landed in the front lawn. I de-shadowed from human and climbed up the wall to Tyler's bedroom window. I'd have to wake him and take him somewhere safe before I could explain.
I opened the bedroom window and rolled in, creeping over to the bed. Then my jaw dropped. He wasn't here, was I too late? Anger filled me and I ran through the house, bursting out the front door to face the two black Martians. They seemed stunned to see me, but I was ready for them. I ripped my weapon out, a Plasma Spear Bow. And shot both of them between the eyes before they could say, 'Huij vut fu!'. And you don't want to know what that means.
The bodies melted as they died and turned to puddles of tar on the ground. I'd have to clean that up to hide my cover. I stepped towards them and froze. That smell was still in the air, and it shouldn't be. I knelt, bow still ready, and looked up at the ship. It rumbled and then took off. Crap, I should have known there was more of them. Did they have Tyler aboard? I quickly scooped up the mess and dumped it in those weird green wheelie bins, before heading off.
I had no idea where to look for the ship. Luckily I managed to grab one of those Techno Screens from the bodies. It had a tracker. I hid in a bush out the front of Tyler's house and checked the screen. They had gone up into the atmosphere, circling the town. That meant they didn't have Tyler. My heart slowed as I relaxed a little. He was safe, for now.
He wasn't at home, so there were three places he was most likely to be. Vienna, Marco, and that other guy who held the party. I would have to try all three, I just pray I get to him before the ship does.
Marco~
There was a crash from upstairs... inside the house.
Gunner and I both turned to look at Tyler, who gripped the cricket bat he was holding tightly.
“Nothing huh?” he said deadly seriously, glancing up at the window closest to us on the second story. Gunner walked over to the pool fence and grabbed a metal tee ball bat. Now I was the only one unarmed, great. I quickly looked around, but there didn't seem to be anything in sight, even greater.
“How did it get in the house?” I asked, my brain worked through topics quicker than most people, so people usually thought I was random, when I wasn't.
“The door was locked when we came down...” Tyler thought out loud. He squinted, a sure sign his brain was working hard.
“Did we lock the front door?” Gunner asked, looking me in the eyes. I shrugged, how was I supposed to know?
“What do you think it is?” Gunner continued. Tyler had fallen silent. I knew what he was thinking, because I was thinking the same thing. Max was an alien... and we didn't know if he was alone or not.
There was another crash, making us all jump. I couldn't move, my legs were frozen stiff. But Tyler was edging towards the back door, which was still open.
“Don't,” I warned him, but he wasn't listening, and then he stepped inside and disappeared. I looked at Gunner, who was looking at me, and then he followed after him. Dammit, now I had no excuse. I rushed up the back veranda to the shed and ripped the door open. Right inside the door was a pitch fork, perfect, I grabbed it and then ran back to the house and leaped inside. I left the back door open for an easy escape, and saw Gunner and Tyler at the foot of the stairs. There was banging around upstairs, like someone was looking for something. Or something was looking for someone.
Gunner and Tyler headed up the stairs while I stayed behind. I crept over to a wall near the front door and pressed my back into it, looking this way and that. I'd seen enough horror films to know what you shouldn't do. So I had my back covered, I checked the ceiling every now and again to make sure nothing was crawling towards me up there, and I kept an exit nearby.
I bet this was just Max playing some sort of trick now that Tyler knew about him. I still wasn't sure if I believed it, though I do believe in aliens. If Max is E.T, then I'm sure he's definitely one of the good ones. He's too... nice not to be.
The floor and walls began to vibrate along with a strange humming noise, I spiked my ears up to listen in. The sound was coming from upstairs and I turned to look.
Suddenly the world was tipped upside down. Plaster exploded from the ceiling and I was knocked to the floor closer to the door. I rolled onto my back and looked up to see a huge muscularly black clawed arm retracting back through the hole it had just created amongst the dust. HOLY FREAKAROOZA!
The front door burst open and I was pulled to my feet and turned around to see Max. Only it wasn't quite Max. He was green, with three glowing eyes and gills and spots.
“Get out of the house!” he told me and then picked up the pitch fork I'd dropped, in his other hand was this weird pointy thing, and ran towards the stairs, leaping with ease over huge chunks of the roof. I ran out the front door and didn't stop until I was on the road. I looked back at the house, and from the street everything looked normal. Just a cloudy early morning in a peaceful rich neighbourhood. Wait... Did Max have pointy ears?
Tyler~
The hall was empty when Gunner and I reached the top of the staircase. Gunner tapped my shoulder and then took the lead, heading towards the first door. The back of my mind couldn't help but acknowledged it was that room where Max had kissed me. I quickly brushed it aside and followed after Guns.
There was a clicking sound that sent shivers down my spine. I turned slowly and looked behind us to where the noise was coming from. Behind the railing of the staircase near the galley window was... I had no idea.
I grabbed Gunner's hand and pulled, making him look.
“What-?” he began to hiss before his jaw dropped too. The black blob was growing, arms sprouting out of it's body, claws here and there. I began to tremble. The only escape from this level minus jumping out a window was the staircase, and going down there meant going near the... creature. I decided it was worth a shot.
I lunged for the staircase, but the creature thing was faster than I expected and it dived for me. I skidded to the side of the stairs, crashing into a wall. Then I crouched as it ripped a hole in the wall. I jumped back as another arm came down at me. I managed to get out of the way, but the arm crashed right through the floor. I shuffled back to Gunner and stood as the thing climbed over the stair railing.
“My window is above the pool,” Gunner whispered to me. I nodded and we began to edge up the hall to Gunner's bedroom. The walls and floor began to shake as the... alien? Grew and turned two lizard like eyes towards us.
“RUN!” I shouted to Gunner and turned, yanking him after me into his room. I locked the door and raced to the window, yanking it open. There was an explosion that shook the house, making me trip. I stumbled out the window, fortunately my jeans got stuck on something and I hung upside down over the pavement.
“Guns? Now would be a good time to come to my rescue,” I called nervously, eyeing the concrete two stories beneath me. If I fell head first...
I heard a rip, the sound of denim, and dropped a few inches.
“Gunner?” I shouted, but there was no reply. Oh god, the monster's got him for sure.
Gunner~
Tyler pulled me into my own bedroom and then closed the door, locking it. I wanted to act, I wanted to get out of here, but for some reason I couldn't move, I was struck with fear. What the hell was that thing? I watched in slow motion as Tyler went to my bedroom window. He ripped it open and then the ground shook and I stumbled to the side, grabbing onto my chest of draws to stop myself falling. When I looked back up Tyler was gone.
Wait, he wasn't, I could see his legs. Then I realised he was hanging out over the edge. My heart stopped.
“Guns? Now would be a good time to come to my rescue,” I heard Tyler call. But right then I was throw to my bedroom floor as something crashed behind me. I rolled onto my back to see the door being blow to pieces and a huge black lizard thing standing in the door frame, taking up all the space. It's eyes locked on me and it growled, baring it's teeth. Then it pulled something out of it's holster and aimed it at me.
“Gunner?” Tyler shouted. I couldn't move. The weapon began to light up as it charged, and a red dot appeared on my chest. I was going to die, this was it, and I couldn't even help my best friend. I closed my eyes tight and braced myself.
BAM!
There was an explosion, and then I was splattered with hot goo. I pried one eye open, realising I was still alive, and looked at the empty space in my doorway. It was now drenched in black goo. The new kid stormed through the doorway, not even looking at me, with a fierce expression on his face and something long and sharp in his hand. He ran straight to the window.
Tyler~
There was an explosion behind me, but there was no way I could see what happened.
Rip, my pants were tearing further, and I inched another inch to my death. My stomach whirled, I felt like I was going to be sick. All the blood in my body was rushing to my head and my cheeks were burning. I was starting to feel dizzy, but I dug my fingers into the bricks and hung on for dear sweet life.
Then I was being yanked backwards. I let out a scream, but it was faint, before I was hoisted back inside. My knees hit solid ground and my stomach lurched again. The room was spinning before my eyes as it returned back to it's normal state right way up. I stared into three glowing bright eyes before everything went black, and once again my world tipped sideways.
I had no idea how much later it was when I finally woke up again. It was still daytime, I could tell because sun was shining through the window right on my face. I squinted and put my hand up to shield my eyes
“He's awake!” I heard Marco cry, and suddenly his face was hovering over mine. I was laying down, so I sat up and looked around. I was on one of the couches in Gunner's living room. How did I get downstairs?
“Are you okay?” Marco continued to ask me, he was smiling and I smiled back.
“Yeah, I think,” I nodded. I did feel fine, a bit faint, but fine. “What happened?” I looked around the room and saw Gunner leaning against the wall in the corner. He had his arms crossed over his chest and he wasn't looking at me.
“Well...” Marco began, then frowned. “Actually... I'm not sure. We were mucking around having a pillow fight in Gunner's bedroom, and you got too close to the open window or something, and you spilled out. Luckily your jeans got caught on something, and then I hauled you back inside.” I frowned. Really? Is that what happened? I searched my memory bank and sure enough what Marco had said was all there. I remembered hanging and fearing for my life, screaming out for help. I shuddered.
“What's up with Gunner?” I whispered so the brooding boy wouldn't hear. Marco sighed.
“He's ashamed with himself for not helping you. He was scared and...” Marco trailed off as he looked at our friend too. Poor Gunner.
“It's okay man,” I called to him, but he didn't show any sign of recognition.
After that I headed home. I was certain I'd never go anywhere near heights again after this.
When I reached my house I was surprised to find a police car out the front. What were the coppers doing here? I stepped inside the house and turned to the living room to see my mum and dad on one couch and a police man and woman on the other. My mum looked worried, while my dad looked angry. I dropped my back pack by the door as all four eyes turned to look at me.
“Is this your son?” the police man asked. He was tall with dark hair and a rough face. His eyes were black and hard, no nonsense. He was definitely the bad cop.
“Yes,” my mum mumbled, hand shaking and covering her mouth.
“Please take a seat Tyler,” the female said, with curly red hair and soft green eyes. The good cop. Typical routine. I went over and sat on the floor cross legged next to my mum and the coffee table. I still felt pretty edgy from my early morning experience, mixed with lack of sleep, so having to face the coppers wasn't going to go down well.
“What's going on?” I asked, frowning up at my parents.
“Someone broke into our house last night,” dad said, eyes glazing over. I raised my eyebrows in shock.
“What?” I gapped. “How? When?”
“Please calm down,” the female copper said to me. I coughed to clear my throat and tried to take a deep breath.
“It appears the trespasser broke into your bedroom window Tyler, and then made their way through the house and out the front door, leaving it open,” the bad copper said, writing stuff down on a notepad.
“My room? Why? It's on the top floor,” I gapped. Our house was unique, thanks to my parents artistic style. It was the only two storey house in this block of town. Downstairs was like any normal house. There was a lounge room, kitchen, laundry, bathroom, dining room and a spare bedroom. Then near the front door was a staircase and upstairs was two bedrooms. Mine and the master bedroom, and the master bedroom had a small bathroom. Because of this my bedroom had two windows, one that faced the yard, and one that looked out over the roof at the chimney. I often went out and sat on the roof to watch the sunrise when I couldn't sleep.
“We're not sure. The window was definitely forced open. But considering the perpetrator didn't actually steal or damage anything, there's not a lot we can do. It's just a case of B&E,” the female copper explained. My mum let out a sob and dad hugged her.
“I don't think I can feel safe in my own home anymore,” she wailed. “I definitely don't want you staying here Tyler, if they can get into your room so easily.” I gapped at my mother, opening my mouth to protest, but dad gave me a warning look and I kept quiet.
“Well then, we'll be off. If you need anything, or see anything, feel free to call,” the man said as the pair got up off the couch. I stayed on the floor as dad led the coppers out and said goodbye. Then I turned on my mum.
“Mum, how can you kick me out?” I asked her. She cupped my face, rubbing my cheek with her thumb.
“Just for a little while. I want you to pack your things and I'm calling Neil, you can stay with him for a week or two, until things settle,” she ordered. I groaned and stood up, storming past my dad up the stairs and to my room where I slammed the door shut.
My bedroom was cold, the window still open and a breeze blowing in, making the curtains sway. A shiver ran down my spine with the feeling someone was watching me again. My room felt... eerie and estranged. Okay, so my mum was right, I didn't feel safe in here anymore.
I went to my bed and pulled out a suitcase from underneath it, placing it on my bed and opening it up. I filled it with all kinds of things that I needed, clothes and stuff, then I turned to my comic book collection.
I froze as I stared at the pile. There was something... different about it. I went over and picked up the first one, the latest edition of Star-C with the alien on the front that looked like... Max.
My mouth dropped open and the book fell to the ground as my memories from last night came flooding back in one hit and I stumbled back onto my bed.
The comic book fell open and a small piece of white paper slid out from inside it. I frowned and bent down to pick it up. Unfolding it, I read the messy handwriting.
T,
Don't worry, I will be looking out for you.
M.
I read it twice, but all I could see were Max's glowing eyes.
Put your hand up if you saw that coming? Haha i know some of you thought the alien upstairs was Max right? hehehe
Mouki out~