Chapter 4

My adventure in the mall was short lived after we encountered Electra, the girl with the purple hair. My twin sister must have made some enemies. At least that was what Gina told me. I didn't really get what an enemy was, but if there was a person I liked least, it was Electra. We were on our way back to the house. I was in the backseat of the car, trying to have a conversation with the others.

"Jorgie, why won't you talk to me?" I asked. She has been ignoring me since Tahti brought me back to them. "Are you hungry?" Silence. Complete silence. Jorge always had something to say. She was staring out the window now, gazing at the neighborhood as we passed. I tapped Gina's shoulder. "Is there something wrong with Jorgie?"

Gina met my gaze in the rearview mirror before she concentrated in front. She turned the car left where our apartment was and pulled the car to a stop. Jorge was out of the vehicle fast. It was only at that point when Gina finally removed her seatbelt and looked at me. "There's nothing wrong with her." She sighed. "Jorge is just concerned with you. She was worried after learning what happened." Gina reached out and patted my leg. "You could have been harmed."

My lips quivered. "Is she mad at me? Was that what being mad was? I read it on the gossip magazine. The one where Poot was the cover. Said that this girl Taylor Shift was mad at Casey Sperry. They stopped talking to each other." I removed my cap. "Is that why she's giving me the silent treatment?"

A ghost of a smile played on Gina's lips. "You pick up fast Aleli. But don't worry, Jorge is not mad at you. She's frustrated with herself. Being on earth has taught us that emotions are not all black and white. Sometimes it's complicated. And her frustration is there because she was the one who allowed you to walk in the mall alone." Gina turned in front to open her door. I followed her out.

"I'll still apologize. It's my fault for being careless." I skipped inside, leaving Gina by the car. Jorge wasn't in their room when I knocked. She wasn't in the kitchen or living room either. She was sitting on my bed waiting for me. I hesitated before joining her. "Sorry," I mumbled. "It will not happen again, I swear." She didn't speak. "Oh come on Jorgie, they came here for the lesbian jokes."

She cracked a smile. "I'm not in the mood for one." She pinched my cheek. "I hate to admit it, but you got me worried there."

"Sorry," I said yet again. If there was one thing I've learned since being awake, it was that people tend to say that word a lot. They said it on the books, magazines, and dramas. I shifted in my seat so I was facing Jorge. "Do twin sisters really look alike?"

"You can say that. If they're lesbians, you can also say that twins lick alike too."

"Huh?"

"Nothing," she said. "Anyway, go to sleep. You are a child. Though you are stronger than humans, we want you to have a fully developed body." She stood.

"What about Tahti? Why didn't she come home with us?"

"She's still searching. Good night."

Dreams were strange. I've been dreaming a lot since being awoken, if that even made sense. Most of them were categorized as pleasant. Sometimes I would dream of faces I saw in magazines. The characters in the books I've read would also visit me in the dream world. They would play out a chapter I've read from the book. The happiest dreams were about Jorge, Gina, and Tahti.

Tonight was different. I haven't dreamt about her in days. This time, she had a face. She looked just like me, as if I was staring in the mirror. It made me question myself if I was dreaming, or if it was real life and I was moving and breathing like I owned her body. I followed her like a ghost. A silent spectator while I was locked in the body that wasn't mine.

"What are you thinking of Nikolai?" I asked. He sat beside me, idly looking at the stars. He was careful not to lean back too much, or he'd fall from the back of the pickup truck. Of all the vehicles we could have bought with our money, it had to be a secondhand blue pickup truck, he would complain. But I liked the truck. It reminded me of the country where I used to live. Where mother found me, thinking I was human like her. How wrong she was.

Niko turned to me. There was no comfort or assurance in his face, only worry. He was worried a lot these days. "Nothing," he murmured.

"I can see right through you." I poked at his ribs. "You're thinking about that girl aren't you?"

He sighed. "You got me." Niko stared at the stars again before glancing at me. "Alena, why can't we just go back? Why are we doing this?"

I fought the urge to roll my eyes at him. This conversation again. He wanted to go home, which he couldn't. I wouldn't allow him to. "Because we have a purpose. Everyone has a purpose. Mine is staying on earth to govern this planet and the humans. That's why I was sent here," I insisted. "Because humans are weak. They kill one another. They need someone like me to govern them. It must be the reason."

"But how do you know that?" he said doubtfully. "How do you know that it's your mission in life." He placed a hand on his chest. "And I'm a human. If you think I'm weak then you should have killed me a long time ago."

Now I really had to roll my eyes. "Don't be silly. You're not just any human. You're my Niko. If my mission in life is to govern the humans, then yours is to help me get there. And I can't kill you. You're the only one I have."

"That's not true. You have Mrs. H. There's your sister, Mimi, Jorge, Gina." He paused. "Tahti."

I squeezed my eyes shut to prevent it from glowing. "Don't mention her name," I said between clenched teeth. "Not yet anyway." A surge of longing traveled through my body. I missed her too much that it was becoming physically painful. The thought of her killed me every time. It felt like I was rotting with every second I was away from her. I breathed deeply. But if I needed to endure, then endure I must. In the end, all of this was to keep us together.

Niko's eyes were filled with an added dose of worry when I opened mine. "Let's go home," he begged.

"We can't. We need to finish what we started. That's the only way." I placed my hands on his cheeks. "You're acting like that because you're curious about Electra."

He avoided my gaze. "There's something about her that I can't shake off. It's like my soul is calling for her." I chewed on my bottom lip. It was a very human gesture I know, but it was a habit I picked up from being raised in this planet. What Niko was feeling was probably infatuation. Electra came from my planet. She had a soulmate. Niko wasn't that. Just like I said, infatuation.

I didn't remove my hand from his face. "Remind me again who you love most," I said to him. "I thought we were in this together?"

"We are," he whispered.

"Then quit thinking of other people and get your head straight." I almost snorted at the sentence. If Jorge was with us, she'd joke about how Niko couldn't possibly think straight because he was like a lesbian anyway. For the second time today, I missed my friends. Shrug it off Alena. There was no room for weakness in your heart. Not when the mission was this big. We had a purpose. They would understand sooner or later. And then Tahti had no choice but to stay.

"Are you still willing to do this with me?" I asked Niko. "Because you can go home if you won't. But I can't come with you." I hated using the guilty card on him. It was tearing his good heart apart. Yet it was the only way I could keep him beside me. Somehow I still needed Niko to prevent me from doing worse things to humans.

He exhaled. "You know I won't leave your side."

"Good."

A crunch on the gravel told me that our companion has returned. I stared at Chloe who was approaching us with a smile. "Sorry to cut your conversation short lovebirds," she said when she was near the truck. "Did I surprise you?"

"I heard you from a mile away," I said. "And Niko is not my soulmate, Tahti is." I jumped out of the truck. "What's the status?"

Chloe went into report mode. I stared at her with satisfaction as she told us that the place was empty save for the guards that roamed at night. She tweaked the cameras too, so we could walk freely without being swarmed by security. Chloe was a former schoolmate of mine. Back when we were at school, I had no idea that I was an alien because I was raised on earth. She has forgotten that she was one because of a side-effect of being in this planet.

To cut it short, I later on knew that I was alien, while she remembered that she was one too. When I decided to start my mission of governing Earth, Chloe was the first person I contacted. She was a scientist in our planet. She was good at building things. I needed her for that.

"Tell me," I said as I leaned on the truck. "Why did you really agree on this? Weren't you friends with Tahti and the others too? They'd be sourly disappointed if they realize that you're working for us."

Her reaction was nothing but a shrug. "I'm a scientist," she said. "I like to discover things. What you're doing right now is very interesting for me. I'd like to see how it plays out."

"And your conscience?" I said. "So far we have destroyed some landmarks around the world." Landmarks we could always rebuild, I reminded myself. "And some people were injured. Don't you think that what you and I are doing is evil?"

"There's nothing evil when it comes to science, only facts and results. Anyway, my data confirms that the stone we've been looking for is around the area. We only have to search deeper."

"How about the other one? The alien we've been looking for." Niko tilted his head towards the direction of our mission. "Is she in there too?"

Chloe was looking very pleased with herself as she nodded to us. "Affirmative. Both the stone and the alien is in the area." She made a sweeping motion with her arms. "Shall we?"

The three of us entered the place like it wasn't restricted at night. We walked confidently without minding the CCTV. If guards came running at us, I could easily stop them. Killing was another thing. It wouldn't be good to get my hands dirty. But if it came to that point, I wouldn't have any choice. Sometimes you had to kill a few to save millions. In this case, billions of people on Earth. I shoved the guilt out of my heart and locked it somewhere I couldn't feel it.

The road was lit by lamps on either side. There were trees and buildings. I've never been here before. It was a place of attraction. Humans would go here during the day to have fun with their families. There were sights and many things to explore. I wasn't here for any of that. The three of us followed the road until it divided into two.

"Let's separate," I said to Chloe. "You go with Niko to the left and look for the stone while I go the other way to look for the alien."

"Why can't I go with you?" Niko complained. "We always go together."

Chloe grabbed his arm and dragged him away from me. "Stop being clingy and follow me," she said. "Alena can take care of herself." I waved goodbye to them when Niko turned to look at me.

"Well then," I mumbled to myself. "Got to look for the alien. Now where could she be?" I followed the second road. While looking for a possible place to find our alien, I've seen one or two vehicles pass by. It carried two security, patrolling the place. Each time, I would duck on the side to avoid confrontations. It was for their sake, not mine.

It wasn't long before I stumbled on a small building, the size of a house. It didn't look like it was one of the main attractions of the place. Must have been where some of the employees were residing. I widened my senses. It was a good perk that came with being an alien, and I have been using it for months now. My senses told me that the building was currently occupied by one person. And she wasn't human. Bingo!

I was right in thinking that the building wasn't an attraction but a place for employees. It had a living room which I walked through, and a cozy kitchen full of appliances. Most of the rooms had five bunk beds. I found my alien sitting on one. Like any other species who came to Earth, she was beautiful. She wore her black hair short. Trimmed at the sides, slicked back in the middle. She was rugged, though her soft face and dark brown eyes told me that she was very much female.

Leaning by the doorframe, I asked, "What's your name?"

She looked away from her phone to check me. Her expression said that she knew what I was, and I knew what she was. Touché. She placed the phone on the bed. "You're the guest. You have to tell me your name first."

"How about you be a gracious host and answer the question?"

She stood without answering me. "If you're going to kill me, then I suggest that you do it first." Her eyes glowed. "Go on. Use your hands, grip your neck, and kill yourself."

I chuckled at her. "If we were in school, that would be classified as bullying." She frowned. I continued. "Anyway, I've heard about your power. You have the ability of suggestion." I stretched my arm. "I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to recruit."

"Kill yourself," she repeated with a deadlier tone.

"Like I said. I know about your power." Thanks to Chloe's sources. "I also know that it has limitations. For example, you can only use suggestion if the person is emotionally distraught or physically impaired. A person who drank alcohol for example." I sneered. "My friend Jorge always told me that I'm a boring person. I don't drink, so good luck with that." I shrugged. "Other than that power, you're just as weak as humans."

She matched my sneer. "While you may not be intoxicated, no person is completely emotionally stable." She took a step to me. "Everyone has something they're concerned about. Anger. Feared." She leaned to my ears and whispered. "Longing for someone. Someone you love."

My thoughts strayed to Tahti. It made me immobile. The pain of being away from her lashed through my body too. Was she experiencing this as well? Was Tahti missing me as much?

The alien laughed hard. "I may be as weak as a human, but I can easily kill you like this. Don't move." This time her power of suggestion wrapped in my body. It was like invisible ropes, preventing me from moving as she said. The alien easily placed her fingers around my neck and squeezed. I was choking. Little by little, life was being drained from me.

"Oh no you won't!" Niko screamed as he tackled the alien to the ground. It freed me in an instant.

"How'd. You. Know?" I said in between short breaths. "That I was in trouble?"

Chloe stepped into the room. "We were near this place when Niko ran, saying he could feel you." She shook her head in amusement. "You guys are so clingy that sometimes I wonder what's going on."

"Nothing's going on," I gasped. Niko subdued the alien.

"Anyway," Chloe said to the alien. "We're here to recruit you like with did with the others. Alena has a purpose, and either you're with her or against her. I know for a fact that aliens don't usually come to Earth out of their free will. You must have done something in your planet that made you hide here."

The alien yanked her hand from Niko. She massaged her wrist grudgingly. "Hmph! What do you know?"

"I know a lot," Chloe said.

My lung has cleared out. I was able to breathe fine. "What's your name alien?" I said to the girl. "Don't make me repeat myself."

She met my stare. "Sapphire. You can call me Saph."

I reached to shake her hand. It was cold and sweaty. She didn't trust me yet. Good. Never trust me. "Welcome to the group Sapphire. I'm Alena."