Last Chance (18 page)

Matthew recognized a change in Keith from this happy exterior to the man he had met two hundred years in the future. Keith took the money, placed it back in his pocket, leaned down to Matthew’s ear, and said, “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll tell your little girlfriend here to sell me that stone.”

Matthew saw Keith Kellington reach for his Hathmec. Matthew had noticed the outline of the pendant under his shirt. Matthew started to reach for the snap ring in his pocket. If he had to, he would throw Keith Kellington through the window of the pawnshop they stood behind. Keith looked ready to make a move.

Chapter 13

aliens among us

Matthew was blinded by sharp blue lights that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. He took his hand from his pocket once he saw Keith Kellington pull his hand down from his chest. Keith shielded his eyes from the piercing glare.

Matthew focused on the object projecting the lights and determined that a police car had pulled up on the sidewalk. Both the driver’s and passenger’s doors opened and Amanda recognized one of the occupants. “Officer Charles, is that you?”

Matthew recognized the other passenger. “Mom?”

April flanked Officer Charles and said, “Hey kids, we thought it was you over here. I see you’ve met, Keith, right?”

Keith looked at April and said, “You’re the one who thought I was from Georgia.”

“Yeah, that was me. Looks like you’ve met my son and his friend.”

Officer Charles asked the men in Keith’s group to back up. “Y’all kids need to be careful wandering down these dark streets by yourselves. You never know who you might run into out here.”

He turned his attention to Keith and his men. “So, what exactly’s goin’ on here?” Keith explained that he was old friends with Amanda’s father and was simply trying to see if she remembered him. “I haven’t seen her in a long time and just wanted to see how she was doing.” Two more police cars pulled up behind Officer Charles’s cruiser.

Officer Charles removed the flashlight from his belt, shined the light into Keith’s eyes, and said, “I get nervous when I see two of my kids surrounded by three grown men that I’ve never seen in this town.”

Keith agreed and said, “I’m sure this looked a little strange, but we meant no harm to the kids.”

Officer Charles pointed his light down the street and suggested that Keith and his friends just head on down the road. “I’m fixin’ to head to the house and don’t much feel like dealin’ with you boys tonight, so get on outta here.”

Keith responded, “I assure you that we meant no harm, officer, but you’re probably right—we’ll just be on our way. By the way, I love your accent. It fits you well.” Keith turned to Amanda, one last time, and said, “I’ll let your father know I ran into you when I talk to him.”

Keith glanced at Matthew as he walked away. His quick stare shot a hole through Matthew. He knew they would meet again. Officer Charles yelled to one of his men, “Make sure they’re outta here in the next few minutes or we’ll have another talk with ‘em.

Officer Charles asked Amanda, “Did you know any of those men?”

Amanda explained that she had never seen any of them before. “He acted like he knew my father.”

April asked, “Did he want anything or was he just talking to you?”

“He offered me five thousand dollars cash for my necklace.”

Officer Charles looked at the necklace and replied, “It’s a nice charm, but he could buy a nice diamond for five thousand bucks.”

Amanda told them that she could never sell it. “I don’t think my dad would take any amount of money for it. He would kill me if I sold it.”

Keith and his men were already out of sight when Officer Charles asked, “What did he say his full name was?”

Matthew replied, “He said his name was Keith Kellington.”

Officer Charles wrote the name in his little black tablet and told Amanda that he would do some checking on the name.

April took the kids to the side and said, “It’s getting late. Maybe we should all call it a night.” Matthew told his mother and the officer that he didn’t want Amanda driving home by herself. Officer Charles put his worries to rest and promised that he would follow her all the way home.

Amanda pulled Matthew to the side and told him that she had a wonderful time. “I’m sorry we have to end the night so early.”

Matthew responded, “Yeah, nothing like a few police cars to put a stop to a fun night.”

Amanda chuckled and reassured Matthew that Keith was probably a buddy of her father’s. “He has people to the house all the time; I’m sure I just didn’t recognize this one.”

Amanda didn’t want to plant a kiss on Matthew with his mother standing four feet away, so she grabbed Officer Charles by the arm and they walked to his car. She turned and blew a kiss Matthew’s way as the door closed. Officer Charles waited just a moment before starting his car to see if April would do the same.

She looked to him and waved good-bye and said, “Thank you.”

He rolled down his window and replied, “Not a problem. I’ll scoot on over to this young lady’s vehicle and make sure she gets home OK.” He put the car in gear and added, “I’ll be seein’ y’all.”

Matthew turned to April and said, “You realize I could have had my first kiss if you hadn’t shown up.”

April put her arm around her son and said, “You realize that Keith may have hurt you and Amanda if we hadn’t shown up.” It wasn’t clear what would have taken place had April and Officer Charles not arrived, but for now, everyone was safe and the charm still belonged to Amanda.

The two walked a couple of blocks to April’s car and headed home. Matthew asked, “How about teaching me to drive on the way home?”

April grunted and moved to the driver’s side door and said, “Not tonight—let’s just go home and get some rest.”

Matthew replied, “If you teach me to drive, I’m sure I can convince Mrs. Curry to teach you to cook. Takeout and school lunches are ok, but it can’t beat a home cooked meal.”

April rolled her eyes and said, “I don’t think we’ll be here long enough to need cooking lessons.”

Matthew asked, sarcasm on full display, “So, did you get a kiss from Officer Hottie?”

April blushed and explained, “I’m here to help you get the attribute charm, not flirt with Officer Hottie—I mean Charles.”

Matthew grinned and said, “Enough said.”

Saturday night melted into Sunday morning. Connor and Matthew were in a deep sleep, but that would be short-lived. A loud pounding at the front door resonated in both of their heads.

“You gonna get up and get that?” asked Connor.

Matthew rolled over and said, “I thought I would let you get it.”

Connor, quite groggy, explained, “I’m supposed to be all beat up, remember?”

Matthew lumbered out of bed and put on a pair of jeans. “Fine, I’ll get it.”

Matthew walked by the kitchen table and noticed a note from April that read, “Had to go out for some supplies. There’s cereal in the cabinet.” Matthew looked at the clock, rubbed his eyes, and stretched his arm into the air. The clock read 7:30 a.m. He reached the front door and opened it to see Jack and Cassie Jenkins. “Hey, guys. It’s a little early, don’t you think?”

Jack positioned himself just outside the door and responded, “We wanted to make sure we talked with you before we head to church.”

Matthew looked to Cassie and asked, “What’s up? You wanna come in?”

Cassie stepped back down the front steps, legs trembling, and responded, “No, I think we’ll just stay out here.”

Matthew saw how serious both Jack and Cassie were by their lack of eye contact and nervous twitches. They both seemed energized and scared at the same time. He asked, “Is there something wrong with you two?”

Jack took out a small vanilla envelope and explained why they were there. “We have proof that you and your brother are not of this world and we want to know what’s going on.”

Cassie added, “If you don’t tell us what’s going on, we’ll report you to the proper authorities.”

Matthew looked to the awkward girl and said, with a sheepish grin, “Is this ‘cause I didn’t go to the dance with you?”

Cassie furled her brow and responded, “Of course not!”

“Look, Matthew—if that’s your real name—my sister and I are well versed in the scientific laws of the universe.”

Matthew responded, “OK, what’s your point?”

Jack went on to explain that he and his sister had come by the Chance home yesterday morning and saw Connor doing some very strange things. Cassie added, “In fact, we had our camera with us and got this shot of your brother, levitating.”

Matthew opened the envelope and saw a picture of his brother standing fifteen feet in the air between two of the trees in the backyard. Matthew handed the picture back to Cassie and said, “That’s a real nice picture, but you must have taken it while he was jumping. Maybe he was falling out of the tree when you snapped it. It’s not possible to levitate.”

Jack explained that the miraculous takedown of half the football team on Friday night was not the act of some normal sixteen-year-old kid. “You threw guys twice your size like you were tossing horseshoes. I wanna know how you did it. Do you have superhuman strength, mind control abilities, or are you an alien with special powers?”

Matthew laughed and shook his head. “You’re both crazy. You both need to stop watching so many movies.”

Jack pulled out a book of Georgia maps. “The place you talked about in class, Hathmec, doesn’t exist.” Cassie pulled out a copy of Matthew and Connor’s transcript from school.

“How did you get that?”

Cassie explained that she was a very trusted office aide and she stole a copy of the transcripts when the secretary wasn’t looking.

“I was just curious about you two, but after what we saw yesterday, I decided to call an administrator at your last school, in Grover, Georgia. It turns out no one there remembers any Matthew or Connor Chance.”

The two siblings felt quite proud of what they had found and looked to Matthew for answers. “We’re waiting, or do we need to bring this to the sheriff’s attention?”

Matthew tore the envelope in two and threw it back at the brother and sister. He thought a show of anger would back off the two of them.

“I guess we’ll just have to show ‘em, Matthew.” Matthew looked up to see his brother standing on the roof of their small home. Cassie and Jack looked up to see Connor levitating off the side of the roof, fifteen feet in the air.

He walked closer to the siblings and Jack yelled to him, “Stay away from us.”

Connor dropped to the ground and said, “So, you’ve figured us out? What do you plan to do with this information?”

Cassie put her hand up to block Conner and said, “People know where we are, so just keep your distance.”

Connor walked to a tree located behind Cassie, and with a piece of the camotape on his hand, he placed it on the tree trunk. At once, he vanished and Cassie screamed.

Jack yelled out, “Oh my god! Where’d he go?”

Connor spoke, in his invisible state, “Do you really think your puny Earth technology and law enforcement can keep me from melting your face off? You would never see me coming.” Cassie and Jack tried to run to the road, but Matthew blocked their path.

Jack began to plea and bargain for him and his sister. “We’re sorry; we won’t say a thing to anyone.”

Cassie looked to Matthew. “Please don’t melt our faces off!” Both Cassie and Jack were on their knees in the front yard of the home.

Matthew grabbed both of them by the arm and pulled them into the house. He told them to sit on the couch. Both Cassie and Jack were hyperventilating, so Matthew told them, “Calm down; no one’s melting anyone’s face off.” Matthew had to think on his feet and come up with a story that would both calm the Jenkins kids and keep their own cover intact.

He explained that they were right. He and his brother and mother were all aliens sent to this world to investigate the human condition. “We’re also on a very important mission to find out as much as possible about Travis itself. I must say I am very impressed that you figured out who we were. Connor and I knew that you two had a higher intellect than others in this town. We’re not here to hurt anyone. We’re good aliens.”

Connor entered the living room and apologized for scaring them. “Sorry, guys, but you are so serious about everything.” Cassie and Jack started to relax and felt a sense of pride that Matthew and Connor thought so highly of them.

Matthew continued, “We can’t really tell you anything about where we’re from, for your own protection. We only have a week left to acquire all the data we need, and we’ll need your help to get it all.”

Connor put his hands on Jack and Cassie’s shoulders and asked, “Will you help us?”

Jack and Cassie both stood up and shook the hands of Matthew and Connor and asked, “What exactly do you need information on?”

Matthew grabbed a piece of paper from the kitchen and wrote the address to Amanda Curry’s home. “We need to know everything about the house at this address and everything you can dig up on the Curry family.”

Cassie took the address and said, “That’s why you couldn’t go to the dance with me; you’re researching the area around the Currys’ home.”

Jack looked to his sister, snatched the address from her hand, and said, “We just met two aliens and all you care about is why one of them wouldn’t go to a dance with you?”

She replied, “I just want to clarify it.”

Matthew asked the brother and sister if they had a deal, and they agreed. “We’ll find out everything there is to know about this address and the Currys.”

Connor told them that they needed everything by the end of the week. Jack replied, “That shouldn’t be a problem, we’re good at digging up data.” He motioned for his sister to leave and asked one last question. “Do we get to see your spaceship before you leave?”