The Vanishing (7 page)

Alex’s face paled. He screamed and
backed up against the wall. “Get it away from me! Get it
away!”

The...thing...blew past her and
approached him.

“
No! Get away from me!” He
held his hands out as if to stop something.

Autumn stood there,
watching in a mixture of horror and shock as Alex sunk to the
floor, trembling and whimpering. She reached out to grab the
dissipating shadow but her arms went through the air. All she felt
was a trace of cold air swirling in front of him.
What is going on?
She
blinked several times, trying to find the thing, to figure out what
it was.

The angel appeared next to her and
touched her shoulder.

In that instant, she could clearly see
it. It was an alien and it hovered over Alex. “He belongs to
ussss,” it hissed. But it didn’t talk to her. It talked to the
angel.

“
No,” the angel
said.

“
Yessss.”

“
The time for decision has
not yet come. You cannot claim him as long as he hasn’t made his
choice.”

The alien scowled, and as it did, its
face changed. Its eyes grew smaller and turned red while horns
protruded from his forehead.

As soon as she saw the transformation,
it vanished.

The angel released his hold on her and
touched Alex’s shoulder, and Alex quickly calmed. “His fate hangs
in the balance. It is prudent that you never bring him here again.”
The angel looked at her. “Do you understand now why I told you not
to come?”

She gulped. “Y-” She cleared her
throat. “Yes.” She didn’t just see what she thought she did, did
she?

“
You need not fear for
Marianne or the others. They are safe, as I told you. It’s the ones
who are left that are going to face the great delusion.”

“
What do you mean?” She
swallowed the lump in her throat. “What delusion?”

“
Are the aliens here to
help as they claim? You just saw it for yourself.” He motioned to
Alex who was blankly staring ahead—who wasn’t even aware of what
was going on around him. “Those who vanished are safe with God.
Worry not for them. Worry for yourself. Your fate also hangs in the
balance.”

Before she could ask him what he meant,
he turned his attention down the hallway.

“
Go quickly.” Then he
disappeared.

Alex groaned.

She knelt by him. “Come on. We need to
go.” She grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet.

“
What happened?” He rubbed
his forehead. “I have a headache.”

Questions could wait. Already, she
could hear a group of people running from another hallway. She
turned the doorknob, and the door opened. “Come on.”

Alex stumbled forward and crossed the
threshold.

She joined him, reached for his hand,
and led him down the dark corridor. It seemed to her that a light
guided their way from a long distance. The closer they got to the
light, the more it eluded them.

The door behind them echoed as it
opened. “Down there!” Ms. Hayden called out. “Don’t let them get
away!”

Those words must have broken Alex out
of his trance, for his pace grew stronger.

“
Hold it! You are not
authorized to be here!” a man yelled.

Then we’ll be happy to leave, Autumn
thought. She was out of breath by the time they reached the
door.

Alex pulled it open and motioned for
her to go first.

A gunshot fired, nearly missing
them.

Who was she to argue? Ladies first
seemed good to her! She darted through the door before another shot
rang through the corridor.

Alex followed her and slammed the door
shut.

Satisfied that he wasn’t hurt, she
climbed the rungs that led to the exit. Her chest hurt from the
exertion of breathing, but she pressed on. Faster. She had to go
faster!

Alex was at her heels, which helped
motivate her along.

Someone pounded on the door. “It’s
locked! I can’t get out!”

Did she dare look? Was the angel there,
working another miracle on their behalf? No. She couldn’t break her
attention. She had to keep going.

By the time she reached the exit, she
was gasping for air. She dug her fingers into the ground and used
her remaining strength to pull herself out. Alex emerged right
after her. Collapsing, she watched as he hobbled to the steel door
and closed it. Then he gathered the surrounding sand to cover it
back up.

Relieved, she looked up at the stars
that seemed to be spinning. Realizing she was dizzy, she closed her
eyes and waited for the whirling sensation to pass. When she opened
her eyes, she studied the stars and noticed that some were still
moving. She brought her hands up to her head and groaned. No. Those
weren’t stars. They were alien spaceships. No. That wasn’t right
either. Yes, they were UFOs. Many of them, and they were coming to
Earth. Only, they weren’t aliens. They were of a darker, more
sinister nature. They were demons.

Demons. Angels. Really, did she believe
in such fairytales? Could she afford not to? How else could she
explain what just happened?

“
Autumn,” Alex said,
crawling over to her, also worn out. “Autumn, we lost a
day.”

“
What?” She finally turned
to face him.

“
My watch. It says that
it’s May 12
^th
.”

“
May
12
^th
?
But it’s May 11
^th
.”

“
It was May
11
^th
.”

A day? They had been in there for a
full day? But it didn’t feel like that much time
elapsed.

Looking contrite, he got up and helped
her to her feet. “I’m sorry. You were right. We shouldn’t have come
here.”

She scanned their surroundings. Nothing
seemed different. It all looked like they hadn’t even gone down
there. Even his car was on the side of the road, untouched and
waiting for them.

“
Let’s go back to
Bismarck.” He reached for her arm.

She leaned against him. Her strength
had departed her, and she didn’t even want to contemplate the loss
of time or what it might mean. She just wanted to go home and wake
up to find that this had all been a dream. One terrible,
frightening, nightmarish dream. She wanted to feel normal. But she
feared that she’d never know the meaning of normal ever again. The
nightmare, it seemed, had just begun.

the nightmare continues in June
2010...

Novella # 2

“
The Watchers”

Things aren’t always what they seem.
While this novella continues Autumn’s story, it also gives insight
into Devon’s—and the demons he faces.