A GIFT OF TIME

Episode 15

"Darling?" my Dad's penetrating voice made my hair stand on end. 

"which of you is Charlie?" my mom asked as she tried to figure out what to do about my dad's approaching footsteps. 

"like seriously mom? I can't believe you can't recognize me" Charlie's annoyed voice came and I knew, the Charlie standing right in front of Danny was my brother. My mom grabbed his hand and head out of my room. 

"oh goodness Honey I've been looking all over for you, where have you all been? What's going on?" my dad questioned and I could tell he finally figured something was going on and he wasn't aware. I slowly closed my door shut. I sighed in relief as I successfully did that without my door making any noise whatsoever. 

" we need to get out of the house fast. Dad's gonna come up here, question me until I spill and I can't tell him right now" I fretted rubbing my hands in nervousness as I paced trying to figure out something. 

"your dad's down the hallway. We can't leave until they are out of there" Danny pointed out and I groaned. Why do things have to get so complicating. The notification led from my phone distracted me and I immediately moved to the table to grab it. It was a new email. Opening the mail I realized I'd gotten it from Tanya and it was about the article. Jeez, one hour ago. What was I doing? Stupid me. I mentally scolded myself while opening up the article. Professor Brent Anderson astrology major wrote up about the alien few days ago. He'd been studying them himself. He explained that the aliens main component was Nitrogen. And Nitrogen was their only life source. He further explained that oxygen as it is is harmful for because it chose to combine with the element in their body, stealing their life source slowly. These Aliens have been on earth longer than any of us know it. Their race name is Ghafil and they rule by hierarchy. They have different abilities depending on the categories they were. They are divided into five categories. The royals, the warriors, the defenders, the singers, the workers. Their royals have the ability to manipulate time and are very powerful. They secure and ensure peace in their race. The warriors are extremely built and are gigantic having a strength of 50 average human. The defenders have the ability to imitate nature as a camouflage. They can resemble any living thing to be safe but they are very rare. Their singers have sweet melodic voices that can make anything and anyone obey them. They can literally manipulate the mind with their voice, it is their defense ability but like the defenders they are also very rare. The workers are average Ghafils but are very intelligent, they build their home. They made up most of their population. Most of their female are workers. A developed Ghafil are taller and built than an average human. I scoffed when I realized the professor added a diagram. Labeling every part of their body. 

"Claire" my dad's voice came hollow and demanding. 

"Claire we need to talk. What's going on?" my dad demanded outside my door but I merely sighed and moved to the other side of my room. Getting there I recalled something making me smile to myself. It was an escape unit we had figured during the days of the apocalypse. Right beside my closet were some boxes where I kept my old books. Under the boxes was a deck covering which I opened after I had pulled out the boxes to reveal a series of stair leading down. 

"come" I beckoned Hero over and he looked at me with a questioning gaze. 

"Danny you go first. It leads to a cellar right inside the kitchen storage. We'll leave through the kitchen" I informed and he nodded reluctantly climbing down. Then I urged Hero after him. I climbed down into the cellar and switch on my phone flashlight because it was extremely dark. 

"it's seriously dark dark down here" Danny commented. 

"yeah it is" I agreed looking for another deck covering that leads down to the kitchen. Everywhere was covered in dust and cobwebs. Before I found the deck lid Hero was coughing so hard that I thought it was Danny since he was asthmatic but it was Hero. 

"here not good for me" he let out roughly. 

"found it" I exclaimed opening the deck lid and leading Hero down first but he fell right before he got down. He was so pale and brown. 

"Hero are you good?" I asked helping him up after I had successfully climbed into the kitchen storage. He seem he was struggling for breath. 

"can not.. breath" his confession had both me and Danny staring wide-eyed at each other I helped him to his feet and helped him to the sitting room because there was no way we could leave with him acting so asthmatic. Hero was now gasping and turning paler with every passing second. I couldn't watch. He was slowly changing to the first human we met him. And then to his really true form. 

"mom!" I yelled unable to wait for him to catch a breath. my family came running downstairs. They all had a shocked look on their face. Can't blame them. It really sucks to know I would have been carefully out of the house if Hero didn't start acting up. 

" he can't breath" I informed as my mom met my eyes. 

"Nitrogen" I muttered to my mom who hastily ran down to their lab which both her and my dad had set up down in the house but it was a restricted area for us children. My dad watched horrified as my mom came back with a cylinder of liquid Nitrogen to pass into Hero. Just like us trying to give oxygen to someone who can't breathe. That was how it is. My mom fastened the ventilator mask over his nose as he struggled for his air. Thankfully he was back at the normal Hero I met him to be. His brown color had changed to the once pale white skin he had imitated. 

"this place. Bad for us" Hero declared removing the mask over his face when it seem he'd gotten enough. 

"yeah it is" I agreed and I watched his horrified expression. 

"what is going on?" my dad's voice made us all flinch. 

"Dad I promise to explain everything to you but right now we have to go, Charlie" I called grabbing my mom's car keys on the table and grabbing Hero's hand as we ran to flee the house. 

"young lady get back here" I had successfully gotten the car out of the garage to the front of the house before dad said that. 

"I'm sorry Daddy but it's too much to explain. I promise I'm gonna tell you everything" I shouted from the car before stepping on the pedal as dad tried to get any closer. 

"how many months do you think dad's gonna ground me for this?" I asked Charlie who was still trying to catch his breath at the way we had all run outside to leave the house and to avoid explaining things to dad. 

"a year" Charlie replied completely out of breath. 

"wish we get to see that year brother" I muttered as I finally relaxed switching to speed limit. 

"Where are we going right now?" Danny asked. He doesn't even looked shaken by the action we just went through. I bet he'd been into that type of s**t before. He doesn't look like he'd moved a muscle unlike my brother who looked like he'd run a marathon. 

"the junkyard. Tanya texted me she's there with the rest of the team. Also you and Charlie need to read this" I suggested opening my mail and handing the phone to them at the back of the car while I steady the wheels with my hand. 

"this is like a biology write up on-" my brother paused deciding against finishing his statement as he looked over to Hero who was next to me looking completely lost in thought. 

"Hero, you okay?" I asked gaining his attention. 

"this place. Very bad for us. I have to warn them" he stated worriedly and I sighed. 

"I know you have to. But the chief uncle to the prince wouldn't allow you. He wants to own the world regardless if the place is good for you or not" I explained and he frowned. 

"the grand chief is good. He wants to give us a better home" he objected. 

"no, he's not a good Ghafil. The prince already told him you cannot stay here but what did he do? He killed us. Ruin our world. If the prince hadn't felt he might actually put you all in danger I wouldn't have been here" I retorted calmly and he gave me a scornful look. I could tell he didn't believe me. 

"you don't believe me when I told you this place wasn't right for you either. I don't think you should believe me now" I sarcastically quipped and scoffed at him. I also didn't trust him at first so what was I expecting. For him to trust me too. He was probably waiting for the perfect time to attack except he realized I was telling the truth. 

"nice write up from the professor by the way" Danny's voice distracted me. I sighed and concentrate on getting to the junkyard. 

"oh Charlie. What about your car, how did you go about it?" I asked as we closed into the junkyard. 

"wow Claire very thoughtful of you to ask so early. They f*****g put holes in it. And two windows were broken" Charlie raved and I blinked furiously because I see no reason why he was acting up at me. I mean I wasn't the one who put holes in his car so why was he lashing at me? I mentally scoffed ignoring his incessant complaint until we were properly parked. We climbed down and headed for the auto workshop. We moved into the car to see Nicholas welding. Just like camp. Tony was in front of his computer and Tanya had a tablet in her hand. 

"hey you guys are here" Brian exclaimed making his presence known as he stood from where he knelt under.. Wow. 

"you guys already build the repulser?" I asked completely awestruck as I walked the huge machine which was looking so beautiful. It was shaped into a pentagon. I couldn't really make out anything from the inside except there was so many ring thing in it. 

" it can't work " Danny announced and Brian scoffed. 

"dude, just because we built it without your tiniest help doesn't mean our invention won't work. I've been watching the program for years and I can completely make this thing in my sleep" Brian bragged and Danny scoffed. 

"You said that first time we built it" Danny mumbled but not loud enough for the two guys to make out but I heard and it made me chuckle. 

"what was that?" Brian asked and Danny shook his head. 

"nothing but trust me it can't work. You guys have missed out something. There was supposed to be a foil right here and also. You guys cannot test this until the first wave hit. Because the machine was built to repulse the electromagnetic pulse we were hit with. The antagonistic action brought us light" Danny explained and the boys have him a scornful look. 

"stop talking like you witness the whole goddamn thing man" Nicholas taunted. 

"this baby here is gonna power up the whole room after I cut out the light. Just watch" Brian boasted moving to the switch. 

"Brian I think you should listen to Danny " I advised but he merely giggled and cut off the light leaving everyone in darkness. 

" this isn't some sort of electricity generator guys" Danny warned but the two was ignorant and persistent so we let them have their way. The only light illuminating the room was coming from Tanya's tablet, Tony's laptop and my phone flashlight. We heard a whirling sound from the repulser and Brian made some switches at the left side were series of buttons lies. 

"and here it goes" Brian announced making the last switch. Danny pulled me backwards away from repulser. Actually it did make the light go on except it only lasted a minute before every parts of the repulser decided to dissemble before the final blast that made the repulser erupt thick black smoke that got us all coughing. 

"Hero" I coughed pushing him out before the smoke seize his component. 

"that bad for you?" he asked and I nodded a yes. 

"are you alright?" I asked studying his expression closely. It seem the smoke hadn't done any damage to him. 

"told you if wasn't gonna work" I heard Danny's appealing voice making his way out of the room full of smoke. Others emerged slowly as well. Danny decided to make use of his inhaler that instant. Yeah too much for a day. 

"who's that?" Brian finally asked as everyone tried to get fresh air into their lungs. 

"Hero. Does his face ring a bell?" I asked expecting them to be reminded but it seems none of them could identify him. 

"seriously, none of you remember his face" Charlie asked his hands moving over his face in disbelief. 

" no no" they chorused and I chuckled. 

"okay. I'll do the introduction. Behold Hero. The alien we saved last night" I introduced and they all seem to take few steps away. 

"you're kidding right?" Tony asked eyes prying Hero like he was some predator or something. 

" no, that's the alien we saved yesterday. We made quite an acquaintance" I smirked but they stood staring at me like some type of crazy b***h. 

"he's human?" Brian asked completely shocked at the figure that stood before him. Hero merely stared back at them the same way he was stared at. He find them quite the spectacle as well. 

"all we need to know about Hero is in article Tony sent me-

" I've read it. That sucks girl " Tony scoffed and I nodded. 

" share it with the boys. I need the professors address. I think I need to meet him" I turned to Tony and he nodded giving me a silly smirk. 

"you're in luck girl because I just did some check on him . You won't believe what I found out". Tony clucked and I waited for him to reveal what he got but he seem to hesitate. 

"what's you got?" I asked and he sighed. 

"I don't suppose you'll have me telling you in front of this... Thing" Tony arched a brow at me in question while referring to Hero who seem concentrated on Nicholas and Brian. So I nodded. 

"Charlie you're staying with Hero and Danny you need to take control of the machine. We don't have much time left. Tony let's go. Tanya you can stay with Tony" I instructed before heading away from the workshop moving towards some severed cars. 

"professor Brent Anderson with some colleagues researched on these aliens for years. When there were first spotted. It doesn't seem to be a threat but the professor figured one of his research team was a Ghafil. A defender. These defenders mission isn't only to just camouflage and confuse the enemy. They are the one shielding the others from us. They remove anything that can lead us to them. They protect their kind from us. They leave us in the shadows. They might not be much but they have penetrated us. Deeper than we know it. The professor is on the run because they claim he killed his wife Helen Anderson. But there was a rumor and a site on the internet that proves his innocence. He had already reported his wife's death before the claim. He has two daughter one died two weeks ago and the other stays with her aunt here in Jefferson, Missouri. Hailey Anderson" okay that ring a bell. 

"No, No... No" I muttered shaking my head as if against his revelation. No I was against his revelation. 

"what is it Claire?" Tony asked finding my reaction quite strange. 

"doesn't the name ring a bell? I mean you know Hailey Anderson don't you?" I asked and I saw a familiar gleam lit in his eyes. 

"no-

" yeah no, I'm not a fan of her-

"neither am I. But if we really wanna to talk to her father she's our only hope. We have to go get her. And someone can tend to be persuasive" Tony smirked and I arched a brow in question. 

***

"Nicholas, Danny, Hero. We are going out" I announced immediately Tony and I reappear in the workshop. 

"why Hero?" Tony asked me almost in a whisper. 

"I need to keep him close. He's our best clue to finding out more about them. During the apocalypse days we used to call these aliens unknowns because they were well shielded from us. Now that some of us know them. They are no more the unknowns and our chance to stopping the apocalypse grow bigger. I need Hero" I declared to Tony who merely sighed in response. 

"I don't think I'll be going with you then. I'm not so comfortable being in the same car with an alien who's gonna wipe us all out" Tony informed eyes glued on Hero in a disdainful look. 

"I understand buddy. Just focus on getting more info about the aliens. I want to know where they are. I want to know all of them. We can't take any chances" I told Tony before heading out with the rest of the boys. 

"so where are we going?" Charlie asked and I frowned because I don't remember mentioning his name. 

"I don't think I called your name Charlie" I stopped in my tracks abruptly turning to face him and making the others halt as well. 

"can't leave you to have all the fun sis" he snickered and I gave him a scorn before throwing him the car keys to mom's Prius. 

"drive then" I muttered leading. 

"I think you're getting more and more controlling Claire. For crying out loud I'm your older brother" Charlie complained as we made our way out of the junkyard to mom's car. 

"so where are we going again?" Nicholas asked a little disturbed from being separated from his best friend. 

"your girlfriend's" I announced opening the car door and slumping into the front seat right next to my brother. 

"you're kidding right?" Nicholas snickered and I gave him a straight face. 

"you cannot be serious" both Nicholas said at the same time before sharing a bewildered look and finally turning to me.

"Hell yes I am" I retorted sharply and both glared at me. 

"trust me I hate to do this as much as you both it seem we don't have much if a choice. We need to talk to her. Her father is a professor who had been studying these aliens for years and he know so much about them. We need to find him and she's the only person who knows where he can be. So guys adjust in your seat and enjoy the ride cause right now we are headed down Greenly valley. And also Nick I hope you know you're doing the persuasion. You have to make her tell us where her father is-

"but-

"it's your call Nick" I smiled looking straight into his eyes and he gave an exasperated sigh before slumping back into the seat giving up. Good boy! I thought smiling to myself in content. 

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