A GIFT OF TIME

Episode 12

"this is not true" Brian muttered. He'd been muttering that for the past 30mins since we tied and bundle the strange alien and take him back to the workshop. Everyone except Danny and I was horrified at the sight. My brother couldn't stand the changes the alien was going through. For the past 30mins the aliens body had been changing from human form to his true form. 

"I suppose this was what your little friend meant when he said some of them could imitate any nature" Tanya pointed out eying the creature with absolute disgust. 

"yeah, and I suppose this is what he meant when he warned they might be unto me" I breathed not knowing how to feel. The alien was screeching and writhing. Then he whimpers. 

"Can you translate for him?" I turned to Tanya now and she moved to her computer. I felt pity for the helpless creature, as much as I want them off my planet I didn't want to create pain or put them in anguish. All of us had made the helpless creature a spectacle and we all had eyes fixated on it. 

"don't touch it!" I cautioned Brian who was slowly moving his hand to touch the alien who was was trying to break free from the bonds we had wrapped around him. 

"he's asking for help" Tanya informed and I frowned. 

"what?" I asked shocked. 

"he's in pain, of course anyone would be in pain, he had bullet in his body and was also wounded from the cat explosion. Humans would have been in pain. That explains the green liquid dripping from him. I think their blood is green" Tanya explained standing from where she sat to join us in staring at the creature. 

"he's gonna die if we don't help him" Nicholas pointed looking at me for decision but I don't know what to do. I mean this alien killed us in the future. They were wiping our race off. It was difficult. The pain of seeing my family got killed was making my eyes water. They almost killed us all. Then I realized and recalled my little alien friend who had warned me. I believed the helpless creature also deserve some mercy. It was cruel allowing him to bled to death. 

"Claire" Danny called , worry written on his face and evident in his voice. I was snapped out of my reverie at that and suddenly let out a huge breath. 

"but how can we possibly help what we know nothing of, what if he attacked us on releasing him? What if we can't help him?. I want to help him but I don't know how" I confessed and they all sighed. Everyone seem frustrated and I could see the alien getting paler every second. His screeching was losing it strength probably because it's energy was draining away. 

"I might know someone who could help with this" I announced and everyone's attention abruptly turned to me. 

"my parents" I revealed and Charlie vigorously shook his head. 

"no no, no that can't be, we are not taking this home to mom and dad. Never" my brother disagreed nervously pacing because he knew it was the truth. They are the only one who could help. But it's hard because we don't know how they might feel about the big secret we've been keeping from them. Nevertheless they are the only one to help. 

"it's dying Charlie. We need him to know more about them. Charlie this the only choice I can make. Mom and dad is the only person we can trust about this. Charlie we have no choice-

" oh f**k Claire. You're gonna run our parent mad. Bringing an alien home seriously Claire. You can't escape telling them everything... You can't and if you do. You're gonna kill them" Charlie retorted in a declaration. 

"they are stronger than that, they are not kids Charlie nor are they you" I quipped back and he frowned. 

"seriously I think you both should turn and look at this. It's dying" Tanya suggested and we both turned to the alien who had now stopped screeching. He was only making some light whimpers and he was turning brown. Charlie groaned loudly. 

"it'll be on you if he died Charlie" I persuaded and he huffed loudly. 

"okay fine!" he renounced and I sneered. 

"since that's settled we'll take him home. 

" guys we have a problem " Brian informed moving to his computer which he had managed to set up before we came.

"what is that?" I asked and he showed me the nearest CCTV footage which Tony had linked to the computer so we can keep an eye on whatever was going on around the garage. 

"the police are swarming the area. How do we even get out of here. And also get him out of here" my brother pointed to the alien whose soft whimpering was getting shallow with every passing second. 

"if you hadn't waste just so much time we would have been out of here" I blamed and Charlie frowned. 

"it's my fault for trying to protect my parent here-

" you're not the only one trying to protect them Charlie, but what has to be done has to be done-

"you can't-

" please enough " Danny interrupted with a frown. 

" that alien is in so much pain and none of you know it. The more you waste time to blame each the more life is slipping out of him. Let's think of how to get him out to meet your parent instead of you both wasting time" Danny scolded and others agree with the nod of their heads. I sighed giving Charlie a scornful look before we decided to think how to get out. 

"I think you and Charlie should go out now" Brian suggested his nervous gaze fixed on his computer. 

"what is it?" I asked scared we have another problem to deal with except from the one at hand. 

"allow me" Tony requested from Brian before replacing him on the seat in front of the computer. His hands swiftly moved on the keyboard and in no seconds we were able to generate the recent footage. 

"hold on a second. Is that mom?" I fretted on sighting a crying Barbara Chadwick at the footage who was going about the car. 

"she's identifying your car" Tony relayed and I met my brother's face. 

"bullets already wrecked those cars. She's gonna be so freaked out" Charlie worried and I sighed. 

"the police already send a search team into the junkyard. They'll find you in no seconds. I think you should both go out and hide somewhere they can find you. It'll be a huge mess if they find us here. With that" Tony pointed to the alien and I frowned. 

"but how do we get him out?" I asked completely clueless. I've never been that out of ideas before. 

"there's another entrance at the west side of the yard. You both can get in. Have your mom stopped when she's 30meters away from the junky gates. I'll come meet you there" Danny revealed and I sighed in relief. 

" I don't think there's any other entrance to the junkyard-

" there is... You just haven't discovered it yet " Danny cut Brian short. I nodded meeting everyone's gaze for a while before deciding to head outside with Charlie. 

" if they found us, what do we say?" Charlie asked and I pondered on his question for a while. I abruptly ran back into the workshop shocking everyone out of their bones. 

"Tony, the police is likely to generate the CCTV footage of what happened during the shootout. You think you can dispose them, cover our tracks. We were really exposed. It could raise speculations if they get their hand on the footage" I revealed and he nodded turning to the computer. For minutes his hands moved swiftly over the computer until he turned to me and nodded. 

"erased and disposed. Sent to the deepest part of hell. Rest assured. You're fine" Tony smiled and I returned the smile warmly. 

"thanks Tony" I informed before turning to meet my brother's curious gaze. 

"how do you know that?" my brother asked as I rubbed my hands to warm myself because the nights were suddenly getting chilly. 

"I'm brilliant" I simply replied as we head on. Suddenly we had a flashlight shined at us and a police who held a dog whistled moving closer to us. 

"Claire and Charlie Chadwick?" the police questioned and we nodded. I paled myself looking dejected and exhausted. I can be a good actor if I want to. 

"you found us. I'm so glad you found us. Please I wanna see my mom" I was crying now. Charlie couldn't hide his bewilderment. He blinked furiously before deciding to go on with my health. I was the one on charge of handling the silly case. The police lead us back outside the garage and my mom squealed in excitement happy to see us. 

"my babies, are you hurt? Oh God Claire, Charlie. You scared me. There was a shootout. What happened?" my mom sputtered in worry and concern hands all over my face. Charlie was way taller than her but she still managed to bring her face down to meet hers. 

" are you hurt anywhere?" my mom worried checking both of us out with her eyes as her hands roam everywhere. 

"I was so scared mom. I was so scared" I cried and hugged her. 

"it's alright now dove. It's alright" my mom assured patting me softly. Seriously I was shocked how no one possibly thought we were involved in the shootout or maybe my acting was just so good. We were moved to one of the police stations for questioning before we leave with our mom. I was more worried for Danny because he thought we were gonna leave with mom immediately. I have no idea how he'll go about it. 

"so, you were saying" the female police urged me to relay the story which I had quickly briefed my brother before we got to the station. 

"we were heading to Marie Claus hamburger to get some burgers for mom because we were already late and we wanted to coax her into forgiving us since we spent too much time with our friends. But some people started shooting at each other and we were forced to abandon the car and run. We've been had to hide in the garage. We were too scared to go out even after the fire ceased " I lied my face completely blank. 

" you really don't have to ask Charlie so much. He was too much in shock "I gave a pretty smile to the police interrogating me. 

" so sorry you have to go through that honey. I'm so glad you're safe" the female police smiled and I returned the smile warmly. 

"Claire" Danny called immediately I was out with my brother and mom. I couldn't hide my excitement and ran to give him a big hug. 

"how did you get out" I whispered the question immediately I was trapped in his arms. 

"I'll explain later right now your mom is staring at you" he whispered back and I immediately released him to face my mom who was staring at us wide-eyed. 

"wow" she softly exclaimed moving to her car. I sat next to her in the front seat while the two big guys take the back. 

"I thought you three head out together. What happened?" my mom asked as we made our way home. 

"he said he needed to be somewhere. See an old friend perhaps then he left. So we stayed with our other friends-

" including your brother?" my mom asked and I could sense disbelief in her voice. Yeah right, Charlie and I doesn't really go out together that much. 

"he likes someone at the party" I informed and briefly turned to Charlie who had a deep scorn on his face. 

"really Charlie. Who is that?" my mom was grinning now. 

"Tanya. One of my friend's sister-

" I don't like her" my brother denied cutting in before I finish my statement.

"don't deny it Charlie. You like her. You wouldn't stop gawking at her-

" no I wasn't " he denied brows furrowed. 

" admit it Charlie " I taunted. 

" I would not. I did not like her" my brother sneered. 

"okay then. I'll tell her you don't" I said with a mischievous smile playing on my lips as I met mom's eyes. 

"you wouldn't dare Claire" and my brother fell right into my trap. 

"so you do like her" my mom spoke now and Charlie grunted making Danny chuckle. 

"let's talk about you both for a while. So you both are like a thing now" my mom questioned and I groaned in dissatisfaction. 

"mom I think you need all your attention when driving" I pointed out and my mom chuckled. 

"do not want to talk about you now did you?" my mom taunted and I gave an exasperated sigh turning to face the window. 

"you two look good together by the way" my mom remarked before I turned to meet her eyes. I smiled and she returned it playfully. The rest of the journey was in silence and all the while I wouldn't stop thinking about the alien who we promised to help. Not exactly promised but we all wanted to help him. Anyone would have in our case. But I couldn't possibly ask about it when we haven't talked about it with mom. I heaved a heavy sigh after sauntering into our driveway. My mom urged us to climb down before moving the car into our garage but Danny presses my shoulder down. I didn't really know what he meant but I played along. 

"mom go on" I urged my mom after realizing Danny didn't want us to leave the car. 

" you guys are not going out, I need to park the car" my mom explained and I sighed turning to Danny for an explanation. 

"we need to show you something Mrs Chadwick" Danny announced and my mom turned to face him. 

"and what is that?" my mom asked studying our faces as her gazes move from Danny to Charlie then to me. 

"we'll show you in the garage" Danny managed to say bottling in his nervousness. 

"I wonder what surprise you kids are planning this time" my mom said climbing off the car to open the garage gate. 

"what are you doing?" I asked Danny and it seem my brother just wanted to ask the same question. 

"the alien is in her car boot." he simply explained and I huffed loudly. It seems I would have to go through the explanation after all. My mom get back into the car and drive it into the garage. Charlie on getting down moved quickly to close the garage gate. My mom was a bit taken aback by his actions but since we were not heading out through the side he just thought it was normal. 

"so what's this about?" my mom asked and the two boys turned to me to make the explanation. Just great. I thought before I started explaining. I had to brief the story because I was certain the alien would be dead by the time I was done giving explicit details of the whole story. 

"you have a alien in my car" my mom picked and we all nodded a yes. 

"If you are trying to surprise me kids just ask me to open the boot rather than make up the alien story" my mom snickered moving to the back of the car to open her boot. Wait for it. I warn myself because I know my mom is about to freak out. 

"holy cow Jesus!" my mom freaked backing away from the car. 

"this can't be real" my mom fretted and I cleared my throat before finding my voice again. 

"actually it is" I stated and my mom gave me a horrified expression. 

"mom, I'll explain to you in details but right now he's dying and only you and dad can save him-

" your dad isn't going to be here until tomorrow" she informed and I nodded. 

"I know, but I know you can keep him alive until he comes back" I slyly persuaded and my mom frowned. 

"how can you be sure he's not dangerous?" my mom was moving back now. 

"it's not, at least not now but we have to save him or we'll lose the chance to save the whole world mom. Please" I was pleading now. 

"I don't think I can save that thing. Claire he had tentacles on his head. He's so brown-

" mom he's dying. His real colour is green and he's dying that's why his colour is like that.. He.. He's a friend mom. Please " I pleaded while Danny and my brother watched in awe. Just good, leaving me to do the work but they didn't leave me to set up an Infusion stand and grab first aid at the for the alien. 

" why is he tied up? " my mom questioned. 

" um... "I was literally out of lies now. I can't be out of lies. I'm a good liar. I've always been.

" he can be aggressive when in pain " my brother filled in for me and I throw him a grateful look. 

" I don't have a good feeling about this Claire " my mom groaned and I sighed. 

"I know mom. I wanted to leave him and abandon him before but I couldn't watch. You didn't taught me that way mom. You taught me to be caring and compassionate even to little animals mom. I may not know what he is but I want to help him" I said to my mom and she nodded. 

"I don't know Claire. I really hope this is a good idea. I don't even know what type of creature he is. I don't know his anatomy and I-

"mom, I trust you'll figure it out" I held her hand and gave her and assuring smile. Did I ever mentioned my mom used to be a nurse and not just a biochemist. She just find interest on biochemistry after meeting dad. My dad supported her dream of another degree before both become a researcher at the research institute. I watched as my mom moved her gloved hand around the aliens body. As much as I wished the alien to be safe. My mom's safety mattered to me the most. 

"thankfully he has a heart that's still beating" my mom muttered passing the infusion needle into it's body. 

"mom, is there any pure nitrogen in your lab?" I suddenly asked and my mom furrowed her brows in confusion. 

"you know it takes a long process separating Nitrogen-

" mom" I called out and she sighed. 

"I might be able to get" my mom gave a exasperated sigh before leaving and reapproaching with a lab gas cylinder. 

"can you pass it into him mom?" I asked and my mom arched her brow in question but I only nodded. I didn't know how she did it and I didn't pay attention because I was distracted watching the green color return back to the aliens body after a while of whimpering when mom was refusing the scraps of metals in his body as well as the bullet in its leg. Mom had stopped his bleeding and we all watched in bewilderment as his once brown color started to green out. Then it added to our shock by opening it's eyes. 

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