Once Upon an Alien

Thirteen- Hiding

 I ran as fast as my human legs could carry me away from the trio of aliens. To my surprise, I was not instantly fallowed, giving me a head start. I ran, jumping over old logs and roots in order to quickly maneuver through the dense forest.

I kept looking back over my shoulder, to my relief I did not see anything or anyone chasing me yet. I must have thought too soon because not long after I heard a large, seemingly angry roar crack through the forest air. Was he trying to let me know he was coming after me?

My pace increased when the sound boomed through the air. I weaved through the forest, trying to find anywhere to hide. My heart pounded as it pushed oxygen through my body to keep up with my pace, but as I was not quite in the best shape my legs began to burn due to the lack of oxygen in my blood.

Luck was on my side as a large cave came into view. Hope sprung into my chest and I sprinted as fast as I could into the dark abyss, hoping I did not trip over anything as I quickly made my way toward the cave. The booming roar came again, this time it was a bit closer.

Panic swelled into my chest as I scrambled across the cave floor until I found an open pocket in the cave wall. I slipped in, pulling a large boulder in front of me. For a moment I stopped with my back to the large rock just to breathe, taking a minute to gather myself.

The large rock blocked out all my light, so I dug into my pocket for the small flashlight I kept on me. I flicked the light on, and once again I feel lucky, when I see a second, slightly smaller pocket leading downward slightly below the entrance i just came in, a few rocks I would be able to push in front of the entrance. I knew if I was able to move these rocks that the beasts would be able to as well, but they served as good hiding.

I climb down and back into the second pocket, holding my flashlight with my teeth as I pull the rocks in front of the entrance of the hole. I go as far back into it as possible, and relax as much as I could, trying to calm my senses as to what I had encountered.

Slowly I regain my breath and slump into a ball. What was Xenophon? I am assuming the other two beasts were his brothers. They were huge, and now I know that even though they seemed kind and gentle, they are monsters inside. Xenophon proved that, and it caused my heart to ache.

I truly trusted him and I should not have. I should have known because he was an alien and his species were destroying my home planet he must have not been much better. It pained me to think it, but I accepted that it was the truth. They were all beasts.

I sigh at the excessive amount of information I was processing. As I lay back and close my eyes, I am consumed with my thoughts, deciding I needed another plan of action besides running and hiding.

BASTION

We finally decided to rest and set up the lanterns after a long period of walking. I sat with Lizzy and John, the only ones who seemed to be less panicked about the situation.

"What do you think is going to happen? Do you think those alien dudes will find us?" Lizzy asks in a serious tone. She seems worried but collected at the moment, which is what we need right now.

"I'm not sure, Liz. All we can do is travel the caves for now. I mean they haven't found us yet have they?" I say trying to comfort her. She stops and thinks for a moment before replying.

"Do you think we should've fallowed Morgan?"

"Why?"

"Well obviously they haven't come for us. I mean maybe she did find a good alien or something,"

"Or maybe she is dead and been eaten by whatever alien she says she met," Kaylee interrupts in a very snarky tone. Liz and I both roll our eyes before continuing our conversation.

"I don't know, hun. Morgan was never a liar. I mean why would she lie about meeting an alien and then leaving to fallow its instructions? Seems kind of obvious to me. She trusted it, and wherever it got her I'm not sure," Liz says before looking down. She shakes her head before looking back up to me.

"Hey, I'm sure if the alien was a good one it's taking very good care of Mo," I say causing Liz to let out a giggle fallowed by a lasting smile.

"Maybe she's happy," Liz says.

"Possible. Maybe alien dicks are bigger than sad little human ones!"

"You're such a pervert! Of course you'd think of that!" We both burst out in laughter.

After we settled down, we all made our beds and laid in our usual positions. I find myself falling asleep quickly, casting myself into a deep dreamless sleep.

I'm suddenly awoken by Lizzy shaking my arm hard. I groan as I look up to her. She has a scared and angry look on her face, telling me immediately something is not right.

"They left!" She yells.

"What?"

"Kaylee, Grayson and Cade! They fucking left!"

"Why would they do that? That's just fucking stupid! We had to stick together!"

"They probably left to go back to the entrance," John steps in, holding Liz from behind. She shakes her head angrily.

"All we can do is keep going. What happens to them is on their own hands now," I say to the couple.

I stop to think about them and the rest of our friends as Liz and John go and sit together. They were such a power couple in school. At first John hated me because Liz and I dated back when we were thirteen and I was not really accepting my being gay yet. After a while he decided I was okay. Liz was always one of my best friends. We went through a lot together and she was always my rock. I even met her parents a couple times. Her dad was kind of quiet but her mom kept trying to feed me. Lizzy laughs every time I say her mom is scary because of it.

John and Liz were voted 'cutest couple' at prom, which they honestly deserved, even though probably half the votes were due to Maddie. I didn't go to prom, but I heard they were a riot to be with both years. Everyone loved them together, and last July he proposed to her on their three year anniversary. Now that we are in this situation, I doubt she will ever get to try on a beautiful white dress let alone have the kick ass wedding she deserves.

Maddie and Dylan hadn't been together for too long, but he was totally better than her ex. Maddie always brought the fun into everything, but she did have her own depressed moments. Her and I were the trouble makers of the group. We broke into places, got arrested together, smoked pot, you name it we did it. She was the one who lightened the mood by just being in a room.

She moved to another state just after senior year started, that's where she met Dylan. He seemed pretty okay, but then again I didn't know him very long. She came here for the hiking trip, now she's probably dead. My heart aches just thinking about it. I need a blunt to get through this shit.

Kaylee was never one of my best friends but we got along okay. She was honestly too sassy to be around my higher level of sassy. She enjoyed being around our group and her best friend who happened to be Lizzy. She was pretty close to Maddie too. I had just met Cade, her boyfriend, a few days ago so I really did not have much time to really get to know him. Everything collapsed so quickly I didn't get to know him or Dylan really.

Thinking about our group landed me into thinking about Bex. She was close to Liz and Morgan mostly, but she hung around our group so we all knew her. Her fiance Garret was very nice and polite too. Just seeing them together showed you he thought the world of Bex. I stopped thinking about her personally and my thoughts wandered to if she and Garret were dead or not. Honestly, it could be a question we will never know the answer to.

I am pulled from my thoughts when Liz and John stand.

"Well, we should get going again. We have to find the exit, or even just stay deeper into the cave. We seem safe in the caves so we might as well embrace it for now," Liz says.

I stand up and begin helping them pack the bags back up. I grab the lantern as we continue our wandering through the seemingly endless dark caves.