Chapter 8

I used the last of my paycheck to order us some food. The space between the order and its arrival was filled with her talking about the TV, saying it had been a while since she had really paid attention to it and wanted to know what was playing now. I watched her flip through the same ninety channels, practically filling up a plate at the worst all you can eat buffet imaginable. She settled on some sci-fi flick and kept talking over it.

“I don’t think that’s how that works, exactly.” She said when a character techno-babbled their way through a conversation.

“Could you keep it down actually? I haven’t seen this one yet.” I said.

“Sorry it’s just that nothing that guy said made any sense.”

I raised a brow, “You mean, like, for the movie? I thought you said you hadn’t seen any of these?”

“Well no but- uh I read the book.”

“I don’t think this has a book.”

“You sure? Pretty certain I read a book about this.”

“Maybe it was based on the movie then? You still haven’t told me-”

Our food arrived before I could ask and she sprang up to grab it. It wasn’t much, really, a couple basic fast food meals. But the way her eyes glistened at it you would think it was the best five star restaurant in town. She took the burger in her hands and surveyed every edge of it, “Oho wow. They really don’t change these at all, do they?”

“When was the last time you ate one?”

“God, like, ages ago.” She lifted the bun, “mayo and ketchup. Just like mama likes.”

“I have some questions still, like-”

She chomped down. The way she acted, you’d swear she was having an orgasm. “Oh my GOOOOOD It’s the same! Matt, it’s the same damn thing! Holy shit! You have to try this!” She shoved it in my face, I pushed it back.

“I have my own.”

“Well then eat up, dude, or I’ll take it!”

“Do they starve you at the FBI or something?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, they don’t let us have any food that isn’t approved by the FDA and on the food pyramid.”

“Didn’t they stop using the food pyramid?”

“Not for us. Just for you, well, the guys call you normies.”

I took the opportunity to finally ask some questions, “speaking of the FBI, did they assign you to me? To this uh… I guess it’s a case?”

“Oh yeah. Guess I should come clean.” She wiped her hand on her pants and stood up, “but you have to promise me one thing, Matt. That no matter what, you are going to believe me.”

I motioned to the food on the floor, “we’re already this far, right?”

She smiled at that, “that’s what I like to hear. So here’s the thing: I’ve been tracking a number of cases for several years now. All of them are missing persons reports that have endings that don’t make sense. People walking into halls and never coming back down them. Folks waking up to see their loved one is gone, with no signs of forced entry or even exit. Accounts of mysterious blackouts just before someone went missing. Starting to sound familiar?”

“I would have been kidnapped?”

“Pray it’s only kidnapping.” She said, “there’s been no way to tell who the culprit is or what they’re doing with them. That is, until now. When word got out from a local police station in Oklahoma City that someone saw something in a movie theater with no real evidence of breaking and entering to be found, well, that got our notice. So they sent me to investigate and keep you safe.”

“Why the cop outfit?”

She took a sip of her soda before continuing, “I missed Halloween this year.”

I thought about everything she said for a moment, “these missing persons reports… was one of them about a boy named Lucas Lynn?”

The name made her pause. She crossed her arms and nodded her head, “Yeah. I worked on that case when I first started out. It was… pretty bad.”

“Do you think whoever is after me was also after Lucas?”

“Maybe. Though from what I remember about the case, it wasn’t that simple. Near as I could tell, Lucas didn’t want to be found in the first place. Whether or not that had anything to do with this I’m not sure, but it’s worth considering.” She winked, “maybe we can ask them when we catch them.”

I sighed, “figures. Agent Jamison told me it was a lost cause.”

“He did all he could. Dude was up all night trying to figure that thing out. He really cared.”

I picked up my food, “I need to get some sleep.”

“It’s like 4 in the afternoon.”

“Yeah well, I have work in the morning. And I didn’t really sleep well the past few years so maybe I could catch up.” I said, hoping my voice would distract from how shaky my arm was.

“Great idea. You sleep, I’ll keep watch.”

As I retreated to my bedroom I heard her twist around in the bean bag and continue watching TV. I had no door, studios are dicks like that, so I could hear everything. It didn’t matter though. I crushed my head between my two pillows and tried my hardest to sleep properly this time. There was just one thing about all of this that wasn’t letting me though.

I never once spoke with an Agent Jamison.

 

***

Despite everything going on, I still needed to go to work. Cass tried to protest, saying it was too dangerous, but when I mentioned that it might draw our supposed invader out she changed her tune.

“This is perfect!” She said as we walked toward the theater, “I’ll pose as a regular customer and skulk around all day. If I see anything, I’ll take care of it no problem.” I doubted she’d make much progress since she wasn’t wearing her police uniform anymore. That weird outfit just made her stick out like a sore thumb, and the pink pouches all around her belt made her look even more suspicious.

“Shouldn’t you have a car?” I asked.

“Shouldn’t you?”

“I asked first. Seems pretty weird for a government employee to be sent somewhere on a mission and not have a car.”

“We ran out of budget for a car. Spent it all on…” she waived her hand nonchalantly, “wars.”

That part was actually the most believable thing she had said all morning. If I wasn’t already suspicious of her I would have thought nothing of it. When we got to the theater I told her where my manager’s office was so she could check in with him. She responded by turning the other way, “I had the boys upstate go ahead and let him know. When you see me, just act like I’m a normal customer doing normal customer things.” Then she stopped before entering the main hall and turned around, “anything good playin’?”

“No.” I stomped away from her.

Was this her whole game? Using me just to sneak in and see free movies? I would have told my manager, but after having my life threatened and nothing really done about it I was suddenly forgetful of theater policies on line hoppers. I went on with my day as usual. That day I was stationed up at concession, and it was a Friday afternoon so we were actually busy. The boiling grease and salt of the popcorn popper peppered the next couple hours with a malaise of apathy. If someone was still hiding there trying to attack me, I wouldn’t have noticed. What I did notice was Cass standing in line. I tried to maneuver the customers so she would wind up with one of my co-workers, but she was maneuvering to make sure I got her.

“It’s me!” She said, bright and cheery like I hadn’t seen her coming.

“Yes. Yes it is.”

“That new Axiom Wars was incredible! I had no idea Presputin came back! How did that happen? I guess I need to actually watch the other new ones to find out, huh?”

“Yeah sure, they totally explain it.”

“I’m gonna go watch it again- oh large popcorn please. Put it on the government tab.”

The crowd was getting way too noisy for me to worry about her paying or not, “Have you seen anything suspicious? At all?” I said, trying to keep calm.

“Well there was a new trailer for some horror movie coming out this summer that looked pretty weird. Do they not really make slashers anymore?”

“No I- aren’t you supposed to be looking for your suspect?”

She clicked her fingers, “I don’t think you’re hearing me dude, I want a large popcorn. Here, let me write it down for you.”

She reached over the counter for a pen and ripped a stray piece of receipt paper away. One of my co-workers noticed and called out, “Hey you can’t do that, ma’am!”

“Relax, it’s fiiiine.” She said.

I didn’t know what to do. Other customers were staring and I noticed more than one of them bring out a cell phone to record. I slammed the counter, “Okay, I’ve had enough. I don’t know who you are, lady, but you’re definitely not who you say. So out with-”

“What do you mean?” She asked as she finished scribbling on the paper, “I’m just a regular customer putting in an order.”

She slid the paper my way and I reflexively looked down. I almost ignored it, until I realized it didn’t have a popcorn and drink order on it, but a message.

 

She’s in the vents. Don’t look up.

Meet me near the bathrooms.

 

“On second thought, I can do without.” She said and hopped out of line, “my next movie is starting. Ciao!”

With an ominous message like that I wanted to take a moment to try and interpret it, maybe go to the bathroom to try and make sense of things and calm down a little. Hell, it would have been smarter to just drop everything and follow her. But it was still pretty busy and I was on the clock. So for the next thirty minutes I was stuck there, dealing with customer after customer all while the back of my mind decided to start telling me about all the ways I could die right then and there. That Biker could drop through the vents, grab me, kill me, and stuff my corpse inside a dark closet no one ever goes in. Worse, I began to wonder if maybe one of my co-workers could be her, and started to avoid their gaze when I would ask them something. I tried to stay straight faced, but the heat from the poppers was starting to make me sweat and I swear I heard something in the vent right above me, so counting on the AC to cool me off was out.

After what felt like forever I was finally able to step away and go to the bathroom, and by that point I actually needed to. As I walked down the hall I did my best to shake my nerves off, but even hearing the footsteps of other customers was starting to get to me. When I got there I saw Cass leaning against the wall between the restrooms. Her back was turned to me, but I could tell she was looking at something on her wrist. I almost said something until I heard her muttering. I slowed my pace and tried to get close enough to listen.

“Yeah… yeah I got him…. I don’t know, it’s going to take some time… she’s here too… yeah, you think? …well I don’t want to have to cuff him… No. I haven’t… I’ll decide when it’s right, but not now. He’s still kind of unwilling.”

“Say uh, do you work here?” The new voice was behind me and made me jump. I quickly turned around and did my best to act like I wasn’t doing anything, “Y-yes hi. What can I do for you?”

“I’m trying to find theater seven.” It was a customer, staring doe eyed at their ticket.

“Down the hall to your left. Third door.”

“Thanks.”

They left, and I turned back to see Cass facing me. She checked her nails, “About time you showed up.”

I was relieved, it looked like she hadn’t noticed me spying. Still, what she said rubbed me the wrong way, “Sorry. We got busy. Did you find the suspect?”

“I’ve tracked her here. There’s a particularly large system of vents in this place, and she’s using it to get around unnoticed. This is, I think, the best place to try and reach her.”

“How?”

“Using you as bait, of course!” She was grinning too much when she said that.

“Why me? If I’m just a random kidnap victim to her it shouldn’t matter who you bring. You shouldn’t have to bring anyone at all.”

“For whatever reason, she’s fixated on you. She said you were wanted, right? That’s her M.O., she fixates on someone and plays cop. I’ve seen it on other cases.”

I gulped, “Right. I guess being in the FBI you would know that. Who do you work under, again?”

“Jamison.”

I took a step back, she stepped forward, “I’m getting the police,” I said, “I should have done that before. You’re up to something.”

Her face got serious, the most I had seen this whole time, “Matt, trust me, they’re not going to be able to help you.”

“And you will? After you cuff me, right?”

She sighed and leaned on her hip, “I said I didn’t want to have to. You should sharpen your listening skills.”

“Who are you?” I started wondering how far the nearest person was. I would have ran but I was frozen, stuck between flight and fight.

“Right now?” She undid her holster and looked square at me, “I’m negotiating.”

She lunged for me and before I could run she had me by the arm. I twisted it, tried to get away, but she spun me around and held my arm to my back. Locked, I did everything I could to escape but she was way too strong. I tried to shout for help but she clamped my mouth shut. “Quiet.” She whispered, “I need you to stay calm.”

I managed muffled speech through her fingers, “That’s a little difficult right now, isn’t it?”

“She’s watching us. Just follow my lead.”

“You’re insane, you’re fucking crazy.” I sputtered out.

“That hurt more the first time you said it.”

The first time? I didn’t think I had said that to her face at all, but it wasn’t the time for pedantics. I struggled as much as I could, but she held firm and pushed me into the women’s bathroom, sliding a ‘cleaning in progress’ stand across the entry. I started to hyperventilate, and she split her fingers enough for me to breathe as she pushed me to the center of the room. The place was cramped, one of the smaller bathrooms with only a couple of stalls and a sink. Our feet clattered on the cold tile, maybe it would be enough to draw someone’s attention to us. 

“Zwendel!” Cass called, “I know you’re in here. He’s mine, got that? So you and Rupture can back off!”

What the fuck was she talking about?

For a moment there wasn’t a response. Then, something started bumping from inside the walls. I watched the sound move seemingly through the pipes and up the wall, it seemed to be crawling, but my brain didn’t know how it was moving that fast. This was a person we were talking about, right? A person wouldn’t be able to crawl inside a vent like that, not in real life. And a person definitely wouldn’t be able to fit inside a ceiling vent and stare down at their victims with nothing more than glint of a reflection off of a stirling black helmet.

That same intimidating voice trailed from the grate. “Cassandra. I’m surprised it took you this long to get involved.”

“Had to deal with some trash.” Cass said, “this guy’s a pitstop for me.”

“Is that right?”

“What the hell is going on?” I said.

Cass pushed into my back, “Stay quiet.” She looked back to the vent, “This is my bounty, not yours, so get the hell out of here before you wind up on a dissection table in a desert somewhere.”

The voice sounded annoyed, “You’re worried for me? Adorable.”

“Less for you, more for everyone else. Earth ain’t ready for this, you should know.”
Earth? That was an odd way to put it. Maybe if I was less shaken I would have put the pieces together there, about who she was and why this was happening, but you try thinking clearly in a situation like this and tell me you don’t come back mentally scarred. All I could really do was listen to their conversation and pray it didn’t end with a bullet in my head.

“You underestimate me, Cass. Like you always have. Give him to me and I promise things will be so much easier.”

“I switched to hard mode a long time ago, hon, why do you want him anyway? He’s just some stupid Earthling.”

The Biker’s laugh echoed from deep within her hiding spot, “like you were once?”

“Once?” I asked and looked back to Cass. She kept her eyes away from me and focused on the vents.

“Better reason for me to question this whole thing.” Cass said, “What did he do to warrant the Tangerian army’s top dog to come all the way out here? The hit was put out by the Council with no clear description, just a vague threat level. I understand that for small time crooks here and there, but a human completely cut off from the rest of us? Something’s off.”

I had no clue what the fuck they were talking about, it all just sounded like a mish mash of alphabet soup to me.

“I suppose then you have terms?” The Biker said.

“I want an explanation. I think we both deserve at least that.”

My mind was doing backflips to try and keep up with the conversation, but it was interrupted by the grate shooting down from the ceiling, clearing dust as it smacked the ground. Cass pulled us away in time, only trouble was it was further to the back of the room and not to the exit. I looked up at the darkness of the ventilation shaft, expecting to see someone lunge out, gun in hand, firing blindly until she hit one of us. Instead, I saw a black… how would I describe it? A tendril like an octopus’. It slunk down over the edge of the grate and brought with it the body it was attached to. Still clad in that same leather uniform from head to toe, the Biker seemed to trickle like water to the floor by using other tentacles to support her weight until she built herself back up on the ground bit by bit. In a moment the tentacles receded, and the Biker stood solidly in the center of the room. She had a gun raised, except it didn’t look like any gun I had ever seen.

From what I could tell, it was oddly shaped in places a normal gun wouldn’t be, specifically along the top edge of the barrel where a fine shimmering blue light pulsed in place. A slight hum came from it, as though it was ready for a shot. Of what, I couldn’t imagine. To me, it didn’t look real at all, like a prop I’d seen in a movie somewhere. Cass, however, was taking the threat seriously. She drew from her belt her own gun, similar in structure though clearly matte painted purple just to match her overall theme. From behind it, I could see a row of four buttons just beneath the sights, and a small display that currently read, ouch.

“Oh my god.” I said, “Y-you’re aliens. You’re both aliens!” I didn’t even really believe it when I said it, but my mind needed something to attach to. My breathing was starting to get erratic, and my eyes shifted across the scene so much I was getting a headache. My arm wanted so badly to shake, and Cass must have noticed because she let go to stand in front of me. She held the gun out, and was muttering.

“Shit shit shit shit shit.”

I stood behind her and held my shaking arm against my chest. The walls seemed to close in, my breaths were out of control. That thing Cass called Zwendel laughed, “what was your plan, huh? Scare me out of here? You’ve gotten ridiculously naive.”

What happened next was almost a blur, so I’ll try to put it together as best as I can. The most that I can tell you is that I was trapped. I didn’t want to be there, I didn’t care who was doing what, the only thing that seemed most important at that very moment was to run.

So I did.