The Brain Invaders

Chapter 12

So, Cassie,” Mom said, walking wobbly around the counter. “Your birthday’s coming up.”

“Yeah,” Cassie said. “Dad wants me to have a birthday bingo party at the fire hall.”

“That’s a great idea,” said Mom, pulling out a kitchen chair to sit on. “I’ve always loved playing bingo. I’m going Friday night with Mrs. McGee.”

My stomach was killing me. It felt like my insides were being twisted, and I had to throw up. Usually, I don’t get queasy. I just feel like I got punched in the gut by a steel fist.

I ran to the bathroom, knelt and leaned over the toilet. I up chucked cookie dough bites. It was disgusting. I checked my birthmark. It was flaming red. There had to be an invader in the house, but where? When I returned, Mom was trying to talk Cassie into having a birthday bingo party.

“It would be so much fun,” Mom said.

She picked up a box from the kitchen counter. “Your favorite, Alex. Chocolate Peanut Butter Surprises from Connie’s Candy Box. Mrs. McGee dropped them off as a thank-you for feeding her cat while she was away. Would you girls like one?”

“Sure,” Cassie said, reaching for the box of chocolates.

“No,” I yelled, clutching my stomach. “Remember our diet.”

“What diet,” Cassie said.

“The one we just started.”

Cassie flashed me the scrunch-your-eyes bewildered look. 

“Alex,” Mom said. “What’s wrong with you?”

 “I’ll be all right mom,” I said, holding my stomach and walking away. “It was the pizza sauce. Too much garlic. Come on Cass. Let’s go to my room.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Mom called after us.

“Yes.”

“Maybe you should take an antacid tablet,” Mom said. “They’re in the medicine cabinet.”

“OK.”

What was I going to do? Cassie’s mom, dad, uncle. Now my mom. Who would be next?

Cassie knocked on the bathroom door. “Are you sure you’re all right?” 

I wasn’t all right. I was angry. I wanted to pull that sea slug out of my mom’s head and strangle it. These things, these awful creatures, were ruining the lives of people I cared about the most. I had already lost my dad. He just dropped over dead one morning. I never got to say goodbye, to tell him how much I loved him and needed him. I didn’t want to lose my mom. I had promised my sister that I would take care of her while she was away at college. Great job I was doing.

I wanted to scream my brains out. I cried instead. I needed to talk with

someone about what I was going through. I needed to talk to Cassie. But if I confided in her, would she believe me? Could I protect her without telling her? I didn’t know what to do.

I threw my soaked tissues in the waste can and noticed a can of hair spray. I took it out of the trash. It was a full bottle. I decided to keep it in my bedroom. I remembered what D.J. had said about the hair spray knocking her out and how she lost control of the brain. It might just come in handy.

“Did you find anything good on TV?” I asked, walking into my bedroom.

“There’s a scary movie on Channel 8,” Cassie said. “How about that?

“I’m not really into scary right now. What are the other choices?”

We settled on the Cartoon Classics Channel. Seemed like the best choice for light entertainment.

“Alex,” Cassie said about 15 minutes later. “You’re not laughing and you always laugh when Wile E. Coyote’s contraptions fail to capture the Road Runner. What’s wrong? You haven’t been right all night. Talk to me.”

There was no way I could continue to keep this from Cassie. I couldn’t help acting the way I was acting. I couldn’t help feeling the way I was feeling. It was too

late to save Mom from these hideous things. I didn’t want it to be too late to save Cassie. I needed help, and I needed it now.

“I need to call someone,” I told Cassie. “Do you mind?”

“No,” Cassie said. “I need to use the bathroom anyhow. Wash my face; brush my teeth.”

I could tell Cassie’s feelings were hurt, but I wanted to be alone when I called Zach. Cassie grabbed her pink overnight bag and headed for the bathroom while I dug the little piece of paper with Zach’s phone number out of my pocket and called. I left the TV on because I didn’t want to be overheard, and I went to the far corner of the room, as far from the door as I could get, just in case Mom was eavesdropping.

I told Zach everything. About the people at the mall and the bus driver. About Cassie’s mom, my mom and the stupid boxes of chocolate. About Cassie and her getting more and more freaked out by my behavior. Zach told me to bring Cassie over to his house. His parents were out for the evening and wouldn’t be home until late. He said he’d call Ryan and Kate. We all lived in the same town, separated by streets in all directions. Even so, I could walk to any of their houses in 20 minutes, maybe 15.

When Cassie came out of the bathroom, I told her that we had to meet some friends.

“Who?” Cassie said.

 “You don’t know them. But you’ll like them. Trust me.”

“You’re really acting weird, Alex,” Cassie said.

She looked at my right eye. She knows it twitches when I lie. “But, you’re my best friend, and I trust you. But what about the time? It’s late. Your mom will freak if we leave now.”

 “She’s not gonna know.”

“How?”

“We’ll sneak out.” 

Cassie’s eyebrows arched to the middle of her forehead. “This must be important.”

“It is.” I locked my bedroom door, opened the window and popped out the screen. We live in a one-story so the drop to the ground was only a few feet. Cassie climbed out first, getting her footing on the bark mulch between the two holly bushes.  She crouched and waited for me.

I started to climb out the window when there was a knock at the door.