The Brain Invaders

Chapter 14

Zach shook his head. His eyes bugged out and his mouth opened so wide one of those fat slimy creatures could have crawled inside easily.

“I swear that was Uncle Ted.”

“But I thought he was dead,” I said.

“He is. I mean, I saw him dead. Went to his funeral. Buried him and all that. But I swear it was his voice.”

“What did he say?” Ryan asked.

“He told me to be careful. That they are getting close. And to remember the black box.”

“What black box?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Kate said. “You never mentioned a black box.”

“Uncle Ted gave me this black box he found while exploring the wreckage. It was the only thing he took with him when he jumped ship. Said he didn’t know what it was, but had a feeling that it was important. That it had something to do with the sea slugs.”
          “When did he give it to you?” Ryan asked.

“Right before he died. I think he had a feeling something was going to

happen to him. He wanted to make sure it was safe.”

“Is it?” Ryan asked.

“Yes,” said Zach, explaining that he hid the box in a place he was sure no one would look.

“Do you really think it was him on the phone?” I asked. “That he could somehow contact you from beyond?”

“I don’t know,” Zach said. “But if what he, or whoever called, said is true, we’ve got to be really careful. We shouldn’t be seen together. They’re probably already watching me because of Uncle Ted. They might even be following me. I wouldn’t want them to see us hanging out.”

“Yeah,” Ryan said. “We don’t want to end up with a sea slug for a brain. Or dead like your Uncle Ted.”

We agreed to text or talk by cell phone only. We divvied up what we needed to do before Friday.   

“In the meantime,” Zach said. “I’ll keep digging online. I ran across a reference in a military document I want to find more information about.”

“With your hacking skills, you’re the best one for that job,” Kate said.

“Yeah,” Ryan agreed. “You’re the best hacker I know.”

“I’m the only hacker you know.”

“True,” Ryan said.

 “And if you don’t find anything,” Kate said. “We’ll go with Alex’s plan, right?”

“Right,” Zach said.

It was getting late so Cassie and I said goodbye and headed back across town. We had a close call when we ran through a yard a few houses down from mine that had a motion detector. A light beamed on us and their terrier started barking. We ducked behind some butterfly bushes at the side of the property just as a woman opened the back door to look out.  

When we reached my house, all of the lights were turned off, which meant Mom was in bed. We slipped through my bedroom window careful not to make any loud sounds. Mom’s bedroom is down the hall from mine; they’re separated by my sister’s bedroom and the bathroom she and I share. I closed the bedroom window and we crawled into bed.

 “Alex,” Cassie said. “Are you asleep yet?”

“No.”

“I can’t stop thinking about those things. How am I going to survive the week? What if your plan doesn’t work?”

“It’ll work. Now try and get some sleep.”

I didn’t sleep much that night. When Cassie wasn’t tossing and turning in her sleep she was screaming. Mom even came over once and knocked on the door just to make sure everything was OK.

I was never so glad for morning to arrive.

“Cassie,” Mom said, setting a glass of orange juice in front of her. “Did you think about what I said last night?”

“About what?” Cassie asked, playing with her pancake.

“About having a birthday bingo party. I think it’s a neat idea.”

Cassie looked at me. I looked away. I didn’t want Mom to think we were up to something sneaky. Besides, it was killing me to sit there. My gut hurt. I could barely get down the chocolate chip pancake Mom had made me. Plus, I had to be careful that Mom didn’t see the red flame on my arm.

Now that I think about it, Mom knew about the birthmark. She didn’t know about it burning or turning red, but she knew I had a birthmark that sort of looked like a flame on my arm. I remember when I was little she would tell me that it was a beauty mark, something that would bring me blessings. Well, so much for

blessings. I wondered how long it would take her to figure things out. She obviously didn’t know about the mark they had discovered on that teen girl they caught spying – yet. I had picked up some makeup at the mall the other night that I hoped would cover it, or at least dull the birthmark so it wasn’t so noticeable.    

“I’ll think about it,” Cassie told mom about the birthday bingo party. “I’ll see how it goes Friday night.”

“That reminds me, Alex,” Mom said. “Would you like to play bingo Friday night?”

“I told Cassie I’d go with her,” I said.

“Great,” Mom said. “It will be good to get out with some friends.”

I choked on my food. I bet it will be, I thought.

 “You OK?” Mom asked.

I nodded yes. “Went down the wrong tube.”

After breakfast, we headed to church. We had plans to go to the library afterward and mom said she’d drop us off after church and give us money to eat at the sub shop. Cassie’s teacher was giving a presentation and said she could help her with her school project when she was done. I needed to find a book.

When we got to church, we ran into the minister in the hallway. He hugged mom as if they were old friends. That never happened before – before she became one of them like him. It creeped me out. He shook my hand and then Cassie’s. I hadn’t told Cassie about the minister having a slug stuck in him, but I guess I should.  

We walked to the back of the church and scooted across the pew my family has sat in forever. A couple with triplets sat in front of us and some people I never saw before sat behind us.

The triplets provided a nice distraction. It was much better watching and listening to them babble than the minister, especially when he delivers a sermon like he did today about hypocrites. Seemed to me he was the biggest hypocrite of all.

He talked about people who put a face on to be someone they’re not.

 “It’s a false mask they wear before society that hides them away from the truth of who they are,” he said.

I wanted to stand up and scream. Point to him and tell him to take off his mask, to pull that slug out of his head and show the congregation who he is really is. Instead, I squirmed in my seat at the irony of his words.

Watching the babies jiggle their soft rattles, I wondered at what age they do implants, if they were turning babies and small children. So far, I haven’t seen or heard of anyone younger than a teen, but you never know.

Mom leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Quit shaking the bench.”

When I’m nervous, my right leg shakes constantly. It’s just something I do. The shaking calms me. I sort of zoned out for awhile and the next thing I knew the minister was saying: The gifts of God for the people of God. Come for all things are made ready.”

It was time for Communion. Time to get up close and personal with the minister – and I dreaded every minute of it.