The Brain Invaders

Chapter 15

As the organist played hymns, the usher excused one row at a time. People walked up to the Communion rail at the front of the church, knelt and received their bread and wine.

Pastor Jim, dressed in his white robe and green stole, handed each one a wafer while a Communion assistant poured wine from a silver chalice into a plastic Communion cup.

I leaned over to Cassie. “Are you going up?”

She nodded yes.

When it was our turn, we stood, took a Communion cup from the usher’s silver tray and headed to the front. I reminded myself that I had to make sure my sleeve was covering my birthmark. I knelt between Cassie and Mom.

The pastor leaned over, his big pewter cross dangling from his neck. I watched as he gave Cassie a wafer. “The body of Christ given for you.”

He shuffled to me and I couldn’t stop thinking about the bingo chip I saw the slug-invested humans eat in the fire hall. It looked just like this wafer, except it was red. I held out my left hand to receive the wafer, not wanting to take a chance that my sleeve might inch up on my right arm and reveal my birthmark. My hand shook and I dropped the wafer. I grabbed it off the floor and popped it in my mouth before it caused too much of a distraction.

“The blood of Christ shed for you,” said the assistant, waiting for me to steady my cup so she could fill it.

I was so happy when Communion was over and we were back in the pew.  It was after the post Communion blessing and prayer that the doors in the back of the church thundered open. Everyone turned as a bearded man in a black leather jacket and jeans and red bandana tied around his head yelled: You’re not a pastor. You’re nothin’ but a giant slug.”

The man continued to shout about sea slugs and evil while two men sitting nearby dashed out of their pews and grabbed him and took him away. Probably to the church basement. Maybe to a place where they could implant one of their own and keep him quiet. Cassie caught her breath and looked at me.

Mom leaned over. “Don’t worry girls. That man has some head problems. They’ll take care of him.”

Yeah, I thought. I’m sure they will.

The minister proceeded with the benediction after apologizing for the outburst. Cassie and I got out of the sanctuary as fast as we could. No way did we want to hang around. As we walked out the front door, I noticed a bald man with a mustache sitting on a red motorcycle across the street. He was watching the church door, like he was waiting for someone.  When people started to pour out, he revved his cycle and took off.

“That’s weird,” I said.

“What’s weird?”

 “That man. Looked like he was waiting for someone,” I said.

“Maybe he was waiting for that man who came into the church,” Cassie said.

“Maybe.”

We waited in the car and I told Cassie about the minister being one and the others that I knew of from the congregation and around town and school.

“I had no idea there were so many,” Cassie said. “What are we going to do if your plan doesn’t work?”

“It will. It has to.”

I held up the bulletin that was still in my hands. “Did you notice this?”

Cassie looked at the bulletin and then at me. There was a picture of a man fishing on the bulletin and the words: Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.

“They’re fishing for people all right,” Cassie said. 

“And some of us can’t be caught,” I said.

Mom opened the car door. “Sorry, girls. Had to catch up with a few of the ladies.”

“Remember, mom. You’re dropping us off at the library.”

“Yes, yes, yes, I know. Who are you meeting anyway?”

 “Mrs. Martin.”

 “Martin the Martian?” Mom asked. “Isn’t that what you call her? I thought you didn’t like her. Said she reminded you of an alien or something.”

I coughed. All I could think about was that Mom was more of a Martian than Mrs. Martin ever was.

“She’s helping me with my biology project,” Cassie said. “And Alex needs to find a book for English class.”

“What’s the biology project?” asked Mom, pulling into the library parking lot.

“Sea snakes,” said Cassie, looking at me.

When Cassie said sea snakes Mom hit the brakes and Cassie and I jerked back.

“I wanted to do the blue crab but Wei got to pick before me and he took that.”

“Oh, I see,” Mom said. “Well, I’m sure sea snakes will be interesting. Not as interesting as sea slugs, though.”

I coughed. “Why’s that, Mom?”

“Oh, where to start? They’re both male and female. When they feed, they steal their prey’s weapons, like stingers from anemones, and use them for their own.  If an enemy tried to eat the slug, his mouth would burn from the stingers and he’d spit the slug out. That’s pretty clever, wouldn’t you say?”

“Guess so,” I said. “How do you know so much about sea slugs anyway?”

“There’s just some things that stick in your brain,” Mom said. “Guess this is one of them.”

You got that right, I thought. Nothing like having a blob of slime in your brain to get you thinking.

I opened the door and crawled out. Cassie followed.

“What time do you want picked up?” Mom asked.

“OK if I call?”

Mom nodded.  “But don’t make it too late. I’m going with Mrs. McGee to a friend’s house tonight.”

Cassie and I looked at each other. “We won’t,” I said. “We won’t keep you from getting out with your friends.”