The Visitor

Chapter 10

"You say you have no memory of ever going out at night," the man, whose name turned out to be Gauche, stated. It was more a statement than a question.

"That's right," Astral replied for the second time. He suppressed a yawn; it was still dead at night and he was getting tired. "As far as I know, I've never left the house until the night Yuma woke me up to go out last night. That's when we found Cathy."

"Do you sleepwalk?" the woman, Droite, asked. 

"Not that I know of. No, I'm positive I don't. Otherwise my family members would have known."

Gauche and Droite shared a discreet glance and convened at the opposite side of the room to talk. While they did so, Astral allowed himself to yawn and take a look at his surroundings again, though there really wasn't much to look at. The walls were stark white, and the ground a complimenting gray color. He was seated in a plush chair with a table in front of him that was full of papers and files he'd looked through before the interrogation began. There was also a screen in this room so they could continue to dissect the footage from that night, but it was gone now. The white walls were covered in some kind of sound muffling foam, as was the floor, so he couldn't hear what the two adults were talking about.  So, he was stuck with his thoughts.

Was there a possibility he could have done this? He turned this thought over and over all through the ride until there was nothing more to add to it. His definitive answer was no. Astral was convinced that he couldn't have possibly been the one to kill all those people. For one, he didn't have a needle in his arm. He'd tried snapping to summon it like the creature did in the video, but no matter how hard or how loud he did, nothing came out. Secondly, he was absolutely positive that the being in the  footage was, ironically, a purer color than Astral himself since his color, although green like the rest of the surroundings, was a bright and pure green. That green was also blotched with patches of dark color. Form-wise, though...

No. It could have just been a look-a-like. But what were the odds that someone was here who looked like him? From a young age, he knew he was different from his family; one only needed to look at his old pod to see it. But could his pod have come with another one? Another pod just like his? It was possible, but odd.

Why are you here?

Astral shook his head. Not important.

Oh, but it is.

What's important is stopping this criminal.

Then you mean to stop yourself?

This made Astral stiffen up, but he didn't show any further sign of disturbance. He meant to reply to the voice in his head, but he found it ridiculous to reply to a random voice in his head. He did nothing wrong; that thought was dead set into his mind.

~.~.~

Later that night, Droite and Gauche were watching Astral sleep though a camera with night vision to see if they could catch him in the act of escaping to go of on his spree. Both adults watched carefully, but no matter how long they waited, they didn't see any change.

Little did they know, their culprit was already out and about. His bright white skin splattered with dark spots shone in the moonlight, but he was getting more and more used to hiding his presence, of making others turn the other cheek whenever he passed by. Everyone was unknowingly ignoring him, which was perfect.

The parasite started stalking his prey, this one a middle aged writer. She was on her way home, presumably from eating out if her leftovers bag was any indication. Her energies were pure and happy. The parasite had to keep himself from humming in pleasure. He'd have a taste after he killed her.

As usual, she ignored him, as did everyone around her. She continued to ignore him until she heard a snap, and by then it was far too late. The needle found its home right in her chest. 

The night continued that way until morning.

~.~.~

The news that morning was less than hopeful. Once again, the anchor covered the tragic deaths of good people of society, said the obligatory things like "they will  be missed," "they were taken too soon," and "they're in a better place." Along with those, the police were now on high alert, looking for whoever it was who killed these good people.

Back home, Yuma and Akari watched with wide-eyed wonder. Whatever thoughts they had about Astral being the suspect vanished with this proof right here. Their brother was supposedly being kept under lock and key, watched over by the two who took him. If he were the one who did the crimes, he would have stopped for fear of being discovered.

The siblings linked hands, glad that their brother was at least out of suspicion. 

~.~.~

"This doesn't add up," Gauche complained in the privacy of their headquarters. "There isn't anyone else who could have done it. It has to be him!"

"Gauche," Droite said calmly. "I agree. But we have to face the fact that he didn't leave last night. He didn't leave, yet the news covered the exact same news as yesterday. There must be someone else. Until we're certain he isn't projecting some kind of double, though, we gotta run a few tests. Just to be sure."

Gauche grunted a bit, seeming to be satisfied. Still, lingering doubt wormed into his mind. He was convinced that it was their little guest doing all of this even though Droite seemed semi-convinced he was innocent. Still, there was no solid proof that he did anything.

The pair came into the room Astral was staying in just as the alien boy was waking up. Droite, the calmer of the two, was walking up to him to tell him of the tests they were going to perform when suddenly a feeling came over her.

Why were they demonizing this poor boy? Clearly, he did nothing wrong! He was here all of last night, wasn't that all the proof they needed? Why would they need to keep him any longer?

So, instead of telling him there were more tests to perform, she told the innocent alien, "You're free to go."

Both Astral and Gauche were unbelievably shocked. Although, something told Astral that she would come around at one point or another.

He refused to believe that voice.