The Space Speculation: Book 2 ~Painful Past~

Chapter 33: The Perfect Plan

Sunday was just like any other Sunday. 

Paisley spent most of the day in her room playing on her laptop and talking with her friends while Tom and I had lunch at a nice restaurant. The day usually ended with a family movie night, and Paisley only came downstairs to watch the last half of the movie. I tossed and turned before finally falling into a fitful sleep.

Early Monday morning I left for work. I didn't know what Calvin had thought when he had found out I would be leaving, but I hoped Tom had taken care of that.

 Unfortunately, he hadn't; or at least Calvin hadn't believed him. Calvin's piercing gaze directed me towards his office, where my boss and two other co-workers stood, their disappointed looks confirming my fears.

"Miss Paithenia," Calvin stated, motioning me to shut the door. 

"This is your boss, as I'm sure you know." I nodded, dreading what was coming.

 "Although, he isn't. Well, officially. This," he nodded towards my boss, who, to my surprise, started morphing into a...! 

"This is my Neptunian soldier, Caleb. Also, those two..." the other two changed into Neptunians as well, one a female servant, the other a male soldier. 

"May I introduce you to Christopher and Catherine, also workers in my wonderful son Chad's castle. Catherine here will be "you" for the many years you are contained within Chad's prison for 'illegally communicating with aliens'. Pity, really." He smirked and chuckled evilly.

 "Your poor family won't know the difference." I watched in horror as Catherine slowly changed her shape to become a woman identical to myself. Same height, same hair, same smile; yet something was different. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew, somehow, that Paisley and Tom would figure out that this woman was not me. 

"My family will find out what you did," I stated in defiance. 

"Well, one can hope," Calvin sighed. He wiggled his finger in my direction and Caleb, Christopher, and Catherine started moving towards me. Without thinking, I bolted out of the room, ran through the hallway, and, ignoring the open elevator doors, raced down the thirteen flights of stairs, blasted out the emergency door, and hopped in the Jeep, slamming my foot down on the gas pedal.

 I had brought my backpack in case of emergencies, and now I reached in with one hand while jerking back and forth with the other on the steering wheel. I only had moments before the aliens would find out the direction I had gone and chase me down. 

I wrapped around the back of the building and turned onto the opposite road. I finally found what I was looking for in my backpack and pulled out the communication system. 

"BILL!" I screamed into the small device. 

"What's wrong, Pizzy?" I heard Bill answer, concerned. 

"Calvin's after me! I'm in danger! I..." I stopped myself. If I went to Pluto, all the Plutonians would be in danger, and if I told Bill where I was going, he might be put in danger. 

"I want you to make sure Paisley and Tom are okay. I'm going to hide..." I racked my brain for someplace to tell him.   

  "In the Pacific Ocean!" My mind clicked.

I would hide in space, but tell Bill that I was hiding in the ocean, so that Calvin would search the ocean for me when in reality I would really be on a different planet! That way, Bill could keep Paisley and Tom safe; that way, I could get help to stop Calvin; that way, Tom and Paise could come to Pluto and we could live happily ever after!

I smiled. It was the perfect plan.

"In the what-now?" Bill interrupted my thoughts.

"Uh, it's just a large body of water on Earth. Listen, Bill, if anyone comes asking where Paisley Lane has gone, tell them I'm at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean on Earth. Okay? Great. I'll see you later. Bye!" I turned off the communicator before he could answer and stuffed it back into my backpack.

I swerved the Jeep, turned onto a separate road, and parked in a mini-mart parking lot not far from work. I then got out of the Jeep and began to sneak through the bushes on the side of the freeway.

A pickup truck went by on the freeway and I could see Catherine and Calvin sitting in the front seats, Calvin glaring at every hitchhiker they passed.

As I neared my building, I caught my breath as I spotted Caleb and Christopher coming in my direction, both searching the bushes thoroughly.

Suddenly, a rabbit rustled in the bushes to my right. The aliens directed their attention to the rustling leaves and crept away from me.

I took the opportunity and ran around to the back of the building to where the pod was. I ripped the canvas cover off and jumped inside, pushing numerous grey and red buttons, trying to get it to take off before Caleb and Christopher noticed what I was doing.

Unfortunately, the engine sputtered loudly, causing the aliens to turn their heads in my direction and come towards me. Right before they came within an arm's reach from the pod, I smacked the metal wall out of frustration.

Surprisingly, the pod sparked to life. I breathed a sigh of relief and pushed the power throttle. I watched the aliens shake their tiny fists at me as I flew into space.

I didn't really have a plan. I just knew I had to get away from Earth. From Calvin; from Tom and Paisley; from work. From my past life. I knew that when I was sure that they would be safe, I would go back to my family.

I tried not to think about what had happened the last time I had said that. With Bill. I shook my head to get those thoughts out of my head. I was doing this for their own safety. At least I knew they wouldn't be in danger while I was away. If Calvin planned on having Catherine pretend to be me, he must have been meaning not to hurt them.

I hoped Bill wouldn't be kidnapped and tortured or anything. I leaned my head back on the carylin-fur pillow and closed my eyes, intending to rest for only a moment.

Oops.

This section was written by Melina.