-Chapter 11-
Rhea
We wait for nightfall for Armani to build his spaceship, as usual.
While Armani is working, I sit in a lawn chair and try to relax as I watch him work. Watching Armani rebuild his spaceship is fascinating, but I'm still haunted by Lord Vulcan's words, and how he was able to contact me through my dreams, and speak to me in my mind.
The part that terrifies me the most is that I actually felt pain while he was speaking to me. I knew that Lord Vulcan had had intentions of hurting me the moment he spoke. I don't know how to explain it, but the only way I can is that it just felt like a strong feeling I had before he said anything to me. If that makes any sense. Sighing, I shudder and curl my legs up to my chest and take a deep breath, trying not to think of my nightmare so much. I just need to forget about it, and pray that I don't run into Lord Vulcan again.
Armani works on his spaceship all night long. He uses his telepathy skill to mold pieces of the ship so that they fit properly. I look over at his arm that he'd injured on his way to Earth. It seems to be healing at a fast pace, because he's been using it, but not to pick up heavy objects, just for little things. I also haven't heard him complain about it for a while now, so I think he's doing better and that's a silver lining.
The night drags on and on and eventually my eyelids get heavy. My sleep schedule is so messed up but I don't care. I just care about keeping Armani safe and not letting anyone in my family discover him, or anyone else for that matter. After watching Armani work all night, I feel myself slowly fall asleep. I keep trying to tell myself it's a bad idea to go back to sleep, since I'm worried Lord Vulcan is gonna try to contact me again. I don't wanna confront him about the deal he proposed to me. I don't wanna have to speak to him ever again.
"Cassidy? Are you falling asleep?" I hear Armani ask. He pauses his work on a piece of equipment and walks over towards me.
I blink my eyes several times, trying to wake up, "Oh, I was, yeah sorry Armani. I think I should call it a night, I'm so tired."
"Yes, but who's going to keep a lookout for other humans who might see me working on my ship? I cannot afford to get caught," Armani says, his voice laced with worry.
"I know, but maybe we should continue building the rest of it tomorrow night. You got a lot done tonight," I say, looking at all of Armani's hard work.
Armani sighs heavily then tells me, "Not really, I still have to repair a few more things, and that'll only be half of the spaceship's parts rebuilt. The other half will take much longer." He looks at the ground sadly.
I feel sadness begin to creep up on me, but I suppress it. I have to keep Armani's spirits high and keep telling him that giving up isn't the answer. He has to finish this so he can save his people. "It'll get done, Armani I promise. Now come on, we should-"
But suddenly a loud, alarm of some kind sounds off in Armani's ship. A piece of equipment with a ton of blinking, bright buttons illuminates so much that it almost engulfs my whole backyard with bright lights. It's making a loud, rapid beeping noise. Armani jumps in shock and runs over to it, trying to make the noise turn off. I cover my ears with my hands and rush over to him.
"Armani what is that? Turn it off, please!" I shout in a loud whisper.
Armani frantically pushes a few buttons then presses a red one that makes the noise stop completely. Silence fills the backyard and I sigh with relief, putting my hands down.
"What was that Armani?" I repeat.
He's staring at the keyboard, and I can tell he's confused. Armani is speechless; he doesn't say anything for a good few minutes. I wonder what he's thinking about. It was just a loud noise and I'm sure it didn't wake anybody up. So why is he acting so strange?
Armani suddenly turns and looks at me, "That was a distress beacon sounding off. The only way that could've been activated is if someone within close proximity of us was in distress and sent out a signal for help. And the only other people who have the ability to use this kind of distress beacon are Armanian's."
I tilt my head, growing confused. But I can tell by the shock and stunned expression on Armani's face that this is important. So I try my best to understand what's happening, "Armani, what's wrong? What does that mean?"
Armani glances around us, making sure no one is eavesdropping on our conversation. He frantically glances around the backyard before telling me, "Another Armanian contacted my distress beacon, and they must be here somewhere on Earth. They need help."
My heart is beginning to race as Armani jots down the coordinates that the distress signal had given out. He looks at them and thrusts the paper at me, "Do you know where this location is?"
I blink, stunned then take a closer look at the paper, "Um, yeah I-I think so. It's not too far, but come on, it'll take longer to get downtown using my bike."
Armani nods and then he hops onto the back of my bike. I kick off, adrenaline coursing through me as I pedal as fast as I can. As we leave my house, the early morning sun can be seen on the horizon. The sky turns from darkness to a shade of light orange as the sun comes out.
"Who do you think sent that distress signal? I mean, do you know who it is?" I ask Armani.
He thinks for a minute then says, "I have no idea, Cassidy. I just hope they're okay. I'm also hoping they have a functioning ship that I may use to leave earth."
I nod, "Yeah, that'd be nice. But why would another Armanian come to earth? How could they have gotten here if Lord Vulcan is still enslaving your people?" I can't help but interrogate Armani as questions flood my mind.
"Perhaps they escaped somehow. There's no way to know for certain until we speak to them," he answers. I can tell he sounds nervous and anxious at the thought of seeing one of his own kind after so long. I'm nervous too. What if the other Armanian doesn't like me as much as Armani does? What if they try to kill me? I shake my head, stop thinking so negatively! You must stay positive, I tell myself sternly.
After about half an hour of riding my bike, we finally make it to the downtown area of my city. By the time we get there, I can barely move my legs since they're so sore from pedaling. I've never ridden my bike so much, and this amount of exercise isn't good for someone who's not athletic, like me. I park my bike and get off of it, panting heavily, trying to catch my breath.
"Are you going to be alright?" I hear Armani ask me.
I can only nod since I'm taking in such deep breaths as I try to relax. It takes me a while for my breathing to get back to normal, but once it does, I wipe the sweat from my forehead and follow Armani to the coordinates he was given.
As we walk, part of me is thinking that this could be a trap. What if a soldier or Lord Vulcan purposely landed on earth just to lure Armani in and kill him? I try not to imagine it happening. Armani doesn't seem worried though. He presses on, making a few turns down some alleyways until he stops at the location he was lead to.
"I think this is it," he tells me, staring into an abandoned building that's at the very end of downtown. I've passed by this building before, and it's always given me a creepy vibe. The painted walls are chipping terribly, the floorboards creak with every movement, and half of the building's glass windows are destroyed by vandalism. I'm sure there's homeless people in here too.
"Armani, this place is dangerous. We shouldn't be in here," I tell him, sticking close to him.
"I must see who sent the distress signal. You may wait outside if you wish," he says, pressing on. I glance outside, considering it, but I know I should stick with Armani if he runs into trouble, so I stay.
We enter the building cautiously, my hands gripping Armani's good arm as we walk. I hear water dripping lazily from somewhere in the building and it echoes everywhere. My mind plays tricks on me as I keep thinking I see shadows run along the walls, and I keep hearing strange noises. We push deeper and deeper into the building, then finally come across a torn up staircase.
The staircase leads to some old office buildings. As we start to climb it, I pause as I see a huge whole in one of the stairs, "Armani be careful, this staircase could collapse any second."
He nods at me then continues to climb, seeming unfazed by my advise. I hesitantly take the first step on the staircase then catch up with Armani. I have to jump the stair with the huge hole in it. Finally, we make it upstairs and Armani turns into a large room with desks and chairs in it.
I search for a light of some kind and pull out my phone to use the flashlight on it. The sun still isn't up yet so it's hard to see anything. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" I call out quietly.
"I'm searching for an Armanian, I received your signal. Are you here?" Armani asks telepathically.
For a while no one answers, and I begin to lose hope. Then, I jump as something shifts a desk around at the back of the room. I point my flashlight in that direction I can see a human hand peek from under a desk in surrender.
"Who are you? Come out with no weapons and well help you," I say, surprised at how stern my voice sounds.
To my surprise, a human boy steps out from behind the desk. He has his hands up in surrender, and as I look at him, he seems to be around my age. He has dark eyes, wears a black hoodie and has brown, unkempt messy hair. Behind him, I gasp as another Armanian alien steps forward as well. It's the same size as Armani except I can tell it's a female because she has long eyelashes and a little bit of blush in her cheeks.
I hear the female Armanian's voice clearly in my mind, "My name is Rhea. We're so glad that you received our distress signal."
