COSMIC

15 - Lady Stardust

The first thing to register in my mind was the voices. "Guys, wait," I said, extending my hands as if to stop them. But it was unnecessary, as they had heard the voices, too. Even in the shadows I could see the dread on their faces that reflected the thoughts running through all our minds.

Instinctively, we ran to the nearest trees to take cover in case the intruders saw us—as if the truck was invisible. But it was better than nothing. Then, looking toward the fire pit, I saw several people—all unfamiliar, as far as I could tell—gathered around in a circle. Only when I saw the candles they each held in their hands, did the worst that we had feared seem to be true.

I counted two women and three men, all seeming to dress alike in vests and bell-bottoms. One man was distinctive with glasses and long hair tied back in a short ponytail, while the others were scruffy with facial hair. The women had hair double the length of mine, one standing out in particular with a band around the crown of her head. What really drew my eye to her, though, was her actions, as she kept looking up and lifting a candle to the sky. I assumed she was the leader of the group, because the others followed her movements and stood silently as her mouth uttered words I was unable to distinguish.

I clasped my hand over my mouth in shock. Suddenly, everything we had been doing to avoid this—sometimes our naivety causing us to believe we were invincible—was in vain. How stupid we were not to realize this would happen.

Nancy whipped her head toward me, her face pale even in the moonlight. "What do we do?" she breathed. The rest of the gang crowded around us waiting for an answer.

"I don't know," I said quickly. "What can we do? If we went out there, it'd be even worse."

"But what about David?" Lisa said.

"I don't know," I said in disappointment. "I guess another time."

"We just need to get out of here," Josh added.

"How?" Kyle said. "What if they see us? We're stuck out here."

"Well it's better we leave now than when they do," I said, spotting their bicycles propped against the trees a few feet away. "Plus, they didn't seem to notice us coming here, so we should be okay leaving. We're far enough away."

"I'll just keep my headlights off," Nancy said, to which I gave her a nod.

We made our way cautiously back to the truck, all climbing into our respective seats the way we had arrived. Nancy took a deep breath, her hand on the keys in the ignition, and started up the engine. It roared to life, causing me to cringe as I tried to peer through the darkness at the strangers. Then we backed out and cruised quietly out of the woods. Only when we were back on the paved road did we breathe a sigh of relief.

After communicating through the truck's rear window with those in the back, we all agreed to go home for the night. Everyone's faces expressed the same disappointment I felt. But no one could have fun after the realization that our situation had grown a lot more serious.

The first stop was my house and when Nancy parked in front of the gate, we took a moment to discuss what we had witnessed. However, there was little that could be said for comfort.

"How did they find our spot?" Kyle said.

"I don't know," I replied. "It's the closest forest to our neighborhood and you have to admit a perfect place to contact aliens. I didn't realize how determined they were."

"Me neither," Scott said. "Looks like they're going on whether we give them anything or not."

"Yeah, I hope this won't be a regular thing," I said.