The Oddities Of Grand Marquis - Book 1: Galactic Seed 🪼✔

Twenty-Second

I ran as fast as I could to the Taylor house and pounded on the door. It opened and Mr. Taylor looked down at me with a tired expression.

"Oh..."

"Where... is... he...?" I said in between gasps for breath from all the running.

"Did you run here?"

"I was heading over anyway. I was going to apologize to Max."

"For what?"

"Never mind that. Where's Max? What's going on?"

Mr. Taylor sighed and ran his fingers through his hair and over his face. He oved the door open a little more so that I could step in.

"Where's Mrs. Taylor?"

"To be honest, I don't know. I haven't had a wink of sleep since this morning when Max started screaming bloody murder in the bathroom. After that it's been a daze."

I looked at Mr. Taylor for a moment and then gulped, stepping backwards towards the living room.

"Oh my god... Y-you're one of them. You're an alien!"

"What? Now you too?" Mr. Taylor growled, crossing his arms. "What could possibly make you think I'm an alien?"

"Because you're so calm. Mr. Taylor is known for not being calm when he's upset and/or hasn't had any sleep... and the fact that you don't know where your wife is in this critical time..."

Mr. Taylor smiled this crooked smile and then began to clap slowly.

"Bravo, young human. You're much more perceptive than Max Taylor."

"How is this happening? Did I get abducted too and didn't even know? What the heck-"

"We have the ability and technology to do as we please. As it's been so indicated by your species, human males do not carry the progeny of your species and yet Max Taylor harbors life within him. What makes you believe that we couldn't do anything else?"

"Because I haven't been in contact with you. Max is a little understandable since you took him into your ship and did stuff to him, but I've been on Earth."

"How perceptive..." He began to walk towards me and then around me, staring at me intently. "What an interesting human you are... You were surprised but now you seem perturbed... Not the reaction I thought you'd have..."

"I've been practicing this my whole life. I'm a firm believer in extraterrestrials."

Max and Kole never knew how deep my obsession went with xenology, the study of aliens. I loved science because it opened up so many mysteries about the stars and our planet and space was like my second home... in my head. As dorky as it seems, I really have acted out what would happen if I came in contact with an alien species. This wasn't exactly how I pictured it, but keeping calm was definitely a high priority in these situations and so far impressing the aliens seems like a good sign.

"How unusual... You've practiced speaking with an alien race?"

"No need to rub it in, pal. My secret nerdy personality is not the point here. I'm asking a genuine question about all this: how is this happening?"

"The how is insignificant."

"Fine, if you won't answer that then answer me this: why?"

"We did not expect Max Taylor to stop."

"Stop what?"

"Living."

"Oh my god, you killed him?!" I growled, ready to kick some ass.