Molly glanced around the room, a little light-headed. She had skipped breakfast that morning, thinking she’d have a late one when she returned from her walk. She was starting to regret it as her stomach growled at her, hidden somewhere beneath the green slime that surrounded her body from her shoulders down. Lunch probably wasn’t coming any time soon, either. She ought to be prepared for things like this, she thought to herself, but as she continued to think she wasn’t so sure how well one could prepare to get kidnapped by a swarm of strangely similar children that spewed slime from their mouths.
Not much had happened since the little girl had stormed off into the other room, with her brother one step behind her. A few minutes after the two had entered, the doors opened and quite a few of the kids filtered out from the congregation room, obviously not pleased with their relocation. A few of them took interest in Molly, and stopped by to get a closer look, but none felt they were allowed to get within reaching distance. After a few seconds of thought the majority of the group either went to entertain themselves in the other rooms of the church or the lawn outside, though only the bravest ones dared to do the latter as they all knew it was against the rules and feared their leader’s wrath. From the short drama Molly had just witnessed, she wasn’t sure who exactly the leader of the group was, but it was either the little girl with green hair or the little boy with black. It seemed to her that the girl had been the leader for a while, but the boy had been leading it his own way behind the scenes. Molly’s thoughts of group politics were interrupted by a sudden silence as she realized that most of the children had either left to go entertain themselves elsewhere, or sat quietly in the corners curled up to be by themselves. Only one remained nearby, as he had for a while now: the one that had been assigned to watch her.
She took notice of the boy who had fallen into her arms earlier. After having some time to study the room, she had realized that he fell from the lighting fixture that now dangled above her head at an awkward angle, instead of her initial understanding that he simply materialized in the air above her. Every now and again a bit of dust drifted down from the ceiling as the lamp swayed from the breeze that blew in from the cracks in the walls, barely hanging on its thin cord. Molly noticed that the boy, too, was staring up at it, probably thinking the same thoughts as she was.
“Doesn’t look too safe up there, does it?”
The boy turned his attention to her, uncertainty obvious in the creases around his squinted eyes. Molly smiled, trying to disarm the situation. A smile wasn’t going to break her out, of course, but making friends was a good start.
“So what were you doing up there?”
The boy continued his distrustful frown, but let out a soft answer. “Hiding.”
“Ah. From me, I guess.” Molly nodded. “What did the girl say your name was? Pocket?”
Pocket nodded, the corners of his frown elevating ever so slightly. “Yeah. And you’re Molly?”
“Molly McKenzie. I’m a secretary, I work at the hospital right over there.” She pointed behind her and out the door, to the East.
“Well, Molly... thanks for catching me, I guess.” Pocket shrugged and glanced back up at the shaky light.
Molly followed his lead. “Does look a bit wobbly, doesn’t it? I hope it doesn’t fall while I’m stuck here.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine.” He gave the lamp a troubled stare, however, the worried expression betraying his true thoughts.
Molly shrugged. “Well, if you think so. I’m sure you know that lamp better than I do, considering you were the one up there.” A few moments passed and they both sat in silence, staring at the swinging light. Suddenly, she looked back down and locked eyes with him, flashing a grin. “Want to play a game?”
“A game?” Pocket rose an eyebrow. “What kind of game? Guess Who?”
Molly raised her eyebrows in surprise. “You have Guess Who all the way out here?”
“No, it’s not a board game. Guess Who is a game where-” Pocket stopped himself mid-sentence. Guess Who was a game where he and his brother, Mimic, took turns trying to impersonate actors they saw on TV using their transformation abilities and have the other guess who they were trying to be. Pocket assumed Misery wouldn’t want him talking about that stuff, though. He waved his hand and dodged the question. “It’s just a game we play. But what game did you have?”
“Well, it depends. How old are you?”
“Seven.”
“Really?” Molly arched her brow. “And what about the other kids, how old are they?”
“My brothers and sisters? We’re all the same age.”
“Uh-huh.” Molly glanced around at the other kids, who all looked eerily similar and were apparently the same age. She felt grievously left out of some loop. “You’re all very mature for your age. Especially the one with the different greenish hair. What did you call her…”
“That’s Misery.”
“Yeah, her. She seemed like she had a bright mind behind those shining green eyes, and she didn’t have wrinkles to prove that she earned it.” Molly sighed. “That’s a volatile combination, right there. Can’t even tell you how many young people with shining eyes thought they could take the world, only to have it all collapse around them when they’re at their peak. I’m one of them.” Molly’s expression slowly wilted as she gazed up at the ceiling, lost in her thoughts as she finished her rant.
Pocket scratched his head. “Well, how old are you?”
“Twenty eight in…” she paused to count in her head. “Two weeks. I lose track sometimes, thanks for reminding me.”
Pocket nodded slowly. “You’re pretty old, then.”
“Oh, thanks for the compliment.” Molly rolled her eyes. “Not THAT old, kid. Just old enough to start seeing some of the realities in life, I think.”
Pocket stared at her for a few moments, trying to process what she said. Eventually he gave up and decided he’d get it when he was older. “Whatever. Did you say you have a game?”
“Oh, yeah.” Molly’s smile returned to her face. “Want to play Simon Says?”
“Yeah, sure. But I’m Simon.”
Molly dropped her voice low and adopted the tone of a valiant knight. “Then speak, little one, and it shall be done.”
“Simon says…” Pocket stared at the ground and thought of a good command. “Nod your head.”
Molly did as she was told.
“Now Simon says make a funny face.”
Molly stuck her tongue out to the side and crossed her eyes. Pocket suppressed a giggle.
“Now Simon says jump!”
Molly stared at him for a few moments before shrugging. “You’re just going to have to take my word on that one, kid, I’m pretty sure I’m not leaving the ground under all this slime.”
Pocket grunted. “Yeah, we can’t really play if you’re in there…” He glanced backwards at the door to the congregation room. “I don’t think Misery would let me do that, though.”
“Well, maybe we should play another game. How about Twenty Questions?”
Pocket nodded and glanced down at the floor in thought. “Give me a minute to think of something, then.”
Molly was about to respond when she noticed one of the children coming closer, behind Pocket. But he wasn’t a child, not really. Where his legs should have been, there were two black stumps, filled with holes. A long, black tail swept from behind him, dragging along the ground. A pair of insectoid wings sprouted from behind him, miniscule and almost hidden behind his back, while his eyes drew her attention with their empty pale blue stare. It walked toward them, and the only thing Molly could do was stare in awe. Pocket started to give her a strange look, not yet noticing the undisguised child behind him.
Molly blinked a few times and finally found her voice. “Pocket… I changed my mind. I have a lot more than 20 questions.”
~
“Oh thank the Lord, the torment is over.”
Anon threw open the car door and stepped out into the desert air, stretching out his arms to welcome the outdoors. Not that the parking lot of the Jack in the Box counted as the outdoors, but after spending the last few hours cooped inside a car, even stepping out onto the black asphalt under the gaze of the setting sun seemed like an expedition into nature. More important than getting out of the stuffy car, however, was the fact that he was no longer trapped in the stuffy car with Mistake. Or, rather, Mistake’s running mouth.
The girl hopped out of the passenger seat and slammed the door behind her, bringing a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun as she scanned over her surroundings. Even though the drive was over, she wasn’t anywhere near out of things to talk about.
“So, this is Barstow? Doesn’t look like much.”
“That’s because it’s not.” Anon twisted his body back and forth, trying to crack the joints in his spine. “It’s nowhere. Just like Tehachapi, just like Bakersfield, just like every other settlement between the West Coast and Vegas.”
“Well, I don’t really know anything about towns.” She frowned in thought for a brief moment before immediately transitioning back to a grin. “But I do know about cowboys! Did you know that f-” Mistake stopped mid-sentence as Anon slowly turned to face her. He kneeled down and planted both of his hands on her shoulders.
“No more talking.”
“What d-”
“No. No more. I’ve been with you for the past two days, and all you ever do is talk. And talk. And talk. And talk.”
“I ju-”
“We’re not in the car anymore. I don’t have to drive. I don’t have to keep my hands on the wheel. So now, I can tell you…” He shook her lightly as he whispered the final words, “Shuuut uuup.”
Mistake didn’t move, her face blank of all emotion. Several seconds passed as the two stood there in the parking lot, the sun just beginning to set over the desert horizon. A car drove by on the road next to them, kicking up a small gust of wind that disturbed the bangs of Mistake’s hair. Suddenly breaking the vow of silence, Mistake lept out from under her father’s hands and embraced him, wrapping her arms around his neck and snuggling her head against his.
Anon sat still with his arms still held out in the air as if he were a machine that wasn’t programmed to deal with the situation at hand. It took him a few seconds before he came back to his senses and brought his arms back, returning the hug.
“What’s this for?”
Mistake grinned. “I’m hungry, and you were whining.”
“Oh, so whining is bad now. But it was perfectly fine when you were doing it in the car for the last few hours.”
“Well… yeah. Because I’m a kid.”
“I’m starting to see how seven-year-old logic works. It’s eerily similar to adult logic, just more straightforward..” He brought his arms between them and pushed her back, starting to stand. “Well, that’s enough of that.”
Mistake whimpered quietly and kept her arms held tight around his neck as he rose. “I’m still hungry, though!” She continued to cling to his arm as he tried to walk away, dangling in the air with flailing legs.
Anon continued to shuffle towards the food joint, trying to act like she wasn’t there. “Well, I’m hungry too. And I can’t eat dinner if you’re hanging from my neck like the ugliest necktie ever made.”
“The only ugly thing here is you. I’ll have you know, I’m the best accessory you could ever wear! I’m not a necktie, I’m a dazzling necklace. Bug stuff is much better than gold or silver. It’s in style.”
“First, it’s not called ‘bug stuff’, it’s called chitin. Second, if I asked for a necklace and got one as full of holes as you are, I’d have the jeweler sued for all he’s worth. Third, I’m a man. Men don’t wear necklaces.” He frowned slightly. “I probably should have brought that one up first, in retrospect.”
“Probably.”
~
“Rat! What the hell is your problem?”
Misery paced back and forth in front of her brother, Rat, who sat in his natural alien form in the center of the foyer. Molly sat next to him, still trapped and a little dazed, while Pocket, Whistle and Star stood nearby as was beginning to be the pattern of the last few days. Rat shrugged and scratched his bald head, looking off to the side.
“Sorry, I forgot the lady was here… I thought it was ok to take it off, you know, j-just for a-.”
“No! I told you all, don’t take off your disguise for any reason! Not until we’re back home!” She started to pull her hair out and turned away, facing the back wall. “And even if I hadn’t, how the hell do you forget we kidnapped someone?”
“Well, I don’t know, I wasn’t thinking-”
“No. You weren’t.” Misery turned back and jabbed a finger into his chest. “You weren’t thinking. You never think. That’s your problem, Rat; you never think.”
Rat sulked and swayed side to side, embarrassed from being yelled at in front of all his brothers and sisters. Misery slowly simmered in her anger, each second that passed by making her face more red than the last. Star coughed awkwardly and stepped between them, resting an arm on Misery’s shoulder carefully. She shot him a look that tried to burn a few extra holes in his body, but after a moment’s flinch, he persisted.
“Misery. Please, calm down. This doesn’t really change anything. She’s not in a hurry to go tell everyone our secret, now is she?” He gestured towards the pile of green goo.
Misery shut her eyes and let out a sigh. “Star, for seven years, the only person that knew about us was dad. Now, the secret of our existence that could have been kept from the president himself is in the hands of Molly, the secretary from Barstow.” She finishes her sentence with a heavy dose of disdain. “We might as well print it in the newspapers if we’re handing it out like this.”
“What, are you afraid they’re going to pin us to the operating table and dissect us? I agree that being discovered right now wouldn’t be in our best interests, but why should we keep it a secret forever?”
“I don’t know. The only thing I know is that if we do end up in some lab somewhere, I’m going to make sure Rat is the first one on the table.”
“Misery!” Star sighed as Rat sulked further towards the ground. “Rat, maybe you should take a walk. Head around town, see if you can get a few hugs. Just like old times.”
Rat stood and nodded slowly, wiping away a tear and heading for the door. He made it halfway out the door before Star and Misery both shouted at him in unison.
“Rat! Disguise!”
He blinked a few times, sulked again, and turned back to normal in a flash of green light. He walked out the door and disappeared around the corner, another child coming and shutting the door behind him. Misery turned to Star and shook her head a few times. She went off, grabbed Whistle by the shirt, and dragged her along to a corner of the church where they could be alone.
Star sighed and sat down in front of Molly, giving her a slight awkward wave, which she returned with a slight nod. Her eyes still looked a bit out of place, as though they were staring through Star, not at him. She didn’t seem entirely… there. He waved a hand in front of her eyes a few times and tilted his head.
“Are you ok, Molly?”
She nodded again, slowly, and her eyes seemed to come back into focus. “Yeah, yeah… I’m uh, I’m together. Just a little bit confused, is all.” She gulped and looked around at all the kids nearby, and then turned back to Star. “At first I thought maybe I got attacked by escaped convicts or something. Then it was a few kids: nothing to worry about. And then it was a whole lot of kids. Really scary similar-looking kids. Who could spit goo.” She looks in the direction of the door where Rat just left. “And then the whole lot of really scary similar-looking kids who could spit goo turned out to be aliens. And now I’m just a little bit lost on the whole ordeal, you know.”
Star nodded in return. “I understand. Honestly, we don’t really know much more than you do. I’m sorry it had to be like this.” He paused for a few moments and tugged at the goo from the outer layer. “We’ll let you out in a day or two, though. That I can promise.”
“Well, I guess I have that to look forward to.” She grinned and stared up at the rickety lamp. “If this thing doesn’t fall and kill me first, anyhow.”
“You’ll be fine.” Star reassured her and stood up. He tapped Pocket on the arm and gestured to a nearby corner. “We need to talk about some things, Pocket. Misery and I had a talk, and we’re going to try a Plan B…”
~
Anon and his daughter exited the Jack in the Box, one of them content with food and the other still starving for attention.
“Do they have ice cream here? We should get some i…” Mistake trailed off as she continued to hang from her father’s neck. Her legs stopped kicking.
“What is it?” Anon adopted a worried frown and looked down at his daughter.
Mistake’s eyes were wide open, staring intently in the opposite direction of the restaurant entrance. She seemed entirely focused, with her mouth slightly agape, as if in disbelief of what she saw. Anon spun around to see what had thrown her off so severely.
He didn’t see anything at first. It took a few moments before he finally noticed the boy, catching the bit of movement dashing across the street out of the corner of his eye. He looked very young, certainly not past the years of grade school. He strode at a brisk pace, though his short legs didn’t bring him far, and his tuft of messy black hair bounced with each step. His walk wasn’t the confident stride of a dedicated businessman, but rather one of a discontent businessman who had lost his way to a very important meeting. He glanced around frantically, in search of something, as he sped across the street. For a brief moment, Anon thought he could imagine a quick flash of light blue in the boy’s eyes before he disappeared behind a gas station.
Anon stood agape as the boy disappeared. “Mistake… was that one of-”
“Yeah.” After a moment of thought, she added, “His name is Rat.”
“They didn’t even make it to Vegas.” Anon shook his head slowly. “We were about to pass them. They’re here, in Barstow, and we almost just drove right past them.” Anon raised his hands to his mouth and took in a deep breath, preparing to shout, but Mistake grabbed his arm and yanked it down to her level.
“Dad, no! They ran away, remember? If you call him now he’ll just book it. Let’s follow him, maybe he’ll take us to everyone else.”
Anon watched the empty space where the kid had been, anxious to start following. “Alright, Detective. Lead the way. You’re probably better at sneaking than I am.”
Mistake grinned and lept forward, skipping across the sidewalk with silent ease. Anon stumbled behind as loudly and noticeably as ever.
~
Whistle groaned and kicked a pebble a few steps away, watching it skid over the nearby train tracks. She leaned against a supporting the canopy above them and nudged Pocket, who stared blankly at the rising moon.
“I can’t believe Misery’s making us leave everyone else behind. You know, Mist really wanted to see mom, too! She wrote a poem and everything that she was going to give to her.”
Pocket just shrugged. “I don’t really care. And it’s not just Misery, you know, it was Star’s idea too. And we’re speaking to mom on behalf of everyone, so they’re still going to get answers.”
“Still.” Whistle pouted. “I feel like they all got cheated by coming with us.”
“I still think sometimes that we should have stayed home.” Pocket glanced over at Misery and Star, who stood nearby, reading over the train schedules.
They had made the walk North to the Amtrak station together, and it had cost them the remaining daylight they had. Now the two leaders argued once again, this time over which train route at which time would get them to Vegas and back faster. It wasn’t long before Star eventually won her over to his idea, and the pair started heading back to the church.
Only a fifteen minutes and a few pairs of sore legs later, the children saw the church ahead. Misery called everyone’s attention and began to walk backwards so she could address them and move at the same time.
“Alright, so here’s what’s happening. We’re going to go in and leave Jet and Faith in charge. They’re going to stay here, make sure no-one gets in trouble, and keep an eye on Mosey.”
“Molly,” Pocket corrected.
“Polly Pocket. Loverboy’s new girlfriend. Whatever.” Whistle rolled her eyes. “Misery, I still don’t think this is a good idea. We couldn’t even keep everyone under control when we were around! What makes you think they’re going to behave now?”
“It’s for their own good. Hopefully they’ll realize that.” Misery shrugged. “Anyhow, after people are put in charge and bases are covered, we leave tomorrow morning. Train leaves at 7:30, so let’s be there early. We’ll be in Vegas before noon.”
“But who knows how long it’ll take to find mother…” Star trailed off.
“We’ll wait and see.” The distance was closed, and the church doors now stood at Misery’s back. “We’ll improvise a plan when we get there, I guess.” She pushed open the doors and stepped inside. “At least there won’t be any more surp-” She paused dead in the middle of her sentence and looked up.
Anonymous leaned in the doorway, gesturing for the four of them to enter with a thin grin plastered across his face.. “Well, young lady, you sure are out late past your curfew. Why don’t you come in and tell your father where you’ve been?”