Chapter Thirteen
Ralph and Anita lived outside of Nashville a little ways in a town called Murfreesboro, in a little house tucked behind thick trees that blocked them from the road. They were lucky they didn't live in a snowy region 'cos their driveway would've been a bitch to shovel. I cut my car lights before we turned off the street and inched my way up the winding driveway, parking just before we fully cleared the trees. The house was dark except for the ice-blue-and-pale-yellow flickering of the television in the living room window. The TV cast the viewers' silhouettes against the blue curtains that lined their huge picture window.
Being there felt dangerous and insane.
I looked over at Gilese. "They're watching TV. Are you sure they're really Keplars and not just Ralph and Anita?" I asked.
"Beyond a doubt," she whispered.
"Why would bloodthirsty aliens watch TV?"
"We like TV, too, you know," she said, raising her eyebrows. "Keplars don't just run around eating human heads or something."
It was clear I'd offended her. "Sorry," I said. I paused and looked back at the window. "What happens if they catch you?"
"They'll probably kill me," she replied shortly.
We stared at their silhouettes for a few more moments. Finally I turned to her again, "You're sure you know what you're doing?" I demanded.
"Yes." She replied. She paused. "If I don't come out alive you'll need to continue on with the plan and go to Aricebo without me. For the sake of the human race." Her eyes were serious.
I nodded.
"Okay." She reached for the black skull cap I'd given her. She was clad head to foot in black clothing. She rolled the cap onto her head, covering the blonde pig tails that she'd pulled CowBelle's hair up into. She looked at me. "How do I look?"
"Like a cat burgler," I replied. Gilese reached for the car door handle. "Hey," I said. She paused and looked at me. "Be careful, okay? Please?"
"I will," she nodded. Then she pushed the door open and climbed out.
I watched with baited breath as she scampered up the remaining length of the driveway, her eyes on the window, on the silhouettes, as she pranced about through the dark. Soon, all I could see of her was the pig tails, like they were stars in a constellation in the night sky. I waited.
This was, after all, my entire purpose in the plan - I was to wait until she came back out, like the driver of a getaway car in a bank heist. I took a deep breath. I hated waiting. I've never been good at just waiting.
Christ. She was taking forever.
Nervously, I ran my fingers over the wheel, my palms were sweating, they left long trails of persperation across the rubbery wheel. My hand slipped. I hit the horn.
HOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!
"Fuck!" I muttered. My heart beat up through my throat.
The silhouettes in the window shifted. One of them got up and moved toward the window, the shadow darkening until the window was open and a slice of light escaped out onto the dark-soaked lawn. Ralph's face peered out across the grass, and, beyond a doubt, he saw my car. I felt sick as he dropped the curtain and disappeared from the window.
"Fuck-fuckety-fuck-fuck-fuck," I muttered.
I barely knew what a Keplar was, not to mention how to deal with a blood thirsty one.
I looked around the car for something to defend myself with.
The front door of the house opened and the light spilled out across the porch and Ralph's thick frame moved down the porch steps, across the walk to the driveway, and he started walking towards me, quickly. I rubbed my hand across my knees. "Oh fuck," I muttered.
It wasn't until he was a couple feet away that I really got a good look at Ralph, but the first thing I noticed was how much older he looked now than he'd looked the last time I'd seen him. I wondered if this was because he wasn't really Ralph, if the Keplar that had taken posession of his DNA had screwed up somehow. Ralph was ex-military and he was really strict with his exercise regimine but this verion of him was slightly overweight in the stomach, like he'd been drinking too much, and he had red eyes like he'd been crying.
"Nick?" he yelled through the window as he came closer, "Is that you?"
I cracked the window open hesitantly. Gilese was sure that he was a Keplar, I reminded myself. She was certain. She'd said that he'd say whatever it took to make me lower my guard, to believe she wasn't really a Keplar, to believe that he wasn't one. "He'll tell you anything it takes," she'd said, "Anything."
"Hello sir," I answered. My throat felt parched with nerves.
"What are you doing here?" he asked thickly. He bent low and peered through my window at the empty passenger seat.
"I - I dunno," I stammered.
He drew a deep breath. "You're thinking about Bella," he said.
"Yeah," I said.
"Been a long time," he muttered, his eyes sad, "A long time. What uh - what made you - think - of her?" he asked. His voice was nervous.
"It's her birthday," I answered, shrugging. Where in hell is Gilese? I wondered, my eyes darting toward the house then back to Ralph.
"Yes," he said, nodding, "I remember." He paused. "You, uh... you been... you been okay? Everything in your life going - you know, smooth?"
"Yeah, sure," I answered. I nodded.
We stared at each other awkwardly. He shoved his fists into his pockets. I clutched the wheel, praying for Gilese to come out of the house.
"Nick, look, I need to tell you something - something important," Ralph said, "About Bellatrix."
"What's that?" I asked.
Ralph went to open his mouth, but before he could get the words out, the still-open door was filled with a new silhouette. Gilese. She was running pell-mell toward the car, her fists clutched around a manilla envelope. Anita was hot on her tail. Gilese's eyes were wide, terrified.
"COME BACK!" shrieked Anita.
Ralph looked up and instantly ran for Gilese.
"START THE CAR!" Gilese screamed. I turned the key without even second guessing her command. She dodged around Ralph, who'd tried to tackle her, and only just barely slipped between his fingers. She flung herself into the passanger seat. "GO! GO! GO!" she cried as I slammed the car into reverse.
"STOP! WAIT!" Ralph shouted. "BELLA, WAIT!"
Gilese locked the door as he threw himself forward, clutching her door handle, trying to pull the door open and I backed up. He ran until he couldn't keep up with the speed of the car, and then we broke onto the main road, leaving him behind.
My hands shook on the wheel as the car tires squealed against the tar.
"Oh Jesus," I gasped, my heart racing. I couldn't imagine what hers was doing if mine was pounding as hard as it was. I looked over at her, "That was close."
Gilese nodded. "Now we gotta get to Aricebo before he can get a message back to Barucki. If Barucki finds out that I've contacted you and we have a plan to stop the whitenoise he's going to pitch a fit." She took a deep breath, "And trust me, it's never good to pitch a fit when you're a guy armed with enough firepower to destroy an entire planet."
"You can say that again," I muttered.
Gilese looked at me funny, then shrugged and said, "It's never good to pitch a it when you're a guy armed with enough ---"
"It's a figure of speech," I said, interrupting her "You don't literally gotta say it a second time."
Gilese shook her head. "Humans are weird as hell."
Whitenoise by Pengi
