“Thanks.”
Usually, if I spent any time with John, we’d watchDoctor Whoor maybe someStar Trek, but today we weren’t quite in the mood for science fiction. He brewed another pot of coffee and we turned the news on, muting the television once he did.
“Did Vidar tell you why his people sent him here?” He asked me.
John couldn’t hide his curiosity about Vidar. Every moment the conversation lulled and diverted from the purple alien upstairs, he couldn’t help but draw me back.
I answered all his questions and by noon, John at least seemed more comfortable and less afraid. John wasn’t much of a cook, but I managed to find some broccoli and chicken breast in his sparsely ornamented fridge in order to make us some lunch. John picked at his food, but I wolfed every bit of mine down. By the time I finished eating, I longed for some rest and to talk to Vidar.
John had to get ready for work anyway so I hugged him and thanked him for help. He came to the guest room with me, checking in over my shoulder on Vidar.
“The big guy’s a heavy sleeper, huh?”
“Yeah. I guess he is.”
“I never would have thought a girl like you could be so much trouble,” John replied, giving me another hug that was a bit tighter than I expected before he left.
I shut the door to the guest room behind me with a sigh. I hated the position that I’d put him in. After how I’d rejected him, John would have had every right to toss me out. I could hear him turn on the shower to get ready for work and I approached Vidar who slept with his legs dangling over the edge of John’s guest bed. I pushed his hair out of his face and kissed his forehead.
“I missed you this morning. Don’t worry, Vidar. John’s going to help us.”
I climbed into bed with Vidar, practically lying on top of him as I stroked his bare chest. I wondered briefly if John had noticed Vidar’s disrobed state and put two and two together. I could never admit to him what happened between me and the alien. I mean he was…alien.
I’d already asked enough of John. I couldn’t ask him to accept the fact that the alien that had broken out of a top secret maximum security government facility was also my lover.
Once I woke up from my short nap, Vidar still slept. I wandered downstairs to find John making his final preparations to head to work.
“You stay safe,” he said, “Don’t leave the house, no matter what.”
“If they haven’t found me yet, it’s a good sign, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Now stay safe.”
“Good luck at work.”
“It’s going to be a nightmare.”
John left me alone and for the first time since we’d escaped, fear gripped me again. I sat on John’s couch, watching television and checking the windows too often.
There’s no need to be so paranoid, Minerva.I thought to myself.
When I couldn’t stand to watch television anymore, I went back up to the guest room where I observed Vidar’s deep sleep. I hadn’t asked him yet if he was conscious during this comatose state. It would probably have made sense to do so.
I climbed into bed with Vidar again and closed my eyes, awakening in the pitch black night to a deafening knock at the front door and John’s voice screaming, “MINERVA! MINNIE YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE! RUN! MINERVA, YOU NEED TO RUN!”
Following John’s screams, I heard two gunshots and I sprung out of bed, into action.
EIGHT
VIDAR
I heardJohn’s screams downstairs, my limbs still paralyzed. Minnie squealed as she jumped out of bed and I longed to help her. She could survive on her own, I know, but perhaps I shouldn’t have been so trusting of that other earthling. He wanted to help her, and with that intention he was genuine, but my protective male nature hated the way he looked at her with his lustful eyes and hidden desires.
Minnie shook me, pounding her fists against her shoulders and chest begging me to wake up. I heard footsteps on the stairs and the door flung open. Minnie screamed.
“It’s me,” John assured her, “Hurry. We need to get him out of here.”
“What’s going on, John. I heard gunshots.”
