Elizabeth and the Vampire's Cabin(45)

"Don't say that," Elizabeth urgently commanded.

"Of course you're not going to die! The aliens want you. You read the letter. Everyone else is supposed to die." Kyla looked like she blamed Elizabeth for all of this.

"Maybe Cal can help us! He'll come looking for us and try to get us out." Aaron said.

"There's a force field. How is he going to undue it? With his fangs?" Kyla countered sarcastically.

Elizabeth looked at the sky and, for the first time in years, she prayed. Please send help! she mentally pleaded.

It was as if the Devil heard her prayer and decided to respond with the exact opposite of what she wanted. A giant spaceship hovered above them.

"Aaron, we have company," she pointed up at the sky.

"Run!" Aaron yelled out. He grabbed her and ran just as a beam of blue light shot down at them.

Elizabeth ran as fast as she could, which was not as fast as Aaron, so he slowed down for her. She knew he was slowing down for her and she felt awful. She would kill herself if she got him killed. She wouldn't be able to take that kind of guilt. They didn't look up, down, or sideways. They bolted past giant conifers and vegetation. Eventually they came to a stream and they followed alongside it. Elizabeth had no clue where they were going, and she wondered if Aaron did. As they continued to run, she saw a waterfall up ahead. At first she thought he meant to run into it, but he moved her to the side. The curtain of water was pouring over a giant rock overhang on the side of a cliff, and underneath it a small passageway had formed in the rock wall. A narrow, little path formed behind the waterfall, and Aaron led her through the path. The rock passageway was so narrow that it didn't even hold Aaron's feet. They hung over the edge as he moved them both slowly through the passage. And then he stepped back and disappeared. He stuck out his hand and she grasped it as she continued to edge her way to him. When she felt his hand directly behind her, she stepped back. She was in a small, sandstone alcove behind the waterfall.

"They can't abduct us while we're in here. We have to be out in the open for them to beam us up."

Elizabeth broke down in tears. She hugged Aaron fiercely.

"Aaron, I have to tell you something."

"What?"

She told him about the dreams she had been having. She apologized for not telling him about it, but they had frightened her. She hadn't wanted to believe they were all coming true.

"I think Kyla is going to die." Elizabeth said. "My last vision that I had was of a dead, mutilated body on the ground. I'm holding a bloody throwing knife in my hand, and you're standing in front of me."

"My sweet, a bloody throwing knife? I dulled those down to nothing. You couldn't cut a bagel with those throwing knives. They're glorified letter openers."

"We need to find Kyla."

"It's getting early and I'm too tired to go on. Let's rest for now. The sun will rise soon. I won't be any use to you if I'm burning up and falling down tired. We'll sleep for now and find Kyla when the sun goes down again."

"Okay," Elizabeth said. "Hang upside down. You'll sleep better as a bat in here than you will as a person."

"True," he said. "Change yourself into a dog. That will give you some extra padding and your fur will make you feel warm and toasty. We should both be very rested by tomorrow evening."

They morphed into their animals and began to roost. Aaron was asleep quickly. He had always been a very deep sleeper. Elizabeth once saw him sleep through an earthquake when he took a nap after a vigorous encounter in the bedroom. But Elizabeth stayed awake tonight. She knew what she was going to do. She waited about fifteen minutes to be sure Aaron had drifted off. He once told her he felt like he typically fell asleep in under five minutes. Then she morphed back into human form, walked out to the narrow passageway, edged herself away from the alcove, and back the way she had come earlier. She stood beside the waterfall and listened to the rush of the water crashing down into the stream. The noise that came from the bursts of waves gave her strength. This was what she had signed up for. She had wanted to go out into the world, bond with the earth, and grow up. There was a sense of fulfillment deep in her heart. She had done everything that she had set out to do. And now it was time to end the adventure.

She looked to the sky and thought, Take me. The spaceship appeared once again as if on cue. The blue light came down on her and she was beamed up into the sky.



Chapter 21: The Plan

"I wish I understood," Elizabeth said to the large feline alien sitting in front of her.

Elizabeth hadn't just been beamed up into an exam room as she'd expected. She was in a large office, built for the large lion man behind the desk in front of her. She tried to be polite and not stare, but it was difficult not to. He looked astonishingly like the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. He had a giant flowing mane that framed his tan, humanoid face. The rest of his body appeared to be covered in short, golden fur. But there was no way to tell that completely. He wore something that looked like dark blue overalls that covered his legs and core area. He also wore long black boots. She wondered at that. She imagined giant paws for feet that would be padded enough to not require footwear. His penetrating, catlike eyes were hypnotic. They were almond shaped with an upward slant, and the pupils were long black ellipses. The ellipses were embedded in a multicolored eye of yellows, greens, and blues. He locked her in with those eyes. Stop staring, she thought to herself.