2 days. 19 ran for 2 straight days, or more accurately nights. He hid out of sight during the day. Slept only very short naps. And was constantly on guard. His body was exhausted. His brain was exhausted. He was exhausted. But he could not stop. Stopping would put him in danger. Was he going to be on the run for the rest of his life? Surely death would be better than this dread and heaviness never going away.
Grooowwllll
19 was starving and his stomach was sure to attract attention with its cries. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to eat. He wanted to see his friends. He laid down, he couldn’t keep going. His body ached and screamed. His feet were rough and calloused. His eyes burned in agony. He couldn’t keep going. He needed a break. He didn’t have a choice. And so, in the middle of a suburban town, inside a bush, 19 closed his eyes and fell asleep.
A soft aroma flew, gently greeting the sleeping Xlings nose. His eyes flashed open and watered. It was wonderful. “~The sky has gone dark, so it’s safe to move~”, he thought. So, he stood, all the pain he had previously felt dispersed, leaving only the cry of the stomach, begging and pleading. 19 stuck his head out of the bush. The park was barren. He raised his nose and inhaled, his feet slowly following the scent. He walked in a dazed state until he reached the home of the delicious essence.
The house was a small two-floor cottage, painted white. A white picket fence surrounded the property, with a path leading from the gate to the deck aligned with pillars. The windows were large, and many were open wide, allowing for fresh air. The whole house radiated a welcoming atmosphere, and 19 felt his body leaping over the fence before he had even taken it all in.
He snuck around to the back entrance of the house, which had another path leading to a much larger cement building, although, 19 paid little mind to this as his stomach urged him to find a way in. What he was doing was dangerous. He knew that. But if he didn’t eat soon, his stomach would surely consume him from inside out. At the base of the house, there was a small window just big enough for 19 to squeeze through, and conveniently it was open. Once again, not in control of his own actions, 19 found himself falling from the window onto the concrete ground with a thud.
“~Ouch,~” he hummed quietly, his head now joining in with the protests of pain. Then footsteps. The stairs creaked slowly as the lights flickered on. 19 had to think. He saw a large unfamiliar object to his left which he carefully lifted and placed sideways on the ground before scattering behind some boxes.
A man stepped into the basement, a bat leaning on his shoulder. His dark ocean eyes took in the scene, before settling on a large vase lying on its side under the open basement window.
“Hmm. That’s odd.” The man cautiously stepped towards the vase, eyes still darting around the room.
“Do you see anything, Tanner?” A woman’s voice echoed from the top of the stairwell.
“I’m not sure. Your mom’s vase is on the ground. But it’s ceramic so it should have broken on impact. And I’m pretty sure it was over in the other corner.” Tanner crouched down to inspect the suspicious scene. “Something is off here.”
“It’s probably nothing, come back upstairs, dinner’s gonna get cold.”
“Hmm, you’re probably right. But I dunno, I just have this feeling that I’m not alone. I’ll be up in a sec, Imma keep looking.”
“Be careful.”
Tanner stood and spun around looking for somewhere someone could hide. He lifted baskets, turned over bins, and even checked inside the washer. He sighed. Nothing. He was probably just overthinking. How would anyone even get in? The open window was too small for an adult, and why would a child try to break into a stranger’s basement? He turned to leave when his eyes locked on a pile of boxes that had been left over from their move several years before.
His feet twisted towards the boxes. He raised his bat and crept towards them. With a swift kick of his foot, he knocked the top box off, exposing a small quivering Xling.
“LUCY! GET THE PHONE! GET THE PHONE NOW,” Tanner screamed to his wife, keeping his bat high but slowly backing toward the stairs.
“Honey! Honey what’s wrong?! What’s going on?!” Lucy scurried down the stairs, phone clutched her hands.
“Don’t come down! You need to call that number from the news. The one from the X farm.”
“The X farm? Why? Tanner, what is going on?” Before Tanner could answer, his wife had stepped around the corner and immediately followed his gaze to the shaking Xling. “Oh my god. The missing Xling.”
“Call the farm.”
Lucy raised her phone to find the number that had been plastered everywhere for the last several days, but she couldn’t dial. The Xling was just cowered in the corner. It didn’t even raise its head. It let out a small cry. “I can’t.”
“What do you mean you can’t? We have a dangerous creature in our basement. Here I’ll do it. It’ll be ok, we’ll be ok, no need to be afraid.”
“No. That’s not it. I’m not afraid. Look at it, Tanner.”
“Yeah, I see it, which is why I’m doing what we’ve been instructed.”
“No. Look how scared it is.”
“It’s scared! It’s one of the most dangerous species on this planet, and you’re worried that IT’S the one afraid.”
“I don’t know honey. Okay, something isn’t sitting right with me. The news said this creature would most likely attack on sight. But look at it. Does it look like that’s even a thought in its mind?”
Tanner looked towards Lucy, finally taking his eyes off the Xling. Her eyes matched his in color, but right now they had a different feeling filling them. He knew she was caring. That was one of the reasons he loved her, but now was not the time to be caring. She wouldn’t be able to care for anyone or anything if she was dead. He loved her, and he refused to let anything happen to her. He turned back to the Xling, raising his bat. He wasn’t gonna kill it. He just wanted to knock it out, until he could talk some sense into his wife.
“Tanner, what are you doing?!” Lucy cried to her husband quickly understanding what he was planning. She could easily grab his arm. But she didn’t. Tanner lowered his bat and returned to Lucy’s side.
“I can’t hurt it. But we need to call the farm. They can help it,” Tanner sighed.
“I said no to the farm.”
“But honey-”
In the corner on top of a pile of boxes, the tiny Xling covered his ears. They were so loud. It was too much noise. Why are they being so loud? His head pounded. Noise. Too much noise. They were yelling. Noise. The wind whistled outside. Noise. The house creaked. Noise. They breathed. Noise. His stomach growled. Noise. So much noise. No more noise. Please no more noise. His head was screaming. Too much noise. Please stop the noise. His hands clutched his ears harder and harder. His body forming a ball. Noise. Noise. Noise. His eyes jammed shut. He didn’t want to be here. Too much noise. Please. Stop. The. Noise.
“Tanner, we can’t call the farm. Look I don’t know why, but something is wrong. I can feel it in my gut. You must trust me. I-” Lucy was interrupted by a loud grumble coming from the small intruder’s stomach, causing the arguing couple to once again face him. All four of their eyes widened at the sight of the now bawled up and crying Xling.
“It’s crying?”
Lucy turned to her husband nodding in agreement before dashing up the stairs. Tanner didn’t even notice his wife’s sudden disappearance, as he was too fixated on the quivering Xling. It really was afraid.
Lucy quickly reappeared holding a large plate of turkey Tanner had made for dinner. She placed it gently on the ground and then backed up to the opposite wall beckoning Tanner to follow her which he did. They watched inquisitively, waiting for the Xling to move.
After 5 minutes or so, 19 couldn’t ignore the smell anymore. He was still quaking, his heart and breath heavily accelerated. His stomach called out to him. His brain decided it was a better choice to stay balled up, but his feet rebelled. So, the small Xling found himself creeping towards the platter of unknown food.
Once he reached it, he looked at the two humans standing a considerable distance away. Was it okay for him to eat this? Would they be mad? The larger one was holding a weapon. Would he be punished?
Lucy quickly traced the mysterious visitor’s line of vision, landing on her husband. “Tanner put the bat down. I think it’s afraid you’re gonna hurt it.”
“But,-” Tanner started, before meeting eyes with his wife’s narrowed eyes. He lowered his bat and softly placed it on the ground.
19 watched him, with widened eyes. He put the weapon down, so maybe he was safe to eat. He reached his hand to the food not removing his eyes from the loud humans. When they didn’t react, he took a piece of the meal and ate it quickly. As he chewed his eyes watered, and his hands grabbed more and more until there was none left. He looked sadly on the empty plate, as his shoulders dropped. He had eaten all of it. They had none. They were going to be mad. 19’s whole body stiffened, as he raised his head to receive his punishment. But none came. Taking this opportunity, he dashed back to his corner of boxes.
Lucy smiled as she turned to face her husband, whose face held a flabbergasted expression. She ran back up the stairs, before returning with more turkey. She placed it down, but this time she didn’t retreat to the wall. Instead, she sat about 3 feet behind the plate, crisscross, and calm. Tanner was still frozen in place. His wife was definitely crazy. He was going to be a widower.
The Xling gazed at both of them. Why was the smaller one sitting near the food? Maybe she wanted to share it with him. His stomach didn’t care for the reasoning, it was still hungry. He hadn’t eaten in 2 days, and in all 8 of his years, he had never had something this good. He once again crept towards the plate, watching the smaller one the entire time. He sat opposite her, mimicking her position, which she smiled, amazed.
19 raised his hand to see her reaction, but she just smiled. He had rarely ever seen a human smile. The Master would smile when he beat him, but this smile was different. This smile was like the one the human boy had. He took a piece and ate it. He took another and another before he realized she wasn’t eating. He cocked his head. He didn’t want to eat all the deliciousness, they had given it to him, so they should have some too.
The Xling picked up another piece, but instead of eating it, he held it. Tanner saw his thin body start to move. “Lucy be careful. It’s coming towards you. Back up. Honey, you need to back up.” But Lucy didn’t move. She let the Xling come closer to her not moving a muscle. It had crawled about a foot from her, before sitting and mimicking her again. It raised its tiny claw and held out the food.
“It wants me to eat,” Lucy chuckled. She cautiously took the piece of turkey from its hand and placed it in her own mouth. “Yum!”
The Xling’s eyes widened. This word. It must mean the human liked it. It must. She was smiling. He turned and dashed back to the plate. He took another piece and put it in his mouth. “Yum!”
Lucy almost fell backward, as Tanner struggled to keep himself from fainting.
Seeing their dazed faces, 19 repeated his action, and repeated, “Yum,” raising both of his arms in excitement of his new word. Maybe the big one wanted some food too. Maybe he would even teach him another word. He picked up another piece, before standing upright, something that the humans were not expecting. He walked swiftly to the bigger human, standing on his toes and reaching his hands up, and smiling, “Yum?”
Tanner didn’t accept it as Lucy had. In fact, he didn’t move at all. What was even happening? He didn’t remember Xs being able to speak English. Maybe they were like parrots. Very large, hairy parrots, with sharp teeth, and horns.
19 saw the fear radiating from the large human’s blue eyes. His mind immediately returned to the human boy, who not only had similar eyes in terms of color but in terms of expression too. He had calmed the boy down by turning to his human form. It worked then, so why wouldn’t it work here? 19 smiled as his hair disappeared from everywhere but his head, his horn nubs vanished, and his eyes turned from red on black to a deep chestnut on pure white.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!”
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