Jelly Cooper: Alien

I sit in front of the laptop, the glow from the screen the only light in the room. Twenty minutes ago, I called up Google and typed Kavalrion into the search bar. Only I can’t press the enter button. As much as I want to find out more, as much as I crave knowledge, I can’t do it. I can’t because of the doubt that’s niggling me: the fear that Kavalrion doesn’t exist, that it’s all a lie, a cruel joke. I guess I’ll always be standing at the prom, waiting for that bucket of pig’s blood to pour over my head. I don’t want to give in to doubts. I want to be fearless and bold. I should press ‘enter’ and find the proof that it’s there; it’s real.

I shut down the computer and sit in the dark for a long time.

There was no wind, but her hair whipped at her face. In his haste, he stumbled on the uneven marshland and stopped his mad scramble to reach her. It was unusual for his kind to be clumsy, even in the dark. He forced himself to still and to breathe. Each deliberate, slow, breath loosened the burning fear strangling his insides. When his heartbeat calmed, he threw off his immobility and found his way to her side.

Though the heat of the day still clung to his skin and sweat ran down his temple, her skin was cold and dry. He held her face between his hands and stared into wild, unfocussed eyes. Her lips moved quickly; her whisper so shallow that he had to place his ear against her mouth to hear what she was chanting. It was the same thing, over and over:

The Hunters are coming, the Hunters are coming, the Hunters are coming.

His heart stopped beating.

I sit bolt upright in bed, hurl the soaked duvet to one side and fall to my knees. Spasms wrack the length of my body as I lean on my hands and dry heave. Spit dribbles from the corner of my mouth and pools on the carpet. My stomach cramps again and I struggle to draw breath into my lungs.

The spasms gradually ease and I roll onto my side and tuck my knees up to my chin. I lie there, hugging myself into as tight a ball as possible until the terror fades.

I felt his fear; the unknown man in my dream. I felt the surge of black despair that squeezed his ribcage and crushed his chest when he realised what the woman was chanting.

The Hunters are coming, the Hunters are coming, the Hunters are coming.

But now, they’re coming for me.

I hug myself tighter as the trembling starts.

My eyes open a crack and I see that it’s morning. Brilliant sunshine streams into my bedroom and dust motes float in the air. They circle in the air like nothing has changed. I don’t know when I fell back to sleep. It can’t have been long ago; my head is pounding and my eyes feel gritty and tired. I turn my head and see that I’m still on the floor. I roll onto my back and raise my hand to my face. The carpet is imprinted on my cheek. I massage the indents.

Every second of last night’s dream is still with me. It was worse than the nightmares that I had for months. Feeling that poor man’s terror, knowing that the Hunter would tear his family to shreds and that he wasn’t powerful enough to stop him was worse than being dangled over a canyon.

Because that’s me now. It’s my family in the firing line, my life that’s about to be torn to pieces.

If there’s any way of beating this monster, I’ve got to find it. If I don’t, a lot of people I love are going to die. Unless I go to him and give myself up. The thought went round and round in my head for hours last night. Should I wait and hear what Thorn can do for me, how he can help me, or will the slightest delay result in disaster? Am I being selfish trying to find a way out of this mess? I’m playing chess with people’s lives. I shouldn’t have that kind of power! I’m a fourteen year old girl and I’ve never been good at chess.

I close my eyes. Moments later they snap open.

Where’s my father in all this? Huh? What about my mother? Why haven’t they tried to reach me, to help me?

Anger burns away the despair. They’re the ones who got me into this mess. They’re the ones who sent me here and then left me to fend for myself with a murderous maniac on my tail. This is all their fault and now they’ve abandoned me again!

I decide in that instant that I’ve got to live. I’ve got to live long enough to do serious damage to those people.

I really hope that while my hand hovered over the enter button last night, Humphrey was Googling the ass off of Kavalrion. I need to know everything about it, about Javoria and about how I can get back there. I’m relying on Thorn to fill me in on the bashrak.

I jump to my feet and head to shower off the nightmare sweats. As I stand under the jets of water and lift my face to meet the spray, I imagine the threat to my life swirling down the plughole along with the dirt and grime and fear and doubt. I need to think positive if I’m going to see this thing through. And I need to get to school and see Thorn.

I shut off the shower with a twist of the wrist, quickly towel dry and pull on my clothes. I hear Mum at the bottom of the stairs as I walk along the landing.

“Jelly? Jelly, hold on a sec.”

My mother’s voice sounds weird. I peer over the banister.

“What’s up, Mum?”

She looks tired and strained.

Hmm. I haven’t been completely above board with my parents lately. I wonder how much they’ve guessed, or how much they’ve always know?

“Jelly, we need to talk. I mean, there are some things that we need to talk about.”

I smile as gently as I can and skip downstairs. The effort to appear light-hearted costs me, but I can’t let her see that I’m worried. Reaching out my hand, I touch my mother’s arm.

“I know Mum. We do need to talk, but don’t worry about it, OK? I’ve got to go to school now. We’ll talk when I get home.”

“Sure, honey,” she croaks. “Have a good day.”

I reach up to kiss her on the cheek. “I will.”

I grab my bag from underneath the stairs and walk away, feeling terrible and vowing to explain everything to Mum and Dad later. Or maybe next week.

Oh come on! How would you tackle telling your adoptive parents that you’re an alien? It’s not the easiest thing in the world, you know.

I walk down the street and force myself not to look back.

I know that Mum is watching me and seeing her framed in the door of my childhood home seems too much like a talisman. Especially when destiny is snapping at my heels like a ferocious terrier.

I prefer not to tempt fate.

By lunch, I’m on the verge of going nuclear with anticipation. I haven’t had classes with Agatha or Humphrey and I haven’t seen Thorn all morning, though I know he’s here, in the school, giving lessons like maths actually matters instead of telling me what I need to know to save myself from the hands of a murderous psycho. I am going to wring his neck when I see him.

If I see him.

Where the hell is he?

“Jelly, calm down!”

“Calm down? CALM DOWN!”

Thorn smiles his lopsided smile at me and I almost knock his block off.

“Where have you been?” I hiss.

He shrugs his shoulders.

“Look, I’m sorry, OK. I missed you before assembly, then I missed you before classes started and I was on detention duty at break. I would have came straight to you as soon as the lunch bell went off if you hadn’t, erm, been camped outside my door for the last five minutes of class.”

He glances around the room with a wry smile.

I growl something sarcastic and pathetic under my breath and stomp around with my arms crossed. I’m not ready to forgive him yet. I’ve been in agony all morning.

There’s a tentative tap on the door. I stomp and harrumph as Thorn lets in Agatha and Humphrey, who are in impossibly high spirits and very, very annoying.

What can I say? My nerves are frayed.

“We thought you’d be in here,” Agatha says, all shiny eyed and bushy tailed.

“Yes, yes,” I wave my hand impatiently. “Enough of that. Let’s get on with it.”

Humhrey’s brows sky-rocket. He narrows his eyes at Thorn.

“What’s he been saying?”

Thorn’s mouth drops open and Agatha mumbles “here we go” under her breath.

“Why?” I quickly ask. “What did you find out?”

“Nothing,” Humphrey answers. “Well, some stuff about Kavalrion, but nothing bad. Why? Didn’t you Google them?”

“Erm, no, my internet connection was down.”

The lie springs easily to my lips, which is a bad thing. I don’t want to trade a lifetime of truth-telling just because I’ve suddenly become a powerful alien with uber powers.

“You should have said!” Agatha exclaims in dismay. “You could have come round to mine.”

“Oh for God’s sake.” Rhiannon stands in the doorway. “Why don’t we here it straight from the horse’s mouth? The man is standing right there.” She gestures to Thorn.

Humphrey grins. “Your internet down as well last night was it, Rhiannon?”

She pulls a face.

“As if. Why would I want to read about Kaval-thingamyjig when I could be reading about celebrities and their handbags? Of course I looked them up, geek boy. Didn’t say much, did it? I gave up after a while.”

Thorn smiles at us all. “Let me fill you in on the details.”