Stars and Satellites

  In the morning Hayley was up in time to catch Alex in the hallway on his way out to work.

  “Morning.” He said with a bright smile as he saw her.

  Hayley looked at him distantly for a moment before finally mumbling, “Yeah, morning.”

  Alex looked at her inquisitively with a raise eyebrow. “Are you alright?”

  “Yeah...sorry.” she said, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” She replied, forcing a smile on her face. “I’ve only just woken up.”

  “Ah, I see.” He said with a satisfied smile. “It’s alright for some people.” He added with an air of sarcasm. “Still though, I’d better be off to work. John has already left for school and I’m in the kitchen if you want some company.” He said as he walked away. “See you later.”

  “See you.” Hayley laughed at his idiocy. The front door slammed shut.

  She walked into the kitchen, continuing to rub at her itchy eyes. She was not bothered by the fact that Alex was sitting at the table reading the paper.

  “You look tired, did you have trouble sleeping?” he asked, looking up.

  “Yeah a bit.” Hayley absently replied as she turned on the kettle.

  “Do you want a cup of tea?” Alex offered.

  “Yeah but I’ll make it. I’m already over here.” She said, turning away from the counter, only to find Alex suddenly standing before her.

  He smiled at her. “Now I am too.” He winked.

  Hayley placed her hands on his shoulders and shuffled him out of her path. Walking past she went into the cupboard and grabbed two mugs. “I think I should come up with some new rules for the flat since you and John both seem to live here now. Like no breaking the laws of physics before breakfast.”

  Alex laughed. “Ok then if I agree to these terms then you must promise me that you’ll stop leaving the TV on before you go to bed?”

  Hayley sat the cups down and gave him a funny look. “Er...excuse me but you’re always the last one up so you can turn the TV off.”

  He shrugged indifferently. “I only watch it because you watch it. I don’t always want to be there.”

  “Shut up.” She said, but not unkindly.

  “So what do you want to do today?” he asked, changing the subject.

  “I don’t know, but we’ll have to go shopping at some point.” She said, peering into the empty sugar bowl.

  Alex’s face scrunched up with immediate dislike of the idea. “Shopping is the most boring thing that your race does. I thought home delivery would have completely replaced supermarkets by now so that you wouldn’t even need to bother leaving the house.”

  Hayley frowned at the odd remark. “Was that a premonition you had or something?”

  “Yes.” He replied sarcastically. “I actually had a premonition about shopping, how sad is that?”

  They both laughed but Hayley found her curiosity piqued. “So why did it not come true then? This premonition of how home delivery would revolutionise our way of shopping forever?” she asked, with an air of mockery.

  “Hmm...” Alex mumbled, placing a thoughtful finger on his chin for a moment as he considered the question. “Now you’re asking me something...” he said out loud as he continued to ponder. Eventually he tucked his hand back into the nook of his folded arms. “The short answer would be that not all premonitions come true. When they don’t it is because the events leading up to it have changed.” He explained.

  “What would cause them to change?” she asked, stirring the milk into their tea.

  Alex shrugged again. “The short answer again would be chaos theory.” He said. “Have you heard of it?”

  “Yeah I did it in school in Physics.” Hayley replied, handing him a cup of freshly brewed tea.

  “Thanks.” He said, sipping the refreshing hot liquid.

  “Anyway, we best be off shortly because we’ve now run out of teabags. Those were the last two.”

  “My one weakness.”

  ******

  It was just after midday when Hayley and Alex left for the supermarket. As they started down the street that led away from their block of flats not even Alex noticed that a rogue CCTV camera was tracking their every movement...

  The supermarket was not exceedingly busy due to the time of day and there were far more school kids on their lunch break than regular shoppers. John was one such pupil and along with his group of friends they sauntered and jeered on their way to the deli counter for a roll. Alex and Hayley had arrived nearly fifteen minutes earlier and were several aisles further down the shop, oblivious to his presence. Alex gloomily pushed the trolley at a snails pace, hunched over it like he had lost the strength in his arms to push the near empty cart. The guardian hated shopping with a passion and was not afraid to make it apparent. Returning from further down the dairy section with a block of cheese and a bottled of milk Hayley sat them down neatly at the front of the trolley as Alex continued to shuffle it onwards at his frustratingly slow speed.

  Hayley watched him with growing irritation. It had taken them this long just to get round only a handful of aisles and at this rate it would take them the rest of the day to get the end of the shop. “Alex I know that you hate being here but would you please make an effort.” She asked,

  The trolley stopped and Alex straightened up. He seemed surprised. “I haven’t said a thing since we got here.”

  “I know but you’ve been pushing it around like a sulky five year old and you haven’t once bothered to go fetch anything that we need.”

  “I am not sulking like a five year old and that’s saying something considering I never grew up.”

  While Hayley nagged Alex, John and two of his friends had arrived at the deli counter and were in the midst of ordering their lunch.

  “What can I get for you?” asked the woman behind the counter, who looked like she would rather be anywhere else in the world than there.

  “Er, can I have a sausage roll please?” he asked, pointing at the display of food through the glass counter. He was too distracted by his stomach to realise that he was being watched from a distance by two old women. They watched him through glassy grey eyes with an unnatural interest.

  “How many?” asked the woman.

  “Two please.” John replied, digging into his pocket and fishing out change.

  “You never asked me to get anything.” Alex protested.

  Hayley shook her head. “You know what we need, I told you before we left.”

  Alex did not reply - he was too distracted by three identical women who were standing down the far end of the aisle. They stood motionless, staring at him with unblinking eyes. Noticing that he was staring right past her, Hayley looked round to see what he was staring at. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary besides three old women loitering about, she turned back to him and asked, “What?”

  “We’re being followed.” He muttered, without averting his gaze.

  Hayley was about to ask what he was on about but her attention was caught by the sight of two more women, identical to the last three, who emerged at the top end of the aisle – sealing their only escape route. “Alex...”

  “I know.” He said.

  “What do we do now?” she asked, stepping around the trolley to his side.

  “You should be safe.”

  “Should be?”

  Alex looked at her and smiled. “You’ll be fine, have faith in me.” Stepping round the trolley, he began to make his way in direction of the three women.

  “Where, where are you going?” she called, terrified that he was leaving her.

  Alex looked back over his shoulder, smiled and winked. “Trust me Hayley. Trust me.” Turning his attention back to the woman ahead, he flexed his fingers ready for action.

  Hayley stood staring in disbelief...he’d just abandoned her! Why? Why would he do that? Her mind screamed in panic, lost at what to do or where to go. The women up the front of the aisle had begun to ta
ke their first steps towards her.

  Amidst her panic, Hayley failed to realise the presence of two large translucent creatures appear above the supermarket shelves. They resembled nothing more advanced than two large, free-flowing sapphire blobs. Completely self-contained, they moulded their movements carefully over any objects that lay before them and rolled over with quiet stealth.

  With a rear of the upper body, the two silent assassins lunged at her from high above. There was a flash of light and a crack of thunder and the two creatures exploded into a shower of sapphire raindrops. Hayley ducked behind her hand as the mysterious explosion took place, only to emerge from its cover a second or so later to see the sparse droplets rain down gently around her.

  Hayley looked in Alex’s direction. He stood facing her with his right hand outstretched and his fingers hooked as if he had just thrown something. The women behind him had disappeared, leaving behind only puddles where they had once stood. The two women at the far end too had also been reduced to nothing more than puddles as Hayley discovered when she looked round.

  Hayley threw her arms out and shook her head in disbelief.

  “What?” he asked, walking back toward her.

  She stared at him, incredulous. “You used me as bait?”

  Alex looked at her blankly. “It was the only way to make sure that I’d get them all.” He shrugged. “That sort of demon is really bad for scampering off down drains and things. Then they usually come back with more of their buddies.”

  She shook her head at him, speechless for a few seconds. “How do you know that you got all of them?”

  “They hunt it packs that kind. Once they corner their prey they all move in.”

  She pointed an accusing finger at him but was about to say something but words failed her. Finally sighing, she walked past him. “Take me back home, we need to have a serious talk about all this bloody shit.”

  “Hayley!” he called, hurrying after her, unaware that the cameras were still watching...

  Chapter 7

  Hayley slammed the door, causing it to rattle on its hinges. The hallway was as black as her mood. She turned on Alex. “I don’t care what those things were and I’m tired of excuses!” She folded her arms “The truth Alex, what is really going on?”

  He stood where he was behind the door, gazing at her coolly. When it became obvious that he was not going to offer up any explanation she turned away shaking her head. “You know what, fine! You have the cheek to constantly put my life in danger but you won’t even tell me what’s going on...”

  “It’s because you wouldn’t understand.”

  She turned on her heels and stomped back over. “Try me.”

  He regarded her for a long moment before slowly shaking his head. “I do not need to explain myself to you.”

  Hayley blinked, taken aback by the remark. “Excuse me? Err...but who the hell do you think you are? This is my flat, so we play by my rules.” She jabbed a finger into his chest as if to drive the point home.

  His eyes narrowed. “Do you think I feel threatened by such things? I do not need to be here nor do I need to be seen. Most guardians spend the lifetime of the ones they are sworn to protect hidden from sight.”

  She folded her arms again. “Oh really? Is that you trying to threaten me now? I’ll never see you again just because you didn’t like what I’ve just asked you.”

  His face grew darker. “Don’t push me.” He warned.

  “Go on then do it! Get lost! See if I care!” she shouted, turning away in anger.

  Alex glowered at her retreating back for a moment as his hands fell to his hips. Suddenly his eyes widened and he frantically began patting his pockets. “Hayley...”

  She wheeled round from the end of the hall, eyes blazing. “What is it now?”

  “I can’t find the journal...” he said, delving into his jacket pockets.

  “Alex...” she sighed.

  “I’m not joking, it’s gone!”

  She came back over to him. “How can you have lost it?”

  He looked at her, eyes wide and shook his head. “I don’t know, it shouldn’t be possible.” He began patting over the many pockets in his cargo trousers again just to be sure.

  “You definitely took it with you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then where is it?”

  Alex sighed, running his hands down his face. He gazed at Hayley and slowly shook his head in disbelief. “It must have fallen out in the supermarket.”

  Hayley frowned. “And you didn’t notice? You never miss anything.”

  A flash of anger crossed his face. “Hey, I had my hands full, remember?”

  “Alright, alright.” She said, holding a hand up to him in supplication. “I’m sorry, ok?”

  Alex nodded at her. “Me too. We’ll talk about this later. We need to go find that journal.”

  “Yeah, ok.” She said, reaching past him for the door handle.

  “Forget it, I’ve got a faster way.” He said, grabbing her by the arms. In the blink of an eye they were gone.

  Chapter 8

  The fresh sprinkling of snow that had fallen overnight left little to suggest that it was now the beginning of March. The sky was clear, but despite its unhindered progress to illuminate the world on this particular morning, the sun did little to warm the frozen land and the cold, bitter winter wind seemed prepared to linger for some days yet. Across the vast, frosty stretches of Glasgow Green, only a few hardy folk braved the harsh winter’s morn; Alex and Hayley among them.

  “So much for an early spring,” Alex muttered as he gazed up into the clear, cold skies above.

  “When was the weatherman ever right?” Hayley replied. She tightened her scarf before burying her hands deep back into her pockets. “Have you ever noticed that when they get the weather wrong, they always blame it on global warming?”

  Alex laughed. “I know, blaming it on a myth...”

  “What?”

  Alex gave her a smug look. “Did I say something wrong?” He asked, knowing full well that he just had.

  “You don’t believe in global warming?” She asked sceptically, wary that he was trying to wind her up.

  He smirked with that familiar cheeky grin of his. “Why would I? It’s all a load of nonsense.”

  “Oh well...I suppose then that this proves that you’re not as clever as you like to think you are?”

  Alex was taken a back, “Oh, so you think all the science is one hundred percent accurate then?”

  “Well no offence but you don’t exactly have a degree in meteorology do you?”

  Alex shook his head as he gazed into the distance. “Hayley, your scientists still don’t know what wiped out the dinosaurs, so it shows how much they know.” He scoffed.

  An amused look crept across Hayley’s face. “I knew you were waiting to play your almighty wrath card again. So I suppose according to you it was by the hand of god?”

  “No, they were all killed by one of those super volcanoes.” He said, matter-of-factly.

  Hayley gave him a questionable look. “And you would know this...how?”

  “I saw it.”

  She frowned. “You saw it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Sixty five million years ago?”

  “Yeah, don’t look so surprised.”

  Hayley laughed. “You know half the time I think you just make these things up.”

  He winked at her as they walked on. After a few moments he asked, “So do you want to know why global warming is a myth?” But before he had the chance to say anything further, something quite remarkable happened. From below the sparkling crystal canopy of frozen grass exploded a vibrant carpet of fresh green shoots. Forcing their way free from the ice, the grass darted skywards at an incredible rate before finally settling about their knees. The trees dotting the various recesses of the green also underwent a rapid transformation, as if rejecting their gloomy, bare winter states in favour of their full lush summer foliage. In a matter
of second the entire common had transformed into a fully-blooming midsummer’s paradise.

  “What did you just do?” Hayley asked, staring across the common in awe.

  Alex on the other hand looked worried. “It wasn’t me.”

  Hayley cautiously bent down and plucked a tall blade from the emerald sea. The shoot was strong and bright, as if it was freshly grown. She admired the blade as she twiddled it between two fingers. “It’s like how it would be in the middle of spring or something...”

  “And it seems to have only affected the green.” Alex deduced, spying the bare and frost-bitten trees that lined the streets just beyond the outer edges of the park. They remained lifeless and dormant – like they should be at that time of year.

  Hayley threw away the blade of grass and gazed across the transformed landscape. “Well, any ideas, genius?” she asked.

  Alex thought long for a few moments, before he finally offered something to her enquiry. “There’s a botanic centre down the far end of the green isn’t there?” He asked her.

  “Are you talking about that greenhouse like place?” Hayley asked curiously, thinking that she knew what he meant.

  “That’s the one.” He replied, wading off through the tall grass.

  Hayley ran after him. “Can you sense a demon in there or something?”