Wrong Alien (TerraMates Book 6) (24 page)

Dr. Prince's degrees were framed on the wall, and there were
plants and even a cascading water fountain in the corners, and overall it was a
very soothing atmosphere.

Mia didn't relax.

She leaned back in the chair and put her purse in her lap,
watching as the doctor got a notepad and took her own seat. "Now, I know
when we spoke over the phone, you mentioned you were experiencing black
outs?"

"Yes," Mia replied. "I... I guess that's the
best term for it, although it's not like I pass out or anything. That I know
of, anyway."

"Why don't you explain exactly what happens?" Dr.
Prince suggested.

"Okay. Usually I'm doing something. The last time it
happened I was going to the front door so I could get something out of my car.
One minute I had my hand on the doorknob and the next I was waking up on the
floor in a completely different room with no memory of getting there. And it's
always little things like that. I'm washing dishes or doing laundry. On my way
from one room to another. It's never when I'm laying down or anything."

Just talking about it with someone who she knew wasn't
immediately going to start yelling at her or giving her worried looks like her
parents or Cass might have was helpful, and Mia let herself relax just a bit.

"Hm," Dr. Prince said, writing something down.
"How long of a gap do you usually have? And how long has this been
happening for?"

Mia let out a breath and settled fully into the chair.
"The last time it was about... nine, ten hours. It usually varies. I don't
think it's ever been shorter than maybe five hours or longer than ten. It's
about the same amount of time I'd spend sleeping, but I'm never rested when I
wake up. This has been happening to me since I was six or seven."

Dr. Prince let out a low whistle. "That's a long time
to be having this experience. I imagine it's unnerving for you."

"That's putting it mildly. I just. I wish someone would
record me or something so I could see what I'm doing, but my parents think I'm
making it up for attention, or at least they're telling themselves that I'm
making it up for attention because it makes them feel better, and my best
friend lives on the other side of the country. No one else knows."

"You've been keeping this a secret since you were a
child, then?"

She nodded and in a halting voice explained how she had
tried to get help when she was in middle school but how her parents had put a
stop to that. "I've been to the doctor to see if it was a medical thing,
but they couldn't find anything that would cause this. So I'm just at a loss,
and I don't know what's wrong with me. But it gets worse every year, and I
either want it to stop or just... I want to know why it's happening."

The room was silent for a long moment and Mia glanced up
from her lap to look at the doctor. She was sitting there, studying her
notebook with an intense expression before she put it aside and then met Mia's
eyes.

"I think I can help you, Amelia," she said, voice
soft.

"You can? Just like that?"

She nodded. "You aren't the first person to come into
this room and tell me a story like that, and I'm more than certain you won't be
the last. It's something that has happened to many people over the years.
You're from Maryland, correct?"

Had she put that on a form or something? Mia couldn't
remember. Or it could have just been that the woman recognized her as her
father's daughter. "Yes," she said slowly. "How did you know
that?"

"It's something of a phenomenon. The amount of people
from the area you grew up in who have this same condition. Some might call it a
coincidence, but rarely do things like this happen on such a large scale if
it's not happening for a reason."

"W-what does that mean?" Mia asked. More people
had this same thing? People she'd known? People she'd grown up with? She knew
Cass didn't have it, but what if everyone had just been keeping quiet because
they didn't want to seem like they were crazy? What was going on here?

"It means that what's happening to all of you is
external. It's not something caused by any flaw or aberration within you or any
of the other people who experience this," Dr. Prince explained.

"What
is
it?" Because that was the big question,
wasn't it? Hope was flaring wild and dangerous inside of her at the thought
that maybe this meant there wasn't something wrong with her, but she'd yet to
hear an explanation for what was going on.

"You're being abducted."

Mia frowned. "What?"

Dr. Prince held her hands up, as if she already knew what
Mia was thinking. "I know how it sounds, believe me. And if I weren't
acquainted with people who have shown me how true it is, I wouldn't believe it
myself. But. That's what's happening. The time that you're losing, that's when
you with them. I'm still not sure where they're taking you, but they take you
and they... probe your memories, if I understand correctly. They're looking for
someone."

"They being... who?" Mia asked dryly. "Human
traffickers?
Aliens
?" And to think that she'd convinced herself
that this was a good idea. Now she was sitting here being mocked by someone who
was supposed to help her.

"You don't believe me," Dr. Prince murmured.

"Of course I don't believe you!" Mia exploded,
frustration taking over. "I came here looking for help and answers and
maybe something that would make what happens to me less terrible. I didn't
expect to be ridiculed."

"Ms. Hatcher, I can assure you that I am not ridiculing
you."

She snorted. "Right, okay. Because I'm supposed to
believe that little green men come through the window and beam me up for a few
hours every other night, right? And what, they stir around in my head for
memories of my parents ignoring me and then send me back home?"

"I do know how it sounds, but I really-"

Mia was on her feet in a matter of seconds. "I'm
leaving," she said. "This has been a colossal waste of my time, and
if you charge me for this, you'll be hearing from my lawyer. I'm sure I don't
need to remind you who my father is."

"No, Ms. Hatcher. I'm well aware," Dr. Prince
sighed. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help to you."

"I'm sure you are." She yanked the door open and
marched through it, letting it slam behind her. Clearly people having fits in
this building wasn't uncommon because the receptionist didn't even look up from
her computer as Mia stormed by and out of the doors.

Her anger and embarrassment carried her across the parking
lot and into her car, and she was pulling out onto the highway before she
calmed down enough to relax. Her posture was rigid and her fingers were
clenched hard on the steering wheel.

Looking back, she was a little ashamed of how she had
reacted (honestly, when had bringing her father up in a conversation ever
helped
anything
?), but she thought most of it was justified. For a
minute there, she'd actually thought that she was going to get some answers.
She'd actually thought that maybe some relief was in sight. That other people
knew what she was going through and that things would be okay.

After what had just happened, she was feeling more lost and
alone than she had before. Going home to her empty town house didn't sound
appealing at all, so she just drove for a while, hoping that whatever was wrong
with her wouldn't swoop down and get her when she was behind the wheel of her
car.

Chapter 2: Frenzy

"It could have gone better," Madison said, looking
across the wood of her desk at Asher. "In fact, I don't think it could
have gone worse." It was some hours later, and her office was closed for
the evening. Her receptionist had gone home, but Madison had stayed, knowing
that Asher would be back later to see how things had gone. Seeing him twice in
one day was rare, but the number of cases that related to him and his kind were
getting rarer and rarer as time went on.

She'd half been hoping that maybe this whole thing was
coming to an end, but that was definitely just wishful thinking, it seemed.

Asher shrugged. "She could have thrown something at
you. Like the fountain thing," he said cheerfully, eyes on the toy in his
hands that he was fiddling with, brow furrowed in concentration.

The woman scowled at him. "How can you be so nonchalant
about this? Do you know what this makes me look like? I am trying to run a
legitimate mental health care practice here, and every time I have to tell
someone that
aliens
are taking them, it hurts my credibility."

"But aliens are taking them," Asher replied.
"You're not lying."

"
They
don't know that," she insisted.
"They think I'm mocking them, which is one of the worst things you can do
to someone who is already fragile. I'm telling you, there has to be a better
way."

The red haired young man sighed and put down the Rubik's
Cube he'd been playing with, turning his golden gaze to the doctor. "I
know," he said. "But there's no
time.
All of those people are
in danger, and we have to do
something
to warn them. The Shaddoc aren't
going to stop until they've found my uncle."

"That's what I don't understand, Asher. They've been
doing this since before your uncle went missing from this planet. Why?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know. I was too young to
understand it, then. Looking for weaknesses, maybe. People he was close to that
they could hurt? I don't even know how they found him here. All I know is that
we are running out of time."

"Time for what?"

"I... don't know."

Madison sat back in her chair and sighed, rubbing at her
temples. "You don't know an awful lot about this. Are you sure you're a
prince?"

Asher made a face at her. "
Yes
, I'm sure. I
just..." He sighed and leaned back in his own chair. "Maybe if I were
to talk to them? Do you think that would help?"

"I don't see how it would. They'd just think that you
were working for me or something. They have no reason to believe you, Asher.
That's the problem."

"
You
believed me," he pointed out.

She shrugged one shoulder. "I have always been more
open minded than most. And the things you've shown me have been incredible.
There's no way all of that could have come from this planet. But I'm not a
scared patient who's just looking for answers."

"Okay, Okay. You're right. We're going to have to come
up with a better way, then. Because they have to be warned, Madison. They're
completely helpless when the Shaddoc have them, and-" he broke off when
something trilled in his pocket.

"Cell phone?" Madison asked. "Didn't think
you had one of those."

"Don't be silly, of course I do. I grew up here. But
that's not what this is." He fished the device out of his pocket and
flipped the top up, sliding two fingers across the screen. A series of red dots
were getting closer to a fixed, shining point on the screen and Asher swore
under his breath. "Do any of the people you've talked to live close to
here?" he asked.

"I can't give away confidential information, Asher.
That's asking for too much."

He huffed and showed her the screen. "It's really
important, Maddie, okay? These aren't the ordinary crafts that they use to take
the humans and mess with them. These are the holding vessels. For carting
prisoners across the galaxy."

"They're planning to
keep
them now?"
Madison demanded. "For what purpose?"

"I don't
know
. But there are three of them, and
they are locked onto this location, and I need to know who it is."

"Alright, alright," she said, pulling out her
tablet to flip through her files. "That's the other side of the Biltmore.
Amelia Hatcher is the only one who lives over there." Madison frowned.
"She's the one who was in here today. Do you think... Do you think they
know?"

Asher's face went pale, and he was out of his chair in less
than a second. "I don't know, but I have to go warn her."

"Do you think that's wise?" Madison asked, alarm
written all over her face. "She's not likely to take it well."

"I think it's better than letting her get taken for
real," Asher shot back.

Madison sighed and watched him rush through the same door
that Amelia had gone through hours earlier. She didn't know how her world had
gotten so complicated, but she was really starting to miss the peace and quiet
she'd had before she'd realized that one of her friends was an alien and that
he and his nephew were royalty on another planet.

Things had been much simpler then.

Chapter 3: Stranger

Her house was quiet, but for some reason she couldn't sleep.
It occurred to her that this was one of the longest stretches she'd gone
without waking up somewhere completely ridiculous, and considering it had only
been a couple of days, that wasn't saying much.

Either way, she couldn't sleep.

Her bed was comfortable and warm, and her window was open to
catch more of the breezes that had been drifting by, heavy with the scent of
the coming fall, but she was still wide awake.

Half of her blamed paranoia. As if she expected someone to
come through the window and take her.

The other half blamed Dr. Prince for making her think she
was going to be taken in the first place.

It was stupid, and she should have put it out of her mind as
soon as she'd left that office. Aliens, indeed. Honestly, she should have
called someone and lodged a formal complaint.

But as she laid there in bed, her eyes kept straying to the
window, and her mind started to wander off on the thought that there had to be
plenty of things she couldn't explain in the world and that maybe this was one
of them, or something.

"You're being an idiot," Mia scolded herself.