7. A Life Unknown

I could hardly catch any shuteye last night. My mind mulled over my decision to free Greyson from the Filing Cabinet. All that tossing and turning, made me quite lethargic, and left me with some pretty nasty circles under my eyes.

I slabbed on a healthy glob of concealer on my face and pulled my hair into a low messy bun, before finally leaving the house.

Yawning until my jaw popped, I hopped into my car. While driving to work, I had to fight with my eyelids to keep my eyes open. The Agency was about a fifty-minute away from my one-bedroom apartment in Kennewick city. I had gotten used to the long drive and it had become a sort of meditation for me. I often allowed my mind to wonder and forget about the world for a little while. Today, however, the road seemed to go on forever, making that fifty minute drive feel more like a three hour ride.

My eyes burned, as the sun peeked over the horizon. Even wearing a pair of dark sunglasses didn't seem to help. Alas, all I could do was try to keep my eyes open, as I drove passed all the sunlit buildings towards the edge of the city.

A red traffic light approached, allowed me to shut my eyes for a few beats. And when I opened them again, I noticed an old woman to my left. She was descending a narrow set of cemented steps from a semi-detached house. When both her feet landed on the sidewalk, she bent down awkwardly, and picked up a freshly rolled newspaper that had been patiently awaiting her arrival. She looked just as frail as the satin night gown she wore. The fabric was thin, and baby-blue, with a few crocheted flowers at the bottom that danced around her frail ankles.

My gaze held onto the image of that old woman, seeing a future that could never be. I could have chosen a life like hers; growing old without knowing the vast paranormal dangers of this world. She climbed back up the stairs and retreated inside her house, a dwelling she must believe to be safe. If she did, she could not be more wrong. To think that anywhere on this planet was safe, was laughable. But she would never know that. None of the people in this city would, because:

Ignorance Is Safety.

That was the motto of the Agency.

To keep citizens safe from a life of fear and doubt, we kept them in the dark about the supernatural. Ignorance kept our people feeling happy and secure. If they knew that Aliens could come down at any time and destroy us with the push of a button, it could start a massive hysteria...

A car horn prodded me to action, as I realised the traffic light had turned green without my noticing. I waved an apology to the car behind me and continued on, letting my mind drift into alternate realities of what my life could have been... if I had never entered the Agency.

With ten minutes to spare, I arrived to work early. Security surrounded the area, and they let me crossed the "restricted" border without any trouble. They knew every employee vehicle, including the make and model, along with everyone's license plate. So, my car didn't raise any alarms.

The U.N.P.A building was situated in the desolate plain of Yakima valley. It was a long grey building, with a barbed wire fence circling the grounds. It looked almost like a prison, with the surveillance towers and the recreation yard that we used mostly for star gazing and collecting data. A gigantic satellite dish was the focus point of the small yard, taking every bit of your attention as you slowed to a stop at the front gate. Perhaps it was purposeful to have our building resemble a jail, in case a tourist accidentally stumbled upon it. Even if someone were to somehow get passed the myriad of our security measures, they could never assume that the building was Washington's very own version of AREA 51. It was lucky that, unlike that Agency in Nevada, no one knew about this place yet, save for the employees, and the government.

Swiping my employee card on the panel, the gate opened, and I was free to drive up and park my Honda Civic next to Percy's black 1970's Plymouth Road Runner. A beautiful remodelled car, he couldn't stop fussing over. I wasn't even allowed to drink water in the passenger seat when we spent the day out on our little stake-out excursions. It was ridiculous how obsessed he was over this vehicle. That's why, most of the time, we just ended up using my crappy little Honda instead; It was less annoying.

Melting into my office chair, after walking the mile-long hall to my cubical, I looked at the pile of paper on my desk and sighed.

Appearing with a hot coffee at hand, Percy leaned against the panel to my left and smirked. Steam from his cup swayed in front of his nose as he took a polite sip.

Feeling a bit self-conscious, I gave him and awkward smirk before turning away and grabbing the first file off the top of the paper mound.

"Good morning," he said.

"Morning," I replied lazily. Ensuing what Ithought would have been a simple greeting, I noticed that Percy was still staring at me, forcing me to turn my attention back to him. My eyes went from his blue square-framed glasses, down to his salmon-colored suit, all the way to his teal leathery shoes that matched his bowtie. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're up to something," he said, blowing on the top of the hot liquid in his cup. "I can tell." He took another hefty swig of caffeine.

My laugh sounded as tired as I felt. "I'm not up to anything."

"Mhmm." He eyed his coffee, now making circles on the rim with this thumb.

I slapped the file on my desk, feeling a bit too irritable this morning to be interrogated. "It's true!"

"That boy got inside your head, didn't he?" He peeks up from his cup as he lifted it back to his lips.

I'm struck silent for a beat.

How could he have known that, by just looking at me.

Percy shook his head. "They do that Aliens," he forged ahead. "They get inside your head and control the way you think. It's what makes them so dangerous. And the thought that you might be under his influence... " He shook his head. "Makes me feel really uneasy."

"He didn't get into my head," I lied. "You're being paranoid."

The corner of his mouth kicked up. "Then, how come you didn't go home last night after you clocked out?"

My blood began to pump faster. "I did go home," I lied further.

"Don't lie to me, Ash-girl." Percy frowned. "I stayed behind, and idled beside your car for more than an hour. You never came out of that damn building. I would have been worried about it, if it weren't for the fact that Everett send me an email, informing me that you payed him a little visit."

What the hell, Everett? "So? Am I not allowed to visit Everett? I just wanted to thank him for allowing us to take that little field trip, yesterday."

"You are allowed to visit who you want." A nod. "But that's not the real reason why you went to visit him, is it?"

I turned my head, and reach for the file again. Preparing to do some boring paper work just to ignore him. I opened the dossier and pulled out the stalk of paper. "Percy, don't worry about me. Just concentrate on that promotion you want so damn much, and leave this alone."

Taking another sip of his coffee, Percy considered me. "You know, for centuries, aliens have come down to earth to experiments on human beings. They've kidnap people, done horrible, and unspeakable things to them. And some of those victims have never been seen again, they were captured and never returned to their families." Percy's jaw clenched when I peeked up from my work. "I know you experienced it first hand when..."

"Greyson isn't like that," I said, interrupting him curtly.

His voice was crestfallen when he responded with a "How can you be so sure, girly?"

"It's just..." I shrugged. "A gut feeling I have."

I could tell he was tense when our gaze latched again. "If I wasn't so worried to go to jail, I would run to your father and tell him what we did last night. He deserves to know that his daughter was brainwashed by some demon looking man in a hideous orange jump suit."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not brainwashed." I gave him a sidelong look as he narrowed his eyes dubiously. "And leave it to you to fixate on the alien's outfit.  What? You have a thing against orange now?"

"Yes." Percy nodded as if it were obvious. "That's why I refuse to ever go to jail."

Percy does that when he is nervous; he jokes.

"You are incorrigible," I scoffed.

"You're planning to take him away from here, aren't you?" Percy whispered, letting his worry seep into his tone.

My insides clenched. "Just concentrate on that promotion, Percy."

There was a long silence. I expected him to tie me to my chair, to run out of the room and rat me out to the management, to my dad. I even foresaw him firing me on the spot, just to keep me safe. I expected a lot of things, but I never expected these words to come out of his mouth when he replied:

"And I'm going to have to help you, aren't I?"

My eyes shot to his. "What?"

He shook his head, and waltz back to his own cubical just opposite mine. "The gods sent you down to earth to test me, I swear. There is a lesson here I have to learn, I just don't know what it is yet."

I blinked, looking at the blank wall to my right as if I could see him through it. "Percy, I don't need you to help me."

"Oh, shut up, Ashlyn. You know I'll end up helping you anyway." He sighed, and I hear his head hit the desk with a thump. "I'll feel all sorts of guilt, if I don't and something happens to you."