The Storm

Kai walked up the stairs, as he always did, stopping in front of the door he reached. He opened the door, knowing full well what would be inside. Stepping in he saw Kyle. Kyle’s shaggy brown hair was even messier than usual, indicating that he had woken up merely minutes beforehand. His green eyes were alive within his face, even though he never appeared as anything more than half-awake. As Kai slowly made his way to the couch he had to step around old potato chip bags, pizza boxes, and empty soda bottles. The room was mostly empty of any actual furniture. Other than the couch, there was a TV laying on the floor, and a fridge next to the couch. In the far corner was a bed. The final two pieces of furniture were a small table and a chair. On top of the table were a laptop and endless piles and stacks of papers and notebooks. From personal experience Kai knew it was filled with notes Kyle took on ideas for new stories. Next to the bed lay a guitar and books full of songs.

“Good, you’re awake. I was afraid I’d have to wake you, again.”

“Kai, why do you always come so early?” Kyle asked softly.

“Because, I refuse to let you sleep your life away. You may stay up all night writing stories and learning guitar, but I refuse to let you sleep through the day. Plus if I don’t, you’ll go to the garage before I even get to talk to you.”

Kai walked over to fridge and grabbed a can of Mountain dew, before collapsing onto the couch. Standing behind the couch Kyle smacked Kai in the back of the head before vaulting over the couch and falling back into its warm embrace.

“How much work did you get done last night, Kyle?”

“Well, I still couldn’t bring myself to continue my novel, mom keeps telling me that I need to do something else with my life. She thinks my writing will never go anywhere, but maybe she’s right.”

“Yeah, mom never has been one to shy away from the truth,” Kai said. Kyle’s mom was just like a mother to Kai. Just as with Kyle’s sister and her friends, their mother was the mother of all of the friends. Everyone that knew her called her Mom, Kai didn’t think he even knew her real name. Not that it really mattered, she lived in the house that Kyle lived above, he saw her no more than once a month. After the death of his own mother, Kai’s father hadn’t been able to move on. Only four months later he also died. All alone, Mom took care of him, got him back on his feet, and before he knew it, Kai had slowly gotten back into a normal life. That was during his college years. Kyle’s sister had moved away a few years back, she was some kind of doctor in some big city, Kai wasn’t quite sure. Kyle, though, couldn’t seem to move on. As he thought about it, though, neither could he. After college Kai had started a theater program in Lohan, the town the two lived in. It made him little money, but he made the small amounts last.

“Wake up, Kai, I’m talking to you!” Kyle was standing in front of him. Kai hadn’t even noticed him move.

“Sorry, I was thinking.”

“About what?”

Kai didn’t get to answer; suddenly there was a clap like thunder, yet the window showed neither rain nor cloud.

“Uh, dude, what was that?” Kai said, rushing to the window.

Kyle was moments behind him. “You see anything?”

“No.”

“Didn’t you say you were bored earlier?” A maniacal grin was forming on Kyle’s face. Instantly Kai knew what he was thinking.

“Kyle, no. I am not that bored!”

The grin never faded from his face. “Lets go dude, come on! When do we ever get a chance like this?” The sky grew instantly darker. “Now we have to go!”

Kyle was bolting down the outside stairs before Kai even had a chance to answer. Knowing it would be useless to argue Kai ran after him. Kyle had the car started by the time Kai reached it. It was a light blue Chevy Cavalier, with a brown hood and an olive green passenger door. From the outside it looked like the thing would fall in on itself if it was ever driven out on the highway, but from personal experience Kai knew, despite its appearance that it would survive the hardest storms. Kai had personally driven it while chasing a small tornado, and he knew Kyle had been through worse than that.

Diving into the car he looked at Kyle, the maniacal grin was still plastered on his face. “Kyle, where are we going? We don’t know what that sound was or where it came from!”

Just then there was a flash of purple light a half-mile away that drew their attention. Seconds later came a clap, louder than before. “I think that’s a great place to start,” Kyle exclaimed, throwing the car into first, the car roaring under their feet.

The little five-speed car lived up to its history and seamlessly sped to speeds that most cars would be jealous of. The unnatural darkness, and the weird lighting had kept most people off the roads, but Kyle still had to swerve around just a few cars on his way towards the source of light. Kai was cursing under his breath, but what was he to do, he was already a part of this mad race, so he might as well accept it.

A trip which should normally take fifteen minutes without traffic, or almost and hour during rush hour, took merely five minutes. Kai didn’t know what to expect, but then he saw it. It was as big as a small house, and it hovered right above the freeway.

Suddenly the car stopped. It wasn’t a slow stop either; it was like the car hit an invisible wall, yet the front of the car was intact. Luckily from their previous storm-watching experiences, the two always wore seat belts. Their first storm watch, a fell tree flew into the road, and they almost crashed into it. If it hadn’t been for Kyle’s driving ability, they would have hit it. They may have missed the tree, but the rapid stops threw the two boys into the windshield, making two indentions in the windshield the exact shape of their heads. After two weeks of care thanks to Mom, the two were just fine.

In the distance Kai could hear sirens. He thought it strange that they sounded like an ambulance, he would have bet on police, at first, then bringing in something more along the line of armed forces. His vision was fading, but Kai swore he saw the car start to move again, only this time straight up. Before he could figure it out though, everything was dark.

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Kai woke up in a daze. He saw a small creature bustling around him. It had enormous eyes that took up most of his head. They glowed the same purple as the light he had seen before taking off in the car. Its skin was a deep blue, and it stood around four feet tall. When it spoke all he heard were whistles and clicks.

Looking around he noticed he was in a pale white room, with one door, that had a small circular window. Outside of the window he saw a woman. She had long brown hair, which curled at the end, and soft facial features that mixed well with her calming expression. Her green eyes broke through the cover of the hair to look at him. Kai immediately knew who she was. Mom.

“Mom, did you get captured too?” She looked perplexed, as if she didn’t quite understand what he meant. “Mom? Can you hear me?”

“Yes, I can, honey. Everything is going to be alright, don’t you worry,” she said as she turned away from the window. Kai went to the door and saw her being led away by another of the creatures. It was speaking in the same whistles and clicks that he had heard the one in his room speaking in. The one still in his room was trying to pull him from the door, but Kai refused.

“I want to speak with Mom! I need to speak with Mom! Something isn’t right!” Kai was yelling and trying to open the door any way he could. He was scared for Mom, scared of what the creatures were trying to do.

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“What’s wrong with him doctor?” The woman was asking, her brown hair falling over her green eyes.

“Well, ma’am. Your son and this young man,” the doctor started.

“They are both my son’s, Doctor.”

“My apologies, your son’s were in a car accident while chasing a storm. It appears that they lost control of their vehicle and hit the side of a bridge. Your other son, Kyle, is just fine, but this one. Well, Kai seems to think aliens abducted him, and that all of us doctors are green creatures who speak in something similar to whistles or clicks. We aren’t sure why, but it isn’t safe for him to leave this institute until that can be remedied. To be honest, though, we aren’t sure if it will ever be possible. We are terribly sorry. Feel free to visit, though, it appeared as though he recognized you.”

“Thank you, Doctor. I’ll be back tomorrow, and hopefully then, I can actually get a chance to speak with him. I must go look after my other son though.

“Of course, Ma’am.”

Mom left the hospital and got into her car. Driving away into the dark night, suddenly a bright purple light flashed, then a clap of thunder. She swore though, that through a break in the clouds she saw a shooting star.