Part 5

He didn’t realize how long he was out but eventually voices were heard. He slowly opened his eyes to see Michelle, with tears in her eyes, cradling him against her chest. He tried to force his body to move but he was still felt numb and unresponsive, although he could now feel a tingling sensation on his toes and fingertips. Michelle gasped and smiled when she saw his eyes open.

“The tranquilizer has worn off.” One voice said.

“Leave it. We’re almost there. Doc’s going to want him up and awake anyway.”

“Oh, Travis, you okay?” Michelle whispered, brushing back a lock of stray hair from his face.

“What...what happened?” he muttered, looking around. Three men were huddled together across from him, talking in low voices. They didn’t seem to give much thought to Michelle and Travis.

“I think they gave you a tranquilizer. You have been out for an hour now.” Michelle said, her hand still caressing his face.

Travis nodded and grunted as he tried to sit up. Michelle helped him and the men only gave him a look. He sighed and leaned his head on the cool black metal supporting him. “Man, I feel like I’m only half here.”

Michelle tried to smile but it failed and her lip quivered instead. Travis could tell she was scared. “It will be all right, Mich.” he whispered, cupping her face in his hand. Michelle nodded but more tears glistened in the corners of her eyes. Travis wanted to apologize. He wished he had insisted that Michelle run away and leave him behind. If he had never gotten involved with Michelle, none of this would have happened. Yet, he couldn’t make himself wish that. Michelle was the best thing that could have happened to him.

He put his arm around her and she leaned on him, welcoming his embrace. Travis kissed her head and looked back to the three men. They weren’t paying any attention. Two were laughing at something the other had said. His eyes darted around their prison. The only light that was illuminating the inside was from a crack in the double doors of the vehicle. The moon was full tonight. He wondered what time it was.

Sighing silently he gently hugged Michelle tighter. She clung to his jean jacket as if it was a life vest, saving her from death. But oh how Travis wished he could save her from whatever was awaiting them. The only comfort was that these men were after him, not Michelle. But then why had they brought her along?

His head was beginning to clear and he could now feel his arms and legs. The road hummed beneath the car’s wheels creating it’s own music to the silent night. He lost track of time and wondered if Michelle had fallen asleep. The three men quieted down also and seemed to be dozing. His own eyes felt heavy, so very heavy. It was too much effort to keep them up so why not let them fall down. It would only be for a few minutes.

The crunching of tires on gravel woke him up. Michelle also woke and looked around as if trying to remember where she was. Voices were heard outside and suddenly the van doors were shoved open, revealing Ben Dover’s face.

“Let’s get them out of here and into the lab.” he barked orders.

The three men nodded and came towards them. Travis got to his feet and helped Michelle up as the men got to them. They were yanked out unceremoniously and led into a white building. The door slid open with a hiss and they were pushed through. Ben stopped and Travis could hear what he was telling one of the guards. “I want the girl brought with me. Take It to the Room.”

Before he could react, he was being led down one hall while Michelle was suddenly being taken down another!

“Travis!” she cried but she couldn’t wrestle herself free from the rough hands of the man. Ben barely looked back as he led the procession into another hissing door. He could still hear her cries of terror when he was yanked down the other hall.

“What do you want with me?” he shouted to the men, trying to yank his arms free from the two men that walked on each side of him.

“Just shut up and walk.” One growled, tightening his grip on Travis.

They came to one door that needed a key lock and Travis saw his chance. One of the men had to release him to unlock the door and put in the code, leaving the other to deal with Travis.

He suddenly brought his free hand up and punched the other man holding him, in the nose.

A scream of pain came from the man as he let Travis go and cupped his bleeding nose with his hands. The other man was taken by surprise and when he turned around, Travis was up and running back down the hall.

“Get up, you idiot!” he yelled, yanking the guy with the broken nose up. “He’s getting away!”

Travis’s heart pumped with the beat of his tennis shoes on the tile floor. He had to find Michelle and get her out of this place. He almost fell as he turned the corner to the hall where Michelle had been taken. He could hear the shouts of the men behind him and he ran faster.

He came upon the door they had gone through and it hissed open, allowing him passage. It was like a white prison. No windows anywhere to be seen. Only white walls, white ceilings and white floors. His eyes searched frantically for any sign of where they had taken Michelle. He didn’t notice the door down the hall open. He barely caught himself in time just as a man in army pants and green shirt walked out. He seemed surprised to see Travis running towards him.

Travis slid to a stop, but his feet fell from beneath him on the slick tile floor and he fell hard on his hip. He could hear the guy yelling at him, but Travis couldn’t stop now. He had to get to Michelle.

Ignoring the dull pain, Travis scrambled up and ran back the way he had come. He could hear the man coming after him now but he didn’t dare look back. As he turned the corner, he was met head on with three more men! Travis tried to stop and dodge around them, but the men were ready this time.

One man slammed into him, knocking him back on the floor. Another lept on top of him, pinning him to the ground. The third was digging around for something and a flash of metal caught Travis’s eyes.

“Let me go! Where is Michelle?” he yelled, struggling under the man.

“Quit you’re struggling.” the guy growled and suddenly punched him in the stomach.

The air seemed to have been sucked out of him like a vacuum sucking up dirt. Travis gasped for air and coughed as he forgot the men and struggled for breath.

“Hurry, man. Put these on.”

“The Doc isn’t going to like that.”

“We’ll take them off when we deliver it.”

Travis couldn’t move. The punch seemed to have rendered him immobile. He was flipped on his stomach and his hands were wrenched behind his back. Cold metal was snapped around his wrists, taking his hands prisoner in their grasps. The metal bit into his flesh and his arms felt like they were being pulled out of their sockets.

“Come on get him up and lets get going.”

Travis was lifted up and shoved back on his feet. The men held his arms tighter then ever as they forced him back down a long white, endless, hallway. A hallway that Travis knew would kill him.

Michelle grunted as she was shoved into a chair in a small room. The only window over looked a big white room where she could see movie cameras and other electronic stuff hanging from the ceiling and walls. She saw Ben Dover sit down in front of a desk full of computers and buttons. She bit her lip as she looked around. The man who had dragged her here now guarded the only door out. The other man, looked a bit intimidated. He was young with brown hair and hazel eyes. He gave Michelle a small smile as he pushed his glasses higher on his crooked nose. The other scientist was a girl and she looked stern and all business as she sat down next to Ben. Her black hair was back in a bun and she too wore glasses. Michelle nervously wrapped herself in her arms. She felt self conscious herself with these neatly dressed people. Her clothes were wrinkled and her hair was stringy as it hung limply down her back.

“You cold?” a warm voice whispered to her. She looked up to see the young man looked at her.

“I’m fine.” She knew it wasn’t fair to take her anger and fear out on the young man but wasn’t he one of these people who grabbed her and Travis and kidnapped them? The man backed away but Michelle still felt bad. She turned her attention back to what Ben and the lady were doing. They were talking in hushed whispers but she could see they were testing out equipment that was in the white room. Michelle let out a shaky sigh. She had a bad feeling that they were going to include Travis in this.

Fifteen minutes went by and she could see Ben getting worried. Just then one of the men came through the door. “Sorry about the delay, Dr. Dover. He’s coming in now.”

Her heart caught in her throat when she saw a door open in the room and Travis was shoved inside. She sat up straighter to get a better look at him. He looked like he’d been rough handled. His jacket was half hanging off and part of his shirt was hanging out.

“What...what’s going on?” she asked, her voice catching when Ben smiled and started pushing buttons.

“An experiment, Miss Hill.” Ben said, not turning around to look at her. “The only reason you are here to watch is so you will see the truth.”

“What truth?” Michelle couldn’t keep the anger from her voice.

“The truth that your ‘boyfriend’, Travis, is an exterestial from another world.”

“You have got to be joking.” Michelle shouted. “You people are the ones from another planet. Travis is perfectly human and...”

“Ah,” Ben interrupted. “He Looks human to you. But we’ll see just how human he is on the inside. Now sit and be quiet or I’ll have you escorted out of here.”

Michelle shut up but she balled her hands into fists when she saw how confused, angry, and scared Travis was as he looked about his surroundings. She wished she could join him down there. To free him and run away from here. Suddenly Ben started talking to Travis and she could see the young man jump looking around for where the voice was coming from.

“He can’t see us.” the young man whispered to her, clarifying her own confusion. He had moved closer to her once again. Michelle didn’t look at him. Her eyes were glued to Travis

. “Welcome Travis.” Ben spoke. “Don’t be frightened. You are here just to clarify some things.”

“What do you want. Where’s Michelle?” Travis shouted into the air.

“All in due time. And don’t worry about Michelle. She’s here with us. But, I want to warn you. If you don’t cooperate with us, something will happen to your lovely girlfriend. So be on your best behavior.”

Michelle felt her heart stop. They were using her to make Travis forced to do their bidding. She could tell that Travis didn’t like that one bit either.

“Now, young Travis. I’m going to try some experiments with you. Just to see what your reaction is like.”

Travis backed against that wall and Michelle sat on the edge of her chair. He was frightened and she would be too if she was in there. “What...what are you going to do?”

“Nothing much. We are just going to run some ultrasound tests. If he comes in positive with them, well, let’s just say, we’ll have to run some more tests on him.” Turning to the lady, he pointed to a button. “Start the test, Jean. Let’s see how it fairs.”

Michelle hated the way they referred to Travis as being some kind of animal in a lab. Her hands gripped the chair’s sides in fear as the button was pushed. She watched and waited but she heard nothing. To her horror, though, Travis heard it. He cupped his hands over his ears and closed his eyes in pain.

“Increase the volume.” Ben ordered. Jean did.

Travis backed into the corner, like a scared animal, and she heard his voice or pain like a bell in her head. “Please...turn it off!”

“Higher!” Ben ordered.

Michelle gasped as Travis fell to his knees, hands still over his ears. He was now crying out in pain, pleading for them to stop. “What are you doing! Stop it!” she cried out, about to leap out of the chair. The young man’s hand on her shoulder stopped her. A feint hum was now heard.

“Higher!”

The cry turned into a scream. His scream of pain surrounded them. Michelle found herself screaming along with him. “Turn it off! Can’t you see you’re hurting him?”

“Last notch.” Jean said, turning the dial.

“Do it.”

The screaming killed Michelle. She couldn’t bare to watch her beloved Travis suffer like this. “STOP IT!” She yelled, leaping out of the chair towards the two doctors, but the burly man stopped her, yanking her away. She kicked and screamed at him and the two scientists. Suddenly the hum was gone and Travis collapsed to the floor, shaking and groaning.

“Take her to the cell!” Ben ordered, glaring at Michelle.

She was too upset to let them lead her away quietly. She kicked and clawed at the man, but his iron hard grip kept her walking with him. She was led into a small room with a bed and toilet then shoved into it. She turned around to curse at the man, but he had already locked her in and was walking away. The room was also white with cell bars for walls, yet they looked to be plastic, not metal. But Michelle didn’t care. She could still here Travis’ screams of pain resounding in her head. She sank to her knees and sobbed quietly until there was nothing left.

She was jolted awake with the sound of footsteps. She looked up from where she had fallen asleep on the floor and saw two men dragging someone. She lept up when she saw Travis. The men dumped him in the cell next to her and locked the door behind them.

“Travis!” she cried out, crawling over to his cell.

The blond head moved and turned towards her. She had to stifle her cry of alarm. Blood ran from his ears and nose, dripping onto his jacket, which was half hanging off his shoulders. “Travis, are you okay. Of please Travis, talk to me.” She reached a hand into his cell between the plastic bars and felt his hand beneath hers.

“Mich...” he whispered. His voice was hoarse but she could see the spark of recognition in his blue eyes.

“Oh god, Travis.” she murmured, trying to will herself to not cry in front of him. “What have they done.”

Travis struggled to rise and crawl over to her. He leaned against the cell wall and grasped her hand tightly. “I’m fine.”

“Please don’t lie to me.” she felt her heart sink. “Can you please tell me the truth.”

Travis blinked and slowly nodded. “I...I meant to tell you that night. I...I just couldn’t get the words out.”

Michelle felt like her whole mouth went dry. “It is true isn’t?”

Travis nodded again. “When you found me, I didn’t remember a thing. It was the day when Vincent attacked you that this bright light hit me and awakened me to the truth.”

Michelle knew she was shaking but she couldn’t make herself let go of his hand. “So..what is the truth? Who are you, Travis?”

“I am from the planet Cribon. It is in the fourth galaxy, that’s why you don’t know of it. My planet is very similar to yours but we mainly concentrate on space travel. We all look like you’re people but we have some extra sensory hearing and brain memory. That’s why that Doctor was able to test me. He knows now and won’t stop at that.”

“What about Star.”

Travis half smiled and shook his head. “Unlike your horses, all the horses on our planet are white. Their eyes mark their differences. There are very few of Star’s kind and when you team up with one, you become very special. I remember my parents grins when I told them about Star.”

“Why are they so special?”

“Because, you have extra senses when you team with a horse. Star mind sends to me and I can mind send back to him. That’s how we found Angie.” He suddenly frowned. “They have Star, don’t they?”

Michelle looked away. “Yes. I don’t know where they put him though. Once they dumped us in that van, I didn’t hear anything else.”

Travis groaned and leaned his head on the bars.

“Don’t blame yourself. We’ll get out of here.”

Travis nodded but he still looked sad. “How did you get on earth?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Well, my dad was connected to these people and something went wrong and my dad quit on them. Well, they didn’t like that too much and threatened him that he’d better come back or else. Well, my dad didn’t listen. One night I awoke to a tremendous explosion. I was knocked out of bed and all I could see was orange light. I ran to the barn and jumped on Star. I could see my house on fire but there was nothing I could do. I saw the men start after me and more explosions followed us. Star helped me survive. I wanted to go back but he kept going. I remember I was mad at him. I wanted to go and help my parents. But then there was another explosion in front of us. Star reared up and the fire engulfed us. The next thing I knew, I woke up to see your face over me.”

“So you don’t know how you go on Earth?”

“Not really. But I think this jewel I’m wearing had something to do with Star’s and my survival. It was given to me when I was born by a stranger. For some reason, I’ve never taken it off. I guess it was my good luck charm or something.”

Michelle smiled. Her mind was going a hundred miles per hour. Travis was an alien. She had fallen in love with a person from another planet.

She must have been frowning because Travis squeezed her hand and looked concerned. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking...” she hesitated as if trying to put her thoughts into words. “I’m thinking about how much I love you.”

Travis smiled and put a hand through the cell bars to cup her head in it. “I love you too.”

Michelle chuckled and kissed his hand and fingers. “Kiss me, Travis,” she whispered.

Travis gently pulled her towards him and their lips pressed together through the bars. Her love soared through her. They would survive this. They had to.

Part 6