| Chapter 04

"A Pylon..." I whispered as she quickly turned her head and hurried away, darting behind a dropped tarp securing a stall. "A fuckin' Pylon..."

I weighed my options. Turning around and finding my way back was probably the best choice. And by best, I meant smart. But as I watched the tarp, unlatched and free, blow in the wind, I thought of the other option—meeting the Pylon.

I didn't have to get up close and personal, but I wanted to see more than just a glance. I wanted to see her, right there, in person.

Then, I would run away.

The idea of wanting to meet an alien overpowered the notion of simple, common sense, because the second I decided to try, I did.

I pushed off the ball of my feet and hurried in the direction she ran. My shoes skidded as I turned by the stall, its tarp hitting my face. To keep from falling, I caught the rope securing it and used it as an anchor. When I regained my footing, I pushed off it. And stopped.

Right outside the tarp was a dagger pointed directly in my face. Its point bumped against the tip of my nose, and quickly, I took one step back. I lifted my hands in defense. "Woah, woah, woah..."

The Pylon held the dagger, and she showed no signs of dropping it. She didn't tremble, either. Her hands were perfectly wrapped around the weapon's hilt, her head dipped to one side. Even with the cloak's hood over her face, I could see her eyes.

Stars. Beautiful, mesmerizing stars.

Pylons looked just like us humans, but their eyes were colored like a night sky. That was the main feature separating our two species. Our eyes were normal, recognizable. But theirs? Luminescent. Beautiful.

I couldn't help but stare at her.

"Why are you following me?" the Pylon asked. "Why are you here?"

I pulled my gaze away from her eyes to look at the dagger. She had pressed it closer, and it pricked my skin. Sucking in a breath, nearly cross-eyed, I said, "I uh..." I looked back at her. "Why are you here?"

She didn't move back. The weapon remained and so did she. "I asked you the question first."

"Okay." I gulped. "I'm here because I," think, Gus, "I wanted to see the Fair."

It wasn't entirely a lie, but I was awful at telling them. I thought if I strayed too far from the truth, she'd cut me right then. She'd leave my body for the seagulls and pigeons perched on top of the city's buildings.

"Liar."

Welp, she saw through me.

She turned the dagger as she lifted her head. "Tell me the truth or I'll cut you right here, right now."

Holding my breath, I looked her in the eye. I couldn't just escape. From what I heard, Pylons were just a little faster. Or a lot. And I wasn't much of a runner. If someone were to categorize speed between our two species, I would be a turtle next to her.

My only option was to stare my predator in the face and hope she would take pity on me, the prey.

"I...." I started to tell her the truth, wanting to just not die, but then it hit me. Like David, I never thought the Pylons were dangerous. Honestly, I believed they wanted nothing more than to help us, love us, the way history had always explained. Without a single hateful bone in her body, could she really attack me?

I dropped my hands.

She gripped the dagger a little tighter. "Tell me," she growled.

"Or what?" I bit my lip and took a step back, away from her weapon. "You won't kill me. You have no reason to."

"You don't know that."

I shrugged. "Neither do you. Right?"

"I, I," she started, but her words drifted into incoherent murmurs before becoming deep breaths filled with irritation. Without another word, she flipped the dagger around, pushing the hilt into a band around her leg. Then, she turned around, and instead of running, she walked away from me.

Of course, I followed.

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The other end of the fair was emptier than the rest of it. I could only assume there would have been videos playing on the screens overhead. These areas were built for big crowds. Yet, with only me and the Pylon girl walking through it, it was weird. And dangerous. I couldn't help but be focused on the surrounding shadows.

Where are the guards?

"Why are you following me?" The Pylon hadn't stopped walking but looked back at me. "Don't you have anywhere else to go?"

As I pulled on the strings of my sweater, I shook my head. "No."

Again, I didn't lie.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head and lowered her hood. Curls sprang free around her face. I watched as she shook them, breaking them out from their sheltered shape. They bounced near her cheeks, her ears.

"Again," she ignored my awkward, dreamlike stare and put her hands on her hips, "why are you following me?"

Because you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen. I shook my head. "Honestly? I'm following you don't know where I'm going."

"Oh?" Her hands dramatically shot up above her head. "And you think I do because...?"

I stared at her. I thought the elephant around us was kind of obvious. She was a Pylon, after all. Didn't the aliens know the city just as well as the humans?

Pointing at the sky above us, I said, "You live here, don't you? Well, up there?" I noted the ship hovering in the sky.

The Pylon shook her head, huffed, and stomped away from me with an attitude I found appealing. I couldn't help but chuckle as I hurried over to her, walking beside her. After a few minutes, she glanced at me.

"My name's Gustavo," I said, then shrugged. "Everyone calls me Gus."

The Pylon blinked and looked ahead. "And you're telling me because...?"

"Well, since we're walking together, I thought some small-talk would be cool, you know?"

"Walking together?" She stopped moving. "You think we're walking together?"

I had to move back three steps to stand in front of her again. "Yeah, aren't we?"

"No." Her eyes widened. I could make out each of the constellations within them. "We're not walking together. You're following me. Difference."

"So..." Pursing my lips, I turned my head and looked behind us. There wasn't any movement in the shadows where we'd come through. When I looked back ahead, there wasn't anything there, either. By the looks of it, after following her aimlessly, I realized she had no goal, and she was just... walking.

"So what?" She blinked. "Are you going to leave me alone now?"

"Do you want me to?" I stepped away from her. "I could."

Without hesitation, she crossed her arms in front of her and said, "Yes."

Defeated.

When I thought about it, I realized I had done what I aimed to do—see a Pylon. She was a little rude but had grounds to be. I was following her, but I told her the truth, too. I had no idea where I was going, so I figured wherever she went was a good place to be.

Clearly, I overstayed my welcome.

"All right, it's cool," I said, turning on the ball of my feet with my back towards her. I pictured David back at that side entrance, cursing my name, because I'd done what he told me not to do. "You're right. I'll go."

"Good," she said.

Looking back at the stalls we passed, I nodded my head. With one hand up beside my head, I waved my hand, a goodbye to her. "Was nice meeting you," I called to her without turning around. "Have a good night."

"Whatever," she called back.

I laughed as I shook my head and pressed my hand into my pocket. Socializing was never my forte. Having spoken to her at all was an amazing feat. Besides, my original plan had been to catch up to her, see her, then run away, right? I could always check this off as a lively night and head back to my aunt and uncle without a lie in the world.

I could tell them, "Yeah, I had fun tonight!"

With another deep breath, I pushed forward, head down. I hummed to myself; a quiet tune my dad would hum before he got ready for work when I was a kid.

Funny how he had a song when he was heading into the city, and it was the same song I thought of when I wanted to leave.

"Oh, shit!"

My head snapped up as I heard the Pylon girl. I turned and caught her staring up at the sky.

For a second, all I saw were clouds and the bottom of the ship. It only took me seconds to see why she'd cursed and why it was her focus. It became mine, too.

On the ship's sides were red lights, unlike the white normally reflecting the moon. A sound came from it, too, like metal bumping metal. Screeching. Scraping. My hands slowly pulled out from my pockets as I moved towards it.

"Hey," I said.

More lights appeared along the sides, brighter than the others. A siren replaced the metal sound. Loud, blaring, echoing over the city's winds.

That was when I saw it. The reason why the alarm went off, the reason for the metal screeching in the sky.

A piece had fallen. Falling. Towards her.

"HEY!"

There wasn't just one sheet of metal. But two. No, three. They fell in parts, one breaking off the other. The ship's gravitational field attempted to pull them back up and out of our atmosphere, but I was sure the weight of them was too much.

Because they continued down, down, down.

"Shit, shit, shit!" The Pylon girl stumbled backward as she patted the sides of her pants in search of something. Whatever it was, she couldn't find it. I only knew it because her hands shot up into her curls as she stared up at that sky. "Fucking Azroth and stars I—"

"Run!" I rushed towards her, grabbing her arm when she refused to move. Her bright, yellow eyes looked at me with fear as I tugged her away from the fair's wide opening, away from the main impact.

More pieces broke off the ship. And each other. The smaller pieces of metal headed straight for the ground as we ran towards the stalls.

"What's happening!" she cried out to me as she grabbed my arm to keep up with me.

A piece of metal landed on our left, crushing a long concession stand without food inside of its trays. The wheels attached to the tables broke off the legs and rolled towards us. I stumbled over one, keeping the Pylon girl in my arms as I pulled her in a different direction.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" I shouted at her, brows knitted together. "It's your fucking ship!"

"Yeah, but—"

Another piece crashed to our left. One at our right. We had nowhere to go but straight, and even that was a long shot. The smaller pieces had fallen to the ground, destroying parts of the fair. But the big one, the largest piece that had broken away from the ship's pull, fell faster than the rest. With its size, I wasn't sure where to go.

Sweat broke out on my forehead as I tried to think. The Pylon girl digging her nails in my arm didn't help. But when she looked left, I looked right. At the same time, we looked into each other's eyes. We panted hard out of breath, deep in fear.

I thought we had the same thought.

Because I said, "Let's go back!"

Yet, she said, "Over there!" And tugged me to the left, towards the stage built for Chicago rock bands.

I looked up at the sky as she made me run. I tried to calculate the distance. Based on the size of the shadow above us, moving towards us, the stage wouldn't save us. In fact, it would kill us. I didn't want to think of my face splattered against the pavement.

"We can hide under there! The metal will—"

"Crush us!" I tugged back and grabbed her arm faster than she could react. She tripped when I pulled her, her knee skidding against the ground. But I helped her up, I made her stand. Run. I needed her to kick her legs high. I wasn't athletic but shit, fear made me a track runner and I needed her to keep up.

"Wait, wait, wait!" She tried to get me to stop but together we were able to dodge the falling debris. I stumbled with her, bracing my falls with one hand. Tiny shards of metal lodged themselves in my palm, but I used the pain as adrenaline.

"Come on!" The rush made me faster, stronger. And the shadow above us seemed so far away.

It wasn't...

When it landed and crashed, the force of its energy pushed us. The Pylon girl rolled out from my grasp and skidded across the even concrete. I did, too.

Yet, as another shadow appeared over her body, I crawled toward her, grabbed her, pulled her, and covered her body with my own.