Twyla and the Aliens

The flash of the overhead lights caught Twyla’s attention. 

“The show will be starting in ten minutes, folks. So, please begin making your way to your seats.” The announcer said through the speaker system. 

Twyla Watson stood watching as people began to file in. To make it seem as if she wasn’t scoping out the room, Twyla adjusted the watch on her wrist. Feeling uneasy, she looked around. There was a group of people ahead of her. She saw three humans. The rest were Eldra, Snakeling, and Felynx. 

The sight of her mother running towards her, startled her. She had never seen her run before. Her mother was out of breath when she caught up to her. 

“There you are, Twyla. Don’t stare at people. It is not polite nor is it becoming of a young lady.” Sherri Watson told her after she had caught her breath. She motioned for Twyla to follow her. Twyla sighed and followed her mother through the crowd.

Twyla could feel a pair of eyes on her back as she walked away. She turned back to see who it was. One of the Eldras in the group met her eyes. They stood staring at each other until one of the Felynxes caught the Eldra’s attention and started to talk. 

Twyla noticed that she had lost her mom and that she had no clue where she was. 

“There you are, Twyla. Stick close to me. It’s starting soon.” Her mother said when she had found Twyla. 

The lights flickered again which meant that they now had two minutes to get to their seats. Walking faster than her mom, Twyla found her three brothers and her dad already in their seats. Hans sat on the outside with Yuri next to him and Jobe on the inside. Twyla’s seat was on the other side of Jobe. 

Leaning into the aisle, she whispered, “I saw a group of Eldras, Snakelings, and Felynxes.” She looked around to make sure no one was listening, but only humans were seated near her family. 

“We saw a few Bullets. I wonder what is happening.” Yuri replied. 

“No idea, but maybe they are wanting to invade Earth,” Jobe answered. He looked over to where the group of aliens sat. 

“Bullets aren’t the spacecraft that they would use to invade. They seem to be more suited for transportation or scouting.” Hans speculated. It looked like he wanted to say more, but the lights dimmed and the curtains were pulled back. The musical was finally beginning and to say that her parents were excited was an understatement. Twyla had to admit that she was excited about it too.  

DING. DING. DING. 

A cellphone rang out. People groaned and looked for the individual who was responsible. The Eldra that had stared at Twyla earlier stood up and left the auditorium. A Felynx also followed her.

With Twyla’s curiosity piqued, she decided to follow her. She was exiting the doors when she saw the Eldra round a corner. She hurried after her. 

The boys, knowing their little sister, got up and followed Twyla. She had a knack for getting into trouble. They saw Twyla peeking around the corner. They could hear someone whispering and pacing the floor. 

  “If we could get to LaGrea before anyone else, then we will become heroes.” A voice said. 

“To who? You and I both know that this is supposed to be a mission for the Imperial Assassins. Not a couple of bored princesses.” A deeper, unmistakably Eldran voice answered. Even the female Eldras had a deep voice. Well, at least it was deep by human standards. 

The four siblings exchanged looks. 

LaGrea? Wasn’t she a famous scientist? 

She had talked at their school before, but none of them had paid any attention. They had been more interested in watching the Scytherians that she had as guards. The only thing the siblings could remember about it was that she had mentioned something about genetics and superheroes. 

The voices moved closer, signaling to the siblings that they should start to head back to their seats. They knew that they would have time to discuss what they learned later. 

Their parents were laughing at something that an actor had said on stage. They never noticed that their children had left in the middle of the musical. Their parents were just as clueless now as they had always been. Yes, they were amazing parents, but they never knew about the aliens that walked among the humans. In fact, no one did. Except for the siblings. Hans had been three when their neighbors, Jim and Dolly Myers, had moved in next door. Hans had noticed that they weren’t human and was talking about it all of the time. His parents freaked out and started to take him to doctor after doctor to find out why their son was talking about aliens. The doctors never found anything wrong with him. 

When Jim and Dolly found out, they told him that he had to be quiet. He could not tell a soul that a couple of Scytherians were his neighbors. If the wrong person heard, they would all pay a price that was very dear to them. Each of the siblings told the one younger than them to keep quiet. 

Jim and Dolly also created a game for the siblings to play with each other. It was to see how many different alien species they could find. They were now up to twenty-five. The Eldra, Snakeling, Scytherian, Felynx, and Trysal were the five most dangerous species. 

They sat in their seats and finished the musical. It was a fun way to relax from all of the questions that plagued Twyla. 

The Eldra didn’t come back until after the musical was over. She also had a Felynx with her. That must have been the first voice that Twyla and the boys had heard. Twyla watched as the Felynx’s ears twitched and moved from all of the noise. The crowd was clapping and cheering. It was evident that it hurt her ears. 

Hans tapped Twyla on the shoulder and motioned to where her parents were starting to make their way through the crowd. Not wanting to be left behind, Twyla got up and followed them. 

A scream broke through the crowd. Twyla whirled around to find out who had screamed. She could see a human woman getting up. The Eldra snickered. Her Felynx friend looked a tad concerned about people’s reactions. The woman glared at them and stalked away. 

Twyla turned to her brothers and said, “it is getting tiring to keep calling them by their species, so I am going to go introduce myself.” She turned and walked away quickly. Her brothers stared after her as if she were insane. She had an uneasy feeling but forced her feet to keep moving. She had never been this close to one of them on purpose. Except for Jim and Dolly. 

“Hi. My name is Twyla. What are your names?”

Twyla stared at them as if she were trying to intimidate them. Both looked unimpressed. The Felynx introduced herself first. She said her name was Fiona, but friends and family called her Fae. They turned to look at the Eldra. 

“My name is Eliza, but my friends and family call me Elara.” 

Twyla smiled and said, “It’s nice to meet you Elara and Fae.” They glared at her. 

“They said that only friends and family could call them by those names. I do not think you are either.” A voice from behind Twyla said. Twyla turned to see a tall male Scytherian standing behind her. She saw that her brothers were standing not too far behind the Scytherian. It was evident in their faces that they wanted to leave, but would not until she was with them. The only others in the theater were not human. 

“Are you sure about that? All humans are related in some way. Maybe we’re long-lost siblings or cousins. Unless you aren’t human. Then we would definitely not be related.” Twyla remarked. All of their faces grew angrier. Hans took that moment to push past the Scytherian and grab Twyla by the wrist. 

As the oldest, it was his job to keep his younger siblings out of trouble. Twyla especially liked to provoke the aliens. She enjoyed it immensely. 

As Hans was starting to drag Twyla away, the Scytherian spoke. 

“Stop.”

Yuri and Jobe took this moment to come forward and stand by their siblings. They loved a good fight but also knew better than to start one. All four faced the Scytherian. 

“My name is Sebastian, but my friends and family call me Sul.” He glared at them as if daring them to call him Sul. 

Hans felt it was time to introduce himself and his brothers. 

“I’m Hans. And these are my siblings. You have already met Twyla. This is Yuri and Jobe,” He said as he pointed to each of his siblings in turn. “I just wanted to apologize for how my sister acted. She is usually nicer to humans. If you aren’t human though.” He ended the last statement with a shrug as if to say ‘What can you do about it?’. 

The siblings started to leave when the double doors opened and a Snakeling walked through. The others immediately stopped talking and bowed their heads as she passed by them. 

“She must be royalty,” Jobe whispered to his siblings. They all nodded as they kept their gaze on her. When she looked at them, they met her eyes in defiance. She squared her shoulders and walked past them. 

“Hello, my name is Hans. This is Yuri, Jobe, and Twyla,” he said as he held out his hand for her to shake. 

She glared at him before Sul leaned forward and whispered something to her. With a grimace, she shook Hans’ hand. 

“My name is Sierra, but my friends and family call me Sage.”

“It is nice to meet you Sierra, Sul, Elara, and Fae. Now our parents are waiting for us. Have a nice day,” Hans said as he herded his siblings out the doors. Twyla had one last thing to say before leaving.

“I just wanted to give you a fair warning. This is Earth and we do not fight fair. Don’t ever underestimate humanity.” After she said that, she skipped out of the doors. Her brothers followed her. 

The doors slammed shut. All of the aliens were silent in shock. 

“I thought humans weren’t supposed to be that bold,” Fae remarked, breaking the silence. 

“Me too. Do you think they knew who and what we are?” Sul asked. 

Elara and Sage looked at each other. Sage looked around the room. 

“It doesn’t matter. What matters is now we have rivals and possibly enemies. We need to get a hold of Tin.” She answered after a few minutes of quiet contemplation. 

The others shuddered at the mention of the famous Trysal. He was younger than some of them and was starting a career as an Imperial Assassin. He was one of the most ruthless assassins in the galaxy. The only ones that topped him were his father, brother, and sister. 

“They were annoying, but I do not believe them to be any type of threat. Besides if we get Tin involved, then the Empire will know what we were going to do. Our only major threat is the Reptilians and Bentons. If they continue their assault on our worlds, then we will fall very soon. We also have to find Sul’s Great Aunt and Great Uncle. Susannah and Santiago. They are going to be a problem,” Fae remarked, promptly forgetting Twyla’s warning. 

“Don’t forget about Lettie, Leisle, Oliver, and the Dakan Brothers. They are also trouble,” Sul replied.  

They got into their Bullet and went back to Sul’s planet to work on plans for getting his Aunt and Uncle back into custody. He stared at the picture of them in their human forms. He also knew their human names. Jim and Dolly Myers.