Chapter 5: Problems With the Neighbor

She pointed to the apartment. "I've been living up there."

My jaw dropped. "You've been what? How could you have lived there for, what, a year and a half, without me finding out? I would have seen lights on or something!"

"Well, you would have, if you could see through any of the windows. I made some plugs that fit in the window openings to keep light from getting out. It made it really dark inside. When I had extra money, I bought LED light-bulbs so you wouldn't see a big jump in your electric bill. I couldn't figure out how to keep things cold without using the fridge, so I got canned foods that I could keep on the shelf. I ate a lot of food cold. The only hot meals I had were at school or at a friend's house. Last summer was bad because it was so hot and I couldn't open the windows. I finally took one of the plugs out in back where you couldn't see it and put a fan in the window. I was so scared you would hear it running and find me and call the cops. I would only use the water when you weren't home for the same reason. During the winter, I just buried myself in blankets to stay warm. It never got super cold in here for some reason. I did try to fix the place up a little."

It probably stayed warm because the garage was heated. We had been standing at the bottom of the stairs during her 'confession'. I took hold of her hand. "Why don't we go up and you can show me what you've done."

She lead me up the stairs and said sheepishly. "Your key wouldn't have worked either. I replaced the locks."

When the door opened I did a double-take. This was not the dumpy apartment I had avoided for 3 years. Everything was clean and neat. "What did you do with all the boxes and junk?"

"Well, I didn't know if you wanted to keep the stuff in the boxes, so I neatened them up and put them to good use." she said as she lifted the cloth off of the end-table showing the boxes underneath. "The 'junk' is everything else you see. I cleaned them all up so I could use them. I hope you don't mind."

"Mind? You've turned this dump into a nice place to live. If I had had you taking care of the house, it wouldn't need remodeling."

She blushed again. "I would have been happy to do it for you."

Okay, time to change the subject. "Why did you ask about living in caveman days?"

"I don't know. I was desperately trying to think of anything to keep you away from the apartment and it just popped into my head. I don't know where it came from since I don't remember even thinking about it before. I suddenly imagined myself as living like that. I doubt if I would last very long without someone to watch out and take care of me though. If I had a brave man like ... well a man like you, I think I might make it."

Okay, where is this coming from? She said she has never had these thoughts before and that someone like me would help her survive. If only I could take her with me. Laarusk specifically said I could not take anyone with me though. That sucks. Maybe I could get him to make an exception.

"If I were a caveman, I can't think of anyone I would rather share my furs with than you." Yikes! I basically just told her I wanted to sleep with her!

"You could be my 'Fred' to your 'Betty', right?"

I burst out laughing, "Betty was the neighbor's wife. I don't think he would have liked it if his neighbor was doing his wife. Besides, I was just imagining how we would look dressed in nothing but animal furs. What would you prefer, saber-tooth tiger or woolly mammoth?"

Her laughter was like the song of birds. I shook my head. Get it together man! You can't think about her like that!

"I think mammoth would probably be better for sleeping on. Or under. But I think you would be able to keep me warm. I think I would look good in a saber-tooth skin though, don't you?"

"I think you would look good in anything you decided to wear." I said with a wink. I needed to change the subject again, fast. This was definitely going in a bad direction. "So, what do you say we go get dinner?" Now I'm asking her out to dinner! What is happening to me?

"Dinner sounds good. I could go for a Big Sid burger and fries."

Big Sid's? I don't think so! They may be cheap, but they are the reason for the sayings 'you get what you pay for' and 'buyer beware'. It was terrible!

"How about somewhere we can sit down and have something we can at least identify? We could check out the movies afterwards."

She perked up "You mean like a date?"

A Date? What am I doing? I did, I actually asked for a date!

"Um, well ... not a 'Date' date ... just friends spending time together."

Her face fell. "Oh, of course. It's not like you like me or anything." then in a barely audible whisper "like I like you."

I was getting in deeper and deeper. Keep your mouth shut. Don't say it!

"Actually I am. I find you to be very attractive and I really like being with you. And I care for you, very much. But I'm an old man and you need someone your own age to be with. I know we enjoy the time we spend together, but nothing can come of it."

Great, now I've done it. You've gone and told this beautiful teenage girl you wanted to be with her.

She actually got angry. "Just hold it right there mister.! Who are you to tell me who I should or shouldn't be with? Just because you are older doesn't make you right. I know I'm young enough to be your granddaughter, but I'm not." Her voice softened as she took my hand and continued. "You are a wonderful man that cares about me, and I love that. I want to be with someone who will love me like I think you do, not some boy my age that just wants to get in my pants. I'm falling in love with you Andy, and I am pretty sure you feel the same way. Please tell me I'm not wrong."

What could I say? What could I do? Anything other than the truth of my feelings would be devastating. But how can I let her love me when I know I won't be here to return it? I had to say something, but what? Maybe I could put her off until my departure. No, that wouldn't be fair either. Why did I let this go so far? I love her and want her by my side. I have to talk to Laarusk. There has to be some way out of this mess.

I took her in my arms and held her tight. "No baby, you're not wrong. But we can't rush into this. We've only known each other a few days."

"A few hours, days or years, it wouldn't make any difference. I know that we are meant to be together."

Two weeks. After fifty five years, when I only have two weeks left on this planet, I find someone who loves me. I can't take her with me, but I don't want to leave her.

{Just go enjoy your date. Everything will work out}

Relief swept over me. I don't know what my aliens had planned, but I trusted them.

I told Kendra to get dressed up because we were going to a genuine waiters, tablecloths and silverware restaurant.

I took her to 'Chez Paul', the local 5-star restaurant, where we dined on Chateaubriand and Pheasant under glass ... Yeah right.

I took her to 'The Island'; the best seafood restaurant in town. It's not like we live in, or even near, a big city, but we do have some of the best seafood in the world. Everything we had was local and fresh. We ate ... no, we dined ... and talked about being together. I tried to get her to let go, knowing I wouldn't be here for her for much longer.

"What if I have a heart attack and die next week?"

"I don't care if I only have you for a week, it will be the happiest week of my life." I couldn't bear to tell her it wouldn't be much longer than that.

Okay. I decided I didn't want to be a wet blanket. I wanted us to be happy together. I might not be able to do anything about taking her with me, but I'll be danged if I was going to let that keep us from enjoying what time we had left!

We finished our dinner and got 'doggy bags' for our leftovers. We didn't go to a movie, but back to the apartment. Before heading up, I put the leftovers in the fridge in the house and grabbed some drinks. When I got to the apartment, I plugged in the fridge and the rest of the appliances.

"If you need anything, be sure to let me know. I don't want you to go hungry or have to eat cold food. I turned on the water heater and everything else. You are not to live in hiding anymore. We can take the window plugs out now or wait until tomorrow, but they will be taken out."

Her smile could have lit up a stadium. "Yes dear."

We sat and cuddled on the couch until we fell asleep. She was curled up beside me with her head on my shoulder and my arms around her.

The next morning we woke to someone knocking on the door. They seemed insistent so I yelled that I was on my way. I shook Kendra awake and told her to get cleaned up as we had company. She kissed my cheek and headed for the bathroom. Whoever it was didn't think I was moving fast enough and began pounding.

"I know she's in there so open this door! I'm going to take that little slut back where she belongs!" came a man's voice. I knew then exactly who was outside.

From the bathroom came Kendra's terrified screams. "Oh No! He found me! Don't let him take me!"

He was throwing himself against the door, trying to force his way in. I looked around the room as the door shook with his blows.

"I'm coming to get you Kendra! Make it easy on yourself and come on out!"

There was no way I was going to let him hurt her again. I needed a weapon and I needed one now!

Suddenly the door gave way and everything stopped. Even the hysterical crying in the bathroom ceased. There was someone there that looked like Laarusk, but not quite.

"Greetings Andrew, I am Aaka. I am in charge of your supplies. Laarusk contacted me and told me to deliver you a weapon now! From his tone, I knew it was imperative to not waste time." He handed me something that looked like a shotgun. "I don't have time to give you any training, so just follow my instructions. Put this end to..."

"I know how to fire a weapon, just not which is suited for which purpose."

"Oh, in that case, you'll know what to do. This is the best weapon for dealing with those like him. You'll be ... taught ... everything you need to know for later."

I aimed at the door. "Thanks Aaka, and thank Laarusk for me as well."

The door crashed open. Screams filled the air ... and I pulled the trigger.

I stood there stunned. There was no 'boom' of exploding gunpowder, no recoil, and no smell of burning sulfur. Just a soft 'phut' and nothing else.

On the other hand, the man who broke through the door ceased to exist. At least that was what it looked like to me. One second he was there, the next, he wasn't. Except for the screams from the bathroom, it was totally silent. Soon, even those stopped.

I looked at the weapon. It still looked like a regular shotgun to me.

"Andy? Are you okay? Please answer me. Please be alive. Please don't be dead. Please Andy, say something."

"It's okay baby, you can come out now. It's over."

The bathroom door opened a crack, then opened wider. Soon, I had a very tearful, very happy girl trying her best to merge our bodies into a single being. Seeing the destroyed door, she asked what happened. I tried my best to explain.

"Well, as you can see, he managed to get through the door. That was the last thing he would ever do." I held up the 'shotgun'.

"But I didn't hear any shooting. Why didn't I hear you shoot?"

"I don't know," I said as I walked to the broken door. "He came through, I pulled the trigger and he disappeared." I glanced over the railing and saw what I assumed was dad's remains. That did look like his head, but other than that, there wasn't much left.

"I don't think anyone will ever have to worry about him again." I said, pointing over the railing. "That was him, wasn't it?" She came over and looked down.

Kendra spat on the 'body'. "Yeah, that was him. What did you do ... Oh My GOD! What's happening to him?"

As we watched, the rest of his remains desiccated, crumbled, and blew away. I looked at my 'shotgun' and then carefully placed it in the corner. That was a frightening weapon.

"I think we should go out for a while. What do you think?"

Kendra agreed so we decided to go for a late breakfast. I closed the door the best I could and went downstairs. Uh oh, problem.

"That's his car. We have to get it out of here. Are the keys in it?"

Kendra opened the door and reported the keys were in the ignition.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do. You take his car back to his house. I'll follow you and pick you up. We can go get something to eat from there."

As I walked past the trunk, I heard a thumping noise.

"Kendra, I think you need to open the trunk." She brought the keys and popped it opened. Inside we found two girls about fourteen years old bound with duct tape. One was unconscious and the other recoiled in fear.

Kendra looked at the girl and tried to calm her."It's okay. We're going to help you, not hurt you. Just hold still and we'll get you freed, okay? Are you hurt?"

The girl nodded and seemed to relax a little, then shook her head.

I started to reach in when the girl started struggling and kicking at me.

"Andy, I think you better let me handle them. I think she thinks you are one of men that abducted her. Why don't you see if you can find some scissors to get this tape off."

She was right; I needed to stay back to keep from frightening them further. The second girl regained consciousness within minutes.

"Now this is probably going to hurt, but I have to get it off of your mouth. I don't know a gentle way to get duct tape off of skin, so I am sorry for having to hurt you." and with that, she ripped the tape off like a giant bandage.

About then I came back with the scissors and handed them to Kendra so she could free the girls' arms and legs. Fortunately, there, the tape was stuck to their clothing not to their skin. Soon Kendra was holding them and letting them cry out their fear.

"I was so scared," said the first girl, who's name was Karen "He grabbed me just after I left my friends' house to go home for dinner. He said if I made a sound he would kill me. Then he gave me a bottle and told me to drink it. I thought it was water, but the next thing I knew I was taped up in the trunk."