Day Nine ∞ Saturday

THE QUESTION HUNG UNANSWERED over them as they stared at each other. Danny could barely shake his head, not trusting his voice. He had to make a conscious effort to detach himself from his own reaction and halt the arguments and counterarguments racing around in his head. He needed to focus: this wasn't about him, this was about her... and she was looking to him for guidance. Once the wheels of rationality started churning again they'd surely figure it out: she'd been so out of it when he found her, she must've been hallucinating. Except...

Except for one thing...

Something had been there...

He'd felt it himself.

An involuntary shiver ran straight down his spine and Mickmi flinched in reaction—her hands squeezing his for an instant. Then her focus turned inward as she lowered her gaze and slowly withdrew her hands to her lap. He watched her as she drew long breaths, the furrow between her brows flattening out. He followed suit, closing his eyes, and managed to still his inner turmoil somewhat.

When he looked up a minute later he found her regarding him, eyes still dark green, face still. She rose without a word, went to the truck a few paces away and got inside. She was finished here.

Danny got into the driver's seat and looked at her; he wanted to say something—anything—helpful, but she didn't appear to be in a talking mood. She was just staring straight ahead. Time for the next stop then. The lakeside park parallel to the road a couple of minutes further on was probably the closest view they would get of the crash site.

He parked the truck just as a car came up from the public landing with a motorboat in tow. There wouldn't be much privacy here: a pleasantly hot Saturday afternoon with scattered clouds was a day to be enjoyed. He led the way, casting his eyes around. He was surprised at how few people there were down on the beach—he would've expected to see more families... Or maybe not. There was probably still a warning in effect, that the waters were not totally safe after the crash—with the fish kill and all.

He'd reached the shoreside railing when he glanced back to find Mickmi lagging behind. She was walking with her eyes angled at the ground a distance ahead, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. 

"Mickmi," he said when she halted beside him. Her eyes flicked up to him, and he pointed to the pier extending almost a hundred feet from shore. "I think that's about the closest you can get to the site by land."

Her face remained still as she followed the direction of his hand with her gaze. There was a trickling stream of sightseers that came and left, seemingly disappointed with the ordinary view. There really wasn't much to see: just a lot of water and four distant orange buoys marking the spot of the "downed weather satellite".

"I'll wait here."

She glanced at him, then headed for the break in the railing without a word.

The urge to go with her was strong, but with all that was going on in his head right now, he felt it was better for him to stay behind so he wouldn't distract her. Or maybe she was too distracted to hear his thoughts—he wasn't sure. In either case, he needed a moment alone to sort out the turmoil in his head so he could be the support she needed.

The contradiction.

Mickmi had been right next to him when he felt the movement; with all the strange happenings that night, he'd dismissed it as an earthquake. Although he'd never actually felt a quake in this area before—he wasn't even sure if it would feel like that. Instead, she'd remembered jumping onto the back of the truck. If he took Mickmi out of the equation, that left something jumping onto the truck. It couldn't have been someone because a normal person couldn't have moved so fast that he didn't see their head.

Unless...

Unless it was Selina...

She was not a normal person—she could make herself invisible. It was her job to make sure Mickmi was safe, so she came home with them. She was the light he saw in his front yard that night.

Yeah. Mickmi must be very close to her guardian who probably saved her from drowning. In her traumatized state Mickmi somehow remained connected with Selina as Selina followed the light to his truck and jumped on board. Now Mickmi believed that those were her own memories.

That could explain it. Danny drew a sigh of relief and looked out to the pier again. She was standing motionless on the T end, looking out. His gaze went past her to the end of the lake with the dam about two miles away. That was what he was driven to see that night, though he never made it that far. Right now, all he could see was a near flat borderline in the distance; at that time he would've only seen an insignificant row of lights. Instead, I found you... He exhaled with a puff and closed his eyes for a moment, smiling wistfully.

The sound of motorboat drew his attention as it came into view, circling the spot then heading off in another direction. A motorboat... Hmm... She might want to go out there too, to the location where her vessel ended up—he hadn't thought of that. It wasn't quite his cup of tea, although he knew how to handle a small motor boat. Where's the nearest boat rental again? Maybe he could arrange something with Aaron—his family had a boat.

Danny returned his gaze to the pier. Mickmi was already on the way back, walking at a thoughtful pace. He could see from here that her enthusiasm was subdued. He hoped that what he'd come up with so far could give her some peace of mind: that in the state she was in, she was probably tapping into Selina's experience.

Except...

Would Selina really weigh that much in her invisible form?

His brow furrowed as he realized he couldn't match Selina with the movement of the truck.

On second thought...

Why would Selina leave Mickmi near the bridge and then go further away to the pier, to follow the light through the trees to the truck? He shook his head to himself; he was no closer to an answer. Unless Selina had a third form he wasn't aware of...

Whatever or whoever had jumped onto his truck, Mickmi had picked up on it. He was going to have to check the truck bed later for any clues pointing to what that may have been. He needed to put both their minds at ease. More than that, Mickmi needed to recover her memory so she could get out of this limbo she was in.

And if that meant a total disruption of everything he ever knew or believed in—more than what he'd experienced thus far, if that were possible—he'd still be here. If he didn't know anything else, that was the one thing he knew: he'd still be here.

He went to meet her as she exited the pier, but she halted a few paces away from him and turned her head to the lake. "The signal came from out there," she said. Then she looked past him at the ground, expressionless—lost.

"Mickmi," he said, offering her his hand.

Her eyes flicked up to meet his for an instant then down to his hand. For a while, she didn't move, but then she stepped past him, heading back to the car park. He frowned thoughtfully: she was more troubled than he thought. She was withdrawing herself and it was starting to worry him. He spun around to catch up with her.

He drove them back over the bridge and made a right turn at the service station to the creek park. It was the same turn he'd missed on that fateful night when he found her. So much had changed since then... He looked at her. She kept staring straight ahead but he didn't think she was seeing where they were going. He made a few turns, passing a couple of campers, and found a vacant space to park in.

"If you go through the trees you'll find a view of both the dam and the pier we were just at," he said. "You might even be able to see where you came out of the water. I'll find us a good spot."

She got out of the truck without looking at him, and he shook his head to himself. Something's got to give. He had an idea. He got the blanket and basket, then went in search of a secluded spot with a view of the lake.

He'd spread the blanket on a bed of sand and pine needles between two trees when Mickmi came back with shoes in hand. "I am not hungry," she said as he was about to open the basket.

Danny looked up; she was looking straight at him now, her face still. "That's okay." He stretched out his legs and waved her over; she sank to her knees on the other side of the blanket. "Here, right next to me." He patted the blanket and kept his face serious. He could see a flicker in her expression before she came closer, but she didn't come as far as the spot he indicated.

O-kay... Still a little withdrawn, are we? "Let's do this: For ninety seconds you're not going to think about anything," he said, sliding down onto his back. "Nothing at all. You're just going to clear your mind and listen to my heart."

Her eyes widened slightly.

"Yeah. I think it's been misbehaving. Could you check if it's alright?" he said with a glint in his eye, lifting his hand toward her. This time she took it, shifting closer to him. "Put your head here on my chest," he said, gently pulling her toward him. She ended up lying curled next to him with her head on his chest; and as he put his arm around her, she relaxed with a quiet sigh.

They remained like that a while: Mickmi, with her hand resting in his on his abdomen—and he, with eyes closed, savoring the weight of her, and the movement of her breaths matching his own against his side.

"Ninety seconds," she said eventually, lifting herself away from him, but he held her in place. "You tricked me. Nothing is wrong with it."

"Yeah, I know... Stay there... No need to be exact," he mumbled, smiling. She relaxed again; he could feel a shift in her facial muscles against his chest. "You okay?" He pressed his lips against the top of her head.

"Somewhat."

"You had me worried there for a while." He rubbed her arm slowly. "It felt like you were afraid to look me in the eye."

"I was thinking," she responded after a moment.

Thinking. So she was just thinking. But she wasn't just thinking—he knew that. "Has anything else come back to you?" His fingers played in her hair as he waited for her to answer.

"I remember the wind on my... face."

He paused with his fingers and glanced down at her. "You were going to say something else."

She hesitated before answering. "I remember the wind on my whole body..."

He drew a long breath; he knew what she meant. "Except you were wrapped in a blanket inside my truck..." He stroked her cheek. "You wanna know what I think?"

She tilted her head to look at him—it was an awkward angle so he turned on his side and put her to rest on his arm. He noticed that the glow in her eyes was emerging, her expression softening, and he brought her hand to his lips.

"I think you picked up on someone else's experience... and made it your own."

She stared at him. "Someone else's?"

"Like your guardian. She saved you—I think you might have her memories. And you can't tell the difference."

She drew a deep breath at that, then her gaze drifted off as she considered the possibility.

He waited for her to return to him, then quietly said, "Be still and hear, Mickmi: Listen to the breath of wind..." He squeezed her hand.

"No need to fear... No need for fear..."

He studied her; he could tell she wasn't fully convinced. "Can we leave it at that for now? It's a plausible explanation..." He kissed her palm.

She nodded once, smiling at the feel of his lips on her hand.

"Are you up for eating something now? We wouldn't want Sis' good work to go to waste now, would we?"

Her smile became wider as she shook her head and sat up, her gaze locked with his. But Danny went still; he could feel his heart skip a beat and then pound harder as he stared at her. Now it was misbehaving. It had only been a short while today but he'd already missed that smile. Now the warmth from it was flooding through his veins straight out to his extremities. Mickmi lifted the hand he held to his face, playing with her fingertips along the side of his jaw, sending tingles on a collision course with his senses as she drew them across his lips.

"Mi...," he breathed as she stretched out on her side beside him, her smiling face barely inches from his. She traced his lips again as if to silence him, then she became still as she regarded him. He could drown in those eyes, he thought as he tore his focus away to her parted lips. Then their lips met, and he rolled onto his back, bringing her with him.

It was the longest kiss he could remember—considering that he could hardly remember anything at all right then. It was a gentle play of lips and tongues that sent shivers through them both. He held her face, lifting back her hair, crossed her scarf to stroke the base of her neck and shoulders, then squeezing her waist that sloped to the side of him. He resisted the urge to bring her completely on top of him. Her fingers kept playing with his face, hair, and neck, then they found his hand, and slowly interlaced with his. When she eventually pulled back, he pushed himself up on his elbow so he didn't have to let go. He ended up following her till she landed on her back, the mirth bubbling in the back of her throat.

He reluctantly eased back, pushing a long breath of air out through his teeth. She was chuckling—it gave him joy to see her happy like this: the green glow in her eyes matching the warmth of her smile. He remained on his elbow, his hand still interlaced with hers.

"My breath of air," she breathed, her face settling into her serene smile.

Danny stopped breathing and stared at her in astonishment as goose bumps shot up his arms. Did she just verbalize how she felt about him? "What did you say?"

For a few seconds, she said nothing, her gaze locked with his. Then she pulled her hand out of his as she sat up and crossed her legs, the humor evident in her eyes. She wasn't going to repeat herself if he'd missed that boat. "Are we hungry? I am."

https://youtu.be/KVZu9A-dTfA

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Dawson came down the stairs with a large box in his arms. "I've got the lightbox you ordered."

"Great. Set it up over there," Weaver said and put on his headphones. He'd just seen the truck drive past the kitchen window on the monitor. The subject came in and stood inside the doorway watching the mother and the sister prepare for dinner.

"Hey, we're back. Mom, don't bother serving us; Mickmi and I have already eaten." He gave a thumbs-up to his sister, and she smiled, nodding.

"What?"

"We're not hungry, okay? By the way, I love what you've done with the garden!"

The back of the mother's head appeared at the bottom of the screen as she stepped forward with arms akimbo, watching the subject disappear through the doorway. She waved the potholder after him. "I'll save yours for later...!" she said and sighed.

Weaver put down the headphones. "The girl and the subject are back home now." He spun around in his chair to look at his partner bending over the lightbox, inspecting a strip of negatives with intense concentration.

"Aahmmm... Where did you say you shot the woman again?" Dawson said eventually.

"In front of the coffee shop."

"I don't see her."

"She's standing between two cars, with the shop sign over her head." Weaver went over to him.

"I don't see her." Dawson handed Weaver the loop and stepped aside.

"I don't understand why you're not seeing...," Weaver muttered as he bent over the lit surface, using the loop to scan halfway through the length of the monochrome roll. "There! That's the shop and—" His mouth dropped open. There was no one standing in front of the shop. Negative after negative to the end of the roll, there was just the shop front and sign, a piece of the table she'd sat at, visible between the two parked cars. "Well... I'll be damned... She made herself invisible!" He straightened himself and met Dawson's gaze. "She sure made sure I had proof!"

"What proof? She's not in the pics."

"That is the proof. To me. She was there... I saw her but the film didn't pick her up. Or... she made herself invisible every time I took a shot... In either case, she made sure I couldn't doubt she's an alien." He shook his head, chuckling. "That's one thorough alien. I wonder how she's handling the ops unit."

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©2016 by kemorgan65

*Banner music: "Una mattina" by Ludovico Einaudi -  
*Music video of Mat Kearney's "Air I Breathe" -