The party was held in the middle of the woods, some two hours away from the college campus, away from the eyes and ears of the authorities or anyone else that might call the cops. The spot was known as 'the love trees', a place many college students liked to go to get it on or just have a good time with their friends. Usually, there were no more than four cars parked around the area. Tonight, there were over a dozen cars accompanied by the sound of loud music and voices that had to scream over the noise just to be heard.

Hunter arrived at the party in his busted up 1980s orange Dodge Challenger. He was dressed in his usual look: overcoat, dark shirt, dark jeans and boots. Since he was feeling festive, he had rings on his right middle and index fingers, both of which were skulls.

He sat in the car for a while, taking in the thrill of being at such a party. He saw all those early twenties students having a nice time: drinking, dancing and laughing at crude jokes that only juvenile minds could come up with. For a second, he was transported back in time, back to when he had never heard of the Agency and the biggest worry he had was not getting an F in school. For a second, he felt young again.

Hunter got out of the car and retrieved the beer keg he had promised Jack from the trunk. As he walked towards a series of crappy tables that held all the other booze, the students cheered him. He lifted the keg above his head in a victorious pose, then set it down on a table.

A jock dressed in a football jacket immediately took advantage of the keg and filled himself a cup. He drank half a cup in one gulp, then threw one arm around Hunter in a drunken hug.

"Dude, you're awesome!" The Jock exclaimed gleefully.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Hunter filled a cup and began to chug.

The Jock was filled with the primal urge to shout only one word: "Chug! Chug! Chug!"

The people around them caught sight of Hunter's stunt and began to yell 'chug' in unison.

For a moment, Hunter thought he had lost his skills, but he pushed through and made it to the end of the cup. He was met with drunken cheers and applause.

"Who's next!?" Hunter yelled. He grabbed the keg's hose and sprayed it over the crowd, extracting squeals of surprise and delight.

A song he didn't recognize started playing, and suddenly Hunter was swept by the crowd to the spot in the party reserved for dancing, or more appropriately, jumping up and down to the time of the music. He jumped with them, feeling the happiest he had been a while.

As he jumped, someone wrapped his arms around his neck. Hunter turned around and saw the arms belonged to some cute older girl he had seen walking around campus. She pulled him in for a kiss, and as their tongues intertwined, he felt a pill being popped into his mouth.

Oh shit, Hunter thought.

Hunter pulled away from the girl and looked into her eyes. Her pupils were huge.

"What was that?" Hunter asked.

"The most fun you'll ever have!" The girl replied.

The girl pulled Hunter in for a make out session. While they kissed, Hunter couldn't stop thinking about what time it was. When he got the chance, he pushed the girl away and waded through the crowd to a quiet spot to check the time on his phone. It was 10:53, a number he barely made out through his pulsing vision, a side effect of the girl's mystery pill taking effect.

"Shit shit shit." Hunter said, shaking his head. He splashed cold beer on his face in an effort to get a hold of his senses. "Come on man, get a grip on yourself. Just ride it out, you'll be fine by 2 A.M."

2 A.M. It was when he needed to be behind the redwoods, to finally meet who Jack had been talking to. Then, he could finally complete his task.

"Just ride it out buddy. No more drinking."

Jack leaned against a tree and scanned the party for a quiet place he could stay at, when the girl that had drugged him approached him again. This time, she brought friends.

"This is the guy I was telling you about!" The girl said, introducing Hunter to her friends.

"He's cute." Said a girl with highlights to her friend, before turning her attention to Hunter. "What's your name?"

"Hunter. I mean, Matt."

"Hunter? That's an awesome name."

"No no. My name's Matt."

"And what's your last name?"

"Black. Uh, I mean Townsly."

"Hunter Black!? Holy shit. Like, that's the coolest name I've ever heard!"

"I told you he was cool!" Said the girl who had introduced Hunter.

"My name's not Hunter. It's Michael, I mean Matt Townsly. I really should be..."

"Oh my God, I love this song!"

The girl pulled Hunter back to towards the dance floor, where he once again got lost in a mess of blinding lights and dancing bodies.

Hunter couldn't help but dance with them. He gave in to the feeling of joy and left all his worries behind to enjoy the feeling of being young again. He danced, drank, laughed and talked with all sorts of people. He felt like he was living a fantasy, one that he had been denied a while ago. He forgot all about his task and just enjoyed the moment.

At one point, Hunter found himself being dragged by the girl that drugged him towards his car. They got in the backseat and immediately got to work making out. When things started getting steamy, Hunter asked for a time out and reached for the glove box. From the mess within, he took out a condom, and the two of them got to work on removing their clothes. Everything became a sweaty blur after that, and when it was over, Hunter passed out.

...

Hunter woke up alone and with a strong urge to puke. He opened the door and threw up on the ground to instant relief. The party went on, but he had no intention in joining again. He closed the door, got dressed and sat up to get a bearing on his senses. He checked his watch and cursed at the time. It was 1:57. Almost time for Jack's secret meeting. He took a revolver out of the glove box (which sat right next to the condoms) and bolted out of the car.

...

The redwood trees were located a little under half a mile away from the party. Hunter ran as fast as he could towards them. He was intent on not pissing off The Agency.

Almost halfway there, Hunter began to fill dizzy again. He realized with dismay that his stomach was empty and that he didn't have the necessary energy to run at full speed. Still, he kept on jogging as fast as his body permitted him.

He checked his watch at 2:13. He had the redwoods in sight and could hear voices. He slowed down immediately and crouched down, moving quietly towards the trees and listening to the voices. As he got close, he realized it was only one voice talking. It was an excited voice, one that was too eager to shut up for even a second. He pressed himself against one of the trees and listened closely.

"...a couple of buddies of mine went to the spot where you were abducted." Said the voice. "They camped there for three days, watching the skies for any sign of our interstellar visitors. Obviously, they didn't see anything. Our visitors are smart. They don't go to the same location twice. They know we'd be looking for them. Normally, I'd say this was a lost cause, that finding them again would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Having more than one close encounter is like finding diamonds in your backyard. It just isn't common."

"So that's it?" Asked another voice, which Hunter identified as belonging to Jack. "She's gone forever?"

"You didn't let me finish. I've been following you around for the past few days, watching the skies, and I've never seen so much activity. They're watching you Jack."

"Why?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling that they want to return Lilian to you. People who vanish after abductions usually turn up at some point. I'd keep my hopes up if I were you."

"But I want her back now, goddamn it! Do you know how hard it is to sleep, knowing your girlfriend is somewhere out there being experimented on? Weren't you paying attention when I told you what they did to me?"

Hunter, feeling confident they were too engaged in conversation to notice him, peaked out from behind the tree. He saw Jack and a bearded man standing under a clearing. Even though there were almost no lights around, he could see them perfectly thanks to the moonlight. He saw Jack lift up his shirt to show a scar that ran from the middle of his chest down to his belly button.

"They cut me like a pig." Jack said to the bearded man. "I felt all of it. They scooped out my insides like I was a tub of fucking ice cream, put them back in, then did it again. For what? What do they want?"

"That's what I've spent my entire life trying to understand." Said the bearded man.

"Someone has to stop them."

"Nobody can. As far as I know, the last time we've got hold of any sort of alien space craft was back in '47 during the Roswell incident, and it was because THEY were the ones screwed up. I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do but wait."

Hunter shifted in his couched position in an attempt to fight off his cramping legs. He stood up behind the tree and stretched. His heart stopped when he accidentally stepped on a fallen branch, causing it to snap.

"What was that?" Asked the bearded man, looking suddenly very frightened.