It was about eleven in the morning when we arrived at the church to pick up Marley. Naomi had finally calmed down after I had told her everything. She came to an understanding of what had happened to me and all that had happened with Kay-ani. I would have to explain it all again to Marley.
“I’ll be right back. I’m going to go get Marley,” she said, parking the car in front of the church. “Don’t let anyone see you guys, okay?”
“Wow I didn’t know you cared about me so much Naomi,” I jokingly said.
“Shut up…I just don’t want you guys to die or get taken by the….” she paused. “Whatever.”
She left.
“She’s cute man,” James said
“Shhh…,” I said. I could hear singing coming from the church.
I got out knowing that it was an unwise idea.
“Where are you going?” Kay-ani asked.
“I’ll just be right back,” I said.
“Dude, someone will see you,” James said.
“I know. I know. I have my hoodie on,” I shut the car door behind me and walked up the church steps. I got to the door and peeked inside. The church was smaller than I thought but the seats were full of people standing. I saw Naomi sitting in the last row most likely waiting for Marley who was up on the pulpit singing.
“...Oh come ye, oh come ye, to Bethlehem; come and behold Him, born the King of angels...” she sang with her eyes closed. It was like no one else mattered. She was singing directly to God and it sounded beautiful.
“Whoa,” I whispered.
“...Christ the Lord.” As she sang the last line, everyone clapped their hands.
An African-American man dressed very formally, came up to the stage. He was in a white button up shirt, slacks and a green tie. I figured it was the pastor. In his right hand, he was holding a Bible. His wife, a short Hispanic woman, followed behind him to the pulpit.
“We want to thank Marley for giving us that powerful selection,” he said. “Some of you may know she’s been in a coma for the last 3 months. Jesus allowed her to wake up and be with us today.”
Everyone clapped their hands.
“My wife and I are proud of the amazing young lady you are becoming!”
People clapped their hands one last time and sat down in their seats.
Then Marley walked to the back of the church where Naomi was waiting for her. They started quietly chattering about something.
“Before we close, I would like to read a scripture to you,” I heard the pastor say. “In John 3:3-5, ‘Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto Him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.’ Today God is asking, do you want to be saved? Do you believe in Me? In Matthew chapter 11 verse 28, the Lord says ‘Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.’ The Lord says I can help you, if you’ll come. I’m willing to meet you where you are. When you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God died for your sins, it is the beginning of your journey to Salvation. The next step would be to be baptized in water, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. The word says in Acts 2:38, ‘Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.’ This means that He will give you the gift of His precious Holy Spirit. You’ll speak in another language you’ve never learned before and the Lord will send His spirit to live inside of you. How sweet, how great is our God, the God of the universe, the Lord of Lords, that he would send His only son to die for us. Oh, how great is our Savior!”
I could see Marley and Naomi walking toward the door, so I quickly made my way back to the car.
“What happened?” James asked.
“Nothing,” I said and locked the door.
“What is going on?” I could hear Marley say to Naomi as they were walking out of the church. Naomi must have been trying to explain it to her on the way to the car.
“Just get in,” Naomi said.
Marley huffed. “Fine.”
They got in the car. Marley turned around and saw the three of us in the backseat.
“Why do you have aliens in your car Naomi?” Marley shrieked.
“They’re not aliens…well, they are aliens…Benjamin a little help here…” Naomi turned back to me.
“I know I look different, but it’s really me, Benjamin.”
“How did you…? What happened to you?” Marley yelled.
“Well, it’s a long story. I’ll tell you everything as soon as we get to a safer place, I promise! Just don’t freak out!”
“And who are you?”, she said as she turned to Kay-ani.
“It’s me Kayla.”
“And what are you doing here James?”
“I’m just here for the ride,” James said.
Naomi began to drive, while James gave directions to John Rudy’s house.
We all sat in the car quietly for some time as Naomi drove. I was nervous as I thought about what could be going on in Marley’s mind. Kay-ani broke the silence by opening up to Marley and Naomi about what had happened to her over the past five years. She recounted the events of the night their father went missing, providing additional details about what unfolded. She also shared with them how James and I had rescued her from the facility a few weeks ago.
After that, Marley seemed more calm and was open to hear what I had to say.
“I’m not freaking out anymore,” she said. “So, what happened to you?”
“I’m an alien. That’s what happened.” I covered my face with my hoodie as I was too scared to look at her.
“You’re still Benjamin. Let me see you.”
I slowly pulled down my hoodie and turned to her. She had a big smile on her face.
“See. Still Benjamin.”
“I’m blue can’t you see?”
“I know you’re blue, but you’re still the same guy I know,” she touched my hair. “Your voice is a little deeper though.”
“I know right. It’s like he hit puberty 2.0 or something,” James jokingly said.
“You’re not helping,” Kay-ani added.
“My parents rescued me after my biological mother gave birth to me in a T.S.I facility,” I said. “They took me home and raised me as their own child. They kept the secret from me until recently. Now I’m just trying to figure it all out. The reason we are going to John’s house today is because God told me to.”
“I see. Who’s John?” Marley said.
“Have I ever mentioned the book Space Tiers to you before?”
“Vaguely.”
“Well somehow he knows about Rasadians and God told me to go to him. I have a feeling that after we meet him, he’s going to take Kayla and I to our home planet.”
“Does that mean you’re leaving Earth?”
“Yes.”
She nodded. Her face became dull and she sat back in her seat. The car became quiet for a few moments. “Well…God must have a good reason for you to go back home,” she smiled. “And I think you should go. I heard you that day, you know, while I was in a coma. What you told me about your dream.”
“You did? I thought you were asleep?”
“I was but I can remember. I guess the dream came true after all.”
“I guess so,” I pondered.
~~~
“Okay guys, this is it,” Naomi said.
It took us four hours to get to the address on the invitation. Naomi parked the car right in front of the shabby one story house with an old chain link fence. The house sat on about two acres of land and I did not see any neighbors. I was worried that we had just arrived at the wrong address so I asked Naomi to double check the address on her phone’s GPS to see if we were at the right place. After she checked, she confirmed that we were at the Space Tiers Conference location.
“Why would John hold a conference in his own house?” James said.
“I have no idea,” I said. “You guys wait here. I’ll go knock on the door.”
“We should all go together. What if you get kidnapped or something. We don’t know who’s in there...”
“Let me just see what’s going on first before we all get kidnapped.”
They all agreed to stay back and wait by the car. I walked through the squeaking metal gate. I almost twisted my ankle on the uneven layered rocks. The house seemed like it had been unattended for a long time, almost like it was abandoned.
I rang the doorbell once, but no one answered. I waited, then I rang the doorbell four more times and still no one answered.
“Hello? Is anyone home?”
I shrugged my shoulders at everyone and they shrugged back. No one had come to the door. All of my anticipation had melted away in that moment. Maybe we really were at the wrong address.
“I’ll try one more time,” I yelled back. But before I could ring the doorbell again, someone answered the door, it was John.
My heart dropped and my eyes widened. I was finally meeting John Rudy.
“Ben-ani, right?” he scrunched his eyes as he said it.
“Yes sir, it’s me?” I said.
“You’re right on time,” he checked his watch. Then he looked over my shoulder to everyone standing by the car. “You are all right on time. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Come in, come in quickly.”
I turned and gestured at the three of them to come on. Surprisingly, as soon as we entered, the first thing we noticed was the smell of onions.
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