The renovations on the rooms didn't take long at all. I was able to get the room she needed built as well, but that took a few weeks. By the time it was done, I'd accepted Honest Jackson's offer. Someone needed to run the town, and I wasn't sure anyone else would be up for it.

Strangetown was such a small town, though, that it proved to be less difficult than I'd initially thought it would be. Don't get me wrong—it certainly kept me busy, what with managing the hotel in addition. But it wasn't too bad.

While in the basement of the hotel, I stumbled across a couple of interesting rooms I never noticed before. One was a sort of secret warehouse, and the other was a lab with an autopsy table in the center. After reading a manual I found near the table, I learned it was used to extract organs from mummified aliens, and that those organs were worth quite a lot of money.

In the warehouse room, I came across someone named Bigfoot. He was quite friendly and I found that didn't mind his presence in the hotel one bit. He said he would always be around to bring happiness to my guests as long as he was fed at least once a day.

It also didn't take long for the room she wanted to be built. When I went in there to see what it looked like, though, it looked quite a bit like a shrine of some sort. Based on the requirements Ava listed, I figured that was what she was going for, even though she'd tried to cover it up. Right away, I went up to the penthouse to let her know the room was ready to use.

"I'm speechless, Alessa," she said after I brought her down there, "This room is fabulous. It's everything I wanted and more. I'd like to be the first to reserve it, if you don't mind. Indefinitely!"

"What?" I blinked. How long was she planning on staying?

"Oh, don't you worry about a thing," she hurried on, "It's not like I'll be moving in here permanently. Not until I rule over this town anyway."

Subtle.Real subtle.

"I'm kidding!" she laughed. I forced myself to laugh with her, even though I knew she was lying. Seriously, how many more of these kinds of people would I have to put up with? Not only that, but on the outside Strangetown did not look like the kind of place one would expect people to want to take over.

Personally, I held this little town fairly close to my heart by now, and even though Jeb was working on repairing my car, I had very little intention of leaving, if any at all.

But I didn't understand why people like Frankie Fusilli and Ava found this place so worthy of ruling.

But nevertheless, I reserved the room for her. Some of the other guests had taken to calling it the Bovine Shrine after they'd gotten a crack at it.

But...something strange happened. Ara, Auda and Sancho all vanished one day. I couldn't find them anywhere, up until I thought to check the Shrine. There, I found the three of them in what appeared to be a mesmerized state, with Ava behind them doing some sort of chant.

"Ooooooohm! The Prime Heifer of heaven and earth, He who is most bovine of all cows..." Then she stopped. "Hold on, where's your cowbell? Did I forget your cowbell? Not again, I'll—"

Then she noticed me. "Hello? Is someone outside? Why hello, Alessa. How convenient to have...er...nice to have run into you."

"And you as well," I forced a smile.

"Say, you wouldn't mind searching around for a cowbell for me, would you? I'm in a bit of a pinch."

"Why exactly do you need it?"

"Why? Well, I suppose I enjoy the soothing tintinnabulation of a nice cowbell when I meditate. That's all."

Yeah, sure. Meditation was nice, but we both knew she was lying. Still, I agreed to get the cowbell. I just got one off one of the cows in the lot, but when I brought it to her she also asked me to go get her a tube of 'Rotting Eggplant' coloured lipstick. "I want to look absolutely drop dead decadent during my stay here. You know, to break hearts and whatnot," she explained when I asked.

When I brought the lipstick to her, she thanked me and told me she'd repay me when she could. But the very next day when I went down there to see if she needed anything, this was what I was greeted with.

"What's the matter, Alessa? You seem to be unsatisfied with yourself. That seems to be the problem with everyone in this town! Everyone is so glum, probably because you're all so self-centered! That's not how I operate! I stress sacrifice and selfless action. If you're not willing to join the herd, you aren't wanted! Ah, but very soon now this won't be a problem. You'll see."

She sighed, glancing over at the other three, who were still gazing at the shrine as if hypnotize by it. "Isn't this great? Everyone is relaxing and enjoying themselves."

"Maybe right now, but I'm worried—" I began, but she cut me off.

"You're worried? About what? Listen, Alessa, don't get involved, okay? This isn't your problem. They're here because they want to be here. So buzz off!"

Alright, that was it. "Alright, look, Ava, I could easily evict you if you became any more of an iss—"

"Excuse me, we're meditating in here. So keep quiet!"

I took that as a very aggressive queue to leave. As soon as I got up to the lobby, I stepped outside the hotel for some fresh air. When I did, a mysterious number called my cell phone, telling me to go to the desert after dark.

So when night fell, I did.

When I arrived in the desert, I spotted a mummy there, who looked like he had been waiting for me to arrive. "Ahhh...I sense a great evil spreading over this land," he said, "An evil that has not been seen for millennia."

"Who are you?" I asked. You'd think I would be surprised at seeing a freaking mummy, but after experiencing aliens and meeting Bigfoot, I'd gotten pretty used to the unexpected.

"I am Horus Menhoset the IX," replied Horus, "My body and spirit have been separated for over 3, 000 years. If you help me I can fight the deadly influence of the cruel Prime Heifer. To do so, I must return to my corporeal form."

"What do I have to do, then?" I asked.

"Find my sarcophagus where sand becomes water in the light of day and return it to me here..."

I glanced over at the oasis. That had to be what he was talking about...but why not just say that instead of being needlessly cryptic?

Oh, well. At least I understood the message. The next morning, I charged my metal detector and headed back out to the desert to find that sarcophagus. It took some time to actually find, but it came up as a series of question marks on my screen when I finally found it.

Tristan was with me, so I had him help me dig it up and bring it back to the manager's suite. I wasn't sure how long it would take for Horus to re-enter his body, so I left to see if there was anything I had to do.

And immediately wished I hadn't.

"Hey, Alessa?" called Dusty Hogg, glancing out a window, "You might want to come see this!"

I looked out the window as well to see what he was referring to, only to be greeted with the sight of what looked to be dozens of aliens landing in the town square, led by Emperor Xizzle as usual.

"Those fucking aliens don't know when to quit," I muttered. I didn't have time for this at all. But whether I liked it or not, I had to go and deal with them. I wasn't alone this time, though, since there were so many.

Armed with various containers of water, garden hoses and of course, my water gun, we all headed out to the Town Square to get rid of them. And for a while, it looked like we were pretty successful. It didn't take long for most of them to melt away. But there were a handful left, along with Xizzle himself.

While the others dealt with the group of minions that were left, I went after Xizzle. But I wasn't quick enough to shoot him with the water gun, as I was caught by surprise when a bright green beam shone down on me and I was pulled into the air by it, unable to stop myself.

I was being abducted.