[Dedicated to gorgeous-mermaid for the lovely fanart again!]

THE KNOCKING CONTINUED, AND ALL I was able to do was stare at the door. Panic shook my entire being and I looked to Louis with wide eyes. He looked very much the same, frightened and unsure. I knew instantly that the same thought had crossed our minds; the Councillors had begun their search. Another knock sounded and I leaned over to the sink and extracted the first thing I touched; a knife.

"You're not going to try and kill them, are you?" Louis gaped, his eyes darting from my face and back to the kitchen utensil. 

I tightened my grip on the hilt and just nodded once. "If that's what it takes to keep you safe, then yep."

He just looked at me like I was an idiot - which I probably was - before I told him to hide round the corner, in the kitchen where he'd be hidden from sight. I then proceeded to make my way towards the door, my heart pounding and palms sweating. The closer I got, the louder the knocking became and I could feel my body shaking like a leaf.

I slowly looked through the peep-hole, my eyes landing on a head of dark hair. My blood ran cold as I remembered the two dark-haired Junites from the Starship. I gripped the knife tighter, my knuckles turning white.

What was I going to do? Open the door, yes, but what then? I couldn't exactly ask what they wanted before plunging a blade into their chests unexpectedly. 

"Who is it?" I called out, my voice hoarse. I cleared my throat and repeated myself.

A moment of silence.

And then, "Flora! It's me, Jason!"

All of the fear, panic and need to run to the loo had vanished, relief instantly replacing it all. I quickly dropped the knife down on the hallway table and unlocked the door, opening it to find Jason spinning on his heel to reveal a face that looked strangely unlike his usual self. He looked half dead.

"Jase?" I asked, frowning.

"Don't 'Jase' me, Flo," he snapped before marching himself into my home. Usually, I had no objection, but he didn't look or seem like himself and I instantly felt the need to demand an explanation for his poor appearance.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "You look ... well, awful."

"Hm, I wonder why," he mumbled as he turned into the kitchen. My eyes widened when I remembered that Louis was hiding in there.

"Louis," I whispered, rushing to Jason's side to find the alien crouching down, behind a cupboard door, his wide eyes peering over the top. "What are you doing?" I asked, squinting down at him in confusion. I'd told him to just hide out of sight, had I not? Not try and conceal yourself behind a cupboard door.

He just looked confusedly at Jason, most likely expecting to have seen the Councillors instead. He instantly stood up, dusted himself off and smiled at Jason. "Hi, Jackson."

"It's Jason," my friend grumpily corrected and Louis apologised instantly. 

I just shook my head and asked, "Jase, what's wrong?"

"Honestly? My thoughts are what's wrong, Flora. The things I've been thinking recently are the reason I'm here."

"Huh?" I asked, not entirely sure where he was going with his speech.

He just looked at me. "Ever since that day the pair of you shot out of sight, only mentioning something to do with a ship, I've been wondering about the supernatural, about what's been happening here recently. You know what the weirdest thing is? This place? It's Hoveton!" he blurted out, not taking a single breath between sentences.

"Whoa, Jason," I spoke calmly, wrapping an arm around his shoulders so guide him to the couch. "I think you need a drink. Tea or coffee?" I glanced towards the top cupboard and added, "Perhaps vodka?"

"Tea," he muttered, pushing his glasses up his nose. Once he was settled on the couch, I turned back into the kitchen and set about preparing us some drinks. I told Louis to get his butt in the living room to keep him talking.

"Hi," I heard Louis say in a friendly tone.

Jason just grumbled a, "Hi," back and I just frowned at him. What the hell was wrong with the guy?

I took our cups over to the living room and sat down beside Louis so I could face Jason. As I handed him his mug, I couldn't help but notice his eyes glancing over at Louis with an almost knowing look. But what the knowing look meant, I had no idea.

But then my mind clicked everything into place; he'd been thinking about the supernatural? We'd mentioned something about Louis ship? Perhaps he was on to the fact that extra-terrestrial life was among us - sitting right before him.

"So," I started, shifting uncomfortably. "Tell me what's up."

Jason looked tired. When he glanced at me, it wasn't hard to miss the dark circles under his eyes and almost ghastly colour of his face. He said, "My brain is what's up. Not in a good way, either."

I just looked at him, waiting for a better translation. When he gave me nothing, I urged him on. "Define, Jason. For God sake."

"OK, I will," he spoke, his tone icy. "I've been watching the news. There are still reports going on about the light thing we had about a month back. They're still talking about it and they showed a clip of some stupid boys with alien T-shirts on and raving about the fact they believe that invaders from outer-space have landed on earth."

I saw Louis tense beside me and he instantly sipped at his tea to try and mask the fact he was worried. I knew he was - Jason was closer to knowing the truth just by mentioning alien life. I must have shifted uncomfortably too, because Jason looked at me with narrowed eyes.

"Flora?" he asked. "Something to add?"

"Nope," I said while shaking my head a little too enthusiastically. "Continue."

"Well, it made me wonder. Wonder about many things, you see. First, this weird light appears over the town; a suspicious light that no one can explain. Then there's a deep looking ditch out by the woods that has the animals all shaken up and it looks as if something crash-landed."

Louis and I just sat as stiff as statues, probably not helping our case. If there was anything to make us look more suspicious, I was happy it hadn't crossed our minds. But of course, that was until Louis felt the need to gulp.

Jason's had turned to look at him. "What?"

Louis just shook his head and grimaced. "Nothing."

"You see," Jason continued. "I thought it was very weird when you two left the café and mentioned something about a ship. It made me wonder what kind of ship we're talking about - a space-ship maybe?"

I just laughed loudly. "A space-ship? Are you mad?"

Jason chuckled too but it didn't last long. His tired eyes moved to me as he said, "I thought I was. That was until I decided to take a little walk up into the woods to see the weird thing for myself."

I must have gasped loudly because Louis' head snapped round to face me and he just glared at me. What else could I have done? Had Jason followed us or just happened to be in the same place as us by coincidence?

"Flora," Louis quietly muttered. His eyes grew sad.

"It's alright," I promised before turning to look at Jason. "What exactly did you see then? Enough with all this climactic bull-shit, because it obvious you saw something that made you shít your pants."

Jason just laughed before taking a gulp of his tea. "Honestly? I don't know what I saw. I mean ... I don't know if it was real or if I'm just seeing things."

"What do you think you saw?" Louis asked, speaking to my friend for the first time about the situation.

"Another bright light. And what I can only assume was extra-terrestrial life," he said with a shrug. "That  is the part I am unsure about but what I do know is real is that face I saw the both of you up there."

My heart was beating so loudly in my chest I was afraid it would jump out of my body. Jason had seen us after all, but when and where in the woods?

"Really?" I asked. "When?"

"Last night," Jason said with a nod. "Last night I saw you both up by the lake, and this ... thing landed. I can only assume it was some sort of space-ship, because I remembered the two of you saying something along those lines..."

Louis and I just looked at each other.

"But here's what I don't get," Jase continued. "Alien don't exist, it's always been a theory, never a fact. And so therefore, I know that what I saw must have been some sort of hallucination. That's why I'm here."

I leaned forward and said, "You're here because you had an hallucination? Jason, you should have really went to see a doctor instead-"

"Flora, don't fúck with me," he spat suddenly and I jumped. It was so unlike Jason to be this stressed over something and his sudden outburst made me flinch. I set my cup down on the table and glared at him.

"Don't you talk to me like that, Jason," I snapped. "Ever."

Sympathy flashed across his features and he worriedly blurted an apology out. "Flora, I'm so sorry. I'm just so confused and I don't know what's going on..."

"It's alright," I said comfortingly. "I just don't understand why you would come here instead of going to see someone about it."

When he looked up at me again, he seemed a little mad. Was he mad because I'd missed something in his words? "Flora," he started, "I'm here because I know you two were there." He nodded towards Louis as he spoke and I cast my eyes over at the alien who was sitting tapping his mug.

"Yeah," I mumbled, "we were. Only for a hike, is all."

"But you were there when the ship thing was landing..." he trailed off. "Please, Flora. I need to know if I'm going crazy or if I actually saw some sort of alien life land on Earth-"

"You did."

My eyes widened and so did Jason's. At the same time we glanced at Louis; me in shock, Jase in what I could only assume was shock. The alien stood up from the couch and held out his hand to Jason, a small smile on his face.

"What-" Jason began quietly, glancing at Louis' hand.

"Hey," he started, wiggling his fingers, "I'm Prince Loudrix, heir to the throne on the king planet of Junito."

Jason looked as if he were about to pass out, and I was thankful that he didn't. Instead, he just burst out laughing, much to my confusion. Louis had just announced that he was extra-terrestrial life, and my friend was just ... laughing. Laughing away as if he found the whole thing to be a joke.

"Is this guy for real?" Jason asked me, sticking his thumb in Louis' direction. "Is he for fúcking real?"

"Jase-" I started but he cut me off.

"No, it's not funny. I just came in here, terrified because I'm afraid I'm going mad, and this bloke here springs a joke like that on me? How insensitive!"

Louis frowned and frantically waved his hands about, almost scared to touch Jason. "I'm sorry, I meant no harm!"

"You're weird," Jase slowly said and I couldn't help but chuckle, knowing that I had called him the exact same thing back when we had first met. 

"What is going on, Flora? Did I see something or not?" Jason begged, his eyes wide and a little watery. He looked like he was on the verge of tears and I just patted him on the back before wrapping my arms around him.

"You're not mad," I said slowly. "And what Louis said is true."

"It is?" Jase scoffed. "Sure. You want me to believe that your relative is an alien prince. Yeah, OK, you got me."

Louis stepped forward and said, "It's true."

"No, it's not," Jason firmly said as he pulled away from me and looked Louis in the eye. "You're nothing but a trickster."

"Not at the moment," I muttered.

"I am a prince," Louis said, stomping his foot like a child. "Why doesn't he believe me, Flora?"

With the question being directed at me, all I could do was shrug and say, "He still isn't sure what's going on."

"And it seems as if you two do," my friend said with narrowed eyes. 

"Well, we're trying to tell you," I argued. "Louis here is the prince of Junito, and those were aliens you saw out in the woods." I cast a quick, questioning glance at Louis to make sure it was safe to talk. He nodded. "And we were out there trying to find Louis' ship."

"Yeah... It's really funny that," Jason said. "Flora, I know those ones out in the wood were real - they are, right? But Louis? He looks as mortal as both of us," he finished.

Realising that Jason mustn't have seen the Councillors change into human form, I just turned to Louis and told him that visual proof was needed. The alien looked back at Jason and rolled his eyes before sticking out his hand again.

He said, "I shall try again, Earthling. I am Prince Loudrix, heir to the throne on the king planet of Junito." As soon as he finished his introductory sentence, his finger-tips burst into sparkling colour, his blue, alien form slowly burning away his human disguise. Once the blue had reached his wrist, Jason threw himself backwards with a yelp.

"Flora!" he yelled, pointing to Louis. "Flora, what the hell?!"

I just nonchalantly shrugged and sipped at my tea before saying, "Told you so."

Thank you for reading! x
Alien joke: Why don't aliens eat clowns? Because they taste funny! 
Cazza