Anabella

The rest of our trip went well. Brian allowed me to change the stations and I was thrilled to listen to some fine hip music. I loved Marc Anthony since he reminded me of where my father was really from. His ballad, "I want to make it with you", just melted my heart away and I could hardly sing it out loud. I could only dream. My brother, however, made trivial jokes at me for it, but I could see him blush a bit like an idiot. The song was just nice, warm, romantic and nostalgic. It just placed me for a few minutes in a dreamlike state and then it was over.

After an hour and a half of traveling, watching street lights, businesses and trees we had arrived at East Peoria, but we were shocked when we saw a huge crack in the middle of the street. My brother hit the brakes with haste and my upper body basically wobbled headlong and I was lucky I didn't hit myself on the window thanks to my seatbelt.

"Are you okay?" Brian asked.

"Yeah," I mumbled.

"What on Earth happened here?" Brian asked.

"I don't know," I replied and shook my head. Brian reversed the car and had to drive around the crack, meaning that he had to drive on the edge of a sidewalk and touch grass with his tires. As we passed by and left the enormous crack on the street behind I noticed some people outside on their porches pointing at the sky. I looked at Brian, but he didn't look at me. Then I peered out from the front window to see why others were pointing towards the sky. There was a huge white line that crossed it and a few miles over the Peoria Park, in the forest area there were traces of white smoke.

"Something must have happened," I mumbled out loud.

"What do you mean?" Brian asked.

"Brian, look," I said and pointed. Brian didn't want to, but he obeyed and glanced up to see what I meant. He stopped the car to take a good look at the smoke.

"What the hell is going on?" He asked, but he was asking the wrong person. Dad's house was a few blocks away from where we were. Brian was sure that he would have an amazing story to tell so he parked the car over on his parking spot, which was basically on the sidewalk in front of the house and then we got out.

"That's strange. The door is wide open," Brian mumbled under his breath. We opened the gate and passed the chain linked fence to enter his gray, wooden house with an A shaped roof on it and on his small porch where he had all of his tools and junk stashed.

When we entered the house; things were splattered all over the floor, dishes, pots and pans and other belongings like his various books and picture frames. A manila folder was nicely placed on the table.

"Somebody broke in here," I mumbled. Brian darted to the other rooms leaving me there. I walked towards the objects that were in the floor and started to pick them up. Brian came back with his cell phone on his hand and a handgun in another.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Don't touch anything!" He barked. I placed the book on the table next to the Manila folder. Then I pressed my hands to my mouth and gasped.

"What? If the gun bothers you that much, I'll put it away," he said and he tucked it in his pants. I shook my head.

"No. Look," I said pointing at the manila folder.

"What?" Brian asked.

"What if dad was kidnapped and that's his ransom note," I suggested.

"Ransom? Who's going to kidnap dad? He's broke," Brian said annoyed.

"Oh my God, it can't be... a suicide note?" I mumbled to myself. Brian walked towards the table and grabbed the folder. He was about to open it when dad's friend appeared on our door.

"Brian! Brian oh my God, thank God you're okay," he mumbled as he sprinted towards my brother. He hugged him.

"Randolph, you're sweating all over, what's going on?" Brian asked him.

"Brian you have to help me. It's your dad. Your dad was abducted," Randolph said.

"Abducted?"

"By aliens. Well, not by aliens. Apparently, they are robots," Randolph explained. He could barely breathe since he seemed exhausted and out of breath. He took out a tissue cloth and pressed it on his forehead and wiped away his sweat with it.

"What the hell are you talking about Randolph?"

"I'm telling you, your dad has been abducted by robots. We saw one. He was wearing a white robe," Randolph said. Brian dialed on his cell phone.

"Oh, I already called the police and tried to explain, but they laughed at me and hung up. They didn't believe me," Randolph explained.

"I'm not calling the police. I'm calling my father," Brian said.

"That's an excellent idea," I said trying to contribute, but I really didn't know what to say and honestly, I wondered if Randolph was one of those retired veterans who had nightmares and believed in every single one of them. My heart went out to him.

"Damn it, there's no signal," Brian said.

"I've tried calling your dad several times, but the robots must have disabled his phone."

"Randolph stop with this robot crap and tell me where he is, this isn't funny to me."

"Or to me," I stated. Randolph grabbed my arms and I yelped.

"What are you doing, let her go," Brian ordered, but Randolph wouldn't let me go.

"Anabella please believe me. I'm your father's buddy. I'm telling you the truth."

"I said get your hands off her," Brian repeated and Randolph obeyed. His chubby hands were sweaty and he had passed it on to my arms.

"Brian I know where he is and we need to help him now before that ship leaves to, lord knows where, to another planet or dimension. We have to help him before it's too late."

"You know where to find him?" Brian asked.

"Yes, but it's very dangerous. They can kill us. They're stronger than us," Randolph begged.

"Not when I have this," Brian said lifting his shirt. He was showing his handgun.

"Are you kidding? That gun won't do squat to that robot. He probably feeds off bullets for all we know."

"Take me to him Randolph."

"Brian, it'll kill you, we need back up," Randolph said.

"I'm a trained killer. Now tell me what I want to know," Brian warned him with a sharp glance. Randolph nodded.

"Okay... okay...okay.... let's go then," Randolph stammered.

"I'm going too," I said.

"No you're not. You're staying right here," Brian said, but I insisted.

"No Ana. Stay here in case he shows up and this is all just a practical joke for us on your birthday and if it is I'm going to kill him," Brian muttered. I rolled my eyes at him.

"If it's a practical joke maybe I should go," I complained.

"No, it's not a joke," Randolph emphasized and Brian thought about it and then he nodded.

"Why not? Sure, let's go," Brian agreed, but Randolph shook his head in disagreement.

"No, it's not a joke," he insisted, but Brian and I knew better.

"I have to tell you Randolph you are one hell of an actor," Brian said, but Randolph wouldn't stop.

"I said she's coming and that's the end of it," Brian ordered and Randolph surrendered to his orders. I grabbed the manila folder.

"Oh and by the way sis, happy birthday," he said and we all walked out of my father's house.

https://youtu.be/Ht8WVgaEzaE