I listened intently as Xynar went over his initial plan, detailing where exactly he had landed his spaceship and how we were going to get him to it.

As he spoke, I found myself captivated by his presence.  There was something undeniably compelling about him - perhaps it was the intensity of his gaze or the smooth, confident cadence of his voice that enveloped me completely. His form was surprisingly appealing; his eyes burned with passion, and his voice flowed smoothly.

You could spend the whole day listening to him without getting tired. I couldn't resist smiling. It almost reminded me of my boyfriend when he gets caught up talking about his own passions.

"...and then, I'll quickly start the ship while you also run back home." he concluded. "I feel like it will be a mutually winning situation." he added proudly, folding his arms across his chest with a nod of satisfaction.

I was nodding along, but as his words echoed in my mind, I caught myself.

I didn't catch most of what he said. I almost felt embarrassed to ask him to repeat himself. I had thought I was following along, yet it seemed I had gotten distracted. The distraction wasn't significant, yet it managed to throw me off track completely.

"Uhm..." I started, hesitating as I tried to gather my thoughts.

"What is wrong?"

"Can you please go over the plan one more time?" I felt my cheeks heating up hoping he wouldn't ask any further, sparing me the discomfort of admitting my lapse in concentration.

"Why? Did you not understand the first time?" His tone was not unkind, but it carried a hint of surprise.

"No, it's not that. I just didn't understand," I replied, avoiding eye contact, hoping he would simply explain without asking too many questions.

He watched me intently, and it became increasingly uncomfortable as I struggled to maintain eye contact. My heart began to beat faster, and my cheeks flushed even hotter. This time, however, the warmth spreading across my face wasn't just from embarrassment.

Why is this happening please stop.

It was as if he had a moment of realization, causing him to furrow his brows in confusion. He shook his head dismissively. "Pay attention this time."

I nodded.

"To summarise all that I have said before," he began. "I suggest we go to the ship now. I can only turn both of us invisible for 5 minutes. Then it wears off, and there's a cooldown time of 7 minutes before we can use it again."

"You can turn invisible?" I asked, slightly surprised. Despite all the strange things I had already seen, this new revelation caught me off guard. "Okay, I shouldn't be shocked, actually. But why the limitation? And why didn't we turn invisible when you were bringing back Ria?"

"I am glad to see you are actually paying attention this time. But there is no time to explain the irrelevant in detail."

"How is turning invisible irrelevant?" I pressed, this time in total disbelief.

"Because it is normal where I come from." He said briefly as though that settled the matter. "Now let us go. I will explain the rest of the plan when we get there." he continued, starting to walk in the opposite direction of my neighbourhood.

I hesitated for a moment, glancing towards the familiar path that would take me home. I pulled out my phone out to check the time. It was still early, if I could manage to finish this before the time my parents get home then everything will be okay. With a deep breath, I steeled myself for what was to come, slid my phone back into my pocket, and hurried to catch up with Xynar.

.

As we continued walking for nearly 20 minutes, I realized we were heading in the direction my parents take when we visit my aunt, who lives about two hours away by car. Despite the familiarity of the area, I couldn't shake off the nervousness creeping in.

The walk was quiet yet oddly comforting. As he strode beside me, I couldn't shake the feeling of awe at the realization that he wasn't human at all. Every movement he made seemed so effortless and natural, especially after his transformation into the textbook guy. From the way he walked to the way he spoke, it all seemed perfectly ordinary for him.

It was suspicious.

Though it's quite a chilling thought, isn't it? The idea that there might be beings among us, seamlessly blending in as if they were one of us. It makes you wonder how many secrets the world truly holds beneath its surface.

"So is there more of you?" I asked Xynar suddenly, curiosity getting the better of me as we walked.

He remained silent, his pace steady and uninterrupted, as if he hadn't heard me.

"Xynar," I called out to him again, frustrated by his apparent disregard. I was sure I had spoken loudly enough the first time.

I noticed an annoyed expression forming on his face as he continued walking, seemingly ignoring my question.

"Xynar," I repeated, this time coming to a stop. He took a few more steps before he also halted, but he didn't turn back to face me. Instead, he stood rigid, his arms folding across his chest, a clear barrier to further discussion.

So there I stood, gazing at his back, bewildered by his sudden attitude. Furrowing my brows, I was taken aback. "Xy-"

"What?" he interrupted sharply. His arms remained firmly crossed, his posture stiff, and he still faced away from me, clearly uninterested in engaging.

"I asked a question," I exclaimed as I walked towards him.

"I would appreciate if you do not ask such." He replied coolly, finally turning to look at me

"Why not?"

"I would appreciate if you do not ask that either." He stated flatly, his tone final, shutting down any further inquiries on the subject.

I was left speechless and slightly confused. What's happening right now? We were literally fine a few minutes ago and he's just turned all cold and blunt.

His sudden change in demeanor left me at a loss for words. If he was trying to be intimidating, it was working. Despite my confusion, an instinct inside me told me to cease asking him questions.

"Can we continue?" Xynar calmly asked, his arms still folded as he faced forward. I remained silent for a moment, my doubts growing stronger with each passing second.

Should we continue? What's with the sudden switch up? I was only trying to make a conversation with my question. I internally sighed.

In and out. That's all I'll do. Then I will never see him again after getting this issue over and done with.

Since I didn't answer he then continued walking with his hands in his pocket. As though he knew that I would follow.

Which I obviously did.

It appeared that several people wearing black with dark sunglasses were causing commotion from a distance. They seemed to be putting up what looked like a barrier, perhaps trying to contain something else?

We were by a sidewalk, near a busy road, a bit far from my neighbourhood. To the far right of that was an open ground space where there usually would be endless spikes of brown grass, rocks here and there and cell towers beyond that.

But this time I couldn't see all that. Instead there were several tents and I couldn't see past that because of the fence that they had already put up. The fence was wired and covered up with some fabric so as to not see the other side, which added to the mystery of what was happening beyond it.

"My ship is further over there." Xynar said as he pointed to that very area.

How would we get over there without being noticed?

Xynar turned to face me. "They must have found it already"

You think?

"So what do we do now?" I asked him as I looked over the area. We were at a distance, so they couldn't see us yet. I hoped.

"Like I said, we stick to the plan. As we walk towards their base, I will turn us both invisible. But we have to then run. Fast. For it only lasts 5 minutes." He said as he looked over the base.

"About the limi-" I tried asking.

"I hope they do not notice me" He then said with a worried look on his face.

"Notice you?" I asked while furrowing my brows. I was about to ask why he cut me off when I wanted to ask about the limitations to him turning invisible but now why would he think he would be noticed?

"Yes."

"What do you mean, why would they notice you?"

"Long story." He dismissed.

What?

His eyes turned that horrible black colour again and he looked over to me. I swear if I could run away, I would. Those eyes scare me.

"Are you ready?"