Secrets, Lies and Dragonflies

Chapter 50

Careful to contain my excitement, I discreetly scan the area. "Christina?" I whisper.

"The one and only," she giggles. She can't be more than a few feet away. "Don't move. We're coming for you."

"Where are you?"

Suddenly out of thin air, she materializes right in front of me. "Hello." Her brows tease with delight.

"What the..."

"I know! Pretty cool, huh? Watch this." Wearing a patch quilt cloak, she pulls the hood over her head and vanishes again.

"How did you....?"

I hear her sigh. "As much as it pains me, I'm not supposed to waste any time showing off the new addition to my wardrobe." She reappears as soon as she removes the hooded cloak again. Too immersed in the Invader battle, no one else around seems to notice her little Houdini trick. "I'll tell you all about it when we get back," she says, while folding the garment then rolling it into the shape of a narrow tube. She takes both ends and holds them taut. In seconds, the material mutates. Now a wooden stick, she slides it into the sheath hanging from her hip. "You got your fill of this place yet? Think it's adios time?"

"Absolutely. But how? This place is crawling with those Invaders."

She's eyeing the two story garage door at the far opposite end of the hanger. From our balcony vantage point, we can easily watch as the door slowly slides open. The belligerent shouting around the fight club scene and thumping music are masking the chaos erupting from panicked Invaders by the door. Now wide enough for a small jet to drive through, projectiles are bursting through the opening and raining down on the creatures. There must be a dozen archers outside.

"That's our cue," says Christina. She glances back at the buffet table and the side door opens. 

With Rebecca in tow, Shannon rushes over and pauses as if it's impolite to interject, even when manners are the last thing we should be worried about. "Are ya'll ready?"

"Si amiga!" Christina says.

Placing her hand on Shannon's shoulder, Rebecca says, "Now think of them and play like we practiced. They will come to you."

Shannon nods and pulls a carved stick out of a casing from her lower leg. When she puts it to her lips, a wooden flute forms. A soft, barely audible melody fills the air.

In the distance far beyond the chasm of the wide open doors, I spot a murky cloud moving in our direction. "Something's coming at us, guys," I warn. Arrows bounce off the scorpion shell of Goader; one lands in the corner of Trigger's jawline. Black soot gushes from the wound.

Shannon smiles. "It's okay. I called for them. They're coming to help with our extraction."

I glance over at the birthday woman and Fred and all the others tricked into eating moldy food. "We can't leave without these people."

"Have no fear. Their rides are here!" Christina throws her fist in the air, then grabs my hand and we weave between the Targets and projections seated in the balcony all around us. "Ladies and gentleman. Some of you have been promised success, fame and fortune from these parasites. Some of you have been told you're not good enough. We're here to tell you: Don't be a chump! You know deep down, they're peddling lies. Come with us if you're done being conned." Some people from the balcony are starting to follow us. She tells me, "You're supposed to keep your eyes out for any of those creepy Invaders while we get as many Targets as we can. Oh, and we have strict orders to evacuate you ASAP."

In moments, the hangar is infiltrated with swarms of dragonflies. They are enormous. And they're the real deal; not some hack job. With iridescent eyes in shades of neon blues and greens and yellows, I'm thrilled they're not black. Wings span wider than some of the jets outside.  They zig and zag and zip erratically overhead.