Chapter 4: The Alien Hunter

Heidi and Beau meet a man named Edward Price who has spent half his life searching for the alien life he believes fell in Hidden the night of the meteor.

Edward Price looks like he could be in his late sixties. He is overweight and bald with bags under his eyes. He looks...worn. Although I've never met him I know that he lives alone. He's never been married and has no children. He's gotten plenty of marriage proposals from fellow alien fanatics, but he's chosen to devote his life to finding the alien he believes escaped from the Hidden meteor. The effect it's had is obvious. At thirty he looks tired and old.

Edward agreed to meet Beau and I in a tiny cafe in Hidden. It's easy to spot him. With his greasy, torn clothes and long, dirty salt and pepper beard, he looks like a homeless man. He's already ordered three hot chocolates, one for himself and two for us, and is sipping his at a window table. We sit down across from him on the opposite side of the table. We are the only customers in the cafe. Even with just us the compact area feels tight and claustrophobic. I am tempted to run out of the building, but not before I get my answers. I wasn't really doing this for our school project, like I'd told Beau and my parents I was. I was doing it to satisfy my curiosity.

“You are Edward Price?” I ask cautiously. He nods his head once in answer. “I'm Heidi Stewart, and this is friend Beau Ewans.” I motion towards my silent, skeptical friend. He looks even more hesitant than I feel. Edward just nods again and sips his drink. “We're doing a project on the meteor that fell in Hidden, and we were hoping that maybe you could help us by sharing what you know.” I say to break the ice and clarify that we aren't here for small talk. He nods a third time. “I figured.” he said in a wheezy voice. “When people contact me it's usually inquiries about the event. And let me begin by telling you that it wasn’t a meteor that fell that night, it was a UFO.”

“The government swore it was a meteor.” Beau interrupted him. Edward glared at him. “So you're one of those, are you? The science and reason type. You think everything can be explained by logic. It's people like you that make me sick. You're so close minded you won't even give any other version of the truth a chance. You've already made up your mind.”

“Beau,” I warn him. “We came here to listen, not to judge or refute what Mr. Price says. Please, just keep quiet and let him tell his story.” Beau grimaces at me but makes a motion of zipping his lips and throwing away the key, an indication he will be quiet.

“I was fifteen years old at the time.” Edward begins. “My friends and I were sort of juvenile delinquents. We loved to push boundaries and stir up all kinds of trouble. The night it occurred we were smoking pot in an empty field just outside of town. That's when we were blinded by a flash of light and defeated by a high pitched keening sound that's...well, hard to explain. It was like nails on a chalkboard only much, much, much louder. We went to investigate the wreckage. We were the first ones there, and we saw what appeared to be a triangular space ship made out of some kind of metal. My friends dared me to touch it, and when I did it started glowing. My whole body grew warm and these strange symbols raced across my vision. It was too fast for me to really catch them, but they weren't familiar. They didn’t look like any language I'd ever seen before.

“When I pulled my hand away the space ship opened into three parts. Inside there was a baby. It looked almost human, and it was butt naked, but when it opened it's eyes they were a bright, piercing yellow. It was the spookiest thing I ever saw. I bent down to get a better look. The thing stood up and started walking. It reached out to touch me, and, foolishly, I closed the gap between us. Our hands pressed against each other and when our skin made contact I turned cold. Very, very cold. The creature took off running into the trees a few feet away. I started to follow it but I must have blacked out somehow because the next thing I knew I was waking up in my bed.”

“Wait a minute, if you blacked out then how do you know it wasn't just some crazy dream?” Beau demanded. “How do you know it was real? That it really happened?”

“Because of my gift.” Edward answered, confusing both Beau and me. “Your gift?” I asked. Edward nodded solemnly. After my encounter with the creature I developed psychic abilities. I found I could read people's minds and move objects with sheer willpower.”

“Why should we believe anything you say? You're obviously out of your mind if you want us to swallow that story. Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t doubt everything you just said.” Beau argued. I looked at him and say “Because it's true Beau. He's not lying.”

Edward gasps. “You like me.” he says. “You've got the powers too. Did you come in contact with the creature like me?” He asks excitedly. I shake my head. “Sorry, I wasn't even born when it happened.” I tell him. He looks disappointed. “Maybe your momma was exposed to it when you were in her belly?” He suggests. I shake my head again. “I was adopted, I don't know anything about my biological parents.”

“Then how'd you end up with powers?” He demands, frustration clear in his voice and his expression. I shrug. “I wish I knew, believe me, but I don't. It's something I've always had.”

“Does your friend here know?” he asks me, nodding towards Beau. “Yeah, he knows.” I say. Beau grimaces at me. He doesn't like being talked about as though he's not there. “So you believe in psychic powers but you don't believe in aliens?” Edward asks with narrowed eyes. Beau just sips is hot chocolate. “I have proof of Heidi's abilities. Show me proof of the existence of aliens and maybe I'll believe you.”

“What do you think I've been working on for the past fifteen years?” Edward demanded, his hands balling into fists. I sighed, angry with Beau for upsetting Edward. I started to tell him to shut it but he exploded. “You've wasted half your life chasing after something that probably doesn't even exist. What's it given you? You're alone, living in a s****y trailer, looking like you're about forty years older than your actual age. What have you contributed to society? Nothing. That's what. You're a complete waste of space. Why don't you do something productive with your life? Move on, for Christ sakes. Haven't you wasted enough time?”

“You want to know why I haven’t moved on? People have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in me. If I stop now I'm gonna owe a whole lot of people a whole lot of money. Money I can't pay back. I don't have a job, which means I don't have a regular income. I'm living off of donation. But it's all going to be worth it. As soon as I catch that alien I'm going to torture it and then lock it in a cage and have people pay to come and see it. Once and for all I will prove to people like you” he says to Beau “that aliens do exist.”

“It's more than that.” I say suddenly, confident in my assertion. “It's personal for you.”

“That blasted creature cursed me.” Edward grumbles bitterly. “I never asked to be like this. I mean, yeah, I'll be the first to admit it's intriguing to be able to read others thoughts and all that, but you tend to hear a lot of things you're not meant to. I found I could no longer make any kind of real connection with anyone. Every bad thought they had about me I heard. I began to resent people for their thoughts. They couldn't understand my anger because they didn't know that I could hear them. It just wasn't worth it to have relationships. I'm not a forgiving type.”

“You know what, I think I've heard enough. I'm not doing our school project on aliens. Let's get out of here Heidi.” Beau grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet with him. I apologize to Edward with my eyes. He hands me a small slip of paper. “My card.” he explains. “If you want to know more, or if you have any information on the creature, feel free to contact me.”

“You know he's crazy Heidi.” Beau says as soon as we're outside. I shake my head. “He has psychic powers like me. Obviously something happened to him to cause that.” I say. Beau sighs in frustration. “You really think it was aliens?” he demands. I shrug. “I don't know.” I say honestly. “Maybe he's not as crazy as you think.”