Volume 1: Alpha-03, Chapter 1.5

Ever since I let the little alien out of its tank, it seemed to be growing larger; originally it was the size of a softball, but now it was the size of a bowling ball. With its increased size came some changes in its form too; it added three more translucent silver veils on top, while the original two moved down more and turned white and seemed to condense into more arm-like appendages with two nubs for fingers on the end. The alien was still mostly orb-like with a few dozen black tentacles all over, but now it seemed to be developing a gray little face; it now had two eyes, and whatever mouth it had originally moved below the eyes where a nose should be. Inside its mouth it didn’t really have teeth, but a kind of turtle beak hidden behind cute little black lips that had the ability to smile.

The little alien clung to me constantly, always wanting to be on my arm or shoulder now. It wrapped a few dozen tentacles around me while I moved around to keep it in place. I still put the food in the tank, and occasionally it would leave me to eat, but mostly it would just grab at the food before I could even get it into the tank, wanting me to feed it directly.

I’d been taking care of the alien for about two weeks now, and while I’d had no problem keeping it a secret so far, I wasn’t sure what would happen if it kept growing. Would it end up as big as a dog? A human? What if it ended up as large as the Alien Queen? It only seemed to eat at random, so that didn’t seem to contribute much to its increase in size. I wondered if it was like those lizards that grew according to their environment. If I took it outside, would it end up with another growth spurt? Better not risk it.

My grandparents were none the wiser but seemed incredibly happy with my improved mood. Everyone was cautiously optimistic so far; I’d had a pretty manic episode a few months back before I crashed again, so my grandparents and therapist were keeping an eye on me to see if I was actually improving or if I would rubber-band back. But I really did feel so much better; I was finally getting some good sleep, I was plenty distracted so I didn’t see the scene in my head as often. This little alien was doing more to improve my mental health than any kind of treatment so far.

I spent a huge amount of time in my room with the alien, sometimes just watching TV or playing video games, and the alien seemed to enjoy watching the screen. But I knew I needed to put plenty of facetime in with the grandparents so they wouldn’t get suspicious, so I had to leave the alien alone in my room quite often. I still had no idea how much it understood my words, but I was able to appropriately convey the need for it to stay in the room and remain a secret.

“Stay.” I commanded gently, gesturing with my hands down to the ground. The little alien trilled in response and lowered its tentacles to the floor.

Even though Gramps never asked, I liked helping out around the farm here and there. Before I started taking care of the alien, doing chores helped keep my mind preoccupied, but now I just wanted to repay my grandfather’s kindness. My parents died in some massive car accident when I was only five years old, so I grew up on my grandparents’ farm, and they welcomed me back home without hesitation after my breakdown—actually they

demanded

I come back home; wouldn’t take no for an answer.

Part of me felt guilty I was keeping the alien secret from them since I was sure I was putting them somewhat at risk with the government. Eventually the hammer would drop and I’d probably have to either run away or find some permanent way to hide the alien. I sometimes wondered if I told my grandparents about the alien if they would be able to help in some way. They were already providing it food, but maybe there was something we could figure out together how we could keep the alien safe and secret for the long run.

In the end, I decided to just wait and see how it all unfolded—see if the alien would keep growing and need to change my plans at that point. I hung out with Gramps around the farm and we went hunting through the woods occasionally, and then I spent a little bit of time on the couch with Gram before I would head back up to my alien.

And so the days continued in that peaceful cycle, and I would surely be fine for them to stay that way forever.

***

I’d been taking care of the alien for three weeks now, and it’d gone through another drastic growth spurt to the point I wasn’t sure how long I could keep it secret. Now the alien was about the size of a toddler and its shape had become much more humanoid. It stood on two spindly little white legs that didn’t seem to have any bones, more like solid tentacle limbs. Its body was rather plain, draped around it several black squid-veils that somehow looked like a little dress. Its arms had a more solid shape now and matched its little legs; it had three tiny nubs for fingers with a little thumb that was more in the middle of its hand rather than to the side, and it had tiny black nails against the pure white flesh. Its head was the right size for a toddler too, still with those two glowing yellow eyes, it grew in a cute little button nose, and its mouth seemed more normal now too, with cute puffy black lips. Its teeth were a little strange; it had buck teeth that seemed like wide incisors, with big canine fangs on either side, and then sharp looking molars behind that. It had a long nearly black tongue it liked to snap out like a frog to snatch up food in a playful way. On top of its head there was a black jellyfish bell that almost looked like a beanie, with black tentacles coming out around the back as though it had hair under its hat down to its ankles. It had a few of those translucent silver veils around the jellyfish bell that draped around its shoulders and back.

Overall, it’d changed to be a lot more white than black, with its main body and skin being pure white, while its weird flesh-dress was black, along with the hat and all its tentacles.

The alien was growing up to be quite adorable, and it still played with me gently and wanted attention constantly. It had gotten quite clingy, and anytime I played with it, the little alien let out that musical trilling noise. It sounded a little more defined now, but it still seemed like a weird bird-like fish-song mix. It was really pretty though.

Unfortunately, while it was growing it seemed to be getting a little more unruly; when I would go downstairs now to spend time with my grandparents, it would sometimes throw little tantrums and stomp its tiny little feet-nubs. While adorable, I tried to convey how important it was for the alien to stay a secret, and after a couple minutes of stomping around, it would eventually relent and rush over to give my leg a quick hug before flopping onto my bed to watch TV.

I headed downstairs to have dinner with my grandparents. Once we were all seated and digging into meatloaf, Gramps looked at me with an amused grin, “You’re gonna choke it you don’t slow down.” He chuckled.

I swallowed a big bite and smiled sheepishly, “Sorry, you know I love Gram’s meatloaf.”

My grandmother nodded as though I’d just stated a fact, “Naturally, my meatloaf’s amazing.”

“You know…” Gramps started tentatively, “I was gonna head into town tomorrow, gotta get the parts to fix the barn heater before it gets too cold out. Wanna come with?” He asked. It was the first time he was asking me if I wanted to join him with an errand or chore; he probably thought I was doing well enough now it would be okay to ask.

I smiled brightly, “Sure, I don’t have anything else going on.” His responding smile was twice as brilliant.

Dinner was a calming affair, but I was more than eager to return to my alien before it could cause any trouble. I cleared the table and rinsed off the dishes with practiced haste when I heard my grandmother’s shriek from the den.

“What the hell is that thing!?” Gram shouted.

My stomach knotted up and froze as I rushed to the den to see my grandparents staring up in horror as the little alien stood on the stairs, gazing down at them with its head cocked to the side and a curious expression on its face.

Fuck

!

I raced over to the stairs to stand before my little alien. I held my hands up haltingly, “Guys, just calm down, it’s not dangerous at all, I promise.”

My grandmother fell to the couch as though she would faint, while my grandfather’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head, “You know what that thing is!?” He demanded.

I took a step forward, “Just let me explain—” I stopped as I felt a little alien hand on my pants and turned, seeing the brilliant, golf ball sized eyes on the alien’s face wide with fear and confusion. It started shivering again—something it hadn’t done in a week now. I quickly picked the alien up in my arms and it nuzzled its face into my neck as it wrapped almost all its tentacles around me for support.

“Gramps, Gram, seriously it’s okay—I promise everything will be alright. Just calm down and keep your voices down, you’re scaring it.” I insisted. The color had drained from both of their faces as my grandparents looked at me with horrified surprise, but they trusted me enough to hear me out. Slowly, my grandfather nodded.

I let out a weary sigh and headed into the den, preparing to explain to my grandparents about the alien I’d been taking care of over the last few weeks.

***

“So I’ve just been feeding it whatever. It prefers meat, really likes eggs, tolerates some fruits and veggies, and absolutely

loves

chocolate.” I told my grandparents, sitting around in the den like we were having a

normal

conversation.

Pretty sure normal flew out the window the second I found the alien though.

The alien was still clinging to me with its tentacles wrapped around my arms and chest, but it calmed down and stopped shivering. I sat in the recliner across from them on the couch, with a lazy Charlie sleeping quite soundly on the floor between us all.

Gramps chuckled and shook his head, “That explains all the extra food you’ve been taking I guess.” He nudged my grandmother with an elbow, “Told you it wasn’t the munchies.”

God bless him, nothing much phased him. My high-strung grandmother was a little different though. “

Johnathon

! This isn’t something to joke about, what if the creature carries some kind of contagion? We could all end up sick!”

“I had a physical and got some blood work done; got a clean bill of health.”

Gram eyed me flatly, “Like a regular doctor can check for alien illnesses.”

Gramps shrugged, “It’s been living here for three weeks now, no one’s been sick yet.”

I turned the alien so my grandparents could see its face, “And see how cute it is? Big ol’ eyes always staring up at me when it wants attention. How could I say no to this face?”

Realization dawned on Gramp’s face, “Is that why you’ve been in such a good mood? Taking care of the little critter?”

My grandmother huffed out a sigh, “It’s that damn racoon all over again.”

I chuckled at that, “A

little

different.”

Gramps smiled brightly, “Best therapy you could ask for. I say good on you for taking care of the sweet little thing.”

Gram shook her head slowly, “And just like the racoon, you encourage him…”

I sighed, “What would you have me do? It was so small and weak when it first crashed down, and now I’ve grown so attached to it, I can’t imagine letting it go.”

Gramps crossed his arms, “Grown so attached, you haven’t even named it yet—keep calling it an

it

, that ain’t right, boy.”

I shrugged, “It keeps changing form, I’m not sure what kind of name would fit. Started off the size of a softball and little more than a mess of tentacles and one eye, then it grew bigger and added a few more limbs, and now we’ve got this almost toddler form. Who knows how it’ll end up?”

“Big as a house, just our luck.” Gram grumbled.

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Gramps nodded along, “Seems like it’s trying to look more human—either to fit in or maybe just imitating you. I’d bet it’ll end up being person-shaped in the end, maybe even look exactly like a person—fits in to whatever planet takes care of it.”

I looked skeptically at my grandfather, “And where the hell are you coming up with that information? Seen many aliens in your day?”

Gramps shrugged, “Not much all we can do except speculate over this whole thing—might be miles off base even.” He nodded at the little critter clinging to me, “But this isn’t like those other animals you took home, no expert advice or opinions available to see how best to take care of the thing. I have no idea how many other aliens might’ve crash landed on earth over the years the government’s kept secret, but this very well might be the first extraterrestrial to come to our planet—first contact sort of deal.” He heaved out a deep breath, “This could be a turning point in humanity’s history, you realize that yet?”

I just shrugged, “Like I said, what else could I do?”

Gramps smiled kindly, “Just keep taking care of the little thing, we’ll all keep it secret from the government—Lord even knows what they’d do to it, nothing kind I’m sure.” He got up and knelt in front of me to look at the alien, and it turned its head slightly to fix one big eye on him, watching cautiously, “Really is cute—sweet little thing.” He looked up at me, “Time for a real name, I reckon.”

I sighed and turned the alien to look up and me, those adorable orbs glowing up at me sweetly, “Any suggestions?”

Gramps shrugged, “You found the damn thing, ain’t you got an idea yet?”

My grandmother huffed out an irritated sigh, “For goodness’ sake, enough of the ‘

it’

and ‘

thing’

, the poor dear is wearing a dress; clearly, it’s a girl—a

she

.”

I pulled the alien a little farther from me so I could see more of its face; sure, it did look feminine with its eyes and lips, the long hair, but the dress wasn’t really a dress—part of its body or something. But maybe it was imitating a dress? It watched enough TV with me to learn a bit about humanity now.

“You think?”

Gramps stood up and tapped at his chin, “How about…Eve? Then we got Adam and Eve.” He said cheerfully.

I shrugged, “Not like I have any better ideas.” I looked back down at the alien who was watching me with a surprisingly serious expression, “What do you think? You like the name Eve?”

The little alien—

she

tilted her head to the side as she considered my words.

“Eve. Your name is Eve now, okay?” I said gently.

For a few more seconds, Eve looked at me with that questioning gaze, then she smiled brightly and made that musical trilling noise, then buried her head in my chest, snuggling into it affectionately.

“My word, she likes it!” My grandpa cheered.

“Okay, I’ll admit, she’s

really

adorable.” Gram relented.

While I found the whole thing cute, I had no delusions to think I wasn’t endangering my grandparents now—to what degree, I had no idea. But I was sure the government would punish them as much as me for harboring the alien. “Now seriously, what should we do from here? They’ve already been snooping around the property, there’s no way they won’t be a little suspicious something might’ve come from that space rock.”

Gramps sat back down on the couch, “Well I’m not handing her off to the government so they can run a million experiments on her, that’s for damn sure.”

My grandmother shrugged, “We’ve just gotta keep her secret like you have been, keep her in the house so their spy satellites don’t pick her up.”

Gramps nodded along, “No telling how suspicious the government actually is over the whole deal; if she really is the very first alien ever to come to earth, why would they expect anything to have come out of that space rock she arrived in?”

“That would definitely work in our favor, but for all we know she’s got family already locked up in Area 51.” I reasoned.

Gram swatted a hand in my direction, “Adam don’t say that you’ll upset the poor dear.”

“We’re her family; we’ll take care of her from now on.” My grandfather confirmed.

I couldn’t help but smile, “We’re really doing this, raising an alien in secret, keeping her safe and hidden from the government?”

“

Fuck

the government.” Gramps barked.

We all ended up laughing at that, crazy as it was. Honestly, thinking about it, we’d found ourselves in an absolutely

insane

situation—yet we were handling it like it was so completely normal, like it was just an injured animal we found and gave a home. There were so many possible ramifications to the whole ordeal—alien life crashed down on earth, and we kind of just glossed over it. We weren’t alone in the universe, and this cute little thing could’ve been first contact with our entire species. History might be changing in our little farmhouse den, but we were all fine with just keeping little Eve safe and secret. Maybe because she was so gentle and cute, maybe because she hadn’t crashed down in some sophisticated spacecraft, it was like we didn’t even consider how much our lives changed in that moment.

Over the next few hours, Gramps and Gram tried to get Eve to open up to them with gentle words of encouragement and no small amount of chocolate bribery. And as the cute little alien finally grew to accept their presence, it was obvious our little family had just grown in size—and we’d do

anything

to protect it.