Living Next Door to Alex - 1. Living Next Door to Alex

I fumbled my vibrating phone out of my bra and answered cheerfully, still high on adrenalin from coming off stage. “Sally, hi, honey. What can I do for you, sweetie?”

“Listen, I haven’t got long and I can’t afford to be caught. I’ve been trying you for ages. Where have you been? It’s only three in the afternoon.” Sally’s voice sounded scared and breathless. I opened my mouth to tell her I had just finished a dress rehearsal and to ask what was happening, but she continued in a rush. “You have to get away, both of you. I’ve just been made part of a team going out to bring in a newly discovered subject. One that has been living right under our noses for years. They have the right address. You need to get going. We will be there within five hours.” There was a knocking sound from Sally’s end and a voice calling out that they would be landing soon. “Be out in a minute,” I heard Sally call out. “Get gone now.” And with those words the line went dead.

After a moment of shock, I turned and ran. “Where’s Alice?” I called out to a group of stage hands.

“I saw her heading for the dressing rooms,” one answered.

I hung a left and nearly knocked down a queen coming the other way. “Look where you’re going, bitch,” she snarled. I gave her the finger and carried on running.

Sally had been working for the government for ten years. She had been transferred to one of the secret agencies and kept her ear to the ground to protect Alice and me.

I burst into the dressing room trying to catch my breath and talk at the same time.

“Need…to…go…now…danger…to you…Sally called…”

Alice took my shoulder and gave me a good shake, then pushed me down into the chair in front of my dressing table.

“What’s going on? Simone, take a deep breath and start again. Sally called and said what?”

I finally managed to settle my breathing down enough to get complete sentences out, although I was still talking a mile a minute. “Sally called and said she’s part of a team being sent to bring you in as a new subject. They know you’ve been here for years, and they have your address. We need to get out of here. Are you ready to leave yet or are you still waiting for that part?”

I turned to remove my wig and grab a handful of wipes to remove the makeup caked on my face.

“I have the part, I just need to fit it and we’re good to go,” Alice said, making me look at her in the mirror.

As she spoke, she had stripped, and I watched a blue glow surround her. When it cleared, Alice had been replaced by Alex and he grinned at me. I tried to tell myself not to stare, but he really was stunning as man or woman.

“Are you going to change or just sit there staring? I thought we were in a hurry.”

I poked my tongue out at him and finished peeling off my costume. The clingy blue sequined mini was one of my favorites, especially with the matching heels. I hung it up and pulled on my street clothes. When I looked in the mirror this time, I was once again plain old Simon. Short untidy brown hair, dull grey eyes, and skinny frame. Next to Alex with his long blond hair braided down to his perfect ass, well…

“Come on,” I sighed. “Let’s get going.”

We got out to the parking lot without getting stopped. “Where are we heading?” I asked, revving the engine of my trusty blue mini.

“Go north on third street, then west on fifth. I’ve got a safe place on Sweetheart Avenue.”

“How will that help us? If we hide out there, we’ll still need to get home somehow, and I can’t see them giving up and not leaving someone to watch our places.”

“Don’t worry. You just get us there and I’ll take care of the rest.”

Rolling my eyes, I hit the gas. My little car chugged a bit before taking off in a puff of smoke.

It took over an hour to get through late afternoon traffic. Alex jumped out the car as soon as we arrived before I’d even turned the engine off. From the outside, the house looked normal, but I’d known Alex most of my life. He didn’t do normal.

True to form when we walked through the front door, a voice sounded immediately. “Welcome, Master Simon, Master Alex. What are your requirements for today?”

I looked around carefully and saw a camera in the far-right corner of the hallway. A screen flickered to life and a twin of Alex appeared on it.

Alex started speaking fast. “Start process Alpha-Alpha-Beta-One-Three. Activate final rest protocols as soon we have departed.”

The Alex on the screen nodded. “Instructions accepted. Initializing process in five, four, three…”

Alex pulled me over to a doorway, and as soon as the countdown ended, our surroundings blurred making me yelp in surprise. After a dizzy few seconds that felt like an eternity, the air cleared and we were left standing in Alex’s living room. I looked around, then turned to Alex in confusion. “If you wanted to come home, why didn’t we just drive straight here? That other place was over an hour out of our way.”

Alex moved calmly around the room as he answered me. “And what if they’d been waiting for us here? By transporting straight into this room, we can’t be seen from outside. If they’ve got my name and this address, then they know where I work. They may have followed us from the club. If they did, they are now waiting outside an empty—soon to be burned down—house. Even if they try…”

“What!” I interrupted. “Burned down? What about the neighbors? Someone could get hurt—”

“Calm down. You know me better than that. I may not be human, but I still don’t want to hurt anyone if I don’t have to. Especially innocents. The house is set to burn from a center point. When it reaches the outside walls, a fire suppression system will activate and stop the fire escaping the confines of the house. The suppression system will then self-destruct, leaving no technology for your government to find. Does that answer all your questions? Because I thought we were in a hurry.”

I glared at him for a moment before giving a jerky nod. He moved over to a wall and slapped his hand on a hidden panel. A hum echoed through the room and the bookcase on the opposite wall glowed then disappeared to reveal a doorway.

I’d been five when I first saw that happen, and I’d thought it was magic. It was twenty-four years ago and I’d kicked my ball over the fence into my neighbor’s garden. I’d thought the house was abandoned, but as I’d passed an open window, I’d seen a boy that looked to be my age. Being a very curious child, I’d climbed in the window and followed him as he moved to a different room. I turned into the room just in time to see the bookcase disappear and I’d stood there with my mouth hanging open watching him step through the opening.

I’d pulled myself together enough to follow him and had got an entirely new kind of shock.

“Simon.” Alex’s tone was annoyed, and it was obviously not the first time he’d called my name.

I snapped back to the present and shook my head to clear the memories away. “Sorry, I was reminded of the first time I followed you in here. It’s changed a lot over the years.”

“I suppose it has. Here, take these.” I took the stuff Alex shoved into my arms and finally looked at what Alex had been doing while he’d been talking and I was taking my trip down memory lane.

He’d gathered together cushions, clothes, and food—that he must have had stashed in the living room because he hadn’t left the room since we arrived. Rather than ask what he needed them for I followed him through the doorway.

I never failed to be amazed by the sight that greeted me. It was like stepping onto the set of an old sci-fi film. Lights flashed, seemingly randomly. There were buzzing noises and wires hung from the ceiling in messy coils. The whole room was made of a grey metal looking material. I kept expecting Tom Baker to appear and make some witty comment, with his colorful scarf trailing behind him.

Twenty-four years ago, I had made a deal with Alex. I would keep his secret as long as I was allowed to visit whenever I wanted. As the years went by, I’d taught him about the earth; our language, customs, even the way to move properly. In return, he’d told me about the planet he called home.

Apparently, his ship had collided with an asteroid and he’d had to make an emergency landing. Since he could change his shape at will and the first human he’d seen was me, he’d modeled his appearance on me, changing a few features, such as hair and eye color—and a few other improvements I always thought.

His planet didn’t have a name I could pronounce. Apparently, it was very cold there and his family had helped in inventing the technology they used to keep warm. There were all sorts of species there. It sounded amazing.

Over the years, he’d made sure he grew as I did, and at eighteen when I got a job at the club, I helped him forge enough papers so he could join me. We explained his sudden appearance by saying he was a relative of the previous owners and had inherited the house when they died.

I also helped him by finding sources for the parts he needed to fix his ship. Most stuff I found on online auction sites. Auto-shops had a few bits. And a few bits I even got from a kitchenware shop. It was surprising what uses a metal spoon could be put to.

Working on the ship was always a mixed experience for me. I loved learning new things. To learn about things that were from another planet? That was a dream come true. On the down side, every time we managed to fix something it took Alex closer to being able to go home, leaving me alone on Earth again.

Alex dropped his armful of stuff on the floor and moved over to a box sitting on a counter. I dropped what I was holding on the floor too and joined him.

“Can I help?” I asked quietly; I didn’t want to distract him if he needed to concentrate.

“Pass me the GKF.” He held out his hand and I picked up a tool that looked fairly similar to an earth spanner. It hadn’t taken me long to pick up the names of tools, children learn fast.

It took over an hour until Alex finally pushed himself out from under the counter he was working on. My phone rang and I answered in a rush when I saw it was Sally.

“What’s happening?” I asked, putting the phone on the speaker as Alex drew nearer.

“Where are you? I’m worried and I can’t find you. You said you were meeting me for dinner this evening, remember? Is this any way to treat your best friend? I endured hours on a plane because you said you wanted me to visit you.”

Alex stiffened beside me. Saying I was late for dinner was our code for the call was being listened in on; she must have the phone on speaker.

“Sally, dahling,” I drawled in my best queen voice. “You know I am never on time anywhere. I kind of got side tracked by this cute young thing. He thought my show was absolutely fabulous. I had to show my appreciation, now didn’t I? I could maybe meet you for dinner in about another two hours?” I hoped she had gotten all that. I’d told her I was with Alex and we needed at least another two hours.

“Two hours,” Sally shrieked, playing the stood up best-friend well. I held the phone a bit further away, her voice really could hit pitches only usually reached by dog whistles. “I have been waiting outside your place for over an hour already. You’d better get here ASAP.” They were an hour away from us and we needed to move quickly.

“Okay. Okay, keep your panties on.” I stifled a laugh as she growled, she hated me saying that. “I’ll be there soon. Just let me work out where I left my clothes, and I may need a shower”—I gave a dramatic sniff—“Yep, definitely need a shower. Unless you want me to come as I am?” I put on my best innocent voice. I could hear people talking in the background. With the enhancements Alex had made to our phones, the press of a button meant I could hear everything within a few meters around Sally. I rolled my eyes at the voices calling me a faggot, a slut, and even one calling me a bitch. More were telling Sally to keep me talking so they could trace the call—I scoffed at that one, as if Alex hadn’t already thought of that and put in counter measures. All our phones were untraceable, unhackable, and generally far above anything even the government had. Yet more voices were telling her to get me to agree to a meeting. They really did have a lot of idiots in the government.

“Just get home. Otherwise your mom may get home first and I can tell her what you got up to last weekend.” Get going soon, they were near the restaurant we’d gone to for dinner last weekend, and my mom would be in the line of fire if they got to her first. Thankfully she was out until late on my rehearsal afternoons, she had friends she met up with. It gave us some leeway, though not much.

“I’ll be there, don’t worry.”

The line went dead and I let out a long breath.

“Right, what else needs to be done to get you off home?” I asked, tamping down the hurt I’d been feeling more and more as the date of Alex’s departure got nearer.

“That depends on how much you have left to pack.” Alex had turned to fiddle with some levers making lights flash faster and a beeping start up. I stared at his back and tried to find my voice.

“Me? You want me to come with you?” My voice was shaking but I had to ask, I needed him to say he wanted me to go with him.

Alex turned to face me and frowned. “Of course I want you to come. Why wouldn’t I?”

“You’ve never asked me.”

“Why would I ask you. You told me twenty-four years ago that you weren’t leaving me, ever. Friends forever, remember?”

I stared at him, I knew my mouth was hanging open. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. He’d taken me at my word at five years old. I remembered that day, vaguely. We’d been playing in the garden and I’d tackled Alex to ground. After pinning his arms, I’d declared that he was mine now, and I was never leaving his side or letting him go anywhere without me. I think he said something in return and we’d both laughed before running off to continue our game.

“I, um, well. I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t you want to come with me?” I was appalled to see Alex actually looked close to tears. I’d only seen him upset once before, when he’d realized it was going to take years to complete the repairs with just the two of us—and me being a child at the time. Although, even he hadn’t realized it was going to take over twenty-four years. Life had happened, though, and okay, we probably should have worked on the ship more often instead of going out. But, I wanted to show Alex what earth life was like and, well, I didn’t want the ship to be fixed, because I thought that would mean him leaving me. Alex was everything I wanted in a friend, and when I’d realized I was gay, he’d become the standard I’d hold any man up to. Of course no one had ever reached the standard, and I was left wanting what I thought I couldn’t have. I’d never seen Alex with any other human, but he had also never made a move on me, even when I was sharing my sex-ed classes from school—I still cringed at that memory.

Now that I knew he wanted me to go with him… What would I be going as though? A friend? More?

I cleared my throat. “I would love to go with you. I would just like to know what I am going as. Am I just a friend or something more? I think it’s only fair that I tell you now that I want you as more than a friend and have for some time. You’ve never shown any interest in that, and I don’t know if I could leave with you and—” I kept my gaze in the floor— I didn’t want to see Alex’s reaction in case it wasn’t what I wanted it to be—and so I jumped when Alex lifted my chin up then yelped when he brushed a soft kiss over my lips.

“I want everything with you. You never showed any of the signs you’ve taught me, so I didn’t think you were interested in me in that way. I mean, I’m not human for a start. I’m used to different species; my planet welcomes everyone, but you’ve only ever known humans aside from me. I wasn’t sure what you’d be looking for in a partner. You have never lacked for company when we’ve gone out.”

I laughed at his last comment. “Who did I always go home with?” I asked the question gently, but I knew I had a smirk on my face and ducked just in time to miss the cushion he threw at me. “Anyway, I need to go pack up my room and you need to make sure everything is ready.”

I ran from the ship and, after a quick glance around, I slapped my palm to another hidden panel. A section of the wall between our two houses slid apart—that had been a busy day, installing the panel while my mom was at work. I stepped into my living room, and after the wall slid back, I ran for my room. I grabbed a few boxes from the hall closet on my way and soon I was throwing everything I could into them. I didn’t bother trying to be careful, and I only took what I thought I wouldn’t be able to live without. Clothes could be replaced, I remembered Alex talking about the markets on his planet—although, I did grab a few of my favorites. I grabbed photos and suddenly it hit me. I was leaving Earth. I would never see my friends or family again. There were only my mom and an aunt, but I loved them dearly. I finished packing on auto-pilot and started carting stuff downstairs. Once I had it all in front of the false wall, I took another look around the only home I had ever known. Could I really do this? Should I leave a note? What would I say?

Then I thought of Alex, I couldn’t let him leave without me. I felt it deep inside me, I needed him. I grabbed a pad of paper from beside the house phone and scribbled a few lines.

Mom,

Don’t worry about me, but I’ve decided to move away with Alex. I have to follow my heart, I love him.

I won’t be able to contact you, but please know I love you and I will be fine.

Take care of yourself and Aunt A.

Love Simon.

Yep, that would go down brilliantly.

I let out a long sigh and hoped fervently that Alex had thought of something better, he seemed to have thought of everything else. Checking my watch, I saw I had managed to get everything done in under the hour that Sally had given us.

I quickly went and propped the note against the coffee pot. Returning to the hallway, I slapped my hand on the panel and dropped what I was carrying when the wall slid back and showed the scene in Alex’s living room.

Three men were standing in the center of the room and one was holding Sally with an arm wrapped around her throat.

Alex was standing by the bookcase that led to the ship, thankfully the doorway was closed. I hoped no one had seen it.

I stepped through the opening when everyone’s attention snapped to me. The two men not holding Sally drew their guns and I quickly held both my hands up in the air.

“Where did you come from?” one man—I dubbed him bad guy one—demanded harshly.

I gave him what I hoped was a scornful look and shrugged. “Next door. Where else? Have you never seen an adjoining door before?” Okay maybe I was pushing my luck with the last comment, but they had my best friend by the neck and my hopefully soon to be boyfriend looked terrified. These jerks had no right to be in Alex’s house or to mistreat Sally. She’d always been good at her job in the government.

Bad guy two, who seemed to be in charge, stepped forward slightly. “Who are you and how do you know Mr. Jones?”

I cocked my head at the man. “You know there was a magic word missing off from your question. Didn’t your mother teach you no manners?”

Bad guy three tighten his grip on Sally causing her to groan in pain. “Answer the question and I won’t hurt the little girl here.”

I shook my head at him. “Man, I wouldn’t have called her that. She hates to be called little. And she will tell you she’s a woman, not a girl. The last time I called her a girl I was singing soprano for two whole days. I bet she will make you sing as well.”

I saw the realization dawn in Sally’s eyes as reason won over panic and she grinned. Before the man could react, she drove her elbow back into bad guy three’s stomach, stamped her high heel down on his instep, punched him in the nose as he doubled over, and of course, the best bit, she kneed him hard in the balls. He fell to the floor curled into the fetal position. He wasn’t moving anytime soon.

The other two jerks had turned to see what was happening, and I took advantage of their inattention. “Alex, move now.” I grabbed bad guy one, and after throwing one arm around his neck, I grabbed his gun arm with the other hand and slammed my foot into the back of his knees. He went down with a thud and bad guy two quickly followed with Alex sitting on top of him.

“Sally, grab the pot labeled thyme from the kitchen, would you?” Alex sounded out of breath but pleased with himself.

Sally hurried back with the pot, and Alex directed her to sprinkle the powder inside onto each of the bad guys' faces. One by one, they lost consciousness.

Alex helped me up and, after giving me a kiss on the cheek, he turned to Sally.

“What will happen to you now?” he asked.

Sally looked at the unconscious men. “I don’t know. There are records showing I was on this team. I’ll probably be held for questioning. I don’t know how they realized I was connected to you both. I was so thrilled to finally get put on a team instead of being left in the office sorting records that I didn’t question anything. I’m so stupid. Back-up won’t be far away, and they know I’m siding with you now. What am I going to do?”

“Come with us,” I said, surprising myself and, by the look on his face, Alex too.

“US?” Sally gasped.

I answered quickly. “Yes, us. I’m going with Alex. We could all go. The terrible trio stays together. The Galaxy won’t know what’s hit it.” This made her chuckle.

I turned to Alex. “She can come, can’t she?” Sally had no family to miss her and because her job had such long hours she had few friends, other than me and Alex. I’d met her at one of the clubs after parties. She'd had too much to drink and was crying on my shoulder about how she worked for the government, but her team didn’t take her seriously. I had laughed when she made me take an oath of silence before telling me she worked for a government agency that researched alien activity. Apparently, she’d been fascinated since she was a child.

She passed out not long after, and I’d taken her home with me to stop my boss calling the police to haul her away. We’d thought she was fast asleep when we were changing in my room, and so she’d seen Alice become Alex right in front of her. Once we’d calmed her down, she’d passed out again. The hope was that she might have forgotten in the morning, but of course she hadn’t. What had been surprising was how she’d tried to convince us we needed to get away as quickly as possible. She’d told us about the experiments she’d heard about, and how the subjects didn’t last very long once detained. She wanted to meet beings from other planets to learn about them, not to hurt them. But, once you were in a government agency there was no resigning. When we’d explained about Alex’s ship, she’d offered to help where she could and had even given us details of government technology in the hope Alex would know how to avoid detection long enough. Twelve years had only seen the friendship deepen between the three of us.

“Of course she can.” Alex said, shaking himself slightly. “Do you want to come?”

Sally blinked. “Me? Visit other planets? Hell yes!”

“Okay, I need to make some adjustments to a few things. As long as no one else was following your team, we will be ready to leave in an hour. Simon, go with her and get everything you can. I’ll move your stuff onto the ship.”

We parted ways, Sally and I used the bad guys’ SUV to rush to her nearby apartment. Sally was ruthless and managed to pack everything into three boxes and two suitcases. We loaded the car and headed back, arriving with ten minutes to spare.

The three men had been moved to a corner of the room. My stuff was gone and the wall was closed. Carrying the two suitcases, I struggled over to the bookcase and dropped one case to activate the door.

In the ship, Alex was bent over a console, tapping quickly at what looked to me like random colored buttons.

“I’m nearly ready,” he said without turning from what he was doing. “I just had to reconfigure some things to include Sally. Done!” He clapped his hands and turned to face me as Sally appeared in the doorway.

“One more box and we’re all set,” she said and disappeared again.

“What were you doing?” I asked trying to peer at what Alex had been doing.

“First, I made sure the invisi-shield is working so we won’t be seen leaving. I’ve also set up a memory field, and I’ll activate it when we’re clear of Earth’s atmosphere. It will slowly seek out information relating to us and within an Earth month no record of us existing will be left. Of course, I can’t wipe paper records. But, with no matching computer file, I’m hoping they will be disregarded. It will also wipe the minds of people. The field takes about half an hour to take effect once a person comes into contact with it.”

“So, my mom and aunt will forget all about me?” I asked. I was equal parts relieved, that they wouldn’t keep trying to find me, and devastated that my family wouldn’t remember me.

“It’s the best way to protect them.” Alex pointed out and pulled me into a hug.

“No kissy face stuff while I’m here,” Sally stated as she brought the last box in.

“Okay,” Alex said moving to another console. “Buckle into those seats and hold on tight. We’re going home.”

Sally and I quickly buckled into the indicated seats and then I felt my body trying to push into the seat as the air around us changed.

Alex glowed blue and then he was gone. In his place, a blue globe hovered and I watched entranced as small shafts of light flickered over the console.

I jumped when Alex’s voice sounded, echoing around the room. “We are now approaching the edge of Earth’s atmosphere. I’m activating the memory field. I left several recording devices active. They cover your old home, Simon, and inside mine, as well. Would you like to check up on things?”

I nodded and turned as a screen appeared in between mine and Sally’s chairs.

As it flickered to life, Alex spoke again, “Since time moves differently in space, it has now been an hour since the field activated on Earth. Anyone within a few meters’ radius should have now completely forgotten us. Of course, it depends on their movements and when they actually moved within the coverage of the field.”

The screen was split and I watched through the front window of my old home as my mom moved around the kitchen. It was four in the morning according to the clock on the wall. My note was gone from in front of the coffee pot, and I wondered if she’d read it before she’d forgotten me. She picked up a packet of my favorite cereal with a frown while she was waiting for the coffee to brew. Then she dropped it in the bin and continued to tidy up.

I heard the doorbell ring, and she glared in the direction of the sound before throwing the cloth she was using into the sink. I glanced at the front door and saw with start three men in black suits standing there.

“That’s Giles and Fion,” Sally said quietly. “I was told they were on another assignment. I’m assuming the higher ups lied. As if that’s surprise.”

We turned back to the screen and Alex’s blue globe form floated closer too. On the other half of the screen, I could see two other men entering Alex’s living room. One pulled out a gun when they saw their unconscious co-workers.

My mom’s voice drew my attention back to her. She had answered the door with a cool, “Can I help you?”

“Ma’am,” one man said, nodding his head in greeting. “We are looking for your neighbor Alex Jones. Our information says he is often found with your son Simon. Could you tell us where we could find them please?”

My mom frowned. “My son? I don’t have a son.” A bolt of pain went through me at the words, and suddenly Alex was back in human form and holding me tightly.

“Everything will be okay,” he assured me, and I realized the man was speaking again to my mom.

“Your son is Simon, also sometimes known as Simone when at work. We are looking for his friend and your neighbor Alex Jones.”

“I don’t have no neighbor,” my mom insisted. “The last lot abandoned the house and it’s been empty for years now. And as for this Alex Jones? Who the fuck is Alex Jones?”