#34 - "The Mystery of High Forks"

Jim Sculley stood in the doorway to his home, surprise showing fully in his face. His jaw had even dropped slightly. Whitney Parks slipped free from his arms and moved into the front room of the house. She casually took a seat in one of the easy chairs and waited for the shock of her announcement to wear off.

Finally, Jim closed the door and turned back to Whitney. There was a proverbial 'cat that just ate the canary' grin on her face. "Did you just say what I think you said?", Jim managed to stammer out.

"Do you mean the part about us going to Las Vegas for our honeymoon, James?", Whitney innocently inquired.

"You-- You mean you're asking...? I mean, asking me to--??"

No longer being able to contain herself, Whitney broke out into full laughter. "Oh, James, you should see yourself. I never thought I'd see you so flustered." Whitney wiped a tear away from her eye.

"Ah," Jim replied, catching on. "You're playing a prank on me. Cute. That's not very nice."

"Just having some fun at your expense for a change. I'll make it up to you later, James." Whitney rose from the chair once more and moved up closer to Jim. "But I am serious in my request, it's just the circumstances that I haven't told you about."

"Does this have something to do with that case you wanted my help on?"

"Now you're beginning to understand," Whitney sighed. "My plan is for you and I to go undercover as newlyweds traveling to Las Vegas for our honeymoon."

"Hence the rental car." Jim unconsciously gestured towards the front of the house and the Mustang convertible parked out front.

"Precisely. My car wouldn't fit our cover story, so I rented something more appropriate."

With Jim leading the way, the couple took a seat together on the couch. "So what exactly is this case of yours? I must say that you've certainly piqued my interest."

"My assignment is to locate a missing couple," Whitney explained. "A pair of newlyweds, Barbara and Tony Lincoln, disappeared while driving to Las Vegas on their honeymoon almost a month back. They were supposed to meet friends in Vegas and when they didn't arrive the authorities were contacted."

"But they found no trace of our missing newlyweds?", Jim reasoned.

"Unfortunately, no. With no progress on the case, Barbara's parents contacted me in an effort to find them. My plan is to duplicate the trip they took to reach Vegas in hopes of finding clues to their whereabouts."

"That makes sense and could be a lot of fun too." Jim pulled Whitney into his arms once more. "I think I'm going to enjoy our honeymoon to the fullest."

"Oh, James," Whitney let out with an amused sigh. "Business before pleasure. Now tell me about your meeting with your book agent. I want to hear all about it."

"Well, I'll tell you..."

"James?", Whitney's voice called out. "Are you awake?"

"Maarrfff", Jim incoherently mumbled. Bright sunlight was filtering in through the blinds, but Jim was still fast asleep in bed. Cracking his eyes open, Jim glanced towards the doorway into his bedroom. Someone was standing there, the light obscuring their features. Just who it was, Jim could not yet make out.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you," Whitney continued. "I just wanted to show my appreciation for allowing me to ask Spin to join the team."

"Hurrrhh", Jim uttered disjointedly. He was still too asleep to fully process just what was happening.

"I wanted to thank you, personally." The figured moved out of the shadows and fully into the light. Much to Jim's surprise, it was Morning Star in her traditional lavender costume. However, her long dark brown hair was now platinum blond. Even more surprising, it was Whitney's voice coming from her lips!

"To show you my appreciation for everything you've done for me," the Whitney/Morning Star composite stated. As she spoke, the heroine slowly, teasingly, removed her long gloves one at a time with her teeth. The first one was casually thrown aside soon to be joined by its mate.

Jim sat up in wide-eyed wonder as the Whitney/Morning Star composite continued her strip tease. He didn't know what to say or what to think. Her purple mask followed. With a mischievous grin on her face, the composite began to remove the rest of her costume. "I just wanted to show you how I felt, James..."

"James? It's time to get up!"

Startled, Jim suddenly opened his eyes, sat up, and looked around in confusion. Whitney stood in the bedroom doorway, casually dressed in a blouse, shorts, and sandals combination. Bright sunshine filtered into the room through the blinds. "Huh??"

"Honestly, James," Whitney gently chastised. "I've been calling you for ten minutes now. I believe you could sleep through just about anything! We have to get moving."

Still half asleep and very much preoccupied with the mental image of Morning Star undressing before him, Jim struggled to focus in on Whitney. "I'm awake, I'm awake."

Whitney crossed the short distance from the doorway and sat down on the bed beside Jim. "Are you all right? You look-- rattled."

"Oh, its nothing", Jim responded, focusing in on Whitney. He couldn't help but grin at her. She was lovely to look at. Not as gorgeous as Morning Star, but few woman were. Still, why had he dreamed about Whitney dressing up as Morning Star? "Just a very strange dream I had."

Whitney smiled and hugged Jim. "They say that dreams are our subconscious desires given form. What did you dream about?"

The comment caught Jim complete off guard. Was his subconscious trying to tell him something? Was he really attracted to Morning Star? Silly question, he quickly rationalized. Who wouldn't be attracted to her? She was kind and beautiful. Still, she was far out of Jim's league.

"I don't remember much about it," Jim quickly blurted out to cover himself. "It was just... Very strange."

"I see. Now that you are awake, we really do need to get going if we are to duplicate the schedule for our missing persons."

Whitney's plan had been to duplicate the missing honeymooners journey as close as possible. Including their departure time from Los Angeles.

"Right, right," Jim said as he climbed out of bed. "Let me hit the shower and I'll be all ready to go."

"I'll be waiting downstairs."

After a quick shower, Jim joined Whitney downstairs. He had contacted SIMON yesterday about his impending departure with Whitney. It was just to keep the team up to date on his activities. The couple had gone out for dinner and dancing last night, before returning to Jim's home for the evening.

The couple's bags were packed up into the Mustang and a light brunch was shared. With all their preparations complete, Jim locked the house up and joined Whitney out front. He was also casually clad in dress shorts and a polo shirt.

Whitney was leaning against the Mustang waiting for him. As Jim approached, she casually tossed him the keys. "Here you go, James. She's all yours."

Jim caught the keys with one hand and eyed them curiously. "What's this?"

"It would be better for our cover story if you were to do the driving. After all, how many brides do you know of that have to drive themselves to their own honeymoon?"

"That makes a world of sense," Jim agreed, "but there's one small problem. I don't have a driver's license."

"What do you mean you don't have a license?"

"Well, I don't have a car," Jim sheepishly explained as he handed the keys back to Whitney, "and you either drive me where ever we go or I just fly. So I never bothered to renew my driver's license."

"A slight change of plans, James," Whitney said with a loud sigh. "I'll drive. But you owe me. Big time."

"Dear lady, I shall do everything in my power to make it up to you."

With Whitney at the wheel of the blue Mustang convertible, the couple was on their way. Much to Jim's surprise, Whitney didn't head for the nearest freeway. Instead, she was content to take the back roads and avoid highway traffic entirely. Their path did continue on a roughly northwestern course. The miles rolled past until finally Jim could no longer contain his curiosity.

"Kind of taking a roundabout way to Vegas, aren't you?"

"Simply following the intended route of the Lincoln's, James. They were the adventurous type. They had planned on taking an extended tour of the mountains before arriving in Las Vegas. Thus, that is the route we shall be taking. I'm figuring that they drove until they found either a nice place to camp or perhaps a small town to stay at. We'll see where we are once the sun starts to go down."

"That makes sense," Jim agreed. "I seem to be saying that a lot as of late. You've certainly know what you're doing when it comes to this private investigations stuff."

"I have to, James, if I wish to pay my bills and drive my license-less boyfriend around all the time."

Jim glanced at Whitney, mock surprise playing on his face. "You wound me, dear lady. I think you've been hanging around me too much. You're starting to become as sarcastic as I am."

"One cannot help but pick up on traits of those people close to them," Whitney answered with a grin and a laugh. "I suppose that it's just a matter of time before you start showing some of mine."

"Perhaps, but I doubt that I could match your fashion sense or your beauty."

"Oh James," Whitney sighed. "Always the charmer."

The miles rolled quickly past as the couple enjoyed each other's company. They stopped for dinner at a small roadside café late in the afternoon. So far nothing about their trip seemed suspicious. Whitney questioned their waitress and the man at the gas station about the missing honeymooners, but neither could remember them. Everything was turning up blank so far on this case.

Back on the road once more, Whitney drove the Mustang further up into the mountains. Signs of civilization became fewer and fewer as the miles blew past. The shadows grew longer and the couple was beginning to feel weary from their day long drive.

"I don't know about you, James, but I think I've had enough driving for one day."

"Yeah, really. It would be nice to get out and stretch for a bit. Hard to believe that something like this could be so tiring."

"Let's see if we can find a place to spend the night," Whitney decided. "According to the road signs there should be a town just a little bit further along."

A road sign drew closer to the speeding Mustang. Jim read the message painted upon it before passing the sign. "High Forks, 5 miles. Ask and you shall receive."

"High Forks it is," Whitney agreed. "Sounds like a charming little town."

A few minutes later, the couple arrived in scenic downtown High Forks, California. The main highway passed through the center of town and just as quickly back out again. There were less than a dozen buildings in sight, not counting the few outlying houses they had passed along the way. The tallest of these was a clock tower in the middle of town.

"I've heard of small towns, but this is ridiculous," Jim muttered. "You open the front door and you smash the back window. Hard to believe something like this can exist a few hours from LA."

Whitney guided the Mustang into a parking spot outside a small building just inside the High Forks town limits. A sign proclaimed it to be the 'High Forks Inn'. There were a few cars parked in the small lot, but no other people were in sight.

"This looks like a good as place as any to spend the night," Whitney observed. "Seems very quiet around here."

Whitney took in the sights of High Forks, her mind analyzing what she saw. They hadn't seen any other traffic for the last half hour on the road. Even stranger, there were no people around. It seemed odd for everyone to be indoors at this early hour on such a pleasant evening.

Across the street was one unmistakable sign of civilization: a Golden Arches hamburger joint. However, it too seemed to be mostly deserted. A few cars could be spotted in the back parking lot, but nobody seemed to be inside the establishment.

"Too quiet," Jim echoed in a spooky voice. "This is like something out of a horror movie. The weary travelers arrive at a strange little town out in the middle of nowhere. Then they start to vanish one by one, because all the inhabitants are brain sucking zombies from outer space!"

Whitney spared Jim a 'get real' glance. "I can see that you're well suited for your current occupation as a writer. You certainly have a vivid imagination, James."

"Sometimes too vivid," Jim agreed, the image of Morning Star strip teasing still in the back of his mind. "I'm sure that this is just a plain old, dull, ordinary, run of the mill town out in the middle of nowhere. So what's the plan?"

Whitney gestured towards the High Forks Inn. "Let's secure lodging for the evening and then take a walk. Perhaps we'll be able to pick up some clues from the inhabitants. Provided we can find any."

Jim led the way up the steps to the front porch of the High Forks Inn and held the screen door open for Whitney. "After you, dear lady. Or do you wish to be carried over the threshold?"

"Perhaps later," Whitney answered with a chuckle. Her soft blue eyes darted about, taking in her surroundings. What she saw surprised her.

The High Forks Inn had seen better days. It was essentially a large remodeled home converted into a motel. The outside trim paint was beginning to flake, revealing sections of raw wood. Spider webs were everywhere on the vast front porch. Numerous lawn chairs had been set up for comfort, but none seemed all that inviting.

The couple stepped inside the High Forks Inn. The inside wasn't much better. A noticeable layer of dust covered the wooden check in counter. Some spots were heavier than others. The lightest area was around the large open sign in book. Obviously, the Inn had received other guests in the last few weeks. Perhaps even the missing couple?

A long hallway trailed off deeper into the Inn and a set of worn stairs led to the second floor. Behind the counter was a curtained off doorway. Much like the town itself, no one was in sight.

"No one seems to be around," Jim casually noted. "I guess the cleaning lady had the week off."

"Month off is more like it, James." Whitney ran her finger along the counter, gathering a good-sized collection of dust on her fingertip. "This is most peculiar."

Spying a summoning bell on the desk, Jim gave it a light tap. The device rang in response, generating a small cloud of dust in the process. Jim causally whisked it away with his hands.

"I must warn you Whitney," Jim said with a smirk. "I have the feeling that this is not a four star establishment. I did so want to take you somewhere nice for our honeymoon, oh my dearest darling."

"I doubt that Frommer's would give this place a favorable rating," Whitney agreed, joining Jim in their cover as newlyweds. "One star would be most charitable. But as long as we're together, any place is heavenly, James. Besides, it's how you celebrate your honeymoon that's important, not where."

Stepping up to the counter, Whitney took a glance at the sign-in book searching for a familiar name. She gently ran her finger down the list of names, being careful to avoid disturbing the dust on the book. Whitney's search ended upon finding the object of her search: the Lincolns' signature.

At that moment, the curtain covering the doorway parted in a cloud of dust and an older overweight woman came forth. She was dressed in an unflattering bulky floral dress. Her brown hair was heavily grayed and pinned up. "What do you want?", the woman cheerlessly demanded.

The couple exchanged amused glances before Jim spoke up. "Hello there! We're newlyweds on our way to Las Vegas and would like lodging for the evening. Nice little town you have here. Very quiet."

The Inn manager slowly made her way to the counter. "That'll be $39.95", she responded emotionlessly. "Sign in."

"Of course, my good woman." Jim fished for his wallet while Whitney signed the register book as Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. Jim placed two twenty-dollar bills on the counter before replacing his wallet. "There you go. So what do you folks do for excitement around here?"

The Inn manager accepted the money and methodically placed it into a cash drawer. The nickel change was given without comment. Reaching over to the key rack she placed retrieved a key and then placed it on the counter top. It was to room number two. "Second door, top of the stairs. Enjoy your stay." Having said her piece, the woman turned and walked back through the curtained off doorway.

"Uhm, you're welcome," Jim called out in a slightly confused voice. "Must be the medication or something. So much for small town hospitality. And that dress. Somewhere there's a couch missing its cover."

"I said it before and I'll say it again," Whitney replied. "Very peculiar. Let's get our bags out of the car and get settled into our room. I think I'd like to take a look around."

"Sure thing, Whitney. Did you find something?" Whitney nodded yes in response but didn't elaborate any further.

A few minutes later, the couples bags were placed inside room number two. It was a good-sized room, but much like everything else in High Forks was not clean. A thin layer of dust covered the floor and the dresser. Jim set the bags on the bed, only to cause a cloud of dust to erupt. He couldn't help but sneeze.

"This is getting ridiculous," Jim announced in an annoyed voice. "Don't these people believe in cleaning? Even the dust bunnies have dust bunnies!"

"Judging by the state of this Inn, 'no' would be my response."

Jim moved over to one of the windows and slid the curtains apart. He raised the shade and then opened the window. A gentle breeze wafted in, helping disburse the dust. Deep shadows were beginning to form outside as nightfall approached.

"Everything about this place is just weird," Jim stated as he looked outside. "I mean, it's pretty stuffy in here and yet they've got all the windows closed up. Not to mention that musty smell. Hopefully the room will air out."

"I am in complete agreement, James," Whitney replied. "Something peculiar is going on here."

Whitney grabbed one of her bags and moved behind the dressing screen. She quickly began to change her clothes.

"Kind of early to turn in, don't you think? I think I'd like to have the bed fumigated first."

"Actually, I want to take a look around first," Whitney responded. "I discovered the names of our missing persons on the inn registry."

"So they were here. But what happened to them?"

"That is the mystery for us to solve, James." Whitney emerged from behind the dressing screen. She had changed into dark colored jeans and a black top. She had pinned her platinum blond hair up and donned a black ball cap. A pair of dark sneakers was pulled out of her bag. "This is my prowling the shadows outfit."

"That kind of sounds like fun," Jim said with a grin. He concentrated and changed his clothes into something similar to Whitney's. "Never let it be said that I can't fashion coordinate with someone."

"Now that is a very practical super power," Whitney sighed. "I'd hate to think about the money I could have saved if I could just create my own clothes out of thin air." Reaching into her bag, Whitney pulled out her Colt Python handgun. She removed it from her holster and slide it down the back of her jeans and then covered it with her top. Then she removed a small tool pack and slid it into her back pocket. "There all ready to go."

"Expecting trouble?"

"Better to be safe than sorry in my profession, James. Let me grab my flashlight and then we can go."

"I think you can leave the flashlight behind. You've got a much more cuddlier light source around here."

"Sorry, I forgot. Here, let me make it up to you." Whitney gave Jim a hug and the couple exchanged a few kisses.

"I'll forgive you this time. I like the outfit. Nice and sexy. However, I think we better get moving before either one of us gets carried away."

"Probably a good idea. Business before pleasure after all."

Opening the door to their room, the couple moved out into the hallway trying to remain quiet. Everything was deathly quiet as they moved along. Occasionally, the floor creaked revealing their movement. However, no one seemed to notice.

"They have to expect us to make some noise," Whitney explained. "At the very least to find the rest room."

"Especially from newlyweds," Jim agreed.

There were several other rooms off the same hallway. Whitney gave each door handle an experimental twist, but they were all locked. Not dwelling on the locked doors, Whitney continued onward. At the back of the hallway were the guest bathroom and a second flight of stairs leading down to the first floor.

"I want to take a look out back," Whitney whispered as she descended the stairs, Jim following close behind her.

There were two doors at the bottom landing of the stairs. One had a pane of glass in its top half and looked out into the area behind the inn. The other was a featureless panel door that must have led to the first floor of the inn. Finding the outside door unlocked, Whitney opened the door and stepped out.

There was a small covered porch with steps leading down to the ground. Whitney paused on the porch to look around. As far as she could tell there was no one around, but the growing shadows were limiting her sight. "Is there anyone around?", she whispered to Jim.

"Looks all clear to me," Jim answered. The shadows were no barrier to his enhanced eyesight. "What are we looking for?"

"The Lincolns' car. If the authorities questioned the innkeeper, she could have simply said that they were here and then left the next morning. That would be a logical deduction and then they'd move their search elsewhere. What I wish to ascertain is that they actually did leave this town. If we can find their car, then we know that they didn't leave High Forks."

"A dazzling display of logic, Ms. Parks." Jim gestured for Whitney to head down the stairs and towards are row of single car garages behind the inn. "After you, my sweet."

"Why thank you, Mr. Sculley."

Cautiously, Jim and Whitney made their way from the rear of the inn to the garages. They kicked up a little dust as they crossed the dirt driveway. Reaching the garage, Whitney tried to peer in through the grime-covered windows but met with limited success.

"It's too dark and the windows are too dirty for me to see anything. Time to earn your keep, James."

Moving closer to the windows, Jim peered inside. Even with his enhanced eyesight it was a difficult task. "What kind of car am I looking for, anyway?"

"Blue Chevy Nova," Whitney answered. She had her back to Jim and was making sure that no one had spotted them lingering by the garages.

"Nothing in this one." Jim moved down to the next garage door and peered inside the window. The next three bays failed to turn up anything. But the one on the far end did hold a car matching the description of the Lincolns' vehicle.

"It's blue at any rate," Jim sheepishly admitted. You know me when it comes to cars. I can't tell them apart."

"You know, most men know everything about cars, James."

"What can I say? I'm not most men. Me, I'm mechanically ignorant."

"At any rate, let's see what's inside this garage." Whitney attempted to raise the garage door, only to find it locked. A padlock held the garage door fast to the frame of the door.

"I could blast it off," Jim offered. "Might make a bit of a racket, though."

"Only as a last resort," Whitney replied as she produced her small tool holder. She opened it up to reveal a small collection of tools and lock picks. Moving to the padlock, Whitney began to attempt to pick it. "A little light please?"

"Sure thing. Have light, will illuminate." Jim placed his hand near the padlock and caused it to glow slightly. He then moved his body as to block the light source from any potential onlookers. "I wasn't aware that you could put breaking and entering on your resume."

"Tools of the trade, James. Sometimes it takes more than a pretty face to get into places people want to keep you out of. There. I got it."

The locked popped open and Whitney pulled it free from the hasp. After swinging the garage door portion of the hasp away from the frame, Whitney put the lock back but left it open. The garage door would now freely open.

After dispelling his illumination, Jim stepped back and lifted the door open as quietly as he could. The garage door made a little bit of racket, but it wasn't loud enough to cause undo attention. Whitney moved inside of the garage as soon as she was able.

"You know, maybe I should consider writing mystery stories," Jim stated out of the blue. "Perhaps the adventures of a lovely, but very intelligent, lady private eye and her charming and funny boyfriend who just happens to have super powers. It could be a best seller! Maybe a film studio would pick up the film rights."

"Now who would believe something as outlandish as that?", Whitney chuckled. "However, you do have my permission as long as I get a cut of the profits. You think you could turn that flashlight of yours back on?"

"Your wish is my command, my sweet." Jim concentrated and willed his hand to glow softly once more. At Whitney's direction, he focused his light on the car's license plate. The lovely detective ran her hand across the numbers and appeared to be lost in thought.

"Keep an eye out for trouble, James," Whitney warned. "This is the Lincolns' car all right. We're just about ready to bust this case wide open."

"Can I say 'Book'em Dano', when you do?"

Rising from the license plate, Whitney circled around to the passenger side of the car and attempted to peer into the windows. Jim followed and continued to provide illumination. While there was a thin layer of dust over the car, the windows could be easily seen through. In the back seat of the car was a small collection of bags and luggage.

"Looks like the Lincolns didn't leave High Forks after all. If they did then they left without their car or luggage. Very peculiar."

"Maybe they were kidnapped or something?, Jim offered.

"That doesn't seem likely. To my knowledge there has been no ransom demand and it's not robbery as their car and belongings are right here. All of which begs the question what happened to and where are the Lincolns?"

"All very valid points," Jim agreed after a moment of thought. "Maybe they saw something that they weren't supposed to?"

"Perhaps. Hard to say exactly what we are dealing with without any further proof. Regardless, we should inform the local authorities of our discovery."

"I'm afraid that will not be possible." Both Whitney and Jim turned back to the garage entrance in surprise. Standing there in the darkness was the woman who ran the High Forks Inn. She stood there in the darkness, but didn't seem to have any trouble in seeing the investigating couple.

"You two will not be leaving here either," the Innkeeper threatened without any emotion. "Step out here."

"Let me handle this," Jim suggested as he moved towards the Innkeeper. "It's not like she's much of a threat to me, after all."

Jim emerged from the garage and stood before the older woman. Physically she was no match for either Jim or Whitney. She didn't seem to be carrying any weapons either. How did she actually expect to prevent Jim or Whitney from leaving? Unless she wasn't alone. However, a quick glance about the immediate area revealed no one else to be present.

"Sorry about this, ma'am, but we've got a crime to report. Come on, Whitney."

Jim started to walk around the innkeeper, but didn't travel more than two steps. Moving far faster than her appearance would suggest possible, the Innkeeper slapped Jim across the face with the back of her hand. Even more amazing, Jim was roughly thrown back into the garage wall! He hit the concrete blocks hard and then slumped to the ground landing in a heap.

"You are not going anywhere," the Innkeeper stated, her voice emotionless as always.

"James!", Whitney cried out in utter disbelief. She rushed to where Jim had landed. Much to her relief he was still breathing. Looking back, Whitney saw the Innkeeper moving closer to her. Rising back to her feet, Whitney took a defensive stance. She had taken self-defense courses in the past, another hazard of her chosen profession.

The Innkeeper remained in a non-aggressive stance. Whitney attempted to deliver a karate chop to the side of the woman's neck. Impossibly, the Innkeeper's left hand reached out and grabbed Whitney's wrist in mid-strike!

"What are you?!", Whitney demanded in disbelieve. Obviously the Innkeeper had superpowers of some type. What had she and James fallen into here in High Forks?

With her free hand, the Innkeeper slapped Whitney across the face, nearly taking the lovely detective's head off in the process. Whitney would have gone flying across the driveway if not for the fact that the Innkeeper was still holding her left wrist. Whitney slumped over and dangled in the Innkeeper's grasp.

The Innkeeper lowered her arm, but maintained a vice-tight grip on Whitney's wrist. She reached down and grabbed Jim by the leg with her other hand. Then she turned and started to walk away, dragging the unconscious couple behind her.

"James...", Whitney meekly muttered as she started to regain consciousness. Her head throbbed with a terrible headache. Whitney felt sore and her muscles ached. She tried to bring her hands to her face, but discovered that she was unable to move them.

Forcing her eyes open, Whitney found herself laying on her back in a brightly lit chamber. Much to her surprise, Whitney was laying naked on a cold metallic table. Manacles built into the table had been wrapped around her ankles, forcing her legs slightly apart. Her arms were stretched overhead and were likewise secured at the wrists. Other manacles at the neck and the waist prevented very little movement. Whitney squirmed and thrashed about for a few moments in an attempt to free herself, but remained held fast.

Frantically, Whitney looked around for anything that could help her escape. The room she was in was rectangular in shape and nearly twenty feet long. However it was only about six feet wide and the wall to her left curved upward to form the ceiling.

Even stranger, the room held equipment that Whitney could not identify. A collection of bizarre tools sat on a nearby tray. Most looked very sharp and quite painful if they were to be used on someone. Whitney involuntarily shivered from the cool touch of the metallic table and the unsettling tools.

Looking up, Whitney could see another metallic table a few feet past her feet. James was laying on this table, unclothed and held down just like Whitney was. He was still unconscious, however.

A multitude of questions ran through Whitney's mind. Just what was going on here? Why were she and James naked and held prisoner like this? And what were they going to do with those tools? Whitney was unable to reach any conclusion that she found satisfactory.

"James!", she cried out, fear thick in her voice. "Wake up! You've got to wake up!"

At that moment a section of the right hand wall near the middle of this strange and creepy chamber silently slide open. A trio of men stepped inside. At least Whitney thought they were men. Her mouth dropped open in shock upon seeing these 'men' close up.

Each had pale, waxy green skin, an unusually long neck and a sharply pointed chin. Their eyes were also larger than a normal person with equally large pupils. Each of them wore what appeared to be a white jumpsuit with parts of it armored to protect key locations. Three symbols appeared on the chest of each man. Something that looked like an asterisk in between two triangles.

"What are you?!", Whitney gasped in horror. "What are you going to do to us?"

The first of the three aliens continued on towards Whitney's location. The other two stood inside the opening to the room as if on guard. The door silently closed behind them. The lead man pressed several buttons on a console close to Whitney. He gave the collection of tools on the tray a casual glance before turning back to the terrified woman.

"We are known as the Howarians," the alien stated matter of factually in fairly good English. "We have come to your puny little world for resources and food supplies. You humans will suit our needs nicely." The man let loose with a gruesome smile revealing small rows of razor sharp teeth in his inhuman mouth.

"Food??" Whitney's frantic mind tried to comprehend just what this thing was saying to her. Did it actually consider humans to be a source of food? A wave of nausea came over Whitney at that very thought. Bile climbed to the top of her throat. "You eat human beings?!"

"That knowledge will make you all the more tender," the alien calmly replied as he turned back to his tray of tools. "I do so enjoy carving up fresh meat." Picking up a particularly large and sharp instrument, the alien butcher grinned once more at Whitney as he prepared to go to work...