Read The Vanishing for Free Online

does not lie in the direction you are going.”
    Hope fluttered in her chest. “Do you
know where my sister is?”
    “ Yes. She is safe. You
have no need to worry for her. Worry for him.” He motioned to
Alex.
    She glanced over her shoulder and saw
Alex stir in his seat. “Why?”
    “ He must not go to
Nevada.”
    She stuffed her hands into the pockets
of her jacket and debated the logic of pressing an angel for more
information. After all, did angels engage in a question and answer
session with humans? Finally, she decided to press her luck.
“Why?”
    “ They want him
there.”
    “ They? You mean the
aliens?”
    “ That is what they call
themselves.”
    That is what they call
themselves? Did that mean they weren’t
really aliens? If they weren’t really aliens, then... “Who are
they?”
    Suddenly, he disappeared.
    Surprised, she stepped back.
    “ Autumn?”
    She turned to Alex who was opening the
car door.
    “ What are you doing in the
middle of the road?”
    “ Uh...” She moved her hand
through the space where the angel had been standing. All she felt
was a warmth that quickly dissipated in the cool air around them.
So he had been there. She hadn’t imagined it.
    Alex approached her. “Are you
okay?”
    “ I don’t know.” She sighed
and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know anything anymore.”
    “ Hey, don’t worry about
that one.” He rubbed her back. “Everything’s out of
balance.”
    She brushed her hair away from her face
and looked at him. “Do we really have to go to Area 51?”
    He put his arm down and frowned.
“What’s going on? I thought you agreed that this was our only
lead.”
    “ I know. But...” She
crossed her arms, feeling vulnerable. “I saw an angel here, and he
said that we should turn back.” There. She said it.
    “ An angel?”
    “ Well, I think it was an
angel. It looked a lot like one. You know, the wings and all.
Anyway, he said that we should go back.”
    “ But I was told to
go.”
    “ I realize
that.”
    He turned and took a few steps away
from her before he returned to her. “I’m going. I have to
go.”
    “ You can’t! The angel said
that you mustn’t, even though they want you there.”
    “ You mean the
aliens?”
    “ I’m not sure. The way he
said, it sounded like they’re not what we think they are. And he
said that Marianne isn’t there.”
    “ Where is she?”
    “ I asked him but he
wouldn’t say.” She was starting to get frustrated. Couldn’t the
angel stick around and answer Alex’s questions? This way was
getting to be complicated.
    “ I’ve been going through a
living nightmare, Autumn. I have to find Marianne and bring her
back. I don’t want to spend my life without her. I love
her.”
    She knew that. It was obvious in the
way he used to look at Marianne, and she respected him for
that.
    “ When I do manage to
sleep, I get images of Marianne. She’s comatose with all the others
who disappeared, and I keep seeing the number 51. Doesn’t it make
sense that whatever is happening, Area 51 is the key?”
    Alex had a point—a good one. She
couldn’t deny that.
    “ I’ll drive you home, but
I have to keep going. I have to find out whether or not she is
there. It could be that nothing is there. But I owe it to her to
get her out if I can.”
    “ The angel said you could
get hurt.”
    Alex shrugged. “So what? She’s worth
the risk. I don’t want to go through the rest of my life without
her.”
    But the angel said Marianne—wherever
she was—was safe. Did she believe the angel? Did she believe the
alien that told her Marianne was safe? Both things told her the
same thing, but they stood on opposite ends of the spectrum. Didn’t
they? What if they weren’t? What if they were in this mess
together?
    She needed a cigarette. Hurrying back
to the car, she dug the cigarette out of her purse. Her hands shook
as she lit it. She hated this. For a moment when she spoke with the
angel, she felt safe. She inhaled, struggling to