That was all she needed to pounce up and jet across the room, as far away from the door as humanly possible. The monsters were sniffing and snorting so loud, she could actually hear it over her heartbeat.

"Maria?" The word came out as a half growl.

She needed to get out of there and fast. Her eyes quickly scanned the room and she weighed her options. Barricading the door didn't seem like it would stop these otherworldly beasts plus Michael hardly had anything in the way of furniture.

That left the window. At that moment, one or both slammed into the door destructively.

Maria shrieked and the creatures seemed to become excited by the noise. They were clawing and pounding the door wildly.

Breathing hard out of fear, Maria crawled out the window and onto the ancient, shaky fire escape that trellised the building. It swayed under her weight sending waves of nausea rolling through her.

Ladder…" she muttered, squinting in the darkness. She examined the metal frame thoroughly only to find where it had rotted away.

"Great… *just* great." Tears trailed their way down her rosy cheeks and onto the half-filled dumpster fifteen feet below.

The sound of wood splintering erupted from inside giving Maria no time to be afraid. She closed her eyes and leapt off the fire escape landing harshly amongst rotten food, old newspapers, and luckily for her, a discarded mattress.

She quickly scurried out of the bin and ran towards Main Street, the warmth of the light beckoning her. She knew that these aliens weren't repelled by light as evidence of Michael's brightly-lit apartment. Nevertheless, she would cling to the light and shun the darkness.

Her wrist was pounding from her earlier fall when she and Michael had been chased by that *thing.* She wished he was here with her now… help her think. Her mind was clouded.

'Keep moving,' she told herself once she hit the street. Her body protested every move it made but Maria pushed on. Where could she go? If they came looking for her at Michael's then they definitely knew where her house was. Where did that leave her?

Pounding on the asphalt, her feet grew weary as she looked for shelter. Across the street was an old historical church. Perfect. She could find sanctuary there.

In a hunched dart, Maria was across the street and up the front steps. Not quite international spy quality but she made it and that was all that mattered.

The door was locked.

"What?" She tried it again slamming her hand against the ornate doors in frustration. "I thought churches were always open! Then again, when was the last time you were in a church, Maria?" She looked around to make sure she hadnt been spotted yet. "About the same time you started talking to yourself," she answered.

She needed to get out of there. When the membrane of civilization ruptured and the primordial terror burst through, you weren't safe anywhere, not even on the steps of a church.

Maria moved on. She wanted, more than anything, a nicely lit place. She had stepped through an invisible wall between the reality she had always known, and a different, more hostile world. As long as she remained in that Twilight Zone, it seemed wise to assume that shadows offered even less comfort and security than did bright places.

Maria had traveled a good two and a half miles now and was shaking terribly. Then she spotted it. It sat snuggled between two dark stores, it's light a beacon. She ran to the twenty four hour laundry mat with it's harsh fluorescent lights.

No one was inside and Maria thought it was just as well. Since aliens sometimes hid in clever human disguises, you couldn't trust anybody… even your mom.

Alone in the laundry, she sat in a badly scarred, yellow plastic chair, staring at rows of clothes-dryer portals, as if understanding would be visited upon her from some cosmic source communicating on those circles of glass.

It was going to be a long night.

***

"Michael, maybe we should've taken Maria. She seems to be the one that's able to see what we can't." Max was tired of driving back and forth. Roswell was a pretty small town and they were getting no where.

"Fine," Michael growled. "Let's go pick her up. But she's staying in the car."

They drove down the street and Isabel silently searched the surrounding buildings for something… anything.