#DE-111AH

[cricksims]

The Disappearance of Bella Goth

With his "mom" staring at a painting and his dad out, Alexander sneaks Clementine in his room easy.

"So?" Clem asks, "Show me what you have."

Alexander pulls out a large box out from under his bed. The box is padlocked, and the boy brings out a key tucked away in his pocket. He unlocks the box, revealing a myriad of photos and notes.

"Wow." Clem says, "You're really serious about this, huh?"

Alexander looks offended. "Of course I am! That's my mom! I'll show you what I know so far."

They go through the evidence piece by piece.

"So, this all started when my mom went to somebody's house last summer. She came back totally different. I'm not talking about a little- it was like I didn't know her. She became almost... comatose?"

Clem raises an eyebrow, "What does that even mean?"

"Like a robot or something. My mom used to always be in the moment. Now it's like she's always thinking of something. She doesn't like to hang out with me anymore."

"Are you sure this means she's an alien?"

"I'm getting there!" Alexander retorts. "It's not just that, she's been really interested in my dad's work lately. Really interested. This wasn't normal for her at all, she never cared for science. Then one night I snuck downstairs for a snack to see her copying down his plans for a Life Elixer. Why?"

Clem is confused once again. "What makes this potion so important?"

"Eternal life! Not only that, these two young woman have been really interested in my Dad. Like, really interested. And my mom's too busy staring off into space to see that their trying to mooch off our fortune."

"What do they have to do with this? Sounds like those are just a couple ladies looking for a quick buck."

"I thought they were unrelated, too," Alex says. "But something didn't feel right. The day after my mom changed they showed up. So I did some digging at City Hall. They're aliens! Well, part alien. I think it was their grandfather or something."

"This still doesn't seem like enough evidence that your mom's been replaced," Clementine says skeptically.

"Fine. Then let me take you to the biggest piece of evidence I have."

Wow, Clementine thinks, this place is awesome! Clementine's never seen a real life UFO before! The visitors are mainly tourists, excitedly taking pictures of the spacecraft. However, Clementine sees not only an alien, but a robot!!! Excited, she runs in with Alex close behind.

"What is this place??"

"A UFO that crashed last year," the boy states. "The day before my mom changed. The Landgraabs were quick to turn it into a tourist attraction. But before they did, I found this."

He takes out a piece of fabric from the same pocket his key came out of. It's red silk. Looks expensive, Clem thinks.

"What is that?" She asks.

"My piece of my mom's red dress. She's out there, I know she is. Please, Clem, I know it sounds crazy. I know it's not solid evidence. But I need your help. I need someone crafty and tough like you. I can be the brains, you can be the brawn!"

Clementine thinks for a moment. She's still not sure if she's over Alexander flaking out on her. Even so, he's her friend. She can't let his nerdy butt do it alone!

"Okay, okay," Clem says, raising her hands. "I'll help. But what's our first mission?"

Alexander grins. "I know the address of the house my mom went to that night and the mooching sisters' house. We should start there."