Legacies Reborn Read Free

wrenching metal, like the security gate’s being torn in half or something. I leap back from the door, screaming a little bit, and proceed to freak the eff out.
    â€œIt’s them!” I say, louder than I mean to. My heart is suddenly pumping a thousand beats a minute as I look around for some kind of weapon.
    â€œShut up!” Benny says, jumping out of his chair and muting the TV. I’m so scared that I hardly get angry at his words. When he sees my face, his expression softens and he lowers his voice to a whisper. “I mean, keep quiet. Damn.”
    There’s screaming somewhere downstairs. Loud and panicked. Terrified. My breath catches in my throat as I take five steps away from the door all at once andback into Benny. There’s another scream, one that’s cut off suddenly. I start to shake. My breath comes out in quivery gasps.
    Benny grips my shoulder and pulls me back. For a second I think he’s just dragging me away from the door. Then I realize he’s trying to get me behind him.
    â€œGo hide,” he says, letting his arm fall away. I turn to him. There’s something in his eyes I’ve never seen before.
    Fear.
    â€œGo on,” he says.
    I start to think of the few places I could try to hide in our apartment—under my bed, the closet—and suddenly I feel like I’m five years old and playing games. But these alien freaks are definitely not playing. Our apartment is so small. If they want to find me, they will.
    The screams are getting louder, closer. They’re moving up the floors. I can hear the doors being kicked in now, along with electronic noises like the ones we heard on TV—the sounds of their weapons.
    What the hell is happening?
    There’s shouting now, right outside our apartment. Deep, bellowing orders to open the doors. I stand frozen in our living room.
    Benny takes his bat and walks slowly to the door, half on his tiptoes. He leans up against the corner inthe entryway and raises the bat like he’s ready to hit a homer. He glances back at me, and his face contorts into an expression I’m more familiar with coming from him: anger.
    â€œWake up, stupid,” he says. “ Go. ”
    He nods to the window on the other side of the living room, where the gauzy white curtains Mom loves are billowing out in the slight breeze.
    The fire escape. He wants me to make a run for it.
    I listen and bolt, and am halfway down to the next floor when I realize Benny is staying back to fend off the aliens and give me a chance to escape. He should be coming with me. What would Mom say if she found out I just left him behind?
    Oh God, I hope she’s safe.
    So I climb back up and stick my head through our living room window right in time to see our front door fly in.
    Any hope that these guys were only actors in really great makeup dies as four of the freaks stomp through the front door, all pale skin and jagged teeth and gross noses. There’s no question that these are beings from another planet.
    And they’re not happy.
    One of them sees me through the window, his black eyes narrowing. I duck down, hoping that none of the others notice me.
    â€œSurrender or die,” the alien says in a deep, grating voice.
    Benny steps out of the corner and swings like a pro, slamming his bat into the alien’s skull. The bastard falls hard to the floor, and then disintegrates. Just turns into freakin’ dust like he’s a damn vampire that’s been staked or something.
    But that’s the only swing Benny gets. One of the aliens— Mogadorians —fires a laser gun at him, and Benny flies backwards a few yards before crashing through our coffee table. He convulses on the floor.
    I clamp my hands over my mouth.
    When Benny regains a little control of his body, he looks out the window. We lock eyes for a moment. Mine are wide, scared. His are pleading.
    â€œRun!” he shouts, and it looks like doing so causes him a ton of