The Beginning of the End

Beginning of the End

Looking back on it, there was no way to stop it. The cataclysmic event happened within minutes and would last what felt like a lifetime. The bloodshed wasn’t immediate, but the world slipped into madness shortly after the ships arrived. Everything good we once knew and loved was taken and destroyed. We were forced into submission by beings from a world other than our own. No one knew where they came from, and their intent with us was not immediately clear. The first few weeks were the worst. The ships arrived within seconds. It was just the three of us at the house when the ships came; I was on the couch with Kristen, and Lexi was on the porch. The TV glitched, with what seemed like black and green lines weaving in between the screen’s current program. We’d been binge watching the same show the whole weekend. Kristen got a hold of the remote first, my fingers still had a light coating of butter from the popcorn.

“Stupid thing, I just changed the batteries last Tuesday!”

I chuckled at her mild frustration.

“Double A’s are in the drawer next to the silverware.” I shouted from the living room.

“I had no idea, it’s almost as if I haven’t spent like half my life in this house.” I could tell she was rolling her eyes.

“Alright, alright.”

I hadn’t glanced at the TV in a while, but now the glitch had taken up an entire corner of the screen.

There was no reason to be suspicious, just annoyed. I had maybe 5 minutes before that would all change.

“Kristen, how about those batteries?” I called into the kitchen.

There was no response, which was typical of Kristen when she was searching for something.

“Dude, batteries?”

Still nothing.

“Come on stop messing around, the TV is still acting up you know.” I’d have to get them for myself.

“All I asked for was batteries, I-”

Something wasn’t right. Kristen was curled up on the floor clutching her knees. Something really wasn’t right, I crouched to her level, my fear rising by the second.

“Hey, what’s gotten into you?” I asked her, trying to keep my own voice steady.

She’d lost all the color in her face, and her eyes were fixated on something outside. Someone, rather. She slowly raised her hand up, my gaze following her finger. Nothing seemed off until my eyes reached Lexi, hovering above the yard with her neck contorted backwards.

“Oh what the hell! Kristen what's going on?” Kristen just sat, rattling the cabinets as her body trembled. “Kristen talk to me, you're freaking me out!” I shook her shoulders, as if I could just shake the answer right out of her. I’d only seen Kristen cry 5 times in her life, and she was bawling. Every ounce of my body told me to curl up right next to her, and wait for whatever hell was coming to happen, but my curiosity got to me. I wanted so desperately to look away, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of Lexi.

“Ok Kristen, stay right here. I don’t know what the hell’s going on but…just stay here I’ll…I’ll be right back.” I patted her knee and bolted outside. Before I could even lay a finger on the door, it flew off the hinges, bouncing off Lexi as it flew towards the sky. Her body dropped onto the concrete with a dull thud.

My feet felt heavy like lead, but I wanted so badly to run to her rescue.

“Lexi! Oh god what happened to you, what is this?” I scooped her into my arms and laid her head on my lap. She was still convulsing and I couldn’t get her body to stop quivering.

“Are you cold, why are you…why are you shaking like this Lexi? Stop it! Please stop, what on earth is happening to you? Make it stop!” I was yelling at her, but my voice sounded muffled. I was helpless in the situation, I was no use to either of my friends. My own tears wetted her shirt as they fell, and I could do nothing to stop it either. This would prove to become a recurring theme. I let my head fall, still feeling my own body shake from Lexi’s continued shudders.

A cold, tight grip on my wrist snapped me out of my fit. Lexi’s eyes were glazed over with a hazy gray, and her voice was unlike any sound I’d ever heard; it still chills me to this day.

“They’re coming, you can’t stop it. They’re coming, you can’t stop it. They’re coming…” She kept repeating the phrase, and somehow I knew that wasn’t Lexi, not anymore. I shook her grip from my wrist and shoved her off my lap, scooting backwards as fast as my hands could take me. Her whole body tensed up, and suddenly went limp. The life had been sucked out of her in an instant.

“What the…” I looked all around, for some hint that maybe this was some freakish fever dream. The dark purple bruise wrapped around my wrist told me otherwise.

“Kristen! Get to the crawlspace, something’s happening. Go, hide!” I screamed at her, begging her to get somewhere safe. But I was fooling her and myself to think that there was anywhere safe from what was to come. I scrambled to my feet and stumbled through the door. Seeing Kristen still curled up on the floor filled every ounce of me with dread.

“What are you doing, go! Get up, please! We have to get out of here!” My throat was raw from screaming, desperately shouting at her to do something, anything other than sit in one place. The look on her face will forever be ingrained into my memory.

I heard them before I saw them. The roar of what I assumed to be engines of some sort filled every inch of the area surrounding us. I bolted outside. The first one came at the speed of sound itself, flying into view within an instant. I knew at first glance it was not something of this world. The ship was chrome, a shiny metal surface that perfectly reflected its surroundings. There were three green, liquid filled compartments, each shaped like a vertical oval. I had no words, no thoughts, only fear filled my body and mind. Within seconds, a fleet of the things filled the area above the yard, and the entire sky. It was quite literally my worst nightmare unfolding in front of my eyes. I had no surefire way of knowing it but I felt it in my very soul; I was about to be taken. There was no sensation or feeling being drawn into the ship’s compartment; I was on the porch, and in an instant I was immersed in a viscous green liquid. I wasn’t sure how I was still able to breathe. Every sound around me was muffled. I couldn’t move or speak, I was once again rendered helpless, and this time I knew I was truly alone. I couldn’t save my friends, and I couldn’t save myself. I had no idea what fate lay ahead of me, I felt genuine fear and an overwhelming sense of impending doom. Where was I going? Were they going to kill me? I was in my own personal hell.

The ship must have been moving, as I felt my body being jarred from side to side. My entire body fell into an intense tremor, as if my insides were vibrating. My imagination told me we were being thrust into hyperspace, travelling millions of lightyears away across the galaxy. Then everything came to an abrupt stop. There was nothing but darkness around me, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the two slots next to me had been filled as well. Were they terrified too? Who and what had they been taken away from? I’d gone no contact with my immediate family years ago, but now was the one time I desperately needed to not be alone. I wanted someone, anyone, to help me get anywhere but here. Wherever ‘here’ even was. Another jolt took me back to my terrible reality. Everything within my field of vision was still pitch black, it seemed like there was no end to the darkness. I’d wondered if I was still even in the compartment they’d taken me into. It took every ounce of will in my body and mind to get my arm to move. My body seemed to be moving in slow motion, and the liquid pulled me back every time I moved. I wanted to scream, to beat on whatever I was encapsulated in, but I could barely move an arm. In all my 22 years, I’d never felt such rage. As if a fire had started at my feet, I felt heat surge through my body. It felt like every vein in my body was being pumped with battery acid, I had never felt such immense pain. Each fiber of my body seemed to explode, I felt capillaries burst open. All the energy in my body emerged with a scream that I could not hear. It was a grave mistake to have opened my mouth. The thick green fluid quickly filled my mouth, flushing itself down my throat and filling my lungs. I couldn’t imagine a more terrifying and painful death. I thought it was over; I beckoned my own death with open arms, but a fresh hell awaited. A large hand like figure slapped onto the surface of the compartment I was seemingly still being held in. It was not human, by far. The pain immediately stopped, and I felt air rush back through my lungs. The hand was inches from my face, but whatever it was had stopped my potential death. Despite my terror, I was thankful. A second, and then a third hand made its way onto the compartments’ surface. Each hand had four tendril-like appendages, all were long with a bulbous end. I imagined every horrible scenario of how these things could kill me. I didn’t want to even think about what their bodies looked like, I almost began to think it would have been better if the green goo had killed me. Again, a mistake was made when I opened my mouth. I didn’t expect any sound to come out, but it did. Despite my efforts to form words, only a small gurgle came out. I was filled with rage all over again. Whatever the being was, it was mad. The force of the creature’s jolt was the equivalent of being hit head on by a semi truck, the impact of the creature's hit sent me to the back of the compartment, slamming my back against a solid wall. All the breath had been taken from my body, I felt lifeless. It must have thrown me into another area, because I could move now. My hands instinctively flew to my throat, clawing for air. I drew blood scratching my neck so hard. All I could think was stop, please just stop. Take what you want from me, just let me breathe again.

And then it was over. Once again I was thrown from immense pain, back to my baseline fear. I could move, and breathe, and felt a strange sense of gratitude. The thing had tried to kill me twice, and brought me back; it was some twisted game. A game I no longer wanted to play.

“Please, if you can understand me, let me go. I’m begging you, please! Can you hear me, can anybody hear me?” I was shouting into a void. The creature's hands were gone, and I was once again rendered sightless.

“Anyone, please…” I whispered, what was the point of screaming. No one was here, and no one was coming. I sank down against the wall, again feeling the pain from being mercilessly thrown into the wall. I knew my back was bleeding too as I felt a warm trickle down the small of my back. I let my head fall into my hands, still bloodied from clutching my throat. I wondered what was going on back home, how many other people had been taken. I wondered if they’d killed anyone yet, and if anyone else had shared my hellish experience. I still had no idea where I was, but I’d lost faith in still being on earth. Fear was instilled once again when I heard a scrape on the floor, and a gut wrenching squelch. One of the creatures was in the room with me. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to see it since we were in the dark. One of the many downsides of my situation was that I also couldn’t tell where it was. The sloppy steps were getting closer, and they seemed to be coming from in front of me. I braced for whatever was going to happen, throwing my hands over my head to block my view. I felt every ounce of the hope of normalcy leave my body as the creature laid it’s slimy hand on my arm. It's fingers nearly wrapped around my arm two times, this creature was huge. It lifted me by the arm as if I was weightless, so it was strong too. This thing could squeeze the life out of me in an instant. My head began to hurt from squeezing my eyes shut so tightly, I desperately wanted to open my eyes but fear screamed at me not to. I could tell through my eyelids that some light was ahead of us. I noticed that I’d still been tensing up my entire body, every single muscle was rigid. I could no longer keep up my strength, and let my body go limp. The creature still had no problem carrying my entire weight with one hand, and the light was getting closer. I couldn’t keep my eyes closed, and reluctantly opened them. The light was so strong it burnt, any moisture in my eyes immediately evaporated. I felt my skin slowly begin to peel off my body from the heat, layer by layer. This was the end, it had to be. I couldn’t withstand any more pain, and I let go for the final time.

“Courtney! Wake up, it’s all gone!” Kristen’s voice woke me with a start.

“What, Kristen? What the hell, where were you? Wait, where’s Lexi? Oh no…please no…” I shot up and ran to the front yard. This wasn’t some sick dream, I knew because the front door was still torn off. I dreaded seeing her lifeless body on the concrete, contorted from her ten foot fall in the air.

“No…oh god it really happened…” I cradled her body, wishing it could have been me. “Oh Lexi, I’m so sorry. What did they do to you?” I cried into her as the reality of what I’d lost sank in.

“Courtney everything’s gone, they stripped the house bare! You were outside and then you were just…gone. I looked everywhere for you but they’d taken you. What did they do to you?” Kristen circled me, searching for any damage. She would find nothing, despite all the torture I’d been through. On the surface, it appeared nothing had been done to me. But I would forever remember every moment in the ship.

“They nearly killed me Kristen, multiple times. They were hideous. My god, they wrecked the town…are they gone? Did any of them stay? What if they’re still here! Kristen we gotta go, we have to find shelter, we have to-” I almost lost my breath.

“They’re gone, they left in seconds. They took you, and probably hundreds across the city. You weren’t the only one.” Her eyes were filled with pity.

“Seconds? No, I was up there for hours, that’s not possible…How could they have done this much damage across the city if they were here so short? This makes no sense. I don’t understand.” I felt tears pinch the corners of my eyes, and I welcomed them.

“None of this makes sense, Kristen. I look fine, it’s like nothing even happened. They nearly drowned me, they tortured me! They brought me within an inch of my life then they saved me…they made it all go away somehow. We need to find the others, the ones they took.” I shot up and broke into a sprint.

“Courtney, wait! The news says everyone’s gathering downtown. Maybe we should stay here, the whole town is going nuts! It’s better if we just stay here and avoid the chaos. Maybe it’s best if no one knows you were taken. I mean think about it, if people know that you were one of them, we’ll have eyes all over this place. We need to take care of Lexi first, we can’t have a body laying in our front yard. Listen to me Courtney, if they ask, and they will, you tell them you were right next to me as it happened. For all they know, we were both witnesses, and the fact that you look pristine and untouched might work to our favor. I’m so sorry, you’ve just been to hell and back but hang in there just until the curiosity dies down, ok? We're gonna be fine.” She held my shoulders as she consoled me and told me the plan.

“Ok. But are you sure they’re all gone?”

“Yes, I’m sure. The news has been all over the whole thing, there’s no trace of anything in the sky since they shot off. Come here, I’m so sorry.” She opened her arms and held me close.

“You know people aren’t gonna let this go for awhile.” I half asked her.

“Yeah, it’s gonna be chaos until the city is rebuilt. No one outside town believes this even happened. And you know that the others who were taken are gonna be under a microscope for the rest of their lives. We don’t want that, so we have to keep this between us. Courtney, look at me. No one can ever know you were taken.” She looked at me with tears in her eyes.

“I know. I can’t even go to therapy for this junk.” I chuckled.

“I know, and I’m so sorry. But we’re gonna get through this, you and I. We’re just gonna stay here and do our own rebuilding, leave the chaos to them. We can’t get involved.”

“This is gonna be a long journey.” I spoke softly.

“It is. This is just the beginning.”