Before this horrible day, Carli
thought the safety of daylight all too brief.
Knowing this nightfall would deliver them into the insectile clutches of
the Old Ones, time sped faster than ever.
The far off voices of the farmers faded as the sun sank in the sky. The prisoners huddled in a corner of the
cage, Adam's big arms wrapped about each woman.
As daylight waned, a pearly mist crept in curling tendrils about their
bodies. The mist should be gray, Carli thought, then wondered why she
expected that. The memory of a dream, a
nightmare perhaps...
She thought of her Native American
friend. Would he know when the Old Ones
killed the woman he called Willow? Would
he grieve for her?
Daylight died. Night collapsed on them, dark and
forbidding. Her ears strained to hear
the cricket sound of alien speech.
Only minutes after the dark
descended, the sound of alien chittering buzzed through the fog. All three prisoners lunged to their feet and
clutched frantic hands. Quiet returned
for a moment. Carli's rasping breath
roared in her ears. She pressed against
the bars as far as she could get from the door she couldn’t see in the fog.
The cage rattled. The sound that haunted her nightmares
exploded in her ears from all around.
Chittering. Chirping.
Renee screamed. Her dim form jerked away into the mist. Adam thrashed then he too disappeared, his
hand torn from Carli's grip. Mute with terror,
she crouched on the ground, shaking her head in silent negation.
Something caressed her cheek with a
bristled touch. A quick pain stabbed her
neck. She found her voice. "No!
No!" Sobbing denials, she
slapped at the face of the thing that pulled her close. Her limbs swung heavy, useless. Her eyes thudded shut. The wild thumping of her heart slowed.
An image of a tall beautiful man
with long black hair drifted before her closed eyes. Help
me. I don't want to die. So scared...
The man who called her Willow
reached for her just before disappearing in the dark void.
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