by Matt Shaw
I wonder whether that was a hint she may knock on my door sooner than expected, saying she might knock on my door first. She might want to stay in the same room? Stop it. She’s not that sort of lady. Because I can tell that, already... from the short time I’ve spent with her.
So stupid.... stop it. Pull yourself together. Anyone would think I’ve never spoken to a pretty woman before now.....
Take each day as it comes. One at a time. Don’t get your hopes up anything is going to come of this new friendship. Don’t lose sight of the end goal.... you want to leave on a positive note, not more heart-break.
Jesus, have you heard yourself?!
I turned to the window and gazed out. My room was on the street side, over-looking the alleyway we came down earlier in the night. Outside was just as dark as earlier. Who would have thought not knowing the time would have been so annoying. I feel disorientated. Did we really fall asleep through the whole day - not waking once, at any of the stations we stopped at?!
That, in itself, is weird.
On the rare occasions I have started to doze off, on a train or bus, a sudden jolt normally wakes me up. For both of us to sleep right through......
What’s that?
At the end of the alley - a shape in the fog.... what is that?
I squinted, to try and get a better look.
There’s definitely something there.
I squinted harder.
Definitely....
A shape.
Movement...
Is that....
Is that a child?!
9.
I didn’t bother disturbing Lisa. I just ran from my room, down the landing, stairs and out of the front door - leaving it open so I could get back in afterwards.
Why the hell was a child walking around at this time....
Time....?
What time? For all I know it could be the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of an eclipse. No, they would have mentioned something on the news. And people would have come out to see it.... why am I even thinking about this when the child could be in trouble. From the window, it looked as though it was young. Definitely too young to be on the streets by itself, no matter what the time of day was.
I ran to the end of the alleyway, into the fog.
Weird fog.
Eerie.
Maybe I should have disturbed Lisa....
“Hello?!” I called out. “Little.....” the glimpse from the window wasn’t enough to determine a sex, “Little kid?”
I stopped and listened. At first I could only hear my heart beating hard from within my chest. Hard because I’ve just run and it’s not used to it or hard because I’m scared? Could be either. There.... to my left....
I turned....
.... Crying.
“Little kid?” I took a few steps forward, in the direction of the crying and stopped when a small boy, no more than ten years old, walked out of the fog - towards me..
The young boy stopped in his tracks and looked at me. A petrified expression on his face.
“Are you a monster?” he asked.
“What? Not the last time I checked,” I said.
I stepped towards him and bent to his level.
“Are your mum and dad with you?”
He shook his head. His eyes were wide with fear. I try and avoid children, as much as possible, because I don’t have the temperament for them. Even so, from the times I have had to have dealings with them.... I’ve never seen fear like this in their eyes.
“Where are they?”
He shrugged.
The boy was wearing pyjamas - a clear sign he, at least, lived nearby.
“Come on, I’ll take you home....” I said. I held out my hand for him, “Where do you live?”
“No!”
As quick as lightening he turned on the spot and ran into darkness, swallowed by the thick fog.
“Wait!” I yelled out, giving chase.
I managed to catch up within seconds and stopped him by placing my hands on his shoulders and simply pulling him back. He struggled momentarily before realising it was pointless to fight with me.
“You can’t be out here,” I said, “your mum and dad will be worried about you....”
“They aren’t my mum and dad,” he wept.
Maybe he lived with relatives. Maybe he was from a foster home.... either way, I knew he didn’t belong on the street.
“Come on, I’ll take you home... and I promise I won’t leave you until you’re safe and sound from scary monsters....”
“I don’t want to go home...”
“Outside is where the monsters live, though....”
A cruel tactic, but I figured - if he was scared to be outside, on the streets, it might have made it easier to get him to go home. I never said I’d make Father of the Year.
The boy looked round nervously. I offered him my hand.
“Shall I take you home?”
Another quick, nervous look around and he nodded, taking my hand in the process.
“Which way?” I asked.
As it turned out - the boy lived down the same street Lisa and I walked up earlier that evening.
“Can I stay with you?” he asked when we got to his front door.
“What?”
“I want to live with you....”
I frowned.
An odd thing for a child to say.... for anyone to say.... to a stranger.
I nodded towards the door, “Your mum and dad will be worrying....”
“They aren’t my mum and dad.”
Ah, relatives.
He’s in quite a state already - no sense making him upset further by asking what happened to his folks.
The boy struggled a bit as I stepped towards the door but, again, soon gave in when he realised I wasn’t letting go of his hand. Not when there’s another chance of him running. It’s as though the air is thin here, everything seems to take more effort.... I certainly don’t need to be chasing after someone who is a lot more than half my own age. Fuck that.
I knocked on the door and, more or less straight away, it opened to reveal who I presumed were his relatives. They first looked to me and then down to the little boy, who was shaking like a leaf.
“Thomas, where have you been? Your mother was worried,” said the man.
I thought he said they weren’t his mum and dad. Foster, I presume.
The mother stepped forward and took hold of Thomas’ other hand. In turn, I let go.
“Thank you for finding my boy,” she said - stepping back into the house.
“Not sure what happened but he seems pretty sha -” I went to say before they closed the door in my face.
How rude.
Sure, I wasn’t expecting a cash reward or anything but a little gratitude perhaps would have been nice. It was only after I stepped back from the house that I noticed none of the lights were on.
Could there be a power-cut? Maybe the Bed and Breakfast runs on a separate generator? That would be a strange set-up.... no.....
Something’s not right.
Terminate.
I span around on the spot, “Who said that?”
No reply came.
Was there someone in the fog toying with me? Had the little boy come out - perhaps sleep walked - to the street and the same person freaked him out too and that’s why he was running away when I spotted him? Makes sense.... at least, it does in my mind....
Did I even hear anything - the darkness.... the fog.... the disorientated feeling playing tricks on my fragile mind...? I turned my attention back to the house - I feel uneasy about leaving the boy. I feel as though something’s wrong. And I did promise I wouldn’t leave him until I knew he was safe and sound...
...I need a telephone.
A perfect reason to knock on Thomas’ front door again. A reward for finding their son; the use of their phone. If they have one. I’m sure Lisa won’t mind if we leave now - get to the airport as soon as possible to start our little trip
together.
I walked back over to the front door and knocked again.
For some reason, I half-expected the door to swing open no sooner had my fist left it but.... nothing. No one answered it.
“Hello?” I called out, “Sorry, I was just wondering if I could borrow your telephone? My friend and I need a taxi...”
Nothing.
I knocked harder on the door, causing it to gently open.
Weird.
I stuck my head in, “Hel.... what?”
The house was empty.
No furniture.
Nothing you’d expect to see in a lived-in house.
Nothing.
And no mum and dad.
“Thomas?” I called. “You here?”
No answer.
I ran up the stairs just to find more of the same emptiness I had noticed downstairs.
Thomas wasn’t here.
Something’s very wrong.
I turned and ran down the stairs, back out of the front door. By the time I had reached the bed and breakfast, I was out of breath and my chest was feeling tight - as though I had run a marathon. I burst through the front door half expected the creepy owner to be stood waiting for me at coun.....
The counter wasn’t there...
Nothing was.
The counter was gone.
The carpets....
A quick glance in the dining-room and that too was empty.
What the fuck is going on?
Lisa!
I ran up the stairs, down the hallway towards room six....
“Lisa! Lisa! We need to go!”
When I was outside of her door, I started banging on it with my fist.
“Come on, Lisa, we need to leave.... now....”
Nothing.
She didn’t come to the door.
“Lisa!” I banged again - harder this time.
I didn’t wait for an answer. Instead I just turned the door handle.... locked. A quick look down the corridor to check for the old lady. Nope. If I had disturbed her, she wasn’t here yet. Good. She wouldn’t approve of this...
Without a second thought, I kicked the door as hard as I could. Unsurprisingly, it splintered on the first kick. The second kick weakened it further. The third kick sent took it off it’s hinges....
“Lisa.....”
I already knew she wasn’t in the room, she would have called out when I started kicking but.... I wasn’t expecting the room to be empty. No bed. No desk. No bedside cabinet. Even her suitcase was missing.
“This isn’t possible....”
I left her room and ran back to my own room. The door was still open from where I had run out, earlier, to get to the little.....
Empty?!
Everything in my room is gone too....
What the fuck is going on?!
Without any warning, I dropped to the floor as though a heavy force knocked me down. My eyes shut tight and everything seemed to be getting darker....
Blacker...
....
Slowly I peeled my eyes open.
Letting in the light hurt. As though my eyes had been shut for a long time.
I shut them again and tried to re-open them.... doing this a couple of times to try and adjust to my surroundings - my head pounding with one of the worst headaches I’ve ever had.
I can’t move.
Everything is bright.
This isn’t the bed and breakfast.
10.
Subject is awake.
Who said that? A strange voice. Piercing into my brain. Who’s there?
I’m in a large room, circular.... white.... bits of metal... clinical.
I tried to sit up but couldn’t... my head feels as though it’s strapped down. What the fuck is this? Hands too - I can’t move them. I feel something foreign against my wrists... the same feeling on my ankles. What the fuck is going on?
Directly above me is a saw....
A saw?
It’s not moving, thankfully.
“Hello?!” I called out.
Strange noises... I can hear various things buzzing around me. I can’t turn my head to see what they are.... can just move my eyes.... out of the corner of my right eye is a monitor.... strange hieroglyphics on the screen with images of my mum... Mary.... my old flat... work bosses.... Lisa.....
Lisa?
Where is she?!
“Lisa?!”
Beyond the monitor are windows. Tinted, I can see shapes on the other side of them. Weird shapes... bushes with leaves and sticks dancing in the wind? No.... Octopus? No.... people.... People shapes with bits sticking from them?
“Hello? Please, where am I?” I called out.
I can hear noises coming from their direction - a language? Foreign sounding as though someone’s over there making clicking noises with their tongue....
Why is subject awake?
Program terminated.
These voices - I can hear in my mind, crystal clear. As though someone was stood directly in front of me talking to me - face to face.
“Please, I’m scared... where am I?”
More tongue-like clicking noises.
You were taken
Part of a program
Help us determine whether we could take Planet by stealth
By force
My heart raced as I heard more and more... as much as I wanted to remain brave - I was so confused.... so scared.... I couldn’t help but cry.
Crying
Same as female
Female? Lisa?
“Where’s Lisa? Please.... where’s Lisa?”
More tongue-like clicking.
Lisa
The female
The shadows on the opposite side of the darkened windows moved around to the other side of the room - my eyes, as best they could, followed..... wait.... no.... Please..... No.....
To my left was another table. Lisa was laying on it. Strapped to the table, just as I was. The top of her head was missing - in it’s place was a large circular saw. It was then that I noticed a smaller, metal table next to where she lay.... Oh Jesus...
A vase with what looked to be a brain, floating it in.... eyes still attached... pretty blue eyes...
I want to be sick... I can’t.... can’t turn my head. I closed my eyes.
It’s okay.
Everything is okay.
This is all nothing but a terrible nightmare. When I open my eyes, everything will be fine. I’ll probably still even be on the train. A terrible nightmare. Lisa, in the dream, because my mind likes to torture me - making me think she’s mine but, when I wake up, she’ll be nothing more than a stranger again.
Yes, a terrible nightmare.
Animal sensed Us
Terminated for study
Child sensed Us
Oh God, I promised him I’d stay with him. Did he meet the same fate as Lisa?
Terminated for study
“Why? Why are you doing this?”
Need Planet
Need Resources
Earth
Close match
Stealth not an option
It’s all just a terrible nightmare.
Program terminated
Subjects to be studied
Weaknesses Discovered
Use of Force
The circular saw above my head span into life.
No.
Please...
I turned my eyes to the side - to look, as best as I could, at the monitor.... my mum.... Mary.... Lisa.... various events from my life in quick succession...