All Her Stars

1. Taken From Earth

Earth. 4 years ago.

Gravel crunched as I made my way down the uneven road leading towards my old country home.

The sharp sound of a beeping horn made my head turn, and I smiled lightly, waving my hand carelessly as my late school bus drove away.

As the engine revved in the distance, I looked around my dark neighbourhood.

My village had no street lights. They argued it an environmental issue, and wanted to keep the old heritage. I loved it.

The lack of light meant the canopy of stars above me shone brighter than I'd ever seen them.

My neck craned up as my eyes scanned through the different clutters of stars, some shining brighter than others. Some satellites ever so slowly moving across the black canvas.

"Hope?" My mother called from down the lane.

It was dark when I got off the bus, my mother didn't like me walking alone and always waited at the bottom of the lane for me.

I stretched a tired smile as I reached her, sinking into her arms before she guided me towards the house.

"Good day?" She cooed as I was flooded with the warm light of my kitchen.

"Mhm. I did a practice maths paper and got a B." I left my school bag on the table, taking my shoes off by the door.

"Thats amazing! Was it a GCSE paper?" She questioned, serving up dinner.

"Yeah." I smiled back, sitting myself down at the table.

She shouted for my dad and sister to come down for dinner as I waited patiently.

The night soon drew to a close, and I bid goodnight to my parents as I made my way up to my room on the top floor of our old house.

As I opened the door to my room, without turning the light on the stars were visible even through my window.

I gently smiled and made my way through the dark over to the window, gazing up at them.

One particular star shone brighter than them all, and my head tilted in confusion.

My eyes rose to locate the North Star, seemingly the brightest in the sky, which sat just above this bright light.

It must be a plane.

With a slight frown I tore my eyes away from the sky, glancing down at my front garden.

I began to turn away before my eyes caught on a figure standing in my garden, staring up at me.

My heart dropped down to my ass as I locked eyes on what seemed to be a large figure, standing dead still.

Was it looking at me? Was it really even there?

I swallowed harshly, still staring down at this figure, unable to determine if it was my imagination playing tricks on me.

A loud bang from downstairs made me jump and grab onto the window, snapping my head behind me.

I glanced back at the window to see no figure standing in the darkness anymore, but the sound of muffled crashing from downstairs only rose my anxiety.

Something was very wrong.

A feeling I've never felt prickled at the back of my head, raising my heart rate and creating shakes through my body.

Almost like a tug, urging me to go downstairs.

This feeling was whispering in my head. Something. Isn't. Right.

Without a second thought I ran towards my door, throwing it open and jogging down the stairs. "Mum?" I called out over the crashing noises from downstairs.