Waveland

Chapter 12: Past

[2 years ago] 

An illuminating light struck the Earth. The bright and strong lightning bolt shook the Earth and instantly shocked Rose awake. Her body trembled at the sound. Loud thuds of water plummeted against her window. She awoke in her purple bedroom. Metals shoved against each other, picture frames violently shaking. Her room was dark. She panted with each intense breath. A terrible feeling formed in her gut. Anxious thoughts wrapped around her mind. She lay frozen on her bed begging the anxious thoughts to fade. She tugged the blanket covers against her face.

Her door flew open. Striking the wall and denting a hole marking this moment forever.

"Take your sister! Do not come out until I say so!" Her father placed her little sister in her arms. His voice terrified her. There was a sight of urgency in his aggressive tone. Anger resides with each syllable. Darkness was hidden behind his eyes. 

"What's Happening?" She risked questioning her father.

"Stay here!" He pointed his index finger at her. His veins popped out of his wrist. He left slamming the door shut, leaving her in the darkness alone with her sister. Rose felt the urgency. Her anxious thoughts override her brain. She pulled her little sister to her chest. 

Her little sister had no idea what was happening, she was simply too young to undercover that anything was wrong. She was only six. Her body relaxed, half awake. Her little sister probably thought this was a normal thunderstorm. Rose knew in her gut that it wasn't.

Rose felt her heart racing. Her anxious thoughts refusing to let her go back to sleep. The anger showing in her father's demands. She tucked her little sister under the covers, she placed a teddy bear in her arms. She tried her best hiding her worries behind a pretty smile. She hoped it could fool the six year old.

Slowly Rose walked over to her window. Pulling the pink curtain from her window revealing the world beyond her bedroom. A dark black night. But what she saw wasn't normal. Monsters that should only appear in nightmares was visible through the glass. She screamed. Neighbors she knew lay on the ground dead, limps tore from their bodies. She watched as people she knew were screaming, paralyzed on the ground. They were being violently attacked. Pools of blood covering them. The creatures attacking were fast with their long six legs crawling toward the people attempting to run. The creatures were too fast for her neighbors, they creatures pounced on them in seconds. Rose watched as one of the creatures impaled someone she knew.

Horror filled her eyes. Her body was frozen on the window, watching the awful events happening right in front of her. Unable to tear her eyes from the horrific scene. Their screams continuously repeating in her brain. 

Her chest tightened. She couldn't breathe. Tears streamed down her face. Seeming someone around her age. A boy she saw everyday, someone she spoke to everyday. A secret love forming but was crashed instantly by the leg of the creature stabbing it through Alex's chest. 

Alex the football player who met her outside the high school everyday. The boy who always texted her good luck before her gymnastics competitions. The boy who smiled whenever their eyes would connect. The bright smile that was always on his face when he saw her in the stands cheering for him during his own football games. Her best friend. 

"No!" Rose screamed watching her whole world die in front of her.

Bright lights hovered over through their neighborhood. The lights pointed directed at the window. At her. A dark foreign object hovering above all the nearest houses. The flying object seemed like it stretched for miles. Never-ending. Bright lights emitting from the object directly into her own bedroom.

She quickly ran back to her sister.

"Get under the bed now!" Her voice breaking with each word. Fear coursing through her whole body. She pushed her sister under the bed until she touched the wall. She held her sister closely to her chest. Tears continued to stream down her face. She was in shock. Her sister in her arms as she was shaking uncontrollably. 

The sound of shattered glass formed in her room. Coming from the direction where she stood moments ago. The window. Pieces of glass scattering everywhere. She covered her little sister's mouth praying she wouldn't scream. Rose felt her heartbeat go still. The presence of a monster lurking in her room. The sound from the monster gave her an eerie feeling. She was going to die, and she wouldn't be able to save her sister. They were gonna end up just like their neighbors. Just like Alex. She would fail her father's only command. She would fail at keeping her sister safe. 

She saw the alien's slimy limps approached the bed, it's body peering over the top. Searching for them. She buried her sister chest into her own. Rose starred at the six legs only visible to her. the legs distortion, bent in weird angles. Each bone sharp enough to kill her. 

A loud siren broke out. Just as quickly as the creature appeared to seal the same fate as their neighbors it left. Saving them.

Rose exhaled a deep breathe. Her chest hurting from attempting to hold her heavy breathing.

"Stay here!" She yelled at her sister, crawling out of the safety underneath her bed, running out of the bedroom. The only burst of bravery she would ever have. She could still feel her body trembling, but she needed to find her father. She had to make sure he was alright.

She pressed her hands against the cold clear door, bursting outside. The cold air stinging against her skin. She stood outside the strong wind colliding with her bare skin as she stood in the midnight sky with nothing but her pink nightgown. The sounds of her neighbors screams louder. Her tears frozen on her face. 

"Dad!" A dark figure jogging up the stairs. Approaching her. Blood covered his face. His shirt ripped in numerous places. 

He ran to her. He gripped her shoulders tightly, shaking her. She could see blood on his face clear now. Her heart felt like it broke. Her breathing uncontrollable. 

"Rosealine! I told you still inside Damn it!" He roared at her. He stepped back, backing the physical contact.The anger directed at her made her want to crumble to the ground.

"Dad. What is going on?" Her voice was soft. Her fears taking over her brain almost restricting her vocal cords.

The screeching sounds reappeared. She recognized it from when she was hiding next to her sister. One of the creatures who murdered so many of her neighbors was in the distance and its eyes trained on her. The look of horror in her face gave away what she saw. Her dad looked over his shoulder at the same creature racing toward them. 

"Rosealine. I am sorry." His voice was low but rough. He placed his tough hands back on her shoulder. The soft was gentler this time. He looked into her teary eyes. "I am doing this for our family."

Her dad ran past her up the porch-steps going through the same door Rose burst through to reach him.

She didn't realize what he was talking about until it was too late. On the other side he locked the door. He stood there starring at her through the clear glass.

"Dad!" Rose banged her fist against the door begging him to let her in. The screeching sound of the alien was coming closer. Her body continued trembling. Her legs shaking, her whole body breaking to shut down. This was all too much. She wanted to get back to her little sister, hug tight until her father slayed all the demons. Just like the bedtime stories he would tell them.

"Don't do this! Dad!" She smacked on the door louder louder. Her dad responded by shutting the main door. Sealing her fate to protect the rest of his family.