The Light That Shines From Above

Chapter 3

The first thing I noticed as I gained consciousness was that everything was still again. There was no bright light. All around me I could hear beeping, then just beneath that noise was two men talking.

My eyes slowly pulled open. My head throbbed dully and I moved my hand to hold my forehead. I wondered if I hit my head, or if the intruder did.

The memory of what his arm looked like had me shooting up into a sitting position.

I wasn't home. Instead I faced a smooth metal wall. The ground beneath me was the same material. Silver maybe. But it would take an awful lot to of it to make a room. Besides, I had never seen a wall or floor made of metal so smooth. There were no blemishes, no welding marks or bolts.

In the reflection of the wall I could see lights blinking behind me. I spun to see a cell door. It was small, the silver bars not inches apart. The lights came from what looked like an electric panel. It appeared to be more complex though. There were no labels but hundreds of buttons and levers. Some buttons blinked red and yellow while others were dull.

I walked closer to the door, my feet covered in fuzzy socks blocking the noise of my movement. I tried to peek out without drawing attention to myself.

To my left was another smooth wall, it turned to the right but I couldn't see passed that. To my right was a long hallway with multiple corridors.

At the sight of someone turning into the hall I ripped my head back. I held completely still taking a few deep breaths to calm myself. Cautiously I looked again, watching the tall women walk in the opposite direction. Her skin was green. It had a reptile-like pattern that shined in the bright white lights lining the metal ceiling. Her hair was black and braided close to her scalp. She wore some sort of military attire. The material looked rough.

She made the motion like she was turning around I pressed myself against the wall again. Then slowly moved back towards the corner just in case. I waited, counting to sixty before going to look again. This time the hall was clear.

I stared at the area she was. There was nothing else to see so I turned to look at the panel again. I jumped back, a scream catching in my throat as the woman I had just seen leave stood in front of my cell.

My breathing stopped as I took her in. Up close her skin held the texture of a snake, though the scales looked much smaller. Black claws came from the fingers instead of fingernails. Her ears were pointed on both ends and laid nearly flat to her head. She had a slender face shape, like an oval. Her eyes were vibrant orange and her pupils W shaped. It widened and narrowed as she examined me.

Her head cocked to the side, "You look different." She noted. Her voice was high pitch, almost unnaturally so.

I didn't respond. Not because I didn't have answer. No I lost the ability to speak when she opened her mouth. All of her teeth were razor sharp.

Suddenly there was a man next to her making me push further into the wall. He appeared out of thin air. His features were the same as hers, slightly shorter though.

"She's usually crying by now no?"

They were talking about my mother. They had to be.

Holy crap.

My mother was right.

She wasn't crazy. There were really beings from the sky taking her.

Panic and guilt filled me. I had dismissed her for so long. I had agreed with every doctor that said she was clinically insane. Committed her to a mental hospital for it.

And I was wrong.

My realization halted when the woman spoke again, this time in another language. It was fast paced and evolved a lot of clicking, some words guttural while others sounded like she was just mimicking sounds made my inanimate objects.