The Invaders

The beginning

The door slammed hard behind me, as I rushed forward, not caring that I could hardly breathe in the ash filled air, all I could think about was Clair... This was unreal, this was a dream. It had to be.

Her parents didn’t seem to notice me push past, locked in a trance of utter devastation, I felt their pain as if it radiated of them, as I approached the best thing that had ever happened to me, now laying broken on the grass. Tears perked at my eyes, my stomach convulsing, I had never felt more useless, more sick.

I crouched down beside their bodies, reaching out my hand to touch her cold, deathly white skin. I flinched at the touch, surprised at how incredibly she was, Even more staggered when she jumped at my touch as though electrified. “Clair?” My voice was barely audible as my heart began to race. Her face raised, mascara trailing her pale cheeks, as she bit down on her lip drawing blood. Her eyes, the killed me just to look at them, they were the eyes of a dying man they were damaged, full of  anguish, shock and anger. “He’s gone.” Were the only words she was capable of making. The excitement that had rushed through me knowing she was alive, vanished. As I looked into the youthful face of her brother, a ghost of a smile traced his lips, as if he hadn’t even seen it coming.

I was about to embrace her, to comfort her, when in the distance I heard the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. Clarisse’s eyes shot up in fear, as if questioning me on what she had just heard. I nodded, and that was all it took, any composure she had left fell and she turned into a shell, her eyes and expression was blank, almost as if she wasn’t there, her soul had been sucked out...

The shots were getting louder, what the hell was happening? I turned to her parents, where they stood unmoving, embracing each other and staying so still they could have been mistaken for statues. The gun shots sounded AGAIN, this time followed by deafening screams, of a woman. My eyes instinctively searched my surroundings, it was so close. It had to be only a block away. Why was no one moving? No one running, was it some kind of gang? Rummaging through the town, trying to create even more devastation then there already was?

After the fifth gunshot, I couldn’t just sit there, the guns were sounding too close. I jumped to my feet, pulling an unresponsive Clair with me, slumped against my shoulder. Behind her house was a small ditch that led into a forest time area, it was my best and safest bet. Pulling her with me, I all but threw us over the small fence separating the forest from the house, my eyes grazing the area for the best hiding spot. There was  nothing, bar a few trees. Sighing, I helped Clair onto the ground. We both jumped as a gun sounded only a few meters away. She looked up to me with frightful eyes, “My parents.” She whispered. I nodded and was about to jump the fence, to try and pull them to the safety of the... ditch. When I saw a sight that changed my life forever, it wasn’t gang members, nowhere close. These didn’t even look like people there were four, each at least six foot. Their skin was a light but obvious shade of grey, so was their hair. But neither of them looked old. Their faces seemed to have raised veins of grey all over them, running down from their fore heads, across their necks and under their shirts. Their clothes, were like those you would see in mental asylums. Pure white jumpsuits, that went from their necks and down into their boots, which were silver and looked like they were made out of metal, the rims reaching their upper shins. But that wasn’t the terrifying part about these, men. No it was what was in their hands. Pointing directly at Clairs parents. One had a gun bigger than a horses leg. The other had a shot gun with an odd blue panel floating above it, and the other two. Had swords that seem to have electricity running through them, because they sparked and glowed white.

There was nothing I could do, but stand there, and watch as the four men, if you could even call them that, encircled them. The first with a sword raised it to Clairs Dad’s neck, and without so much as flinching wiped it clean off. I slammed my fist into my mouth to stop me from screaming, as blood began to pour down his neck, as he fell to his knees in a slump. Clairs mother, screamed in terror and fell to her knees beside her husband. “Please, no, no, no!” But these people showed no mercy. I turned my head as a gun was fired and her begging seized.

I had no idea, these insane men were aliens at the time, I also didn’t know that the deaths I had just witnessed, wouldn’t be the last and I had no idea, that the ‘natural disaster’ earthquake, was really just the beginning of a war. A war no man could win, this wasn’t the end. No this was just the beginning.

I turned back, to scan the area, the men seemed to have left. The only trace of them being here were the now two bodies of Clairs parents. I gulped, both in relief that they had gone, and in complete revulsion of what had just happened.

I turned around to see Clair slumped against the fence. Staring out at nothing. I sighed and looped my arm under hers. “Common babe, we have to go.” Pulling her from the ground, she didn’t protest in fact she said nothing. Just followed me, back up over the fence, As stealthy as I could I searched the area beginning to feel more and more like a ninja as I pulled Clair over the grass and rubble towards my car, trying my best to shield her parents with my body so she wouldn’t have to see.

**

I parked outside my house, praying the men had not been here too. I couldn’t bear the thought of seeing my parents dead. I turned off the ignition and we sat in silence for a few moments, before Clair spoke, “Their gone, aren’t they?” She paused, “All of them.”

She didn’t look at me, but instead straight ahead, towards the garage door. I rested my hand on her thigh, “Yes.”

“I heard the gun shots, did they shoot them?”

“Yes, Clair.” I lied, I couldn’t tell her what they had really done to her father. What her mother and I had witnessed. She nodded, emotionless and opened the door.

I followed her into the house, letting her go first, terrified, that just maybe my parents had met the same fate. But as the door opened and we walked in, relief flooded through my veins. My parents and sister we trying their best to clean up the mess the earth quake had made.

“Mum, DAD!” I rushed over to my mother and threw my arms around her, hugging her so tight she almost dropped the vase she was holding. “Rower, what’s gotten into you?” she laughed, elbowing me off.

“The men didn’t come here?”

My mother raised her eyebrows, “What Rower, which men?”

“Clair, are you okay ?--- Son, what’s happened, why is Clair not with her family?” My dad called from the living room. I let go of my hold on my mother and quickly walked into the other room, my mum in my wake. Clair was sitting on the sofa. Staring at the ceiling unmoving. “Their- Her parents, they are-“ I couldn’t finish afraid I would upset her even more. “Their Dead.” Clair finished. Her voice void of emotion, my mother gasped and dropped the vase she was holding, to rush to Clairs aide. “How?” my father asked me in an undertone. “These Men, did a shoot up, after the quakes. They killed both of them.”

My father shook his head, “What about her brother, you didn’t just leave him there surly!”

“He’s dead too Dad. The Quake got him.”

My dad nodded, and walked into the hall way no doubt to check if the phones were working so he could call the police about the men.

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. It was hard to believe that just this morning I had been sitting in class, contemplating stupid things, like skipping school, and how best to piss off the teachers.