The End

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

My scream comes out as a high-pitched, blood-curdling yowl as I throw my hands out to protect my face and throat. The creature just looks like a light blue blur as it strangles my hand, biting into it, causing searing pain to race through my veins, making me scream harder. Its hissing drives me insane and I throw myself all over the place, trying to get the thing off me. I hear Ethan moving in the distance, yelling my name and trying to help me in any way, but the noise is very faint. Instead, I am caught up in my own wrath of pain and fear. I feel the creature bite down hard on the side of my hand and I feel something shoot through me, like poison. I continue to try and thrust back, when all of a sudden, the tiny weight is lifted off my body. I turn to face Ethan, and for a split second, I see him holding a stick that had impelled the creature, which was laying limp, dead, in the branch. A second after he throws the stick to the ground, I am in his arms. I bury my face in his shoulder and he whispers in my ear,

"It's okay. It's okay. It's dead. It's okay."

I nod, determinedly and try to set my face straight. I'm not crying, but my face is smeared with fear. I wipe it off and turn to Ethan. "What was that?"

He shakes his head, still recovering from shock.

"Ethan," I repeat. "What is going on? What was that...thing?"

"I don't know!" He bursts. "But what I do know is that the forest is no longer safe. We can't visit this place any more."

I stare at him, stunned. "What?"

"Jaden, you can't expect to come back here without another attack."

"You of all people should know I can't just quit coming here!" I protest, my fear now turned to anger. "This is my place. Our place."

"I know, Jaden. I know," He looks exasperated. His deep, blue eyes are closed, like he's trying to disconnect himself from the world. "But how do we know if another one of those...things...attack again? Our place is no longer safe."

He looks so wise, standing there with his eyes closed and his low voice makes him sound twenty years older. But I don't like the piece of wisdom he's trying to enforce upon me. I turn away from him and my eyes rake the forest from top to bottom, trying to take in every inch of it. To remember it all. The trees, the branches, the leaves, shrubs, birds, flowers, clear skies. I can't flee from my only place of refuge. But a tiny voice inside of me is saying that Ethan is right. That it really isn't safe here. Ever since that spaceship crashed, it never was safe. I struggle to contain my tides of emotions crashing inside of me. I take a deep breath.

"Fine," I finally reply. "I'll never come in here ever again. But...what was that thing that attacked me? Does it have anything to do with..." But my voice fades away when the unspoken answer lingers in front of us. We both know it. My assumptions had been true.

Aliens.

There are aliens on our Earth.

I can hardly make sense of it.

I purse my lips to hide the intense pulsing of my fear increasing with every breath I take. I close my eyes for a moment and fill my lungs with air. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. I keep telling myself. But my mind refuses to listen to these words of peace. Instead, my fear continues to grow.

My thoughts are erupted by a sharp piercing pain in my hand where the creature had bit me. I let out a yelp, and Ethan is at my side in an instant.

"What is it?" He asks me, concerned.

"My hand," I caress the injured part with my other palm. His large hand immediately take the place of mine and he examines it closely. I yelp again, the pain even greater than before. My hand is still bleeding, and the dark, scarlet drops are slowly streaming across my palm. I feel the pain again, only this time I shriek. I feel like something is trying to dig its way inside of me. I fall to my knees, feeling the pain crawling its way into my veins. Now Ethan is really freaking out. I've never been in this much pain before, and he knows that.