Tobias' story

Chapter 1

The year is 2021. Scared of ever leaving my house again, terrified of what lurked on the outside of the walls of my house. The phone rang which woke me up out of the daydream state I was in. "Hi, Ms. Russo. This is channel 9 news. We would like to talk to you about what happened so famously 30 years ago." My heart stopped for a moment. I had no idea what to say, do I speak my truth or let it continue to kill me inside? "Yes please." I quickly said before I changed my mind. "Great, come down around 6:00." The young lady hung up and I was left with my thoughts. I had no one to share this story with. Why did I agree to this?
~
I sat down in a seat surrounded by cameras and lights. A tall man with a straggly beard put a microphone on my shirt and told me about the different camera angles. I hated thinking about that day, it went so quickly I couldn't even think about it. A man sat across from me, his hair was perfectly groomed. No scars on his face, just a happy white teethed smile. "Nice to meet you Jane Russo. I'm Jamie Campbell. I'm going to be interviewing you today. Remember, if you need to stop and rest at any time you can. I want you to be completely comfortable." He said leaning and holding my hand. "Jamie, 10 minutes!" A man yelled from behind the camera. I leaned back into my chair and scanned the studio. I saw a small tv that had my face on it. I could only see my imperfections. All the scars from that night. This man gets to tell my story with no scars. Jamie came back and sat across from me getting ready for the show. "Welcome back, today we have a special guest Jane Russo from Sicily. She's here to tell the untold story of what happened 30 years ago on this day." All the cameras pointed at me. I felt my face get red, I felt like I couldn't speak then words just started flowing from my mouth.
"I was born December 12th 1979. The attacks happened when I was 12. I had just turned 12. It was January 20th, I had no idea that was the day I'd be saying goodbye to everyone I knew."

The camera man signaled for a break which I was glad for. Just stating my name and Birthday was hard. Commercial breaks are always so long but this felt like 30 seconds. "So please, let's get back to your story."

"It was our annual festival at the beach. Our town is so small that we all just brought a dish and partied all night long. I had brought my new Barbie dolls to play with since I don't like all the action of the party. I sat far away from the beach under a huge tree. I sat by myself facing away from the beach. Soon after the sun set and the party started I heard the screams and shrieks from the party goers. People ran in my direction trying to get away. I searched the people looking for my parents, I turned to face the beach and that's when I saw the horror of why everyone was screaming. These huge, fish like monsters crawled on the beach coming from the water. They were like green with gills all over. Large eyes and fins. They had huge mouths with large sharp teeth. They squirmed up on the beach eating anything that got in the way. Which were all my friends and family. I had no idea what to do. I couldn't do anything as they squirmed towards me. I picked up my doll and ran. I think that's what saved me. I ran east to the woods. I tripped over every branch trying to catch my breath, crying. Images flashing into my Brain of people getting devoured by these animals. Helicopters flew over me and shot at the subjects. Whatever they were they couldn't hold up to a bullet. I ran towards the beach and began calling for someone to rescue me. No one dared to land. I was alone, everyone was dead. The monsters moved so fast that even the people who had a head start died. I ran to my house grabbing all the money I could get my hands on. The government declared my town in a quarantine. I have no idea how I escaped so fast without getting caught but I did. I took the family car and drove as fast I as could. I couldn't drive to begin with, I could barley reach the pedals. I grabbed the next flight out of Sicily, which was New York. The government is still looking for me, no one inhibits the small town, I'm still haunted by those creatures in my dreams. I'm not sure if the government made these or if they came from the sea  but they destroyed my town, I was 12 and I had nothing. I wish I knew what they were. I wish I knew why they attacked that day of our beach festival. Did they plan this? Why couldn't they chose a day when we were all in our houses spending time with our family? Maybe my family would still be alive today. I still have the Barbie doll from that day."

I pulled out a dirty old doll from my purse, damaged to the point of no return. I looked around the room and everyone was shocked.

"Thank you Jane. It was nice hearing your story." Jamie said hesitantly. I felt such a huge relief off my shoulders. I felt like I could do anything. "I liked this Jamie. Thank you for having me." I smiled and shook his hand. I left the studio feeling so alive. I felt like I could go swimming, something I haven't done since I was 12.

Cold water hit me from above. I was in a small white room with no windows and doors. "Jane stop telling your story. You're contained no one is listening to you." A voice echoed from the ceiling intercom. A man dressed in a white outfit came in and strapped me to a bed. He rolled me down the hall to another brightly lit white room. "Jane you're still telling your story, we can't let you go if you're gonna go into the world and expose the government." A man dressed in a suit said to me. "Let's get this electroshock on her!!" He yelled. Two big men surrounded my head and put the electrons onto my head. A quick shock jolted through my body. "So who are you?" The nicely dressed man said. "I'm Jane Russo from Sicily, that's all." "Let's get her back in the room for observation!"

He yelled to his colleagues. I was unlocked from the bed and pushed into my room. I could hear the men talking outside my door.

"She cannot leave until she's a robot. We made these monsters to kill off that town. She's the only one who survived. If she gets out with ANY information we're ruined. She cannot expose us."

My door slammed and locked shut. I sat on the floor confused and lost, with my doll who always kept me company.