Shadow Effect

Some Obscure Alien Film

I didn't know this girl in the type of way that she would pull a prank like that. We were strictly coworkers and she was my superior. She also was an all-business kind of lady, probably no sense of humor. It seemed to have worked out for her, though.

Now, at my company at that time, a co-manager didn't earn too much more than an assistant. From what I knew, she did well enough but married rich, too. Drove a Jaguar. An XJ220, to be exact. A legendary car of the 90s, slick as hell. I'd bet even by now, she still has it in perfect condition. Her hair looked perfect every day, and always had a stylish cut and color. She was tall and slim, and looked amazing in her expensive clothing. Dana and her husband, Mike, lived farther away from the city than the rest of us in an upscale, suburban neighborhood.

Her husband was quite delightful, nothing like the rich, old yuppies that trophy wives must often tolerate. He was around 50, but didn't look it. Mike was a sugar daddy, if you will, but he was also modern and cool. He was a Democratic leftist senator, feminist, equal rights advocate, and wasn't afraid to voice it. He was popular with younger voters because he was progressive. I always wholeheartedly agreed with his standpoints on issues. Not only was he a good guy, he had a sophisticated sense of humor. He always looked so fresh and sexy in his suits. He had dirty blonde hair with highlights of lighter blonde, ice blue eyes but a smile like warm whiskey.

There was a party held there for the company's 90th anniversary in 2004.
I had never been to a home so immaculate. In-ground pool, up to 12 foot deep. Fancy outdoor furniture, nice grill, expensive liquors. The liquors led me on a quest to an obscure bathroom on the third level of their house and there, I found part of a coke stash. I thought it was so stereotypical of them, but still iconic. She even had it on one of those stone slabs from the 70s that you could order from a magazine. For my silence, I'd bum a little. It was the best I'd ever had.

Matter of fact, I couldn't figure why Dana would get up each morning to go work when she really didn't need to. I guess she needed some kind of livelihood. The clawing sound returned and ripped me from my flashback. I looked over at Dana - or, whoever- again and I swore she looked even more attractive than five minutes ago.

Checked the time again - only 2:15. Still no Vernon. I figured I'd look around one more time for him. More were asleep now, but they looked more like dead, actually. I saw the child up in the front still. Nobody had checked on him yet. And, more people missing? Yes, I was fairly certain that two other passengers were missing. I was always hyper-aware of my surroundings. I remember them because they were kind of loud and had a lot of stuff with them. The belongings were gone, too.

My head was beginning to pound. The noise under us kept going on. I really just wanted somebody to talk to. If just one person could have admitted that I was being toyed with, I would've felt better. Or, was it even happening at all? I was sleep-deprived, and just 24 hours is enough for mild delusion and hallucination. However, I was not new to staying awake for a few days and it had never affected me to this point before. I took four Tylenol for the headache, sat back in my seat, and watched the film.

Whatever was on, I never saw before and wouldn't be able to find again. I can't put into words for you what appeared on the screen, though it's still fresh in my memory. Poor animation mixed with poor film quality real actors, with distorted images and sounds. It didn't look like it was made in the U.S. It would start with a cryptic prompt on the screen, like "What do you seek?" Then, these, just out-of-this-world images. Colors, shapes, and words I'd never seen before, many more dimensions than what we know, and parallel universes with millions of realities that all exist next to one another, at the same time. I couldn't stop watching, as the content on the TV went from the vague questions to a caveat.

The alien information faded to black, and then showed a cartoon character girl from behind, running down a never-ending black hallway with red doors. The cartoon girl looked like she was from a 1940s Disney movie, Alice in Wonderland specifically. This initially took up the whole screen but became minimized to the bottom corner. Something told me I should put the headphones on. I did, as words started to pop up. "It's coming" the screen said, as well did an extremely guttural, inhuman voice. Over and over. There was another language being spoken in the background that I did not recognize. The phrase popped up again and again in til it filled up the space. Another black fade. As unsettling of an end as that would've been, it was not over yet. The last image that popped up and froze there was this female character's face, with wide, terrified eyes and mouth agape, blood all over her. This was accompanied by the most high-pitched, blood-curdling shrieking. The sound was that of perhaps a banshee scream mixed with high and low hog squeals; the same voice, yet being heard at multiple octaves at once.

The surprise of it took my breath away as I tried as quickly as I could to rip my headphones off. It felt like the screaming had busted my ear drums. Surely somebody else had been watching. I whipped around to look for an expression similar to mine, but I didn't find it. I saw people still connected to the airline headphones and still looking up at their screens. This outdated, obscure foreign horror movie that they were playing didn't disturb anybody? I looked back at my own screen to see the middle of a 2000s rom-com.

I think that, by this point, any explaining-away that I was able to do before was getting harder and harder. I'd considered a hijacking, a dream, or a conspiracy by the airline, maybe Jer paid them to scare me? We were nearing Halloween. My favorite holiday. Maybe they were experimenting for a new "Spooky Plane Ride" in spirit of the season. Deep down, I knew it wasn't any of those options but what other options were there? I was the only one noticing any of it. Those explanations didn't even make sense, nothing fucking did. It was no longer curious or fun. I was getting scared and I wanted it to stop. But, every hour would continue to get worse.

I scanned my surroundings once more and searched for Dana and the child seated ahead of me, but both were now gone. In fact, the only person that remained in the front section of seats was the small girl with dark, oily hair, who'd been slumped against the window since I got on. Somebody was with her before, though. So, I was right.

Then, finally, I saw that flight attendant from when I got in emerge from the pit. She walked slowly down the aisle looking left-to-right, as if there were people in those empty seats who might need to ask for service. I tried to rush her along as I called "Ma'am! Ma'am... ma'am?". She ignored that and would not address me until she got there. Seemed like she got to me even more slowly, out of spite. Then she just looked down at me, and I could now speak. Our conversation went as such (M for "me" and FA for "flight attendant"):

M: "Hello - ma'am could you help me understand what exactly is happening here?"
FA: "I'm not sure what you mean?"
M: "Ok.. well, first we have the scratching underneath us. Any idea what that might be? And let's see, my seat neighbor, Vernon Gessa went missing about.. 90 minutes ago now? And so did Dana Leveau, a child, and two other passengers. So where are they?"
FA, showing an unchanged facial expression: "We have nobody by those names on board."
M: "I'm quite sure you do, since they took off with us at 9:00 tonight and I know that you remember seeing them. How can people go missing on an airplane? And who changed the carpet? Who streamed that weird ass movie to my screen only?"
She looked at me like she hated my guts. Still speaking softly, she said:
"No cause for concern. We'll be landing soon", spun on her heel and headed back to the pit. No. I was not satisfied. I jumped up and followed her. "Excuse me? I wasn't done.. I don't appreciate whatever you all are doing here. I've had a long week, I don't care to know the big secret, could you just tell them-whoever- to stop? Please?" I pleaded.
The woman paid me no mind. She slipped into the bathroom and locked the door. Well, I was sure I wouldn't be seeing her again. There was a void or portal to a different place in there, or something. I certainly did not plan on going in again. Who knows what else would be there when I stepped back out.