Vasion Lights

Preface

Jonas McHale

             I stood still, my feet plastered to the leaf coated Earth. A chilly gust of wind whipped my shaggy hair into my face, and caused the gnarled trees surrounding me to bend and moan in protest. I strained my ears in an attempt to see if I could still hear what had led me to this place.

            Laughter, sobbing, yelling, singing, and whispering all seemed to be emanating from behind the other side of the abnormal, force field like wall in front of me. It was clear, yet fuzzy, like a picture taken that was zoomed in all the way. It stretched for as far as I could see, and it reflected the scenery surrounding it.

            I had no idea why, but I could tell that there was something behind it. My nervous thoughts ambushed me with cautionary queries such as, how do you even know that there is a force field there and how are you aware that it is concealing something. Despite my better judgment, my curiosity took hold. I took a deep breath and stepped forward through the almost invisible wall of haze.

            I felt an abnormal sensation coarse through my tense body, and my anxiety suddenly faded away, like a sandcastle swept away by the sapphire blue waves of a beach. Amazement and wonder seemed to pump through my veins, and my jaw dropped like a skydiver.

            Thousands of luminescent spots speckled a dark amethyst sky. A vibrant blue moon was suspended in the canvas of darkness, tendrils of its extraordinary light causing my skin to tingle. An umpteen amount of gargantuan, glowing skyscrapers formed the horizon line of a city about a mile away from my current location.  It was breathtaking.

            I could feel a portly grin stretch across my face, and I took a confident step forward towards the city. Something about the bright lights filled my mind with awe, allowing me a legitimate view of a place most kids my age could only dream of.

            “Hey! Who are you? What are you doing here? Please place your hands over your head and drop to your knees.” A gruff voice startled me, and I immediately followed his orders. Although this mystifying world was intriguing, I still knew absolutely nothing about it.

            The man who had addressed me was adorned in a futuristic looking suit that contained streams of neon light threaded through it. He was carrying an intimidating looking object that I assumed was a weapon. Specifically a gun. He carried himself in a strict, disciplined way, and I could infer that he worked for the military.

            Despite his very flashy “light suit”, the first thing that I noticed about him was his brilliant purple eyes. The crystal clear orbs seemed to radiate out of his otherwise normal looking head, and I felt myself staring at them. He seemed perplexed about my clothes and appearance, and the confusion was evident in his face flashlights.

            “Why aren’t you down at the Academy?” He seemed curious and he continued to steal small glances at my hands. My fingers began to twitch nervously, and my brow furrowed with an even deeper lack of understanding.

            “What do you mean?” My voice sounded hoarse and timid, the exact opposite of how it was supposed to sound. I mentally kicked myself, trying to tell my vocal chords to become deeper.

            “Where are you from?” He inquired, completely ignoring my question.

            “Georgia,”

            “And where is that?”

            “Ummmm, the United States of America, where are we?”

            “Again, where is that?” Oh look, he had ignored me a second time.

            “North America. You know, one of the seven continents on Earth!” My heart began to pound even harder in my chest when the man’s face didn’t show that he was aware of anything that I was saying. “Please tell me that we are on Earth,”

            Captain Query just shook his head in the negative as he retrieved a weird looking electronic device from his pocket. I could feel my anxiety returning, and I whipped my head around to find a way to escape. My armed supervisor said something into the object, but I was too frazzled to understand a word that escaped his lips.

            “This had better not be a joke,” The man warned sternly, his freaky eyes analyzing my every move. I shook my head adamantly to signal no, and he seemed to think that I was sincere.

            A few minutes later, a group of similarly dressed officers marched towards us. Their eyes were mirror images of my “new friend”, and they all seemed to be trained on me. I had never been an attention hog, and that had certainly not changed when I had stepped into this world.

            “Nicandro,” A voice called out from the crowd. “Is he Linyeight?” A small boy who seemed to be around my age (a whopping eight years old thank you very much) emerged from the crowd, approaching me with a friendly smile. Unlike all of the others, he had bright green eyes.

            “No sir,” He responded thoughtfully. He seemed to be studying me, and an involuntary squirm wracked my spine. My new observer seemed to notice this, as he backed away and offered me his hand.

            “My name is Nicandro Trelaine, what’s yours?” He smiled and I attempted to do the same.

            “Jonas McHale.” My voice didn’t shake and my pride skyrocketed with satisfaction. We firmly shook one another’s hands, trying to be as tough as possible. I went to pull mine away when sudden warmth spread across my skin. I looked down, surprised, to discover something indescribable.

            Nicandro Trelaine’s hand was glowing a brilliant, emerald green.