It was too late. I saw them.
In the disorienting moment of being pulled from my consciousness, I had been transported into another realm entirely. I opened my eyes and felt their dreams. The terrifying beasts my father would never talk about again were sleeping. Were they alien in origin? Human? I couldn’t be sure what they were, but they were nestled together in a swath of darkness, debilitated and bound by a ray of blue and blinding electricity. In their sleep, they howled horribly, and every part of my body froze.
The three massive bodies rumbled awake, eyes opening. Their vision pierced me. Their electrified chains broke, and they rose and moved toward me. I immediately fell to my knees, pleading for my father to save me. I turned to find him, but he was nowhere in sight. I was somewhere else now, somewhere very far away. But I could still hear him calling my name.
“Adeline,” the biggest one of the bunch whispered.
Another lurched forward, reaching out with his massive hands. ”Someone has come!”
Six primal eyes stared back at me in awe. Their pupils were red and glowing brighter. They seemed to be analyzing me, but who could be sure? Their breathing was heavy, and they sniffed the air like wild dogs. “She will be forced away soon,” the brawny one said.
“W-Who... What... are you?” I asked, choking on my tongue.
“Come back for us,” he muttered.
I felt a pair of hands grab my shoulder, pulling me through the tunnel I had just entered. As I fell back into my father’s arms, the usual feeling of gravity entered my body. I looked at the few scientists in the room. My father had saved me.
“Dad!” I screamed, tears trailing down my cheeks. “I saw them. The... aliens!”
My father picked me up and ran across the hall as fast as he could. I had never seen my father run with such alarm. He wheezed loudly, but he made it to a large metallic red door marked: Decontamination and Immunization Room.
“No, Daddy! Don’t make me!”
I screamed. I bucked and tried to strike a deal. I dragged my heels across the slippery off-colored tile, but I was far too small to make an impact against my father. More scientists came into the room, wearing white and yellow hazmat suits. They horrified me more than the beasts I had just witnessed.
“She needs to be disinfected and immunized at once,?
? one man said, pulling my father back despite the level of concern on his face.
“Addie, I’m sorry. I’m—”
A glass frame split the room in half after they pulled my father to one side. Alarms rang chaotically. The echo stung my eardrums. Faster than expected, the man in the hazmat turned on a hose. “Arms out!” he demanded. I did as I was told, weeping as the disinfectant hit my body and face. When I was fully sterilized, more scientists came in. They pricked my fingers, took my blood, and forced me to sleep in their facility for days.
Oddly enough, that’s where my mind blanked out. As I grew up, I tried to think back on that day, but nothing was clear. I could barely see their faces. I couldn’t remember what the government agents asked me, what they did to me, or how they treated me. All I knew was I was terrified, and I suddenly wanted to go to church with mother instead of becoming a scientist.
But my life had changed forever that day. I could never forget how those beasts looked at me.
It was like they were waiting for me. It was like they needed me.
1
Adeline
Year: 2009
Location: South America
Rule #1: If summoned by a beast, don’t try to run.
-Adeline’s field notes
The light pouring through the cracks of my door blinded me, and the alarm was blaring next to my eardrum. I tried to focus my vision on the spinning fan above me. Sweat beaded on my forehead, but every so often a light breeze would remind me of how far I’d come. Sleep was no longer necessary, but I sure wasn’t ready to start the day. I came to this musty hostel because I had heard the stories. I wasn’t sure what to believe, but once I passed through the gateway, I realized I had made a crucial mistake.
Clearly, I was already deep into the trip. I knew how important my mental health here was, so I went over the routine. “It’s approximately 11:35 a.m. GMT. I am in the Onyx Zone. The time is approximately—” I turned my head to glance at the clock. The numbers on the screen were all jumbled. “Never mind.”
That fucking clock sounded like an air raid siren, but the whooshing sounds of cars passing outside my window somehow calmed my nerves. I was alive. At least, I was for the time being. Who knew how long I would last since I had entered the Onyx Zone?
I could hear my superiors’ warnings: “Whatever you do, don’t fall asleep.”