Arrival

ADIRA

I regain consciousness with a violent heave of my body.

I can’t see anything. My vision is blurry and everything burns.

I choke, coughing up water as I fight for air.

What’s happened?

Where am I?

And then it all comes rushing back.

The machine.

It fell.

We were drowning.

How did we escape—

The eyes.

Molten lava.

I cough again, pulling huge breaths into my lungs, but it feels like my airway is blocked even though I’m fighting to breathe.

As the tears in my eyes finally recede a little, fear grips me instead.

All I see is black.

It’s over my mouth, in my nose…

The dark suit.

The man covered in black.

He’s here.

He’s real.

My gaze locks with those fire pits of his and I forget to breathe.

They’re abnormal.

Slitted.

Like a reptile’s.

Alien.

A scream barrels through my throat, rocking my body and I realize the black thing that’s in my nose, my mouth—it’s coming from him.

It retracts like ferrofluid back onto his body and my eyes widen as I scramble backward.

Alien. Alien.

It’s all that repeats in my mind as I scramble to get away.

The alien doesn’t move.

Those slitted eyes are trained on me.

Vaguely, I am aware of more of them rising from the water. They have Mina and Sam—both limp. Both unresponsive.

At the sight of me, one of the alien’s lips pulls back to display sharp fangs.

For a moment, I’m caught between not wanting to leave Sam and Mina but all I can think of is that I need to run.

And so I do.

My body feels like a sorry excuse of flesh and bones but somehow I rise on my feet and begin to run.

It’s strange using my limbs after being stuck in the machine for so long and I stumble a few times before my legs finally begin to cooperate.

I have no idea where I’m going. All I know is that I have to get away from here.

There is chaos.

It’s like my mind is a frazzled wreck.

I ca

My lungs are burning.

And so is the water.

I am dimly aware of this as my feet take me over the rocks and toward the only place in this barren wasteland that I have a chance of being safe.

A copse of trees that was spared from the destruction around us.

There’s another larger forest off to the side but if I change direction now, I don’t think I’ll make it.

I glance behind me and more terror fills my soul.

The red-eyed alien is looking at me as he rises to his feet. There are sharp blades on his arms now and his lips are pulled back to display vicious-looking fangs too.

Shit.

He doesn’t move and, for a moment, I think he is not going to chase me.

But then he puts one foot before the other, and another…and then he is ru

Terror fills me so much I can’t even scream.

Instead, I choke on my own fear as I pick up the pace.

Those vicious teeth of his is the last image I see before I slip beneath the cover of the trees, terror making my whole body quake.

I run and stumble, sharp rocks and branches tearing at my skin.

I am weak. Tired. But I continue on until I spot a tree.

It has a hole big enough for me to climb into and even as I run toward it, fear makes me question myself.

It’s not a good hiding spot.

It really isn’t.

But do I have a choice?

My breath hitches in my throat as I slip inside the tree and I don’t dare to even breathe.

If I make a sound…he’ll hear me.

A scream echoes through the air and I gulp down a sob.

It’s coming from near the lake and I wonder if it’s Mina or Sam.

As another sob jerks through me, I slam my hand over my mouth, my eyes wide as I stare ahead through the gap in the tree.

It’s quiet for a few moments, the only sound being my breath in my own ears.

And then I hear it.

A twig snapping.

My breath stops.

I know it’s not an animal.

I just know.

Another twig snaps and I press my hand down harder over my mouth.

He’s going to find me.