Warning: Rated M

Disclaimer: I don't own The Strain or any of its characters. This is applicable throughout the entire story.

CHAPTER ONE

I yawned and laid my head on my boyfriend's shoulder. It had been a tiring day, yesterday. We hadn't had any sleep because of the early flight and… strenuous activity we both partook in . I smiled while recalling it.

When I looked up, I saw him staring back at me with a mischievous glint in his black-rimmed eyes. "Tired?" His hand crept on to my bare thigh and up the black lace skirt. "Maybe I can help you relax." His voice was low and husky.

A grin spread across my face. "Really? I don't believe you can," I taunted him, knowing that he'd call my bluff.

He growled and hooked a finger around my panties. I squirmed at the anticipation and strained my neck for a kiss, but he moved back. "Not yet." He continued to tease me as I burned my face into his leather jacket, trying to muffle the moans.

I was sure from the look I was getting from the middle-aged woman from across the aisle that she knew exactly what was happening, but who cares? I was never going to see her again after the flight.

"Mmph!" I clenched my thighs together, trying to calm my breathing. "Gabe…" I panted before trying to push his hand away. This wasn't where I wanted to come undone, not in public's eyes. I didn't mind a bit of naughtiness, but nothing that I couldn't control. "Washroom," I whispered against his lips.

His dark lips quirked upward. "I really don't think my father would like me to join the Mile High Club."

I glared at him, again. Sure, his father was some kind of preacher, but it wasn't as if Gabriel had ever done what his old man wanted him to do. "Now."

He pretended to contemplate for a moment before snatching his hand away and began to get up, but there was a sudden jolt that made him tumble back down.

I looked around, wondering what was happening, but soon, the lights were gone and we were all bathed in darkness.

Terrified screams filled the place. The flight attendants were doing their best to assure everyone, but even they sounded confused. What had caused this?

I grabbed on to Gabriel for comfort. His thumb gently stroked the back of my hand. "What's going on?" I whispered.

The plane was still, but no one moved. Gabriel leaned in and whispered, "We can take the opportunity to do it while no one can see."

I whacked him.

This was not the time. How could he even be thinking of something like that when the plane could crash at any time?

When I voiced exactly that, he merely chuckled. "At least, I'd die happy," he mused. Leave it to him to be the optimist at a situation like this.

With a shake of my head, I took out my phone to look at the time before looking out the window. It was dark. The plane was still moving and we were due to land in just half an hour. What did that mean?

Just as I was starting to relax back into my seat, the plane shook once more, then again, and again. I put my seatbelt on and clung on to Gabriel as the oxygen masks fell from their compartments. "Gabe, I'm scared!" I shouted as he helped the mask on to my face.

I could hear other people screaming in alarm, but a real wave of terror seem to start from the back of the plane. I tried to turn my head to see, but it was difficult with both the belt and the mask on. The plane was also pitch black inside. "What's going on?" My voice was muffled.

"I don't fuckin' know. I don't fuckin' know!" he replied as he tried to put the mask on himself.

Tears began to well up in my eyes.

I saw a dark looming figure appear from beside us. I stared at it with wide eyes. The form seemed humanoid, but the large cloak made it impossible to see any features. All I knew was that it was tall and buff.

What I did see, however, was the pale clawed hands extending slowly from the heavy fabric and ripping the mask away from Gabriel.

I screamed loudly when something long and flesh – almost snakelike – extended from where its head would be and attached itself to Gabriel's neck. He held on to the appendage, trying to get it away from him, but the thing seemed to be hanging on tight. It began to clench and unclench as if it was sucking something out of him.

"Leave him alone!" I shouted, finally snapping out of the horror that was still gripping tightly around me. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins. I pulled the mask off, unclipped the belt and lunged towards the creature, in hopes of getting it off my boyfriend.

It didn't even budge when my body hit its much larger form. Beneath the fabric, I could definitely feel something that was intrinsically human, but the face that looked down at me was one of nightmares. Its skin was ghastly – white as sheets. The eyes were bloodshot and seemed to have an odd second blinking mechanism. What was most frightening were the two flaps that were coming from his mouth and attached to… to what was in Gabriel, perhaps a stinger of some sort. It waved in the air as the thing continued to drain Gabriel.

"Get off him!" I tugged and tugged at the disgusting appendage that seemed to leave a filmy white residue on my hands. "Get off!"

It pulled its head back, detaching the stinger. I immediately leaned over Gabriel to see if he was alright. He was incredibly pale. As I went to feel for a pulse, I felt a stinging pain that left me breathless.

I held on to the slimy flesh and tried to pull it off. It felt as if it was draining the very essence of me. My vision blurred as I futilely gave it one last tug before falling limp on to Gabriel's body.

The darkness was frightening at first. I was alone and no one seemed to be able to hear me. It was so consuming that I began to imagine voices. They were originally incomprehensible, but soon, it became my only source of comfort. I clung on to it like a safety blanket and even tried to strike a conversation with him. The voice was definitely male. It was low and had an almost hissing quality to it.

I rolled over to my side and closed my eyes. An imaginary hand raked over my body. The nails were sharp, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. "Let go," it whispered into my ears. "Let go and you will be free."

There was a high pitch buzz that made me groan and cover my ears, but that didn't help one bit. Hard as I tried to ignore both the buzzing and the voice now, it was impossible. I could only curl tighter into myself in an attempt to protect whatever I had left of me.

"'Lith… 'Lith!"

My eyes snapped open and I sat up from my spot atop of Gabriel. What happened? Why did I suddenly fall asleep? I groaned when my back cracked and my neck ached. Why was the plane so dark? Did we land already?

"I think… something happened." He sounded confused as he rubbed his own neck. "I think we crashed. Maybe…"

I sank heavily into my own seat. "Are we dead?" The question sounded foolish, but at this point, I really wasn't sure.

He shrugged. "Don't think so or father has been preaching wrong the entire time!"

I let out a weak laugh.

"Come on. I think there were some other people walking around here." He got off, careful not to touch any of the other passengers who were slumped over in the darkness. I walked by the woman who had been watching me earlier. Her head was still turned towards us and her eyes were wide open as if she had froze in fear and stayed that way. I looked closer and realised that the woman was dead.

Just as I was about to scream, a hand clamped over my mouth. "Shh… Sh…" Gabriel hushed. "Yeah, I think they're all dead, but who knows? Maybe they're going to become zombies. I don't want to wake them."

I turned my head and saw the teasing smirk on his lips. "Shut up," I grumbled back. This wasn't the time to joke around. "What the hell happened? How can we be alive when they're… they're…"

He shrugged, again. "I heard a few others got up, too. Not sure what's happening."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

I was going to post this when I had the entire story written, but I heard that The Strain is only going to get four seasons and I'm really sad about it. To be honest, however, I really hadn't watched much after season one because I wanted to concentrate on just one story at a time because I know I won't be able to keep up with all of these, but I can't help it.

This story is also going to be pretty psychotic because why not?