Part 1A

-Beth-

I looked at the clock one warm Thursday afternoon. It was nearing 2:00, which unfortunately meant that I was going to have to get up from the couch in the living room. There was a show recorded on my DVR that I was currently enjoying. It was going to run over my allotted time, but I watched the remainder of it anyway. When the show came to a close, I switched the television off, and headed up to my room for my clothes, and down to the hall bath. Today, I had to work another mind-numbingly painful shift at my grocery store job, and was not looking forward for it in the slightest.

On most days I take my showers in the morning, but today, for some reason, I didn't feel like it. I got it out of the way, and then went back up to my room to finish getting ready. That meant brushing my teeth, shaving, and other such things. Upon completion of these tedious, but necessary jobs, I repaired to the living room. My keys were still on the coffee table from my lunch with one of my friends, Eric.

I picked them up and took them outside to my Ford Contour. Opening the door, I hopped in, and then slammed it behind me. The key slipped into the ignition, and I twisted it to the right until the engine roared to life. I shifted into drive, pressed down on the gas pedal, and sped down the street, work bound.

In about six minutes, I was quickly approaching my work. As I approached the traffic light, I glanced toward the woods on the left. The trees were very thick in many sections, but near the edge, just as you enter, they were less dense. I came to a halt at the now red light, and watched as a few cars passed me by. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something moving in the trees. Just as my curiosity was growing, I saw movement again. It was figure that was rather tall, and barely covered with a blanket. Curiosity claimed my soul, and as soon as the light changed, I made a U-turn, and headed back down the opposite direction.

The entrance to the woods was a good mile down the road. As I approached it, I flicked my left wrist up to signal, and made the right hand turn. I pulled forward, and parked in a small parking lot. After I got out of the car, I shut the door, and began walking away but was stopped. My bright red tie was caught in the door. I opened the door, releasing the tie from the evil clutches of my car, and traversed the parking lot toward the bridge. Its flat form lead me into the woods, as the wooden boards creaked under my feet.

The fact that I was able to see the figure moving through the woods meant it was not far away from the entrance. I hiked up the hill following the bridge, made my way around the bend, and saw it. That which had made the movement. It walked over to a rock near the edge of the dirt trail, and collapsed.

As I approached the veiled being, my foot inadvertently crunched a stick, startling the creature. In panic, it jumped off the rock. The blanket flew off, revealing an alien, now sprawled out on the soft dirt. It looked up at me in fear, and began to scramble away. A brown substance was dripping from its leg onto the ground as it tried to stand back up. It appeared to be blood.

"No. Please. I don't mean any harm." I said, attempting to sound very calm and peaceful, though my excitement, and my heart, was racing a million miles a minute.

Realizing that I meant no harm, it stopped cowering, and attempted to stand. I could see that it was having trouble, favoring the uninjured leg.

"Don't try to stand. You're hurt."

"Did you see them?" the alien uttered through the tentacles on its face. I was shocked to hear it speak English. Though it was distorted, I could still understand the alien well enough.

"See who? I asked.

"The humans who brought me up here, and attacked me," the alien replied.

"No. I didn't." I frowned. "That's terrible…"

"Yes…it is…they must be gone then…" the alien sighed. Even through the distortion of the language, I could hear the relief in its voice.

"Do you have a place to stay?" I asked.

"No…"

"Will you let me take you in? I want to help you, unlike the idiots that abandoned you here."

It wasn't willing at first, but alone up here, it wouldn't survive. It looked at me as I waited for an answer. Thankfully, I must have come off as someone trustworthy, because its eyes opened a little bit. In that slightest crack, I saw hope.