Jacob shivered. Hugging his arms tightly around his body, he would watch as the bitter cold turned his hot breath into a cloud of frost. Lifting his hand he gingerly rubbed the back of his mitten on his frozen, rosy cheeks. Jacob glanced to his right and watched as the figure next to him mimicked his actions. "Chilly?" he'd quip, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to offer up some of his own body heat.
The blonde-haired girl gazed back at him with brilliant blue eyes," I'm okay," she'd breathe quietly. Then she would rest her head on his shoulder," You did great today, Jacob. You were amazing."
The person in question would chuckle and blush a bright red in response," I couldn't have done that well without you, Catty."
The game was still vividly imprinted in Jacob's mind. Every detail, every second was replaying in his head over and over again.
It was the hockey championship game for first place title in the state. The score was 0 to 0 with only 15 seconds on the clock in the 3rd period.
Jacob could recall how he strategically snatched the puck from the other team's forward and wasted no time in racing down the ice afterwards. His skates pounded the ice like stones and his face was dripping in hot sweat. Glancing at the timer, he saw the digits and read that 7 seconds were left. As Jacob neared the defenders, he faked them out and had dangled the puck through their legs, leaving them in his dust. Time seemed to slow down as he approached the goalie. The goalie was bent down in his squatting position and had his glove readily held up to catch the puck. Eyes darting left and right, Jacob had located his target of where he wanted to shoot the puck. Leaning on his stick, Jacob snapped the black disk like bullet and aimed it for the top right corner.
Everyone in the stadium grew silent as their eyes followed the puck's path through the air. The goalie jumped from his spot and moved to catch the puck, but it was too late. The puck whizzed by his hemet and hit the back of the net.
Right after that moment, the clock struck 0 and the end-game buzzer went off. The audience had roared. They leaped from their seats, hooping and hollering for the goal and game victory. The sirens would spin around and wail their cries of victory. Jacob's teammates screamed with joy from the bench and had climbed over the boards to go celebrate with their star. But Jacob hadn't payed any attention to that. His focus was all on someone else; Catherine.
He remembered her cheering, her blonde, curly hair bouncing up and down in rhythem with her movements, and how a big smile was plastered on her face.
'God, Catherine was so stunning in that moment', Jacob thought.
Seconds later he recalled how his teammates had swarmed him and had lifted him over their heads. The championship trophy was given out and everyone passed it around to admire it's golden cup. After the arena was cleared out, Jacob was even confronted by a college scout. They told him how impressed they were by his skilled and would be interested in having him play for them with a full scholarship. Jacob was so stunned. This had come from the college that he always had dreamed of attending.
What a day.
"A lot on your mind?" Cathrine chirped, bringing the star back into reality.
"Oh, heh, yeah I guess," Jacob smirked. Clasping his hand into hers, the two moved on through the night. Only the sound of the white snow crunching softly beneath their feet could be heard.
Jacob deeply sighed. Closing his eyes, he inhaled a breath of the crisp air and opened his mouth to let the falling snowflakes melt on his tongue. Everything was perfect in that moment. Jacob had everything he could have ever wanted: he had a beautiful, smart girlfriend, he had a potential scholarship for the school of his dreams and just a few hours ago, he had even scored the winning goal in his hockey championship game. It was perfect. If Jacob could have had the power to freeze time, now would have been his choice.
A giggle was heard and Jacob opened his eyes to find Catherine covering her mouth and stifling a laugh," You look ridiculous," she snorted, referring to how he had outstretched his tongue in such a childish manner.
"Eh, whatever," Jacob shrugged, turning back towards the open sky to catch more flakes. Laughing, Catherine joined in and did the same," I haven't done this in years!" she'd laugh.
Jacob laughed along with her. Tilting back his head he let himself relax and fully take in his surroundings. The couple were walking in the middle of the woods. They were on their way home after Jacob's game. Rather than stay by the road, they both had decided to take a romantic short cut through the woods. It was already late at night and now only their phone flashlights and the moon above lit their path before them.
Jacob's smile suddenly fell from his face. Stopping his tracks, he'd take a look around," What was that..?" he whispered. Jacob could have sworn he heard a strange sound coming from within the woods.
Noticing that her boyfriend had halted, Catherine smirked and put her hands on her hips," What is it? What's wrong?" Jacob paused and surveyed the darkness beyond the trees around them. He narrowed his eyes," I... I thought I heard something," he'd mutter, skeptical about whether he was imagining things or not.
"It was probably a squirrel, Jaayy. Now come on, it's late and I'm cold," Catherine huffed with impatience. She would rub her arms and shiver as emphasis for her words.
Jacob still wasn't convinced. What he heard definitely wasn't a squirrel," Stay here by the path, Catty. I'll go investigate." without waiting for a response, Jacob trudged off and disappeared into the forest.
"Jacob!" Catherine cried as she watched his shadow fade into the darkness," Don't leave me here alone!" But her cries were for naught and Jacob was already gone.
...
Jacob looked back from the direction where he had come. The darkness was so thick, he couldn't even see Catherine's figure standing in the distance anymore. 'She's so going to kill me when I come back', Jacob dreaded. What was he thinking? Leaving her alone in the woods for a goose chase? The worried boyfriend shook the thoughts from his head. No. He was positive he had heard something strange coming from this direction. Something... unearthly.
Pushing away some foliage, Jacob stepped into an open break in the trees. Before him, an empty clearing was shown. Nothing was there. Doubt seeped into the teenager's mind once more and Jacob felt himself regret his actions. God, he was an idiot. He guessed he was just imagining things after all.
Turning away, Jacob started to leave the clearing when suddenly a bright beam of light flashed down upon him. An arm quickly shot up to shield his eyes from the blinding, white light," W-what is this?" he stuttered, blatantly confused at what was going on. Squinting he could only identify a large- no- very large figure that was the behind the source of light," W-what is t- that?!" Jacob cried, feeling panic swell up inside of him.
The humongous creature stepped towards him, its footfalls sending tremors into the Earth.
Jacob felt himself freeze in terror. The hairs on his body stood on end. He tried to run. He tried to escape. Every muscle and instinct in his body screamed at him to run, but whatever Jacob did, they just wouldn't budge. Everything was happening so fast. Jacob just stood there like a deer in head lights.
The giant being bent down. It raised and stretched out an open hand at Jacob. It was going to take him. As the claw-like hand got closer and closer, the teenager could feel his heart beat pounding faster. It was so loud, Jacob could clearly hear the blood pump in his ears.
But before anything else could happen, Jacob's vision blurred and he felt himself falling. In the next thing he knew, his cheek was buried in a foot of snow. The cold snow bit his cheek and sent fire-hot splinters into his skin. Before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, Jacob caught glance of the creature's shadow. Then his eyes closed and Jacob was swallowed up by darkness.
Jacob blinked. Instead of feeling that familiar, soft mattress under his body or thick blankets topped on him or his cushy pillows, Jacob's cheek now touched an unfamiliar cold metal. Rousing himself into consciousness, Jacob slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes," Where... am I?" he drowsily asked and was suddenly reminded of the former events that occurred before he had passed out.
Putting two and two together, the teenager knew something was definitely wrong. Jacob's head snapped up and he quickly stumbled to his feet to investigate his unknown environment. When he saw what was around him, the confused boy could only gasp in shock.
He was trapped in an enormous, cylinder-shaped container. Glass circled the walls of it and the top and bottom were made of some kind of metal. Rushing to the thick glass, Jacob placed his palms on its surface to peer through. With his eyes darting this way and that, Jacob found that his prison was located in some kind of chamber, but everything was ginormous! Strangely like they were fit for a giant... Looking around the room, Jacob saw many alien-like bobbles laying around. Somehow he was able to identify a chair, door and tables where many strange devices were scattered about on. Beside the desk on which his jar was placed on, a weird looking machine took up half the room. Feeling very minuscule, Jacob thought it was like he was stuck into the famous Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale, except that now everything was futurized.
"Where am I?" Jacob restated, only feeling more confused than the first time around when he had said it. A shiver went up his spine when he thought about former events," Was... I abducted by aliens?" The conclusion forced Jacob to place a hand over his mouth. He was getting sick to his stomach just thinking about it," Oh my God, please take me home. I'm going insane aren't I? I can't be abducted by aliens- that's crazy!"
The large door at the end of the room suddenly slid open in response and a towering red figure stepped through. Jacob couldn't believe what he was seeing and had to blink a few times to register it. The creature was some kind of... humongous alien robot.
"Yes... right this way, the specimen is over here," the red mechanoid spoke.
Another robot would emerge through the doorway. Colored in grey, it was even taller than the red bot," This better not be a waste of my time, Knockout." the new robot growled with a deep voice. His red eyes were terrifying.
Jacob's knees quivered as they grew weak. What was going on was beyond him. This had to be some kind of dream- yes, he was dreaming. It must be a nightmare! Jacob squeezed his eyes shut and silently prayed to wake up in his bed when he opened them.
The one referred to as Knockout hastily turned to Jacob and peered down at him with glowing red eyes," Ah, of course sir." Clearing his throat, the robot would pick up a tablet," Ahem, specimen H19 was captured on the planet Earth; located in sector-"
"Just cut to the chase already, Knockout." The grey robot snappily interrupted," Start up the machine," he ordered.
"Yes... Megatron," Knockout said, obeying with a hint of resentment in his voice.
Cracking open an eye, all of Jacob's hope seemed to deflate out of him. He was still there, trapped inside that damn jar. The red mechanoid bent down and leveled his face with Jacob's. With a surprised yelp Jacob stumbled back from the glass and felt his knees buckle beneath him.
The red robot let out an annoyed huff, almost like it was disappointed in Jacob's resilience," A word of advise earthling; don't die. Not like every other specimen I've had to go through already. My reputation is on the line here, fleshy." His words were laid thick with sarcasm. Standing back up, Knockout would unscrew the lid on Jacob's container and reach down to pluck him from the ground with his metallic claws.
Jacob whimpered. Death? Was he going to die tonight? There wasn't much else he could do to object. The creature had him hanging firmly in its claws and as he saw the ground get farther and farther, Jacob would begin to feel sick to his stomach again," What are you going to do to me?" he croaked, but barely any sound came out for the robot to hear his words.
The small, helpless human would watch as he was carried to a different contraption. It was the humongous machine he had spotted earlier. With wires running this way and that, it was horribly complex in design. Out of the corner of his eye Jacob could see that on the other side of this machine from where his jar was located, there stood another robot, yet... this one was different. It was dark and lifeless. Was it dead? Jacob's attention would quickly turn away, however, when he was laid down on a flat platform. Iron cuffs were snapped around his wrists and ankles, immobilizing him. The teenager grimaced as he struggled against his restraints. They were tight and pinched his skin. A helmet-like cap was was fitted around his head and tightened. Then strange striped cables were attached.
The robot called Knockout moved away and began inputting something into a computer screen," Everything is ready Megatron." he'd finally say, stepping back to observe the full machine," On your command." The red mechanoid hovered a pointed finger above his tablet, ready to press the switch.
Jacob's eyes widened. His breath would begin to hasten as he'd start to panic. 'Oh God, oh God, oh God. I'm going to die!' Jacob squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to hide from what was going to happen. He wished he could be anywhere, but there in that moment.
"Turn it on." Megatron ordered.
Knockout pressed his tablet's screen.
In seconds Jacob's body was struck with a thousand volts of electricity. Instantly the lighting pain was stabbed through him and into his heart. His body seized and contorted in such a manner that was not normal for any normal human. If it weren't for the restraints, Jacob surely would have snapped his spine with the way he arched his back. Jacob tried to scream out in pain, but the sound of voltage moving through his head was so loud, he couldn't tell if he even was.
Never had the boy ever felt torture in all his life like he was dealt with in that fleeting instant.
Then suddenly it was over. The pain was gone and his conscience was seeming to fade away.
His shriveled body hung charred in its chains, sizzling from the momentous torture it received. Before his life ended, Jacob made one last useless effort to survive:
"I... don't want... to die..."
Finally Jacob's world went black and all feeling in his body died.
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