p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe bus is chilly, the harsh opposite to the heat that's so thick outside that touching the windows for too long hurts. I shift around in my seat. I look down to check the clock on my phone; it's been 6 hours 28 minutes and 48 seconds. This trip is never going to end. The grumpy old woman next to me that hasn't stopped complaining under her breath the whole time isn't making it any more tolerable. Beth, the old lady, is wearing the most obnoxiously loud orange and green sweater, with an odd choice of bright red pumps. emWhy would anyone wear those uncomfortable shoes on a long bus ride? /emOn top of that she has on those talon-like press on nails that could definitely claw someone to death. The only thing that makes the trip even more exhausting is that the seats are some scratchy material that feels a lot more like sandpaper than fabric. Contrastingly, the tall dark and handsome boy sitting in the row across from me gives me butterflies. This bus is kind of weird, with a separate cabin for the driver and his assistant. emWhat does a driver's assistant do, anyway?/em The ugly orange of the seats contrasting with the baby blue of the bus' interior, making my head hurt. I hear the soft humming sound of the bus' engines and it makes me want to sleep./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"My eyes actually begin to slowly close when I get a kick from behind, galvanizing me awake. I hear the giggles from the twins sitting behind me. emGreat/em, I think. Just when I thought this trip couldn't get any worse. I tell them to shut up, only to hear Jess begin again only a moment later. Knowing they won't allow me another second to rest my eyes I decide to chance a look outside. There's nothing but never-ending barren sands, the dunes like the exact opposite of the rich green rolling hills near home. The toxic sun beats down so hard that no human life can exist here. The sky is such a clear blue that I can't imagine just 6 hours 32 minutes and 52 seconds away from here is a bustling civilization where rain could even possibly happen. As I'm watching, the wind blows and the sands move to form new dunes. Out of the corner of my eye I see a shadow pass over one of the closer dunes; whatever it is, it makes me shiver. When I shift to look at it, nothing's there. "You're going crazy, Emery," I whisper to myself. Andrew, the more annoying twin, pokes his head out and giggles. He stares at me with his obnoxious trademark smirk on his face. "Yeah you are," he responds back through the crack between my seat and the one next to it. emJust wonderful/em./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Momentarily forgetting about the shadow I turn back to the bus's occupants. They are all wearing nametags on their shirts, a feeble attempt to make us bond by the tour guide. I decide to remove myself from the hard chair and walk up and down the aisle to stretch my legs a little bit. I stand and make a move to leave my row of seats when the floor is suddenly flying up at me. I find myself flat on the ground in the middle of the aisle. The pain is a secondary feeling to the automatic embarrassment and my cheeks are hot and definitely red. All eyes are watching me, including the cute brunette boy, as I get back up and shuffle to the small bathroom in the back of the bus. emStretching be damned, I need to escape/em. As I reach the door to the toilet and turn the handle I find that it's occupied. Now I've got to stand and wait with all of the passengers still watching my every move. emDear lord this trip sucks/em./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I glance down to see the shiny brass knob turning all by itself and it takes me a second to realize that I should move because the door is going to hit me otherwise. As I shift out of the way I notice that the person leaving the bathroom is Professor Dabney. His salt-and-pepper hair is filled with gel and styled almost obsessively perfect, its height making him look even taller than his actual 6 foot 6. His suit is undeniably expensive and the smell of his cologne is overwhelming. Professor always announces his presence with a booming voice that commands everyone's attention. So basically, he makes me want to hide under a table. I enter the bathroom and take about three minutes to calm myself before heading back out and pretending like nothing awkward or embarrassing had ever happened. As I'm walking back to my seat cute brunette boy meets my eyes and then immediately is looking anywhere but my face. emWay to end that before it even begins Emery/em. I sit down quietly and attempt to disappear./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I glance back out the window and immediately let out a blood-curdling scream. I can feel the entire bus of people turn and stare at me. Something is on my window. It looks like a man made out of darkness unaffected by the fact that this bus is driving at least ninety miles per hour. The thing's features are shifting, moving around its head. It bangs its misshapen hand on the glass and my eyes blow up wide as I jump 10 feet into space./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Oh my god!" I shout as it dawns on me that I'm sitting next to this thing. I scramble away from the window, shoving the older woman out of her seat and onto the ground./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""What is that?" The woman next to me exclaims, not even noticeably bothered that she has now had an unplanned meeting with the dirty bus floor. By this point I have escaped my seat and am now standing in the row. The bus slams to a stop and for a second all my thoughts are scattered as the screeching of the bus' brakes enters my mind. All of a sudden I'm in the cute boy's Holy shit. When did I get cast in a bad horror movie?/em I think as I awkwardly remove myself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Meanwhile, the entire bus is in a state of pandemonium. Everyone is losing their minds, running up and down the aisles. Even the polished Professor Dabney is pacing. I become aware of my twin siblings shuddering and crying in the aisle of the bus. emGod Emery, stop being so selfish/em. I quickly tune out everything else and move to where they are./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Shhhh, it's okay. I'm here, it's all going to be okay," I attempt to comfort them but I know that our mother would have been much better at this, she would have known what to do about this whole situation. emProbably not this exact situation,/em I correct in my head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Em?" Andrew says with a tiny voice that is entirely uncharacteristic./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Yes kiddo?" I respond while patting his back./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Is it still there? I'm too afraid to look." He questions me while giving me those puppy-dog eyes I've never been able to resist. This is what reminds me how extreme this is. Andrew is the bravest of the three of us, always persuading us to do stupid things like climb 50-foot trees with no branches./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Hold on." I answer and stand to check the window again. emNothing./em That is somehow way more terrifying./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""It isn't, right Em?" He looks back up at me again. Jess is still quietly sobbing into his shirt behind him, I can see the snot and tears mixing and running down her face. I make a quick decision to tell him that it isn't there, even though it might make this worse for him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""No, kiddo, it's gone," I say, attempting to instill some confidence in the both of them./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Where did it go?" Andrew inquired./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I don't know," I respond, disappointed, Jess sobs a little harder at my confession. I wish I had all of the answers for them. I have to get them somewhere safe; but where exactly is safe on a broken down bus in the middle of the desert that was just attacked by some terrifying monster? I tune back into the chatter among the others./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Why did we stop?" One of the other passengers questions incredulously./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Yeah, with that thing still around here somewhere we should be speeding off by now." The older woman adds./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Why hasn't anyone come back here to check on us yet?" the cute boy across the aisle says, obviously starting to freak./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I can go check on the cabin," I respond. I have an idea but I hope I'm wrong. I march towards the doors that lead to the driver's space. As I reach the pull bar I have an extreme sense of foreboding, this isn't going to be good news. I yank the door open and am met with blasting heat. emWait that isn't right, the cabin is air conditioned as well./em I look up and the sand dunes greet me again. I scramble backwards, jettisoning myself from the view of sandy desert. emWrong, wrong, wrong/em. When I finally make it into the passenger side of the bus, I'm hyperventilating./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Breathe sweetheart," comforts the old woman. Maybe she's not as mean as I thought./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's gone." I whisper, not loud enough that she would have caught it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What dear?" she asks./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"The cabin, it's gone." I answer./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Oh no," she responds./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What do you mean the cabin is gone?" Professor Dabney questions./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It isn't there. The edges look like it was ripped from the rest of the bus." I respond./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Are you sure little girl?" He says. His burly shape is intimidating./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Y-yes?" I answer, my voice wavering slightly. Obviously not believing me he struts over to the door and pulls it open himself. He is quiet when he returns./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Nothing human could have done that. And we are the only living things within a 20 mile radius," he states, "This desert has been declared dead for 100 years."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"We need to call for help. Now." I Why didn't we think of this before?/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I don't have service!" the brunette boy exclaimed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Everyone check does anyone have service?" I asked hopefully./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I do." the professor pipes up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Well then call 911 and maybe we can come out of this okay." I order./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Okay," but as he responds there is something sinister in his eyes, "I'll do that." I lean over and hold the twins, whispering comforting words to them./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJust as things are beginning to calm down, I hear another piercing scream coming from the back of the bus. It's the old woman./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Its back!" she screeches. I turn to follow her gaze and there it is, six and a half feet tall and horrifying. Its entire shape is formed out of jet-black goo that loosely mimics a large man. The thing doesn't quite have fingers and toes but misshapen blobs approximately where the hands and feet should be. And in the blink of an eye it's gone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I can't keep up like this! I might have a heart attack!" the old woman shouts incredulously./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Help is on the way, we just have to make sure that we don't do anything rash before they get here." I respond. Somehow I've stalled the escalating fear and tension in the bus. All eyes are on me. Suddenly Jess jerks her head upwards and shrugs my arm off of hers. As I look at her face to ask her what's wrong, I notice that her eyes are black and her face is covered in the goo from the monster. emOh no/em. I think. Jess opens her mouth and begins to speak in a gravelly voice that is so unlike her own that it takes me a second to register that it's coming from her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You puny humans, with your metal cages. You think that you are superior to all of the other beings. That somehow the right to destroy is inherent to your species. You are wrong." Then, Jess's eyes are like normal, and her sobs return. Andrew and I instinctively move to shield her from the rest of the passengers./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What was that?" one of the people shouts from the back of the bus./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It was that little girl!" the cute brunette from across the row answers./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's in her! We should leave her here in the desert!" Someone else shouts from the back. There are mutters of agreement all around. emI can't believe what's happening right now/em. I can feel the crowd turning on me, losing their empathy and picking up their pitchforks./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You want to throw out my crying little sister? Leave her here to die all by herself in the middle of the desert?" I question, my big sister instincts kicking in at full force./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Maybe?" The (once cute) brunette boy responds, suddenly unsure./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"That's appalling. Think about it, her eyes are normal now! It left!" I shout, hoping to sway them to my side. emMy first life or death situation! Fun/em./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's our safety versus hers!" exclaims the professor, his booming commanding voice cementing his victory against me. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Please! You can't do this!" I scream in desperation, pulling Jess closer behind me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Please," I hear Andrew whimper behind me, "she's my sister and she didn't do anything wrong."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Fine," comes the reply from the brunette boy, "we can throw you out as well."em Oh my god./em I think, as I see the other bus riders surge towards all three of us. I feel arms and the talon-like claws from the old lady in my armpits. They force me into the very back of the vehicle, dragging me through the disgusting bus floor. I can hear the screams of Andrew and Jess from behind me; I ache to reach out for them to offer some sort of comfort. I feel my fingernails ripping from their beds as I do my best to scrape every surface in an attempt to find any kind of purchase. My legs start to cramp from the continuous kicking I'm doing. emI finally hit something/em, I hear a grunt and look up to see where my kick landed. The professor crumbles in pain and I think he glares at me with black eyes for a millisecond. emWait, what?/em The struggle immediately draws me back in and I momentarily forget about the sighting. emHow did this go so wrong so quickly?/em Someone opens the doors behind us and I hear Jess being thrown out into the sand with a loud grunt. Andrew follows suit and tumbles out. As I'm being thrown out I lunge for the side of the rear exit. I grab onto it and hold on for dear life. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Goodbye," smirks the professor as he moves to slam the door on my fingers. In a fit of panic I seize the leg of the old lady in hope of keeping myself on the bus. I instead pull her bright red pump off of her foot and finally tumble out of the bus. The doors shut before I even hit the ground. I glare down at the shoe. emA little going away gift/em, I think snarkily. I turn to look for Jess and Andrew; they are huddled close together about 10 feet away from me. I crawl over to them, still feeling the need to protect them even though there really isn't any way to do that at this point. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Come here guys," I say, pulling them close to me, "it's going to be alright." After about 5 minutes of everyone on the bus watching us from the inside we hear the loudest sound I could've ever imagined. There is an earthshaking roar coming from somewhere far off to our left. I turn to pinpoint the location of the monstrous thing from earlier and it is right in front of my face. I scramble away from it on instinct and let out a small whimper because I'm done screaming. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Just kill us if that's what you came here to do! Just get on with it!" I spit at it. It reaches towards me with one of its disfigured limbs and I swing at it without thinking. The red pump I didn't realize I was still holding catches it in the arm and it wails in pain. As it yanks its arm away the pump is pulled out of my hand and carried off still engulfed in the creatures appendage. It sprints over the sand dunes and out of sight. It is now that I can hear the sound of sirens. emGreat timing/em. The bright red and blue lights are watered down by the beating sunlight and don't seem as intense as usual. I can physically feel the relief in the twins that had previously been shaking in absolute terror. emWe're safe, finally safe/em. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe ride back is quiet. The lack of enough police cars means that several of us have to be packed together like sardines in the back seats. I glimpse the old lady and the brunette boy get into the same car, along with a few other passengers I didn't bother to learn the names of, and the professor joins us in ours. The four of us don't say a word the entire trip back to civilization. Once we arrive back at the bus station the police attempt to ask for our statements but none of us say a word, the shock of the spectacle we had just endured is too much for any of us to handle. The cops tell us that we are free to go. Professor Dabney looks over at me and smirks. As he moves to walk into the station I glance down at his arm. His coat and suit jacket are both bled through and his eyes turn black. I flinch and look down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Goodbye Emery," he states, each word clipped precisely. He leaves me standing there a blubbering mess and when I look back up he has disappeared./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"My eyes actually begin to slowly close when I get a kick from behind, galvanizing me awake. I hear the giggles from the twins sitting behind me. emGreat/em, I think. Just when I thought this trip couldn't get any worse. I tell them to shut up, only to hear Jess begin again only a moment later. Knowing they won't allow me another second to rest my eyes I decide to chance a look outside. There's nothing but never-ending barren sands, the dunes like the exact opposite of the rich green rolling hills near home. The toxic sun beats down so hard that no human life can exist here. The sky is such a clear blue that I can't imagine just 6 hours 32 minutes and 52 seconds away from here is a bustling civilization where rain could even possibly happen. As I'm watching, the wind blows and the sands move to form new dunes. Out of the corner of my eye I see a shadow pass over one of the closer dunes; whatever it is, it makes me shiver. When I shift to look at it, nothing's there. "You're going crazy, Emery," I whisper to myself. Andrew, the more annoying twin, pokes his head out and giggles. He stares at me with his obnoxious trademark smirk on his face. "Yeah you are," he responds back through the crack between my seat and the one next to it. emJust wonderful/em./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Momentarily forgetting about the shadow I turn back to the bus's occupants. They are all wearing nametags on their shirts, a feeble attempt to make us bond by the tour guide. I decide to remove myself from the hard chair and walk up and down the aisle to stretch my legs a little bit. I stand and make a move to leave my row of seats when the floor is suddenly flying up at me. I find myself flat on the ground in the middle of the aisle. The pain is a secondary feeling to the automatic embarrassment and my cheeks are hot and definitely red. All eyes are watching me, including the cute brunette boy, as I get back up and shuffle to the small bathroom in the back of the bus. emStretching be damned, I need to escape/em. As I reach the door to the toilet and turn the handle I find that it's occupied. Now I've got to stand and wait with all of the passengers still watching my every move. emDear lord this trip sucks/em./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I glance down to see the shiny brass knob turning all by itself and it takes me a second to realize that I should move because the door is going to hit me otherwise. As I shift out of the way I notice that the person leaving the bathroom is Professor Dabney. His salt-and-pepper hair is filled with gel and styled almost obsessively perfect, its height making him look even taller than his actual 6 foot 6. His suit is undeniably expensive and the smell of his cologne is overwhelming. Professor always announces his presence with a booming voice that commands everyone's attention. So basically, he makes me want to hide under a table. I enter the bathroom and take about three minutes to calm myself before heading back out and pretending like nothing awkward or embarrassing had ever happened. As I'm walking back to my seat cute brunette boy meets my eyes and then immediately is looking anywhere but my face. emWay to end that before it even begins Emery/em. I sit down quietly and attempt to disappear./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"I glance back out the window and immediately let out a blood-curdling scream. I can feel the entire bus of people turn and stare at me. Something is on my window. It looks like a man made out of darkness unaffected by the fact that this bus is driving at least ninety miles per hour. The thing's features are shifting, moving around its head. It bangs its misshapen hand on the glass and my eyes blow up wide as I jump 10 feet into space./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Oh my god!" I shout as it dawns on me that I'm sitting next to this thing. I scramble away from the window, shoving the older woman out of her seat and onto the ground./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""What is that?" The woman next to me exclaims, not even noticeably bothered that she has now had an unplanned meeting with the dirty bus floor. By this point I have escaped my seat and am now standing in the row. The bus slams to a stop and for a second all my thoughts are scattered as the screeching of the bus' brakes enters my mind. All of a sudden I'm in the cute boy's Holy shit. When did I get cast in a bad horror movie?/em I think as I awkwardly remove myself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"Meanwhile, the entire bus is in a state of pandemonium. Everyone is losing their minds, running up and down the aisles. Even the polished Professor Dabney is pacing. I become aware of my twin siblings shuddering and crying in the aisle of the bus. emGod Emery, stop being so selfish/em. I quickly tune out everything else and move to where they are./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Shhhh, it's okay. I'm here, it's all going to be okay," I attempt to comfort them but I know that our mother would have been much better at this, she would have known what to do about this whole situation. emProbably not this exact situation,/em I correct in my head./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Em?" Andrew says with a tiny voice that is entirely uncharacteristic./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Yes kiddo?" I respond while patting his back./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Is it still there? I'm too afraid to look." He questions me while giving me those puppy-dog eyes I've never been able to resist. This is what reminds me how extreme this is. Andrew is the bravest of the three of us, always persuading us to do stupid things like climb 50-foot trees with no branches./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Hold on." I answer and stand to check the window again. emNothing./em That is somehow way more terrifying./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""It isn't, right Em?" He looks back up at me again. Jess is still quietly sobbing into his shirt behind him, I can see the snot and tears mixing and running down her face. I make a quick decision to tell him that it isn't there, even though it might make this worse for him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""No, kiddo, it's gone," I say, attempting to instill some confidence in the both of them./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Where did it go?" Andrew inquired./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""I don't know," I respond, disappointed, Jess sobs a little harder at my confession. I wish I had all of the answers for them. I have to get them somewhere safe; but where exactly is safe on a broken down bus in the middle of the desert that was just attacked by some terrifying monster? I tune back into the chatter among the others./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Why did we stop?" One of the other passengers questions incredulously./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;""Yeah, with that thing still around here somewhere we should be speeding off by now." The older woman adds./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Why hasn't anyone come back here to check on us yet?" the cute boy across the aisle says, obviously starting to freak./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I can go check on the cabin," I respond. I have an idea but I hope I'm wrong. I march towards the doors that lead to the driver's space. As I reach the pull bar I have an extreme sense of foreboding, this isn't going to be good news. I yank the door open and am met with blasting heat. emWait that isn't right, the cabin is air conditioned as well./em I look up and the sand dunes greet me again. I scramble backwards, jettisoning myself from the view of sandy desert. emWrong, wrong, wrong/em. When I finally make it into the passenger side of the bus, I'm hyperventilating./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Breathe sweetheart," comforts the old woman. Maybe she's not as mean as I thought./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's gone." I whisper, not loud enough that she would have caught it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What dear?" she asks./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"The cabin, it's gone." I answer./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Oh no," she responds./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What do you mean the cabin is gone?" Professor Dabney questions./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It isn't there. The edges look like it was ripped from the rest of the bus." I respond./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Are you sure little girl?" He says. His burly shape is intimidating./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Y-yes?" I answer, my voice wavering slightly. Obviously not believing me he struts over to the door and pulls it open himself. He is quiet when he returns./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Nothing human could have done that. And we are the only living things within a 20 mile radius," he states, "This desert has been declared dead for 100 years."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"We need to call for help. Now." I Why didn't we think of this before?/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I don't have service!" the brunette boy exclaimed./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Everyone check does anyone have service?" I asked hopefully./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I do." the professor pipes up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Well then call 911 and maybe we can come out of this okay." I order./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Okay," but as he responds there is something sinister in his eyes, "I'll do that." I lean over and hold the twins, whispering comforting words to them./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanJust as things are beginning to calm down, I hear another piercing scream coming from the back of the bus. It's the old woman./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Its back!" she screeches. I turn to follow her gaze and there it is, six and a half feet tall and horrifying. Its entire shape is formed out of jet-black goo that loosely mimics a large man. The thing doesn't quite have fingers and toes but misshapen blobs approximately where the hands and feet should be. And in the blink of an eye it's gone./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"I can't keep up like this! I might have a heart attack!" the old woman shouts incredulously./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Help is on the way, we just have to make sure that we don't do anything rash before they get here." I respond. Somehow I've stalled the escalating fear and tension in the bus. All eyes are on me. Suddenly Jess jerks her head upwards and shrugs my arm off of hers. As I look at her face to ask her what's wrong, I notice that her eyes are black and her face is covered in the goo from the monster. emOh no/em. I think. Jess opens her mouth and begins to speak in a gravelly voice that is so unlike her own that it takes me a second to register that it's coming from her./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You puny humans, with your metal cages. You think that you are superior to all of the other beings. That somehow the right to destroy is inherent to your species. You are wrong." Then, Jess's eyes are like normal, and her sobs return. Andrew and I instinctively move to shield her from the rest of the passengers./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"What was that?" one of the people shouts from the back of the bus./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It was that little girl!" the cute brunette from across the row answers./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's in her! We should leave her here in the desert!" Someone else shouts from the back. There are mutters of agreement all around. emI can't believe what's happening right now/em. I can feel the crowd turning on me, losing their empathy and picking up their pitchforks./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"You want to throw out my crying little sister? Leave her here to die all by herself in the middle of the desert?" I question, my big sister instincts kicking in at full force./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Maybe?" The (once cute) brunette boy responds, suddenly unsure./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"That's appalling. Think about it, her eyes are normal now! It left!" I shout, hoping to sway them to my side. emMy first life or death situation! Fun/em./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;" span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"It's our safety versus hers!" exclaims the professor, his booming commanding voice cementing his victory against me. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Please! You can't do this!" I scream in desperation, pulling Jess closer behind me./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Please," I hear Andrew whimper behind me, "she's my sister and she didn't do anything wrong."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Fine," comes the reply from the brunette boy, "we can throw you out as well."em Oh my god./em I think, as I see the other bus riders surge towards all three of us. I feel arms and the talon-like claws from the old lady in my armpits. They force me into the very back of the vehicle, dragging me through the disgusting bus floor. I can hear the screams of Andrew and Jess from behind me; I ache to reach out for them to offer some sort of comfort. I feel my fingernails ripping from their beds as I do my best to scrape every surface in an attempt to find any kind of purchase. My legs start to cramp from the continuous kicking I'm doing. emI finally hit something/em, I hear a grunt and look up to see where my kick landed. The professor crumbles in pain and I think he glares at me with black eyes for a millisecond. emWait, what?/em The struggle immediately draws me back in and I momentarily forget about the sighting. emHow did this go so wrong so quickly?/em Someone opens the doors behind us and I hear Jess being thrown out into the sand with a loud grunt. Andrew follows suit and tumbles out. As I'm being thrown out I lunge for the side of the rear exit. I grab onto it and hold on for dear life. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Goodbye," smirks the professor as he moves to slam the door on my fingers. In a fit of panic I seize the leg of the old lady in hope of keeping myself on the bus. I instead pull her bright red pump off of her foot and finally tumble out of the bus. The doors shut before I even hit the ground. I glare down at the shoe. emA little going away gift/em, I think snarkily. I turn to look for Jess and Andrew; they are huddled close together about 10 feet away from me. I crawl over to them, still feeling the need to protect them even though there really isn't any way to do that at this point. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Come here guys," I say, pulling them close to me, "it's going to be alright." After about 5 minutes of everyone on the bus watching us from the inside we hear the loudest sound I could've ever imagined. There is an earthshaking roar coming from somewhere far off to our left. I turn to pinpoint the location of the monstrous thing from earlier and it is right in front of my face. I scramble away from it on instinct and let out a small whimper because I'm done screaming. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Just kill us if that's what you came here to do! Just get on with it!" I spit at it. It reaches towards me with one of its disfigured limbs and I swing at it without thinking. The red pump I didn't realize I was still holding catches it in the arm and it wails in pain. As it yanks its arm away the pump is pulled out of my hand and carried off still engulfed in the creatures appendage. It sprints over the sand dunes and out of sight. It is now that I can hear the sound of sirens. emGreat timing/em. The bright red and blue lights are watered down by the beating sunlight and don't seem as intense as usual. I can physically feel the relief in the twins that had previously been shaking in absolute terror. emWe're safe, finally safe/em. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanThe ride back is quiet. The lack of enough police cars means that several of us have to be packed together like sardines in the back seats. I glimpse the old lady and the brunette boy get into the same car, along with a few other passengers I didn't bother to learn the names of, and the professor joins us in ours. The four of us don't say a word the entire trip back to civilization. Once we arrive back at the bus station the police attempt to ask for our statements but none of us say a word, the shock of the spectacle we had just endured is too much for any of us to handle. The cops tell us that we are free to go. Professor Dabney looks over at me and smirks. As he moves to walk into the station I glance down at his arm. His coat and suit jacket are both bled through and his eyes turn black. I flinch and look down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;"span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; color: black;"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /span"Goodbye Emery," he states, each word clipped precisely. He leaves me standing there a blubbering mess and when I look back up he has disappeared./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p