Please enjoy!
Chapter One:
Bella Swan pulls her shoes off, grimacing at the smell of french fries emitting from her uniform, and slouches against her plush couch with a sigh. Her feet were mega sore from the double shift she pulled at Ollie's, brain tired and numb from the hours of repetitive tasks. Her mind eventually wanders and she begins musing over some conversations she had with some customers she'd served when her entire house shakes and the lights all around her flicker on and off rapidly before suddenly dimming to black.
She inhales in surprise, her trembling hands find her phone and switches it on for light.
What was that loud boom sound she heard? It lasted only seconds but it was enough to spook her and her giant, lazy great dane mix, Red. Normally a dog who rarely raises his head to bark at the weekly mailman, his behavior now is strange. Red's ears are low and his teeth bared, the only sound coming from him a low and threatening growl.
Something feels wrong to Bella, but she brushes it off with logic. For minutes she contemplates the cause of the sound in the darkness - a tree falling? A tiny earthquake, or maybe the shocks of a larger one nearby? She's heard of transformers blowing up during earthquakes. However, this far out of the city… she couldn't imagine a blown transformer shaking her house. The nearest one is nearly half a mile away, she remembers. The loud, sort of viscous bang she heard appeared to be fairly close-by.
Suddenly, she pictures an aircraft crash and thinks about the survivors that might theoretically still be out there. Knowing she would not let it go until her curiosity and morals were put to rest, she stuffs her feet back into her shoes and stands up from the couch.
She could not explain the lingering feeling of fear at the back of her mind, but her determination to be a decent person allowed her to ignore it.
Grabbing her flashlight and coat, she coaxes Red to follow her out the door. He doesn't budge from his sitting position on the floor next to the couch. Strange, she thinks, as he scoots back a step and lays down. Bella immediately understands his behavior. He doesn't want her to go. What in the hell could be out there?
The frigid night air hits Bella like a slap in the face the second she opens the front door. She has a flashlight in one hand, her father's knife in the other. Her cell phone is resting comfortably in her back pocket next to an extra pair of batteries for her flashlight - she feels ready for whatever may be ahead.
Outside, she does not notice anything out of the ordinary. The trees she looks at every day are still rooted where they always are. Her rusted truck sits archaically blue in the driveway. Nothing is amiss.
She follows the rock pathway to the driveway and makes her way to the backyard, sticking close the edge of the house. Her fist tightens around the knife, and then around her flashlight to steady it from her nervous shaking. Why is she so afraid?
She scans the backyard with the heavy beam of light and shines upon an old tool shed she's never once bothered to go in. It's completely demolished. The roof looks as if it caved in so significantly that the walls around it exploded. Littered pieces of wood scatter around the main mess, the light from her flashlight beaming off pieces of glass from the shattered shed window.
Bella's breaths become labored, and her stomach rises to her throat. Not a lot comes to mind when thinking of what could have caused this, and that worries her. Her brain usually works a mile a minute with thoughts of logical answers and theories, but now she is coming up blank. Bella forces herself to take that first step forward, suddenly jumping back and smothering a gasp when she feels something at her hip. Red. His ears are still mounted at a low-point on his furry head and he looks as if he'd like to be anywhere rather than there. His girl was his life though, and anywhere she was, he'd be too.
The pair take their time walking to the opposite side of the seemingly endless grassy backyard. Their steps are small and measured. She makes sure to watch for glass as Red is walking so no pieces get stuck in his paws. Soon, too soon in her opinion, they are standing in front of what used to be her father's shed.
She observes the damage and comes to the conclusion that whatever hit it, must have been traveling at an incredibly high speed. The couple pieces of wood left from the roof are completely pulverized, the only thing still fully intact, although bent, is the metal door lying a couple feet away.
Slowly, so slowly, they move onward, passing the used-to-be shed. A few feet away she sees a deep impact made in the ground and moves closer to inspect it. Red is hot on her heels, whimpering and cowering behind her. Bella feels his fear, but ignores it, whispering, "shh, you big baby."
The crater next to the shed is the size of a VW Bug with a sizable trail at the end that snakes into the forest. Her jaw is hung open in awe, she's never seen anything like this in her twenty-two years. She is hoping for an asteroid or a satellite, but she sees no rubble or debris. The only plausible theory she could think of was that whatever hit her father's shed and went a solid five feet into the ground, got up, and walked away. Her heart pounds sporadically within her chest.
Shaken to her core, Bella frantically screams, "hello?! I heard the crash! Is anyone out there?" She hears nothing in response. Alarmed that someone might be dying and need her help, she inches her way towards the end of the trail. She is yelling and yelling, "hello? Hello? I'm here to help!" and waving her flashlight beam through the trees, searching for life, searching for a body, a mangled corpse…
anything.
A/N: Oooo spooky first chapter - starting it with a bang from the get go! -sondor