Beside green mountains, she walked the footpaths through the shanty houses. Farther down the hillside to her left was a view of the town. Zuri walked to and from work everyday. Usually she got home just before dark, but occasionally helping lock up the shop took longer. The sun was dipping below the horizon, and it got dark fast.
Her long wavy hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and she wore a full skirt. She slung her bag over her shoulder and started walking. The streets were empty most of the way, until two guys came around the corner. Zuri was not afraid, but cautious. She almost took a different route, but was sure she recognized one of the boys as a neighbor's son.
She was about to greet them, when one pulled out a knife. Her heart began to race wildly, and she bolted the other way. In a skirt and sandals though, it was useless. One caught up to her and wrestled her to the ground. She kicked and punched at him as the other boy snatched up her bag.
The boy holding her down held the knife to her as he grabbed her shoes, but Zuri wasn't going to just let him get away with it. Her fingers reached for his face as she struggled. The boy yelled as he forced her fingers in his eye sockets, but the knife cut into her legs. Pain shot threw her but they ran off after that, with one shoe and her bag. Tears sprang to her eyes as she realized how much blood there was.
She should have just let them take whatever they wanted. It felt like her leg was on fire, the pain was so intense. Since the dress was already torn, she ripped off a strip of cloth from the bottom and tied it around her calf. It was soaked in blood in a matter of seconds when she stood up. Still, her house was a closer walk then the hospital.
She was almost home when a large man stepped out from the brush. At eight foot tall, with mottled skin, and an expressionless mask though, she thought she was staring at death. She stood perfectly still, breathless, and unsure of what to think. The creature clicked softly, then pointed to her leg. She was almost sure then that she'd lost more blood than she thought.
However, the towering man brought his hands up and laced his fingers together. Then, he pointed at her leg again. She was close to fainting as it lurched closer. Her eyes bounced up and down its body, at the strange dreds, at its scaly feet, at the claws on its hands, and couldn't come to a conclusion as to what it was. When it produced a small jar and reached out its hand towards her, she backed away.
Zuri fell straight on her ass, the sheer size difference between them increasing. It towered over her. One of its hand rose to show her its palm, trying to tell her to stay put. She didn't have the mindset to fight back any more. It opened the jar and crouched down right in front of her.
She shivered as one of its nails cut away the cloth she'd tied around her leg. She was too dizzy and in pain, or she would have started running. Her eyes widened with fright as its big hand slowly rubbed over her wound with a cream, and her cut vanished completely. It was a demon, with healing powers. Her skin was healed, like magic.
She had to force the words out, "T-thank you."
It dipped its head down, its tentacle-like hair falling over its shoulders as it did. Then, it stood and walked away. It vanished back into the brush. After a minute of shock, she stood and walked to the treeline. She cautiously pushed a big tropical leaf out of the way and looked in the brush for it, but saw nothing.
She ran the rest of the way home, then began to pace back and forth. There was no way she'd be able to sleep. She didn't understand or believe what she'd seen...but it showed up again. She almost screamed as she saw a wave of electricity in her living room, that turned into a menacing form with a metal mask. She froze, fear gripping her.
It bowed to her.
She blinked at it.
In the light, she could make out more of its features. Gold metal rings with strange symbols encased its dark grey, fleshy dreds. It wore a combination of armor and leather, looking rather steampunk in appearance. It had a line of tiny black spikes down the middle of its chest, along with a few on its forearms. It's skin was almost reptilian, and as hard as it was for her to admit, she knew it had to be an alien.
"What do you want?"
He curved his hand and brought it to as though he had a drink in his hand, then pointed to her.
She grabbed a cup from the cabinet, filled it with water, and handed it to him. Her hands gripped the countertop behind her as one of his hands lifted to take off the metal mask. A hiss of air escaped as the metal loosened its hold on his face, and then he slowly brought the mask away. Zuri's stomach churned uncomfortably. Its face was beyond hideous.
She looked away as he tipped the glass to his lipless mouth. The creature took a step towards her, and set the cup down on the counter beside her. She tentatively looked over its body again, then up at its face. She tried to concentrate on the nicer features. Its eyes were a mint green with flecks of gold right around the pupils.
When it balled away from her, she was in a panic that it might leave, "Are you hungry?"
It tilted its head to side and let out a small trill.
Zuri hesitantly slipped away from him and opened the fridge. There wasn't much in there, but she held up different items and let him smell them. She was starting to think she had nothing he liked when she grabbed out a carton with a few eggs left. He ucked one of the tan eggs out and put it in his mouth whole. Zuri grimaced as he swallowed without chewing.
When he reached for a second one, she said, "No no, I can cook it first..."
He proceeded to eat all of them whole, and she turned back to the fridge to see what else she had. There was a couple chicken breasts that she had been thawing out and she unwrapped those to show him. When he reached for it, she held the package away. She already felt bad for letting him eat raw eggs. When the air pulsed with a deep growl, Zuri quickly held the meat up to him though, her heart in a panic.
She covered her mouth in disgust as she watched his black claws lift up the raw slab of meat. He brought it up to his face, then the four tusk-tipped mandibles did the rest. In an almost insect-like way, they fed part of the chicken breast into his mouth, then his sharp teeth ripped off a bite. He didn't chew, but swallowed down whole chunks. It was disturbing.
When he finished though, she wracked her brain for anything else she could offer him, as she didn't want him to leave. However, she was too afraid to offer him a place to sleep, and didn't know what else he would want. She stood and watched him explore her house for a few minutes. He examined a few of her nicknacks. Then, he seemed ready to leave.
Zuri followed him out the door, and said a quiet, "Bye."
He crossed his arm over his chest with a slight bow. Her stomach fluttered nervously thinking that it was a sort of "thank you" gesture. As he started to turn away, a wave of electricity danced over his body and he was rendered invisible. There was only the slightest shimmer. She would look for that shimmer from then on.