CHAPTER TWO: IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES…
Andy Meadows always found a quiet drive in the countryside a good way to relax, a good way to find some piece and quiet away from the hectic hustle and bustle of the city. Every Sunday afternoon he'd grab the keys to his three year old Ford soft-top from next to the phone, leave his flat and head out into the middle of nowhere for a good few hours. That was the good thing about living anywhere outside of London: within 30 minutes you could always find a way to get out into the open country.
Until last month his long-time girlfriend might have accompanied him, but seeing as they had decided to go their separate ways that was no longer an option. It still hurt like a bitch whenever he thought about it, but she'd been spending more and more time at work at the hospital, and Andy wasn't willing to be in a relationship where his own girlfriend never had the time or space for him. There was a time when Suzy had looked forward to the weekend trip into the countryside, but that time seemed so long ago now, a time when she hadn't been obsessed with her duties as a Nurse.
'Goddamn it!' he thought to himself. The drive was supposed to ease his tension, to relieve the stress, not make it worse.
He slowed down to take a hard right, just another of many on the long and winding country roads he loved so much. There was almost nothing out here. There were no high-rise buildings, no pollution, almost no sign of civilization; the rarefied atmosphere would blow soothingly into his face as he passed the time whipping along the roads at dangerous speeds, not giving a damn about the state of his life – stuck in a dead end job, no girlfriend anymore, an almost lifeless existence ticking away into a long, slow oblivion. On these roads all that could be forgotten, left in the cloud of dust behind him, floating around in the city that had no place in his mind right now. All that mattered at this moment for Andy was pushing his Ford to go ever faster around the sharp, twisty bends, zipping through the countryside in blissful isolation, and keeping one eye on yet another stunning sunset taking place over to his left, the sun slowly sinking down behind the rolling hills. It was at times like this when all the unnecessary worries of his life could be lifted from his shoulders, when such words as stress, commitment and time truly held no meaning. This was what held his life in check now – the prospect of roaring along country lanes at the end of the weekend, savouring the moments when he could feast his eyes upon what nature had to offer – the untouched, unspoilt greenery, the gorgeous sunsets, and a great flash of pure white light coming from one of the fields about mile or so ahead.
He slammed onto the brakes. What in the name of hell was that? It had looked like some sort of explosion. Then there was another, and another. Flash upon flash. It wasn't just white either, there were a whole host of different colours; mostly green he noticed. They could have almost been mistaken for fireworks – all the colours reminded him of the joy of watching the black night sky erupt loudly into a marvellous array of dozens of wondrous, colourful patterns every Bonfire Night – but for some strange, inexplicable reason Andy knew these endless silent flashes were not fireworks; they were something else entirely. There was a queasy, uncertain feeling in his stomach, but he paid it no heed and he quickly made his mind up to see what this was all about.
No sooner had Andy started moving again when another pure white flash nearly blinded him it was so great. He slammed onto the brakes once more, the car sliding from side to side, tyres screeching loudly. He rubbed his closed eyes for a moment and then blinked furiously to try and remove the spots from his vision. He waited and waited for another flash of white but it never came. There was nothing. The birds had long ago stopped chirruping in their trees, but now even the wind had died down. He sped down the road, deciding that he had been wrong – they were only fireworks after all – but gradually an eerie white glow became noticeable, and it was coming from the same spot as those flashes. Andy brought his car back down to a safer speed and as he got closer he noticed that the glow had begun to brighten ever so slightly. He stopped the car when he was near enough to walk cautiously over to investigate.
At first glance there was nothing; just this strange, soft light, almost like there was a large, faint searchlight in the ground, gradually increasing in intensity. Ignoring any doubts or worries over what it might be he carried on moving towards it.
It was hard work walking over the fields as his ankles kept turning over in the clumps of shin high grass, but within moments the ground became easier to walk upon when he noticed that the grass had inexplicably thinned out. It looked slightly charred, like it had been burned away. Andy was really confused now, and the doubt gnawing away in the pit of his stomach refused to go away. He looked upon the now completely bare earth before him and asked himself, 'What the hell is going on? What has happened here?' Crop Circles came to mind, but Andy didn't believe in aliens and all that conspiracy crap.
Suddenly, he saw something on the ground a hundred feet or so in front of him – the ghostlike luminescence appeared to be emanating from whatever was lying there. The rational part of Andy's mind was again imploring to turn around, leave, never look back, but when had he ever listened to that part of his brain? He cautiously stepped forwards and approached. In the dusky light he couldn't make out what it was until he was much closer, but when he did his cautious steps turned into a full sprint. It was a figure dressed all in black; face down in the dirt. He penetrated the circle of light surrounding the body without a second thought and tentatively reached out with his hand towards what he guessed to be the figure's shoulder. As his fingers touched the dark, rough material the body twitched and Andy recoiled in shock.
He didn't know what to do. He'd learnt enough from Suzy over the years that if a person was motionless on the floor there was no knowing what type of injuries had been sustained; also that care should be taken in trying to move said person. However, when a low groan could plainly be heard coming from this body Andy decided to forget all advice and he turned him over.
It was a young man. He appeared to be around 18 years old or so, but it was hard to tell considering every inch of his face and neck was covered in either mud or blood, which meant that he was probably severely injured. Then as he felt more of the clothes the young man was wearing – some sort of robes, almost like a Halloween costume – Andy realised that there must have been even more, even worse, injuries on the man's body; the robes appeared to be saturated with blood.
Andy now found himself in a big bind. What the hell was he going to do now? He hadn't brought his mobile phone with him – not that it would have worked out here even if he had – and he couldn't see any way of helping this guy without either leaving him alone for God knows how long while he got help, or picking him up and carrying him to the car, which he simply did not want to risk doing, given the state of this guy. However, time was clearly of the essence and he had to do something. The problem was Andy didn't know what that something was.
He knelt down and softly said. "Are you alright mate?" Stupid question really. Of course this guy wasn't all right – he was lying in the middle of nowhere looking half dead! He paused for a moment as the prone figure opened his eyes, and stared blearily at him with a pair of shockingly green eyes that stood in stark contrast to the dirt, grime, and blood plastered all over his face.
Andy was about to ask another idiotic question, but the young man slowly opened his mouth and spoke hoarsely, "Is he… Is he…?"
"Is 'who'?" Andy asked, but his question was ignored.
"Is he….gone?"
"Gone? There's no one else here mate." The young man smiled briefly. "Listen why are you here?" Andy ploughed on. "Where are you hurt?" Again, a stupid question – he looked like he was hurt all over!
The young man didn't answer though. He spoke only two more words before he passed out. "Help me."
Andy's eyes widened. He began to panic, but forced his emotions to control themselves. He had to think quickly. There was only one option: he would have to forget about any possible repercussions and carry this guy to the car, regardless of all the blood and possible internal injuries he had sustained. He could no longer waste precious time mulling over all the possibilities, so he got onto his feet and prepared himself to crouch down and pick him up, but without warning, the stranger arched up horribly and emitted a blood-curdling scream that carried on into the wilderness.
Andy physically jumped back in fear. His eyes widened in complete shock and, had not the power of speech momentarily left him, he would have screamed himself. It was quite simply one of the most terrifying things he had seen his entire life. It should have been impossible for someone's back to bend so much, and the noise was nothing short of horrific. Andy brought his hands up to the side of his head to try and shield himself from the endless screaming, but as he did so the white glow returned in full force, and the intensity of it forced his eyes to close instinctively.
For once, Andy decided to trust the rational part of his brain; it was telling him to turn around and hightail it out of there and that's exactly what he chose to do. He turned his back on the staggering sight before him, and bolted it. He burst through the wall of light surrounding the two of them and ran faster than he had in years; or at least he would have done if not for the clumpy, uneven ground he quickly stumbled upon. He kept losing his balance as his ankles threatened to turn over, but Andy wasn't prepared to slow down. It cost him dear; his left ankle finally did what it had been threatening to do for several yards and collapsed. He landed hard on his side, winding himself in the process. Somehow he managed to completely ignore the pain and protests of his body and staggered back to his feet, stumbling on back to his car. He could still hear the continual high-pitched scream coming from the stranger behind him – 'Didn't this guy need to breathe?' – but Andy tried to ignore it; all he could think about was getting in his car, driving away, and never telling anyone about what he had seen tonight.
After what seemed hours, but what was actually no more than a minute or two, he reached his Ford. He fumbled to open the door, but then realised he'd left the top down – 'Idiot!' – so vaulted onto the front seat. Once inside he frantically brought the roof of the car back up and then dropped his head in his hands, the steering wheel acting as some kind of a pillow.
"This is not happening!" he moaned to himself. "This is simply not happening!"
Yes, he didn't believe in aliens, but what other explanation could there be? After he had spent a minute or two fighting to regain his breath, and after he had calmed and composed himself somewhat – although he noticed it was a little warmer than usual in the car – he finally lifted his head and looked back in the direction where the stranger lay all alone. Only there was no chance he could see him now. He couldn't see anything anymore. The white glow had brightened and expanded to such an extent that it was now encircling him; it had followed him back and now surrounded his car. It was all he could see, an abyss of pure white light. What the hell was going on?
Calm and composed went out of the window. Andy's heart began thumping frantically against his chest. His hands were shaking wildly. Sweat was pouring madly off of him. His breathing was bursting from his lungs in quick, short pants. He was jerking his head around in all directions, darting his dilated eyes around like he was mad. He was going mad. There was no other explanation.
He was more scared now than he had ever been before and was growing dizzy with the knowledge of it. He stopped his wild movements and closed his eyes to try and stop his mind from moving in circles, but the dizziness didn't abate, it grew and it grew. He felt as if he was rocking and rolling violently from side to side, up and down like he was on a small boat in the fiercest of storms. He tried to reopen his eyes, but he found himself unable to do so.
He couldn't breathe. The heat was pressing down upon his chest, suffocating him. A thought flashed blearily through his bewildered mind: what heat? Amazingly, he managed to forge an answer despite the forced tiredness fogging his mind – whatever that silent white light was outside the car, whatever it was emanating from the screaming stranger, was affecting him, smothering him.
Killing him.
In that moment everything became terrifyingly clear to him; the fog cruelly lifted from his head and he realised he was about to die. The final few seconds of his time were ticking away. He tried to scream, but his lungs had no life left within them, no precious air remained to exhale. Everything was being squeezed out of his body – as if Death itself had its long, skeletal fingers around his midriff, crushing him – and slowly, ever so slowly, the barren, bright, white light behind his closed eyes was replaced by utter blackness.