Disclaimer: I only own Casey and his family. All other characters are properties of K. A. Applegate and/or the other authors who are with me in this roleplay/collabfic.
A/N #1: {{}} = Thought-speech.
*~*~*| Chapter 3 - The Hunt |*~*~*
Whatever Erik said, I don't really remember – if he even said anything – for right at that very moment, EVERYTHING flared an iridescent, electric blue.
"OW!" That wasn't me, but I definitely echoed the sentiment.
As the flash receded, I watched, stunned, as what could only be described as an honest-to-goodness SPACESHIP gently landed on a small clearing in the middle of the haphazardly strewn concrete. I quickly pinched my arm, which had no effect whatsoever – the sleek ash-grey and blue spacecraft resolutely stayed where it was, and there was no sign that I was otherwise hallucinating.
The HELL?
You know, when my parents told me that I would be kidnapped by unsavoury characters if I went off into the construction site by myself, an alien abduction was hardly how I would have pictured it happening.
But there was simply no other way, besides "alien", to describe the ship, and the being that emerged from its belly. The closest thing I could compare it to would be an utterly ridiculous chimera of several creatures - a centaur - those ornery, stargazing, half-man, half-horse beings straight out of Greek mythology, an oversized snail with two eyes on stalks that constantly scanned the area, and a tail, tipped with a wickedly sharp scythe that would have made any scorpion green with envy.
Did I also add that it was BLUE? Like, the exact same shade of blue as a bluebird?
And that it had NO MOUTH?!
And that it was carrying what were clearly weapons… and pointing them RIGHT AT US?!
Right. I've been trapped in a dream that I apparently can't wake up from. And my brain just cooked up some weird, crazy scenario involving a… hybrid monstrosity that's about to murder us all. Any moment now an unseen DM Is going to ask me to roll for initiative.
Then the creature stared me right in the eyes, and said what were perhaps the most chilling words I'd ever heard up to that moment, his eyes burning with hatred.
{{If you know what's good for you, you will leave. Now.}}
This thing is capable of telepathy?!
I quickly retracted all questionable thoughts I had carelessly mused, praying that it hadn't read my mind and that it really didn't want to use me as target practice. All this while frantically trying to think back at it - YES! YES! I'll leave and never tell anyone what happened here! I didn't see anything! Just point that gun somewhere else!
"All votes for leaving?!" the girl suddenly burst out, before grabbing Erik's hand and taking off at a sprint. I quickly and wordlessly sprang after them, hoping that nothing would start chasing us.
BOOM!
It was then that the first explosion rocked the construction site. A fireball materialized from a few metres behind us, very close to where the ship had been. Even with my back facing away from the explosion, I could feel the heat wash against my back - not enough to singe, but definitely enough to make me run faster!
I glanced beside me, and saw only the girl from earlier. Anna, I think her name was.
Where on Earth was Erik?!
Anna spun around frantically, scanning the construction site for him.
{{LEAVE! NOW!}} the voice demanded imperiously.
"I have - I have to find him," she stammered. "He's my brother."
She wrestled internally with indecision, before looking at me once more more. "I'm sorry, I have to - I have to - " she broke off, running BACK toward the explosion.
Damnit, Anna! I thought. We're ALL supposed to be running AWAY!
But deep down, I completely understood where Anna was coming from. My brothers and I would have done the same for each other. It was something drilled into us since young - family stands together, and whatever happens, you never leave anyone behind. Family are the people who stand behind you when the world turns against you.
Till today, I still don't know why I did what I did next. Maybe it just felt like the right thing to do. Maybe Erik was one of the few people I actually liked, as opposed to just tolerated. Maybe Anna's emotional state moved me. Maybe one of my mum's lessons about helping others had sunk in deeper than I expected.
This has got to be the stupidest fucking thing I've ever done in my life.
I followed Anna back into the heart of the construction site.
*~*~*| 3 |*~*~*
The smell of ozone permeated the air as we ran through the area, searching for the missing Erik. Flash after flash – one sickly yellow, another blood red, the next an electrifying blue – speared through the night sky like high-powered laser beams. To make matters worse, it had started to drizzle lightly, and the wind gusted through the steel frames of the half-completed buildings in fits and starts. It wasn't chilly just yet, but there was no doubt in my mind that it would soon be. I really, really hoped we could get out of this blasted place before then, otherwise I'd be reduced to shivering my ass off.
During a brief spell where the landscape was illuminated by the demented circus of firing lights and yelling voices, I caught a glimpse of a half-hidden Erik frantically waving his arm at me. The unfinished wall he was hiding behind, while sufficiently large enough to shield him from the ongoing firefight, was certainly isolated and open enough that they would be spotted sooner or later by whoever the scorpion-centaur was shooting at. "Over there!" I pointed out to Anna. "Get over here!" I yelled at Erik as loudly as I dared above the raucous din. "They're firing in your direction!"
Right as I said that, another yellow ray lanced straight at the alien. The alien, fast and nimble on his (at least, it sounded male) four hooves, simply leapt out of the way. The beam continued uninterrupted and crashed into the wall Erik was hiding behind.
*BANG!*
*grrrmmrbrrmbmmrrbmmbm….*
Anna and I watched in horror as the beam blew a sizeable chunk out of the wall, revealing the rebar underneath. The impact also sent the top foot of the wall crumbling down on one side, and Erik and the person he was hiding with tumbling to the ground on the other.
"ERIK!"
"I'm okay!" Erik picked himself up and dashed over to us, small scrapes on his forearms, but none the worse for wear. The other guy quickly followed suit, and soon we were gathered as a terrified group of 4, huddling behind yet another unfinished block of concrete wall.
"Are you all right?" I asked the new guy.
*~*~*| 3 |*~*~*
A/N #2: The "new guy" is William, /u/Tman008's character (and also the RP GM).