I slowly started to come to with a few blinks, everything on my body aching with soreness, and I gingerly started to push myself up, my vision blurring in and out.

I felt like I was tossed out of a moving car and crashed against the road, even though I don't like being in cars.

My head spun as I sat up on my bottom, one hand on my forehead while the other supported my weight.

Gentle whines suddenly came from my left side, and I looked over, seeing Luna whining and putting her head on my thigh, staring up at me with wide eyes.

"Luna," I hoarsely said, reaching over with my hands and patting her head as her tail wagged. "Wait, where's…?"

I looked around at where I was, seeing that I was in the forest where I had found Luna barking, but the cave's entrance was sealed with rocks.

But I did enter that cave before… But why is it sealed with rocks?

A twinge of pain came from my neck when I turned my head, causing me to wince as I felt the back of my neck with a hand as Luna perked and gently whined.

"I'm okay, Luna," I softly assured the dog. "Just a little hurt, that's all." I paused a little as I felt the injury on my neck and added, "I need to find Briar and Daniel."

I slowly stood up to my feet but wobbled a little because of the dizziness but did not topple over as Luna stood next to me, allowing me to use her to stand up.

"Come on, Luna," I urged, picking up my glow stick from the ground as the light had dimmed a little. "Let's go find your owners."

I started walking into the woods, still feeling dizzy as I walked through the darkness, this time with Luna walking by my side.

"Briar!" I called before coughing, as my throat was sore.

So I stopped calling for Briar and continued walking, hoping to soon find him with Daniel and return to his home before his parents woke up with them both gone.

Hopefully, I could get some water with ibuprofen because this headache is killing me!

I wobbled a little as the headache worsened somewhat and leaned against a rock, resting my head against my arm, and Luna stood next to me, staring up at me as my vision blurred.

I definitely need some ibuprofen.

After resting for a few minutes, I continued walking before coming across a gap in the forest and stepping through it.

And I saw that I had returned to Brair's house.

…Maybe Briar had already found Daniel and returned home without noticing I was missing?

I stepped into the house with Luna and headed towards Briar's room, poking my head in, only to see he was not there, nor was Daniel.

"What?" I hoarsely spoke in confusion. "He's not here?"

Deciding to check with the parents, I went to see if his parents were still sleeping in bed, only to see empty beds.

"Mr. Woodby?" I called. "Mrs. Woodby? Where are you-"

I coughed into my arm as I stopped walking, the headache pounding and leaned against the hallway wall.

I need to get water and ibuprofen first!

I headed towards the kitchen and took out the glass of water, filling it with water before drinking it and downing it before filling it again to have another glass.

…Was I always this thirsty?

I finished the second glass and refilled it, drinking the water the third time before finishing as I finally had that satisfying refreshment.

Luckily, the headache had faded a little from drinking water, but it was still slightly lingering but not pounding like a jackhammer.

I reached over to the medicine cabinet, took out a bottle of ibuprofen, opened it, and poured two into my hand before returning the bottle.

I refilled the glass and tossed the two pills into my mouth before drinking the glass of water, downing the pills with the water.

Once I had taken the ibuprofen, I sighed as I felt my neck, pausing when I felt something liquidly against my fingertips.

…Am I bleeding?

Deciding to check what was bleeding, I stepped into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, seeing myself in the reflection.

But I suddenly gasped after seeing that I had blue hair!

I have azure blue eyes, Caucasian skin, and long, straight hazelnut brown hair.

Not blue!

"What?!" I exclaimed, looking at my hair in my hands.

Thinking I was wearing a wig or some sort of joke, I tugged on a strand of hair, but I winced in pain after a single tug.

Wigs should not be permanently attached to your head… right?

Is this really my true hair color?!

I looked back at my reflection and looked further at my hair, seeing that the roots were dark blue; even my eyebrows were blue too!

It was a gradient color scheme with the roots in a dark blue color, and the ends of my hair faded into a blue color.

"Ohhhh, my god," I softly whined after looking at my hair. "How the hell did I get blue hair?!"

I paused after seeing something on the left side of my neck from underneath my hair, and I moved it, seeing a round dent in my skin (which is harmless)… except for the dripping injury on my neck instead!

"Where the hell did that come from?!" I exclaimed, seeing there were two on my neck!

I felt around my neck with my hands and noticed three injuries, as my back was bleeding too.

Was I bitten by three vampires?!

I shook my head a little before putting all my hair up and clamping it with a hair clamp, taking out the first aid kit from the cabinet.

Using the hydroperoxide, I cleaned my neck from the blood, wincing slightly as the injuries stung but continued.

Once the blood was cleaned, I placed bandages over the injuries around my neck before stopping and looking at the mirror, as there was a bandage on both sides of my neck and the back.

Nothing else was hurt besides the injuries on my neck, and I checked my arm where the person had grabbed me, seeing no bruise or anything on it.

Luna then started barking, and I turned away from what I was doing, following where Luna's barking was coming from before seeing her looking through the window and barking.

"Luna, shh!" I shushed the German Shepard, walked over to her, and grabbed her collar. "You don't-"

Something shone past the window, and I gasped, startled by the light, before scrambling backward as Luna did the same.

Was that a car?!

Luna suddenly bit on my sweater's sleeve and yanked me, causing me to turn around before following her as I exclaimed, "Wait, wait, what are you-?"

We soon entered Briar's bedroom, and Luna scrambled underneath, causing me to follow behind as another light shone through the window.

I hid underneath the bed with Luna as she gave low growls, watching as the light moved around, and I watched with confusion.

How is there a car light near the window?

One can't be flying!

A low-clicking noise suddenly went through the air, and I stiffened after hearing the clicking noise, watching as the light entered Briar's room.

Luna's growling grew louder as her fur started sticking up from ends as we both watched the strange blue light.

She licked her lips as she bared her teeth towards the light as I watched, mostly hiding behind Luna for protection.

Suddenly, the light moved downward and revealed what looked like a metal tentacle with a light at the end, moving around the room and searching for something.

Luna moved backward underneath the bed as I followed, hiding underneath with her as we were close to the wall behind us.

The tentacle moved around Briar's room, looking at every nook and cranny before moving toward the bed.

I covered my mouth with my hand to keep myself from hyperventilating as Luna moved in front of my face with her body, protecting me as she snorted and growled.

The blue light moved over where Luna and I were, but it went past us before the clicking noise happened, and the light disappeared as there was a low metallic whirring noise before going silent.

Luna started to slowly stop growling as she poked her head out, looking side to side before crawling out of the bed.

I slowly followed behind, looking confused and wondering what that was, knowing it was not a car or a plane!

Luna made a small bark as I turned towards her, and she turned around, exiting Brair's room, and I followed her.

She continued until she walked up to the front door, jumping onto her hind legs and scratching the door before jumping back down, turning to me, and barking.

"You want to go out the front door?" I asked her.

Luna barked after I asked her and walked up to the front door, unlocking it before poking my head outside.

It was still dark, and I watched that same blue light from the left side of the road before it disappeared.

Luna went past my legs and down the porch, turning to me patiently while panting.

I followed behind her, and she ran down the sidewalk, pausing every time to turn to me as I followed behind, looking around cautiously before catching up to Luna.

We continued through the neighborhood, and I slowly noticed the place looked empty; no human was outside.

Luna and I were about to turn around the corner when she suddenly stopped and went backward, hiding as I watched what looked like a blue light appears from down the road.

I gasped and hid with Luna, peeking around the corner of where we were, and saw a single tentacle moving outward.

Luna bit on my blue jeans and dragged me backward as I followed, hiding down the alley as we watched a huge spider-like monster appear.

It was bigger than a bus and had eight legs, looking almost like a spider crossed with a bubble, with a single tentacle sticking out from the front with a light.

The monster continued down the road before turning to the alley where we hid, turning around slightly to look in the alley.

We hid behind a garbage bin for safety after watching the thing appear, and the light moved away after it looked down at where we were and continued walking.

Luna stood up after it turned away and quickly ran past it, and I quickly followed, running around the large spider-like machine.

I followed Luna as she ran down the sidewalk toward an RV mobile park.

But another of those large spider-like machines appeared in our path, and we instantly stopped, caught in its light beam.

The tentacle instantly moved upward, and a jaw opened from its head, emitting an electronic shriek that caused me to cover my ears with my hands as Luna whined.

A gun suddenly shot at the head, and it stopped shrieking after a second hit its face.

I turned around to see what was shooting at it and saw a human with a gun.

"Go! Run!" the human exclaimed, moving backward as he continued shooting.

Luna and I ran past the machine as it turned towards the human, giving angry shrieks as the human continued shooting at it.

The door of an RV opened, and someone stepped out slightly as Luna jumped in, urging, "Come on! Faster!"

I instantly went into the RV (as much as I was afraid, I didn't want to stop running and get myself captured) as the person who opened it slammed the door shut, just as there was a pained cry.

I instantly looked through the window from the left and saw the spider-like being with the man in its tentacles, squeezing him as he tried shooting.

But it forced the man to drop his weapon with a forceful squeeze before its jaws parted and swallowed the man whole, his form disappearing from its throat and into its body.

"That was a close one," the man responded, and I turned to him with a confused and terrified expression. "If you weren't fast enough, you would've been eaten too."

"What the hell was that thing?!" I exclaimed. "What the hell is happening?!"

"It's an alien attack!" the man answered. "Those things you saw outside are collecting humans for the mothership!"

He had short, messy dark brown hair, bags underneath his golden yellow eyes, and was wearing a black suit with half-frame rectangle glasses.

"Mothership?" I echoed with confusion.

"Yes," he nodded, grabbing my wrist before taking me to the van's window and pointing. "The mothership."

I looked through the window and saw a massive UFO floating above the center of the town, with the same spider-like machines going in and out of it.

"That's the mothership?" I asked, looking over at him.

"Yes," he nodded. "Its leader is collecting samples and would take over the earth!"

I looked afraid after the man explained, afraid of what was happening, before he asked, "Who are you, though?"

"I'm Stephanie," I answered.

After I answered his question, the man perked and became excited, muttering, "Oh my god! Oh my god!"

I looked confused before watching him run off and accidentally bumping into someone that came out of a room, saying, "Sorry!" before zooming off.

The person he bumped into walked over and looked confused before turning to me.

He had short, neat jet-black hair, light brown eyes, and a lab coat with a long-sleeve black shirt, dress pants, brown shoes, and round glasses.

"Good evening," he calmly greeted me before putting his hand out to me. "My name is Dr. Dimitri."

"Stephanie," I responded, shaking his hand.

"So you're Stephanie?" he asked, and I nodded, releasing his hand. "Interesting. You wrote many interesting novels about the mysteries of the earth and the alien sightings."

"You've read my books?" I asked, blushing a little.

"I have a little myself," Dr. Dimitri said. "But my friend Hisoka is more engrossed in your books and would constantly talk about them to me."

Said Hisoka appeared carrying one of my books and showed it to me, saying as he gently nudged Dr. Dimitri to the side, "Can you sign this?"

I nodded after Hisoka asked and opened my book, writing my name in cursive on the back of the front cover before handing it to Hisoka.

"ありがとう," he thanked, bowing to me before walking off.

A low rumble came from outside, and I jolted as Dr. Dimitri perked up, running over to the window and peering through.

I did the same and watched as the mothership moved slightly upward but stopped as long tentacles popped out and started to insert into the ground.

"This isn't good!" Hisoka exclaimed, coming back from a room. "It looks like it's collecting nutrients from the ground! We must get out of here before we get discovered or caught."

"What does it need that for?" I asked.

"So it can preserve itself for a long time," Hisoka explained. "We need to get to a safe place to keep our distance and to plan ahead."

"But what about Briar?" I asked. "I can't leave him behind!"

"Who's Briar?" Dr. Dimitri asked.

"He's my close friend," I explained. "Daniel, his little brother, forgot to lock the dog's backdoor and Luna," I told Dr. Dimitri and Hisoka, mentioning the dog Luna. "Ran outside, and Briar chased after him as he chased after Luna. I went outside to chase after them and found Luna barking before a cave. I entered when she ran inside, and something or someone attacked me," I mentioned to my neck at one of the bandages. "Leaving these markings on my neck."

"What?!" Hisoka exclaimed. "Let me see your neck! Quick, take the bandages off!"

"Wh-What?" I stammered as I was placed on the couch, and Hisoka ripped the bandages off. "Ow, hey! That-"

I stiffened when Hisoka looked at my neck and the injuries from the sides of my neck to the back before moving away.

"You weren't probed!" Hisoka commented with a sigh of relief.

"Probed?!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean by probed?!"

"Calm down," Dr. Dimitri assured. "One of Hisoka's friends, Ryan, had his cat abducted and was probed and implanted with strange devices in her body. Hisoka was checking if you were implanted with these devices."

I shuddered after Dr. Dimitri explained to me, and Hisoka placed new bandages on my neck, bowing as he apologized, "ごめん, I panicked thinking you were probed. Do they still hurt?"

"Not much," I responded, feeling the injury with my hand. "Stings a little, but not as much as before. After that encounter with someone, I woke up with a blazing headache and entered Briar's house, thinking he returned after finding Daniel, but it was empty, and the adults were gone too."

"It looked like you came just as the invasion happened," Dr. Dimitri said, pushing his glasses into place. "When you were attacked, the mothership appeared and started the invasion. Everyone tried to evacuate, but a dome suddenly appeared over the town and trapped everyone. Nothing can get out or in."

A bad feeling twisted in my stomach after Dr. Dimitri explained, and Hioska said, "Maybe we can find your friend if we go into the forest too. He could still be roaming around looking for Daniel."

"That's a good idea," I agreed, nodding. "Do we have supplies and a map?"

Hisoka nodded, explaining, "We've got as many supplies as possible. But we haven't gotten the maps because the power went off because of the mothership."

"I can go get the maps," I said. "I know where the nearest store is."

"Good." Hioska nodded.

"But you're not going out there unless you take this with you," Dr. Dimiti responded, picking up a brown satchel and handing it to me. "Take this to carry your items with you. It has a flashlight, emergency first aid kits, and water."

"Thank you," I thanked, placing the satchel over my head and turning to Luna, who cocked her head to the side. "Luna, come."

Luna hopped off the chair and approached me, standing behind me as I carefully opened the RV door and looked outside.

"Be careful, Stephanie," Hisoka warned as I stepped outside and closed the door.

After closing the door, I started my journey through the city and began to head in the direction of where the nearest store was.

After Stephanie ran down the street to find the nearest store, something winged flew through the air before they saw the RVs.

It flew over to one of the RVs and landed, revealing itself as a dog-sized metal mosquito-like monster.

More started to arrive, and one by one, they began to land on the RVs, and one landed on the RV Stephanie had exited.

The mosquito's syringe-like mouth popped out and was inserted into the RV's hood and into the motor, injecting something that dripped out of the syringe and landed on the engine.

It looked like a parasitic worm made out of multiple wires as it wriggled around before inserting itself into the motor and disappearing into thin air.