As I rushed through the screen door of my abandoned country home, my heart ached sadly for justice. I could not bring myself to absorb the stench of the rotted spaghetti my mother was preparing the night the clan dragged them away. The pantry door screeched painfully as I looked for supplies, vividly seeing my weakling self cowering under the shelf dusted with corn flour. I stared down at the clothes I had, still the flour marked its memory on me, like fingerprints forever there. I passed the family portraits, refusing to recognise the faces that I had let down.
I found myself in Hayley’s unicorn and fairy filled room, cringing at the mirror that hit my reflection of shame with a thin layer of dust. I could still hear her, laughing and calling to me. Her gold cross hung on the corner of the mirror; I reached for it and put it around my neck. I shook my head in disbelief as I saw Hayley standing behind me; I turned around in fear of my insanity. She was beautiful and white as she gleamed a smile my direction.
“Let’s go throw them mountains,” she smiled and ran out of the room. Instinctively, I followed her, pinching myself as I did. If it was a dream, I would have already woken up to the pain I inflicted. As I found her again, she was standing next to my father’s safe. He kept everything there, money, jewellery, and more importantly, his weapons.
“What are you waiting for, Sammy?” she questioned as she taped her baby pink nails on the safe’s rusted padlock. I felt the colour come back to my cheeks as I gulped the fear away. She looked over to the bed, where the keys laid and then back to me with a glimpse of excitement in her cheeks. I followed her eyes hesitantly; she wanted me to get the guns. I nodded and turned for the keys; I rushed to the safe and unlocked it quickly. I pulled the four guns from the safe, the bullets and a handful of cash. I did not know whether Hayley was real, or my mind playing tricks on me, but I liked to think she was my angel, helping me find justice. Already feeling so used of her, I noticed straight away she left
“Sam?” Taybor called, with the screen door clashing behind him.
“Shut up!” I hissed as I hastily ran to him, “Remember, we are trying to be discrete.” Taybor denied the glare I gave him, as I shoved the shotgun into his hands.
“I’m sorry,” he apologised with deep regret.
“It’s okay,” I insisted as I pulled him back to reality, “We just gotta focus.”
The Irony was strong as we both stared into each other’s eyes, forgetting our promise of friendship. Trembling, we turned away, realising we were risking heart break. I took one last look at the life that once was, took a deep breath and like a ghost, I shut the screen door after Taybor.
The Clan was brawny, more powerful than anything the town could defy against. Not even our distress calls were being answered from beyond the town’s limits. Of course, we did not know who they were or what they wanted. Our gang named them the Clan, because they dressed all the same, looked all the same and they brought terror to our humble town. I, however, was convinced they were aliens and yet Taybor and Lulu thought I was just too imaginative for such a serious matter.
Lulu.
I had almost forgotten the emptiness in my wish of her existence.
We made our way quite slowly down the deserted main street of Devindale, its silence was broken by the occasional gunshot. My heart was rapidly beating through my chest, like a drummer boy making his last beat. I looked over at Taybor across the road from me, crouching on the ground like a soldier, gripping his shot gun. His eyes immediately widened signally danger.
I froze in fear and felt my breath seize the only comforting thought I had.
“The maggots are starting to squirm,” screeched a walkie talkie from the other side on the car I was hiding behind. A infinite cold giggle grew closer. I peered under the engine, aware of the bloodied bare feet dragging along the ground. I could not understand why a person from the Clan would not wear shoes. Crawling roughly on my stomach, I went underneath the car, managing to keep the sound of movement to a minimum. I didn’t remove my stare from the man’s wounded feet.
Taybor’s lips silently told me to run for it but it was too late, I was stuck under the car. Taybor came to his knees, curious at my sudden gutlessness. I kept hearing a distant noise that seemed to make me shudder, something about this wasn’t right. I jolted as my eyes met with Hayley’s. She was screaming at me, “RUN!” and yet, she was soundless.
As I held my breath and wished for an escape I threw myself for the man’s ankles and reefed them under the car. His body plummeted to the bitumen and the sudden surprise husked through his shriek.
“What the hell?!” He baffled angrily as he fumbled for his rifle. He kicked hard as I tried to pin him down; the force smacked my head against the cars exhaust.
“Don’t move!!” Taybor commanded from above the man with his shotgun, pressing it hard on his scuffed cheek. The cold black eyes of the man soullessly pieced through Taybor’s heart, spitting at his feet with a yellow smile. Without a thought, Taybor struck the man with a hateful force which knocked the man out.
“C’mon, we gotta take his clothes,” he said.
“You’re joking, right?”
“No, now hurry up!”
I pulled myself from underneath the car, taking the man’s rifle and putting it over my shoulder. I wasn’t quite sure what Taybor was planning to do, but instead of questioning, I just did it.
* * *
My body tossed and turned as I slumbered into the memories of terror and Hayley’s voice calling to me from her body’s resting place. I jolted and awoke to the flickering of the gas lamp. My blurred eyes came to show the clam member tied up tightly on the barber’s chair, weakly struggling.
“Ready, Sam?” Taybor whispered as his hand gently touched my forehead. I peered up to him, with an obvious love.
“It’s now or never,” I replied, “But what about him?” I asked as I looked back over to the scum of the man
“It’ll be a long time before anyone finds him,” he smirked as he helped me up from the ground.
We tried to dress the same as the clan by stealing some of the black clothes from Target. Even though there was no one around, I still felt horrible doing it. Of course we got dressed in the store and made our way out of the sliding doors. We definatley looked and felt the part. We planned to sneak in as members of the clan and free our friends.
“All units back to base” screeched the walkie talkie which we took from the man, “I repeat: All units back to base”. Taybor and I rushed from the footpath, covered in smashed glass on to the road and ran towards the only thing that looked like it had some sort of life. The old hospital perched up on the highest soil hill of Devindale. Taybor held my hand as we ran; we both didn’t want to let go of the reassuring notion that was keeping us alive.
We had only been walking for a couple of minutes when we managed to hitch a ride from a jeep driving my Clan members. They did not take a second look at us, so we acted like we knew what was going on and joined them in the crowded car.
“Greetings friends,” they chorused as we sat down, their eyes curiously happy and widened with a psychotic adaptation of love.
“Greetings,” we replied, both unsure of the expression we were to give them. They must have heard my heart beat through my chest the whole while we were confined. I gripped Taybor’s hand and kept it close and made sure my weapons were easy to get to. It was not long awaiting the hospital that we started noticing everyone’s behaviour, almost as if they had been programmed or brainwashed. They walked in step and everyone smiled as they greeted each other with a star of joylessness. I smirked at Taybor with a look that told him that I was right, and that they were aliens. Glaring at me to take this seriously, he opened the door and got out of the still vehicle. I followed unwillingly.
“Just remain calm,” he whispered through his shirt.
Like the others, we smiled and greeted as we made our way through the main entrance. Suddenly our eyes became engrossed on the sight of all the people we loved bowing down and chorusing in prayers. I think we stopped for a moment; just to make sure what we saw was real. The man standing before them was so white and pure, that we rubbed our eyes to believe it. What the hell was happening? We questioned ourselves through and through.
To be continued…
