Naomi The strange girl let out a banshee scream, and we all lifted our hands to our ears. The sound was beyond deafening, that even with our ears covered, it resonated like a high-pitch whistle blown right beside our ears. My vision started to go white, and I let out a scream that even I could not hear. *********** “Dammit Quinn, pick up!” “Sorry, the number that you’ve just dialed-.” The pre-recorded message repeated for the tenth time. I pulled the phone away from my ear and fiercely jabbed the “End Call” button on my iPhone. I let the phone slip out of my hands as I fell to the ground sobbing uncontrollably. Josh lightly placed his hand on my shoulder. “Nothing?” I ignored him. “Nay…” “Just go away okay?” I shoved his hand aside. “Hey… I love her too okay! So stop it!” Josh grabbed my wrist. “But she’s not your family! I’ve lost the both of them, and I don’t even know what happened to Quinn, dammit! It’s not the same!” I stood up and twisted my arm out of his grip. “It’s not like they are your real siblings either.” He stood up and looked me straight in the eyes. Hot tears started to well up. “Don’t you dare Josh! Don’t you dare!” I said through gritted teeth. “Don’t dare what? Remind you that you’re an orphan with no parents?! Or that you are adopted and really have no one?!” I shook my head. “I can’t believe you said that. You know, I’m glad we’re having this… talk. All that pretense! It proves that I was right to hate you. I can’t believe Jodiiee couldn’t see this!” I gestured his whole body, and walked over to pick up my phone. “Perhaps love truly is blind.” I took a deep breath and nodded my head. Josh was silent. I started walking in a random direction. Josh sat down and watched me leave. “Where do you think you’re going?” “To hell maybe.” I mumbled, not looking back. *********** The road we were on had uneven bumps, and my bum was numb from the ride. I did however manage to catch some sleep, through the tears. The vehicle slowed to a stop and I sat up to see where we were. “We will be resting here for the night.” A gruff man said in a heavily accented voice and unlocked the back of the truck and let me out. “Thanks Raggar.” I jumped off the truck. “Danzo, has caught some duck, so we will have having that for the meal.” I nodded. The three of us were soon digging our fingers into a freshly caught and roasted duck. “Tell me again Naomi, how did someone like you end up in the middle of a hunting park in Kenya?” “You wouldn’t believe me. I was rock climbing with family… friends…” I said thinking back to what Josh had said. “Then strange things started happening, and I sort of blacked out, and when I woke up, some of them were missing, and I was… alone.” “And there was this woman?” the dark spiky haired boy called Danzo asked. I nodded. “And she was strange. Chanting and screaming…It was…warped.” “Uitheemse” Raggar peeled some meat off the bone. “What?” “Uitheemse,” Danzo pointed out, “It’s what they call Aliens, beings that are not of this earth.” “You believe her to be an alien?” I turned to Raggar. He just nodded silently. I looked down at my piece of meat, and felt all hope give way to despair. To cheer myself up, I changed the topic. “So Danzo, you’re not African are you?” Danzo laughed. “Not by ancestry, by adoption more like.” I forced a smile, his words brought what Josh had said back to mind. “What will you do now?” “I’ll find them…” I replied unconvincingly.
Naomi I was pretty sure that this was some sort of random coincidence. Aliens? Seriously? And here I was thinking that Science Fiction Fanatics wearing Jedi suits at Star Wars conventions were nuts. But this was a little hard not to believe. Raggar was serious. He honestly believed that the strange girl and Apoc were aliens, and who was I to fight the wise old African man? I pressed my thumb on the ‘Home’ button on my phone. My wallpaper flashed onto the screen – it was the family photo we took at Christmas. Epic was wearing reindeer ears and a Santa suit, his cheeks puffed up and eyes crossed. Quinn was on his back, her arms around his neck, her long brown hair tied back into a chignon and her big eyes peeping through her dark rimmed geek glasses. Epic had his arms around Jodiiee and my shoulders, and the two of us had on matching pixie costumes in the ‘ri-donk-ulous’ red and green colours. We were one crazy family, doing the strangest and weirdest things. But we always had each other’s back. I smiled through my tears and ran my finger along each of their faces, until the light went off, as if telling me they were gone, and these were just forgotten memories. “The Witch Doctor.” Raggar said out of the blue. “Huh?” I wiped off my tears and looked at him. “He can help you find your family.” “How’s a witch doctor going to-“ “I’m sure he will be able to find your family. We’ll bring you to him when light hits the sky.” “He’s referring to an alchemist.” Danzo clarified. “Everyone calls him the Witch Doctor because of his red hair and red trench coat.” “What’s he doing in Africa?” “No one knows, but some say he’s a monster. We believe he would be able to help you.” I took a deep breath. “Thank you Danzo and Raggar, I’d really appreciate that.” Inside, I was scared – really, really scared. **************** We had been on the road for 4 days since then. I started to smell after awhile, and Raggar brought me to a small town to pick up some necessities. It was brilliant. Rows after rows of shops and stalls filled the streets, and the noise and vibrancy distracted me from the predicament I was in. “We have 3 hours. After that, the dark will come. We will stay here tonight.” Raggar said. “Ra, I’ll go with her.” Danzo offered. Raggar just nodded. “Be at the sentrum by 4. We don’t want to cause trouble with the rebels. “Ja pa” Danzo agreed. We roamed the streets and Danzo explained to me the life of the African people as I picked up a few items I felt I needed – soap, toothbrush, clothes. All the time resisting the temptation to buy accessories and gorgeous colourful hats and clothing. I paid for my items and thanked the shopkeeper for the extras. Just as I stepped out of the shop, a tall man rammed into me causing me to fall back through the doorway. “Hey watch it!” I cried out. “No, You have to apologize.” He stared down at me without any pity. The tall man wore a cape and a hood covered his head – all I could see was the bridge of his nose sticking into the light. “What?” Just then, I caught a glimpse of a sword and a pair of pistols under a long red trench coat, under the cape. Following my suspicions, I gazed up to his face – a few strands of red hair stuck out from his hood. “You’re the Witch Doctor?” I said aloud. A silence ensued in the marketplace. “Shoot.” He mumbled to himself glancing to his sides. “You are coming with me.” He grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet and into the dense marketplace. “What? Hey! Danzo! Help!” I turned to look, but he was no where to be found. “Be silent. I won’t harm you.” The witch doctor said in a hushed tone.
BELLA Fuck she left us here. I ran with my supersonic sperm into where she had gone. "grrrrrrrr-" I growled at the witch doctor eying him suspiciously. "we have to get out of here" he cut me off. "well isn't it nice to see u witch doctor or as I should know vampire." "get awayssssssss" he said. "let her go and we shall leave" I took out the lazergun pointing at him. "fine I ssssssshall find her parents though" growled witchie hehe.
A few streets down, the town square was empty, with only birds for patrons – birds, and an old African man with a cigarette between his lips. He reached up to light the stick with a match. The tip of it glowed a soft amber as he sucked in and smoke flowed out from his mouth in rings that floated to the sky. “It is time.” He mumbled in Afrikaans, and the silence in the square seemed to agree with him. A young man with spiked hair and tan skin came running, breaking the silence. “Ra!” he yelled. “Ra! The Alchemist has got her!” The old man coughed and rubbed out his cigarette. “Ah… You worry too much Danzo. Why are you here? We you not supposed to watch over her?” he said in a string of Afrikaans. “Go, she needs your help, and so does he.” He finished in English. “B-but the Alchemist…” the young man stuttered. “He’s an old friend of mine. Speak my name, and all will be fine.” The old man smiled. “Go, your destiny awaits you Danzo…” Still unsure, the young man nodded nervously and ran back in the direction from which he came. ***************************** Naomi The strange girl appeared like a flash right in front of us. She growled. I backed up into the Witch Doctor (Alchemist), and he held me firmly by the shoulder. “We have to get out of here.” He said aloud. I wanted to scream at her. To ask her where Jodiiee and Epic were, but no words came. “Well, isn’t it nice to see you Witch Doctor… or as I should know, Vampire.” ‘Vampire?!’ I thought in my head. ‘This is just getting freakier…and freakier.” “Get Awaysssssss” the Alchemist started hissing. “Don’t worry; I’m not really a vampire. Trust me.” His voice rang out in my head. I looked up at him, and his eyes flickered toward me for a split second, as if saying “It’s me.” “Let her go and we shall leave” The strange girl whipped out her gun in one quick motion and pointed it at him. “Fine. I shall find her parents though” the Alchemist declared, dragging his ‘S’s as he spoke. ‘What? I don’t have parents!’ I thought in my head. ‘I know,’ he replied again in my head. ‘I’m just playing along.’ The strange girl fires two shots. PEEW! PEEW! The Alchemist quickly drapes his cloak over me and draws his sword, reflecting the laser. “We must go now.” He whispers. “Hang on tight.” I cling onto him and he grabs the right hand side of his cloak and waves it to cover my vision. ***************************** A few minutes passed. The cloak finally fell off and I found myself in a dimly lit aquarium. The gentle hum from the tank filters calmed my nerves, and the blue light revealed the pretty colours of the wildlife living on the opposite side of the glass. I walked to one of the glass panels and observed the fish, completely oblivious to my surroundings. “Pretty aren’t they?” the voice startled me and I spun around. “My name is Fletch. You can call me as such.” I quietly nodded in reply. He became stern and walked to the opposite tank to observe the sharks. “I know who you are.” He said. “I know why you are here.” I swallowed hard. “You do?” He nodded. “The girl you saw earlier, she’s not from here. She’s an Elme (pronounced Eeel-may), from the planet Elmesmereta.” “So…” “They are a dangerous people. Earth is their hunting ground.” “They kill people?” “No, they turn people into one of their own… the strong ones at least.” Silence. “Your siblings are probably with her people.” He continued. “Why? What will they do to them?” I could feel the anxiety rising up within me. “Tell me!” Fletch turned to look at me. “Let’s walk.” He gestured to the door at the end of the room. We walked in silence for awhile and soon ended up in a beautiful lush garden with birds singing and butterflies and squirrels. “How…?” I was in awe. “A good irrigation system and some brains.” He chuckled. “Sit Naomi.” He pointed to a white bench that appeared out of nowhere. “Every species needs some form of reproduction to survive.” Fletch waved his hand, and a huge colourful 3D hologram appeared before us, with animals and humans multiplying. “I am not of earth, as you may already know.” I silently nodded and he continued. “My people were a people of peace, but we were powerful.” Scenes of life on another planet appeared and as he spoke, live figures acted out his words. “The Elmes attacked, and declared a war on us. So we retaliated, and in a fit of rage, we destroyed almost their entire population. Their brilliant scientist survived, and built a technology that would turn people of other species into Elmes to repopulate Elmesmereta. They have been slowly feeding off earth’s people.” “Wait… so you’re saying that Jo and E might become those strange things?” Fletch nodded. “The strange girl you saw earlier used to be a human from earth.” I was finding it hard to digest the information. “Then… what about you?” “My parents fell in love, so I’m half of each – a crossbred, to put it in a coarser way.” “This can’t be happening.” I exclaimed in disbelief and ran off, not knowing how to escape and where to go, tears filling up my eyes. ***************************** Jodiiee’s eyes flew wide open. She could barely make out dark silhouettes from where she was. Her hands were tied behind her back, and a gag was in her mouth. She quickly scanned her surroundings and spotted Epic in the opposite cylinder, also tied up. He looked like an experiment specimen in a huge jar, and she figured she was in one too. The door to the right of the room slid open. And in walked the strange girl from before. Jodiiee tried to say something, but only a soft “Mmmm!” could be heard. The strange girl changed form, to reveal a tall woman with pale skin, and markings on her face. She looked really upset and annoyed. She flung her hair and shouted a few words at Apoc. The only words Jodiiee could make out were, "Stupid Witch!" and "I would have caught her." 'Oh God. Let Nay be alright' Jodiiee silently prayed. Just then, the strange girl / alien turned to look at Jodiiee, her eyes glowing with fury.