1 Chapter 1

Usually these kinds of tales start on a dark and stormy night. It just so happens that THIS story starts on a warm night on a beach under the full moon. A young couple, having slipped away from their respective homes, had deemed a midnight stroll on the beach would be romantic, or at least the young man had agreed to go along without complaining because he hoped to earn some points with the pretty girl he wholeheartedly believed was the love of his life.

They had just sat down to watch the full moon as it started setting over the water, not even having considered the near total darkness that would follow their only light-source disappearing over the horizon, when there was a loud crack followed by the sound of something or someone impacting the soft sand, just over the next dune.

"What the hell was that?" the young man exclaimed as his train of thought was interrupted, having been in the process of inching in for the kiss he was surely going to receive for accompanying her.

"I don't know! Let's just go, okay?" the young lady asked her boyfriend, having jumped to her feet, suddenly afraid. "It sounded like a gunshot! We should get out of here!"

"Nah, that was no gun, probably some kids throwing fire-crackers. Relax, I'll go check it out quick, okay?" as young men the world over can attest, hormones would not allow him to lose face, or the chance to get closer to this girl. Common sense notwithstanding.

She tried to plead with him softly, trying to keep him quiet, trying to get him to come back, but his mind was made and he smiled at her reassuringly, not even realizing that she was worried for her own safety, not just his.

He crept up the slope and peered over the edge, seeing nothing but a bit of what looked like black cloth, maybe a black trash bag, moving softly in the slight breeze on the other side of the dune. He turned to call back to her to tell her it was nothing when there was another CRACK! and a flash of light from right above drew his attention. About ten feet above the dune he was currently standing on appeared, out of thin air, something... And whatever it was, was going to fall right on top of him!

The suddenness of the situation and the loud sound seemed to have triggered his fight-or-flight response and he dived to avoid whatever was about to hit him. Having only a split second, he didn't have a choice in which direction to jump, so he dove in the direction he was originally facing and went over the dune and started tumbling down the other side.

In the meanwhile the girl was scared out of her mind having seen and heard the second flash and her boyfriend's exclamation of surprise as he dove out of her sight. Having no idea what was going on, but not wanting to draw attention to herself, she started shivering as her instincts told her to run but her mind told her to go to her boyfriends' side to see if he's okay. As a result she stood dead still, not daring to move closer, but not wanting to leave.

On top of the dune, where the object had landed, there was the sound of a groan, and then there was movement. "What the HELL did you do, Tom?!" was heard.

"Tom? Who are you talking to? I should ask you that!" the young man said coming to his feet having rolled almost all the way down the dune after his hasty escape. "You almost landed on top of me! Where the hell did you come from anyway?!"

The figure on top of the dune had just started getting up, when the young man's words registered with him and he froze, seeming shocked to see anyone besides himself in the area.

As quickly as he froze, he reacted, running down the dune to the young man, a light suddenly appearing in his hand. "Who are you? Are you a survivor? We have to get you someplace safe! It isn't safe for anyone else outside!" The person seemed to rant as he reached the young man, looking around as if looking for someplace to put him.

The young man took a couple of steps back, trying to get away from the obviously crazy person advancing on him, when he tripped over something on the ground. The crazy man in front of him looked down and, with the light in his hand, the young man recognized the object he had thought was just a black bag as a body covered in a cloak of some kind!

The crazy person looked up and seemed to smell the air and for the first time seemed to take in his surroundings. "Where are we, kid?" he asked.

The young man, not having ever seen a body before and not wanting to anger this person, who may or may not have killed someone, decided to answer without getting this person angry. "Malibu?" he answered, not sure if the man wanted to know what state he was in.

"America? Wasn't the California coast drowned?"

"Drowned? Listen, dude, I don't know what you're on, but I'm gonna go home now, okay?" he said slowly and with what he thought was a calming tone.

"Home? What is going on?!"

"Johnny! Help!" the sound of his girl screaming over the dune set his heart to racing.

"Lizzy…" the now identified Johnny whispered in a panic, suddenly running up the sand hill like there was no tomorrow, not realizing the crazy man was right next to him, the light disappearing from his hand, as he tried to focus on the sound of his girl screaming and crying.

As he crested the hill, he saw what looked like twenty camouflaged men with rifles and flashlights surrounding his girl. They were in full combat gear and were telling her to get on the ground.

He ran to his girl, suddenly not caring for his own safely. As he got closer, one of the men spotted him with their light and shot a warning round into the sand by his feet. "Get on the ground!" He fell to his knees and held his hands up, not knowing what to do or think, as two of the men ran up to him.

He didn't see the source, but suddenly there was a bunch of red lights flashing into the soldiers and they started falling to the ground in groups. There was a cry of alarm and a couple of rounds fired, flying over his head as he fell to the ground and covered his head instinctively.

And then it went dark.

"Enervate." He woke up in his bed, his heart racing but not remembering why. When his heart rate calmed down he looked at his phone to check the time. 2:13AM. He saw he had a message from Lizzie.

"Were we supposed to meet tonight?" it read. It was just sent a minute ago. Maybe that's what woke him…

"Not that I remember… Did I forget something?" he sent not remembering that he had plans with her, but never one to give up an opportunity to chat with her.

"No, I just had this weird feeling we were supposed to meet." she replied.

"You just finished one of those horror books of yours and you're just looking for someone to talk to, aren't you?" he sent.

"No! I just woke up and my heart was racing and I don't know why. I thought I had forgotten something." she sent.

"Want me to sneak over to your place? I could come keep you company? Wink, wink, nudge,

nudge…" he joked.

"No, we'll see each other tomorrow. Night Johnny." she sent.

"Night Lizzy. Sleep tight." he ended the conversation. Putting his phone down, he just lay there with a smile on his face.

Outside his house a man was walking away after dropping the kids off and having removed their traumatizing memories.