Chapter 1: The Abduction.

It was night outside, the street lights buzzing overhead, my phone said 2:37 AM. I was sitting in the back alley behind my local corner store. I snuck out to hang with this girl from 5th-period science; she told me to be here at three. Of course, being early couldn't hurt, and if my parents found out, they would kill me. Caitlyn Prine, man, she was gorgeous. She had the deepest green in her eyes, and the way she looked at me was piercing but still vulnerable; she had long brown hair to her lower back. When I saw her for the first time, I think my heart nearly lept out of my chest. 

We have been talking for a few months now, and I hoped tonight would be our first kiss. I was so nervous; I felt like I could have a heart attack in this alley. I was watching something on my phone when I saw a shadow start to creep along the back alley wall. Could that be Caitlyn, I thought. As the shadow grew taller and taller, I was getting a little creeped out. The long, dark figure along the wall rose and grew when suddenly I felt a hand grab my shoulder out of nowhere; simultaneously, the shadow disappeared.

 I jumped so high I could have grabbed the store roof, but when I turned, I saw her; the street light lit her beautiful face up. I couldn't help but stare. I felt so lucky being here with her right now; every guy in school was head over heels in love with her, including me. Now, every guy is jealous because they see me with her; the glares I get now, ha, if only I could see their faces. He. Hey. Caity. Even her nickname was terrific; you made it. Of course, I made it, dork, she said, not breaking eye contact. You have been standing here awhile; I've been watching you for a few minutes. Thought I would take my chance to scare you, she laughed menacingly, well it worked. I mean, what the hell? That could have been anybody, don't do that again.

 She laughed again, cackling at my dumb face, being scared. Good job on the shadow, as well. That was an excellent addition to making me shit my pants. Caity looked at me curiously; what shadow? I didn't make any shadows. The hairs on my neck stood up, and a chill went down my spine. I decided not to ruin our time together, so I thought against telling her more; nothing must have been my mind making stuff up. So how are you? I said; fine, Caity said, are you cold? I could give you my coat; we lived in St. Paul, Minnesota. It was late March, and the snow was starting to go away, maybe an inch or two on the ground around this time of year.

Caity said no thanks, and I just stared, amazed because she wore a short-sleeved shirt and a skirt, the women's school uniform. How are you not cold? It's 33 degrees outside; I don't know, I'm not a baby like you, she says, as I'm wearing the appropriate clothing for such a climate. A thick wool winter jacket, knee-high wool socks, and sweatpants under snowboarders pants. I have to stay warm I said and could feel the conversation breaking slightly; I thought to myself keep her interested in you; keep talking.

Man, science class today, huh? Yeah, I mean, it was science, haha, she said, confused, as if to tell me, Bro, come up with something better than that. You idiot, she doesn't want to talk about that. Talk about something else. And I just blurted out, Man, you are gorgeous. I felt my face get hot, like I could cook something on it. I gulped, not knowing what to expect; I faltered and started rambling on. Oh, I didn't mean to say that, sorry; I don't know what came over me... out of nowhere, Caity leaned in and kissed me; the sensation was like nothing I had ever felt before, the feeling of her soft lips against mine. The taste of vanilla on her breath was so sweet.

Hey, you kids, get out of here, and just as quick as she came in for the kiss, she pulled away. No, I thought, that perfect moment was ruined by whoever just yelled. Stop that and go home, or I'm calling the police. A woman in her mid-40s had long strands of hair every which way with wrinkles on her face. I could tell she was a smoker. The smell was overwhelming. She was standing at the alley's end. Did I stutter get lost now.

Come on, Reese, Caity said as we got up; I told her alright, we're leaving, and Caity said alright, damn, were going. Don't get your panties in a twist. That's also what I loved about caity. She took nothing from anyone and did what she wanted except stay here and get the cops called on us. So we left and started walking down the street. I decided to walk her home. She lived just a few minutes away.

 We started talking about our parents and school. I wondered if she wanted me to hold her hand or kiss her as she kissed me. While walking, her hand brushed against mine as if to tell me hey idiot, take my hand, so when our arms crossed again on the next swing, I grabbed her hand and made it mine. She smiled at me and said we had been walking for about 10 minutes; I thought you wouldn't do it. I felt my face get hot again, cherry red even.

We eventually made it to her front door. We both leaned in for another kiss, and I thought this night could never end, but sadly it had to. Just before I met those vanilla lips with mine, her front door swung open; it was her dad, pale-faced and pissed. He grabbed her by the arm, yanked her inside, and put his nose against mine; his breath wreaked of alcohol and cigarettes. I assumed he was scared about his daughter being out at this time, considering she was only 16, but don't you think he would have been looking for her instead of drinking. 

His mouth opened slowly. He grunted at me as if to say you are the reason she's out so late; he said in one breath, if you ever come near her again, that will be your last night; he turned and slammed the door. I started off the stairs, head hung low, realizing we were out super late. What would my mom think if she found out? What if Caity's dad told my mom? I thought, no, he was too drunk. He would forget by the morning.

 It was around 3:45 AM now and super dark outside. My thoughts got the better of me, saying run, it's dark, you're scared; I saw a homeless man walking down the middle of the street. He was really tweaking, grabbing, and clawing at himself as if something was crawling on his skin. I hid behind a dumpster, watching as he passed, hoping he wouldn't notice me. As he walked to my right, I crept slowly to my left to stay out of sight; again, my thoughts raged with the horrors that could happen.

Don't let him see you; he could turn at you and kill you. Be careful, flight or flight. Just remember you going to be flying; my brain was screaming and echoing at me. I told myself to shut up, and as I did, the brightest light I had ever seen beamed out of nowhere about 40 feet above the homeless man. I was petrified at what I saw.

A saucer-like object just hovering there, this light that came out of the bottom of the saucer started to extend downwards, and the hobo didn't even flinch. The light was bright; could my mind be deceiving me, I thought. Is it dark outside or daylight now? I couldn't tell but knew this object had caused all the light. The beam eventually reached the hobo. He started rising in the air, weightless; I couldn't believe my eyes. This. Is. Incredible. he kept rising and rising until he was gone, and it was pitch black again.

My eyes hurt adjusting to the warm streetlights above. I stepped out, and what was about ten feet in front of me, I could not comprehend even after the saucer. A tall gray-like figure stood towering over me; it had a massive head too heavy for its neck but seemed to hold the weight of the balloon-like head fine. Its eyes were enormous, dark, and mysterious as if it had so much to tell me or suck the soul out of my body instantly.

The creature started stepping towards me. I was in full panic, sweat dripping from my every pore, petrified I couldn't move a single muscle like I was mind controlled. This creature got closer and closer, taller and taller. It had three fingers with large bulbous tips, the feet were like hands, and the figure was very bony, like it could feel everything but somehow still seemed capable of whatever it was about to do to me. Finally, the creature's hand stretched out towards my forehead. It touched me so gently that I could barely feel the pressure of those large, bulbous fingers on my forehead. Then suddenly, darkness came over me.