3

“We need to go,” I said to Amelia and the others, grabbing her by the arm as we walked out of the courtyard. Seth, Freddie, and Ryan followed after us. Soon, the other students realized that more people were leaving the cafeteria. Trying to flee. Trying to get back home. Trying to get a good look at the floating motherships from orbit.

“What about Jason?” Amelia asked worriedly. “He’s on his way. What if we miss him?”

“We’ll meet by the intersection by Heritage. Text him to keep the car running. Do not park by the sidewalk, or we will get stuck on campus.” I hoped Jason would find us. USC campus was massive, with over two hundred and thirty acres of space (almost six blocks across).

"Rachel's driving. It's her truck."

"Oh, good. If the people behind them make a fuss, Rachel will scare them off."

“Okay.” Amelia grabbed her phone and started typing.

“Are you guys leaving?” Seth asked.

I nodded. “It might be safer if I go to my apartment and hunker down until I receive orders from my unit. It might be good if you three return to your dorms.”

“I doubt anyone’s gonna be doing that.” Ryan cocked his head to the gathering crowd. “Almost everyone’s out on the streets!”

"Do you guys have a car?"

"Freddie has, but it's in the student parking garage across campus. The opposite direction."

"If you want to leave the city, you might as well start packing while in the dorms."

Seth and Ryan shared a worried glance.

Amelia heaved a sigh after she sent Jason a message. “This is fucking crazy. We’re under attack. Have you seen those bodies on TV?”

“Kinda hard not to,” Seth muttered.

And hard to forget. It was plastered in my mind. For the first time, Freddie was quiet. He had left his sandwich in the cafeteria, but his eyes were trained on the blue skies, searching for the mothership. So far, none was in orbit above LA.

The mood had changed drastically across the courtyard. Humanity just entered its first interstellar war! And we were going to staggeringly lose. Everyone was rushing off to somewhere, but many stayed put, their eyes glued to their phones, gaping and shaking their heads in disbelief. I gripped tightly on my phone, trying to call my dad again, but the same robotic female voice spoke from the other line, telling me the line was still busy. Fuck you, lady! I wanted to scream. I tried texting him instead, but even that took a few tries to get through. I hoped they were safe.

One freshman kid rushed underneath the student center’s sky bridge and onto the courtyard. I couldn’t forget this stupid grin on his face, as if something exciting had finally happened in his life. He lit up like a child and shouted, “I see it! I see it! We’ll get a good view if we all go near Howard!” Then, he ran away, dragging his friends with him. A pause, then, people ran after him, but some stayed behind. I could tell from their faces that they were frightened.

“Jason’s coming from that direction,” Amelia said.

“Let him know to park near Lazzaro then. Not a lot of people used that road.”

“There might be traffic.”

“It’s LA. There's traffic all over. We can’t do anything about that.”

“We’ll follow you,” Ryan said. “Our dorm’s that way, too.”

We all walked a block toward the freshman dormitories, following the large crowd heading in the same direction. On the way, I glimpsed the colossal structure floating in orbit about a quarter of the moon’s size. People pointed, shocked and bewildered, debating whether to continue and see its entirety. Still, more buildings blocked a good view of the mothership, and my curiosity got the better of me. I followed the crowd. I should have told myself to get the fuck out of there the moment I saw it.

Hundreds of students flooded Howard Jones Field, the two adjacent football fields next to the recreation center, facing the same direction. Most had their phones out, filming the hovering inverted pyramid beyond the Hollywood Hills. The structure was still several miles out in the atmosphere, but it looked like it was touching down in LA. I pictured all of LA halting at a standstill for the first time ever, necks craning up to the sky, gawking at the magnificent and terrifying structure. With how big the damned thing was, everyone along the western Pacific states could see it!

If that thing falls, will it be like the dinosaurs? A horrible thought suddenly materialized, and I quickly shook them away.

A massive traffic jam blocked three adjacent streets near Howard, but even the drivers and their passengers abandoned their vehicles, peering at the colossal object. Families got their kids sitting on their shoulders so that they could get a good look at the approaching mothership. Cops blew their whistles, ordering the bystanders to keep going and stop gawking. But they, too, couldn’t help but look up and behold its sight. Some commuters had resorted to arguing with each other, urging them to get back into their vehicles so they could move and get the fuck out of the city while they still had the chance. I wished they should have listened.

There’s no way Jason could make it to us with the roads grid-locked like this. Even Seth, Freddie, and Ryan walked into the field instead of their dorms, curious about what was happening. They chatted about what the aliens were doing on Earth, and though they already saw one of their responses (attacking our cities), they still threw theories that because the mothership looked different than the crystal ships, it must be for something else. Ryan thought it would turn us into goop and sucked us up into space. Amelia later alerted us that the motherships had not done anything to other major cities. It seemed only the crystal ships were raining havoc and killing people.

Freddie followed quietly. Though I didn’t know him for a long time, he mentioned a while ago that he was from New York and had family in the city. I could only imagine what he must be feeling. He kept dialing his phone, trying to get a hold of his parents. Still, no answer. The lines were flooded with outgoing calls. I still couldn’t get a hold of my dad.

“Look! We can see it now!” Seth shouted.

Amelia whistled. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

“It looks nothing like on TV,” Ryan said. “Bigger, even.”

“Guys, I don’t like this. Maybe we should head back to the dorms like Tony said,” Seth tugged at Ryan’s elbow, but Ryan gently shook him away.

“This is incredible, Seth,” Ryan said excitedly. A sliver of awe crawled in. “Why do you want to miss this?”

“Oh, I don’t know because they killed a fucking ton of people in Beijing, Ryan! Didn't you watch the news?”

"Jesus. There's no need to yell at me."

I couldn’t even believe it myself. It was as if another force had taken control of my body, wading through the crowd to get a closer look. I could only stare as if a siren’s song pulled me closer to its orbit. It was an intoxicating feeling that rippled through the crowd, a joint awe and fear, a held breath here and there, and the vague understanding that our lives were forever changed by this shared experience—a sensation that you were not alone. Without knowing, you were being watched your entire life.

I desperately wanted to flee. To run as far away from here. Images from New York, Beijing, and the other affected cities flashed before me. The people huddled around as debris fell upon them. The soldiers clamored out of the rubble. Do I want to face a similar fate? But I couldn’t control my body. All I could do was watch the mothership.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The entire campus was deathly quiet, a chilling silence you’d hear when you’re in church, gazing above these colossal structures as if looking at the cross on the altar. Everything we knew from this moment about our universe had just been obliterated. Deep down, we all felt it.

Amelia rested her hand on my lower arm. “You’re trembling.”

I didn’t realize I was. I looked down at my hands as if they weren’t part of my body, watching my fingers quiver. I blamed adrenaline. “Oh,” was all I could mutter.

“Yeh, me too,” she whispered as if speaking out loud would break the crowd’s silent trance.

“Look! Up there!” The same freshman that led us here pointed at the colossus, disrupting our daze. Gasps resonated across the field.

It didn’t make a sound when strange bright lights came off its surface like hundreds of jumping fleas. No shockwave or an air burst followed, leaving no contrails as millions watched the slowest shooting stars enter our atmosphere, diving in different directions. These giant twinkling lights of faint bluish-white disappeared behind the Hollywood Hills, toward the other parts of the city, but the last three were headed for campus. They might be slow in the distance, but they moved like a barreling train when they got closer.

Then, I heard the humming noise like a thousand crickets swarming all over my ears, getting louder and higher in pitch. People hunched over, covering their ears, mouths open. The sound became unbearable as the lights got closer, pulsing against my eardrums. I covered my ears and opened my mouth, working on my lower jaw to get rid of that awkward feeling as if I had climbed up a mountain too quickly. I took a step away from the approaching light. Get away from it.

“What the hell is that?” Seth screamed over the noise.

“Whatever it is, let’s get the fuck out of here!” Freddie exclaimed.

The lone light headed for the soccer field.

I turned around and shouted over the crowd, “Get off the field!” I pushed Seth, Ryan, and Freddie forward, gesturing to the rec building. “Get these people off the field now!”

I motioned for the others to head for the nearby building, where dozens of people had already crowded the entrance. Most of them stared, dumbfounded, at our combat uniforms before they acted, but soon the crowd dispersed in a wild panic. Something must have triggered in their brains that when the man wearing a military uniform told you to run, you fucking run. I grabbed Amelia and ran for cover.

Hurricane-like winds picked up and almost blew me off balance, and a woman beside me got knocked back by a strong gust. I yanked her back to her feet, and she continued running. The ball of light was dangerously close by now, and I was afraid it would sear a burning hole through my jacket and back. But no steaming heat came, though the air around the field grew awfully chilly.

I didn’t make it to the crowded entryway, but the sound stopped abruptly, the winds died down, and the light quickly faded. Amelia and I managed to get behind a thick pillar. Seth, Ryan, and Freddie were behind us, panting.

“Is it over?” Amelia asked.

“What the fuck was that?” Ryan cried out, breathing hard behind me.

Seth and Freddie checked if their ears were bleeding. I did as well.

“Is—is something supposed to happen?” Seth asked uneasily.

“I don’t know,” I said. Fuck it. I risked a peek, and so did the others.

The light had stopped several feet above Howard but gently lowered itself toward the ground. It was spherical and had a marbled gaseous surface, swirling in streaks of blue and white. I was transfixed from where I stood, gazing at an object that had possibly traveled billions of miles just to get here. It was around fifteen feet in diameter, hovering five inches off the frosted grass. Frost? When summer’s near? It reminded me of a miniaturized sun, only this one didn’t burn off my retinas, and there was no distinct burning smell. Everyone stood still and waited for its next move, but nothing happened.

Ryan nudged me. “You think one of them is inside that thing?”

“Hell of a ride to take,” I said. I told myself not to get near it. Ever. But I had my doubts if kids my age would do the wisest thing: Get the fuck out.

Predictably, dozens of camera clicks reverberated across the field, followed by a wake of nervous laughter and a few cheers from the crowd. Freddie managed to bark a laugh and made a joke about how everyone ran like headless chickens. I even pulled out my phone and took some pictures, planning to post these on my profile just like billions of others. My adrenaline was through the roof, but a new thought overtook me; I pictured my family over dinner, telling them I was this close to the aliens. Hell, I am probably one of several people to be just a mere hundred feet away from them. These aliens killed many people in five cities, and here we were, being total idiot college kids drawn to the light like moths to a flame.

Pretty lights, pretty lights.

The same excited freshman stepped out of the crowd from my right, holding a selfie stick, and marched confidently toward the sphere. The crowd went quiet, enthralled, like scientists viewing a lab rat’s tricks. Turning his back, the freshman took a pose fifteen feet away from it and snapped a picture. No doubt it was going to go viral across campus. “Hanging out with my Alien Buddies,” it would be titled. His stupid friends egged him on to get closer, but many others shouted for him to get away from the sphere. The freshman took another step closer to his Darwin Award. These didn’t look like the lights from the aliens over New York. It didn’t have the same emerald and violet hue, but they might still be dangerous.

“The balls on that guy,” Amelia hissed. “He’s gonna get hurt if he gets near that thing.”

“Shit.” I stepped forward. “Hey, kid! I don’t think you should go near—”

The ball flashed a split-second blinding white light. I had to cover my eyes against the abrupt flare, but as they adjusted, the freshman was gone.

“Rory?!” His friends shouted.

Another flash, and then the ball spat someone out. The freshman staggered back, his body glistening from a yellowish jelly-like substance. My breath caught up in my throat as I stared at the blood. A considerable chunk of his head was missing. He toppled over to the side, his face planted to the ground, and that awful hole at the back of his head open for everyone to see.

Screams. Another flash. Then another and another. Bodies were dragged into the sphere and spat back out onto a pile on top of the freshman. They looked like explosions, but there was no sound after it. I counted at least two dozen, twelve seconds apart, a rhythm of throbbing lights blinding the field. I hid behind the pillar by the entryway, letting my eyes adjust while I raised my hands to cover my periphery.

“It’s killing people!” Amelia shut her eyes and dared not open them.

I risked another peek. It took three or four people at a time, seemingly at random. Thirty bodies formed a mound to the sphere’s right; the back of their heads looked like something popped out. Several students tried to run away, but many stayed huddled on the ground, curled up and gripping their knees, eyes tightly shut. They were too close to the light, but then I noticed it ignored more than half of them.

It wasn’t random. The light was choosing its targets!

I wasn’t going to wait if I was next.

“We can’t stay here!” I told Amelia and the others. With my back against the light, I saw a gap through the crowd. “Follow me!”

I darted toward the entrance but didn’t make it two steps out of the pillar when another flash hit and gravity swelled beneath me. The air underneath gave way, and I landed hard on the cement. Amelia cried out. A firm tug on my lower legs and I was dragged forcefully, my chest, stomach, and knees scraping over the pavement and then across the muddy grass. Freddie and Ryan lunged forward, trying to catch my outstretched arms, but the light pulled me in too fast. I tried to hold on to something but couldn’t find any, just clumps of grass and dirt along the way. Suddenly, I was dragged next to the same woman I helped moments ago, still balled on the grass, arms over her head, eyes forced shut. I grabbed her legs, hoping it was enough leverage to stop my advance toward the killing light.

“Let go of me!” She screamed, but her shoes connected to my jaw before I could shout for help.

“No! Please, I—!” I lost my grip on her legs, sliding faster now toward the sphere.

The lights seized flashing; The others watched me in terror, Amelia screaming, her hands outstretched as she tried to run after me.

Please, God, don’t make me die like this.

A loud hiss, and suddenly I was lifted off the ground, falling—it felt like falling—toward the light. Amelia’s fingers briefly grasped mine before I was violently yanked away from her reach.

Then…a warm embrace.

I was submerged in a substance I could not comprehend, plunged between the thickness of honey and water, yet translucent enough, giving me a clear view of the world outside, of the soccer field, of people scrambling to escape, of Amelia and Seth shouting after me. It sounded like I was underwater, shocked that I could even breathe.

Then, a whirring pop, and from above, a machine detached, propped at the sphere’s ceiling. Out of it dangled six metallic tendrils, each ending with thick grapple claws. The largest snatched my back and wrapped its claws around my torso while the others held my wrists and ankles. The smallest one wreathed behind me and grabbed the back of my skull. I tried to scream, but no sound came out.

A sharp jab from behind my head and the pain almost brought me to blacking out, though it would have been kind if it had. Something wiggled its way in, and a strong smell of citrus, smoking vegetable oil, and rotten eggs hit me. It felt like a thousand ants crawling all over my head, giving me the urge to scratch them as they pierced their tiny, poisonous bites from the inside. Then, it was gone, followed only by dread and confusion, wondering where I was or how long I had been staring at the people gathered around the field—around me—with a perpetual, painless throbbing at the base of my skull.

I shouldn’t feel calm. I should pull this thing out of me, but the serenity that washed over my body was addicting. I couldn’t bring myself to part from it.

It was welcoming.

Down…

And down…

And down I went.

“What is your name?” A voice asked. It was soothing in the gloom.

Pain. I wanted nothing to do with it. I tried to get out.

But did I hear it right? Did the alien just speak plain English? What the hell? I didn’t see anyone inside the sphere except for me. Were there others? As I saw earlier, I thought the sphere was big enough to swallow three grown men. Yet, I was alone.

“What is your name?” It asked again.

Yes, I heard it correctly. It was definitely English. I didn’t know why, but I got the strong urge to answer. “Tony Segerstrom,” I said, but I couldn’t speak. I didn’t want to swallow whatever content swirled inside the sphere. I looked over the mounds of bodies to the side. And then to the fleeing masses around it. Please. Do what you will, but let them go. Could I even beg these aliens? Would they listen to me?

There was a brief pause before the voice came back again. “You have come and been judged.”

Let them go. I wanted to say. Let them all go, please.

And I sank deeper into the sphere, entirely in its mercy.

Down…

And down…

And down I went.