Ella glanced down at her fitness watch, noting the digital display showed 11:38 PM. Despite everything, she found a small victory in her step counter, which had passed 17,000 steps for the day. She needed a silver lining after the day she had endured. The sight of the step count brought a brief, bittersweet smile to her lips.
'Ok, Ella, this is the last one, you have to go home,' she thought, trying to will herself to listen.
As she stood alone in the quiet night, her mind drifted back to the chaos of the morning. Like an old VHS recording, she fast-forwarded through the events of the morning in her head, trying to imagine a scenario in which a slight distraction or a decision to step outside might have saved her from all this agony.
Ella had been out walking around all day, searching for Gizmo, her missing puppy. She found herself afraid to return back home after getting out of the shower and realizing her front door was wide open and her puppy was nowhere to be found.
She pulled the last missing dog poster out of her backpack and taped it to a pole just outside her favorite barbecue joint, Smokey’s.
Her reflection caught her eye in the window of the restaurant.
'Wow, I look homeless,' she thought, noticing the mismatched outfit she threw on from her collection of dirty laundry.
She reached up, moving her unbrushed platinum blonde hair out of her eyes, 'get it together girl. You can do it.'
One last time Ella glanced at the picture of her puppy, sitting adorably with his puppy fuzz fully poofed out, nestled in a bed of yellow daisies in front of her parents' house in Naperville just a few months back.
Returning to Kansas City after her family moved to Naperville during her senior year of high school had always been Ella's plan. She hated being away; this place felt like home. Yet, over the past year since she moved back, the familiar streets had started to feel empty, the faces around her those of strangers.
Her stomach growled loudly as the rich, smoky aroma of applewood smoke from tomorrow's brisket wafted out of the building, filling her nostrils.
At this late hour, the only place likely to be open was the IHOP down the road.
'No way can I be seen in front of any more people,' she thought, just now noticing the smell from the dirty clothes she had on.
Ella found her car, an old Chevy Blazer that was held together with zip ties and bubble gum. The muffler was loose, so when she started the beast, the entire neighborhood could hear her roar.
Her car was what law enforcement would call a golden ticket. She was red, loud, and constantly breaking down on the side of the road.
As Ella turned the key, instead of hearing the loud roar of the engine, she was met with a small whimper as the car refused to start. Her check engine light, along with almost every other warning light, shone brightly in the darkness.
She fumbled through her purse, "Where is it?"
Finally she pulled out her parents going away present to her. A triple A card for when her car would inevitably break down. She wished he would have just purchased her a Corvette instead.
After a frustrating wait and a tow truck ride, Ella finally arrived home. As she approached her front door, she instinctively glanced toward the window, hoping to see Gizmo’s adorable, fluffy snout.
Instead, she was greeted by Mrs. Susan’s outdoor cat, Snowflake, sitting primly on the doorstep.
That damn cat always stressed Gizmo out by sitting right in front of the screen door, knowing it would make him yap incessantly. She knew what she had to do for him.
She walked over to Snowflake, intending to shoo the cat away, when a foul odor hit her. It was a stench, reminiscent of microwave fish left too long. She grimaced, instinctively plugging her nose.
She leaned in close, trying to see if the cat had left a surprise dead animal on her porch. As she closed in, she noticed he looked frozen in place. Even his eyes sat completely still, staring straight ahead into the darkness.
Suddenly, a noise behind her made her jump, her heart pounding in her chest. She spun around, eyes wide and breath quickening, but saw nothing. "It must be the cattle smell drifting up from the fields down south," she tried to reassure herself, but the uneasy feeling persisted.
With Snowflake still unmoved, Ella sighed and stepped to the side, trying her best to avoid the cat. If he was dead, she would deal with Mrs. Susan in the morning. For now she needed to sleep.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
As she made her way to the front door, a strange sensation suddenly washed over her—an almost indescribable shiver that started in her feet and moved all the way up to her hand.
She felt a spark of energy shoot out from her fingers as they touched the metal of the doorknob. The noise from the spark startled Snowflake, causing the cat to finally run off into the night.
Unlocking her door, Ella found her home exactly as she had left it, although she didn’t remember leaving the lights on this morning. She tried her best to brush it off as a weird coincidence.
Quickly shutting and locking the door behind her, she made sure to turn on both the front lights and every other light in the house. She also shut all the blinds, just for good measure.
Ella made her way over to her computer, realizing she had completely forgotten to reach out to work today. Although, she was already on thin ice with her boss.
Hopefully, they would understand given the break-ins this morning. She tried to push work to the back of her mind. The last thing she wanted to think about right now was her office. Her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten all day.
With a sigh, she decided to grab a snack from the pantry.
'Holy crap this is amazing,' she thought as she took another bite.
She wasn’t sure if this was the best Pop-Tart she had ever had or if not eating for 24 hours had made her forget how food tasted, but she wasn’t complaining now. Each bite seemed more decadent than the last.
Sitting down, she remembered just how much pain she was in from walking 17,000 steps in her flip-flops. She slipped off her shoes and quickly changed into a long T-shirt and shorts, making sure to lock the door to her bedroom while she changed, just in case.
Finally, she lay in bed with the door locked and a kitchen knife by her bedside for protection. Her body was exhausted and sore, and she assumed she would be out like a light as soon as her head hit the pillow. Glancing at the clock, she calculated how many hours of sleep she could get before she needed to be up for work.
The clock read 12:59 AM before she finally fell asleep.
She opened her eyes in panic, her eyes darting around the room.
"Who's there!" She yelled out into the darkness.
Ella had the strangest feeling someone was watching her while she slept, but as she looked around she saw nothing but stillness.
She squeezed her pillow tight and looked at the clock again, she found it was 1:16 AM. 'It's going to be a late night,' Ella thought to herself.
She decided to try closing her eyes again, doing her best to think of anything else. When she opened them again, it was 1:28 AM. With a sigh, she reached for her phone on the charger and checked the neighborhood app, hoping that someone might have seen Gizmo.
The Neighborhood app buzzed with posts about missing pets. Now, she feared her best friend was in the hands of some animal kidnapper—'or maybe they went by dognapper,' she thought. The mix of guilt and fear filled her body with adrenaline. She repeated the same routine for the next few hours: closing her eyes, opening them, and checking the clock.
She watched as the time slowly ticked by: "2:15 AM, 2:36 AM, 3:15 AM, 4:05 AM." Each minute stretched on endlessly, her mind a whirlwind of worry.
As the clock showed 4:42 AM, her body's exhaustion finally overpowered her restless mind. Her muscles, tense and sore, began to relax. She felt herself slipping into the comforting embrace of sleep, her breathing evening out. Little snores began to echo into the darkness, a small sign of peace after a day filled with turmoil.
----------------------------------------
Meanwhile, in another part of the house, Dex sat cloaked at a table, admiring the array of goods he planned to take back with him.
Somehow, the girl had disrupted the defenses he had put around the house, but he wasn't going to let that distract him.
He had a particular fondness for gathering items from Earth's culture during his trips; it was one of the best perks of his job. He decided to focus on that while he waited for her to fall into a deep slumber.
Among the various artifacts and curiosities, his attention was drawn to a collection of books spread out before him. Each one seemed to hold a piece of the world's history and imagination, beckoning him to explore its contents.
One book in particular caught his attention. The cover of the Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook was striking and evocative, designed to capture the imagination of both seasoned players and newcomers alike. He made more of the large flying beast on the cover.
As he opened the book, Dex was astonished to find detailed information on the history and culture of the earthlings. He had spent the better part of 10 Earth cycles studying the English language from various books, movies, and shows he had gathered. He had never been lucky enough to find a historical game showcasing Earth's history before.
His attention then shifted to another book titled Monster Manual. The cover depicted a large, floating creature with a central, singular, menacing eye and multiple eyestalks, each ending in a smaller eye. Its gaping maw was filled with sharp teeth, exuding an aura of power and malevolence. Intrigued, Dex opened the book and searched for more information about the beast. He discovered that these creatures were known as Beholders, and he eagerly began to read about their fearsome abilities and lore.
Dex grabbed a shirt with the words "There are 10 types of people who understand Binary" on it and put it on. The joy radiating through his body caused small bioluminescent dots all around his face to glow slightly. He spent the next several hours studying the books intently, learning as much as he could about the history and culture of Earth.
As he flipped through the Monster Manual, he found an entry for a creature called a HellHound, which resembled the dog his coworkers had taken from the house this morning. He made a mental note to check if they had perhaps collected one of these the next time he visited the collection chamber.
For now, Dex had a job to plan. Tomorrow was the day they were scheduled to collect the targeted resources and return to their home planet. As the team leader, he decided he needed to put his fun activity on hold and prepare for the mission. The thrill of discovery was palpable, but duty called. He sighed, closed the books, and left the small female human as he headed back to his ship.