Author's Note: Here's chapter 6 for you guys! I'm extremely happy to have some followers and stuff! Y'all will love the ride!

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I’d been home for a day and just finished unpacking.

Thinking back on my trip home, I was very confused. I had been watching the news in the airport and there were evacuations going on in each of the large, populated land mass: North America, South America, Australia, Eurasia, and Africa. It seemed as though the evacuations were giving a wide berth to the centers of each place.

Everyone I passed by in the O’Hare airport had a look of fear and uncertainty in their eyes as if something unknown and dangerous was hiding in the shadows just waiting for the right moment to jump out and harm them.

There were also a ridiculous amount of riots amongst the chaos from a month ago all around the world as political and social order broke down. Add to that the damage caused by the monster invasion and everyone was paying money to get things back to the way they use to be meaning people were scarce on money which typically leads to robberies…

‘The world is fucked, but we’re slowly recovering and the only thing I’m especially concerned about is the reason for the evacuations…It’s time to figure out what’s going on’ I finally decided.

Walking out of the room, I called out, “Mom?”

I heard a shout in response from the direction of the living room and moved towards it.

Making it to the living room, I see my parents and siblings reclining back on leather couches watching some cartoon program on the TV.

My dad was a forty year old Caucasian man, slightly shorter than me, with hazel eyes shining from underneath his brow. Tired lines adorned his forehead, but he held himself with a calm air of relaxation and tranquility. His eyes held a twinkle of intelligence and experience I assumed had come from his time spent in the Air Force before he had retired a year ago. As far as I knew, he’d gone on two tours when he was younger: once to Korea where he met my mother and once more to Afghanistan when I was in middle school.

My younger brothers, Austen and Alijah, were respectively eleven and nine years old and, though they both had the hazel eyes of their father, they couldn’t be more different from one another even if they were trying.

Austen stood a little over five foot with long, flowing brown hair reaching his shoulders and a facial structure I’d expect from a noble. His jaw was prominent and his cheekbones were high and sharp against his cheeks.

Alijah, on the other hand, still had some baby fat on his face with an ever-present sly grin decorating his face. He stood a full head shorter than Austen. Alijah was certainly the most like me; a trouble maker and a true gamer. His short brown hair sticking out in every direction signified his playfulness.

My eyes lit up instantly upon seeing my baby sister, Amiayah, sitting in my mother’s lap. Her dark, ocean blue orbs swept across the room before focusing on me and her face lit up like a christmas tree.

“X!!!” She happily shouted out at me.

I smiled back at her, slightly embarrassed by the nickname, but it was acceptable since she is a baby.

Once I’d garnered their attention, I say, “Mom…Dad…I’m ready to talk about what happened that night…and can you also tell me why everyone in the world seems to be losing it?” I plopped down on the nearest couch facing my parents with a serious look on my face.

My dad cleared his throat and said, “Yeah…your mom had me find a video on YouTube that’ll explain everything to you about what’s been going on. If there’s anything else you need to know after that, then we’ll talk about it, but I’m positive the video hits all the key points.”

He began fiddling with the remote and the YouTube app opened up on screen. Activating the ‘search’ bar he typed in “Obsidian ships; purpose revealed.”

‘I knew it had something to do with them’ I quickly thought to myself.

My dad clicked on the first video and it began loading.

The video started and an anchorman came into view. He looked more serious than any news reporter I’d ever watched before and I immediately began to concentrate to focus on what he had to say.

“It has been confirmed all around the world that today, April 24th, at exactly midnight, our planet suffered a heavy scale invasion by entities we previously believed to be pure fantasy.”

The video cut to a video of goblins running amok in the streets commanded by the hybrid like creatures I’d seen that night in my dorm.

“These two creatures are referred to as goblins and beastmen. They were among the first to reportedly pop up out of thin air.”

‘Out of thin air? But that’s impossible…’

The man continued, “These monsters were followed by large ogre like beings who rampaged through the streets causing death and injury to all of those around them. No armed forces around the world were capable of putting any of them down, but they were heavily injured by the end of the catastrophe. Ground forces could not focus mainly on these ogres because there was a threat from the skies in the forms of organisms known as ‘harpies’ and ‘rocs’.”

‘Huh? I know what harpies are but what are rocs?’ Thankfully the anchor looked as though he were about to explain and pictures shot up on screen.

“For those of you at home who don’t know, harpies are grotesque winged creatures with the heads of women and bodies of a bird. They are commonly referenced in relation to Greek mythology. Rocs are ferocious birds with appearances similar to those of a hawk, but are as large as a sail boat. Coming in droves from the skies, they were tough enough to withstand two or three bullets before taking any damage.”

‘It’s a good thing I didn’t run outside into any of that crazy stuff.’ Thinking back to the slaughter in the dorm I darkly thought, ‘well it didn’t really make a difference for anyone but me…’S

Listening to the anchor talk about more monsters that were seen running through the streets killing anybody they could see and causing millions in property damage, I heard something shocking. “There were a total of up to twenty million deaths in the U.S. alone and only tens of thousands were left alive to receive aid throughout the entire nation.”

‘What!? Twenty million people? Dead? That’s like a fifteenth of our population…I can’t believe they killed so many. I can only imagine how many fatalities countries further east suffered since it was daytime for them and more people should’ve been out and about.’

Shuddering, I look towards my family and offer up a silent prayer of thanks for their safety.

The anchorman once again shocked me with his next words.

“Approximately forty-five minutes after it started, the catastrophe ended and all traces of the monsters simply vanished from all areas under duress. Not one minute had passed before all forms of communication: phones, TV, and internet started up and played an audio message sent by the life forms in the obsidian ships. We’re now going to play you the message that they sent.”

The screen blanked out and went completely white. Waiting for a couple seconds, an insignia in the shape of a black cross with a red circle behind it appeared on the screen.

“People of Earth.” A cold and powerful voice rang out from the screen. I was surprised by its fluency, but my thoughts stopped as it continued to speak. “We have been…watching you. We’ve rather…enjoyed the colorful nature of your various cultures. Originally, we were meant to terraform your planet to suit our race’s needs…but after watching you all for the past 25 cycles, you’ve grown on us.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I could almost see the superior smirk on the face of the speaker through the audio message and I wondered if he’d still be smiling when I stuck my foot up his—

“Our race has ships like these scattered throughout the universe. They are placed outside the atmosphere of multiple planets just like this one. It would be simplicity itself to annihilate all the pre-existing life forms and take over your planets…”

After hearing this, my hands involuntarily clenched into fists and I ruefully glared at the TV screen.

“…however, we are a benevolent and merciful people. All but one planet will become ours.” The voice paused for a couple seconds. I could feel a cold sweat break out on my forehead.

I let out a dry laugh. ‘They’re taking all but one planet? How is that benevolent and merciful!?’

“Every planet under our watch has been put through…a crucible of sorts…as yours was this very night. Those forty-five minutes of mayhem and sorrow were merely a taste of our full power.”

The voice emphasized those two words as if what we had gone through could barely qualify as being fit to use those words.

“This is your saving grace…”

I leaned forward in my seat intent on hearing the voice’s next words.

“…Towers will be dropped to the surface of every planet one month from today. Eight hundred humans will be marked when they do. The towers will land in the center of all the major continents. If any of those that are marked do not enter one of these towers by the time that one week passes upon their appearance, then…humph. None of you will be able to divert the consequences. We’ve displayed our power to you today…it would do you well to fight for survival rather than to lie down and take it. Why don’t you show off that ‘never say die’ attitude that you humans are so proud of.”

The audio ended as the bodiless voice laughed without emotion and the insignia on the TV faded away.

The anchorman came back on screen and began speaking, “As you all can see, this is a serious threat not only to our own world, but also to all the others that supposedly exist. They will strive to survive just as hard if not harder than we will” The anchorman began tearing up on set, “And to whoever will be the marked ones…please go to the towers! I beg you, please…please protect my wife and kids! My family! All the families in the world!”

The video abruptly cut off and I found myself at the edge of my seat holding in a breath of air.

“…So?” My mom cautiously asked me.

I slowly exhaled, turn towards her and say, “Well…it’s intense. It’s a lot to digest, but not impossible. We can only hope the chosen ones decide to show up whenever those towers land. But seriously though, eight hundred out of six billion?

You’d have to have some terrible luck.”

I paused to think for a moment and then…“Wait, shouldn’t those towers be landing today!? It’s been a month hasn’t it!?”

My parents grimaced and nodded their heads. “It’s already the afternoon…but the aliens seem to be very serious about this, so we don’t doubt it’s actually going to happen. You wouldn’t believe how many people are already actually making this all out to be one big government conspiracy theory to cover up some failed lab experiments.”

Shaking my head I move to the nearest window and shift the blinds out of the way with my hand. Looking out and up into the sky, I see one of the obsidian ships covering a large portion of the sky and shudder.

‘What’s going to happen once the marked ones are chosen? How are they chosen?’

I had so many questions, but no one in the world would have an answer for me.

Hey mom, I’m gonna go back to the room and keep a look out on the news. I’m sure that they’ll be catching this on video somehow” Saying this, I turn and begin walking back to my room.

“Without lunch?” My mom asks, eyebrow raised skeptically.

Turning back to her I shake my head.

‘Tower watching will have to wait.’

………………..

Three hours later, I’m lying on my bed in my room waiting for the tower dropping to start. I caught the ball I had been throwing up and down for the past five minutes while fending off my memories of that horrid night. I had found that repetitive exercises like this kept my thoughts simplified and clear.

I sat up to look at the TV once again. Many of the news channels are focused on the sight of the obsidian ships in the sky. The five of them were slowly but surely shifting their positions, but still hanging outside of the atmosphere.

“Alex!” Hearing my mom call for me, I rolled out of bed and began walking back towards the living room.

“Yes, moooooooom?” Walking down the stairs, I see her in the kitchen and head over there.

“I’m going to need you to do these dishes and watch the little ones while your dad and I go to Walmart to go and get some food.”

‘Grocery stores are still open on a day like this? Now that’s dedication.’

Thinking this, I nod my head to her and, just as I’m about to speak, a tremor passes by underneath the house and we both momentarily lose our balance.

“The towers! They must be landing!” I exclaimed, rushing back into the living room to flip to the news channel. The channel was transitioning between different continents, but they all had one thing in common; an enormous, white blur falling directly out of the sky at high speed towards the ground. The caption on the screen changed to “Rugby, North Dakota. United States of America.”

A gargantuan white tower could be seen standing imposingly within the center of a large crater that seemed to stretch for miles and the air was filled with debris and smoke. The tower, unperturbed by the mess it had caused, was brilliantly glistening in the light of the sun.

‘Wow, it almost looks exactly like an obelisk. It’s a really good thing they warned us about those towers beforehand.

Otherwise, I’m sure a lot of people would’ve died from the landing itself. I mean, I felt it from all the way over here in Kansas.’

As I thought this, I couldn’t help but feel angry at the aliens. They’d already killed enough of us, so why the hell were they dropping these big towers from the atmosphere? Although, if I was honest with myself, they must’ve somehow slowed down the descent so that they caused less damage than they could have.

I continued watching the TV only for the channel to switch landscapes and show what seemed to be the last tower falling down over the skies of the Eurasian continent.

As the final tower dropped closer to the ground, I clutched my head as pain tore through it. ‘Ugh, why is my head hurting all of a sudden?’ As I thought this, the tower was only getting closer and closer to the ground. Dropping to my knees, the pain in my head grew until it felt like my head was splitting apart.

“Ahhhhhh!! It hurts!” My mom dropped to my side unsure of what to do. The pain only grew worse until finally a sharp, searing pain blew across my back in between my shoulder blades and I was welcomed into the darkness of blissful unconsciousness.