Life Changer

Chapter One: Vala

I woke up in an unfamiliar room. The walls were stained, paint peeling off. The bed was highly uncomfortable, probably filled with hay. The air was humid, and there was a faint smell of salt in the air. It took me a while to remember where I was. An old dirty condo in Florida. Why my parents decided to stay here, I will never know.

We live in Indiana, which is full of snow right now, even though its autumn. I will never understand Indiana's weather. We always go down to Florida for the winter, stay in a cheap hotel, and go to the beach. This time mom and dad switched it up. From cheap hotels to abandoned condos. Great improvement. Me and my younger sister Ivy didn't think this was a good idea. Of course, no one listens to us.

"Vala! Time for breakfast," My mom called from downstairs.

I got ready for the day, then went downstairs for breakfast. Today is oatmeal, just like yesterday. As we talked about things like painting the walls and exploring the swamp in the backyard, I noticed Ivy was staring off into space. She always does that when she's sad.

I put a hand on her shoulder, "Ivy are you okay? You look down."

"I'm fine. Just thinking about home," She responds.

I hugged her. She gets homesick a lot. I've always felt like it's my job to keep everyone smiling. To do that I need to be optimistic, even though most of the time I'm really not.

"Alright girls," My dad said, which got our attention. "Me and your mom are going to the store. The best one is quite a ways away, so I expect you to be good while we are gone for that long."

After we said our goodbyes, me and Ivy went upstairs to watch whatever was on the TV. We ate some ice cream and watched the old TV for a while. Just as we were getting bored out of our minds, we heard a scratching sound on the back door. We turned off the show we were watching. We heard it again.

"Do you think there's an animal outside?" I asked Ivy.

"I don't know if it's an animal, but there is definitely something at the back door," She said nervously. She got up to close the bedroom door.

"I'm sure it's an animal, like an iguana, or a bird," I said. I gasped dramatically at a sudden thought that might cheer Ivy up. "Or maybe it's one of those burrowing owls! They are so cute."

Then it happens again, this time it sounds like claws digging into the door. We looked at each other, we both knew it was something scream-worthy. Without a sound, we went down the stairs and looked out the back window.

There, standing outside the door, was a massive creature. It had an alligator type body, but its legs were long enough for it to stand and walk, rather than crawl. Its head was like a shark, and its tail had three spines at the end, much like a claw machine. It was a deep navy blue, except for an olive green marking on its face.

I screamed the moment I saw it, and Ivy pushed us away from the door. It must have heard me because it rammed its head against the door, nearly knocking it off the hinges. We ran into the kitchen, Ivy grabbed a knife from the drawer.

"Do you think this will be enough to defend ourselves?" She asked me, her voice shaking almost as much as her hands.

"I don't know," I lied. "I think we should just get away," I knew a simple kitchen knife wouldn't do good against an alligator's hard, protective, skin if you could even call it an alligator.

The creature shoved into the door, breaking it. We sprinted to the living room, eager to get as far as we possibly can. Just in time too. The gator thing darted into the kitchen, so fast it couldn't stop in time to keep from smashing into the refrigerator. It recovered quickly, but we were already in the living room. We went for the stairs.

"Wait! If we go up here we won't be able to escape," I nearly shouted when I realized it.

Too late. Before Ivy could respond, the gator thing came speeding towards us. We had no choice but to go upstairs, into my room. We closed the door and locked it, though it wouldn't do any good against an animal that size. We attempted to barricade the door, but the creature was already banging on it with its huge head. We step back. It almost busted the door. We huddle in a corner, sure that this was the end.

The creature broke into the room, spotted us immediately. Just as it was about to attack, something flew into the room from the window. It caught the gator's attention. It looked like a metal baseball. As soon as it hit the floor, it expanded, releasing some sort of gas into the air. The creature dropped as soon as it smelled the stuff, though it didn't seem to affect us at all.

"Now's our chance!" Ivy shouted. We ran downstairs, into the front room, and ran out the door. We didn't even notice our parents until they tripped us. We fell to the ground.

"You weren't supposed to survive," Mom said.

Dad pulled out a bizarre-looking gun. Not fast enough. A silver dart stuck in his neck. He went limp and collapsed, still breathing though. Mom did the same, shortly after. We were too stunned and confused to do anything.