Otherworldly

Chapter 1

April 8, 2022- Kentucky

"Scarlett, did you hear me?"

My mothers voice registers in my head, but I couldn't focus on anything except for what I was hearing on the news. I felt hands grab my shoulders and my attention finally became clear. My head swiveled to see my mother standing behind me. I turned around and looked beside her to see my brother sitting on the floor in front of the couch. His eyes were glued to the TV just like mine just were. I could see the fear in his eyes.

My attention snapped back to my mother when I felt a firm shake of my shoulders. I look into her dark green eyes and see the fear in hers as well. I could see her mouth moving, but the words still wouldn't register.

"Scarlett, you need to listen to me!"

Suddenly, I understood everything crystal clear. We were being invaded. Cities were exploding. Aliens were dropping down in their ships from space and killing soldiers and civilians. Everything was chaotic.

The news anchor instructions repeated in my ear. "Find immediate shelter. Find a safe place to bunker down. Do not approach the Leftens. They are killing on sight."

I looked back at my mother. "What do we do?" I could even hear the slight tremble in my voice.

"Go to the kitchen, grab some food and as much water as you can. The only thing we can do right now is get downstairs and hope they stay out of this section of the city. Turn off all the lights. Ethan! Go grab some blankets and pillows from upstairs. I'm going to lock all of the doors and windows."

I immediately spring into action. I run into the kitchen and start opening cabinets and drawers. My fingers close around a large bag underneath the kitchen sink that we normally take with us when we go grocery shopping. I start shoveling cans and boxes of food into the bag. When it becomes full, I turn around and grab the box that we keep in the corner of the kitchen for no damn reason and grab several bottled waters from the kitchen pantry and throw them into the box.

I hear my brother's footsteps upstairs running from room to room. After the box becomes full, I set it on the ground and rush to the door beside the pantry. I open the door to the basement and throw the bag of food around my shoulder and grab the box of water. The weight of the bag and box causes me to stumble slightly, but I catch myself with my shoulder against the wall. After a quick "oof" I race downstairs and drop the food and water on the coffee table. A quick look around the room shows the fully furnished basement with a small kitchen and bathroom. There's a couch behind the coffee table and another TV in front of the coffee table.

I race back up the basement steps and nearly slam into my brother. He's holding an armful of blankets and pillows. I quickly side step around him and rush to find my mother. I hear footsteps coming down the stairs and look toward the source of them to find my mother carrying a bag of toiletries and a box with the picture of an air mattress on the side of it.

"I grabbed some stuff for tonight. We're going to have to share the bathroom. I locked all the windows upstairs. I just need to lock them down here. Did you get all the food and water?"

"Yeah, I saw Ethan go downstairs with some blankets and pillows. I haven't turned off the lights yet as you can see."

"Take these downstairs and turn on the TV to channel 9. I'll turn them off." I grab the air mattress and bag of toiletries and go back downstairs to the basement.

I reach the bottom of the stairs and glance towards the couch where I see my brother sitting. He's slouched over with his head in his hands just staring at the ground. I set the air mattress beside the coffee table and take the bag of toiletries to the bathroom.