Chapter 1
The Invasion
By Ray Tomson
…Many years ago, he made its first appearance in a town in Ga. The people that lived in that town didn’t know what hit them. He attacked them at night while they were sleeping. He burned homes with people inside and destroyed everything that got in its way.
For three nights, the Barry people tried to fight back, but they couldn’t kill it. They tried to escape, but he only wanted to spare one person. His mission was to allow one man to run so that he could pass the word about it.
No one knew its exact source. Some stories say it made a deal with the devil who gave it immortal powers. Others debunked the story, claiming no creature has been sent by the devil to inflict humans.
I believed the stories myself, and all I could remember was that wherever it went, it killed and destroyed everything.”
I was glad to hear the bell ring for once. I had never really liked any horror movies, and having Mr Brown telling us this story was too much for me in history class.
My name is Betia, and I live in a town known as Whitehole in Florida. This town has a small population of about 1,000 people. I was born here; I have an older brother that goes to school with me.
I picked up my books and walked toward the door, and then someone grabbed me. I turned, and it was Mr Brown. He said to me. “I know that you don’t believe any of this, but we were to have a test on it. So, I hope you took notes?” I replied with a smile. “Yes.” We exchanged glances, and I asked him to let off my hand. He did, then we parted ways.
When I got to my locker, my brother and his best friend, Amou, were there. Just as my brother greeted me, Amou stared lustfully at me in a manner I hated, but deep within me, I liked him too. Chances were that if he asked me to be his girl, I would give in.
Amou had never asked me out. All he did was stare at my body. ‘Shit!’… if only he knew I was into him, he would have taken further steps.
I opened my locker, put my books inside, and then picked the book I needed for the next class. I bade my brother and Amou farewell and left. One thing I hated was being late for class. I got to my next class, which was science, walked in, and went to my seat.
This class was my favourite, not because of the subject, but because Sage was always there. He was the young man I had a crush on. I had known him for a couple of years, and we had gone out in a group, but he had never asked me out on any date. I preferred Sage to Amou - he was tall with brown hair and a beautiful smile.
He walked into the class and walked to his seat. He took a seat, turned to me, and said, “hello.” I responded ‘hello’ with a smile. Our teacher, Mrs Goldfront, walked in, barged the door, and called the class to decorum.
Mrs Goldfront was a short-haired black woman of middle age. She looked so attractive for her age - disciplined teacher and always in control.
She sat on top of her desk and asked us to flip our textbooks to ‘page 25’. At that moment, I imagined myself with Sage at the park and at the lake to swim. I was drowning in my imaginations than anyone can imagine.
When the bell rang, I stopped day-dreaming, closed my books, and got up to leave. As I walked towards the door, Mrs Goldfront called me back.
As I stood in front of her, she said with a smile: “My dear, I see how you stare at Sage, and I understand the boy is quite handsome. I also noticed that you were carried away during class. You were physically present but mentally absent. I need you to stop wandering and pay full attention to your studies.”
I was so embarrassed. Mrs Goldfront said she was only 16 when she had a similar experience, but I need to pay more attention to my studies. I smiled and promised to adjust. “It’ alright. You can go now, don’t be late for your next class.” She said with a smile.
I thanked her and left the classroom. I didn’t have time to go to my locker, so I went straight to my next gym - I love taking the gym as my last class of the day. I got to the girls’ locker room and went over to my locker to change into my gym clothes.
My best friend, Giana, is a slim and dark girl with black hair. We’ve been friends for over five years. We started a conversation, and she asked me about my plans for the rest of the day after school hours. I told her I had no plans; then she asked if I would love to hang out with her at the mall. I already knew she was going to the mall to see the boy she likes, who works at the mall’s pizza.
I agreed to go with her. We walked outside to the basketball field. That day, our gym teacher would have us take the shots. Giana went first, and she got all her three attempts. I came after her, and I missed all of them. “Good try.” She said with a smile. That was reassuring, and I smiled back.
After the gym, we went back to our locker room to change clothes. I was of the same age as Giana, but she already knew how to drive. Her dad had bought her a Toyota Camry after she got her license. The vehicle was quite old but fast.
We got into her car and started it, and drove. Just as we moved, my brother pulled next to us and asked us where we were going. I told him where we were heading and that he should inform mom. “Don’t be late.” He said with a smile and drove past.
We got to the mall and went straight to the pizza shop, where the guy works. Giana had used the excuse that she was hungry, but I knew that we better. She was lucky he was working at the counter.
He asked us what we wanted to order. I told him we would have meddled pizza with everything on it and coke. He brought the bill, and Giana paid. “It will be available in 10 minutes. Take your seat while I prepare your order.” He said.
We walked to a table and sat down. Giana was a timid girl, and I was surprised we made a delightful conversation when we first met. She kept turning her head to stare at the boy, and I was forced to ask if she was okay.
“Should I hint the guy you like him?” I asked. She then said in a panicked voice, “don’t you dare do that! I swear if you do, I will die of a heart attack.” The boy came over to our table and put the pizza in the middle of the table. He then told us he would be back with the drinks.
I couldn’t tell for my friend, but I was genuinely hungry; I grabbed a pizza slice and ate. The boy approached us with the drinks and asked if we wanted anything else. I smiled and responded that we were okay. Deep within me, I tried to tell him how my friend felt about him, but I knew if I did, I would embarrass my friend, and she would never go for him.
After we finished eating, we stayed at the table for a while, talking. The waiting was actually to give