"Clarisse!" I scream and reach out as if it would help somehow.

The cement rumbles and falls completely into the rushing river. My mind and body don't have time to process my next move before a flash of light momentarily blinds me. Squinting toward the sky, I'm met with... something floating above the water.

Is it a flying train car? A cryo-pod? It's difficult to tell. I've never seen anything like it...

Someone dives down into the water and reemerges only a few seconds later, with Clarisse in her arms. A metal ladder is lowered down and the person climbs up, one-handed, holding Clarisse.

A moment later, the same person is hanging on the ladder in front of me, gesturing for me to come. It's a woman...

My body is frozen.

I'm hallucinating. This isn't real.

When she grabs me and yanks me up into her arms, I'm so confused that I hardly realize that we're inside. She looks human but...not. She's too big, too strong... too silver.

She dumps me beside a trembling Clarisse and goes down the ladder again for Santi. With my arm around her shoulders, I hug her tightly while looking around the strange vehicle. It doesn't look like an airplane but it's hovering in the air. There are three more... people in here with us.

One of them steps forward and starts to speak just as the woman climbs in with Santi in her arms.

He keeps speaking but I don't recognize the language. Looking at the others, I can tell that they don't either.

When he steps closer, bending down, I can see his eyes and I gasp, stumbling back. The woman that saved us pulls a visor from her face and I can see her eyes, too. Blues, purples, and greens, swirling together. It looks like a galaxy, speckled with stars. They all have long silver hair and silvery skin.

Well, for a moment they had silver skin. The woman's skin seems to be changing color. The silver is fading into a rich brown.

Screaming, I slide myself back, scrambling to get as far away from them as possible in this small space.

"Oh my God," I gasp as the man's skin starts to change color too. Santi frantically utters something in Spanish and the man turns to him, replying in Spanish.

"You speak English?" The woman asks with a light, clear accent.

Clarisse and I stare with open mouths. I think I may have nodded my head.

"Are you of Earth?" Her head tilts to one side as she asks.

"Of Earth?"

"Yes." She offers no further explanation. Reaching forward, she takes some of my lifeless hair up between her fingers, studying it.

"Um... yes."

They turn to each other, speaking their language so rapidly that I can't even piece together enough to figure out where they are from. Are they speaking Russian? It doesn't sound like any language I've ever heard.

"He kept asking if we're from here..." Santi whispers. "They speak many 'earth' languages, he said."

"Do you have more companions?" The man turns to me, the same curiosity in his eyes as the woman had.

"No, we don't," Clarisse answers for me when I don't respond.

Of Earth.

Of earth? Does this mean they aren't... of Earth? They definitely look...different. I want to scream, to run away, to escape them. Instead, I sit motionless, cold sweat rolling down my spine.

"We will take you to our commander." She nods her head and turns, walking away to speak to the others.

"Where are you taking us?" Santi asks the man as he turns to leave as well.

He replies with what I can only assume is the name of a place.

"I-Is that here? On Earth?" I'm frantic. They aren't taking us to space, are they?

"Yes."

The spaceship... thing, turns and starts to move, heading southwest.

"Where is everyone? What happened here?" I can't make my mouth stop talking. The need for answers is overriding my common sense right now. I don't know these people, I don't know what they want from us. I should be quiet, but I simply cannot.

"When we arrive, our commander will see you."

"Are you...aliens? Are you from that planet?" I point toward it.

If they hear me, they don't show it.

Giving up, I sit with the others deciding it's better not to annoy them. They might fling me out. Maybe that would be a good thing... After about fifteen minutes of quiet whispers and nervous glances, something catches my attention through the closed glass door.

"Holy shit! What is that?" I scream much louder than I meant to.

Outside, there is a vast open wasteland, a large crater-like desert that stretches out for miles. Crawling toward the door, I look down as we pass over the area. A tightness forms in my throat the longer I stare at it.

"Where are you taking us?" I turn back, looking at the woman.

"I told you," she repeats the name we don't understand.

"Yes but, where is that?" I try again.

She brings me a tiny, paper-thin television, that fits in my hands. It looks like a clipboard but it's electronic somehow. There is a map on it that is moving...

"Here," she points.

"Peru?" I study the map. "Is this red dot us?"

"Yes."

Turning in horror, I look at Santi and Clarisse, "We're over the Gulf of Mexico right now."

"Where is the water?" Santi is pressed against the door, looking down at the sand that has changed from barren emptiness to having speckled trees here and there.

"Soon," Is all she says before taking the small television from my hands.

Just as she said, we're soon sailing over the vast blue ocean.

"How are we moving so quickly? It doesn't feel like we're moving at all..." Santi looks around in amazement. "We will be there in no time at this rate."

"Do you think they're planning to kill us?" I whisper to Clarisse. The terror on her face tells me that she's wondering the same thing. It's a very real possibility that they are hostile. Did they wipe everyone out? Have they taken everyone hostage? Are humans slaves?

"Should we try to escape?"

I look around, searching for a way out when the woman comes back. We both freeze caught red-handed.

"Here," she points to the map again. We're flying over the Pacific Ocean, parallel to Colombia. We will be flying above Equidor and into Peru in a matter of minutes.

Santi stands, a tear dripping from his eye before he can stop it. Looking out over the vast blue expanse he hangs his head, "la Madre Patria."

Our... rescuers...captors...killers? I'm not sure what to call them yet. They watch him thoughtfully but with slight confusion on their faces.

I take this opportunity to really look at them. They have all removed their visors by now, revealing the same incredible eyes. Their skin tones are different and the woman has softer, more delicate features but they are otherwise the same. Their hair is long and silver, and they are all the same height with the same muscular builds.

They are wearing tactical-looking uniforms... military, maybe? I remember how easily she carried each of us up the ladder, one-handed, never struggling. She didn't even appear winded after the third trip.

Their skin is so flawlessly smooth, not a single blemish or imperfection in sight, not a scar or mole... They are breathtaking in a chilling way.

"We have arrived," one of the men that hasn't spoken to us steps forward. "When we bring you inside, do not touch anything." He looks at us with thinly veiled disgust.

As he speaks, I tear my gaze from them to look out. We're approaching a city that only helps to confirm my suspicions. They are definitely alien. No human could build such structures. Everything gleams white against the lush green countryside. The soaring buildings look like castles or cathedrals built in lines that point straight up to the sky. The entire city is imposing and beautiful, inspiring awe and fear in the pit of my stomach.

We land in front of the largest, most stately building in sight. Three towers rise from the sides and center. Clarisse and Santi look equally amazed, their eyes flitting back and forth over everything in front of us.

"Remember, do not touch," he warns again before ushering us away from the crowd that is starting to gather.

As we are led inside we are surrounded by a sea of gigantic silver-haired people. They watch us with unsure curiosity. I feel like an animal caged in a zoo, a spectacle being observed for entertainment.

"This way to the holding cells," he says and I trip over my own feet.

"Wait, holding cell?"

--

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