Authors: Phoenix Williams
The first winged
creature stood in the middle of the street, its long, skinny arms
animated as the voice spoke. Its faceless head turned around and
peered at everyone.
“You have
proven yourselves incapable of self-control and thus, I am here to
guide you.” There was no blocking the words out. They were just
as loud no matter how hard one would squeeze on his ears. “Your
rules and laws are now null and void. Cast away all of your previous
notions of power and understand that you submit to me. I have
appointed your new legislation and it will be followed
to the
teeth
under punishment of death. I will seek out those who break
my law, filter out your wicked and deliver upon them an unimaginable
degree of judgment. Listen close, for this will only be spoken once
and no exceptions shall be made in its execution.”
Everyone stared
pale-faced at the being as it took a brief pause. It made sure
everyone was paying close attention.
“There shall
be no murder or rape. This is the first law,” it stated. “The
second law states that no more harm shall befall the Earth or its
ability to support life. And the last law. It's simple: never stop
being afraid.”
The dark clouds
above the cities dissipated and revealed an enormous metallic craft
descending from the heavens. It was shaped like a gigantic ring,
spinning like a record on a turntable as it approached the ground.
The metal it was comprised of was old and rusted and held together by
large bolts and welded strips the same way that the metal forms
dotting the planet's surface were. With little more noise than a
largish fan, it touched down in the street behind the winged
creature. It crashed through any structure that stood in between it
and the earth. As it stopped its powerful decent, a hum began from
below.
“Your trial
begins,” the voice growled from within.
Haley had been on
her toes the moment the electricity in the hotel cut out. She peered
out of the window and tried her best to catch a good glimpse of the
assembly at the capitol building, but nothing could be made out in
the pitch darkness. When the voice spoke the first time, she fell to
her knees in surprise. The words and the way they were spoken sent
such intense shivers down her spine and left her gasping for air. As
soon as the sound left her head, Haley was on her feet and heading
for the door.
She had her room
somewhere on the twelfth floor of the tall hotel, so she began her
stride toward the elevator. She realized that the electricity being
out meant that the elevators wouldn't function. She turned to the
stairs when she heard a scream and clattering rose up from a few
floors below her feet. Her face went pale as she made her way back to
her hotel room. She fumbled around with the key card for the door for
a moment before she realized that the door hung open and unlocked.
More screams came
through the walls. Haley could hear feet pounding as people attempted
to flee. Things shattered and crashed as they were knocked aside. The
screams started to die away, to grow distant. Haley's entire body
trembled as she listened. As the noises came in and out of existence,
growing only fainter with more time, fear burrowed itself into
Haley's heart.
I have to hide!
her thoughts screamed at her.
She darted into the
bathroom and closed the door behind her. Only a few seconds of
standing in the dark passed before she doubted her hiding spot. There
would be no way they wouldn't find her here. She left the bathroom
and pried open the glass door to the balcony. She stepped over the
railing and over the granite wall that kept drunk people from falling
out of their rooms. With all the strength she could muster, she
lowered herself so that she could crouch against the balcony siding.
She stood on a thin sliver of surface, just out of sight of the
room's windows.
The hotel room's
door was thrown wide as a singular winged creature strode in, bent
far over so it could fit beneath the ceiling. Haley breathed deep
breaths, trying her best to stifle the shaky terror in her
respiration. The being looked around, then disappeared out the door.
Haley had her eyes
squeezed shut and held her breath, frightened that it would come to
look for her on the balcony. The continuation of silence and her
slipping grip inspired her to breathe again and open her eyes. She
cried in fear as arms wrapped themselves around her waist and tugged
her off of the wall. She screamed for help and thrashed about,
pulling at the thin pale arms that held her. Her captor flew off
through the sky toward a large, round metal structure that had
smashed its way through buildings and monuments.
The air bit cold at
Haley's cheeks as she screamed for her life. Even though she couldn't
open her eyes much in the whipping air as they zoomed through the
sky, she could make out other winged creatures flying, each holding
terrified people in their arms. Thousands of them soared like locust
down upon the ring.
Sound became
defined as they slowed and landed. The creature continued to cling
onto Haley who was far too fatigued at this point to continue
thrashing about. It strode toward the nearest wall of the metal
structure. The entire wall was lined with portholes that led into the
actual interior of the vessel. It was these that all the winged
creatures darted in and out of, bringing their human captives inside
and leaving empty handed. The woman sobbed with defeat in the
creature's arms. She felt a comforting hand running over her hair and
patting her. When she opened her eyes she saw the creature's blank
face staring down at her as it pet her reassuringly. Then the sky was
blocked out and they were inside.
Haley did not
continue to cry as the strange being carried her out a second door
and the sun reappeared. None of the dark storm clouds remained in the
sky. Instead, bright stars dotted its solid blue consistency. Large
branches stretched across the woman's view of it all. The wood was
vibrant and moist, abundant with life. She was able to look past her
shoulder and see the majestic tree that they moved toward. Never
before in her life had she seen a tree so large and green. The bark
was wet with rain. Colored moss and vines grew in enormous quantities
all over its surface.
In the distance,
just beneath the tree was another one of the creatures. This one was
different than the rest; it wore a dark black suit that fit its
colossal form well. On its faceless head it wore a simple golden band
above where its ears would be were it human, like a crown. That was
the creature Haley was being taken to see, she soon realized. The
three of them were the only intelligent life in the entire outdoor
lot, which changed after Haley was set down before the suit-wearing
creature, her captor taking its leave. She stared wide eyed and slack
mouthed at the being. She could see now that it was seated in a
large, wooden chair.
“Miss Flynn,”
the voice spoke within her head. “I am glad you are here. You
are afraid. Please, don't be.”
Her lips twitched
as she tried to get them to move to her design. “What are you?”
she stuttered.
“I am a
creature much older than the planet we stand upon,” the voice
explained. The gigantic being moved its two fingered hands about as
it spoke. “I am your watchful guardian.”
“You're all
of these?” she gestured as if a horde of the creatures stood
behind her.
“I am one.
Those are all extensions of my being,” it told her.
Haley began to ask
the question that stamped largest in her thoughts at the moment. “Are
you – ”
“If you so
wish,” it interrupted. “What I have to discuss with you
is important. I have chosen you to represent your kind. Peace is what
I would like to establish.”
“Me?”
she asked, shocked.
“You are
pure,” the being said. “Even though you do not hide in
the dark from the filth of the world, you do not allow it to tarnish
you. You are the only one who can save your species.”
-Chapter Thirty-Seven-
The
Trial
When the
electricity shut off and the cell doors slid open, Tim Simacean
limped for freedom. The prison he had been kept in for the past
couple of months was in complete chaos as the old man escaped. He
used his crutches to hobble along, waiting for the larger waves of
people to rush on past him. Men in uniforms and jumpsuits scrabbled
through each other, fighting and yelling. Tim bode his time.
There was a sudden
silence that disturbed the rancher more than any of the noises
preceding it had. It seemed fake; as if Tim were being set up. He
waited and listened. After a minute, he stood up from the bench. With
little more consideration, he threw the crutches under his arms and
escaped.
It was just when he
could see the bright light from the open courtyard door that one of
the freakish creatures snatched him up. The crutches clacked together
as he was lifted off the ground and dragged out of the prison. They
soared up into the sky at a chilling velocity. Through the mist of
the clouds they flew until they dropped from the freezing water into
an open field. In the middle, sunken in its own unique crater, sat a
gigantic metallic star. Just like his own angel, it was composed of
hundreds and hundreds of rusting and ruined pieces of metal. In the
top of it, however, a large opening that exposed its dark and hollow
interior. The creature that clasped onto Tim did not decelerate at
all as it dropped into this opening and submerged them in darkness.
In just a second they were back outside, flying high up into the sky.
They had come out of an enormous rusty pig that had an opening in its
forehead, just like the star. The place they had exited out into was
a fair bit greener then where they had come. It was a bit windier,
and the rain had begun sprinkling upon the adjacent highway.
Tim trembled. He
could barely keep his eyes open against the wind as the monster
carried him through the air. It was a while before they arrived at
the city, but Tim could distinguish it as soon as he caught a
glimpse. The swampy fields, the large, green parks. He recognized a
few of the structures down below. They started dropping, approaching
Washington D.C. with haste.
So many things
banged together inside the old man's head. Ample amounts of confusion
and terror. He looked from side to side at all of the other poor
souls being carried through the air. It was a vibrating swarm, all
moving toward the metal ring that had crushed its way upon the
ground. Pain pulsated through Tim's chest as he tried to catch a
breath. He panicked and tried to thrash about in the creature's huge
hands but with no progress.
Is this how it ends?
He worried.
With little
warning, the creature touched down onto the earth and continued to
cradle the rancher as its wings folded back. It took large strides as
it carried him in through an opening in the side of the rusty ring.
It was dark inside, but light still poured in through the portholes
on the side of the tunnel like construction. It stretched far in both
directions. Left was the way Tim was taken. A stairway jutted down
from the clunky metal floor, down which they descended. The stairs
gave way to solid rock. There was a wide pathway that had been carved
deep into the rock spiraling further below the Earth's surface. As
they marched down it together with so many other creatures with prey
in their arms, Tim realized that the tunnel ran the same length
around as the ring topside. It must have been carved in directly
underneath.
Few minutes passed
before they were at the bottom. The giant underground chamber they
all found themselves in smelled of sulfur and made Tim's cheeks get
misty with sweat. The chamber glowed with the strange red light that
the foreign lamps along the wall gave off. It was enormous and
cube-shaped, tiny doors covered every surface. Thousands of little
entrances jutted out into the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Into
one of these holes Tim was deposited, followed by his captor. The
creature shut the door behind it.
Tim found himself
in a stark white room that was no smaller than his prison cell had
been. Every surface seemed to gleam and glow so bright, contrasting
dramatically when Tim would look down at himself. There was one small
stool that the winged being gestured to. When Tim hesitated, it
pushed him down so that he sat upon it.
“What's going
on?” Tim asked, shivering in terror.
“This is the
trial of Timothy Simacean,” his captor replied in its horrible
voice that purred inside the old man's weak chest.
“Trial?”
Tim echoed.
The creature gave
no pause before continuing its ominous explanation. “An
examination will take place of you, Timothy. Of your actions, your
inaction. I am going to examine your soul. Do not expect any
leniency. Mercy knows no home here.”