CHAPTER ONE
Shades of brown
and yellow painted the desolate landscape as the Great Pyramid rose magnificently from the Giza plateau. Two
smaller pyramids on both sides guarded it. A large crowd had gathered in front of the massive stone paws of the sphinx.
The Sphinx,
according to Egyptian mythology, was
a creature of mythical proportions. It had
the body of a lion with the head of a man. Towering above the crowd, the head
shadowed them from the burning
sun of the Egyptian desert. Excitement
was thick in the air.
A tall brunette woman wearing a cotton t-shirt and
a pair of khaki shorts stood in
front of the sphinx. She was speaking to
several workers holding pry bars. She was beautiful, but not by popular standards. Her hair was long and curly with curves at the bottom rolling in toward her neck. Her
eyes were a deep green which showed
her intelligence, but also displayed
her youthful excitement. She would turn thirty next year,
but for now, she still enjoyed being
in her twenties.
Trying to explain
what she wanted the workers to do, she demonstrated the technique with her hands.
The workers began to understand and
went quickly to work. They slammed their pry bars into the edges of a massive stone door they had located in
the front of the Sphinx and began to loosen it. The door was flush with the surrounding surface. It was a very large stone, close to ten feet tall
and eight feet wide.
An older man
emerged from one of the tents that stood
near the Sphinx. He was close to six feet tall, but very overweight. He had a full gray beard matching his shoulder length hair.
Adjusting his thick black-rimmed glasses,
he looked down into the dig site and was mortified to see what was unfolding. Yelling
at the top of his lungs, he tried to warn the men off. Knowing his pleas were going
unheard, he mustered all his stamina and started to run toward the Sphinx.
The brunette woman
heard his pleas, but ignored them. She
had worked too hard and too long to be stopped, especially when she was this
close. She barked commands at the workers,
pushing them harder
toward her goal.
The stout man made his way through the group. "Alex!" He pushed his way to the front. "Alex, you can't do this."
She turned and
shot him an icy glance. "Freddie, I'm not going
to stop now." "You have to." He
pulled her away from the group. "Alex, I just got off the phone with the Egyptian Government and
they've pulled the plug. They want us
out." Doctor Alex Robinson turned away from him. "Dammit.
What happened?" Freddie placed
his hand on her shoulder. "They called the Chicago Museum of Natural History
and discovered you lied about your credentials."
"I was wondering how long that story was
going to hold water." She turned to
look at her workers. They had almost pried the stone loose.
She smiled. "We have to finish, Freddie."
"I can't let
you do that!" He was motioning
emphatically. "The Egyptian
Government is sending several military units down here to see that
we are escorted out and turned over to them. They want our heads, Alex!"
"Then they're
going to have to drag me kicking and screaming out of here because I'm not going to quit. Not
when I'm this close!" She turned and began to walk back to the Sphinx. "You can
leave if you want, Freddie,"
she smiled at him, "but I'm staying."
Shaking his head,
he followed her back to the Sphinx. The workers had pulled the stone about
three inches out of the surface.
Far enough so they could
get a grip on it and begin to pull. Alex stood behind them watching in excitement.
Freddie took his
place by her side. "What do you
expect to find?"
She looked at
him and shrugged. "I'm not sure.
The carbon dating on this place proves that it predates the Pyramids and everything
else built here. We've also used sonar equipment and discovered a large room
hidden beneath the Sphinx. This stone obviously hides the entrance to that room. What we find there could validate all my
work."
"What work, Alex?
You've been running around the world since you were eighteen looking for signs of
extra-terrestrial involvement on our planet. What makes you think you'll
find it here in Egypt?"
"Many researchers
have theorized that these incredible
monuments were actually built by aliens."
Freddie lowered
his head. "I've funded your work since
you started, but I had no idea you were going to take it this far. The Egyptian Government isn't happy with us
and they're going to be here very soon."
"I know, I know-"
She stopped as the
mighty stone fell away from the door
throwing up a huge cloud of dust. The workers
scattered. As the dust began to
clear, a lone figure stood in front of the doorway.
It was Alex.
"Finally."
Stepping toward the door, she peered
into a long, dark hallway. "Freddie," she turned to look behind her. "Hand
me a
flashlight."
Curiosity
overwhelmed him. Reaching into a worn
out tan bag slung over his shoulder, he removed two silver flashlights. Handing
one to Alex, he flipped his on and followed her into the doorway. Looking
behind them, they saw all the workers
standing in a semicircle around the door.
"They think this place is
cursed."
"That's absurd, Freddie. It's been proven
that none of the tombs have been cursed. Everyone who died has done so from ancient bacteria found inside them."
Both looked at
each other. Removing two filter masks from his bag, they quickly slipped them over their mouths.
Stepping further into the hall, they found themselves standing in front of a large staircase.
"I wonder how far it goes down?"
Freddie shook his
head. "What did the sonar show?" "We estimated
it was about forty feet down."
"Well, let's find out."
The two slowly
made their way down the ancient staircase. Shining her light on the wall, Alex
saw thousands of Egyptian Hieroglyphs.
Freddie reached
over and ran his hand across the wall. "What do they say?" Alex stepped near the wall and gave
it a quick once-over. "I have no idea." "Some researcher you are." He let out a small nervous chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.
She smiled and
began to make her way down the stairs again. Finally reaching the bottom,
they found themselves
confronted with another long hallway. At its end, they could see light filtering out
onto the floor and walls. "Do you see that?" Alex asked anxiously. Freddie
nodded. "What do you think it is?"
"I'm not sure, but I want to find out," she replied.
The two quickened
their pace as they proceeded. Stopping short,
they found themselves confronted with a beam of bright light that crossed the hall
in front of them. "Looks like a trap."
Freddie examined
the beam. "How ingenious. It seems
rather like one of those laser alarm systems. When you break the beam, an alarm goes off."
"But in our case, something bad happens." Freddie nodded in agreement.
Alex stared at the beam and snapped her fingers. "I've got an idea!" Removing a
small round compact from her back pocket she flipped it open revealing a mirror in
the top. Snapping it in two,
she dropped the bottom half. After pulling
a piece of gum out of her mouth, she stuck it to
the top of the mirror.
"What are you doing?"
"I think I saw this on an episode of 'MacGyver' once. I'm going to
try and reflect the beam back
into itself. All we have to do is decide which side the beam is emanating
from." The two examined both sides.
"They look identical."
"Well, you've got two choices and one of them is wrong."
"That's very reassuring,
Freddie." Looking at both ends, she decided to just pick one. "I've got a fifty-fifty chance.
Here goes." Moving
to the right side, she readied
herself. Counting to three, she quickly passed the mirror into the beam. Slowly moving it to the right, she attached it to the wall with the piece of gum. She let
out a sigh of relief.
Turning to Freddie, she motioned for him to keep
moving.
The light appeared
to grow brighter as they approached the end of the hall. Rounding the corner, they were
confronted by a blinding white glare.
Raising their hands to shield their
eyes, they both pulled on their sunglasses.
"Oh my God," Alex muttered nervously under her breath.
Moving into the room, they stared at the object in the center. "Alex...what is it?"
Freddie was awestruck.
"It's not Egyptian. That's for sure."
Stepping toward
the object, they both tried to
get a good look at it through the harsh light. It seemed to
be a long cylinder with a glowing orb on top. It was standing upright thanks to four legs
that extended down from its midsection. On the front of the device was an odd-shaped control
panel. It was pentagon-shaped with what seemed to be a recessed handprint in
the center.
Alex neared the
panel to get a better look at it. Something
about the handprint struck her as odd. "Look at this, Freddie."
Freddie knelt down
beside it. "It has four fingers just like a normal
hand, but look at that! It has what appear to
be two thumbs. One on each side."
"Definitely not
Egyptian," Alex was transfixed on
the device, "or human for
that matter." The two were
startled by the sound of footsteps
behind them. Twirling around,
Alex found herself confronted by several armed
guards. "Oh shit," she muttered.
The guards shouted
at them in a foreign language much
too quickly for Freddie and Alex to understand. They motioned for the two to slowly
step away from the object. Nodding to each other, Alex and
Freddie raised their hands as the two guards
escorted them out of the room at gunpoint.
Alex leaned over
and whispered to Freddie. "We need to get out of here." Simultaneously, they glanced over at the mirror Alex had attached to the wall. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Freddie nodded.
"This will be very dangerous." Alex agreed. "When I say so, run like
hell."
She let out a loud
moan and doubled over. She leaned her left hand against the wall near the
mirror and wrapped the other around
her stomach. Freddie immediately moved to her
side and laid a hand on her back. Turning back to the soldiers, he motioned frantically. "She's sick! We need
help!"
The soldiers
looked at each other. "Sick," they repeated in broken English. Alex looked up at Freddie. "Run!" Quickly snapping her arm across the mirror,
the light beam shot across the hall. The
two took off, breaking the beam. The soldiers
began to take aim when several wooden spikes shot out of the wall impaling
them. Alex watched in horror as they hung
awkwardly from the spikes as
their bodies twitched.
Alex and Freddie
were almost to the top of the stairs when
another soldier dashed out of the
room, his machine gun blazing. Freddie screamed as a bullet ripped through his
back dropping him instantly to his
knees.
Alex reached the
top of the stairs and flattened to the ground.
"Freddie!"
Waving with his hand,
he motioned for her to run. "Go! I can't walk!" He moaned. "Save yourself!"
"No!"
"Do it!" he shouted.
She looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I'll
never forget you, Freddie!" Jumping to her feet, she ran out the doorway. Breaching the entrance, Alex was quickly blinded by the bright sun.
She had inadvertently left her
sunglasses inside the lower chamber. Taking several steps forward, she bumped
into something.
"Ma'am, I'm going
to have to ask you to come with us."
"Who...?" She trailed off in midsentence. Looking up, she
was standing in front of a large man
dressed in Air Force blue.
He grabbed Alex's
arm. Twisting it behind her back, he handcuffed her hands together. Guiding her toward his jeep, he forced
her inside. Sitting on either side of her
were two heavily armed soldiers in desert camouflage. The man in the US Air
Force uniform climbed into the driver's seat
and cranked the ignition.
"Where am I being
taken?" Alex asked.
"You are to be taken directly to the airport, where you will be shipped
back to the States," the driver answered. "For what reason?"
The man was
silent. Putting the jeep in gear, he turned the car around and began to drive out of the desert.
***
Living
in Las Vegas isn't all it's cracked up to be. Christina Anderson
played with the ballpoint pen in her hand as she stared aimlessly off into space. Brushing an errant lock of blonde
hair out of her blue eyes, she began to
doodle in her notebook. Her bright red nail polish looked good with her
black sweater, she thought.
The room had a bit of a musty smell mingled with the scents of perfume and cologne from the other students. She glanced around at the various objects dealing with history in the room. Her eyes caught on a painting of Washington crossing the Delaware.
She wondered how he managed not to fall out of
the boat standing up like that.
"Are you with us, Christina?"
Snapping herself
out of a daze, she sat up in her chair
and stared at her third hour history
teacher. "Yes, Mr. Matthews."
"Then you can
answer the question I just asked the
class." Nick Matthews hated teaching senior History. He remembered a time when the
students brought the teachers
apples instead of packing guns in
their backpacks. He was a man in his fifties
with gray hair and a neatly trimmed beard. The gray suit he wore was one
he had owned for years, but he liked
it.
"What was the
question again?" Christina asked sheepishly.
"Can you tell me
what the Magna Carta is?" He stared at her impatiently. "From the chapter you read last night in
your history book!" He stepped
closer to her.
She could feel all
the eyes of her fellow students burning into her.
Christina's mind was frantic as she searched for the answer. She hadn't read the assigned chapter last night,
instead, opting to go hang out with a
couple friends. She decided to make a
guess. "The Magna Carta was-" She was
cut off by the bell.
"Well, well, Ms.
Anderson. Saved by the bell." The kids started to gather
up their notebooks and get up to go to the
next class. "Before you leave,
don't forget to read chapters five and six tonight and
finish the questions at the end
of each chapter."
Christina
hurriedly began to pull her papers
together and throw them into her bag. She rushed out of the room so as to avoid
facing the wrath of Mr. Matthews.
"Hold on there, Tina!" She
spun around to see her friend Libby
standing behind her.
"Oh, hey, Libby." She was relieved to discover it wasn't
Mr. Matthews following her.
"Man, Matthews
came down kind of hard on you in there." Libby was the same age as Christina.
She was close to the same height, but
had short brown hair and brown eyes. "He
is such an asshole sometimes."
"Yeah, really."
The two girls
started to walk down the crowded hall
toward their lockers. Libby was about a step behind Christina. She had stopped
to admire one of the many
boys she liked in school. Catching up quickly, she grabbed Christina's arm.
"How about we skip fourth period and get an early lunch?"
"I don't know. This will be the third time
we've missed English this week." She fumbled with the combination on her
locker. Opening the door, she lifted
her backpack off and placed it in her locker.
"All right. Let's go." Both girls checked themselves in her mirror, and then slammed the locker door closed.
The school was
open campus, so it was generally
known that if a student wanted to leave
early or show up late, they could. It was
a policy the school board was desperately trying to change. The two girls strode through the metal detectors in the
lobby and out the front doors.
"Come on, we'll take my car," Libby began to walk in the direction of the parking lot.
"What are
we gonna do if we get caught, Libby?"
Christina had always been the good girl in
school. She always tried to get good grades and had never missed a day of class
until her senior year.
"We'll be fine.
We'll just tell them we have senior priv this hour." Libby, on
the other hand, was known as many
things in school, none of them good. "That always works for me."
Arriving at the parking lot next to the school, they weaved their way through until they found Libby's car. Both girls climbed into Libby's red convertible Volkswagen Bug.
Immediately
rolling down her window, Libby lit a cigarette she'd pulled out of her
purse. "Want one, Tina?"
"No thanks." She watched
Libby take a long drag off the
cigarette and slowly exhale the smoke. "How can you stand the smell of those things?"
"You get used
to it." Putting the car into
gear, she pulled out of the parking
lot. "Where do you want to go for lunch?"
"Wherever. You're driving, and I'm not really
that hungry." Christina rolled down
her window to try and get some fresh air. "Just somewhere we can talk."
"I know just the place. Trust me." With that, Libby piloted the car out into traffic
and headed downtown.
The two didn't
talk on the way. Libby had turned up her car stereo and was dancing and singing
along to her favorite song on the radio. Christina stared out the window at the many casinos they passed. The signs on
the casinos advertised everything from a ninety-nine cent buffet to topless
waitresses, obviously geared to pull
in tourists.
Christina had only
lived in Las Vegas for about a year now. She'd moved out here when her dad had
taken an important government job. Prior to this, her father was a captain in the Air Force. She had never really asked many questions
about his new job, mostly because she really didn't care and didn't want to be living in what she referred to as 'the
sin capitol of the world'. She missed living in Colorado. It had been a culture shock moving here. She
was used to living in the mountains with all the trees and snow. Every time she
looked at the Nevada landscape, she cringed. She hated
the sagebrush and the one hundred and fifteen degree temperatures in the summer.
Oh, well. In a couple months, I'll
be eighteen and graduated from school
and I'll finally leave this god-forsaken state.
"We're here." Libby pulled the car up to the curb and
shut off the engine. Both girls
got out of the car and
into the dry heat of the Nevada
summer. "Louigi's Pizza Palace."
"Louigi's Pizza
Palace? Why here?"
"I was
in the mood for a slice
of pie, and there's a really cute waiter that works here."
Christina sighed and followed Libby into the
restaurant. It was decorated in what seemed
to be a mobster motif of the late
twenties. All the tables had red and white checkered tablecloths, and the room
was dimly lit with green light fixtures that hung from the ceiling. Along the left wall
were several booths, and at the very back, she
could see the white tiled kitchen through the service window. Several ceiling fans whirred nosily above their heads. In
the far corner, a group of
men sat at a table laughing and drinking beer. They
all turned to look at the two teenage
girls as they entered.
"Come on, let's get
a booth." Libby grabbed
Christina's hand and led her over to the first empty booth. Sitting
down, Libby immediately grabbed a menu and began to look it over. "I'm in the mood for
pepperoni, how about you?"
Christina nodded
in response. She was feeling a little guilty for skipping class, and a little
uncomfortable in this place. "Can I tell
you something, Libby?"
Libby looked up from her menu just
long enough to answer. "Yeah, sure. What is it, girlfriend?"
Christina began to
fidget a little bit. She hadn't wanted to say
anything to anyone, but at the same time, she wanted
to make sure she wasn't losing
her mind. She started off slowly. "I haven't been sleeping well."
"Well that's not too uncommon,"
Libby answered from behind her menu.
Grabbing the menu away from Libby, she set it on the table next to her. "I haven't
been sleeping well ever since I moved to this state." She hesitated, "I've been
having the worst nightmares."
"Probably just the shock from moving
here. I've heard of people dying when they move to a different state because it's so different." Libby's voice was heavy with sarcasm.
"Get serious, Libby." Christina was now regretting
bringing up the subject. "I keep having the same recurring nightmare."
Libby's interest
had now been piqued. "Tell me about it."
Just thinking about the nightmare brought vivid
flashes of it into her mind. Christina cringed. "Okay." She composed herself. "They all start the same way. I'm lying
in bed, then suddenly-"
"A gorgeous man walks into your room, right?" Libby began to snicker to herself.
"Actually, that sounds more like one of my dreams."
Christina just glared at
her.
"I'm sorry."
Libby declared, unnerved by
Christina's stare.
"Anyway," Christina paused momentarily to see if she
would be interrupted again, "I'm lying
in bed, then suddenly, I see a bright flash of blue light outside my bedroom
window." The small hairs on the back of her
neck began to stand up. "Then I'm
somewhere else."
"Where?"
"I don't know. I've never seen this place before. The walls seem to be made of some kind of metal, because
they're really shiny."
"Do you remember
anything else about the dream?"
Christina nodded.
"There's something else." She felt her throat get tight. "It feels
like a hospital because I always end up lying on some kind of table." Libby
moved her hand onto Christina's. She could see that Christina was visibly shaking now.
"You don't have to go on," Libby comforted her.
"The worst part is always
at the very end. I'm lying naked on the table and I can't
move. I can hear things moving
around me, but I can't turn my head to look. Even if I
could, it's very dark in the room and I can hardly see anything."
Christina bit her lip to try
not to cry. "Then I feel something touch my leg and slowly move its way up my body." Libby's mouth was now agape as she
listened to emotion fill Christina's voice. "I
don't know what's touching me, but I don't
like it. As it nears my chest, a very bright
white light begins to shine in my eyes." Christina
stopped. It was the last part she always hated the worst. "I start to feel like I'm drifting off to sleep. My
eyelids get heavy and I have a hard time
keeping them open. But just before they close, I see this...this thing." The tears began to roll down her face smearing her mascara into long, black streaks on
her cheeks. "It's not human, Libby. Just for a moment, I see it's large head and it's big black eyes!"
Libby was shocked
at how traumatic this dream was to Christina. She searched for an
explanation to ease her friend's
pain. "Maybe it is a person. You're just seeing them through
the glare of the bright light
making their face shadowed, or-"
Christina cut her off. "No, that's not it. Don't
you think I thought of that? I know
what I see in my dreams sounds crazy, but that's what happens!" She was crying heavily now. Lifting her hands up, she placed them over her face. Both girls sat
there silently for what seemed an
eternity until the waitress interrupted them.
"Is everything all right here, girls?"
Libby looked up. "Yeah. We're just fine, and just leaving." Standing, she reached
down and put her hand on Christina's
shoulder. "Come on, girl. I'm gonna take you home."
Christina looked
at Libby and nodded.
The car ride
home seemed to take forever.
Libby had turned off the radio and the only sound they could hear
was the tires riding on the pavement. They arrived at Christina's house about
ten minutes later. Christina's house was a tall light blue three- story house. The yard was always freshly cut and the hedges neatly trimmed. It was in a nice neighborhood, but all the houses
tended to look alike. All the yards
had tall trees along the front and back
of the property, but the browns of
the Nevada desert were visible
looming behind them. Her house was on the very edge of a new subdivision.
Libby was the first to get out of the car. She walked around to the passenger
side and reached in to help Christina
out. Slowly, she guided her up the
stairs to her front door. Christina
dug her hand into the right pocket of her jeans and
fished out a set of keys.
Finding the front door key,
she tried to push
it into the lock, but her hands were still shaking badly. Libby took
the keys from her and easily
unlocked the door.
Stepping inside,
Libby closed the door behind them. She had been in Christina's house many
times, but every time she saw it, she felt
like a poor girl walking into a palace. Christina's house was lavishly
decorated. The floors were all a
deep brown shade of hardwood. The
furniture was cream colored and
perfectly complimented the white interior walls of the house. Pictures of all
shapes and sizes hung on the walls showing the
many members of Christina's family at various stages of their lives. The
front wall of the house was a gigantic picture window with light white curtains
that filtered the sunlight as it flowed
in, giving the living room a kind of ethereal feel.
Taking a right
into the hallway, Libby moved
Christina past the master bedroom
and up the stairs to the second floor
where her bedroom was located. This floor was very similar to the first, except the wood
floors had been replaced by a light colored carpet. Libby swiftly guided
Christina into her bedroom.
Entering her room,
she quickly sat Christina down on the
edge of her king-size bed. "Stay here for
a sec, okay, Tina? I'll go
get you a cold rag."
She walked swiftly
through the room, past hordes of stuffed
animals that occupied every corner, and into Christina's bathroom. Opening one of the cupboards
on the left, she retrieved a small
washcloth and quickly wetted it down with cold water in the sink. Walking back,
she found Christina now lying down on her bed.
Handing the cold
rag to Christina, she sat down on the edge of the bed next to her, "You okay, Tina?"
Christina shook
her head. "I'm tired of the dreams, Libby. I don't think I can
handle them anymore." She placed the cold rag over her eyes and lay back on the
bed.
"Yes you can. You're stronger than that."
Christina shook
her head in a mocking gesture. "Yeah right."
Libby slid back
onto the bed next to Christina. Looking
up at the ceiling, she noticed for the first time a poster of Brad Pitt with his shirt off. "What do we have here?"
"What?" Christina
asked innocently.
"The poster on
your ceiling. Isn't that Brad Pitt? No wonder you're having bad dreams." Libby began to giggle.
For the first time all
day, Christina tuned to Libby and smiled. "Some people
have no taste I guess." The two girls laughed. It felt good.
"Sorry to run out on you, but I've got to get back to school.
If I miss anthropology one
more time, Mrs. Jenkins is going to
fail me." Libby sat up and
turned around to face Christina. "Are
you gonna be all right?"
"Yeah, I'm gonna be okay."
Libby stood and
headed for the door. She stopped just outside of it and turned around.
"I'll call you tonight to check on
you, okay?"
"Okay." Christina smiled at Libby.
Libby walked out
the door, only to peek back in. "And
by the way, I'll bring over
my poster of Ricky Martin. You'll
definitely have better dreams with
him watching over you at night." She
snickered and left.
Christina lay on
the bed for a long time, just allowing
her mind to drift off into space. She tried not to think
of anything as she held the cool damp
rag to her face. The images from her dreams kept flashing in her mind no matter how
hard she tried to keep them out. I have to
do something to keep myself
occupied.
Looking around her
room, she decided to turn on
her stereo and listen to some music.
It always had a way of calming her down. Reaching over to her nightstand, she grabbed the remote and
hit the power button, then the
play button. The music rolled out of the speakers filling her mind with nothing
but images of the band performing.
Lying back on the bed, she slowly began to drift off to sleep. She knew she couldn't face the
dreams again, but she was so tired...
***
Christina's mind
was screaming. Her lungs and body felt as if they were on fire,
but she forced herself to keep running. The crunch of the hard
dirt under her feet was being drowned
out by the sound of her heart pounding
in her ears. The warm summer
wind blew across her body giving her some relief
from the hot sweat running down
her face and chest. Her long blond hair was waving in the wind as she ran and
her deep blue eyes were filled with terror. The
night sky was empty and silent. The moon stared down unforgivingly, as if it knew what was about to happen.
Running hard
across the desert, she spotted a highway in the distance. I need to
get out of here. She
couldn't remember how she had gotten here, but she knew she hadn't walked.
Christina wore only a nightgown and she wasn't prone to sleepwalking. She
didn't know why she was running, only that she
was very scared,
more scared than she had ever
been in her life.
Just before she reached the highway, her bare foot caught on a rock knocking her sprawling to the ground. Her body hit
hard against the pavement. She started
to lift herself up, when she
felt a trickle of blood drip
down from her nose. She looked at
her bare foot that had caught the rock. It had a jagged cut all the way across the
top and was bleeding heavily. Wiping the blood away from her nose with her sleeve, she slowly turned to look behind her.
The landscape was
barren except for a few jagged rocks and several patches of sagebrush. A few mounds
of dirt filled her vision.
She couldn't help remembering how much these looked like the sand dunes of the Sahara
Desert she had seen in her schoolbooks. Then she saw it. She felt as if all her nightmares had come to life. Slowly rising above one of the
mounds, she saw an ominous glowing blue light.
Lifting herself off the ground,
she forced herself to start running
again. The cut on her foot was
getting worse and the pavement was chewing up the soles of her feet. She turned to look behind her just in time to see the ball
of light streak past her in the sky. Instantly stopping, she gasped as the ball of light hovered silently in front of her.
The light looked
tiny when she had first seen it. Now
with it not more than ten feet in
front of her, she could see
how enormous it actually was. It was
slowly changing from a light blue to a crisp white, then back again. She could
see it slowly rotate from left to
right.
Her heart felt as if it was going
to jump out of her chest, it was beating so hard. Trying to take in
a deep breath, she lifted her arms in front of her in an effort to guard
herself from the ball of light. Although no sound was coming from the object, Christina could feel an intense
heat emanating from it.
Her eyes were
trying to adjust to the blue light in front of her when it
slowly began to brighten. A wave of
fear washed over her. Her mind was
telling her to run, but her body wasn't responding. Quickly, she
began to feel tired. Her muscles
ached from the run through the
desert. Her eyelids became heavy and finally
shut. She felt her pulse slowing and it was becoming harder and harder to take a deep
breath. It became too much. She gave up fighting. Her body crumpled to the ground,
her head crashing onto the highway.
Christina's mind
was drifting on the edge of consciousness when she began to hear a voice inside
her head. "You will not be harmed," it asserted
calmly. The voice sounded as if three distinctly different voices had said
the same thing in unison, but she could tell this was only one voice. Calmness washed
over her body as she finally succumbed to sleep.
"You will not be harmed."