11 Hours

Hour 9

I woke up to my head aching. Everything was so blurry at first. I could tell that I was in a confined space. It seemed like I was in a glass box. Was I in a glass box? Then I fully woke up. I was locked down in a chair. Both of my wrists were tied up to both sides of the chair with metal restraints. Then I looked at my reflection in the glass and noticed that I was hooked up to a bunch of machines. I had little circles all over my forehead that had wires coming out of them that lead to the helmet that hovered over my head.
" ALEX!" someone yelled.
   I looked to my right and saw Bryson in the room next to me. He looked horrible. His eyes were red and puffy.
" Are you ok?" I asked.
   He shook his head.
" They're in...in my HEAD!" he yelled.
   Bryson sounded like a crazy person. He sounded like he was on his last straw. My breathing intensified....where was I?
" Good morning beautiful." a woman said.
I looked forward and this average-sized woman with blonde hair and blue eyes was standing across the room.
" How did you get in here? Who are you?" I asked.
" You don't need to know either of those things," she replied.
   She walked up to me and put her hand on my cheek and smiled.
" Alex..." she said softly.
" Who are you?" I asked again.
   She immediately took her hand off my face and backed away from me.
" I would say that I'm sorry to do all of this...but I'm not," she said.
" LET ME OUT!" I yelled.
   The lady laughed and waved her hand to something beside me. I looked over my shoulder and a tall black man with an afro was standing at a computer. The computer was hooked up to all the wires that were in me.
" What are you gonna do to me?" I asked.
" Cause you a lot of pain Alex." the lady responded.
   I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Out of every possibility in my head, this didn't make the list of 50 possibilities. Did we get on the wrong ship? This is supposed to be the aliens' ship why are there humans here?
" Don't give into Alex!" Bryson yelled.
   I looked over at him with confusion. Give in to what?
" Shut him up." the lady demanded.
   Suddenly someone walked over to Bryson and grabbed a big, metal needle that was filled with a purple substance, and jabbed it in Bryson's neck.
" No!" I cried out.
" Shut her up too." the lady added.
   I looked at her then I looked at the man who started typing something on his keyboard. Then things suddenly got blurry. I started to see stars. My fingers started to melt into the seat and the human started to...morph. OH MY GOD...now the humans were the same aliens we were fighting? Is this real. Are the HUMANS the ALIENS?! Did they drug me? Now I couldn't feel my toes. I started to become very hard to keep my eyes open. My eyelids were so heavy. I tried to fight the urge to close my eyes but...they eventually closed.

   I knew exactly where I was before I opened my eyes. I recognized the smell. I remembered how my comforter felt. How was I home? I was just inside that glass box. I opened my eyes and I was right. I was laying in my bed on top of my covers. I sat up then felt dizzy and laid back down.
" Was it all a dream?" I thought to myself.
   At first, I was relieved until I remembered that a lot happened between Bryson and I...and I didn't want that to be a dream. Was Mya fake? Does Robert even have a daughter?
Then someone knocked on my door.
" Hello?" I asked.
" It's your mom Alex." my mom said sarcastically.
   I immediately leaped off my bed with joy and opened my door. There she was. My mom. I hugged her so tight. Even though I wanted everything with Bryson to be real I missed my family.
" Where's dad and Lily?" I asked.
" Downstairs. I made dinner," she responded.
   My mom and I walked downstairs and joined my dad and Lily who were already sitting at the table with empty plates sitting in front of them. I stood there for a second to look at their faces. I had spent the last day or two, or so I thought, wondering if my family was dead. It felt so good to see them again...even if I technically saw them...I saw them before I went to school. How I did from there to here? Now things started to get confusing.
" Alex are you going to sit?" my dad asked.
   I nodded my head and sat down next to Lily.
" Did I go to school today?" I asked.
   Both of my parents nodded their heads.
" Then how did i get here...the last thing I know that happened that was real was me sitting in the classroom before I saw the alien sh-"
" Before you threw up and passed out." my mom interrupted.
   Before I passed out? That doesn't make any sense.
" When did I pass out?" I asked.
" Well, we don't know the specifics honey. Your school called and said you were sick and you needed one of us to pick you up." my mom cleared up.
   But when could that have happened. Before or after I saw the alien ship.
" They said when you woke up in the nurse's office you were mumbling about seeing an alien ship." said my Dad.
   There we go. That clears things up. I got worried. For a second I thought this was a dream, but this was very much real.
" Well, I feel fine now," I said.
" We're glad. We are going to take you to the doctor's tomorrow for you to get looked at." my mom said as she brought a big pot over to the table.
" Help yoursel-"
   My mom was saying until someone burst into the door with a gun and a ski mask on.
" Everyone go to the basem-"
   My dad yelled until I heard a gunshot. The four of us immediately dropped to the ground. My mom and Lily quickly crawled to the basement door but I looked back to see if my dad was ok. He wasn't. He was lying there dead with a bloody hole in his back. Tears began to swell in my eyes. Suddenly someone grabbed my arm and pulled me away from dad. I looked in the direction I was being pulled and it was my mom. She had a gun in her hand. Was this seriously happening? The first day I get back from my mission my dad dies... My mom started to reach for the door until we heard another gunshot and I dropped closer to the ground even though I was already on all fours. I looked over my shoulder and my mom was holding her side while pointing the gun at the intruder. Another gunshot. Except for this time, I think it was my mom pulling the trigger because the guy dropped to the ground.
" Get to the basement now." my mom said tiredly.
" But mom-"
" GET DOWN THERE NOW!" she demanded.
   I reached for the basement door and let Lily go first. I looked at my mom for one last time before I crawled through the door and closed it behind me.
" Are mommy and daddy going to die?" Lily asked as she walked down the stairs.
   I couldn't get a single word out of my mouth. I was numb. I felt nothing. Lily's words went through one ear and out the other.
" Sissy."
   I looked down at my sister who was looking up at me with tears in her eyes. Yes, Lily. Our parents are gonna die. One of them is already dead. Our mom is going to probably die. All I had was Lily left.
Then I heard the doorknob rattle.
" Lily go hide," I said sternly.
" But sissy-"
" Yes, mom and dad are gonna die. We will both die if we don't hide. Please, Lily...go hide. I can't lose all three of you on the same day." I told her as I gripped her shoulders.
   She hugged me before she ran off behind a tower of boxes. I was about to go hide until someone burst through the door and rushed down the stairs with their gun in the air.
" Hands up!" they yelled.
   I was shaken to the core. I didn't know what to do. They couldn't kill me. Who would take care of Lily? Lily can't lose all of us. She's too young. I didn't react fast enough so they put the gun to my head and pushed me down on my knees. I began to breathe in and out so hard that it hurt to breathe. Everything hurt. Physically and mentally. My parents were dead. Then the gun clicked. This was it. I was going to die. At least Lily was saf-
" No!" Lily yelled.
   Another gunshot. The slow-motion thing happened again. I looked over to the right and lily was lying on her back with a bloody hole in the middle of her head. I gasped and completely fell to the ground. I told her to hide. First my dad, then my mom, and now Lily. They're all dead. Why are the cops not here yet? Everything hurts. It hurts to hold back my tears. Please kill me too so I don't have to live without. If I have to live without them everything would have been for nothing. Then someone grabbed me by my hair and pulled me up off the ground. I looked into the person's eyes blankly. I had no regard for my own life. I wanted out.
Then someone put something over my head and knocked me out.