No sooner than I drifted off, a prickling feeling, like a spider crawling on my skin, shook me out of my sleep. A tangible presence filled the room, like the suffocating humidity of Willow Creek summers. At first I thought someone was in the house, but they would have set off the alarm. Still, I couldn’t shake the unsettling feeling of intrusion. I tiptoed carefully around the house, peering into all the rooms. A mixed whiff of lavender and vanilla greeted me in Desi’s room, offering a moment of comfort. The floor boards squeaked under my weight, surely signaling to the intruder I was looking for them. Thankfully, everything was as it should be, so I went to the backyard. I half expected some shady, dark figure lurking in the treeline, watching us, trying to find our vulnerabilities. Instead, I found strange lights pulsating an unnatural green glow, dancing around the steps, emitting an eery high-pitched whine. I crept closer. As I neared, a blinding white shaft of light enveloped me like a spotlight catching an escapee. The light pinned me down, eclipsing my vision for a moment. I looked up, and my heart pounded so hard I could hear it over the whirring above me. A spaceship hovered over the house!! Its door hissed open, and an invisible force sucked me up and whisked me away to only Watcher knows where. The chilling whoosh of air stole my breath. I couldn’t even cry out to Sophia.
Three hours later, they returned me with no memory of where I had been or what they had done to me. And, believe me, my brain nearly exploded trying to force a memory. My head was foggy, and I felt numb, like they drugged me or something. I couldn’t do much in that state, so I crawled back into bed. With any luck, Sophia never realized I left and I could keep this little rendezvous to myself. Heh, who am I kidding? I got struck by lightning and told everyone. But this felt different. Someone violated me, even though I didn’t know what they had done. Even if all they did was admire my fetching good looks, they still came to my home and took me! I couldn’t burden Sophia with that and risk her feeling unsafe.
In the morning, I stirred, opening my eyes slowly as if to check all my systems one by one and make sure I was good. I felt relatively normal. The jitters and the grogginess subsided, but as I looked over at my wife, who slept so peacefully, I debated on telling her. I felt troubled and needed to confide in someone, but at what cost? If keeping this a secret meant I’d be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life, so be it. But I never want her to feel that way. So, I swallowed my anxiety and went downstairs to eat. Shortly after, Sophia came down, and I put on a brave face, hoping she wouldn’t notice anything off, all the while knowing she would.
“Good morning.” Everything about her was so sunny and cheerful, from her tone to her smile to the way she put down her plate. I couldn’t disrupt her peace today. “You alright?”
Just as I was about to give her a fresh-baked chocolate chip lie, something inside me shifted. Like, literally shifted! It was the oddest sensation I ever felt. A painful cramp followed the shift. It doubled me over, forcing a groan from my mouth and my hands to clench my stomach.
But before I knew it, whatever had happened was over, and I felt 100% myself. So strange!
“Luca! What’s wrong?”
“Nothing! Yeah, I, uhh…I think I’m just really hungry.”
She eyed me suspiciously as I grabbed another serving of scramble. She said nothing, but I heard the wheels in her head turning. If I could keep smiling, maybe I could convince her to forget what she saw. She had to go to work anyway, so she finished her food and headed upstairs to get dressed. Desi left for camp, and an hour later, Sophia left for work. I wouldn’t say I was afraid, but the idea of being alone didn’t sound so good, so I grabbed Rosie and went for a jog.
I tried to focus on the scenery and everything I loved about this neighborhood, but my mind kept going back to last night and my weird pain from this morning. What did they do to me? I remembered feeling drugged when I got back, so maybe whatever anesthesia they used had worn off. But I had no visible cuts or scars on me, so how did they do whatever they did? And why the stomach?? At some point, my jog turned into a walk because I was so tired and my back was killing me. Getting older really sucked, but this was different. After my adult birthday, I started experiencing knee pain and struggled with endurance, but this was more than that. It was barely 9:30, and I felt like I needed to go back to bed, not only to nap but also to rest my aching back. What is going on with me??
