Evolve - Chapter 1 Chapter One

Monday morning, and I’m running down the hallway of my apartment building in Parktown, Johannesburg and almost trip as I reach the stairs, I’m running late for school and I still needed to catch the bus there, my uniform looks a bit scruffy, tie hanging sideways, my dreads bouncing about occasionally smacking me in the face, I feel the cool morning air brushing against the shaved sides of my head. By the time I reach the bus stop I’m practically wheezing, this does not help the fact that I’m already skinny and terribly unfit. The early morning sun rises above the cluster of short buildings with the one solitary building towering above them all, this being the Telkom tower of course, I’ve always thought of it as a giant weird shaped lollipop stuck in the ground.

“Running late again Terry?” Says Tsepo, the guy I usually catch the bus with when I’m late, only he takes the bus to get to work and I take it to get it to school, obviously.

“Yeah, second Monday this month, I think I might in trouble this time around.” I say smiling nervously, as I look down the street just as my bus turns the corner.

Thank goodness it didn’t take the usual fifteen to twenty minutes for it to get here, I’m the first person in, the bus is already pretty full so I stand as close to the door as I can. The bus surges forward after everyone is on, I reckon now is a pretty good time for me to check my texts.

-Jabu: Dude, where are you? You know you can’t be late again right?

-Jabu: The Croc says you’re in detention for the next three days bro.

Jabu is pretty much the only person I tolerate at school, I believe they call those ‘friends’. The Croc is what we’ve nicknamed our school principal, basically he really looks like a crocodile transformed into a human through a spell gone wrong or some convoluted experiment.

I look up to see my school looming in the distance, the four tiered white and red reception house coming into view. I stuff my phone into my blazer pocket and press the buzzer for the bus to stop by the stop which is right next to my school. I hop out and make a mad dash for the gate and zip past just as the security guard shuts it but I don’t stop running, I know classes have started because there’s no one outside and I can hear the sound of my footsteps echo, I come to a stop at the door of my first class to catch my breath and fix my tie, sort of fix it, then I open the door and walk into my tenth grade math class, instantly catching everyone’s attention with my grand entrance, man I hate attention, I walk over to our math teacher Miss Crawley, a woman in her late twenties caramel colour skin, light brown eyes, long dark hair, beautiful is the simplest way I can describe her, the other descriptions wouldn’t be family friendly. She is wearing a pair of jeans and a guns and roses t-shirt with a denim jacket and a pair doc martens. Did I mention she has the most terrifying stern look ever?

“Morning,” I begin nervously

“Good morning Mr Barnes, nice of you to grace us with your presence.” She says in a tone that is mixed in with a hint of sarcasm

“Sorry I’m late, again.” I Say clearing my throat

“You’re lucky you’re one of the smart ones but that’s not enough to get you off with the principal, take your seat.” Says Miss Crawley, which gets a massive ‘ohhhhhhhh’ from the class

As I navigate my way through the class she proceeds with the lesson, I reach my table which is at the back of the class next to Jabu who flashes me a smile which I return and offer a fist bump as I sit. I unpack my stuff and focus on the lesson.

After a half hour the bell goes off through the intercom system signalling the end of the lesson.

“Remember, pages 60 through to 70 that’s your homework, I want my work people or I feed you to the Croc.” Says Miss Crawley jokingly even though she is serious though, drawing a few giggles from the class

“Man that nickname really caught on, it’s so funny how Nomzamo is claiming she came up with it, when it actually you.”

“Hey man, its fine by me, you know I hate attention.” I reply

I sling my bag over my shoulder and we both make our way out of class and head in the direction of the computer lab for the C.A.T lesson, my favourite class mostly because I get to veg out.

“The Croc is out for your head though, you best believe that bro.” Says Jabu

“Man that dude is always out to get me for something, like I’m the only kid in school or whatever.” I reply

“Did your dad ever tell what happened to them during their high school days which is making him have it out for you so much?”

“Not just high school, apparently they ended up in the same university, but to answer your question no he did not.” I say exhaling loudly as I open the door into the lab and head for my computer and take a seat, Jabu goes to the other end of the class.

“Hey Terry” Says James, the big well built dude I sit next to in CAT, he’s pretty cool, not the jerk buff guy type.

“How you doing Jimmy?” I say as he takes his seat

“I’m doing alright. Not sure if you heard but the Croc’s been looking for you, just saw him outside, told him I ain’t seen you yet.” He says not taking his eyes off his screen as he types his login.

“Yeah, Jabu told me, I guess I’m gonna see him eventually.” I say as I type my login

The door opens and in steps a man with shaggy blonde hair and deep blue eyes, Flint our C.A.T teacher, also the coolest teacher in the school, he is pretty much a dabbler of everything geek. He’s wearing a Star Wars Kylo Ren t-shirt with a pair of skinny jeans and chuck tailors. He has always insisted we not call him “Mr Flint”, he never did give any reasons as to why, unless the Croc or some important is around of course.

“Morning guys and girls, uhm just continue with Phase two of your assignments, the internet is back up so no excuses about not being able to do research and if you need help you know where to find me, alright you may now continue.” He says flashing a smile as he looks around for a few seconds before headed over to his station.

I would love to say I’m going to do phase two right now but no I’m actually not because 9gag.com is the perfect way to veg out and pass the time, and also just searching random stuff on Google.

I sit up in my chair and let my hands hover of the keyboard while I decide what I wanna search and then I type:

Thrift shops in Johannesburg

Then I hit enter and my screen goes black, creasing my eyebrows in confusion I furiously left click on my mouse and tap the escape button a couple of times. Jimmy is the computer wiz, I’m guessing he should know what I screwed up.

“Hey uh Jimmy—-” I begin in a whisper turning to face where Jimmy should be but isn’t, in fact the entire row of seats to my right that should have people in them is empty.

I know there’s no way my hearing is that bad that 11 people can move without me hearing it. I stand up to get a view of the whole class and looking around I’m the only person in the room, even Flint is absent from his station.

“Hello?” I say slowly

“Where’d everybody go?” I whisper to myself moving from place and turning around

Behind me leaning against the window from outside of the class is person, but from here all I can see is their back. Now I know what you’re thinking ‘Terry that’s a bad idea dude, you don’t even know who that is, it could be a wizard or a dude with a vaporiser gun that killed everyone’. But in this situation I don’t really have any other choice but to approach the mystery person.

I exhale before headed for the door and stepping outside, I take a second or two before turning to look over at the person leaning against the window. It’s a woman, she looks about thirty, at least I think she looks thirty these days you never really know, dark hair tied in a pony tail. She’s wearing a black business suit and stilettos to match, her arms are crossed. I can tell she’s noticed my presence but doesn’t turn to acknowledge it yet. She exhales loudly before finally turning to face me, the moment she does I involuntarily take a startled step back because of her eyes, her eyes keep changing colour literally every second as if there are mini strobe lights in them.

“So this is Earth.” She says spreading her arms for a moment

And for some reason I feel the irresistible urge to respond to that statement.

“Uhhh yeah a little piece of it sure, the eyes were a bit of a giveaway but I take it you’re not from around here.” I say, remaining rooted to my spot

“Far from it young specie, I am not of this galaxy to begin with.” She says smiling

I could swear the mini strobe lights in her eyes shined brighter when she smiled, or maybe that’s just me freaking myself out more than I already am.

“Gagalaxy, not from this galaxy as in the Milky Way? With, you know the sun and all the planets; you mean that kind of not from this galaxy?” I ask nervously, my heart is pounding in my chest

“Precisely” She says, still smiling

“And you just happen to be able to speak English?”

“Ah yes, I do forget that your species is of low intelligence only capable of utilising approximately 14% of your intellectual as well as brain capacity.”

“You literally just used big words and a common statistic to call me stupid.” I say, with what I’m sure is a poker face as my facial expression

“Indeed I did.” She says smiling, still

“I don’t think people usually smile after calling a person stupid, unless it’s sarcastic or something.”

“But I am not what you would call a human person.” Still smiling, I gotta say something, the smile is creeping me out

“Can you please not smile? Its kinda creepy” I say, to which her smile immediately vanishes replaces by a semi-blank expression

“Is this expression more acceptable?”

“I guess it’ll do, less creepy.”

“So if you’re an alien why are you here?” I ask

“I am here sent by our leader to conduct what you would classify as an experiment.”

“What kind of experiment?”

“I have to separate the wheat from the chaff as your Earthly expression would put it.”

“What does that mean?” I say finally moving from where I’m standing and taking a couple of steps forward

“Your world as you know it that will change in exactly seven hours and seventeen minutes from now, those who remained during the first test such as yourself will be affected by this change, I do not know how it will affect you exactly however you will not perish from it.” She says

My brain hurts, I would be lying if I said I never wished an alien would come down to Earth but I always pictured a more spaceships in the sky type of thing like Independence Day or War of The Worlds type of thing. Not a creepy terminator like lady with strobe lights for eyes telling me the Earth is in the middle of an intergalactic experiment.

“What do you mean by those who remained during the first test?” I ask, because I need answers or my head will explode.

“I believe you have already looked around and have not seen any other human person, that is because they did not have the strength to hold their physical form. Think of it as if there is a pathogen in the air you breathe and you have natural immunity therefore you have survived.” She says

“You mean everyone’s dead?” I ask with an expression and tone that is a mixture of horror and sadness, as I think of my parents

“Not at all, they will return in two minutes and I shall be gone.”

Thank goodness, I did not want an I am Legend moment, I wouldn’t have been able to take not seeing Marvel’s Infinity Wars play out, and also I do love my parents.

“Am I the only one awake in the school?” I ask

The alien lady steps forward and brushes my cheek with her hand before smiling, this time a sincere non-alien, almost human smile that catches me by surprise.

“Terry Barnes you are the only human to survive the first stage that is not unconscious, I am here out of intrigue, you are human yes however you have a strength that even you are not yet aware of.” She says

In that instant a portal opens behind her, yes a portal, and yes I know it’s a portal looks like I’ve played enough video games and watched more than enough movies, series and anime to know a portal when I see one. The portal gives off a warm yellow glow as if it’s made out of rays of the sun that you can actually see.

“Goodbye Terry Barnes, do continue to intrigue me.” She says turning towards the portal

“Wait! What’s your name? I mean it’s kinda unfair that you know my name and I don’t know yours.”

“In Earth speak my name is Marlea.” She says before entering the portal and disappearing.

So that just happened, an alien woman with strobe lights for eyes named Marlea just walked into a portal and disappeared, either to her space ship or her home galaxy not to mention the other stuff she told me. Dammit I should have asked if she’s got a spaceship in orbit or something.

I stand outside the classroom in silence, processing everything I just learned and then I feel hand on my shoulder and squeal in alarm and turn to see Jabu standing behind me.

“Woah, hey now, relax it’s just me. Why’d you just walk out of class just now?” He asks looking seriously puzzled

Wait so the last eight to ten minutes didn’t happen for him? I turn and look into the class through the window and it’s full of people again, they are all going on with their work like nothing happened. I am a little bummed that Jabu didn’t get past the first test in the intergalactic experiment.

“Terry?” Says Jabu sounding concerned

“Oh yeah, sorry dude, I was feeling a little light headed and nauseous, didn’t wanna puke on the keyboard.” I say faking a smile and patting Jabu on the shoulder before headed into the class.

Lucky for me Flint gets really immersed in CS:GO so he didn’t notice my ‘exiting’ of the class, even if it was only for a few seconds for everyone else except for me. I mean there’s no way I hallucinated any of that, it was real, as crazy as it was to experience, my only question right now is what the hell is gonna happen in seven hours and eleven minutes that’s gonna change the world.

For pretty much the rest of the day I retreat into myself, and just in case you’re wondering no I haven’t bumped into the Croc yet which is I guess lucky, but still the least of what’s going on in my head. It’s now been four and half hour hours since my encounter with Marlea, and school is out, she said seven hours and seventeen minutes and at that time it around 10AM and now it is 14:30, which means at around 17:17PM whatever is meant to happen will happen.

I make my way down towards the front of the school in front of the reception which has a large open space set in a semi-garden set up with a fountain in the centre, there are people everywhere and I make my way manoeuvring through the crowd of people standing in their groups, funny how when we’re all in class we really want to go home but when the time comes to go we all stand around and socialise, or they stand around and I go catch the bus usually, the worst thing about manoeuvring through a crowd of high school kids is when you bump into some random couple being all touchy feely in front of you blocking your way, and yeah you guessed it that’s my current predicament only this is not a random couple. This is the school’s golden couple Lerato and Ben, the top two seniors not just in our school but in the district, which explains why all the teachers look the other way about their PDA action (well except the Croc of course, he’s a different creature).

Ben is your classic tall light skinned dude with a strong cheek bone and a killer smile, the kind of smile that would glow and make that tinkle sound if he was on a toothpaste advert, also he’s handsome, so handsome that one time I was walking in front of him without knowing and had a bunch of girls that I thought were looking my way and I waved like an idiot trying to look cool, only to realise that he was flashing his ‘tinkle’ smile at them, never was I so embarrassed. His brown hair is cut short and neat.

Lerato is the hottest girl in school, and yes that is a broad opinion I know, she’s like Ms Crawley multiplied three times. She has her braids hanging down the sides of her beautiful face, soft brown eyes that seem to tinkle all the time, a seemingly perfect circle of a face with a cute button nose and slightly thick lips to complete her beautiful face. She has a body like a model, so good she makes her uniform not look like uniform (I know it kinda doesn’t make sense but you get it). Both of them are wearing white blazers meaning they are the top male and female student body representatives.

I approach them and stop hoping that’s enough to catch their attention, but it isn’t so I clear my throat loudly instead and the both turn to face me.

“Do you need something, bra?” Says Ben

“A way past you two would nice.” I say without hesitation, don’t tell me you were expecting me to stutter or something.

“Go around” Says Ben gesturing that I go back the way I came.

I didn’t mention that personally I think Ben is the biggest butt hole in the school, and that’s me putting it nicely. Time to see who wears the pants in this relationship; I turn my attention to Lerato and flash a smile.

“Hi there, do you mind telling Gandalf over here to chill on the ‘you shall not pass’ routine and just let me through so I can go home, the next bus is any minute from now and the one after would be like an hour later and I got a thing to get to.” I say

Ben places his hand on my chest and pushes me back a few steps, just what I would have expected. You might be thinking ‘but why would you purposefully provoke him Terry?’ Honestly I just wanna mess with him; I just have this urge to poke the bear right now.

“Are you talking to my girl man?” He says

“I am talking to a girl, whether or not you claim her like some kind of property is debatable.” I say shrugging my shoulders

I can see the anger boiling up in Ben eyes, maybe I took it too far, the dude is taller and bigger than me if this ends up being a fight there’s a high probability I get my butt kicked.

“Hey relax,” Says Lerato stepping forward and standing in front of Ben making him at her, and then she turns to me.

“Go ahead kid.” She says gesturing at the path that is now open

“Thanks.” I say as I squeeze through and head for the gate So Lerato does wear the pants in that relationship, I was so right.

I stand at the bus stop for about five minutes before a bus comes around, after a brief ride I get off and make my way up Empire Road towards my apartment building, passing the Parktown park on my right side and turning left, across the street is my building Majestic Gate, a fifteen floor grey stone building which is deemed upmarket apparently. As I enter I wave at Melvin the usual day shift security guy and make my way up the stairs to the second floor and walk down the hall to 203, my home. I test the door and it opens, which means mom’s home early.

The apartment was custom remodelled a year ago by my dad so the set up is kind of like a studio apartment set up, with an open cast kitchen that has a full view of the living room area, no dining room table (I mean who even uses those things anymore anyway right?), the living room area has four couches in front of a massive flat screen connected to a Sony surround sound system, the walls are lined with art works, there are also a few sculptures arranged all around, on the far left side of the large open space are three doors, the one in the middle being a bathroom/shower/tub and the other two being my room then my parent’s room. Were you expecting like a baby brother or something? Well that’s just too bad.

“Hey honey, how was school?” Says my mom from the other side of the kitchen counter, she’s making dinner, smells like pasta and something.

“It was okay, weirder than normal I guess.” I say walking across to my bedroom.

“I made sandwiches they are in the fridge if you’re hungry.” Says mom

“Thanks ma, I’ll be out in a second.” I say opening my door and chuck my bag inside then closing it and head for the fridge.

My mom, Lesedi is a average height beautiful 47 year old lady, sporting long dreads (she inspired mine) she wears them in different ways depending on what she feels like, she has fair brown skin and is a general awesome bundle of love and I love her to bits, she’s a high school teacher (at a different school, thankfully).

From the fridge I have taken out a couple of chicken mayo sandwiches and poured myself a glass of milk. It’s like eating paradise.

“What do you mean by weirder than normal.” Asks my mom as she moves from one side of the kitchen to the other

I hop on the counter and sit letting my legs dangle around while I eat.

“There was this new lady at school today, I’m kinda the only person that uh got to meet her.” I say

“Like a new teacher?”

“Well not exactly, more like a foreign scientist really.” I say picking my words carefully and taking a sip of milk.

“Oh, sounds fancy, what country is she from?” Asks mom

“Oh I don’t know, it’s hard to say really, probably one of those places no one really hears about, if I see her again I’ll be sure to ask.”

“Is she not going to be at the school?”

“I doubt it.”

My mom finally stops moving around the kitchen and turns to look at me, she does this thing where she’ll look me as if she’s seeing me for the first time and then smile, and she’s doing it again.

“You’ve really gotta tone that down, could make a guy feel real special.” I say jokingly, to which she laughs

“If you need me I’ll be in my room.” I say, before jumping down off the counter and headed into my room

My room isn’t big but it isn’t small either, in one corner is my single bed with the blankets made nicely and my laptop sitting on top of it, across from my bed, behind the door is my TV connected to my PS4 console in front of the TV is my bean bag, I stare at it for a moment contemplating a little gaming but I’m not really feeling up to it. And the roof of my room is lined with fairy lights that I personally hung up; I hit the switch instantly illuminating the room with them, I love the magical feeling it gives my room. I walk over and sit on my bed suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion. I think I’ll take a nap, I take my laptop off the bed and place it on my bedside table.

I take my blazer and shoes off and set an alarm for 17:16PM on my phone to wake up for ‘the event’, I’m out seconds after my head hits lays on the pillow.

..

My alarm tone drags me out of a dreamless afternoon nap, groggily I reach for my phone and shut the alarm off the time is 17:48, I must have subconsciously hit the snooze button I’m a half hour late, before I can off my bed my bedroom opens and in enters my 48 year old dad Phil, he’s the tall lean muscular type with hazel eyes and beach blonde hair with plenty of grey streaks, he has it tied in a top knot ponytail, he’s old but he doesn’t really look it or act like it sometimes.

“Hey champ, you might wanna come see this.” He says in husky voice gesturing for me to follow him.

I’m guessing the event has started, I mean what else could it be.

I jump off my bed and follow my dad, still in my uniform, walking barefoot with my phone in hand, I walk over to where my dad is, he’s standing in front of the TV which is on one of the news channels.

“–the phenomenon has been sighted all across the globe and has been going on none stop for the last half hour in any time zone on the planet, scientists have yet to provide an explanation for the sudden occurrence of a meteor shower that can be seen from anywhere in the world. Social media has virtually blown up with countless posts about it, and if you have not seen it, what are you waiting for?” Says the female reporter

The feed then cuts away from her and begins to show videos and images of meteor shower event going on currently. Instinct tells me to check my phone, I go onto YouTube and click on the first video I see.

“Are you recording?” says a dude with shaggy hair and glasses

“Yea dude.” Says the voice on the other end of the camera

“This is awesome, this meteor shower is massive.” Says the dude with glasses

“I feel sorry for anyone missing this right now.” Says the other guy

They both go silent for a while. Through the video none of the meteors seem to be actually coming close to the ground, most of them sort of explode into nothing, I can’t even tell if they break up into tiny pieces of rock or not. I’m no expert on alien stuff but if this isn’t the event Marlea mentioned I don’t know what else it could be. I’m about to stop the video and step out to the balcony to see this for myself when I notice a stray meteor hurling towards the dudes in the video from the left corner of the screen.

“Dude, there’s a meteor coming right for us!” shouts the dude on the other side of the camera

“Crap, run!” Says glasses

They both begin running, but the dude with the camera is intent on running and filming at the same time, even though the imagery is way jumpy.

“Vern, what the heck man, run!” shouts glasses, who’s obviously ahead of Vern.

Through Vern’s shaky video I watch as the meteor explode mid air, a few hundred from the ground, and that’s a rough guess since I’m gauging from a video. The meteor exploding is not the most interesting bit, the most interesting bit is when it explodes it sends a shockwave of light in every direction, and if I’d blinked I would have missed it. Question is what is that light, or rather what was dispersed with it? That’s where the video ends.

“That’s quite something isn’t it, that many meteors and not a single tiny piece has hit the ground yet.” Says dad, I look up at him but say nothing

Right about now I wish I had Marlea’s phone number so I can ask her what exactly is being dispersed all around the world. I put my phone into my school pants pocket and walk out to the balcony where mom is standing looking up. I look up and see it for the first time with my own eyes, the sun has just set and the sky is a little bit dark, even if it was night I’m pretty sure the sky would be lit by the amount of meteors streaking across the sky, it’s basically a million shooting stars going across the sky nonstop, some of them crashing into each other and exploding, some of them descending low enough and exploding, with that same light coming out of them.

I wonder if everyone else sees that or if it’s me and the other people that didn’t vanish earlier in the day, makes me wonder just how many people did remain, even if they were unconscious. I wonder about my parents.

“Hey ma, what do you see when one of those things blows up?” I ask, still looking up

“What do you mean?” She asks

“Like a flash of light that spreads for a second or so then disappears, maybe?” I reply looking over to her

“Light? It’s more like a fiery explosion, frankly I’m surprised how anything hasn’t caught fire yet, some of those have exploded pretty close to the ground.” Says mom

She just said fiery explosion, are seeing different things here? That would mean that somehow there’s an optical illusion in play for normal people, but why make everyone else see a fiery explosion, wouldn’t letting people see a flash of light be a more ‘awwww that’s so pretty’ reaction, rather than a freaky looking fiery explosion, I mean if I didn’t know what I know and saw a fiery explosion my reaction would be ‘OH MY GOD, WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!’. I wonder what dad sees, I walk back inside and my dad is fixated on the news, he is literally sitting on the edge of his seat like he’s watching his favourite team play an intense soccer match.

“Seven international airplanes have been confirmed to have crashed so far, despite the world wide order for all aircrafts to be grounded until the meteor shower has subsided, no survivors have been confirmed as rescue personnel are limited to ground and water transportation methods.” Says the news reporter, in a sad tone

“There’s tragedy in the beauty of what’s going on out there. You got something on your mind?” Says my dad turning to me with a reassuring smile of sorts, I guess he’s noticed the look of slight fear on my face.

“Ah yeah, kinda, so dad what do you uh see when one of those things up there goes boom?” I ask

“I guess it looks like a mini explosive goes off from inside the meteor, why do you ask?” He says creasing my eyebrows

“No reason, just curious.”

Mom walks back in shuts the sliding door and closes the curtain, she goes over and sits next to dad

“What happened, did you lose interest?” Asks dad, but as my mom opens her mouth to answer she’s interrupted by the television

“Breaking news, after exactly one hour the seemingly nonstop meteor shower has stopped, no one knows what caused such a phenomenon or why it happened.”

“There you have it Phil; the TV beat me to it. Out of nowhere it just stopped.” Says mom

Well reporter lady, I don’t know about the what of what just happened but I do know part of why it happened, the problem is this is as far as my knowledge goes, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid of whatever is coming next. I mean who wouldn’t? Okay maybe like a couple of people but people who aren’t me.

There’s a smell in the air it was faint just a second ago I figured it was from outside but now it’s gotten stronger, it smells like someone burning rubber and blood, it’s getting more intense by the second, I quickly cover my nostrils and mouth but it’s no use, it’s as if the smell in coming from inside my nose, I can taste it and it’s disgusting. I fail to hold the urge to hurl, vomit shoots up my throat and pushes through my mouth and decorates the floor with everything I’ve eaten all day. Both my parents jump and come to my aid.

“Terry, honey, what’s wrong?” Says mom kneeling next to me

“Don’t… you….. smell that?” I say resisting the urge to hurl again

“Smell what? Phil get your keys we need to get Terry to the hospital.” says my mom looking extremely concerned, I hear my dad’s footsteps are he runs to their bedroom

“It’s burning rubber… and blood and something else.”

Just then my eyes blur out then fizzle like a TV losing signal and getting picture breaks in a thunderstorm, I drop to my knees then sit flat on the floor, my head feels like it has a humming bird heartbeat in it, and the smell is still there, my mouth now tastes as if I was eating burning rubber glazed with blood.

I feel someone’s hands grab me and lift me up, it’s dad.

“Terry I need you to try and walk, come on kid.” He says, I can tell he’s putting on a brave face for mom who’s virtually in tears now

I try to move my legs and realise that I have no control over my limbs anymore, my eyes have gotten worse, the picture breaks are getting worse. Why haven’t I passed out yet, I thought people passed out when something like this happens.

“Can’t….move..” Is all I manage to say, in a whisper

My dad picks me up and carries me in his arms. I think I blacked out for a few minutes, because instead of my being in my dad’s arms, now I’m lying in the back seat of my dad’s ’67 Chevy Impala, this is trippy it has to be the event taking effect, I didn’t think it would be this soon, I feel myself slipping, passing out.

My eyes snap open and it takes them a little while to adjust to the light in a brightly lit room white room, I’m sitting on a cushioned white chair still in my uniform, the room is empty and there’s a person sitting across from me whoever it is, is still a blur, it takes a few more seconds for eye sight to adjust as I try to squint and focus. It’s really annoying, I feel like I slept too long and I’m adjusting to the sunlight. My eyes adjust after about a thousand blinks, and it’s none other Marlea sitting across from me, this time she’s in a white business suit.

“We meet again Terry Barnes.” She says

“How’d I get here? I was in my dad’s car a second ago.” I say, feeling a little groggy and definitely confused

“Yes you were, currently you are lying on a hospital bed in what they call a coma, your mother has liquid flowing out of her eyes, crying you call it, yes?” Says Marlea, inquisitively

My body is a coma, and somehow I’m here with her, that could only mean one thing.

“That means my consciousness is here with you, wherever here is.” I say my eyes darting left to right

“Indeed, you have gue—”

“Send me back” I say in a whisper, interrupting Marlea

“Do you not have questions that need answering?” She says looking confused

“I do, now isn’t the time for that, those are parents and they are worried sick about me. Now send me back so I can reassure them that I’m fine and then you can bring me back.”

I look up at Marlea with pleading eyes, and she gives me a cold stare back with her strobe light eyes. She says nothing as if she’s analysing what I just said to her.

“You two choices. Choice number one, I stand and exit this room through the door behind me and you will be sent back to your body which is agonisingly going through The Change and worry your parents more than they are already have as you will squirm and experience immense pain, further more you will get no answers now or in the future. And choice number two, I remain seated and we talk, I answer every question you have and your body will sleep peacefully and I will return you in a state where the pain will be lessened.”

The choices on the table sound like A: Get tortured or B: Get answers and get tortured a little bit but not as much as in option A.

I don’t want my parents freaking out while I go through ‘The Change’, whatever that is, my mom would be hysterical and my dad would probably scream at the doctors and nurses because hey that’s how he cries, so if she is telling the truth and my body is sleeping peacefully like baby Jesus, then option B seems the most logical, and I get answers for free, this would make a great game show.

“I’ll take option two.” I say leaning back in my chair

“Wonderful.” Says Marlea, smiling

How come normal people didn’t see what really happened when the meteors exploded.” I ask, great now I feel like a talk show host, I’m just missing an audience.

“It was not for them to see, only those that survived the first experiment where allowed to see the truth. Think of it as a prestigious event only the elite are permitted to attend, if any average person could be there it would lose its prestige would it not?” She says

I guess she’s right; it’s like giving everyone an academy award just for showing up on the big screen (my analogy is better, just saying).

“I suppose you would like me to explain The Change.” She says

“Took the words right out of my brain, because they hadn’t made their way to my mouth yet” I say jokingly, but of course she doesn’t get it

“The Change is triggered by the substance that was released into the air by those meteors that exploded, it is called The Excellor.” So there was something sent into the air

“The Excellor affects different people in different ways, for some it will be pleasant, others euphoric, for others agonising like yourself, it varies according to the type of Changes are made to your genetic arrangement.”

“What like this Excellor is giving people super powers?” I say chuckling and raising my eyebrow

“Abilities, yes”

“That’s what I said, super powers, but why?”

“Survival of the fittest” She says simply

I literally feel my smug smile leave my face.

“What does that mean?” I ask darkly

Marlea takes a deep breath, and I could swear the brightness of the strobe lights in her eyes just went a shade darker.

“I have watched the human race for many millennia and tasked to wait for the right time for such a study, the things which I have seen remain constant in increase and evolution is the human capacity for war, discrimination, destruction, and yet humanity preaches a spirit of standing together against insurmountable odds others would kill and claim that it for a higher power, a God, but how can one extend a helping hand and hold a weapon in the other. I will watch as those who are chosen realise their capabilities and make their individual choices, believe me when I tell you there will be chaos, and when it is set in stone and all have gone through The Change, the true test will descend upon your planet.”

Woah, I don’t like the tone she delivered that very cryptic speech in. I guess I am sort of gonna get my Independence Day, War of The World alien level event after all, in a way.

“What do you mean by true test?”

“You will find out, when the time comes.” She says standing

“Wait that’s it? You’re sending me back?” I say standing up abruptly

“Yes, enough time has passed.” Marlea turns and begins walking towards the door behind her which swings open

I walk fast to try and catch up to her but hit an invisible wall that blocks my way, enough time has passed, what does that mean?

“What do you mean by that!?” I shout, but she doesn’t turn back, the door remains open as I watch her walk down a long hallway

“Marlea!” I scream

In an instant I’m tugged and fly backwards as if there’s a rope tied to my waist, the room quickly disappears out of view as I am flying backwards as if being pulled at light speed, I say light speed because all there is around me is darkness and streaks of light. Then I black out, again.

I open my eyes in a start and sit up, frantically looking around, I think I’m in a hospital, an IV cord sticking out of my left arm, I look up and see fairy lights. This isn’t a hospital, it’s my room.

What the hell, I thought she said I was on a hospital bed, I reach up and feel my face, there’s something different about it, hairy and rugged the feel of a beard, I never had a beard, heck I never had any sign of facial hair. Marlea’s words echo in my head “Enough time has passed.” Instinct tells me to jump out of my bed but I’ve watched Kill Bill, my legs might be numb. I wiggle my toes and thankfully they move, I get off my bed and remove the IV cord from my arm, and yes it hurts, above my bed is a clock with a calendar, the time is 17:48 the same time I woke up the day of the event.

The thing is as freaky as me waking up at the exact time I woke up the day of the event, it isn’t as freaky as the date on the calendar which is, August 10th 2018, it’s supposed to be August 10th 2017 because that’s the day the event happened, there’s no way I was up there that long, at the very least it should be a couple of months down the line.

My heart beat accelerates, I gotta calm down, this is some kind of joke, I’m dreaming lucid or something. The clock is off and the date, my parents, yeah they can clear this up, something like ‘Hey Terry, oh the beard, don’t worry you were out for like two months it’s November and you grew a beard in that time, comas, am I right?’.

I walk over to my door and reach for handle, and pause with my hand on it, what if I don’t like what’s on the other side of this door. Then again I won’t get any answers by standing here, I turn the handle and on the other side of the door are my mom and dad standing there, my dad with his hand half reaching the handle and my mom carrying a food tray. They both look older, their hair greyer, they both stand there in wide eyed shock. I guess this means I don’t have to worry about detention anymore.

“Terry, finally you’re awake.” Says mom as she drops the tray and faints, luckily dad catches her.