Chapter 1: The Creature From Beyond

“Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. So, scream away my dear, feel the hurt and anger, and scream away. Your body will start to freeze and your arms will no longer wave”. Her golden eyes looked with excitement and her blue lips grinning like the Cheshire cat. A terrified young woman had a look of pure terror and panic on her face but was unable to change her untimely fate. Her long brown hair floated around her face as she closed her eyes and opened her mouth to scream. A loud, shrill voice came through, at least in her head that is what it sounded like. From afar there was just silence. Nothing heard or seen, nothing at all.

Screaming the word “HELP”, Ariella bolted upright from the terrifying nightmare she just had. This was the same nightmare that reoccurred on a nightly basis for her. Ariella always woke up in the same manner, screaming and begging for help. Sweat was soaking through her hair and onto her pillow. She lived alone and there was no one there to hear her nightly activities. She would always wake up at 2:30 am and it always took her at minimum of an hour to fall back asleep. The more this nightmare occurred, the longer it took her to fall back asleep due to her fears of the same creature visiting her again. The creature looked like it was pure evil, and each time the creature took great pleasure in watching a woman perish. The unknown woman in the dream looked different every time. Different ages, hair color, eye color, and even different screams. The one thing that remained consistent was the way in which they perished and the creature that appeared in every single one. The creature appeared to be in female form and her skin was blue. Her terrify eyes were wide and round like a cat with a deep golden color. Her hair flowed down to her waist and was a deep dark black color. Ariella, started to write down what she could remember in a journal at her bedside. Once she realized these would occur every night she felt there was a greater purpose and hopefully writing it out would help her make sense of what was going on. Ariella hadn’t noticed a pattern just yet and when trying to remember the unknown woman’s features she could only vaguely describe her appearance. None of the women seemed familiar but each night she wished she had known these women so she could warn them or save them.

When Ariella finished writing her notes she went to the bathroom to wash her face. As she looked in the mirror she could see the dark circles under her deep blue eyes. She knew she wasn’t getting enough sleep but for the first time she looked like it. As she poured water on her pale skin, she started to feel her face for any other signs of stress such as wrinkles. She couldn’t feel any yet but knew if things did not change then she would soon. After patting her face dry, she began to brush her long brown hair and put it up in a messy bun. As she walked to the kitchen to drink some water and cool off in front of the fridge, Ariella began to ponder what the future would hold for her. She felt it within her bones that she was meant for a greater purpose, she was meant to save these women. To her, it wasn’t even a question. It needed to be done. The only problem was, how the heck was she going to figure this out? After all, if she told anyone they would send her straight to a looney bin. Technology was very advanced, and the world seemingly was moving on to other planets, but as far as anyone knew there weren’t any creatures or aliens out there. No matter how badly humans wanted to believe in life outside of this world, they have yet to be found. The mere fact that the woman who was perishing in her dream was in outer space was not entirely unrealistic, it was the fact that she was in outer space outside of a ship with no suit on floating in the nothingness. Those specific aspects of Ariella’s dream were enough to make anyone think she was crazy. Ariella made her way back to her bed and crawled to her pillow. She turned the pillow over so she wouldn’t sleep in her sweat. She closed her eyes and waiting for more dreams to come.

In the morning, Ariella woke from a pleasant non-dream sleep. She smiled as she felt truly rested and ready for what her day would bring her. She made her breakfast and ate it on her back patio as she enjoyed to beauty of earth, the simplistic look of green trees, colorful flowers, and many different animals out and about. The smell of her coffee embraced her nostrils as the wind flowed through the trees. Her mornings were always peaceful and quiet as many people in her neighborhood had moved on to a different planet. Only a handful of people were left in her state, and they too would eventually leave. Those who choose to stay behind would accept their fate of loneliness, no work, living strictly off the land, and the inevitable collapse of society. Ariella thought of how it all started, how she got here. It started of course with space exploration. The story that everyone knows and has studied in grade school. First it was the moon, then humans began to study other planets. It was quickly found that these planets would never be habitable by any human, but as technology became more advanced it was soon found that just at the end of the galaxy was a new planet. One that was habitable and ideal to move on to. With the new technology, humans were able to leave earth and arrive at this new planet within 6 months. The first to arrive were scientists, then the rich and famous with the promise to be the first to purchase land and have impact on laws made to govern those that live there. The promise of starting out fresh and wipe away wars, global warming, poverty, and everything else in between lured more and more people to move away. Then of course when funding was provided, the rules started to come into play. Rules for those who could “start fresh” would have to go through a psych evaluation to ensure serial killers and murderers were not allowed on this new oasis. It was agreed eventually that since so many from different cultures and languages were coming to this new planet that anyone living there currently or in the future would learn one language that all inhabitants would utilize as to eliminate language barriers and keep open communication. It was a new made-up language that scientists supposedly created that would be the easiest to learn by all. The planet was so named Oasis. Bit by bit, earth started to get emptier and quieter. Money didn’t really have any bearing anymore because the CEOs of companies moved, the landlords and real estate agents moved. There were stores that still held items needed and the government opened a program to ensure they would stay stocked until a certain percentage of the population was left. From there, a person would either have to move or fend for themselves.

Ariella knew she needed to make a decision soon, she knew to population was getting smaller by the day. It was difficult to make this decision as this was her home. Starting over somewhere new wasn’t really ever in her plans. What choice did she have though? The only people left soon would be the serial killers and murderers. The food supply would run out and she would have to try her hand at farming. Something she had never done before as she didn’t have a green thumb. Now with her nightly dreams that had come to her over the past few months, she knew that her path was leading her to the ship and outer space. Ariella felt that if and when she left a part of her would be left behind in her quaint little patio overlooking the beautiful scenery. She worried about forgetting anything of importance and never having the chance to retrieve it. She contemplated what her future would truly look like on this new planet, where would she live, what would she do for a living? Would she see her old friends again, or would they have forgotten her entirely? There was much left to the imagination and so many pieces of the puzzle. Ariella put her shoes on after breakfast and went for walk around the nearly empty town. As she walked the streets, she saw something that made her blood run cold. In the window of a shut down shop was a poster she had never seen before. A spitting image of the blue creature in her dream. Grimacing and posed to strike, the creature was there face to face with Ariella. How could this be? Ariella had walked these streets many times and that picture was never there. She remembered very clearly the day prior the wall was empty as the store was empty and shut down. This meant someone was here and left this poster for a reason.

Ariella tugged at the shop door to see if the door was unlocked and it opened. She quickly ran to the poster and pulled it down to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. Below the picture was writing in a language she did not know. This was likely the new language created for the new planet Oasis, and while she did have a book for learning the language at home she didn’t know how to transcribe the text then and there. She rolled the poster and used her hair tie to keep it enclosed. Ariella decided she was done with her walk as she wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything else the rest of the way. She ran back to her home and frantically looked for her translation book. The book was laying under her pile of dirty clothes as she had not intended to use it anytime soon. When she found the translation to the words, she became very pale. The translation was: Very Dangerous, Avoid At All Costs! “Well, I already knew that.” Ariella said aloud. She needed to know more about what was happening, of what was known already. Truly what was someone supposed to do with this text? If they see a blue dangerous creature, just run? Something told Ariella that running away would not do the trick. The other unfortunate side of staying behind on earth was that she couldn’t just call someone on another planet. Cell service didn’t go that far. The Facebook feeds stopped showing posts as she could only assume the site was recreated to work with whatever they were using on Oasis. The only way to get additional information was to ask emergency services, who she really did not want to interact with as they were resentful of having to stay behind until the population reached a certain percentage. There were few left, only a handful really as there was a certain amount of medical/police required per 20 persons, per area. Ariella grabbed her keys and made her way to the nearest active police station 20 miles away.

As Ariella made her way to the parking lot of the police station she wondered what she would do if the only policeman was not at the station. “Maybe I should have called” Ariella said to herself. She shrugged her shoulders and walked into the building that was very much empty carrying the curious poster still rolled up. “Hello? Is anyone here? I am sorry to bug you, I just have an impor—” Ariella stopped as she saw the body of the police officer lying on the floor. Ariella quickly knelt to the ground and checked for a pulse. She sighed with relief as she heard a heartbeat and realized his chest was moving up and down. She gently shook him to wake him up from what she assumed was much needed rest. The man opened his eyes slowly and looked confused as he saw a strange woman kneeling over him. He bolted upright “Who are you? What are you doing?” he asked. “I am sorry to wake you, it is just that there is important information needed regarding a poster that I assume you placed in my town.” The police officer turned his head to the side and had a quizzical look on his face. “Are you talking about that blue alien lady?” “Yes, this one.” Ariella opened the poster. “I translated it, but I am not sure what should be done if I were to actually run into this erm blue alien lady. Something tells me if a dangerous outer space being lands here running away won’t do the trick”. The police officer looked down at the floor and sighed “Lady, I know you want safety, that is what we all want, but the fact of the matter is the safest place for any of us to be is on Oasis. If yer so worried about this then sign up and leave. I don’t know what you want a single human to do about it let alone an unarmed lady. If you want to leave I’ll take you to the launchpad myself because that means that is one person closer to me getting the heck out of here and with my family in Oasis. If you don’t then you are wasting my time and I will be going back to sleep so I can forget I am still in this place!’ The police officer’s face was beet red at this point and Ariella knew this wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience but part of her wished her safety still mattered. “I understand sir, but there is just one more thing I need to say. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen this alien. She’s been visiting my dreams nightly and the things she has been doing to people is…well she’s killing people”. The police officer looked pale and his eyes widened, he whispered “You too? I thought I was going crazy; she tortures these women right?” Ariella relieved for a small moment and then it hit her that this WAS something to pay attention to and it wasn’t just impacting her. “Yes! Exactly sir! I need…WE need to do something”. The officer shook his head, “My statement still stands. There isn’t anything we are going to be able to do. This dangerous thing is way beyond being stopped by a gun or some weapon. These are advanced beings and we don’t stand a chance. If you want to help save future people, you’ll help me convince them to leave. Oasis has the funding and technology to protect all of us. I guarantee these people she is hunting down are people she is capturing from earth”. Ariella felt defeat and couldn’t believe this was the only answer. She walked away without saying another word and made the drive home.

Ariella prepared for bed and the nightmares that were about to unfold. She had time to think on her way home and made the firm decision that she would be leaving earth at the end of the month. There was no fighting it anymore, her nightmares were coming to life and her safety was on the line. She would still need time to pack away items she needed and say goodbye to the belongings she would be leaving behind. She would also need to make an effort to learn the new language as this would be a requirement prior to stepping on Oasis. In the morning she would call to setup her pre-launch evaluation and the date to leave. Ariella closed her eyes with tears running down her cheeks. She tried to think of the happiest memory in her life on earth and the first thing to come to mind was a trip she took with her father as a child around the age of 8. In that stage of her life money didn’t come easily for her father and funds were tight so a trip was a true delight. Her mother had died in childbirth Ariella had never met her. She only knew what she saw in pictures. Her father being the kind loving man that he was decided he would take her to her mother’s favorite spot deep in the woods. They hiked for half a day and Ariella remembered being so excited about reaching the destination that she didn’t pay any mind to the muscle aches or blisters. She walked as fast as her little legs could take her and refused to rest when her father offered. They finally made it to a rustic little cabin that looked as if it had seen better days. Ariella remembered staring at in awe thinking it looked like the type of place to explore all of its nooks and crannies. They got settled in as the sun was setting and cooked their dinner over a bonfire. Her father told stories with an animated tone of how he and his wife had their second date here, spent their honeymoon here, and conceived their first and only child here. He had a smile on his face that Ariella had not seen in some time. It was lovely hearing about her mother in this fashion and seeing her father go back to a time when he was truly happy. He promised her that if she slept tight that night he would show her the best spot around and fun would be had by all. Ariella tried to stay quiet and not make a peep as her father snored in the next room. She was restless with excitement to see more of this wonderland her father had taken her to. She finally fell asleep when her thoughts stopped racing and it seemed like mere moments after falling asleep her father was waking her for some hot breakfast. He had the same look of excitement on his face as she did as if they were both on the same thought. They walked for about twenty minutes when Ariella saw the magical place her father was bringing her to. A beautiful flowing waterfall and the bluest water she had ever seen. The water was almost transparent and she could see different creatures walking towards the body of water. They were completely oblivious to the humans that were in their space. The sweet sounds of birds were coming from every tree within the vicinity. Ariella started to imagine a unicorn coming from the depths of the woods and a mermaid popping up to say hello and bask in the warmth. This was a place she could only dream of and yet she was here. Her father brought a rope and found a branch to tie it to so they could swing into the water. They enjoyed their day laughing and being carefree. Neither of them wanted to leave and they procrastinated as long as they could before leaving back to the cabin. They left when they saw the sun would be setting and knew it was time. No words were spoken but like a signal was sent to both of them at the same time they began to trek back. That evening they sat by the fire again and shared stories of nothing, stories with humor, and scary stories to keep them awake. That was the last night she saw her father truly happy before he began to get sick. She cherished that time with her father as that was one of the few times the worries of the world just seemed to float away. Looking back, she wished she could have convinced him to just stay there forever and never go back to the real world. The world that was harsh and treated them both unkindly. The world that took her father away with cancer. The world that left Ariella alone in a house, preparing to say goodbye to it once and for all.

Ariella fell asleep with tears drying on her cheeks and the nightmare began again. This time the dream took a turn for the worst. The same words came out of the blue creature’s mouth, the same cruel eyes and smile. The woman that tried to open her mouth to scream had long flowing brown hair and deep blue eyes. Ariella was the woman now in this never-ending nightmare being flung into space with no oxygen to breathe. She started to scream and the blue creature just laughed as she struggled to breathe. Ariella was a fighter and would not go out like this! She gave the blue creature a defiant smile and reached for her throat. The creature looked surprised that one was fighting back. Ariella tightened her grip as she started to slowly lose consciousness. The creature touched Ariella’s forehead and everything went dark. Ariella woke without screaming this time at 2:30 am. She took a big breath as if she were truly suffocating in her sleep and this was her first moment of oxygen. This dream felt so real, yet here she was alive and in her bed. The other dreams always seemed as if she were watching it all happen in real time with no real way to help the victims. This was the first time she could smell, hear, and feel the creature. It was beyond vivid, it felt as if she were transported to a different place and time. Ariella went through her routine as normal after the bad dream and thought to herself “What if she finds us on the ship? No, Ariella you can’t talk yourself out of this. That is what this creature wants. She wants me to stay and feed her my fears. I need to be strong and follow this through”. Ariella headed back to bed with thoughts racing. She couldn’t figure out the meaning of these dreams and how to save these people, let alone herself! Ariella tried to think of more happy memories of her and her father and fell into a deep sleep.

In the morning Ariella made the dreaded phone call to setup her evaluation. The woman who answered the phone was almost too cheery, like she was ready to sell her a MLM scheme. Ariella began to study the new language and as the weeks passed by she realized she was going to need to actually pack her things. This would not be an easy task as she looked at the list of items that she could bring with her and items she would have to leave behind. Her psych evaluation would be in a few days’ time and she knew one of the questions that would be asked would be regarding if she was actually ready to leave. She couldn’t in good conscience state this with not a single thing packed. Ariella began the daunting task in the afternoon and what began as a packing endeavor ended with a trip down memory lane with an unending list of possible items that she wanted to take with her. How could anyone do this? How could anyone just decide to leave any of their precious memories? Isn’t it already bad enough that we’re leaving this world behind, and now we have to choose which personal object means less? Ariella fell fast asleep that night and began her task again the next morning with resolve that she would not leave certain things behind, the list be darned! By late evening, Ariella had 5 suitcases packed and only about a half of a suitcase was her actual clothing. She didn’t care if she had a lot of clothing. Clothes could be purchased in Oasis. Her memories couldn’t, her father’s personal belongings could never be replaced, her mother’s perfume that her father saved could never be replaced. She would have taken some of the furniture if she could have but alas, she was only one person and she knew that no one would be helping her with this haul. She knew that her money in her bank account would be changed over to the new currency and all she could do was hope that it was enough to start her new life.

On the day of the psych evaluation Ariella woke up later than normal and the frenzy began. She had an hour drive ahead of her and she could not be late for this. They probably mark you down points for tardiness. Ariella quickly ate some toast and drank her coffee, begrudgingly brushed her teeth, and brushed her hair back into a formal bun. She wore her very best interview outfit, a slimming black pencil skirt, a pale pink button up top, and a black blazer. She carefully did her makeup as to appear like a rested individual who would be productive to society and not a scary swamp witch who hasn’t slept in ten years. Once she was satisfied, she hopped into her car and made the drive to the most important interview of her life. The highways were of course empty and she was able to speed accordingly. The scariest part of the journey was truly driving through the ghost towns of her state. She knew they would be empty as her town was but it truly hit her that she was alone in this world. When she arrived to the government building, a woman standing in between what appeared to be two armed guards waiting for her to park her car. Ariella looked at her clock nervously in her car and saw she was actually fifteen minutes early. “Thank goodness, I made it” Ariella smiled to herself. She proceeded to exit her vehicle and the woman who had been waiting seemed unamused by her mere presence. The armed guards walked over to Ariella “Ma’am we need to pat you down before we enter the building. You understand, we have to ensure the safety of everyone involved”. Ariella nodded and stuck her arms out as they patted her down. The front entrance of the building looked as if it had been worn down by the many people that used to go to and from it. The inside had a front desk where a receptionist would have resided and greeted individuals. The walked through several different hallways and it started to feel as if they were trapped in an intricate maze that only one person knew how to get through. They finally reached a doorway at the end of one of the longer hallways and as they walked into the room Ariella found herself surprised to see the large space it encompassed. The room was the size of about 6 bedrooms in her home. On the right there was a desk and three large computer monitors. A huge TV hung from the wall behind the desk that was on and had what appeared to be a graph of some sorts. The woman went behind the desk to sit down and the two guards stood at the door. Ariella sat down and took a deep breath; she knew this was going to be awhile.

The woman asked her many personal questions regarding her home life, how she grew up, what happened to her parents, what she did for a living prior to the mass exodus, why she didn’t leave when the others left, family medical history, and then of course they ran a criminal background check which took a few seconds to come back as there were no records to be found. Ariella was nervous that her answers weren’t good enough, that she might be left behind in spite of her efforts. She panicked at the thought of continuing to have those horrible nightmares every night for the rest of her life. She knew the only way to fight this creature and to save those poor women was to have strength in numbers. Advanced technology wouldn’t hurt either of course. She would have all the resources she needed to defeat this creature and to cure her nightmares once and for all. The woman finished typing in her computer and smiled. “Looks like you are a good candidate for Oasis, I am pleased to inform you that you will be on a ship tomorrow promptly at 8:00 am. Ariella’s eyes widened with excitement, “Thank you ma’am, I truly appreciate this opportunity. I will be here at 8:00 am sharp!” With that, Ariella was on her way to her home where she would stay one last time. One more night, and then she would be gone for good. There was one thing Ariella needed to do before she left in the morning and that was to say goodbye.

The golden eyes, the blue smile, a man was in front of her this time. An older gentleman who looked as if he had given up on the world and the world had given up on him. Pain and tears streamed down his face as the smiling creature told him to scream. She laughed when his head fell down towards his chest. “You humans always give up so easily, it is disappointing…yet amusing. No worries, another human will be in your place tomorrow. For now, I’ll just settle for watching you slowly go” The man looked up and screamed at the top of his lungs. Ariella bolted awake at 2:30 am promptly and felt unsettled. The man in her dreams looked so familiar, his eyes, his kind eyes. Ariella wrote down her dream and went to wash her face. She couldn’t shake the feeling that she knew this man in her dream but she couldn’t quite place him. As she fell back asleep, it suddenly occurred to her, it was the police officer. Ariella jumped out of bed and called the emergency number hoping he wasn’t sleeping on the floor. A gruffy voice answered and Ariella sighed with relief. “You may not remember me, or maybe you do” the gruffy voice interrupted her “Lady, I am pretty sure you’re the only person I have interacted with in the past two months. Yes I remember you. Now tell me why you’re calling me in the middle of the night. You don’t sound like you are in trouble!” Ariella smiled, he was definitely not in danger, “I wanted to tell you I ship out tomorrow morning. I know that you would be happy to hear that one more person is taking the leap to Oasis which means you’ll get to see your family soon” the gruffy voice turned soft for a moment “I am really glad to hear that ma’am. Who knows, maybe we’ll see each other sooner than we think. We’ve got to be close to the right percentage right?” he said cheerfully, “Yes for sure, but uh listen, I know you have had the same dreams as me and I don’t know if you had uh some tonight but…” the police officer interjected “I already know, I saw it too. Matter of fact, I saw you in one a few nights back. I reckon she is trying to get in our heads. It won’t work though because we will be where we should be soon enough” Ariella smiled again, “Yes you are right, but in the meantime please take care and stay safe” “You too ma’am, don’t be late for your trip, get back to sleep!”.

In the morning, Ariella did one final sweep throughout her home to ensure nothing important was left behind. She brought her breakfast with her in the car after she loaded it full of all of her belongings. She went to her back yard where the pretty flowers grew and picked some of her favorites. On her way out of town, she stopped by the cemetery and visited her father and mother’s graves. “Well mom and dad, I know this will be hard to hear but, I am not coming back. I waited as long as I could, so I could continue to see you. I packed your favorite items so you will never truly be gone from me. I so wish you could take this trip with me. Dad, you would have a blast on a real-life spaceship, I know you would find different ways to create an adventure for just the two of us on the six-month long ride. Mom, I hope you are keeping dad out of trouble and I just wish I could have met you. I have your pictures still but it isn’t the same”. Ariella began to cry. This would be the hardest goodbye, as she could never come see them again. She carefully laid her favorite flowers by each headstone. She took the last flower and put it in her pocket for safe keeping. She planned to preserve it and wear it as a necklace of some sorts. She wanted them to always be connected, no matter what. Ariella walked away and got back into her car. She began her long journey to a ship that would take her far, far away from here. This was her final goodbye.