Page 3 of The General's Captive
It carried on as far as my eyes could see and beyond that, for sure. But that wasn’t the worst thing, because the second I saw darkness emerging from the sides of the Rift, I squinted, asking myself aloud,
“What the hell is that?”
And Hell was the right word for it.
Darkness scurried over the edge and flowed over the land, like an army all running as one. I was too far away to see any distinct details, just shapes that blurred and shifted beyond clear sight. As for the giant split in the land, this only stopped moving when it was as wide as a highway, and more than big enough for more strange figures to emerge.
“Holy shit!” I shouted, quickly flinching back the second I saw all the winged shadows appear, soaring and plunging out of the Rift toward the sky. All I could do was watch them in fascinated horror as they kept on coming.
Unsurprisingly, a fresh new wave of adrenaline began to pulse through me as my building terror ignited the fight or flight response. Clearly, fighting was not an option. Not only because I had no idea what I was dealing with but if they could fly, then what hope did I have? They had wings and I didn’t.
I couldn’t help but continue to ask myself if this was really happening. It just didn’t seem real. Didn’t seem possible. The world was splitting open and creatures from another world were flooding into ours?
No, there must be something wrong with me. Maybe I had been poisoned somehow and this was the effects of it. Some drugs could do that, right? Make you see things. Well, I wouldn’t know, because I had lived my life by never breaking the rules, which meant that fighting was not in my nature.
I was one of those who shied away from any form of confrontation, be it fighting fist to fist or fighting with words. Running away, though, now that was something I was a master at. Especially in a crazy situation like this. One that made no sense and seemed to bend the rules of reality.
Speaking of which, my shaking legs finally managed to bear weight again, and I was once more back to running for my life. And with each panicked step I took, I did so praying that my uncle would find me soon.
Because if what I saw was real, then it meant I wasn’t just running from the power of nature or Earth’s next disaster.
I was running from the creatures that had been…
Locked within it.
Rift
How I would have once defined it - A crack, split, or break in something.
But now I can’t help but question could it be…
A Gateway to Another World
Thankfully, my thoughts were being answered and the blessed beep of a horn sounded not so far down the trail. I let out a pitiful whimper as relief washed through me, my heightened emotions running dry adding to my exhaustion. I stood still in the center of the trail and waved my arms as my uncle’s Chevy truck came into view. It skidded to a halt and before I knew it, the door was flung open and my uncle’s strong arms were around me. I swear, the tight hug felt like a lifeline. He kissed my head and pulled me in for another hug before asking,
“Alex! Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
The worry in my uncle Rick’s dark brown eyes made him resemble my father more than I had ever noticed before. Tears threatened to fall but I forced them back, not allowing myself to worry about my mother and father at this time. Thankfully, they were over 4000 miles away, so I was left feeling hopeful that the Rift hadn’t made it that far.
“I’m…” My voice caught in my throat, so I tried again. “I’m okay.”
My whole body trembled as I spoke, making it obvious that I wasn’t actually okay, so my uncle took hold of my arm, leading me to the truck before helping me into the passenger seat. I flinched at the thud of the door slamming and watched as my uncle raced to the driver’s side. He then all but threw himself behind the steering wheel as I was buckling up, then he swung the truck around and tore off down the trail, back toward the cabin.
He tore down the path, refusing to lift his foot off the gas, the brakes helping us slow around the bends and stopping us from spinning out as we turned. The truck groaned in protest, the suspension being tested, and as we hit a bump along the uneven trail, the impact caused my visor to swing down.
My startled reflection looked haunted in the small mirror. My usual auburn hair was matted with twigs, leaves, and dried blood. I touched my fingers to my scalp and winced, the adrenaline had obviously covered up that injury. Luckily, it looked like my face had come out of the ordeal unscathed. Although the redness around my light blue eyes was thanks to my tears. The tracks of them had washed clean lines through the dirt on my face, now only showing hints of the freckles that dusted my nose and cheeks. It was far from the eager, fresh-faced reflection I had seen in the mirror this morning when ready to go exploring.
“…And from there, we will head down to the south road.”
I hadn’t realized my uncle had been talking to me. His words put a pause on my inner turmoil as I continued to play out the day’s crazy events. Because I was still trying to piece together what the hell had just happened. Trying to make sense of what this could mean.
“What’s happening, Uncle Rick?” I asked, stopping myself from telling him exactly what I had seen. I was so afraid that I would just sound insane and he wouldn’t believe me.
“I don’t know. It feels like an earthquake but there were…” He paused, stopping himself from saying more with a shake of his head.
“What? What is it?” I asked, my tone verging on desperate. I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard.
“There have been some strange reports on the news. People seeing things,” he told me tentatively, as if he didn’t want to frighten me.
