THE NIGHT THE STARS FELL FIRST CONTACT

Ellen gripped sobbing frightened Pixie tightly in her arms. She was shocked and terrified at the brutality of these creatures; her insides were rattling around as if she had swallowed broken glass. She gazed around at the cage, it was small, and there was not enough room to stand, she had estimated the height no more than five feet, because she was five feet tall, and her head touched the top of the cage. Three lizards entered the cave and padded loudly towards her; Ellen shrank to the back of the cage. “What are you going to do with us?” she yelled, looking into those horrible green soulless eyes gave her an idea. “Mummy!” Pixie sobbed. Ellen covered her face with her hand.

“You are for breeding! The little one will be useful as a pet for our young.”

Ellen was silent, her eyes met them head-on, and then she screamed. “WHAT! WHAT DO YOU MEAN ’BREEDING! I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU DO TO ME YOU LEAVE MY CHILD ALONE! SHE IS NOT AN ANIMAL….And no one’s pet!” The thought of being a breeding machine for these ugly creatures almost made her vomit.

He pointed one long finger at her as he entered the cage, Ellen tried not to show her fear.

“You cannot stop us! You are small and weak; we will mix our genes with yours and the offspring will be amazing. Half reptile and half human!”

Ellen’s stomach turned over. ’What does he mean? Is she going to be RAPED by these creatures?

“How do you propose to do this? We are different from you.”

“By artificial insemination; we would not choose to mate with something as ugly as you!”

Ellen almost laughed, and if this had been a comedy she would have, instead she said. “Ugly, are we? Have you looked in the mirror lately?”

He ignored her comment, and they turned and padded off. Ellen could hear the heavy tread of their feet as they vanished down the cave, so loud she could hear them as they faded in the distance, into the dark. Ellen slumped to the floor holding Pixie even tighter, she was so glad she had put Pixie’s thermal pyjamas on her before bed but even they could not shield her from the cold of this place; then she lay her gently on the floor and tried to calm her, finally, the little girl fell asleep.

Someone called softly. “Are you ok? What’s your name?”

Ellen got to her feet hugging the wall, as she fumbled about in the dark to locate where the voice was coming from. There was a partition on her left, she banged on it. “HELLO! My name is Ellen, I have my little girl with me she’s three, what’s your name?” She sensed whoever was on the other side of the wall was pressing close to it.

“My name’s Daryl, Daryl Thompson, they have my wife and two kids! I don’t know where they are or where they’ve taken them.” Ellen detected a hint of a sob from him.

“I know how you feel Daryl, but I have people helping right now, they will find us; I promise.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath Ellen, I’m a pretty strong healthy guy and I was no match for them, they picked me up like I was a feather duster. So, I wouldn’t expect to be rescued any time soon.”

“They are special people Daryl; they are stronger than them, and well let’s just say, they will come.” She wasn’t going to tell him the truth he would think he had been imprisoned with a seriously disturbed headcase.

Daryl pressed his ear closer to the wall his hands pressed firmly against it “Where did they get you?” Ellen was on her knees ear pressed against the wall.

“From my basement, the window was boarded up, but they managed to get in.”

“Same here, I was in my office, they got in from upstairs, I had no idea until I came face to face with it. I heard what they said to you about ‘breeding’ they are going to do the same to my Lilly, dear god! I can’t see a way out of this.”

Ellen could feel the total despair in his voice even though she couldn’t see him. “Listen, Daryl, I know my friends will find us, they have our dog with them, he has such a powerful nose he could sniff a carrot from the ground a mile from here.”

“Well, let us just hope he can find us. Was he a drugs dog?”

“No, he is an amazing, beautiful boy with lots of fur and a special ability, he is very, very big, much bigger than your average mutt.” Ellen grinned to herself just thinking about Lasko, those amazing eyes and his incredibly special powers.

“That’s great Ellen, but still no match for these creatures, I just hope if he finds us, and they won’t hurt him.”

“No, I’m sure they won’t,” Ellen said confidently.

“I’ve been feeling my way around this cage and there is some kind of lock at the top it works by some kind of mechanism, but I can’t seem to work it out…You don’t have a hair clip on you, by any chance?”

“No, if I had I wouldn’t be able to pass it to you, there’s no gap.”

Daryl ran his finger along the top of the cage to the bottom, everything was sealed, and it looked like these cages had been built especially.

“No,” Daryl replied, “nothing, not even a crack, it looks like they thought of everything. Even with a hairclip, there is nothing to push it through, the lock is metal or strong steel, and it fits directly into its housing so flat you couldn’t get a piece of paper through.”

Ellen came closer to the wall of the cage pressing her face against the cold metal. “There is only one chance left.”

“What’s that?”

“I could appeal to their better side, maybe they have compassion?”

Daryl laughed, “Compassion? These bastards have no compassion for anything! They are not even nurtured by their mothers, have you heard what it told you? These creatures, breed, sleep, eat, and kill. What could make you think any different Ellen?” Daryl sounded angry, he felt hopeless. He worried about what they would do to his wife, to Ellen, to all the female humans on the planet. All Daryl could see were a lot of kids running about half human and half lizard, and to him, the future looked more than bleak, it looked terrifyingly real.

Ellen slumped down to the corner of her cage clutching Pixie in her arms. She would fight to her last breath when they came for her. Thoughts of suicide entered her mind, she looked down at Sleeping Pixie and thought about ending her young life in the least painful, viable way. She started to sob, and feelings of panic washed over her, she felt like a dying animal just waiting for the end to come.

Daryl heard her sobs, he got up and put his hands on the wall, if he were in the same cage, he would have held her tightly in his arms and tried to comfort her.

“Ellen? Please, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you, please…”

“You’re right, unless rescue comes, we are as good as dead.”

Ellen’s hopes of Lasko and the others coming to get them out were quickly vanishing; as amazing as Lasko was, he was not a miracle worker, only in healing and for that she would be ever grateful. She thought about Brian, Kevin, and Todd. She loved her son so much more than life itself, and at least she was comforted in the knowledge that he was safe, and eventually, they would defeat these creatures. Of that, she was sure!

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