Night of the Crane | By @WendyyWolfe

3. The Scent of Fear

The earthy fragrances of rosemary and sage lingered in the air wherever she had recently been and sometimes, the faint aroma of tobacco, because like her dad, Lacy Thibodaux smoked cigarettes.

Tonight however, the pungent scent of fear rested on her skin as she crouched shivering in the darkness of the hayloft in the barn where she hid.

Lacy sat at the edge of the expansive opening of the bale door holding her dad's shotgun with her own revolver nearby because also like her dad, she was an expert marksman.

In her mind she relived the events she had witnessed tonight, and yet all explanations fled except for the one that made the most sense to her. They were being invaded.

When Brew Towns noon whistle had blown at eleven o'clock pm at night she sat bolt upright in the bed and grabbed her phone from the nightstand immediately calling her dad Deputy Storey Thibodaux. He had been at the station doing paperwork. She hadn't been able to reach him since then. He'd told her to secure the house and hide, in the closet if she had to, but she'd said to hell with that idea and after gathering his shotgun, the revolver and an armful of clothes she ran straight for the barn. That was where she felt safe, and where, from her current post, she could see far and wide. She just wished she hadn't seen what she did in the distant night sky over the small country town she called home.

But she had seen it.

The disturbance had shattered the night sky, stopping her mad dash to the barn and holding her transfixed and horrified.

A pulsating circle of light that grew in circumference until it burst forth consuming the sky above Brew Town, then, like a million fireworks erupted, spewing thousands of sparkling colored jewel like anomalies.

The darkness was filled with swirling auroras of green, yellow and amethyst mixed and Lacy watched spellbound as the jewel like entities solidified becoming metallic in solid structure and floated suspended over the earth.

Taking on the perfect Crane offensive formation, which looked like a huge glowing U in the sky and housed the largest lunar craft in the middle, gob smacked her mind so she stood frozen, stunned, stricken with fear but when several of the metallic objects shot off in different directions at mach speed, her terror instincts took over and her legs carried her post haste to the place of shadowed safety in the old barn Lacy had discovered as a little girl. It was where she had gone to play, or hide, as when her mother died. It had taken her dad hours to find her and yet when he did she could not be comforted.

From that time forward she had gone there during her most stressful times or just times when she desired solitude.

Tonight, she had the distinct feeling her safe haven just might save her life.

Air gulping sobs suddenly gripped her, wracking her body, as her disoriented thoughts took over nausea traveled up her throat to end in dry heaving coughs.

She thrust the shotgun away from herself and crawled over where she collapsed in the hay. A thin sheen of sweat glistened across her forehead as the raw reality of what was happening gripped her mind again and this time she felt the ominous thump of her heart against her chest. Her arm shot out along the hay covered floor of the hayloft frantically searching for her phone. She had to get ahold of somebody.

Anybody.

Lacy hit her contact list to dial the station, receiving nothing but the repetitious busy signal. Her heart rate went up several notches knowing that couldn't be a good sign but it could mean others were trying to reach her dad. She scrolled through the list up and down her fingers flying in unison as she tried friends and relatives only to be left empty and with the one number she didn't want to try.

Macallan Crete.

"Ugggggh."

Feeling helpless was definitely not a strength she could claim. But this was different. This qualified as an emergency, right? She reasoned within her conflicted thoughts. Practicality warred with pride inside her heart. It wasn't like she was begging him for help she thought anxiously. She just needed information, her mind reassured her. She needed to know that someone, anyone had seen what she had seen tonight, and if it had to be Macallan well so be it.

Her finger hit the call symbol, and instantly her stomach filled with butterflies. The call connected. The first ring sounded in her ear but she only heard the furious beating of her own heart over the tone.

Seven rings later she threw the phone across the hayloft crying out in sheer anger. Of course he wouldn't answer.

Their last encounter hadn't been the most cordial. He hated her guts now. All because she wouldn't give into his drunken advances at the club. To be fair she had been drunk too but that wasn't the point, she reminded herself arrogantly.

Screw him, she pouted for a moment before regretting her phone throwing tantrum. Lacy grabbed her flashlight and looked desperately around where her phone might have landed across the loft and scrambled across on her hands and knees digging around in the scattered hay remnants she found it, pulled up Macallan's number and tried again.

"ANSWER!" She yelled shaking her phone like a Wii game controller. "Oh God Macallan answer your phone you dumb shit!"

Lacy hung up and called over and over, and finally gave up leaving a rude voicemail. Then contrite, she called again, one last time just in case, her heart pleading within her thoughts that he would answer but reaching his voicemail instead. This time, her message was different. Pleading. Stark with emotion.

"Pleassse Macallan, call me if you can. As soon as possible. I'm scared Mac. Something bad is happening. I don't know if you've seen. . .seen it. . . what I saw tonight, but please, try to get to my dad," she added hurriedly, "and come to the farm."

She ended the call and her arms fell to her sides in defeat. She drew her knees up to her chin and hugged them. Her teeth worried her bottom lip. There was nothing else she could do but wait for morning and stare at the enormous, color pulsating, mammoth monstrosity hanging in the sky over Brew Town.