Blood of the Oceans: Genesis (UNDER HEAVY RECONSTRUCTION)

Apparently Emotions Summon Homicidal Aliens

I didn't allow myself to feel anything until I got back out to the bike.

My mother had taught me this lesson when I had first told her I'd be working with Albert. If you were in public, or at a job, a certain degree of professionalism was required. Bawling your eyes out didn't fit that criteria. So I kept my chin up and my eyes dry until I was out of the building.

Of course, when I was on the bike, I let the dam break before starting to pedal. This job had been contingent on me acting older than I was. Not talking back to Albert, but trying to rein him in at the same time. Today, I'd been the one to go off the rails. Not only would it cost me my job, it would cost everyone their jobs if Alfred had his way. It would be my fault if that happened.

I was so guilty and sad that it was a miracle that I didn't cause a car accident. Getting to the library unharmed was nothing less than an act of Thor. Could he even do that? If you got enough worshippers, and you were an alien, would that actually do something?

Regardless, I was still sniffling as I jammed my bike into the bike rack with maybe a little more force than was necessary. The paint scraped a little, and I winced. I'd have to fix that later, or bug my dad into doing it for me.

The old stone building loomed in front of me. It had previously been a church during the Revolutionary War era before getting renovated during the second world war. Now, it was the world's creepiest library.

Well, fuck that. I had no intention of going into the library. I was just here to return books. If I stayed here, I'd never leave. They'd tell stories about the girl in the comics section just reading and crying while she did it. I'd do this as quickly as possible, then go home and break down.

I walked as fast as I could without running down the sidewalk, nearly dropping the books in my hurry. Hurling them into the return slot, I prayed they wouldn't jam as I wheeled around for my trip back to the bike. The good news was that they didn't. The bad news-well, apparently even record time returns drew unwelcome attention.

When I was about a third of the way down the sidewalk, I heard a hissing noise. My first thought was that a pipe must have burst, but then I dismissed it. This noise was quiet, and whatever was making it sounded like it wanted to keep it that way. So mechanical failure was out.

Maybe it was some random jackass messing with me? Escaped zoo animal? We did have the National Zoo near us, it wasn't entirely impossible.

"Hello?"

No response. I waited for a moment, then whirled around, making my best scary face. I'd assumed that would at least do something. No luck, because there was no one there. Yet the sound was still coming.

Okay, this was definitely not something I wanted to stay around for. Time to haul ass. I turned and ran, heart pounding. The hissing grew louder, and I heard claws begin to click on the pavement. 

Oh crap. Whatever it was, it was chasing me.

A railing appeared in front of me, blocking my path to the bike. If I swerved I'd lose my head start, and if I kept running I'd crash into it head-on. Option C it was, then. My hands shot forward, gripping the metal, and I kicked out, vaulting over it in a smooth movement.

The landing wasn't so perfect, though. My hands slipped on the dismount, and I fell the rest of the way to the ground. Luckily, I didn't break anything. Unluckily, that had gotten rid of my head start.

As if on cue, the hissing morphed into an unearthly shriek, a hunter closing in on its prey. I broke into a sprint, yanking my bike back out with strength born of adrenaline and fear. Mounting the bicycle as fast as possible, I desperately mashed the pedals, sending me careening down the street.

To my utter shock, the hissing followed me down the road. I'd thought it would leave me alone when I left it, but apparently not. Stunned, I risked a glance back, only to see a dark form following me at a dead run. It was vaguely humanoid in that it had basic human anatomy. That was where the similarities ended. I couldn't see most of its facial features because I wasn't exactly taking notes. But one thing did stand out.

Yellow eyes glinted hungrily in the darkness, fixed directly on my own. Those weren't human eyes, or even animal ones. I had never seen those eyes before, and I never wanted to do so again. They were the eyes of an apex predator. And its current prey was me.

My bike swerved to the side, and I hurriedly looked back at the road before I dented the parked Camaro on the right. I pedaled faster, my protesting legs nothing compared to what I'd just seen. I had to get away from it, because I knew in my heart if it caught me, it would not hesitate to kill me.

After a block of hard riding, my energy was rapidly draining, but my pursuer didn't seem to have broken a sweat. A sigh escaped me as I breathed hard, trying to get as much oxygen into my lungs as possible. If it could run as fast as I could ride, then how could I escape it?

Then a hill rose up before me, and an idea popped into my brain. So far, both me and the creepy thing had been biking and running on flat ground. The alien creature seemed to be used to that. What would happen if I used the incline to get a head start? Would it be able to outstrip me still? Or would it fall behind and I could finally escape?

One way or another, I was going to find out.

The hill was fairly easy for me to climb, I'd done it a thousand times before. I didn't dare risk back to see if the creature was having difficulties. If I did, I'd slow down and give it an advantage. Quite frankly, I'd rather rot in hell before I did that.

It was at the top that things got tricky. Since the climb itself was easy, the other side wouldn't offer too much in the way of momentum. I'd have to do most of the pedaling myself, and hope that the descent offered enough juice for a decent boost.

The hiss came closer, and I knew it was past time to speculate. With a grunt of effort, I pushed off, pedaling faster than I had ever tried to before. My muscles and lungs screamed in unison, but I wasn't worried about that right now. I was worried about my continued survival.

The wind whipped past my face, a razor blade against my skin. I was going so fast that if I crashed into a car I would likely not get up again. Although that might be preferable than letting what was behind me catch up.

Just as I reached the halfway point, I heard a furious roar from behind me. I knew turning to see what it was would be stupid and ill-advised. So of course I did it anyway.

In the brief glimpse I got, I saw the figure at the top of the hill, bellowing its displeasure at me. I felt a rush of relief. My half-assed plan, for whatever reason, had worked, and it was not happy about it. Even from more than twelve feet away, their baleful yellow gaze still pierced mine. It wasn't the homicidal look I'd seen earlier, though. This stare was one that promised a rematch.

We're not finished here.

I turned back to the road just in time to see my front tire impact with the curb, flipping the bike up into the air. There was a feeling of weightlessness, a flash of pain, and then darkness.