Selection Day

Chapter 3

It was my Dad. I stared at my mother, who had started sobbing. I remember biting down on my tongue, not wanting to break down in front of her. I wanted to hug her and slap her at the same time, and the lump in my throat hadn't made it any easier for me to push down my out-of-control emotions. It was when she had reached out to touch my arm that something inside me snapped. I don't remember exactly what had happened next, because before I knew it, I was running down the driveway.
The sound of my father pleading for me to come back had started to fade as I ran further down the street. There was no one else around. No one driving, no shouting, no rowdy kids. Just me. I remember sprinting through the neighbourhood where I had grown up and passing the many boarded up and abandoned houses. I knew I should have turned around and gone back, but I just couldn't face my mother. I could not sit in her presence. The fact that my Dad had not told her to leave had both angered and shocked me. After I had run down a couple streets, I heard something. That something sounded like the engine, except it didn't sound like it was coming from the road. I had slowed my pace as I reached the end of an abandoned street, at a crossroad. That was when I had spotted a cylinder shaped, silver object around seven foot off the ground, travelling at a slow speed towards the street that I was on. I remember panic washing over me, as I realized that they could be Alpha Draconian's, another species of extra terrestrials, who were the guards for the Nordics. Unlike the Nordics, they did not look human, instead they were ten feet tall with big red eyes, maroon scaled skin, and long spiked tails. As I desperately tried to think what to do, an announcement rang out that had made my blood run cold.

"Attention Humans!"
Adrenaline had pumped through my veins, as I bolted to the safety of a secluded alleyway that had been conveniently a couple meters away.

"We demand all humans to go back to their dwellings! If spotted on the streets, we will take immediate action! If you have the Red Nordic symbol you will be shot dead. If you have the Purple Nordic symbol, you will be held captive until the end of Selection Day!"
I remember my stomach dropping! I couldn't leave without saying goodbye to my Dad. I was in a moment of pure panic, until my phone started to vibrate in my back pocket, which snapped me out of my panicked haze. I remember relief washing over me when I saw my Dad's name flash on the screen.
I was crouching down behind a stack of boxes trying hard to stay quiet and out of view. I remember whispering my Dad's name when I answered the phone, and my heart had broken when I heard him sobbing on the other line. He must have heard the announcement. He knew.

"Talia I need you to know that I love you...", my Dad had said in between sobs. I didn't have time to answer because it was in that moment that I saw the flying object in front of me. In panic, I attempted to back away further into the darkness of the alley but had lost my balance. I had grabbed the box in front of me in hopes of saving myself from the fall, but instead the box and the contents in it came down with me. The thud of my fall and the crashing of objects rang out. That was when an alarm sounded.

"STAY WHERE YOU ARE! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED!"
I clutched my phone to my ear listening to my Dad panic as two Alpha Draconian's had started running down the alley way towards me.


"DAD IM SORRY! I LOVE YO-", I was cut off. I hadn't had time to finish my sentence. I was swooped up, my phone snatched out of my hands. I remember screaming as I watched the Alpha Draconian smashing my phone on the ground, staring at me with a chilling smile. I felt like I couldn't breathe, as I was dragged away. I must have blacked out because that was the last thing I remember. I woke up two days later here. I now honestly wish that that had been the last thing that I ever remembered.