The Lost Colony

The full story

A/N I was planning to expand upon this story. I originally wrote it as a school assignment in 8th Grade. Thanks for reading it.

A piercing scream shook the walls of the cave. The pungent smells blocked off all of my senses. We sat still, huddled in the ghastly crevice, with the wretched beasts right outside. My heart was racing, my mind on the brink of explosion. We were stranded in the hole for what seemed like hours. That's when they entered. I screamed as loud as I could, hoping that someone would save me. I hoped that I would go on living after this horrific moment.

My name is Virginia Dare. My dear grandfather thinks that my family, the other settlers, and I are dead. But the truth is, I have lived for much longer than he believes. The problem is, though, I'm not on Earth.

* * *

We had arrived on the island only a few days ago. What many people don't know, is that I was born on the ship, not on the island. Mother went into labor a month early, while they were on the ship. I was born in the hold. My mother and father told me that the ship was extremely uncomfortable, with atrocious rooms and no proper wash space.

The sightings began after my grandfather had left to get supplies. At first, my friend's mother saw a strange figure in the darkness of the trees. Soon after, another man saw creatures walking around on the beach. The settlers were so scared that they asked, or rather, begged, my father, the standing Governor in Grandfather's absence, to investigate. Father told a group of men to stand guard overnight, and he, heroically, volunteered to be one of them.

My father returned the next morning with blood on his face and all over his uniform. I never forgot what my father told me the next morning. He said that he and his men were standing guard along the border of the forest. Then, one of the soldiers heard a strange gurgling sound.

"What was that?" he asked, his knees shaking in the moonlit forest.

"It was probably nothing," Father said. Then he saw it. A vicious, horrific beast, with flashing eyes that were as bright as the sun. My uncle, one of the soldiers, took a shot at it. The bullet bounced right off of it and hit my uncle right above his right eye. The beast took him and the rest of the soldiers, apart from Father. He went after the beast but tripped over a root, and when he got up again, the monstrosity had escaped. My father searched and searched, but there was no trace of that creature.

We kept hunting for the beast, but we only lost more settlers. Finally, after 3 months of searching, in the middle of winter, and we had found a dying creature. We killed it and burned its body.

* * *

A year later, the hunters had come back from their trip around the island. The food was running low. They told my father that they had encountered the creature again, but that there were at least a dozen of them now. Everyone was terrified. We sent out another party, my father not included, and no one returned. We were truly shaken after this. Many settlers began planning to leave, including mother, but Father and I would not leave. We refused to leave the place that Grandfather had built.

So we prepared to stay in our home, while everyone else got ready to leave. Mother was the first to get on the boats leading to the ships. It was said that they were all going to live on the island of the wild men that we had scouted in early May. It's September now.

Father and I managed to stay alive for the better part of a year, but then they came. It was the dead of night, and I suddenly saw flashes of a peculiar light strike through the dark sky. I believed that He must have been angry, but my father had other ideas. He ran to attack the beasts, but they slaughtered him like a pig. The creature roared with a sound that shook the island itself.

"Father," I shouted, my heart shattering like a mirror. "Noooooo!"

"Father, please don't leave me. Father!" I pleaded to God that he couldn't have died, for the hope that He could save him. Then, I saw the creatures that killed him. They were an arm's length in front of the house.

The monstrosities entered the house, the silver moonlight bathing them in a light so bright, I was momentarily stunned. It was as if they created the light. I ran for the woods and the beasts began to chase me. I reached the brink of the forest, and then I saw them. Dozens of beasts, standing in front of me. They took me to their ship and put me in a room. They forced one of their own to watch me. It was another 4 years since then.

I was 16 when we landed on the strange planet. It was filled with strange and beautiful flowers and other flora and fauna. There were several different kinds of creatures, all with strange names, such as Njolds and Jorgamunds. They were horrific beasts, but they all seemed to be working, no slaving over the plants. It seemed as if they were farming. I had recognized some of the plants to be fruits, such as apples and a new fruit we discovered called oranges. They had also eaten the poisonous plant called tomato.

It was a year since then, and the alien slaves and I had begun to plan a revolt. They have named me the leader. We were to revolt that night, going to attack them in their slumber, whereas living in this beautiful world to be only lowly slaves, unable to explore and thrive, is an affliction to all of us. The beasts hit us, abused us, and slaughtered us, without a second thought. There was a rumor that the beasts were slaves, and they overthrew and destroyed every single one of their masters.

That explained the cruelty of the beasts. They had experienced the pain that we felt, and they hadn't planned on giving it up.

We entered the house, walking as quietly as a mouse looking for cheese. It was the dead of night, and entering the house was a true challenge, for there were twigs everywhere. The tiniest misstep would've been chaotic, for we wouldn't have survived. Suddenly, the floor collapsed and opened up into a hole. We all fell in.

The eerie silence was shattered by a piercing scream shook the walls of the cave. We sat still, huddled in the ghastly crevice, with the slimy beasts right outside. My heart was racing, my mind on the brink of explosion. We would probably die. I felt around as quickly as I could to try and find an exit. Then, the beasts found us, and I had found the exit.

I ran, hoping my friends would follow. They did not. It wrenched my heart, but my friends were slaughtered right in front of my eyes. I escaped, took a ship, and made my way back home with the few friends I had left.

* * *

It's been 30 years since the day the beasts took us. I remember the terror in the eyes of my mother as she was eaten by those beasts. I cannot forget this event. I am 46, I had a husband, and 2 daughters. I have a happy life, even if I can't see my dear Mother, Father, or Grandfather. I'm on my deathbed, but I had to get this off my chest. Goodbye, wonderful world. Thank you for this life you have given me.