Beyond: A Science Fiction Short Story Collection

BEYOND

A Science Fiction Short Story Collection

Bettina Melher

Published by Bettina Melher

Copyright © Bettina Melher 2015

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is strictly coincidental.

Edited by Jake Logsdon, http://www.theindieeditor.com

Cover Design Copyright © 2015 by Otto Melher

For more information:

http://www.bettinamelher.com

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Please note: The spelling in this book is Australian English

TAKEN

It was hard to believe that Greg and Silvia Robinson had been married for twenty-two years already. Not only that, but their marriage was still filled with love and laughter, just as it had been when they had first said their vows.

Greg held Silvia's hand while he turned into the long driveway that led to their farm. They were returning from celebrating their wedding anniversary, after a wonderful dinner at the town's restaurant. Such outings were rare, given their home was over ninety kilometres away from town and even a normal trip to the grocery store was only a monthly journey. But Greg had always made an effort for their special occasions—birthdays, anniversaries, and last year for New Year's they had even gone on a well-deserved two-week cruise around the Mediterranean.

Life was good. Taking care of the farm and enjoying each other's company were all Greg and Silvia ever wanted in life. They had tried to have children, back when they had first married, but after almost ten years of trying to fall pregnant, they had eventually accepted the fact that they could not have children of their own. So, instead, they now lived with two cats, one German shepherd and over two hundred farm animals—a variety of sheep, cattle, and chickens, along with a few donkeys.

Yes, life was very good, and to Silvia and Greg it seemed that nothing could happen that would change their little slice of paradise.

That was, until that night.

The headlights shone the way up the rugged driveway, and they could already see the light bathing their porch in a soft yellow glow. They had left it on, knowing they would stay out late tonight. Their romantic dinner had led to a few drinks, which had then led to a few more at the bar adjacent to the restaurant. A local band had played that night, so they had joined in on the fun and made the most of their special occasion.

Now, after a beautiful evening and feeling more than tipsy on red wine and beer, the perfect way to end the night was by making love and then falling asleep in each other's arms. Silvia had even bought brand new lingerie for the occasion. She might be forty-seven years old, but she still knew how to excite her man.

A bright light suddenly interrupted their drive up to the farm. It shone from above and came as quickly as lightning would, but instead of a flash, it stayed. The light blinded them both, and was as bright as if they were looking directly into the sun.

Greg slammed on the brakes and the car skidded violently until it finally came to a halt. The white light now engulfed their entire vision and their home was no longer visible in the distance.

Greg's hands were still clutching the steering wheel, but he had clearly realised the engine had stopped, and the dashboard lights were out, too. He looked at Silvia. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open, almost frozen in shock.

What the hell is that? he asked.

It was eerily silent and nothing but their own breathing could be heard. It appeared that the light's source was directly above them, as if a giant were shining a spotlight at them.

Greg unbuckled his seatbelt and reached for the door handle when Silvia grabbed his arm.

Don't! she said, her eyes full of fear.

Stay here. I'll be right back. I have to see what's going on out there, he said, and pried his arm free from her desperate grip.

Silvia stayed in the car, but unbuckled her seatbelt, knowing she would be faster to rush out to his aid should he need her. In that moment, a million things raced through her mind, none of which seemed to offer a logical explanation for this incredibly bright light shining down at them in the middle of the night. Nothing was visible beyond the glow around the car. Their barn to the right was gone; their home up ahead, the hills off to the south on their left, even the road itself had vanished—nothing could be seen past the light.

Silvia watched anxiously as Greg exited the car. He closed the door behind him and slowly made his way to the front of the car, looking up at the sky.

Every single detail was crisp in the strange light. His head, which was balding at the crown, shone brightly, almost reflecting the light off his scalp. He looked back at the car for a second before returning his gaze to the light again.

There was a sudden noise—as loud as thunder. Silvia jumped and shrieked, covering her head with both arms. It had lasted barely a second, but it had been as deafening as if a bomb had exploded right beside her.

Silvia removed her arms from her head, not realising that she was trembling all over. Her ears were ringing and somehow she had a strange feeling like she was underwater. She opened her eyes, blinking against the bright light, and to her horror noticed that Greg was gone.

Without thinking, she stumbled out of the car, every movement feeling infuriatingly slow. The ringing in her ears continued as she rushed outside, slipping on the gravel. Getting up again, she ran to the very same spot which Greg had just been standing on. She looked everywhere, having to squint through the blinding light, but Greg was nowhere to be seen.

She called his name, not sure if she was loud enough. She could barely hear her own voice. The ringing inside her head was louder than before and then, the very moment she looked up towards the light's origin, before her mind could register what she was seeing, there was another ring of thunder.

And then there was nothing…

*

Silvia was conscious, but she wasn't aware of where she was and she couldn't remember what had happened either. All she knew was that she was cold. She was freezing, actually. An involuntary shiver jolted through her body, making her skin prickle.

Slowly, Silvia opened her eyes, but she was met with nothing but darkness. A pungent smell filled the air, nothing like she had ever smelled before. Somehow it reminded her of their barn, whenever Greg would solder metal.

Greg! Where was Greg?

Silvia swallowed hard and blinked in the darkness. Fear washed over her. Not knowing where she was, where Greg was, or what had happened to them made her want to cry. She felt strange, and the first tingle of an oncoming headache had started at the back of her neck.

She looked around the impenetrable darkness, hoping to find a glimmer of light or something that would provide her with a clue about where she was.

There was a faint ringing in her ears—and then with a rush some of it came back to her. She could remember seeing lightning and hearing thunder.

A storm… No, there had been no rain.

Dinner at the steakhouse and drinks at the bar. Yes!

Suddenly it all came back to her. It hadn’t been lightning, it had been a light directly above the car, and then Greg had vanished right before her eyes.

She felt sick to the stomach at the memory of what had happened.

As Silvia gathered her thoughts and wondered what the light had been, who had taken Greg, and where she was, a loud ding sounded from somewhere behind her.

Silvia froze.

She held her breath, and sharpened her ears.

She waited.

Seconds, perhaps even minutes passed, but nothing happened.

She let out a big breath of air, both in relief and also in frustration that she was no closer to getting any answers. The sudden awareness of her surroundings made her realise that she was actually shackled to the table she was lying on. Afraid that she would make noise, Silvia slowly pushed against the constraints of her wrists and ankles. She could barely move half an inch. She pushed harder, lifting her arms and legs, the cold metal pressing into her skin until she began to shake. She let go and eased off again. It was useless.

Just as Silvia considered screaming out for help, the entire room was suddenly flooded with light. She winced and squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden violation of her sight. Her eyeballs hurt from the abrupt change in brightness.

Footsteps echoed loudly and Silvia guessed she was in a hall. Given its echo, it was very large. Desperate to see her captors, she opened her eyes. The light almost burned her sight, but she forced herself to keep them open. It was white all around. The ceiling was high above her and the walls where white, too. Everything was white.

She turned to her right and what she saw was nothing she could have ever prepared herself for. She wanted to scream and run—anything to get away, but Silvia knew that she wasn’t going anywhere.

There were four of them, all of them equally terrifying. They towered over her at over triple her own height. Their bodies were lanky and sickeningly thin: stick figures with four legs and six arms. They seemed to function similarly to human limbs, but were disproportionate to their small torso. They looked to be a cross between spider, reptile, and human.

The head was perhaps the most frightening of all—an elongated skull which spread thin and wide at the top, resembling an inverted triangle.

Their eyes were large and black. They didn't seem to have a nose and their mouth covered half of their face. It was wet and wide open in a permanent scream. Inside the mouth, thousands of tiny tongues writhed and licked the wide empty space, eager to receive the next thing that would enter the dark cave.

They approached Silvia and stopped abruptly. The dizziness, the looming headache and even Greg were no longer on her mind.

Instead, all her attention and strength was focused on getting the hell away from these monsters.

She was almost half sitting at that point, pulling as hard as she could against the metal shackles. The rings dug deep into the skin of her wrists and ankles, but she didn't care. She had to pry herself free and run as fast as she could.

The creatures looked at her with eager curiosity. They watched calmly as she struggled to break free, but it was useless. Eventually, her frustration turned to rage and she screamed at them at the top of her lungs.

Let me go! Get away from me!

One of the creatures stepped closer, effortlessly pinning her chest back down to the table. It had only used one of its arms, but that alone had been enough—it was incredibly strong. All the air inside her lungs escaped at the pressure. She could do nothing but watch and wait for whatever was coming next.

This is it. I'm going to die now.

But she didn't die. Instead, one of the other creatures pried open her mouth, its long, ice-cold fingers reaching deep inside. She gagged and writhed but there was nothing she could do. The creature produced a small sphere containing some kind of black liquid. It carefully moved it above her mouth and let it fall inside. The sphere burst open and the liquid gushed to the back of her throat, flowing inside before her tongue could attempt to stop it. Almost immediately, her arms and legs went slack. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.

*

Greg had been calling his wife's name for over ten minutes now. She was breathing, but she hadn't moved since Greg had woken up himself.

Greg and Silvia were each locked up in a metal cage. Their cages stood next to each other, but were too far apart for him to reach through the gaps and touch her.

The bars of the cage were a mere three inches apart and aligned vertically, strikingly similar to a jail cell. As familiar as the cages may appeared, Greg knew that they were no longer on Earth, and if they were, they had been taken somewhere where humans had never been to before.

The creatures were terrifying and Greg could recall being pinned down and stripped of all his clothes. Silvia, too, was completely naked. There was nothing they could use to cover themselves with.

Greg looked around the hall. Their cages were the only ones who’d had their covers removed. The hall contained at least another twenty cages, all arranged in a half circle. He had no idea what was hidden inside the other ones as black sheets covered them.

What could they possibly want from them? If they wanted to kill them, surely they would have done so already. Then it dawned on him. Perhaps they were food? It was a scary thought, but also the least likely to be true. If they were intended for consumption, these things sure had a strange way of storing them.

No, he thought. This is some kind of display. We're being displayed…but for what?

Silvia stirred, her face troubled and scared even before she had fully woken.

Sil! Greg called, trying whisper, but also trying to be loud enough for her to hear.

Sil, honey. Wake up!

Silvia blinked, momentarily confused. Then she gasped and instinctively crawled to the corner of the cage, hugging her legs as she processed her new surroundings.

Sil, it's okay. It's me, he said, reaching as far out of his cage