Chapter Text
Gem crawled out of bed, groaning. Five was far too early to be awake.
After getting to her feet she begrudgingly made her bed neatly before she made her way into the apartment’s bathroom. Brushing her teeth was done quickly and she hopped into the shower. Once clean, Gem changed into a pair of old jeans and a T-shirt. Grabbing her brush she ran it through her hair till it was relatively tangle-free.
Now in the kitchen, Gem made a quick peanut butter banana sandwich before grabbing her jacket and putting it on. She then located her bag and did a quick run through to make sure she had everything.
Chapstick? Check. Wallet? Check. Phone? Check. Keys? Check. Needle and thread? Check. Hair ties? Check.
She was ready.
Gem hesitated at the door, glancing back at the apartment. It wasn’t much — cracked walls, secondhand furniture — but it was hers. She wondered how long she could afford it without the warehouse paycheck.
This was going to certainly be an interesting next few weeks.
The bus stop was cold, to say the least. 30 degrees wasn't exactly great weather for standing on the side of the road, believe it or not. When the bus finally stopped she quickly paid and took her seat and braided her hair until they arrived at the stop nearest the warehouse before she stood and got off the bus.
It was her last day on the job, Garry had given her the news just last week. The company was experiencing some pay cuts, and therefore had to ‘cut down on expenses’. Which meant Gem. Gem was fired, or as Garry had said, laid off.
So fired.
Gem picked up the box and carefully loaded it into the back of the semi, humming as she did. The next box was heavier, and Gem slid it over to her coworker Mark to check over everything. Box after box was loaded and soon the trailer was full. She filled another 3 and a half trailers before clocking out for the final time.
The coffee shop was warm and Gem smiled, enjoying the background noise. She pulled off her jacket and took out her needle and thread, taking another sip of her coffee before beginning to stitch. It was a sunflower, she was filling in the last of the petals, making each stitch as neat as she could.
She spent almost an hour in the coffee shop before finishing both her coffee and sunflower. It had warmed up during the day and after slipping her jacket back on Gem decided to take a quick hike to the shore and back. It would take maybe a couple hours, and she would just catch a later bus when she got back.
The forest between the town and sea was gorgeous and Gem loved walking through it, the sounds of the animals warmed her soul and it made her feel calm. She walked for just over an hour before she could see the coast, the salty air mingling with that of pine. Once at the cliffs edge Gem found a fallen log and made it her seat, closing her eyes and listening.
Listening to the wind in the trees, the crashing waves, the gulls cry, a soft hum, the leaves rustling.
It was peaceful.
She almost felt weightless.
Wait.
Her eyes snapped open and she yelped as she saw the grass beneath her. Several feet beneath her. Her stomach lurched as she rose, the air was cold against her back, her heart hammering so fast she could barely breathe. Pebbles drifted upward with her, weightless. ‘No, no, no–’ she gasped, clawing at empty space.
She flails her arms and kicked her legs, begging the invisible force to let her go but she kept going
up,
up,
up.
The creature in front of her couldn’t be described as anything other than terrifying. It looked like some sort of octopus with fur and hundreds of eyes. It was a purple gray and looked like something out of a sci-fi film.
“Her mind scrambled for logic – drone? hallucination? dream? – but none fit. The thing’s eyes blinked out of sync, dozens of them focusing on her at once.”
The creature made a garbled sound and two beings just like it came, one grabbing her.
As soon as its tentacles wrapped round her she could feel gravity again, as if they had cut whatever strings had held her suspended in air.
There was more of the garbled sound, and the creature that had not grabbed her tilted its massive head, the motion fluid and unnatural, like water rippling in slow motion. The hundreds of eyes blinked, all out of sync.
The air around her shimmered, thick and strange, almost like heat waves off asphalt. She tried to move, but the tentacles held her fast, cool and damp —yet strangely fuzzy— against her arms. Her heart pounded in her ears.
Gem’s breath hitched as the thing made more garbled noises . What was happening?
“What— what are you?” she stammered, though she doubted it could understand her.
The creature in front of her clicked—an awful, wet sound and gestured with one limb. The two holding her began to move, dragging her through the air toward a shape she hadn’t noticed before.
Gem’s pulse thundered. “Oh, no. No, no, no, NO—put me down! Put me DOWN!”
Her frantic struggling only made the grip tighten. The alien gargled and the light grew brighter.
The world shattered into sound.
She was falling, but not through air. Colors bled into each other, metal to light to nothing, and her body twisted through space that didn’t make sense.
Then, silence.
When the world final stilled just in time for Gem to see a door slide closed, leaving her alone in the empty room.
“You’ve got the wrong person!” she shouted, though she wasn’t sure they even had people here. “Please, let me go! Take me back!”
No answer came.