Monsters and Magnets part two

I woke up to a crash in my kitchen. At first I thought it was my cat Edison,but turning over I saw him siting beside me just as disturbed by the noise as I was. I grabbed a butter knife left on a plate on my dresser and held it ready to attack. Half awake I stepped out into my hallway, knocking over some of the pictures I had hung there. I shouted out "Hello! I already called the police, you better just run" Of course I was lying, my phone was in the living room, I had left it there to charge. I was just hoping to hear the door shut and scurrying foot steps, no such sound came in fact I heard nothing.

As I rounded the corner to my kitchen I noticed a purple glow. My eyes adjusted and in the middle of my kitchen there was a floating purple sphere. It just sat there about five feet from the ground bobbing up and down as if it was riding on an invisible wave. I reached out with my hand to touch it. I received a small shock as my hand pressed through it as if it was a ghost.

Edison came in, not in anyway concerned about the floating ball or the state of shock and confusion on my face. He simply ate a little from his dish meowed at me and waved his tail back and forth. It wasn't until he started batting the broken pieces of glass around I noticed what had originally fallen in the first place. It looked like someone had reached into where I keep all my glass cups and with one hand pushed them all onto the floor.

I quickly grabbed my broom and dust pan to sweep up the mess, Edison batted at the broom whenever I came close to him. The glass went in the trash can with another crash as it broke into even smaller pieces. I put away the broom and dustpan, returning to address the elephant in the room.

I took a few pictures of it with my phone and even made a short video, but they all looked fake and over exposed. Putting on a yellow dish washing glove I reached from it again and once again my hand went through and I received a small shock for my effort. As much as I wanted to ignore this thing I decided I needed help. I went through the Rolodex in my head of who I could call in this situation that would be helpful.

Keith came to mind. Good old creepy Keith, he loved this UFO, Unexplained,government conspiracy stuff. I knew he would be up even at this hour and he lived down the street. Looking out the window I could see the flicker of Keith's TV against the white drapes he kept drawn in his living room. Being concerned that Edison might decide the ball was his newest mortal enemy, I quickly threw him in his cat carrier and placed him on the couch before grabbing my coat and shoes and heading out the door.

I could barely hear talking coming from the direction of Keith's house as I shut my door. By the time I got to his driveway I was thankful of the space between my place and his. Any question of why Keith's name brought a sour face to his next door neighbors when I mentioned him were all answered by the time I reached the front door. Now for the great question to knock or to ring the doorbell? Luckily The answer was not needed, the door swung open and there stood Keith, his pudgy and scruffy face seemed alarmed at first then looks of recognition, puzzlement and concern washed over him in that order.

I launched into an apology before he could speak, then without taking a breath I spat out as much of the story as I could as quickly as I could. To him I am sure I looked like a balloon trying to get it's last will and testament out before it completely deflated. I could make out he was watching some show on UFO's and I made sure to include the word Aliens. Without any more convincing Keith said he would help and he returned into his house to grab a few things. After a few minutes he emerged with a black case shaped like a saxophone and a green backpack. As we walked away I could hear The shriek of a woman and the sounds of what I will describe as a death-ray being shot coming from Keith's TV.

Since I had left the lights off in my House my windows had a purple glow to them as we approached. The Sound of Edison crying in his cage could be heard as we came through the front door. Keith set down his bags as we entered and made a bee line for the orb. He also reached out to touch it and was greeted with a small shock. I may have forgotten to tell him that small detail, must of slipped my mind. Keith produced a small camera and laid it on the counter facing the orb. He seemed more excited now, going on about aliens and conspiracies. I simply wanted to know if it was dangerous and if we could move it away from the center of my kitchen.

It hung there like a ghost. Refusing to even acknowledge our existence. Kieth pulled out a voice recorder and began to ask the orb questions. Then he went to work trying to insult the orb, calling it a sad Tinker-bell knock off trying anything to get a rise out of something I was pretty sure was not conscious. It was around the time he asked the orb if it had died here that I decided that perhaps he wasn't the right expert for this particular problem.

My eyes felt tired, blinking turned in to short breaks that became longer and longer as the night wore on. I reiterated my interest in either containing or moving this thing out of my home. The novelty of the glowing ball had worn off. Now I just wanted this strange thing out of my house and to have the orb follow him if possible. Keith finally turned to me and explained that he didn't think it was dangerous. I told Keith that I would deal with it in the morning and that I would call him if anything changed. With that he packed up all his equipment and said a quick goodbye as he left.

I opened the door to Edison's cage and watched him escape like a prisoner that has found a hole in the prison wall. He ran over to the kitchen and started hissing at one of the lower cabinets that I keep some spare light bulbs in. I lured him away with a treat and threw it into the hallway. After finishing his snack the cat walked calmly back to my bedroom forgetting whatever had bothered him and laid down.

A few seconds later I heard Rustling in the same area That Edison was clawing at. Grabbing a flashlight I opened the cabinet. A few of the bulbs had fallen out of the bag I kept them in and were rolling loose on the bottom of the cabinet. Picking up the loose bulbs I placed them back in the bag then pulled the bag out onto the kitchen table.

Returning to the cabinet I shined the light in expecting to find a mouse or one of those damn bugs that goes skittering across my living room floor when they don't think I'm watching. A piece of broken bulb was in the back of the cabinet and I decided to pick it out so it didn't end up cutting me later. As I reached to touch it my finger went through it and I received a shock. I jerked my head back as my survival instinct kicked in, unfortunately my instinct has no spacial awareness and the back of my head bounced off the top edge of the cabinet with a loud thud.

My eyes watered and I held my head where it had come in contact with the wood. I could feel a little bit of blood between my fingers. blindly feeling the floor I navigated off my linoleum and onto the soft carpet of my living room. I laid there for a few minutes letting my eyes adjust and trying to remember the signs of a concussion. I felt a rough tongue run across my cheek and I screamed as if I was being eaten by a lion. It wasn't until I reached out to defend myself I realized it was only Edison.

My eyes came back into focus and I found myself staring at the ceiling fan and Edison's tail rubbing my face. Sitting up I could feel the pain in my head become as sharp as someone pushing a knife into my skull then it would dull if I stayed still. With another sharp pain I got to my feet and went back into my kitchen.

Circling the purple orb was now a monster or at least the ghost of a monster.It was translucent with a white tint and had a head like a jelly fish with a Mohawk of stiff white hairs. Several large crab legs poked out from the underside of the thing. A three foot long see through tail that reminded me of a scorpion wrapped out and over its head. It moved through the air as if it was moving through water. It positioned itself over the orb and took its legs like a cage and forced the ball into itself. For a moment the creature glowed bright purple then to a brilliant white color. It floated there apparently full and satisfied for the moment.

Edison has made his way to the kitchen table and had begun to hiss and bat at the creature. The creature took notice of my cat, then took offense to Edison's behavior. It's glow turned from white to red and it charged Edison. I grabbed Edison just in time to have my arm brush against the creature and give me a shock. Shaking it off I ran full speed to my bedroom, my head no longer hurt as the adrenaline rushed in and I made it to my bedroom in record time. Turning I could seethe monster coming down my hallway just as I shut the door. I rummaged through things in my room quickly as I could looking for anything I could use as a weapon. It was only a matter of seconds before the electric-jelly-crabion monster thing would come through a wall or the ceiling and try to attack us again.

Soon the door turned a light tint of red as the specter moved through it and towards us. Out of desperation and fear I grabbed the lamp off my nightstand and threw it at him. I was surprised to see the light still on as it flew across the room and stayed on even as it exploded in a bright blue flash against that thing. The lamp stuck into the beast and dragged it to the floor as if it couldn't stay afloat with the extra weight. I wouldn't say it bled, or that I could see anything that I would describe as blood. It more oozed out its own translucent jell. I found a flashlight and shined it on the creature as it rolled on the floor trying to stab at the lamp with it's tail.It finally stopped moving after a few minutes and I decided to step over it cautiously with Edison in my hands.

I sat petting Edison on the couch, feeling the adrenaline still moving through me. I talked it over with Edison as I petted him. When I heard the first crash there was broken glass and that Purple marble thing. I couldn't move it, I couldn't touch it and it shocked me. I moved my bag of spare light bulbs and that creature showed up, same rules as the ball. It attacked us and I threw a lamp at it that shattered and shredded the thing.

My best guess was glass could interact with that thing, sharp glass could apparently kill the thing. It made sense, I mean they were made of,or at least gave off electricity. Glass is non-conductive, probably can't phase through it like it did every else. Now all I needed was a glass knife or glass bullets in case anymore showed up. I heard the sound of the lamp in my room tapping the wall, I needed to finish this. Looking around I found that a mirror had fallen during my run and had shattered into a few knife shaped shards. I grabbed a sock that Edison had carried out of my hamper and wrapped it around the wide end of the broken mirror.

After placing Edison back in his carrier I went back to my room knife-mirror in hand. I entered the room in time to see that the thing had gained a second wind and was now trying to float through the wall. It would of made it too, if it weren't for the bulb being buried so deep into it that it could not get free. I pulled on the power cord of the lamp and like a dog leash the creature followed. I screamed as I stabbed at it, first cutting off that horrifying tail then a few of the legs and finally a few shots to the middle of its head. It was dead, I was sure of it now, It couldn't come back from that. I grabbed the lamp and carried it like a trophy of some ghoulish sporting event all the way to the front door. I proceeded to throw it to the edge of my yard, monster pieces still clinging to it as it hit the ground with a wet thud.

I stood in the front yard for a few minutes staring into the street. Out in the distance tiny specs of purple light could be seen here and there littering the street and the surrounding fields. They hadn't been there before when I had taken my walk. More of those creatures had arrived too, floating up through the ground like ghastly specters. They had come back in much greater numbers, fighting each other as they tried to eat.

My stomach sank as a new larger creature came floating by in the distance. I only caught a glance at one while it was turning to target its next meal. The body resembled a seal, but the tail looked more like the end of a dart or arrow with four fins all pointing in opposite directions. The arms resembled bat wings stretching out on either side as it circled back for another attempt. The head had a bird like quality with a pointed beak at the end. It was fast and moved without hesitation as it snatched a creature away from its herd and then carry it down beneath the soil.

Edison started to cry inside the house and then he started to hiss. Running inside I could see Other smaller creatures had been attracted by the pieces of my first visitor. I had basically chummed the water and now hundreds of translucent creatures no bigger than a marble were zipping back and forth mainly in the area where I had killed the first creature.

The cat carrier swung wildly in my hand as I grabbed it and my keys. I almost pulled my shoulder as I swung open the door to my old truck. Edison yelped and scratched at the cage in retaliation as I put him on the seat and slid in myself. The monsters bounced off my windshield and were pushed aside as I drove the short distance to Keith's house. For as much chaos that their was outside it was actually very quite out. These things didn't make sounds, at least sounds I could hear. It almost like watching a movie with the sound off. The only house lights on in the whole neighborhood were Keith's.

He apparently had not noticed what was happening on our street or had fallen asleep with the lights on. I needed to wake him up without leaving the truck, Honking the horn Seemed to stir people and hopefully would get Keith's attention. A few lights came on shortly after from the surrounding buildings. I could hear a few screams of fright as people looked out their windows and saw the scene. Keith finally emerged looking disheveled and half awake. I rolled my window down just enough to speak through and explained everything he had missed and what I had found to fight these things. After the explanation I tried to convince him to come with me, but something in Keith's eyes didn't look right, I think he had gone from curious to very very angry for some reason. Keith shouted out a "no thank you" as he ran into his house and came out with a wine bottle. Breaking the bottom against the sidewalk he took the bottle by the neck and and charged the creatures.

Keith made it about twenty yards before he encountered his first swarm of these things. I sat and watched him as he stabbed wildly. He managed to kill one before the others took notice of him and he disappeared into a cloud of them. He screamed as the endless shocks hit his body at the same time. I turned the truck around had planned on trying to drag him out of that pile. Suddenly the Bottle came swinging its way out of the cloud with Keith's hand held tightly around it. He waved the glass high in the air to show me he was OK then he turned back to fight these monsters again. It was at this point that the bat winged bird faced specter went swooping in on its prey. It opened it's beak and grabbed the glass by mistake taking Keith off his feet and dragging him out of site.

Things had escalated so quickly for a curious anomaly to an invasion it hadn't even crossed my mind to call the any type of authority, a radio station or at least my mom. I ran into Keith's house and fumbled around looking for a phone. Eventually I did find one and made a call to the local police. Explaining everything over again I tried t ostay calm and not come off as a raving lunatic. They kind of believed me, at least the said they would send a cruiser through. That was good enough for me.

The truck was warm and Edison had fallen asleep as I pointed the truck out of town and began to drive. The herds of these things thinned out, then their were none after just a half mile or so. It was quite.Reaching the edge of town I passed the massive complex that is Lithos Corp. It was dark, it was never dark. Most people worked there in some fashion and those that didn't relied on the patronage of the employees. It was basically a newer version of a mill town.

It was at this point I realized I had not actually picked a destination.Pulling into the Lithos parking lot I noticed only one other vehicle and decided to park beside the dirty jeep. I turned off my headlights and turned up the heater. My eyes were heavy and stung like they were dry. I closed them for a minute and listened to the rumble of my engine.