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The Promise | Save Me | Just A Dream | My Dearest Taylor | Invasions of the Mind | Terror On The Road
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Invasions of the Mind
By Crystal
It was early afternoon when Taylor jogged down the stairs looking for his mom. He looked in the living room. It appeared to have been abandoned. Toys were strewn all over the place and Blue's Clues was blasting away on the TV. All the tale tell signs of a family with a lot of kids.
“Mom!” He called.
“In here!” Diana answered from the kitchen.
Taylor walked into the kitchen and found her washing dishes.
“Mom?”
She turned towards him and smiled. “Yes, baby?”
“Is it okay if I borrow the car?” Taylor asked. “Todd wants me to come over and see his new stereo.”
Diana thought about it for a minute. “Yeah, okay.” She relented. “Just be back by six, ok.”
“Sure. Thanks mom.” Taylor said. “Bye.”
“Bye.”
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Taylor walked out the front door and found his brothers playing basketball in the driveway. Zac was laughing at Isaac who was slumped over, panting heavily. Apparently, Ike hadn't been doing so well.
“Hey guys.” Taylor greeted. “How's it going?”
“Oh, it's going great!” Zac smirked at Isaac. “Isn't it Ike?”
Isaac looked up at Taylor. “He is evil!” He rasped.
Taylor laughed. “Hey, I'm going to Todd's house. Do you guys want to come?”
“Nah.” Zac said. “We're just gonna chill here today.”
“Okay.” Taylor said. “Well, I'll see you guys later. Bye.”
“See ya.”
Taylor got in his dad's car and began the drive to his friend, Todd's, house. One the way there, he had to drive down a road that was surrounded by fields on both sides for a about half a mile. Taylor was halfway down the road when the car began to choke and sputter.
“Oh God! Not now!” He moaned.
Taylor managed to pull the car over to the side of the road before it came to a complete stop. After popping the hood, he got out of the car and tried to see what was wrong.
“Yep. Just what I thought.” He said to himself. “A busted car.”
Sighing in frustration, he closed the hood and got back in the car. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in his home number. Instead of a ring, all he heard was static. Suddenly, a large shadow fell over the car. Taylor looked out the window and discovered a large, round, metal object hovering above him.
“What the hell?” He whispered.
There was a bright light, and everything went black.
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Taylor woke up feeling an intense pounding in his head. He tried to feel his head with his hand, but found that something was holding it down. Suddenly alert, he opened his eyes and discovered that both of his wrists and ankles were securely strapped down to a long, metal table. He attempted to lift his head, but found that it was restrained, also.
“Help me! Please! Someone help me!” He screamed.
Feeling the anxiety and claustrophobia overcome him, he began to fight desperately against his restraints. No matter how much he struggled, though, they held fast. Finally, he gave up, his body overcome with exhaustion. From his immobilized position, Taylor strained to look around and try to figure out where he was. As far as he could tell, he could see that he was being held in what looked to be a round room. The first thing that he noticed was that everything was a dark gray color, and there weren't any creases or cracks in the walls at all. The entire room looked as though it were made of one big piece of metal. The room was completely empty except for the table he was lying on and a large table of some sort that was covered with a metallic gray cloth. Suddenly, a loud hissing sound could be heard throughout the room. Becoming alarmed, Taylor tried to figure out where it was coming from, but the sound echoed around the room, seeming to come from everywhere. Taylor's attention was turned to the wall directly in front of him where the outline of a door began to form. The door slid open revealing a dark opening. Taylor gasped in fear when a creature appeared in the doorway. It looked to be about seven feet tall. It had scaly, dark green skin, two pointed black eyes, and its nose and chin were both long and pointed. Taylor began to shake uncontrollably as it moved towards him.
“Wh…who a…are you?” Taylor asked. “W…what d…do you want?”
The creature stepped up to the side of the table and looked down at him.
“Hello Taylor.”
“H… how did you know m…my name?” Taylor asked fearfully.
The creature lifted its hand revealing six long, skinny fingers. Taylor cringed as it touched a finger to his temple.
“What do you want? Tell me, please!” Taylor pleaded.
“That isn't your concern right now.” The creature stated.
It walked over to the covered table and pushed it up beside Taylor. It pulled off the metallic cloth revealing a tray holding various instruments. None of which Taylor had ever seen in his life. The creature released Taylor's head from its restraint.
“What are you doing?” Taylor asked
“Quiet!” The creature ordered.
Not wanting to upset it any further, Taylor did as he was told. The creature turned his head to the side so that he was facing away from the creature. Taylor whimpered as the creature refastened the straps around his head. The creature picked up an instrument from the tray. It looked like an extremely large syringe with two tubes leading from the side of the needle into two small containers. The creature brought the instrument to the back of Taylor's head. Sensing the movement, Taylor began to cry.
“Please, don't hurt me!” Taylor sobbed. “Please, just leave me alone!”
The creature ignored him and brought the instrument closer to his head. Tears of anguish poured down Taylor's face as he felt the sharp end of the instrument touch the back of his head just above the neck.
“Quiet! Or else I will make this hurt worse than it has to.”
Taylor screamed as he felt the needle puncture his brain stem.
“Stop it! Stop it! Please! Take it out! Stop!”
The creature pushed a button on the instrument and it began to draw fluid through the tubes and into the small containers. Taylor continued to scream.
“Aaaahhhhh! Stop! Please! Stop!”
The pain was excruciating, causing him to inadvertently pull against his restraints so hard that his wrists began to bleed. Dizziness overcame him until he slipped into the welcoming arms of unconsciousness.
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Taylor woke up to find his head strapped back in its original position. He opened his eyes and was surprised to find himself alone. He groaned feeling a horrible ache at the back of his head. He shuttered as he remembered the terrible ordeal that he had gone through just hours before. He tried to estimate how long he had been in this extraterrestrial dungeon, when the door slid open, and the creature stepped into the room. Sweat broke out on Taylor's forehead and his breath came out in short gasps as the creature stepped towards him.
“No! Not again! Please don't hurt me again!” Taylor pleaded.
“Quiet, Taylor! I am not here to do anything more to you at this moment.” The creature stated. “I want to show you something, but I need you to promise not to attempt to escape if I release you from your restraints.”
Not really thinking about the question, Taylor answered immediately. “Ok, I promise.” He agreed.
The creature released the straps holding him down, and he sat up slowly, rubbing his wrists gently. He hopped down from the table and quickly grabbed onto the edge as he began to sway from side to side. The creature grabbed his wrist and guided him through the door. It lead him through a long, bright white hallway before it pulled him into another room. Taylor gasped as he stepped through the doorway. Unlike the other room, this one was full of all sorts of machines, gizmos and gadgets. Lights blinked all over the place and beeping and whirring sounds came from all over the room. The creature lead him over to a large screen at the back of the room. The creature pushed a large button on the side and dozens of dancing lights appeared on the screen.
“Watch this, Taylor, and I will explain everything to you.”
As Taylor watched in amazement, the dancing lights began to merge together. They formed a shape resembling a giant bird, then a huge flower, then what appeared to be a human being. The being slowly approached Taylor, and the young man's astonishment turned to terror.
“My God,” he cried, “That's me!”
The creature pushed another button on the side causing the being to freeze in place. Taylor studied the being. It had the same height and build as him. The same blonde hair and blue eyes. It even had the same scar under its left eye. Taylor turned towards the creature.
“What is it?” He asked.
The creature sighed. “Its our world's greatest weapon against our enemy. The gresthens. We've engineered them to form any living creature in the universe. We take the brain fluid from a creature and place it in the molecular analyzer which then feeds them all of the DNA and behavioral information. The gresthens are then able to look and behave like that same creature. Unfortunately, all of the brain fluid must be drawn for the gresthens to receive all of the information needed. This leaves the creature mentally damaged for the rest of their lives.”
Taylor looked up at the creature with worry. “Who is your enemy?” He asked.
“You.” The creature replied calmly. “We have been wanting your planet for quite some time now. However, we've seen the way you treat other visitors to your planet, so we decided to take it from you. We picked you so that we could begin to infiltrate your people. You should feel honored.”
“Wait, wait!” Taylor began to panic. “You can't do this! It's not right!”
“Quiet! Now, back to your cell. We have yet to finish withdrawing all of your brain fluid.”
“What?!” Taylor yelled.
“The molecular analyzer takes a long time to withdraw the information, so we take a little at a time, so that it stays fresh. It will take us about a week to withdraw all of yours.”
Panting in fear, Taylor looked frantically for a way out. He spotted the open door behind the creature and made a run for it. He had to get out of there and warn everyone. He ran through the long, twisted hallway searching for a way out. Finally, he reached the end of the hallway and found a large door. He rushed towards it, hoping that it would lead to his freedom. Just before he reached it, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and his world turned to black.
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When Taylor woke for a third time, he was surprised to find himself laying on what felt like a bed instead of a metal table. He opened his eyes and instead of a round, gray room, he found himself in a hospital room. He wasn't restrained and there was an IV line leading into his left arm.
“Taylor?”
Taylor looked to his right and was shocked to find his parents standing there with someone who looked to be a doctor.
“Mom? Dad? What happened?” Taylor asked confusingly.
His mom began to gently stroke his hair. “You were in a car accident on the way to Todd's house.” She said.
Taylor furrowed his brow in confusion. “Really?” He asked. “I don't remember.”
The doctor spoke up. “Well, you hit your head pretty hard. You've been unconscious for the past 36 hours.”
“Really?” Taylor whispered.
“Yeah.” His dad answered lovingly. “But you're gonna be okay.” He and Diana looked at the doctor. “Right?” He asked.
“Of course.” The doctor assured them. “Now that he's awake, he should be fine. I just want to keep him here for the next week for observations. Make sure that there aren't any complications.”
“Of course.” Diana agreed.
“Good.” The doctor said. “Well, I'll go inform the nurse of what's happening and leave you alone for a bit. I'll be back in about 20 minutes to examine him and make sure everything is in order.”
Walker shook his hand. “Thank you doctor.”
“Your welcome. I'll see you all in a bit. Bye.”
“Bye.” They all said.
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The doctor left the room and beckoned to the nurse with his hand. Wordlessly, she followed him into an empty waiting room.
“The boy is awake.” He whispered to her. “Start the withdrawals after the parents leave. We should be done with him within a week.”
“But won't his parents become suspicious when everyday they notice their son becoming increasingly mentally unstable?” She asked.
The doctor wasn't worried. “I'll just tell them that it's from complications. His brain began to bleed during the night and we didn't catch it in time to prevent brain damage.” He explained. “Besides,” he chuckled, “Soon, they will be the same way.”
They both laughed in celebration of their soon to be victory. Earth's people had no idea where their minds were going to go next.
The End
