The first thing that John noticed when he opened his eyes were the three strange beings in his room.
They resembled the stick figures that he would draw when he was a kid, but they had an ethereal quality to them. Their pale skin and oval faces made it seem at first as though they had no distinguishable features. As John examined the faces more, he noticed a few details. Where the eyes were supposed to be, John noticed two dark dots. The mouth was missing and the nose was replaced by two vertical slits that quivered every time a gust of air exited them, which made John realize that the beings were exhaling.
He looked at his bedside clock, noticing that the time was just past 1 am in the morning. Moonlight bled through the windows, directly illuminating the foot of the bed. The rest of the room was partly in shadow. Or perhaps it was John's eyes trying to adjust to the darkness that made it seem that way.
John realized that he hadn't panicked or felt fear yet. Perhaps it was his mind shutting down from the shock, the way the body's immune system does to prevent a sudden surge of pain. John had read that the body blocks pain receptors during a fight or flight response, allowing a person to focus on the problem at hand. Maybe his mind had activated some sort of mental fight-or-flight mechanism, preventing him from getting disoriented from the shock of seeing strange beings in his room.
The three beings stood a little to the side of John's bed. As he continued to watch them, the middle one stepped forward and titled its head slightly.
A blast of noise entered John's mind. It was like being in a silent room and imagining the sound of a train, only this time John wasn't in a quiet room and the noise was ten times the intensity that he could ever imagine. Soon, the noise dimmed down to a faint hum that was still disorienting, but was at least better than what John had experienced just moments before. He realized that he had unconsciously moved his hands to his head and was clutching it tightly. He relaxed his fingers and brought his hand down. His breath came in quick gasps, as though he was suffocating and grabbing on to as much of the sweet oxygen as he could.
We apologize for the intrusion.
The voice John heard felt like it came from all over the room. He glanced around himself before finally fixing his eyes on the three entities. Were they aliens?
He looked at them for a few seconds, watching them looking back at him. They couldn't have spoken, could they? They had no mouths. Or were their vocal cords somewhere else?
We are here to discuss a matter of utmost urgency.
Once again, the voice seemed to reverberate around the room. This time, John was looking at the entities and noticed that none of them had moved their mouths.
John. We would like you to come with us.
It all came in a flash. The voice was not in the room. It was in his head. He looked up at the entity in the middle, which seemed like the one speaking. Or creating the voices in John's head.
"Look, I don't know what this is about but I'm telling you, I don't make a good test subject for alien entities. I am not particularly strong and neither am I a person of any particular importance."
John realized that his heart was pounding in his chest. The panic and fear that were absent were slowly making their presence known. It was like a kettle of water placed on a stove to boil. It would simmer at first before reaching boiling point. In John's mind, the panic and fear were already preparing themselves to boil. And he wasn't sure if he liked to be scared at this point.
The two entities in the back looked at each other. Their bodies began to vibrate all over. It began as small shakes and turned into violent tremors. It didn't take long for John to figure out what was happening.
The entities were laughing.
"What's funny? Wait, what's happening here? Is this some kind of prank? Alice? Peter? Are you guys behind this?"
The middle entity turned its head towards its shoulder, clearly indicating that it wanted to grab the attention of the other two entities. Both the entities stopped laughing. It was so sudden that it felt like a switch had been flipped off.
The middle entity looked back at John.
Forgive my associates. They are not used to being called aliens.
"Well, that's what you guys look like to me," said John, trying to add a little bravado to his voice and failing miserably.
Yes well, we do fulfill the aesthetic requirements of beings from outer space, according to your fiction writers.
"So you guys are not here to kidnap me?"
We are here to take you.
"Against my will?"
You will join us willingly.
"And what would compel me to do that?"
The middle entity raised its shoulders and dropped them. John realized the being had just sighed.
Ah. You did notice that.
"Notice what?"
My reaction. What you call a 'sigh.'
"And?"
John realized that he was not feeling fear anymore. Rather, there was a sense of calm. He was surprised by the reaction, but for some reason, he was expecting it. Why would he do that?
Perhaps your memories have not fully returned. A quick peek into the mirror might speed things up.
John remained frozen in place for a little while. Slowly, he stood up from the bed and walked over to the mirror in his room. He looked at the reflection staring back at him. The reflection had his face. There was nothing amiss.
"I don't understand," said John. "I don't see anything wrong with me."
It took a while, but the realization finally dawned on him. The flood of memories were intense, but the knowledge they gave John took his breath away. He took a few steps away from the mirror, his eyes wide and his mouth open in shock. He wanted to reject the memories but he knew they were real.
He pressed his hands to his head and grabbed a fistful of hair. Using as much force as possible, he pulled. At first, all he felt was a shot of pain that traveled from the roots of his hair to the sides of his head. Eventually, he heard a tearing sound, like leather being ripped apart with bare hands. The skin of his head along with all his facial features came off his skull.
No, not skull.
A pale head with dots for eyes, vertical slits for nose, and no mouth.
He stared at the reflection for a while before looking at the three entities in the room.
The middle entity stepped forward.
Time to go home comrade.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
