Alien Life

“Show me those pearly whites,” I told my girlfriend sweetly while aiming the camera at us for a selfie. It had been a relaxing trek up the mountain today. With the suns shining down on us instead of blazing like normal, and a refreshing breeze at our backs, we’d made good time. The trek had given us hours to sort out our relationship, where she felt we were going, what our goals were and if they were compatible. Since they were, we’d celebrated by uniting our bodies in an explosive way. That had been so much to process. Unity took hours to establish anyway, but I’d been so excited for our lifeplan that I’d kept us enjoying it for even longer. Layla felt so amazing inside of my body that I hadn’t been able to stop for a while.

“Quinley, what are you waiting for?” the woman asked, her grin turning sardonic as the moments trickled by.

“I want to capture you in the perfect starlight,” I told her truthfully. Layla groaned leaning forward to kiss me, her luminous green eyes trained on my camera the whole time. I grinned at her. “You know a photographer has to capture every picture perfectly, even selfies.”

“I know, honey,” she laughed, snuggling against my furry chest. We breathed in tandem for a while before I attempted to rein in my perfectionist tendencies to take the damn picture.

*Click*

“Let me see,” Layla said excitedly, snatching the phone out of my hand. “Aww, we look great, but what’s that starburst behind us?”

Gently taking the camera back from her, I looked the picture over. She was right, we did look good together, as life partners should. But there was a streak of star fire passing by our knees. It was too low to be star fire. A flash to our right confirmed that something had crashed in the forest. A hovercraft? But it wasn’t quite the right shape. Hoping that there were survivors - praying that there weren't, I started heading in the direction of the flash, my girlfriend trailing timidly behind me.

The fires were almost out by the time we reached the clearing. Definitely not a hovercraft. I looked at the large cylindrical vessel with blatant curiosity. I’d never seen anything like it. Our world was one of curves; nature was our way. Something about the vessel just felt… wrong. My girlfriend seemed to agree, shuddering as she watched the smoking projectile as if it might explode any moment. I almost would have preferred if it did. Something so strange did not belong in our world. What was it, anyway? A meteor would have burned up in the atmosphere and wouldn’t have been so large. Besides, it wouldn’t have looked so… polished, right? There were scorch marks all over it, but it still looked like it would be shiny if brand new.

“We should call the authorities,” Layla suddenly suggested. I looked at her and was surprised to see her shaking. Her furry body was trembling with either excitement or fear, he couldn’t tell. “Please, Grindar. Let someone else handle this. Something about this isn’t right.” Ahh, so it was fear informing her decision.

“Is this a premonition, love? Or are you just nervous?” I asked. My voice sounded more certain than I felt. In truth, I was nervous too. This entire scenario felt wrong to him. What was he doing here? All he’d wanted was a day with his mate! All he desired right now was to take her and leave this place. What would the government do if they were caught in this place, with this thing, at this time? Yet… what would happen to them if the government discovered that they’d been the first responders to the crash and walked away? There didn't seem to be a solution to this dilemma. Should they stay or should they go?

“Please, Grindar. I’m begging you. Let’s just leave. Something about that thing… It’s cursed, I just know it is! Everything in me is begging me to leave and never look back. To delete the photo and pretend that this never happened. This is not our problem to fix.” She sounded hysterical, something that hurt my heart to hear. She was right; this wasn't our problem to fix. Whatever was inside that cylinder, we didn't owe them anything. And yet…

“What if it were you inside that thing, Layla?” I cupped her soft cheek with my large, furry hand. “What if you were hurt or dying in there? Wouldn't you want me to do something?” She burst into tears, scared out of her mind for us. “Maybe we can do nothing. Maybe we'll just bear witness. But can you really walk away knowing that you are here? That you could help?” She shook her head at last and we approached it cautiously. As we did, an opening grew in the cylinder. Something large and orange stumbled out, followed by something else. There were noises, I couldn't tell if it was conversing or cries for help. Neither being seemed to have noticed us.

Then a third one wobbled out of the vessel and launched itself at the first, something shiny in its hand. The noises increased; some high pitched, others low and guttural. The beings on the floor were struggling, the one with the weapon attempting to overpower the one without. The third yelled as it circled them, pulling off its… Head? No… It was some kind of weird covering. Long, soft hair tumbled out from under the covering. This was the source of the high pitched noises. It was smaller than the fighting pair, softer. Something about it reminded me of Layla. Female?

The fight was brutal, I could hear the sound of bones snapping along with the flat, wet sounds of impact as the two attacked each other. The aggressor with the weapon was fighting to assert dominance, but the other one was fighting to survive. And slowly, the one fighting for survival was winning. I watched in disbelief when the one trying to survive grabbed a sharp branch off the forest floor and stabbed it into the aggressor's neck. He toppled over, obviously dead. I'd never seen someone killed, not even someone who deserved it. The forest was suddenly quiet, save for the sounds coming from the two beings.

“I don't know what to do,” I admitted to my mate.

Suddenly the sound of the authorities filled the forest. The two aliens, worn down to instinct, fled. Layla and I froze. They were getting nearer. And nothing would ever be the same.