Bizarre

- I -

Alicia

Alicia closed the file on her desk, sat up straight and stretched. She released the clip that held her dark brown hair out of her eyes and tossed it onto the desktop. As it fell in loose waves around her shoulders, she combed her fingers through the strands.

A sudden chill rippled along her spine causing the hair on her arms and neck to stand on end. The unsettling feeling of being watched had her head whipping around to the window behind her.

Darkness. The only thing the glass reflected back at her was her pale face and the office furniture, nothing more. She shook her head in disgust. What did you expect to see? You’re on the fourth floor, she mumbled before blowing out a breath and groaning. She was tired that’s all. Too many phone calls, too many hours.

When something slammed together in the front office, she jumped, her heart leaping into her throat as her head swung toward the door. A voice muttered something too low to hear, papers rustled together, a drawer opened and closed.

Cheryl, she whispered in relief.

She dropped her face into her hands; elbows propped on the desk and inhaled deeply several times. It took several minutes to slow her heart rate and stop trembling. She finally raised her head and raked her hair back with her fingers. You need to get a grip. What is wrong with you tonight? She hissed under her breath. She shook her head, confused by her own behavior.

Another drawer closed in the outer office. Her world was back to normal again. Cheryl? What in the world are you doing? She leaned back in her chair, rolled her head around from side to side to loosen the stiff muscles. Her assistant stepped into the doorway, crossed her arms over her chest, leaned negligently against the frame. Finishing up. What about you? I’ll bet you didn’t even realize how late it was.

Alicia looked at her watch and laughed shortly. No, but you must have. Couldn’t whatever you’re working on wait until morning? She rubbed a hand over her neck, feeling that strange tingle again. She resisted the urge to look at the window, knowing there wasn’t anything there.

Cheryl shrugged. Probably, but I don’t like to leave anything hanging. She smiled, her eyes gleaming with exasperated amusement. Guess I must take after my employer.

Alicia laughed, and leaned forward to rest her elbows on her desk. That’s not always a good thing. Why don’t you shelve anything else and go home? I’m sure Jim isn’t happy with the hours you spend here.

Not really but he usually understands. He knows how important this job is to me. Her eyes narrowed. You look tired, Alicia. When are you going home?

Alicia lowered her eyes to the papers and files spread across her desk. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask her assistant if she felt anything weird but she stopped before the words formed. What could she say that wouldn’t sound crazy? I plan to just as soon as I put some order to this mess, but I want you to leave now. Your husband’s probably starting to worry about you. She looked up when there wasn’t a response. Cheryl hadn’t moved, and watched her with a worried frown. Cheryl, I said go home. I’m fine. I’ll leave soon.

Cheryl turned and left the office. Okay, okay. I’m going. I should stay just to make sure you leave too but I won’t. As I’m sure you’ll remind me, you’re the boss and I’m just the lowly employee. Cheryl said with a toss of her short blond hair as she disappeared into the outer office.

Alicia laughed and shook her head. Lowly employee my ass, she remarked loud enough for her to hear, knew she had when she heard her delighted giggle.

Well, she’d hired the girl knowing she wasn’t the meek and submissive type. It wasn’t the first time she had admired her tenacity. She’d been more than an employee or assistant from the day she’d walked through the front door over two and a half years earlier.

The first six months after she opened her temporary employment service had been a nightmare. She struggled to get enough clients and reliable employees to stay afloat. She had managed it with Cheryl’s help. Things had improved to where they were busy enough lately that she’d considered hiring a part-time helper.

She sighed and glanced at the window. Nothing. Of course there isn’t anything out there. Fourth floor, remember? She turned her attention back to the stack of papers in front of her. The outer office door closed a few minutes later, but she didn’t stop working. Twenty minutes later, her desktop was cleared, everything put in order for the next morning.

Forgetting her earlier nervousness, she removed her purse from the bottom desk drawer and crossed the outer office. Before she turned off the lights, she swept the room with a brief but thorough glance. Satisfied everything was in order she closed and locked the door then turned and walked down the short, empty hallway to the stairs. After descending the four flights to the ground floor, she pushed through the exterior door and waited for it to close behind her.

As she pulled on it to make sure it was secure, the hair on her neck and arms prickled. She tensed, glanced nervously over her shoulder. Her eyes swept the sidewalk and street, but saw nothing unusual. She turned all the way around with her back to the door and looked more carefully. No one was there, nothing moved but a few limbs stirred by the faint breeze and the distant sweep of headlights as cars turned onto and out of side streets.

Okay she was jumpy. It was late, she was tired, and it was dark. Not that she hadn’t left the building after dark on numerous occasions, but she couldn’t remember being as tired as she was tonight.

With a shake of her head, she turned toward the car parked at the curb only three spaces from the door. Maybe she needed to take some time for herself. Why not? Business was great, she had a damned good assistant, and she needed the break. She hadn’t taken more than a couple of hours off since she first opened the doors of Superior Temporary Services.

She pushed her key into the lock on the driver’s door, felt that creepy tingle again. She rubbed her neck, turned, and scanned the area through narrowed blue eyes. Okay, what was going on? She’d swear someone was watching her but...she swept the street with a thorough glance. No one. Not even a cat, dog, or car.

She sighed heavily, unlocked, and opened the door. Tossing her purse into the passenger’s seat, she slid behind the wheel. Her fingers immediately went to the door locks even though it made her feel foolish to be so nervous. Crime in the area wasn’t a big problem. Not that it didn’t happen, just that she’d never felt nervous or frightened before.

She combed a hand through her hair, took several deep breaths, exhaled with eyes closed. When a loud pop echoed back and forth through the surrounding buildings her eyes flew open, her heart skipped a beat. She stared down the well-lit empty street and repressed another shudder. A car backfiring? Maybe...probably.

She shoved the key into the ignition with a trembling hand and turned it. The small sports car purred to life before it settled into a smooth idle. It was time to get home, have a glass of wine and sleep. Her imagination was running wild and she couldn’t shut it off.

She spared a quick glance at the street and buildings, shifted into first gear and pulled out into the street.

~~~

The shadows at the corner of the building shifted, rippled high then low. Small glints of green flickered in the darkness. A sound much like a sigh of pleasure drifted on the faint night breeze.

~~~

Alicia cruised through the deserted streets of downtown Columbia stopping only when a light turned red. She loved the city she’d moved to over eight years earlier. It was beautiful even with the clutter of the renovations to the capital that were scheduled for completion by the end of 1998.

She flipped on her signal and turned onto Gervais Street. As she crossed into West Columbia, she started to relax. A smile curved her lips as she looked at the old-fashioned lights that lined the bridge, and threw shadows on the dark waters of the Congaree River that flowed beneath.

The light at the next intersection changed from red to green. She glanced into her rearview mirror, her smile slipping as another chill rippled through her. What...

She saw a bright red flash. Her eyes jerked back to the road and the car in front of her that suddenly slammed on their brakes. Oh shit! She stomped on the brake and clutch, downshifted to slow even faster. As quick as her reflexes were, she barely avoided their rear bumper.

She curled her fingers around the steering wheel, fought an urge to honk at the driver who finally decided that green meant go not stop. She eased her foot onto the accelerator and shifted again. Idiot, she muttered as she flipped on her blinker and took the right hand turn. This day needs to end really soon.

~~~

A dark mist started forming over the top of the water. It drifted into the air, thickening, changing colors from brown to gray, gray to brown. It climbed higher and higher, spreading in all directions. It continued over the bridge, flowed toward downtown and West Columbia. It weaved, undulated to a silent beat as it trailed behind the small sports car. It covered buildings, streets, obliterating everything in its path from sight.

~~~

The rush hour traffic had cleared so she was able to cruise at a steady clip. She eased her foot off the gas every time she noticed her speed edging up to seventy. She couldn’t get rid of a strange sense of wrongness, was hard pressed not to accelerate and make the small sports car fly. She was anxious to get home because something was different tonight, something she couldn’t quite grasp. It couldn’t just be her imagination. It couldn’t be.

As she crossed over I-20, she glanced into her rearview mirror. In the distance she saw the flash of bright red lights before the cars that passed her disappeared into a heavy mist. Fog? Where in the world had that come from? She hadn’t seen it when she left work.

Why weren’t there any cars behind her? It wasn’t that late. Traffic might be light but it wasn’t non-existent at any time of the day or night. She shivered, her foot easing off the accelerator and edging toward the brake. Maybe if she slowed...

She shook her head. That was crazy. She was imagining things again. She focused her attention back to the road in front of her, deliberately keeping her eyes from the rearview mirror. She would be home soon and...safe. She couldn’t quite laugh at that last word, although she didn’t know why.

Twenty minutes later she slowed as she pulled into her driveway. Driving around the house, she eased the car into the garage and turned off the motor. She hesitated for just a moment with a glance around the building’s dark interior then climbed out and locked the driver’s door.

With a sigh of relief that she was finally home, she closed the garage doors, and walked toward the house. Intent on getting inside, she didn’t notice the absolute silence until she stepped over the threshold. Another chill shivered through her as she turned and looked into the night. Something was wrong. What? She frowned and shook her head. That’s silly. Tonight isn’t any different than any other. With one last glance around, she closed and locked the front door behind her.

~~~

The darkness at the end of the driveway shifted, widened, and then thinned. Small, green pinpoints of light flickered. In the two-story white rock house lights flashed on in several rooms.

The trees shook, vibrating from tips to roots. The ground cover of leaves and pine needles shivered, rippled. Gossamer fingers of mist crept down the hill. It surrounded everything in its path, grew steadily larger. Behind the sturdy walls of the houses, no one was aware of what was happening to the world outside.

- II -

New World...Old World

Alicia rolled over onto her back and stretched her arms above her head. She covered her mouth with a hand as it stretched into a yawn. Turning onto her side, she snuggled down into the softness of the mattress. Warm and drowsy, it was several minutes before the nagging sense of something wrong brought her more fully awake. What was it? Light?

Her eyes popped open, went immediately to the window behind the sheer violet curtains. Oh damn! She jerked upright, looked at the clock on the bedside. Its face was dark, no bright reddish orange numbers showed the time.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed, brushing her hair out of her face as she reached for the telephone. Pushing the receiver between her chin and shoulder, she dialed her office. She needed to get in touch with Cheryl because the woman worried. She never overslept and her assistant knew it.

It took several seconds for her to realize that there wasn’t any sound in the receiver. Not even a busy signal or dial tone? She tapped the disconnect button several times. Nothing happened.

She replaced the receiver, tempered her urge to leap to her feet...and do what? All right, no phone explained why Cheryl hadn’t called. The electricity and telephone shouldn’t have gone out on the same night unless there was some pretty severe weather. The only thing she’d noticed the night before was that mist or fog. She shook her head. She’d watched the news when she got home, the weatherman said clear skies and mild temperatures for the next five days. Even the fog hadn’t been mentioned. She hadn’t noticed any work crews in the vicinity.

Damn it! She shoved the comforter and sheet back, stood. She shivered, noticing the temperature of the room for the first time as the cool air touched her sleep warmed skin. She grabbed her robe from the foot of the bed, pulled it on as she slid her feet into her house shoes.

Apparently, the weatherman was wrong. As usual, she grumbled. She hadn’t even thought to turn on the central heat since it was warm and comfortable in the house when she got home. Besides, it wouldn’t have done any good, there wasn’t any electricity.

Her head came up as she remembered her uneasiness the previous evening. She glanced around the room then toward the window where the light was bright and normal. She shook her head. It was all my imagination. This has nothing to do with last night.

She would soon find out about the electricity and the telephone, but first things first. She walked quickly into the bathroom. When she reached back to flush the toilet the water drained, but none flowed in to refill the bowl. What was going on? She frowned, moved to the sink and turned on the faucet, only a thin dribble of water came out. Of course! No electricity, no water. God, this day is just getting better.

At least she could find out the time by looking at her watch, get a better idea of exactly how late it was. She went back into the bedroom and over to the dresser. Earrings glittered brightly on the dark wood of the dresser but her watch wasn’t with them.

Her frown deepened. What was going on? She distinctly remembered placing both items together when she got ready for bed. Maybe she’d inadvertently put it in a drawer but she didn’t think so. Not ready to give up, she shook her head in disgust and opened each drawer, searching them thoroughly. No watch,

She combed her fingers through her hair, closed her eyes, and released a frustrated breath. Okay, no watch, no electricity, and no telephone. It is definitely going to be a bad day, she muttered under her breath.

Dropping her hands, she left the bedroom. She descended the stairs to the first floor, her steps soundless on the carpet runner.

She turned into the dining room, with its solid oak dining table, six matching chairs and hardwood floors. She pushed through the swinging door into the kitchen, stopped, and blinked at the light that filled the room.

Oh God, how late is it? She rubbed her face with both hands. I don’t understand. How in the world did I sleep so long?

She moved to the sink, picked up the carafe of her coffee maker, placed it under the faucet, and turned it on. Nothing came out. She hung her head, set the glass down carefully in the sink. She’d forgotten. No electricity, or water meant no coffee.

She muttered a curse under her breath, lifted her head, brushed at the strands of hair that clung to her cheek. A flicker at the window drew her attention to where two birds lit on a branch of the tree outside.

Gorgeous, she whispered in admiration. She hadn’t seen any like them in the area with their midnight blue feathers, pure white beaks, and eyes ringed in crimson. They weren’t extraordinarily large only about the size of a robin, their soft twirling songs muffled through the closed window. A few minutes later they flew off.

She shook her head in disgust. She must be in worse shape than she realized. First, there was last night’s craziness, which couldn’t have anything to do with today. These were normal problems that didn’t happen every day but also weren’t that unusual. The most important thing was getting to the office. Of course, that was after she got her electricity and telephone back on.

On the off chance that it was only her bedroom phone that wasn’t working, she walked over to the wall phone, picked up the receiver and pressed it to her ear. No dial tone. She hung up, and turned to look at the room. Nothing was out of place but something wasn’t quite right either. She looked over the stove, the counters...there was no hum from the refrigerator or tick from the wall clock. Everyday sounds she heard but only as background noises.

The hum she understood. It wouldn’t be there since there wasn’t any power but not the tick. The wall clock ran on batteries. She glanced at it; the hands in the oval gold-rimmed appliance were motionless at 12:01. That wasn’t good.

Something else finally penetrated her muddled thoughts and made her moan. She had bought groceries only two days earlier so the refrigerator and freezer were full. Without knowing the time, she had no idea how long the power had been off. That meant that the condition of the food inside both was iffy.

She crossed to the refrigerator, opened the door, and groaned when only a breath of coolness flowed from the interior. She shut the door, dreading what she knew she would find as she opened the freezer. The air inside was only several degrees cooler. When she touched one of the packages of meat, it left a faint indent.

No, damn it! She slammed the freezer door closed then leaned her head against the metal. This doesn’t make any sense. She glanced at the clock with a frown. If only hours had passed, the meat in the freezer would still be frozen. However, after several days...she shook her head. No way! There’s absolutely no way I could sleep for days. I’ve never been that tired.

Confused, her thoughts once more focused on the thawed food. She could salvage some of it if she could cook it but without electricity, there wasn’t much possibility of that. All of it added up to was no more messing around. She needed to get her butt in gear and find a working telephone to call in her utility problems. Maybe find someone who could explain the strangeness of her morning. She turned to head back upstairs and get dressed.

SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH!

What.... She stopped and covered her ears to block the sound that was as grating as metal against metal

SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH!

She cringed and pressed her hands harder over her ears.

It stopped as abruptly as it started.

She dropped her hands, walked slowly to the back door. She frowned and blinked several times. What in the world? she whispered as she pressed a hand to the glass put her face closer.

There were two of them. Large balls of black hair, propelling themselves along with arms longer than their bodies. The only things visible in their flat faces were round shining yellow eyes. Every few feet, they stopped, glanced around, faced each other, and then emitted that ear-piercing screech.

You have got to be joking, she mumbled eyes widening in disbelief even as a shiver rippled along her spine. Was she still asleep? If so, it was the strangest dream she’d ever had.

A tingle of alarm sizzled through her when they continued up the drive. Okay, if it was a dream she should wake before they reached the house and the door where she stood. If it wasn’t and she met them face-to-face...

She backed into the kitchen, her eyes widening even more as they ambled closer. Dream or no dream, it might not be a good idea to be standing there when those things reached the closed door. They weren’t overly large, but there wasn’t any way to tell what they would do when faced with an obstacle.

It would be smarter to hide just in case they somehow managed to get inside. She glanced around. She could wait in the pantry but the door didn’t lock. There was the basement but there wasn’t a hope in hell she was going to lock herself down in that dark hole for any length of time. That only left one other room downstairs. It was close and it locked from the inside.

SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH!

She jumped. The scream was directly outside the back door!

SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH!

She pivoted the satin soles of her shoes slipping on the tile floor. She rushed through the kitchen door, her feet sliding out from under her. She grabbed the wooden barrier to regain her balance, turned, and eased it back into place not wanting to attract attention with noise or motion. She spun and practically slid across the hardwood floors of the dining room in her rush.

She grabbed the doorframe, swung around it and ran down the narrow hall to the bathroom situated under the stairs. Inside, she swiveled, grabbed the door and forced herself to close it quietly while every fiber in her body urged her to slam it. Turning the lock on the knob, she leaned her head against the cool wood. She listened for sounds on the other side but couldn’t hear anything over the frantic pounding of her heart and her panting breaths.

Oh God, this wasn’t a dream! If it was she would have woken before now. That meant those things were real. Could they break into her house?

SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH! SCRE E A E CH!

She jumped back, clapped her hand over her mouth to muffle her terrified scream. It was on the other side of the door! She stumbled, her hip connected against the corner of the vanity with a dull thud that sent pain lancing down her left leg. She bit her lip to stifle her moan as she dropped both hands to the hard surface and latched on to keep her balance.

Pain was forgotten when a hard thump shook the door and the doorknob turned. When it refused to open, the knob rattled violently back and forth. Wide eyed, heart pounding too fast and hard, she could only watch in stunned terror to see if it would suddenly betray her by swinging inward.

The noise stopped, the door remained closed. She released her breath in a low sigh as she slid down the surface of the vanity to sit on the floor, her legs too weak to support her weight any longer. She covered her face with trembling hands and forced several deep breaths through her tight lungs. It took long minutes to get her heart rate to slow enough for her to hear. When it did, she heard shuffling, pounding, and screeching throughout the house.

What were those things? Where had they come from? Why were they in her house? How had they gotten in? She always locked her doors, especially the back door. The weather was too unpredictable at this time of year so none of the windows were open.

She dropped her hands, her thoughts running rampant. The only way they could have gotten in was by breaking one of the windows or the panes in the back door. She hadn’t heard any glass shatter, but she’d been too scared to hear much of anything unless it was close.

Suddenly the noises stopped; the abrupt cessation of sound even more unnerving. She stayed where she was waiting for another attack on the door.

Nothing.

She pushed herself to her feet and slowly crossed the room. She pressed her ear against the wood.

Silence.

She straightened, staring at the door in indecision. Well, she had two options. One was to wait, cowering in the bathroom for however long it took her to feel safe, which could be never. The other was to find the courage to open that door. The latter was an option she’d always urged the heroine in a horror movie not to do. What was happening definitely qualified as something out of a horror flick and her options were just as limited.

She wasn’t good at waiting, which meant cowering in the bathroom wasn’t something she could do. So with racing heart and knotted stomach, she unlocked the door and slowly turned the knob. Easing it open a crack, she peered into the hallway as far as she could see.

Nothing moved. No sounds.

She waited. When nothing happened, she opened the door all the way to insure that nothing was behind it. The hall ended a foot behind it so that was one less worry.

She slid along the wall toward the front of the house. Her head pounded with the beginnings of a headache from the sudden adrenaline rush and the strain of looking