Close Encounters

Chapter 3

By Kimmy

All she could sense was a swirling mass of darkness and evil that was so thick she thought she would drown in its wake. Black and dingy red and purple were all that was visible. Wind whipped about her so hard that her hair prevented her from seeing anything aside from the chaotic skies and barren, black landscape. In an instant, the howling winds stopped completely as if someone had turned off the switch to a giant wind machine.

She lowered her hands from her face and slowly took in the silent surroundings. There was nothing but a dark, swirling sky and dark earth with a few rocks and rubble breaking up the horizon.

Then came a low, dark hum that sounded like a choir holding a low note in chant. Turning to face the source of the noise, out of nothing materialized a glowing green pentagram on the ground before her. Around the circle, one by one, figures in dark robes with unseen faces stood around the pentagram continuing to hum in that same dark tone. The “priests”, as she thought of them, stood motionless with their hands together on the inside of the sleeves of their robes with heads looking down toward the center of the circle.

A tremendous gust of wind gushed up from the center of the glowing circle, and she turned and shielded herself from the sudden blast. She regained her composure and once again turned to face the spectacle. Something was different. Instead of just a glowing pentagram with priests encircling it, the priests were all gathered at the side of the circle opposite her with one lone figure standing at the center. She stared in disbelief at who it was, and tried to tell herself what she was seeing wasn’t true. The man at the center was a person she knew some time ago. “Ben?…”

He held out a hand to her in a gesture wanting her to come closer. “Come with me, Mellany.”

Mellany shook her head. She did not want to give in to his demands. “No. I’m not coming with you. I know what you’re like. I know what kind of dark path you’ve chosen for yourself. I’m not following you!”

“Oh yes you will.” Ben’s features began to change. His eyes glowed the same eerie color was the circle he stood in. His robes began to wave as another wind welled up beneath him. In an instant, another gush of wind erupted which knocked Mellany over. She was stunned by the blast, and looked up at what had happened. In that same moment, he changed from a human to a demon with huge black wings that stretched toward the sky, black skin, huge teeth, and the nature of a predator on the hunt. He was hunting Mellany. He growled and leapt with outstretched arms toward Mellany. She screamed as his leapt. Closer, closer, closer, nothing.

* * * * *

Mellany sat straight up in bed panting as though she had run a marathon. Her eyes were wide open, and they scanned the room for the danger she just faced. It was morning, and the sunbeams shone through the blinds of the window and danced in irregular shaped on her bedspread. There were birds singing outside her window, and the early morning traffic could faintly be heard. It was Saturday. She didn’t have class or anything to be up early for. Mellany turned around and gazed at the clock on her table. 10:16am. She flopped back down on her pillows and put a hand to her forehead. “It was only a nightmare. But why do I have this throbbing headache?” She decided to try sitting up again. “In fact, I remember sitting by my door waiting for a visitor. Maybe I walked over here and can’t remember doing it.” Mellany looked at the door, which was still ajar like it had been the night before. “I think I had better stop staying up late. It’s not good for my health anyway.”

The coffee pot was going, the griddle was cooking French toast, and the scrambled eggs dinged in the microwave. It was a luxury breakfast for Mellany. Usually she didn’t have time to make a decent breakfast for herself. It usually consisted of a bowl of cold cereal or toast and yogurt.

She carried her buffet out to the living room when it was all prepared. Setting the meal on the coffee table, she turned on the TV and looked for some good Saturday morning cartoons. “I’m a college student, and I’m still watching cartoons. I don’t think I’ll ever grow up.” Her channel surfing yielded no more cartoons, and she decided to see what was on the Animal Planet channel. “There’s usually something good on there.” She set the remote down and started to chow down on breakfast.

* * * * *

In another part of the country, a young man sat at his computer at an Internet chat site in a private chat room.

PaganWizarD: So, R we up 4 it 2nite?

DrkAngel: sure, what’s going to be the location?

PaganWizarD: The peninsula. We’ll take 1 of the hiking trails that goes to the

far end.

DrkAngel: good. How many people will be there?

PaganWizarD: I’ve got 17 so far.

DrkAngel: should be enough. Are the herbs and supplies taken care of?

PaganWizarD: yeah! No prob. I got everything.

DrkAngel: we meet at midnight.

PaganWizarD: see you at low noon!

* DrkAngel has left the chat room.

* PaganWizarD has left the chat room

The young man leaned back in his chair and smiled. “This time, she’s not going to wake up from THIS nightmare. I’ll make sure of that!”

* * * * *

Michaelangelo was busy in the kitchen making breakfast for everyone as promised the night before. There were pancakes, French toast, omelets, bacon, sausage links, blueberry muffins, scrambled eggs, milk, orange juice, and even egg drop soup, pork egg rolls, and tea for Splinter. Michaelangelo was even dressed up as the part of a gourmet chef. He even had the hat and the apron on this morning.

“OK, dudes! Breakfast is ready!”

With Michaelangelo’s yelling, it woke the rest of the lair up. The rest of the Turtles slowly stirred in their beds, but as soon as their noses were awake, they too were fully awake. One by one they jumped out of bed and raced for the kitchen. All three of the brothers stopped dead in their tracks at the entrance to the kitchen. With their eyes wide and their jaws down to their knees, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael gazed in awe and wonderment at the site before them.

“Oh wow Mike! You really went all out, didn’t you?!” Donatello exclaimed.

“Yep, I just felt really good this morning and decided ‘What the heck! I’m gonna make a break-FEAST!’ “

Splinter found his way to the kitchen and was standing behind his pupils. “My sons, are you going to just stand there, or are you going to have a seat and enjoy Michaelangelo’s wonderful cooking before it gets cold?”

Suddenly, the other Turtles snapped out of their gaze and each took a seat at the table. Everyone had something of everything. Even Splinter tried Michaelangelo’s blueberry muffins. “Michaelangelo, if I hadn’t known any better, I would say that you acquired this recipe through a top notch restaurant in the city! These are exquisite! What is the secret, if I may ask?”

“You can ask, sensei, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna tell. A master chef has to keep some secrets, ya’ know.” Michaelangelo said with a grin.

“Indeed he must. I should be content knowing that my pupil has other skills than that of ninjitsu. It’s a wonderful gesture this morning,” as Splinter smiled.

“Ah, no need to thank me, sensei. I just did it because I wanted to.”

“Is the chef getting hungry yet?” Splinter asked.

“You bet, master. All this cooking has given me a mega appetite!” Michaelangelo pulled off his apron and hat, washed his hands of flour, and took the remaining chair at the table. Michaelangelo sighed as he said, “You know, guys, I can’t do this every morning. I’d turn into a housewife! Maybe one of you dudes might want to try it sometime?” he asked, attempting to encourage the others at trying their hand in the kitchen.

Raphael said, “Michaelangelo, if one of US tried to cook, we’d end up burning down the whole sewer lair! I say why replace perfection?”

“You got a point, Raph. Besides, I don’t think you even know how to handle three appliances at once.” Mike said shooting him a sly grin.

“Well, maybe we’ll see about that in the future. Right now, I’m concerned with filling my stomach.”

“Here, here!” Donatello cheered.

“An excellent suggestion.” As Splinter had the final word before everyone finally set to the task of clearing the table of all the food.