[Wordsmiff]

CHAPTER 76


The sixteen teenagers were in the underground bedroom.

Mark was the first to gain consciousness. He looked around him at the others, most of whom were still asleep.

“Katie?” he whispered to the girl lying next to him, “What are you doing here?”

“Mark?” Katie said, when she saw him, “Mark Green? Why are you in my bedroo...?” She looked around the room. “Wait, this isn’t my room. Where am I?” She saw the others; some lying on the bed, some on the floor. She sat up. “Where am I?”

Mark realised that something wasn’t right.

The others started to stir. Each of them looking as confused as Mark and Katie were.

“What’s going on?” Becky tried to hide her nakedness with her hands, “Where’s my clothes?”

Mark climbed off the bed. “Last thing I remember was...” He tried to gather his thoughts. “I’m not sure.”

Liam glanced at Lucy. She was still asleep. “Last thing I remember was...” He paused. “I’m not sure.”

Luke rolled across to Rosie, who was lying a few feet to the right of him on the floor. He kissed her. “Morning, Rosie,” he said, as he slid his hand under her skirt, and receiving no resistance from her.

Kirsty watched Mark as he went over to the door and tentatively opened it. He looked outside and then closed it again.

Liam started to sing: “We are stardust, we are go-olden, and we’ve got to...”

“Will you be quiet?” Luke said.

“Sorry,” Liam said, “It just came into my head.”

“Yeah, well there’s plenty of room for it...” Luke looked at Liam. “Didn’t we just have this conversation?”

Liam shrugged.

Lucy was awake now. She saw Liam and flinched. “Get away from me, you bastard.”

Mark saw the exchange. “Lucy?”

“He raped me.”

“It was a dream,” Luke said, defending his brother.

“Yeah,” Liam said, “It was a dream. I remember...”

“You both had the same dream?” Mark interjected.

“That stardust thing was a dream too,” Luke said.

“What was that creature?” Kirsty asked.

“What creature?” Becky said.

Mark went over to the wardrobe and opened it.

“What creature?” Becky repeated.

“The creature with the red eyes and horns and...” Tammy let the sentence hang. “I dreamt about it, too.”

“Something’s not right,” Mark said, as he closed the bedroom door. “We need to establish everyone’s last memory.” He noticed that Amy was stirring. “Amy?”

“Who are you?” Amy rubbed her eyes and looked at Mark as if seeing him for the first time. She looked around her. “Where am I?” she said. “Whose bedroom is this?” She sees Melanie. “Mel? Where are we?”

Melanie shrugged her shoulders.

“Becky?” Mark said, “Ask her.”

Ames?” Becky said, “Where were you last?”

“Giving a blow job in the park,” Amy said, “You should know.” She gave Becky and Kirsty dirty looks. “Why are you both naked?”

“Blow job?” Liam raised his eyebrows.

“In the park?” Luke added.

“Melanie?” Mark said.

“Who are...?” Melanie looked around the room.

Mark nodded at Becky.

“How much do you remember, Mel?” Becky asked.

“The sleepover,” Melanie said, “And finding all the stuff in the shed.”

Mark looked confused.

Within minutes, everyone had asserted their last memories and most of them were different.

Naomi remembered her rape outside the house.

Tim remembered having sex with Amy in the bedroom of the house and the two of them promising to be boyfriend and girlfriend, although Amy had no recollection of it.

Jon, Nigel and Ian all had the same last memory; having sex with Naomi in the master bedroom. Naomi had no recollection of it.

“This is very confusing,” Tim said, “I remember Chris being dared into the wardrobe.”

Becky added, “I remember...” She looked to Amy, “her chopping off Chris’s cock. It was...”

“Who’s Chris?” Amy defended herself.

“Everyone snap out of it,” Mark said. He reached into his pocket then withdrew his hand, empty. “They’ve gone.”

“What’s gone?” Luke asked.

“The rings,” Mark explained.

“The rings,” Luke said, a spark of recognition in his eye. He looked at Rosie. “The rings.”

“I dreamt about a room with computers in it,” Katie said, looking at Amy, still asleep, then at Mark. “You were there too.”

Mark nodded in recognition of the last memory he had – the control room.

“And I remember the other room beyond it,” Katie added.

Mark raised his eyebrows. “What other room?”

“The one with the aliens in it.”


To be continued...