INTRO
1663 Words
Alesha stood in the corner of her living room, staring at the unconscious man lying on the couch. She clutched her phone, debating whether to call someone for help. But even if she did, what would she say?
That she had seen this man standing unconscious in the middle of the road, with a strange spaceship blinking red and blue lights behind him before suddenly disappearing into thin air?
Even Alesha knew that if she heard such a story from someone else, she would assume they had an overactive imagination or were simply insane.
She exhaled sharply, running her fingers through her hair, messing it up in frustration. She had no idea what to do in this situation.
If only that bizarre spaceship hadn't vanished, she could have called the police and let them handle it. She could have just told them that perhaps the man was a NASA astronaut landed here after a mission—
Right!. Alesha stopped pulling at her hair and quickly unlocked her phone. She opened a search engine and typed: "NASA astronaut returning to Earth today."
She spent thirty minutes searching, clicking, and reading articles, but not a single one mentioned an astronaut returning from space today or even this year or the next.
Finding nothing, she turned off her phone and plopped down onto the floor. She had no idea how to explain her situation.
Her gaze drifted back to the man in strange clothing. Hesitantly, she crawled toward him.
His eyes were completely shut, as if he were simply asleep. He didn’t appear injured, there was no blood on him either. Perhaps she should still take him to a hospital to be checked?
But she didn’t even know who he was, and the hospital would likely report him to the police. When the police arrived, they would question her about how she found him and she’d have to recount the bizarre event, how he was just standing unconscious in the road while she was on her way home from a taping, with a flashing spaceship behind him, which disappeared in the blink of an eye.
But who would believe her?
Even she wouldn’t believe it if she hadn’t seen it with her own two eyes. If she hadn’t pinched herself in that moment, she would have thought it was a dream or a hallucination. But it was real. And now, she was left with this strange man whom she couldn’t leave outside in the cold rain.
She bit her lip. Why had she even brought him home? She lived alone! What if he woke up and attacked her? Worse—what if he was a murderer?
That thought sent a shiver down her spine as she hurriedly got up and searched for something to tie him with.
She rummaged through drawers and cabinets, but her house was sparsely furnished—she had nothing that could work as a rope.
“Ah, what should I do?!” she muttered, biting her nails. She hurried to her bedroom, looking around frantically before her eyes landed on her blanket.
“That’ll do,” she said, grabbing it.
She also took a handkerchief from her drawer before rushing back to the living room.
Without hesitation, she tied the man’s hands together with the handkerchief in front of him, then wrapped him in the blanket—twice—making sure that if he woke up, he would struggle to free himself.
When she finally finished, she wiped the sweat from her forehead before looking at her handiwork that made her scratch her cheek.
“Did I overdo it? He looks like a burrito right now.”
No, she shook her head. She had no idea who this man was. She couldn't afford to risk her safety, especially if he turned out to be dangerous.
“But….he’s still breathing, right?”
She checked his stomach, but because she had wrapped him so tightly, she couldn’t see any movement.
So, she crouched down and extended her index finger near his nose, waiting to feel his breath. When warm air touched her skin, she let out a relieved sigh.
“Right, no one dies from being wrapped up like a burrito. He won’t suffocate since it's just his body that’s restrained.”
She nodded with such a plausible excuse as she dusted off her hands, satisfied with her work, then took another look at him.
“I’ve worked in the entertainment industry for so long and met actors with strikingly handsome faces, the kind that makes fans lose their minds. But none of them come close to this guy.” She leaned in, studying his features.
“With a well-defined, symmetrical face, a strong jawline, perfectly arched eyebrows, long lashes, a straight nose, and slightly full lips…..he’d make any actor—no, any man—feel insecure.”
She reached out, tracing his cheek. “He doesn’t even have pores! And his skin is so soft! What kind of skincare does he use?”
Alesha continued examining his face, stopping near his lips. She was about to touch them when she suddenly froze.
His once tightly shut eyes were now wide open.
“AHHHHH!” she screamed, jumping back in shock.
“AAAAHHH!” the man shouted back.
His scream startled her so much that she instinctively slapped him. Heart pounding, she scrambled further away, her breath coming in rapid gasps.
The man, still wrapped like a spring roll, blinked in shock, his cheek reddening from the slap. He turned to her, his expression a mix of confusion and pained.
He opened his mouth. “Sfvhiljgtfddrfggdedz.”
Alesha frowned. “W-what?”
“Owisfifririd,” he continued, speaking in a language she couldn’t understand.
It was unlike anything she had ever heard before—certainly not a language spoken anywhere on Earth.
“What are you even saying?” she asked in frustration.
The man furrowed his brows before a metallic sphere appeared out of nowhere, floating in front of him.
Alesha took a cautious step back looking at it appearing in the air!
“What is that?!” she demanded.
But before she could even hear any response, the floating object released a surge of electricity, shocking the man.
His body convulsed violently.
“Oh my god!” Alesha covered her mouth in horror, watching as he writhed from the electric shock.
Panicked, she looked around for something to help him and her eyes landed on her phone. She snatched it up, about to dial 911, when the electric surge abruptly stopped.
And what bewildered her most was that the man looked…..completely fine.
He wasn’t burned, not even slightly charred. He looked just as he had before the shock, eyes once again tightly shut.
Her breath hitched. “What the f**k just happened?”
She looked around. “And where did that weird metal thing go?”
Seeing no trace of it, she plopped onto the floor, staring at the man in disbelief.
“Oh my god….Have I gone insane?!”
Alesha sat there, her mind's a mess from all the things she just witnessed. She wasn’t sure if she was bewildered of the spaceship that disappeared to thin air or be more terrified of the unknown man in her house, the floating metal orb, or the fact that she had just witnessed something that should have been impossible.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she slowly stood up, keeping a cautious distance. She needed to think. What was happening? Who was this man? And why did that strange object shock him like that?
She hesitated before moving closer again. His face was relaxed, almost as if he had fallen back into unconsciousness. But she wasn’t convinced, she was so sure that this man has his eyes open earlier, and those that just happened were real.
"Hey," she called out tentatively, watching for any sign of reaction but there was nothing.
Cautiously, she extended her hand and poked his cheek.
His eyes flew open again.
Alesha barely managed to swallow her scream this time, stepping back quickly. The man groaned, his brows furrowing as he slowly turned his head toward her.
To her surprise, he spoke—this time in clear, albeit hesitant, English.
"Where….am I?"
Alesha's eyes widened. "You—You speak English now?”
The man blinked at her, as if still adjusting to his surroundings. "Yes. I am….processing your language."
Processing? What did that mean?
Alesha crossed her arms, trying to regain some semblance of control. "You were just speaking some weird alien gibberish a minute ago. What the hell was that? And who are you?"
The man looked down at himself, then at the blanket wrapping him up tightly. He flexed his fingers, testing the restraints. "I am….adjusting."
"Adjusting to what?”
His gaze met hers, and for the first time, Alesha noticed something strange about his eyes. They weren’t just any shade of blue—they shimmered, like galaxies trapped within them, shifting and swirling as if alive.
“I am trapped,” he said, his voice soft, almost innocent.
Alesha rolled her eyes. "Obviously. Did you expect me to just let a random stranger roam freely in my house?"
He tilted his head slightly. "Are you afraid of me?”
She gave him a look. Was that even a real question? Did he think she would just welcome some random man into her home without a second thought?
"Well—yeah! What was I supposed to do? I don’t know who you are! For all I know, you could be dangerous!"
Alesha huffed, still keeping her distance. "And you still haven’t answered my question. Who are you?"
The man studied her for a long moment before finally responding, "I am called Æmil Val Elthar Di Vexis.”
Alesha blinked. "Æ…" She tried to repeat it but stumbled over the pronunciation. "You’re… who?"
He repeated the name, slower this time,
“Æmilianus Valis Eltharion Di Vexis”
- Writer
