Written by: Jule009

HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA, USA

August 15, 9:00 PM

Driving down the empty, potholed streets solidified that Joanie and I should have left already.

Every hefty bump in my decade-old sedan sent pain spiking up my spine. My purse sat fully on the dirty car floor of the passenger seat. On the road ahead, the familiar street lamps were dark, bulbs as dead as I should have been.

Why didn't we evacuate with the rest of this cursed town?

The overwhelming brightness of the sky filled my car with golden light, nearly blinding my tearing eyes as I took a right turn at a stop sign. Not that I needed to stop. Too busy manning checkpoints and preventing people from returning, the police had stopped monitoring local traffic as the days had progressed, and the ominous daily counter in the sky ticked down.

The next song blasted out of my radio—a crooning woman singing about a lost love. "If only he hadn't left you after six yearssss." Her vibrato filled my ears as she held the final note.

"A bit on the nose, isn't it?" Sydney chimed in from the backseat. Her blonde hair swayed in the rocking car as she leaned into the small opening between the passenger and driver's seats. Her eyes glowed a shocking purple, distracting me from the desolate road ahead.

"Shut up," I snapped, swiping at the salty droplets coursing down my cheeks. I turned up the heat which blasted at my face, drying them instantly.

"What? Don't wanna think about it, about him? Maaasson. Maaasson. He was so lovely," Sydney nagged. "I miss him."

"I said, shut up!" I swerved my car, the right side mirror crunched against a tree and broke off, falling onto the road behind me as a honk resonated in the night air.

Had I done that?

I can't do this with you anymore. It's over.

A single text and my life was in shambles. Everything we had built over the past six years. Every last memory from our earliest dates at the port, to the movie nights in our rented house with Joanie, and then the world started ending. What was he going to do now? Move out? Where was he going to go? His family lived two states over.

I turned left at the next intersection, ignoring the blaring red light. Just down the road, the gas station's green neon sign read, "REG $66.78". Good thing I had nowhere to go. Who the hell could afford those prices?

Sydney leaned her elbows on the center console. "Is buying a bunch of shit really going to make you feel better?"

I sniffed. "Yes. Yes, it will."

No. No, it won't.

Nothing could fill the gaping void fracturing my soul. Nothing could remove or hide the undeniable pain his single text had wreaked. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I was such an embarrassment. An ugly, disgusting rat. Why else was it so easy for him to do this to me?

Why else?

I parked my car, and the world shifted. The gas pumps in front of me swirled like a painter twirling a dirty paintbrush through them. Gas spurted out onto the cement, clear liquid leaking everywhere. Oh, how easy it would be to light a match and set everything aflame. Let it all burn to ash like my dreams or the future.

But I liked Glen, I couldn't do that to him.

It took me five minutes to blow my stuffed nose, exit my car, and stumble to the front door of the convenience store. Attempting to push through the glass door, I headbutted it and fell to the ground, sharp pain radiating up my arms from where my palms scraped the ground.

This was all Mason's fault.

Everything was his fault. The flying spaceship. The fifteen days remaining on that glowing blue number in the sky. The fact that Joanie would be stuck in the house with Mason and me. He was probably also the reason I'd stopped getting paid—the reason Gina's Fashion had closed, and my boss had told me there was no point in coming to work the following morning.

My bank account cried every time I swiped my card. I'd been coming here a lot lately. Glen was one of the last remaining store clerks in town, and we still needed to eat.

"Get your stupid butt up. You're wasting time. You need to hurry!" From inside the convenience store, Sydney shouted to me. How'd she get in there so fast?

I shoved to my feet, wiping off my bloody hands on my pajama bottoms. Gross. Blood stained the little designs of sheep dark red. Devilish animals.

"Nice to see ya again!" Glen yelled as I finally shoved my way into the store. "Whatcha you doin' here today, Kaitlyn?" He chirped every word, hands cheerily on his hips. Weird. Usually, he was grumpy.

"Don't worry about it," I slurred as my vision spiraled. Clutching the nearest shelf, I squeezed my eyes shut.

A hand gripped my shoulder. Sydney? After a moment, it disappeared and, finally, I opened my eyes to see the surrounding world stabilized.

Just don't throw up. Don't throw up.

I clawed my way to the freezers near the back of the store.

"Fifty percent off everything today!" Glen calls from his post at the cash register, "Today only!"

The freezer door was unreasonably heavy, but I managed to yank it open before stumbling backwards.

"Oh, come on, you're really that weak?" Sydney taunted.

I ignored her as I grabbed the two nearest pints of chocolate ice cream. Chocolatey swirl with brownie chunks. Clutching both containers to my chest, I turned toward the snack aisle and snatched a bag of M&M's. To my right was a rack of face masks and facial tissues. I grabbed three masks and a jumbo box of tissues, the tower in my arms wobbling.

"That looks expensive. Shouldn't you put some back?" Sydney leaned in behind me, droning on in my ear. Without responding, I continued on towards the front of the store, when suddenly Sydney stood in front of me. One second, behind me; the next, blocking my way to Glen and his register.

I stuck a middle finger in her face and walked past her.

"What do ya got today?" Glen excitedly cleared off the counter, wiping away piles of candy as I dumped the armfuls in front of him. "A lot, I suppose. You know what? We're already doing fifty percent off. Why don't I give ya seventy-five! As a friend, you know?"

I hadn't really considered Glen a friend, but I'd take it. "Okay," I shrugged.

Glen began scanning each item. "Beeep!" his high-pitched drawl echoed in the nearly empty store as he slid them one by one across the lightless counter and into a paper bag.

I eyed the magazines. Bold headlines bragged about massive breakups and whether or not he was cheating. Another read, "Mid-Twenties? Learn how to get back in the game post-break-up!"

I snagged it and added the magazine to the shrinking pile Glen was gradually working his way through.

"Wow, that's dumb," Sydney jeered. "What do you think you're going to learn from those ridiculous articles? How to get Mason back?" Waving her hands in the air, "He doesn't want you! He hates you. Why are you still vying for him?!"

"Shut up!"

Glen jerked his head up from the register, eyeing me suspiciously, "Beeeeep," he continued slowly, dropping the magazine into the bag.

"No, you!" Sydney sneered.

"Please," I muttered, "just stop talking!"

"I'm sorry. Did I upset you?" Glen's eyes seemed a bit glazed as he stared at the empty space beside me.

Where'd Sydney go?

"I'm fine!" I screeched, looking around me. She wasn't in the store or the car. I pointed at a five-dollar scratch-off hanging on the wall behind Glen. "I'll take that, too."

"Alright, Miss Kaitlyn, that will be... Oh! Would you look at that! Only forty-eight cents! Miraculous." He grinned, head tilting from side to side as he waited for me to swipe my card through the darkened card reader.

"Thanks, Glen."

"Before ya go, did you see the light? Did ya? It's amazing! Hank said it's finally coming. The end. It's the end!" Glen bounced on his toes again, giggling and beeping maniacally.

I fled from his frenzied glee with my overflowing bag. The empty car was hot and stuffy. As I shoved the key in the ignition, I cranked the air conditioning to maximum and let it blow in my face.

Sydney was once again in my backseat, and I scowled at her in the mirror. At least she wasn't talking.

I felt the tears sneaking back, the sobs racking my body once more. I heaved out my cries, not even trying to pull myself together.

I didn't want to go home.

Mason may have returned by now, whether to pick up his stuff and go or to berate me. He hadn't called me back. As soon as I'd read his message, I'd left at least five voicemails and a massive string of texts. What started as me telling him he was a horrible person for ending a six-year relationship over text ended in begging him to stay because I'd already planned our wedding.

"Did you actually?" Sydney crooned from the backseat. "You know? Actually plan the wedding?" She lay on her back, feet against the passenger side window.

"No," I admitted.

I checked my phone again.

Joanie had called five minutes ago, so I checked my text messages.

Joanie: Where are you??

Ugh. Couldn't she just leave me alone? Didn't she know I was going through something?

No, she did not.

Me: Don't worry about it. Went to get food.

Joanie: What kind of food? Can you get me a Sprite? Please? Pretty pretty please?

I scoffed and put my phone down. She had a car, too! She could go herself.

A few coins sat in the drink holder by the car radio. A small, dirty penny caught my eye. As Sydney leaned over my shoulder, I scraped the light covering on the scratch-off I'd bought, revealing...

Nothing.

"Argh!!" I shrieked and slammed my forehead into the car horn. It blared into the lit-up night, a cacophony disrupting the lonely gas station's peace.

"Oh, calm down, you idiot! Nobody cares that you lost." Sydney crossed her arms and pressed her forehead against the car window, leaving behind an oil mark.

Revving the engine, I cranked the music up so loud I could no longer hear Sydney. I was about to peel out when I remembered the magazine. Right. I wanted to read it.

The brightly colored cover jumped out at me as I pulled it from my bag. Page 38. How to Get Through a Breakup. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Useless advice. "Try to take deep breaths," it read. No. I didn't care. "Try and find a new hobby." Boring. "Find someone else to help with your burning passion."

Hmph.

Burning passion.

Burning.

Sydney appeared and tore the magazine from my grasp. Her eyes, a bright orangey-red, stared deep into my soul. "Get over yourself! Drive. Go home! Go! Go!"

She chucked the magazine onto the passenger seat.

She was right.

I had work to do.

The whole ride home loud music shook the car, and my eardrums rang. The singer wailed about how her lover had abandoned her on a date at a restaurant. How it had happened so quickly with almost no reason. How she was going to cry until her very last days of living.

Unlike her, I was finished bawling my eyes out.

I had different plans now.

Joanie's car wasn't at home. I struggled to put the pieces together; she worked at the coffee shop every other day? Maybe she was at work?

My car hit the trash can as I sped into the driveway. The house was small, a two-bedroom, one bathroom, and cheap enough for Mason, Joanie, and I to split three ways. Joanie had added a few tweaks here and there: painted the mailbox pastel pink, giant wooden letters spelling out "home" hung by the entrance with our house number, thirty-five, accentuated in gold.

I flung open my car door, rushed inside, and dumped my groceries on the kitchen counter.

Right there. The drawer.

Wrenching it open, that's what I needed.

A match.

Isopropyl alcohol.

Taking the stairs two at a time, Sydney's hurried steps followed me to the room Mason and I shared.

I bee-lined the top drawer of the dresser.

On one side were bursting piles of my underwear and his boxers. On the other, a small lockbox with gilded silver edges. I popped it open to reveal various tokens and memories I had not thought about in years.

A handful of Polaroid photos.

The dried rose I'd given him on our second date.

An empty Sprite bottle from the time we went to a movie premiere for a sequel to the one movie he actually liked, but I couldn't remember the name of either one.

A set of dice from the board game cafe we visited in the city on a spontaneous day trip.

I scooped up as much as I could possibly carry, shoving the smaller things into my pockets until they overflowed. My muscles strained as I stumbled down the stairs, my heart racing.

Breath rasping, my nose ran from the harsh, heavy sobs that escaped me with every step.

In the kitchen, I passed Sydney, conspicuously quiet, and grabbed Mason's winter coat from the closet. I'd bought it for him as a gift—the most expensive gift I'd ever given anyone.

Now, the most expensive thing I'd ever destroy.

Expertly, I crafted a circular heap at the top of the driveway, piled high with Mason's stuff and my memories of our happiness. I ran back up the stairs and made a second trip, grabbing everything that I hadn't been able to carry the first time around. Sydney watched in wicked amusement as the hill I was building grew higher and higher.

"Burn it! Burn it, Kate! Burn it!" Sydney squealed as I doused everything until the entire bottle emptied onto the paved ground.

The discordance of the broken-hearted radio song, Sydney screaming with wild excitement, and the hum of the spaceship above all blasted inside my head.

But the moment I held the match in the air, it all disappeared.

Silence.

Blissful, wonderful silence. If only for an instant.

The lit match fell, and my world blew with it.

In a blinding, fiery burst, the pile caught flame. The contrast of the orange hot heat with the weird alien glow surrounding me only added to the impact of the explosion and I jumped backward to avoid being consumed by the ravenous beast. An incendiary wave scorched against my face, and I slammed my eyes shut as it dried my tears and my muscles shook.

Standing for a moment, I let the satisfaction of heat and anger radiate across my body.

"What the hell?!"

Mason?

Wailing?

Slowly opening my eyes, the light from the ship had disappeared, every last bit of it. The darkness of the spaceship hovered above me, the fire now a burning sun in front of me.

And there was Mason.

On his knees, hands bleeding as he bent over, his car was parked haphazardly, sporting a massive dent on the front right side.

I sneered. "This is what you wanted, right? Break up?" My face contorted into a toothy grin. "Pretend six years never happened?!"

"Six years?" Mason screamed through the dancing flames. "What are you talking about?" Tears glistened on his face as he looked between me and the flames. "You did this?" He shook his head as if to shake off all the pain.

"You texted me. Broke up with me!" I snarled.

The sound of the crackling flames roared loudly between us and I turned to Sydney for support, but she was nowhere to be found.

She should be backing me up. Where did she go? Why did she leave me?

"Texted? I can't text you! And my phone finally died this morning, I told you that." His last words came out as a hopeless screech.

Fine. He was playing dumb.

I whipped out my phone, ready to swipe through the myriad of ranting texts I'd sent about how much he sucked.

Me begging him to come back to me.

But...

My screen was black and cracked down the middle.

And suddenly I remembered breaking it a week ago, around the same time electricity and internet had become restricted within the shadows of the ship.

There was nothing.

Nothing.

No texts from Joanie, either; she was already gone.

It was me who hadn't left, stubbornly holding out hope this would all end. And Mason who had foolishly stayed behind with me.

I gazed across the fire at Mason, tears streaming down his face. The fire burned in front of me, heat billowing in toward me, but the heat also assailed me from behind, blowing my shirt forward.

No.

No, no, no.

I turned around.

Everything was aflame. The white painted windowsill. The "h" in the word "home", the other letters soon to burn.

And above me, where the blinding light from the ship had been, the hope everyone had clung to since it had appeared this morning, had again darkened to endless midnight.

Highlighting the hellish glow of my former home.

I fell to my knees on the blistering pavement, not caring as it scorched my palms.

"It's over, Kate. It's over."

<<<<< END >>>>>

Find more stories by Jule009 on Wattpad.

Julia is a science fiction writer originally from Trumbull, CT, with a Bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She currently works in an administrative position while writing part-time. 

Her most popular work on Wattpad, Snow, has garnered nearly a million reads and was shortlisted for the Wattys. Julia is also a Wattpad Creator and a Wattpad Ambassador. Outside of work and writing, Julia enjoys learning about astronomy, drinking tea, and working on jigsaw puzzles.