Exhaustion swept Atilius into a frenzied dream state. In his dreams he was dying, but not at the gnawing fangs of some hellish creature like the demon he only just managed to escape. Here it was a peaceful death. He felt himself of an old age, wrinkled and feeble. The end of a well extended human lifespan. He was standing on land that was foreign to him, though somehow altogether familiar.

  Under an odd blue sky, he saw mountains that were crusted with ice that melted away into long flowing streams of water that crashed over rock and flowed away from the land into an infinite expanse of ocean below. From that ocean brewed forth fire and heat underneath a storm of lighting which gave birth to new land. Everywhere around him chaos abounded! but his soul was the felling of calmness.

  There, beneath his feet, he felt the brush of a million small green plants that all moved together as one in the breeze. He squeezed them gently between his toes. He turned to touch the face of his beloved, but she was not there.

  A harsh bump in the road jostled the weary traveler awake. Harsh yellow from above passed overhead in a pulsated rhythm that reverberated in his head. Heavy were his eyelids, but even in closing them could he not escape the bright shining. Atilius felt with his hands not the surface of millions of plants but the rubbery hardness of a vehicle seat, like when he would tumble out of Lexi's lap on family days trips on warm Sunday afternoon. But now it was a cold night, and the air instead the vehicle was rank and stale.

  Atilius detected a large presence looming next to him. As his eyes began to unblur he could see it was a Keetan. A strange woman with an odd smell. She kept one hand firmly affixed to the steering wheel while she fumbled around restlessly, searching for something in the back seat. Turning up empty handed on each attempt she pushed her glass cup bifocals to the top of her large pointed beak. Occasionally she coughed in a hoarse spluttering, causing flecks of phlegm to appear on the windshield.

  Often, the woman threw hard glances over at her passenger to check if he had roused from his sleep. Atilius tried to ignore her and feigned going back to sleep, but her keen eye had spotted him and she poked him hard in the chest with feathered finger.

  'Wakey wakey little human.' she chirped. 'Don't worry little fellow, I've nearly got you there. I know you're tired and lost The place that will get you all the help you need.' The singsong tone of her voice did little to reassure Atlilius. 'Hey! are you listening to me?' She reached over and flicked him on the arm. The battle wounded warrior looked out the window while he nursed the dull pain with his other hand. Everything that surrounded him, either inside or outside of the vehicle was strange and unfamiliar, and appeared to want to do him harm. of this supposed rescuer of his, he was most unsure, and wondered if he would be safter outside of the car instead.

  With an awkward shift of the control stick the vehicle as it slowed to a lower speed as the engine hummed and churned.

  Atilius stood up in his seat so that he could look out the window. He hoped to see some sign of his old neighborhood. Perhaps word had gotten out of his disappearance and his family was going around telling everyone around to look out for him. He looked for the orange glow of the street lamps that signposted the entryway of his street that he passed every time he and Lexi took a walk together. Maybe she would be there standing underneath one waiting to scoop him up into her hands and lay him down at his nice warm bed.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Instead, He was greeted by the haunting sight of a towering grey building. Like a massive building block had been placed haphazardly in the middle of the woods. it was surrounded by a large wall with no gaps. lots of light surrounded the building, being thrown on the walls and the grounds, but barely a speck of light emanated from within. there were no visible windows. there was no way to see what went on inside that place. There were words printed along the side of the building, but Atilius could not read them. there was only a feeling, and it was a bad one.

  'Not to worry little one. We're almost here, you're new home.' The Keetan woman twisted back over to grab a drink bottle from the confines of the rear seat. 'This is the kind of place little like you belong. This is where they keep human's and other invasive pests from running wild and destroying the environment.' she took a large slurp from her drink.

  The Keetan woman parked the vehicle facing the the border of. The looming solid gate with no gaps. There was no more hum. They sat together in that silence. For the first time, she placed both of her feathered hands on the control wheel. staring blankly at the grey wall that stared straight back at her. Her breathing became heavy. A feeling of danger grew within the pit of Atilius' stomach. The silence grew unbearable.

  Suddenly, she reached into the inner pocket of her jacket; from it, she pulled a small card. She pushed it right up into Atilius' face. It was a pticure of a small furry creature with happy smiling face. Atilius had seen this kind of creature before, down at the park with Lexi. Keetans kept them as pets. He looked at the card then looked at the woman, not knowing what to do.

  'This was Booshi, my baby boy...' Her breathing became more labored with every sentence. 'Do you know what they did to him? You filthy humans?'

  Atilius replied with a vacant stare.

  'There was a wild gang of them' The Keetan contintued. 'Roving around in our neighborhood. Those disgusting humans. they started taking the pets from houses, working together. One day they came into our yard. They took him, my darling Booshi. We tried to stop them. We-' She shoved the picture back into her pocket and faced the wall once again. Atilius could tell she was holding back tears. 'We found him, hours later. Eaten! They had eaten our Booshi. You disgusting things!' She turned back to face him. There were tears streaming down her face, that was now upturned into a cruel smile.

  'So you know what I did?' She paused as though Atilius could possibly answer her. 'I made it my mission to finish as many humans as I could. I'd lure them into the car with food, then take them down the river. I'd weigh them down, and while they struggled under the water I would stand of the riverbed and say a little prayer to my Booshi until the bubbles stop.'

  She let out a sound between a sigh and a laugh. Like a pressure valve letting of excess steam. The feathers on her head began to stand on ends, then flattened, and so too did her expression.

  'But it is getting too much.' She groaned. 'There are so many of you, and I am getting older. This way is better. This place is specially designed to take care of your kind. I know, because I've been in there many times. I've seen what goes on. The river, is much too quick. this place, will extend your suffering for the rest of your natural lifespan. Now my prayers to Booshi are like a chorus that lasts forever.'

  She reached into the back seat for something one last time.

  'Because you are part of an infestation. It is though you were created to destroy, to fight and to kill. You do not belong in this world, monster. There is no helping the idiots who take mercy on your kind.'

  The Woman turned to Atilius with both feathered hands outstretched.

  'Now. Get in the bag, little one.'