Dark Star

by R. T. Martin

  “Well,” Cooper said, still pacing, “I checked the book out after all those students disappeared on that senior camping trip when we were younger. Remember, they went up into the bluffs and—”

  “You mean you think the Dark Star cult was in Middleton?!” Claire wracked her brain for anything she could remember from the stories on the news about the disappearances.

  “Well, I didn’t before. But now . . . now I don’t know what to believe. It can’t be real, right? It’s just a coincidence. A myth.” Cooper didn’t sound so sure.

  “Wait, so this cult,” Claire was trying to piece it all together. “They were going to leave the planet?”

  “For what they say was another dimension, yeah.”

  Claire suddenly realized the connection to the meteor shower. “After Penny disappeared,” she said, “we saw a shooting star, right?”

  “Yeah,” Cooper agreed. “So what?”

  “And after those two students with the pulsing pins went into the woods, we saw another two shooting stars.”

  Claire saw the shock spread across Cooper’s face. “You’re not saying what I think you’re saying, are you?”

  “I think the shooting stars are people leaving Earth,” she said.

  “So that’s why Val wanted us to all watch the meteor shower. Nobody will notice a few extra shooting stars on a night like this.” Cooper’s face had turned pale.

  Claire took out her cell phone to call someone—anyone—but there was no signal, just as Mr. Petsky had told them. She held it up as high as she could and saw two more shooting stars—two more people leaving Earth. Still no signal.

  “Can you get a signal on your phone?” Claire asked.

  Cooper pulled out his phone and looked at the screen. “No,” he said. “No service.”

  “So we’re on our own,” said Claire. They only had ten minutes before midnight.

  Chapter 11

  11:47 p.m.

  “We have to stop Val ourselves,” said Claire. “No one’s coming to help us.”

  “How?” Cooper asked. “We barely have any idea what she’s doing.”

  “We know that she’s controlling them somehow. She must have some way of giving them orders, telling them to walk off into the woods. If she can make them walk away, maybe she can make them come back.”

  “What about the ones that have already left Earth?” Cooper paused. “What about Emma?”

  Cooper’s eyes started to well up, and Claire thought he might cry. “We’ll find a way to bring her back,” she said.

  Just as Claire put her arm around Cooper to comfort him, she saw three more lights flash across the sky—three more students. “Come on,” she said. “We don’t have much time before midnight, and we’re the only ones that can fix this.”

  Cooper took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said.

  11:50 p.m.

  They walked back to the group to find the rest of the students gathered in a semicircle. In the middle, Val was standing on a rock, shouting to them. “Soon you will all leave this planet and arrive on the Dark Star to be fuel for our world. You will be sacrificed for our survival.” Val was looking around the crowd of students, calmly telling them what their fate was. “Do not be afraid. The trip to the Dark Star is cold, but it does not take long.” Val smiled at them. “And you have no choice.”

  The students all responded together: “We will serve the Dark Star.” They all said it so calmly, like they’d said it a thousand times before. It made Claire’s skin crawl. Claire scanned the group and noticed that only about half of the students were left, and Mr. Petsky was no longer there. The teacher’s absence made Claire feel much worse about the situation. Only then did she remember that he had a walkie-talkie that Claire could have used to contact the bus driver. Now that was gone too. “What’s the plan?” Cooper asked.

  “I don’t have one,” Claire said. They were crouched behind a rock watching Val shout over the students’ heads. “We have to figure out how she’s controlling them. That’s the only way we’ll know how to bring them back.”

  “Do you think Val is going to come after us?” Cooper sounded scared. She looked over at him and saw that he was sweating a lot.

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “She probably thinks we ran off to get help.”

  “There’s nowhere we could run to get help fast enough.”

  “I know,” said Claire.

  “You’re all very brave!” shouted Val.

  “We’re all very brave,” the students said together.

  Val raised her arms. “It won’t be long now. At midnight, the rest of you will leave this planet.”

  Something caught Claire’s eye. It was Val’s left arm, the one she had the tattoo on. She could see it from here. The tattoo was glowing red. All the squares and lines had lit up. She tapped Cooper on the arm. “Look at her arm,” she said.

  Cooper leaned forward and squinted. “It’s glowing red, just like the pins,” he said. “Is that what she’s using to control them?”

  “It’s time for two more to go!” Val shouted. She held her left arm in front of her face and tapped a few of the glowing squares. Just then, two more students calmly walked away from the group and into the woods.

  “Yeah,” said Claire. “That looks like how she’s doing it.”

  “How are we supposed to get to her arm without her noticing us?” Cooper asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Claire. “But first thing’s first. We need to distract her and get her away from the students, delay her for as long as we can.”

  “Where do we go, though?”

  Claire was wondering that herself. There was really only one place to go. She looked over at the woods, then back at Cooper. He knew what she wanted to do.

  “No. You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?”

  “There’s no other way,” she said. “We have to get her away from them. There’s no other place to go.”

  Cooper looked down at the ground and shook his head. “This is a bad idea.”

  “Do you have a better one?” Cooper shook his head again. “I just don’t know how to get her to leave and go in there.”

  Cooper took another deep breath. “I have an idea.”

  Before Claire could ask what he was planning to do, Cooper had come out from behind the rock and picked up a small stone. He was walking toward the group of students and Val.

  “Hey, Val!” Cooper shouted. “You’re not sending any more of our friends to the Dark Star, not while Claire and I aren’t wearing your pins.” Cooper wound up and threw the rock at Val. It hit her on the shoulder. She stumbled back and nearly fell in surprise. When she regained her footing, she looked straight at Cooper. Claire didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone look so angry. She glared at Cooper for a moment before stepping down from the rock and walking toward them. The closer she got, the faster she started going.

  “I think I got her attention,” said Cooper. “Is it time to run?”

  “Yeah,” Claire said. “It’s time to run.”

  Chapter 12

  11:52 p.m.

  Running through the woods was more difficult than Claire had hoped it would be. She was going as fast as she could. Sticks and branches cut her face and arms. Roots and rocks threatened to trip her, but she and Cooper managed to avoid falling.

  She made sure to keep an eye on Cooper. If he tripped, she would have to help him—no way would she leave him behind. Val was closing in, and Claire didn’t want to think about what would happen if she caught either one of them. If they fell, Val would surely catch up. She didn’t think about losing sight of the larger group. They had already run too far to see them anymore. She just wanted to make sure that Val was distracted.

  She could barely see five feet in front of her. Claire and Cooper would keep running for as long as they could. The longer they ran, the less time Val had to finish her plan. It was only a few minutes until midnight.

  Claire didn’t turn to look, but she coul
d hear Val running behind them, crunching and cracking branches. Whatever Val would do if she caught them, it wouldn’t be good.

  They reached a small clearing, a break in the woods where the trees had thinned out and only a few small bushes had grown. Claire and Cooper both stopped. In front of them was the face of the bluffs, maybe fifty feet tall. The large stone wall loomed up, blocking their path. They couldn’t run any farther. They would have to face Val.

  As they backed up against the rocks, Val emerged from the woods. She was walking slowly and calmly. She could see that Claire and Cooper were trapped.

  “Nowhere to go now,” Val said, walking into the clearing. “Can’t you see that there’s no stopping your friends from going to the Dark Star?” There was something in Val’s voice that sounded different. It was deeper, raspier. “I’ll give you one more chance.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out two pins. “Take these.”

  “No!” shouted Cooper. “We’re not putting those on, and we’re not going to let you take our friends!”

  “We’re going to stop you,” Claire added.

  Val threw her head back and laughed. There was definitely something wrong with her voice. It sounded more and more like grinding metal. “There’s nothing you can do now. At midnight, the rest of your friends will leave this planet to become fuel for mine. How could you possibly stop me?”

  “There’s two of us,” said Cooper. “And only one of you.”

  Val smirked. “You will wear these pins. If you won’t do it yourselves, I’ll make you wear them.” Val’s voice didn’t sound human anymore.

  Val put her hands in her hair. Slowly, she pulled the skin down her head. It peeled away like tape coming off plastic. She pulled it all the way down to her waist and then stepped out of her skin completely.

  With the false human skin in a pile next to her, Val stood before them as she really was: a slimy black creature with bright, glowing red eyes. Her body was covered in uneven scales. She had long, pointed claws for hands and sharp, jagged teeth. She was still smiling.

  “You will wear these pins,” she repeated. Her voice was now as horrid as her appearance.

  Claire looked at the pile of skin that Val had slithered out of. The left arm had flopped out of the pile and the tattoo was still glowing red. Did that mean it was still working? Val’s fake skin must have been some sort of remote control that she was using to give orders to the other students.

  Claire looked at the glowing tattoo, then at Cooper. He saw it and nodded. He understood.

  “You want me to wear a pin?” Claire shouted at the creature. “Come and make me!”

  The creature smiled, a glob of clear goo falling from its jaw. “With pleasure.”

  11:57 p.m.

  Claire stepped to the side while Cooper stepped the opposite way. She was backed up against the rock face as Cooper was circling around the clearing to get to the pile of skin.

  With nowhere to go and Val nearly within reach, Claire turned and started climbing the rocks. She wouldn’t have to get very high up, just high enough so that Val couldn’t grab her legs. Even though her whole body was tired from everything that had happened tonight, she climbed as fast as she could.

  Claire got high up on the bluff’s edge before she turned to look back down. She was out of Val’s reach. The creature was below her, looking up. Whatever this thing was, it was still grinning. “You can’t run,” it said, smiling a little wider. “And I can climb too.” It dug its claws into the rock face and started chasing up after Claire.

  She looked over at Cooper. He had reached the pile of skin and was holding the tattoo part of it in his hands. It looked like he was randomly pressing the squares that Claire now felt must be buttons Val used to control the students. The creature had claws, so it had the advantage when it came to rock climbing. If Cooper didn’t do something soon, Claire was done for.

  Claire had climbed too high to just jump back down to the ground, so all she could do was keep climbing up and hope that Val would slip or that a rock would come loose and Val would fall.

  Val was much closer. She swiped her claws at Claire and missed by only an inch.

  “Hurry up, Coop!” Claire shouted.

  “I’m trying! I’m trying!” she heard him shout back.

  Claire scrambled further up the wall, now hanging at least thirty feet off the ground. She had just grabbed a good handhold when she felt Val grab her leg. She tried to pull herself up, but Val was pulling her down. This was it. She had failed. Val would send her to the Dark Star. She was done for. Suddenly, the creature’s grip loosened. Val wasn’t looking at Claire anymore—she was looking at Cooper. “No!” the monster screamed.

  “I think I’ve got it!” shouted Cooper.

  He made one more motion on the tattoo. Val’s eyes went blindingly bright. She let out a scream, and a red light appeared on her chest. It grew brighter and brighter. Val let out one final howling wail before the red light in her chest grew so bright that Claire had to turn away. The hand on her leg let go, and when Claire looked back the creature was gone, nowhere to be seen.

  “Look!” Cooper shouted. A brilliant red meteor shot across the sky, the brightest one they’d seen all night.

  Claire waited for a moment to make sure that Val had really disappeared before she climbed back down the rock face. When she reached the ground, she saw one of the pins. Val had apparently dropped it before climbing up after her. She bent down and picked it up. Its little red light was still pulsing.

  She walked over to Cooper who was still messing around with Val’s tattoo. “Is she gone?” Claire asked.

  “Yeah,” said Cooper. “I think so.”

  Claire checked her phone—one minute to midnight. They’d stopped Val just in time.

  “Maybe if I try this,” said Cooper as he touched a final glowing square on the tattoo. Claire looked at the pin. It went dark. Just then, Val’s false skin turned to goo in Cooper’s hands. As it started to slide through his fingers it became more liquid and turned to water on the ground, sinking into the dirt, gone forever.

  “Did you deactivate the pins?” Claire asked.

  “That’s what it looks like,” he said with a look of disgust on his face as he began wiping his hands on his pant legs to get the liquid off. Cooper looked up toward the sky. “Look, the meteor shower is starting.”

  He was right. Stars were flying across the sky, some bright and brilliantly, others dimmer like they were smaller or farther away. Claire relaxed a little. The shower was actually quite beautiful, and with Val gone, Claire could actually enjoy it.

  “Is everyone back?”

  “There’s only one way to find out,” Cooper said.

  Chapter 13

  Sunday 12:20 a.m.

  It took them a while to navigate their way back to the edge of the bluffs. They got turned around once, but eventually they found the edge of the tree line. It was easier to maneuver through the woods when they weren’t being chased. Both of them were tired, but they trudged their way back to the group.

  They stepped out of the woods to find the bluffs once again packed with their friends and classmates. Everyone was sitting on blankets and lawn chairs, looking up and watching the meteor shower.

  “Cooper!” It was Mr. Petsky. “Didn’t I tell you specifically not to go in the woods?”

  “You’re back!” Cooper shouted.

  “I’m back?” he replied. “I never left. You’re back. I told you not to go in the woods. Now sit down and watch the shower. You too, Claire.”

  They walked over to where Emma had placed the blanket on the grass. Sure enough, there was Emma sitting on it with a bag of chips. Right next to her, Penny was digging through some cookies.

  “There you guys are,” Emma said. “Where did you go?”

  Claire and Cooper sat down. “We were . . . ” Claire hesitated. “We were dealing with Val.”

  “Who’s Val?” Emma asked.

  “Val!” Cooper said. “You know, creepy girl,
carries a lot of pins, loves science. Oh, she’s also a monster, but you weren’t there for that.”

  “What are you talking about?” Emma said. “Is this the plot of one of your movies?”

  Claire hugged Emma. “I’m so glad you’re back,” she said.

  “Umm, I didn’t go anywhere, but okay, I guess.” She smiled at Claire. “Where were you two? One minute you were here, then I turn around and you’re both gone.”

  Claire was just so relieved that Emma had returned that she didn’t bother to explain. “We were,” she looked at Cooper. “We were seeing if there was a better spot to watch the shower.”

  “What?” Cooper yelled. “We were fighting a monster! We saved you!”

  “Give it a rest, Cooper,” Emma said. “That may have worked on me in the second grade, but not now.”

  “It’s really pretty, isn’t it?” Penny said. Lights were flashing all across the sky over and over again. Claire wondered if some of them were members of the senior class that disappeared years ago returning home.

  “Hello? Claire, would you back me up here? Val was sending you guys to another dimension or planet. She was using those pins. Hey,” he looked at Penny and Emma. “What happened to the pins she gave you? Whatever, it doesn’t matter. She was sending you guys away one at a time, so Claire and I lured her into—”

  “Just drop it, Cooper,” Claire interrupted. “No one believes you.” She smiled at him and winked. He gave her a confused look, but let it go. He lay down on the blanket and watched the shower.

  Claire took a deep breath. She leaned back on the blanket and watched the sky for a while in silence. “You’re right, Penny,” she said. “It’s really pretty.”

  Chapter 14

  Monday 10:00 a.m.

  Claire put books away in her locker and grabbed the ones she needed for science, her next class. For the first time in a long time, she wasn’t nervous to go there. She was certain Mr. Petsky would accept her assignment.

  Claire spent most of the day before getting what was probably the best sleep of her life. When she woke up, she got straight to work on the extra credit assignment. Not only had she written everything that Mr. Petsky asked for, she’d done a little extra and made a diagram of how a meteor enters and burns up in the atmosphere. She hadn’t stopped Val from abducting all those students just to fail science class. This was sure to impress her teacher and solidify a passing grade.