Nightshade: A SimLit | Chapter 50: A Distant World

Author's Note: I can't believe we've finally made it to Chapter 50! Thanks so much to all Nightshade fans for reading and supporting my story. Every view and comment means the world to me. 

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Somewhere far away...

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The young boy dropped his backpack on the floor as he shut the front door behind him. It had been another long, stressful day at school...

He was greeted by a seemingly empty house, which almost felt like a relief. 'Maybe my parents are working,' he thought. 'Good. I don't want to see them...'

His thoughts were interrupted by the stern voice of his mother. 

"Orion Star!" 

He could already feel his heart pounding in pace with the quick footsteps approaching him. His mother and father looked angry as they came to a stop in front of him, arms crossed.

Orion's only response to them was a shameful glance and silence. 

"We received a call from school today, complaining about your... misbehavior," his father scowled. 

"That's the second time this week!" His mother sounded exasperated. "Your father and I are very disappointed in you, Orion. You're so smart. Do you know how many alien children would love to go to your school?"

"I-I don't want to go to school anymore!" Orion blurted, his eyes beginning to water. "I don't like it! They make us study... really scary stuff..."

"Not another one of your temper tantrums," Orion's father interrupted. "I'm tired of your disobedience! You have no respect for us or your teachers."

"I-I'm sorry..." Orion looked down, sniffling. "But I just can't do it... I hate it. It isn't fair that I have to even if I don't want to!"

"And we don't understand why you can't just be a normal alien child!" His mother snapped. "You're going to grow up to be a scientist like us, whether you like it not. And any boy your age would be happy to have such an honorable position in this society!" 

"I don't want to grow up to be like you!" Orion cried. "I hate it! I hate your job! I won't do it and you can't make me!" 

His father's eyebrows furrowed. "Don't talk to your mother like that! That's it, you're grounded. Go to your room and do your homework!"

"I-I..."

The man was at the end of his patience. "Shut up, stop crying, and go! Now!" 

Orion turned and ran to his room, trying to stop his tears, but they just kept coming.

He glanced over his shoulder as his angry parents watched him disappear into his room. He slammed the door and sat down at his desk, searching through a drawer. He located the item he was looking for; his diary, and placed it on his desk. He turned to a blank page and started to write, wetting the paper with his tears. 

Dear Diary,

Why doesn't anyone understand? I don't want to be a scientist when I grow up. That's what most of the smart kids do when they're older. So in school, they teach us all the stuff we'll need to know about it... like human anatomy, for experiments. And dissection. And stuff about human culture, from research Sixam has done so far.  My mom and dad are scientists, so everyone expects me to be a scientist and go abduct people and experiment on them. But I hate it. My parents always tell me stories about what they do at work, and how the people scream and cry for them to stop... I know they're supposed to be evil and our enemies and stuff, but are all humans really like that? They don't seem so different from us...

Orion didn't notice the sound of his door opening or his parents walking into his room.

"What are you doing?"

He froze. "I-I was just..." He closed his diary and tried to shove it back into the drawer, but it was quickly snatched from his hands. 

Orion wiped the tears from his eyes and watched as his father held up the notebook.

"You were writing in your diary? Well, let's see what you had to say, shall we?"

"D-Don't..." Orion stammered, but it was futile to argue with him.

His parents skimmed over the entries, including the one he hadn't even gotten to finish, with angry scowls on their faces.

His mother glanced at him. "Is this really how you feel, Orion? About your family? Your duty to your fellow aliens? Humans are evil. As an alien, you should feel obligated to want to protect our planet from them! But how will we know how without research?"

Orion frowned. "B-But..."

"No buts!" His father frowned. "This behavior is going to stop. Tonight, you will learn to accept what is expected of you..."

Orion didn't want to know what that meant.

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Helpless to stop his parents from dragging him along in their UFO, Orion had watched in silence as they abducted a man from the human planet. And now, here he was, standing in front of the holding cell as the door slid open...

"This is our test subject, as you can see," his mother said. 

The man was terrified by the sight of the strange creatures. "W-What the heck!? Where am I!?"

'He's speaking a human language,' Orion thought. He gave the quivering man a sympathetic frown. 

"Now we're going to get him to the experiment table," Orion's father grinned. 

Orion stepped back as his parents approached the man and grabbed him, dragging him toward the table with a struggle. His eyes wandered around the room at all the terrifying instruments and equipment. 'What are they going to do to him?'

The man yelled at them, confused and not understanding the alien language they spoke in. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

Orion watched in horror as his parents shoved him onto the table, grabbing needles and a variety of sharp objects. The man screamed, and he couldn't take it anymore...

"Stop! Just stop, please! You're hurting him!"

The man fell completely still and silent. The rapid rise and fall of his chest was gone, and his eyes stared blankly at the ceiling...

Orion felt his hands trembling.

"Don't worry," his mother said calmly. "We aren't hurting him anymore."

His father smirked. "Now, let's get on with these experiments..."

Orion collapsed to the floor and burst into tears as his parents conducted experiments on the man they had killed right in front of him. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, trying to drown out the sound of their voices with his sobs...

But his father finally spoke loud enough for him to hear clearly. "Make sure you pay attention, son. You'll be doing this yourself soon enough..."