1 Chris

"Do you know what you have to do?" He asks, smirking with malice. The dark corridor seems to show only an endless void on either side. The young man looks up, face half beaten, bleeding seeming to never end.

"O-of course," he looks down at the man's boots, seemingly clean, even after kicking him profusely.

"Good. Make sure everything is in place, and don't ever talk back to me like that again or next time, I will make sure he doesn't stop beating you until you're dead." The young man nods silently and sits there minutes after the cruel man has left. He starts to sob quietly to himself, slowly falling into the fetal position.

"How did I manage to get caught up in this?" He asks to the quiet, endless void and darkness that seems to haunt those underground tunnels.

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Chris never believed in Aliens, but he liked to believe that the Lizard who follows him, is a reptilian soldier for some unknown Alien race. It never really seemed to leave his sight. It was always just sort of there. It's always been there.

Ever since Chris was young, he would always wave at the strange creature, and it would always wave back. He had tried to make the others see it, his friends at school would always laugh at him, so he eventually stopped asking. 'Of course, they couldn't see it.' Chris would think to himself any time he asked. It was just a stupid imaginary friend that only he could see.

Chris always believed it was real though. It always seemed to shimmer, seemingly fading in between realities. At night, he liked to stare out of his window and watch as it seemed to shine like several stars in an infinite cosmos. A cosmos only he could see.

Chris enjoyed having it there though. It was his guardian angel, sent to protect him from whatever may arise. He always felt something would happen.

Chris was turning 18 in a few days and had plans to see each of his friends before they all left for their lives after school. His best friend Alex was going out of state to some prestige college. His small countryside town did have a College, but it was small and only ever had a max of 700 people at one time.

Chris always wanted to leave, to visit new places, see new sights, but he always knew that he was going to stay right here in Kristanthia. Although recently something felt off with Chris, he felt that something drastic was going to change, but he did not know what.

Alex was sadly leaving on Chris' birthday, so they had to spend time the day before his birthday.

Alex picked up Chris at midday. He sits patiently whilst Chris gets his things and jumps into the passenger side of Alex' car. The ride is mostly quiet, until halfway through their trip when Alex asks the question that Chris has been fearing.

"Have you been seeing him lately?" Alex asks this quietly, as if not to spook Chris.

"He tends to stay right at the corner of my eyes. He's been getting closer a lot recently though. He walked right into the middle of everyone at the mall the other day. They all just ignored him. Although, they did seem to walk around him, rather than through. Could've been a coincidence though." Chris recalls all the details of that day. The Lizard just stayed relatively behind Chris, protecting him like a bodyguard.

"Why can't you let him go. It's cute when you're younger, but it gets fucking weird when you grow older." Alex sighs. Chris looks away from Alex and looks out his window.

"I know. I was thinking of seeing one of the therapists here in town." Chris noticed a rustling in the leaves and notices the Lizard moving as fast as the car. "Huh."

"What is it?" Alex asks looking out the side of Chris' window for a few moments before putting his eyes back on the road. "'Huh' indeed."

Chris looks at Alex in suspicion but drops it after Alex pulls onto the hidden road that only a few people know is actually there.

"Let's get this party started," Chris says after Alex stops and turns off the car.