Tabloid
Issue #3
by Tom Zjaba
Chapter Three Area 51
Hours later, she finds herself in a holding cell. She has
been stripped, searched, cleaned and clothed. Along the way, she has been
bombarded with questions. "Why did you do it?" and "Was there anyone else
involved?" and other questions that she would rather not answer. Before she gets
into even worse trouble, if that is possible, she clams up and keeps repeating
"I want a lawyer." After a few dozen times saying this, they finally give up put
her in a cell. As she crawls into the poorly made bed to try and get some rest,
she tries to figure out what has happened to her and how she got into so much
trouble. She was the victim here. Why was she being held in the cell? All she
wanted was to get something to eat and next thing she knows, she is being
charged for multiple homicides. They are calling her a psychopath and a serial
killer. She has been antagonized, humiliated, badgered and almost beaten by the
police that weren't around when she was almost raped.
Being totally exhausted and a firm believer that she will go
to sleep and find out this was all a bad dream, she closes her eyes and tries to
get some sleep. This cannot be real and she must awaken from this nightmare. She
must. But before sleep can claim her for the evening, she hears her cell door
being opened. She groggily rises to see who is coming in, hoping it is the
attorney they will appoint to her. But instead, she sees one of the officers
walking in with a billy club. He comes in and stands next to the bed. "Not too
often we get cute girls in here." She is stunned. This is not happening. It is
like something out of a bad prison movie. She tries to roll over and hope he
goes away. But she is not that lucky. His fingers start running through her
hair. "I can make your stay a whole lot easier if you cooperate." She then
pushes herself up into a sitting position and asks him "And if I don't
cooperate?" The cop smiles and says "We get some prisoners in here that I don't
think you would like for a cellmate." This guy is no better than the punks on
the street that tried to rape her. How is she going to get out of this. Before
she can come up with a plan, the man unzips the zipper on his pants. Before he
can go any further she starts to scream. "Rape! Rape!" The cop quickly zips up
his pants and says "Shut up." But she doesn't she screams even louder. Down the
hall, the other prisoners hear her and start screaming as well. He panics and
takes the back of his hand and slaps her across the face. The blow knocks her
back on the bed. She gives him a dirty look and says "Go to hell" as she spits
at him. Not the best move on her part as she received a billy club across the
head. The hit knocks her back and her head snaps back. Blood flows out of her
mouth and she falls back into the shadow on the wall. But like before, she does
not hit the wall, but goes through it. Once again she finds herself falling
through the void of space. And once again, the creature is zooming towards her.
She tries to yell at the creature, but finds that she makes no sound. The
creature is smiling once again as it heads towards Earth.
With a resounding thud, Madeline falls to the ground. She
lands hard and it takes a few seconds for her to collect her wits. As she slowly
rises to her feet and takes a look around, she is stunned. Above her is what
appears to be a flying saucer. Not just any flying saucer, but one of the same
design that was so prevalent in the 1950's sci-fi films. It is round like a
saucer and has long, telescopic legs. There is a door that is open with steps
that ascend into a cabin with an eerie green glow radiating from within. As
Madeline looks around further, she notices that there seems to be more of these
saucers, all lined up in neat rows. As she walks from one to another, she is
amazed at the design work. Each one looks exactly like the next one. Up ahead,
she sees a tall ladder on wheels. It is very similar to the ones used at
airports or in warehouses. She goes over and makes her way up the steps. As she
reaches the top of the ladder, there is a small platform for her to stand on,
with a small railing encircling it. She walks over to the railing and holds
tight. She looks to the right as far as she can and all she can see is a long,
series of flying saucers. The left offers the same view. As she looks up, she
notices that she is indeed in some kind of large building. The ceiling is made
of some kind of metal sheeting and there are rows of lights hanging down. The
lights let off enough light to see things, but are on the dim side. "Oh my God"
is all she can mutter as she is in shock. One would think the events of the past
day would have prepared her for such a shock, but even this is too much for her
to fathom.
With enough of this view, she descends to the ground again
and begins her search of a door that may lead out of here. She moves all the way
to one side and walks down, along the outer wall, in search for a door. After a
good half hour, she comes to the end and realizes there is no door on this side.
So she goes across the building and starts all over again. About halfway down,
she sees what appears to be a doorway. In the middle of it is a large handprint
that is a blood red color, while the door is the same, dull white color of the
rest of the building. As she runs her hand over it, she feels that it is raised.
She presses her hand against it, but nothing happens. She tries her other hand,
in a vain attempt to get the door to open, but the results are the same.
Realizing that her small hand is not configured to open these doors, she tries
pushing on it. She leans into it and begins to exert more and more force onto
the door, but it doesn't even budge. She then steps back and rushes the door
with her shoulder, but all she manages to do is give herself a sore shoulder.
It soon becomes apparent that she cannot get out of this
building, at least without any help. So she looks to the saucers and wonders if
she can somehow get into one of them. But before she can figure out a way into
the saucer, the door that she was trying to open, suddenly opens up. But instead
of finding help, she sees the now too familiar men in black. They walk in and
start making their way towards her. Despite knowing she is stuck in this hangar
and there is no way out, she runs away from them in an attempt to get away. Away
to where is anyone's guess. As she runs away, the three men run after her. Once
again, they all look exactly alike and are dressed identically. What could these
guys want with her and why are they always chasing her? Part of her wants to
stop and ask them what they want. But the part of her that wants to live, spurs
her to carry on. At least this time, they do not seem to have any guns, at least
none they are showing.
As she runs through the hangar, she sees the end slowly
coming near. What will she do when she reaches it? Will she give up or stand her
ground and try to fight them? Before she has a chance to answer that question,
she sees row of stairs descend from one of the flying saucers. Instinctively,
she runs up the ramp without any hesitation. It closes quickly behind her and
she finds herself in the safety of the saucer. While she has once again escaped
the men in black, who or what has come to her rescue? She begins to look around
the saucer to find some answers. As she is looking around at the room, she hears
a strange noise. It almost sounds like the sound of raindrops on an awning. It
is a ping noise and it is coming from beneath her. She walks over to where the
stairs were and hears the sound again. "Don't worry, their bullets cannot
penetrate the ship." She hears the voice and quickly turns around. There
standing before her is an alien. It looks pretty much like what aliens look like
when they are described by people who had encounters. The alien stands about
five feet tall, is slender in build with a large head and large eyes that are
all black. The eyes are very large and she can see her reflection in them. There
are a few small slits for nostrils and there does not appear to be any external
ears. It is wearing no clothing and does not appear to have any sex organs. The
fingers are long and slender. The feet are small and the toes are very close
together. "You are quite safe in here." the alien says as his mouth moves. While
she sees his lips move, the sound seems to be created in her head. "Yes, you are
hearing my thoughts. I move my lips as I find your species responds better when
they see a mouth move." She then says "Who are you and what is this place?" The
alien moves a little closer and puts his hand up. He then takes his fingers and
makes them into a peace sign and says "I come in peace." She starts to laugh at
the ridiculousness of the gesture. She then says "Haven't been to our planet for
awhile have you?" The alien smiles a little. With the small mouth, it can only
make a small smile. It then says "Would you feel better if I said Yo dude?" She
breaks out laughing at that and says "No, stick with the peace sign." She then
gets serious and says "What is going on around here?" The alien looks at her
with his expressionless eyes and says "You are in the world of Tabloid. But you
should not be here." She gestures wildly and says "I know that. But exactly what
is Tabloid and how did I get here?" The alien remains calm, unlike Madeline who
is obviously upset. "This place is what you earthlings would call a movie set.
Tabloid was created as a means of entertainment for my people." Madeline is now
very confused. "What do you mean, a movie set? The creatures I saw looked pretty
darn real to me. And that bullet I was hit with was quite real too." While the
alien recognizes anger, he is not sure how to handle it. His race is more of a
thinking race instead of a rush to action race. They analyze any problem and
look for solutions. Violence is a last resort. So he takes a small step back. He
is unsure how she will react as humans have always proved so unpredictable. "All
the creatures you see were created by us. We used your world as an inspiration
for Tabloid, which would be like one of your television shows." This is getting
too weird for Madeline but she needs to get some answers. "What do you mean a
television show? Are we on the show right now?" she asks. She has her hands on
her hips and has a mixture of confusion and anger on her face. The alien
continues looking and she is amazed at how it does not blink. "My people lost
their creative ability a long time ago. We are a inventors and logical people.
We cannot create stories like your people. So we fabricated a world to resemble
yours and then populated it with artificial life that resembles the people and
creatures of your tabloid magazines. Then we programmed them to live their lives
and we then watch it like a television show." While this does answer some of her
questions, it also creates even more questions. "So you are telling me that The
King and Dr. Stein are both robots?" The alien now realizes that she is
understanding the situation a little better. "Not robots, but artificial life.
They are real beings but they were created by us. We gave them their look, their
personalities and their memories. Then we drop them into this world and see what
they do. They are able to decide their own path." Madeline is still confused.
She thought she had it when she thought they were robots but this is beyond her
scope of understanding. But it does not stop her inquisitive nature from trying
to learn more. "So they are cloned by you and then you program them and set them
free, is that right?" The alien makes a small smile and says "In a primitive way
of describing it, yes, that is pretty close." Madeline smiles and finally does
not look threatening. She then asks "OK, I understand the world. But what am I
doing here?" The alien loses the smile as he is unsure how she will accept his
explanation. "While most of my people are happy with Tabloid and enjoy it, there
are some who want more. They are the how would you earth people describe them?
The black sheep. The bad element. They want violent movies to watch and so they
send creatures into your world to make what your people would call snuff films."
She was understanding this, but now she is getting lost again. "You mean that I
am part of a snuff film? But why me and how do they get me to go between
worlds?" The alien once again takes a step back. Madeline's voice is rising and
her gestures are getting dangerously wild again. "We do not know why they chose
you. We only know that they found a way to travel between worlds. It involves
traveling through shadows and your blood is the link the creature needs to
switch places with you." Not exactly the complete answer she was hoping for but
it does clear things up a bit. She keeps on with her questions "OK, so this
creature has targeted me. But why is it that when I see it, it is a giant scary
monster. But when I get back to earth, they think I am the one who killed those
men?" The alien does not change expression at all. He keeps looking at her and
says "The creature is a phaser. It has the ability to phase from one dimension
to another. It can also mimic the appearance of other creature and choose who
can and cannot see this mimicked version." Madeline throws up her hands and says
"Oh great! I am stuck in a world of artificial life that looks like creatures
from a tabloid magazine while some creature that can look just like me is
killing people back on earth. Can it get any worse?" The alien takes another
step backwards and says "Yes, we need you to capture it."
In the prison cell back on Earth, the police officer is
looking around for Madeline. There is no way should could have escaped. He turns
around and heads to the cell door. He checks it and sure it enough, it is
locked. He pulls the bed from the wall and looks behind it. She is not under the
bed. He feels along the wall for an opening. With the dimmed lights, he cannot
see the wall perfectly. He takes out his flashlight and shines it on the wall.
All he finds is shadows and a circle of blood. He dips his finger in it and
brings it up to eyes and looks. He takes a step back to examine the blood. He
then gets on the walkie and calls out "Charlie, can you come to the holding
cells? One of the prisoners is missing. Over" A few seconds go by and then a
voice comes over the walkie "Are you sure? How did they get out? Over." He then
answers back " I have no idea. Saw the cell was empty and went in and all I
found was a blood stain on the wall and an empty cell. Over." Before the
response comes back, the blood stain begins to grow. The officer takes out his
flashlight and shines it at the wall. "What the hell..." As he says this, the
blood stain grows into a large circle. He fumbles for the keys and starts
looking for the key to the cell. As he paws through them, a head pops out of the
hole. "Sweet Mother." is all he says as the creature pops out of the hole. It
then falls to the floor and quickly rises to its feet. As it uncoils the police
officer finds the key and quickly unlocks the door. But before he can get out, a
large hand full of razor sharp claws grabs him by the neck and drags him back.
"Nooooo!" he screams as he is pulled back into the cell. The other prisoners
quickly wake up from the screaming and rush to the bars of their cells and look
out. In the dim light, they see the police officer being torn to shreds by what
appears to be the girl who was put in the cell that night. One by one they step
away from the bars and try to blend into the darkness. They keep watching as
they are shocked by the sheer brutality. Within seconds, the other officer comes
in the room and sees the alien tearing up the girl. He sees the alien while the
others only see the girl. The monster does not try to cloak himself to the
officer as he intends to kill him. The officer pulls out his gun and aims it at
the monster. "Don't make a move." he says as he aims at the monster. The
creature turns around and smiles with blood dripping from its fangs. The gun is
shaking in his hand. But before he can pull the trigger, the creature dives at
him. He shoots at the creature but misses. Between his shaking hands and the
creatures speed, he never had a chance. Within seconds, he is also torn to
shreds. After he has killed both officers, he closes the door and lays down in
the bed to rest. On the floor next to the bed are the dead officers, both of
them gutted and ripped to shreds.
Tabloid
© Tom Zjaba 1994 - 2007