Chapter One: The Attack 
To Ethel it was simply Friday. The nose-burning smell of antiseptic cleansers filled the kitchen as she scrubbed the cafeteria of Park high school.
She never saw it as the thin creature waited patiently on the inside of the freezer door. Ethel hummed as she opened it ready to clean the shelves not aware that it was dropping, silently, to the floor, up the cabinet and across part of the broad window partially blocking the afternoon sun.
Razine watched, excited. It was their first attack on the planet Fidea, the follow-up to their successful slaughter of the Simon Lo colony. She had chosen this school herself. Killing the young would wake the leaders up, let them know how powerful the bokor were. Tingles of anticipation filled her. This would send a message.
Ethel stepped back almost tripping over a trashcan as she saw it move toward her.
“The Mac. Where is the Mac?” It sounded like a deep growl from somewhere hidden.
“I don’t know what you want. What are you? Get out of here! This isn’t allowed! I’ll call someone.”  Her voice trailed off as she realized how ridiculous her statement was.This didn't make sense and she had no one to call who could stop the thing coming after her.
Razine sat on the countertop next to the burners, swinging her thin, metallic legs up and down as if playing outside on the little kids’ swings.
Ethel hadn’t noticed her yet.
“The Mac!”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Who are you? W-what are you? Get out of here, no one is allowed here after school hours! Did you check in at the office?”
The Bokor, silent, spread wide and long and wrapped itself around Ethel’s slightly swollen ankles. It moved up her body, in between then around her legs, cocooning her but leaving her face exposed.
She tried to scream, but the bokor general squeezed tightly. “Please, please, please. . .” she said between choked breaths. “I don’t know what you want, I can’t tell you anything! Please!”
Razine’s shoes clicked on the tile floor as she strolled over to Ethel to give her a final farewell. Her right arm was the most powerful one and could extend with a sword-like reach. She touched Ethel’s forehead with her finger and slowly sliced downward, splitting Ethel’s freckled nose in half, then cut through her screaming lips.
“It was nice to meet you, Ethel. Don’t worry, it’s quick.”
The ink black soldier tightly caressed and then spun Ethel’s body, sending her bloodied arms flying across the once sparkling kitchen. The next step, twisting her head so that it sat on her shoulders humorously facing backwards. She would be the first kill of many on Fidea.
Razine floated out the window and looked at the young ones who didn’t want to go home. They wanted their freedom to step into adulthood. It was too late for them.
Razine’s right hand stroked the last remaining patch of skin as she watched in awe as her  advance team, her elite troop began to appear.
Brilliant shots of light exploded below her. Portals appeared, spilling out more and more of the creatures.
One by one the screams began.
Razine smiled. She  monitored the slaughter, counting each life taken. She  whispered tones of encouragement.
"Excellent . . ."
A portal opened next to her, brighter than the others and fringed with gold. Razine
She was instantly furious. It was the Queen, Croft. Although she was a beautiful woman, the Queen appeared before her with her face and body hidden by a silver cloak. She stood silently but reached into a hip pocket. She knew that she wouldn't use it but it was empowering just to know that it was there.  The bokor soldiers swiftly completed their mission. 
Queen Croft spoke through the veil of her cloak. "Why has it come to this? I hate war and destruction and this horrendous suffering. I wish there was another way."
"There is no other way,” Razine snapped, her voice becoming more mechanical and severe. “There is no other way that they will understand. We are effective now. This won't take long." Razine crossed her arms over her chest then adjusted the half-mask.
The Queen remained calm. “With your losses in other battles, Razine, your deformities, I would have thought you would have felt as I do. You are bitter, Razine, and you live for the massacre. But I do not, and that is where we differ.” She shifted awkwardly, wincing with the movement. "I’ll leave you to it, but I want quick kills, as little suffering as possible.”
Razine gave her a slight bow. “Naturally. And so that you know where I stand, I do not regret my injuries, Queen. I am enhanced. I have designed my replacement parts so that I am more lethal. Thank you for visiting us.”
The Queen floated into her portal, surrounded by several of the bokor . She touched them, gently, and they fluttered. Razine scoffed. "Idiot woman," she mumbled.
Her mood lifted as she floated around her soldiers. It only took a few of her fighters to dismember the teenagers. A few had been taken as was the plan. She looked up at the sun, closing her eyes and welcomed its warmth. She held the visions of the attack in her mind, savoring the moment, imagining the next.
Larn more about the Sir William & Mac Life Without Slippers new science fiction series. Check out The Chi, the Prequel on Amazon
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