Suzie was a sexy girl living in Wales. She worked at a boutique through summer break in order to save up funds that she could spend when she started college that autumn. She knew a lot of people and was very sociable with plenty of trustworthy friends. Because she knew a lot of people she thought it a good idea to throw a summer-end party before they all went their separate ways. The majority of them were going to move to new cities to continue their education. Suzie wasn't moving. She wanted to be a stylist or a beautician and was going to college to please her mother and father. She wouldn't need to apply to far away top colleges to reach her goal, but at least she would own a valuable degree at the end of it and also get to work her dream.
She liked to go out with her close friends. They would confide in each other and hang out at shopping malls or delicatessens. They would doll themselves up and try to impress the boys.
She would plan her house party at her parents’ house when they went on holiday. They trusted that she could keep the party under control and that there was no risk with the sort of classy people she would be inviting. Her older cousin Mark would help and supervise the party to make sure that everything was going well and safe.
Suzie invited over 100 people to attend the party, all of them couples. Her own boyfriend Brendan would be there, helping her get the house ready. They would store away anything that might get broken and got strategically placed buckets with disinfectants ready in case someone made a mess. Liquor, beer, snacks, sausages, buns and cupcakes. She didn't want to get too fancy with the consumables, leaning on the lighter side of the menu. There was plenty alcohol to drink. She anticipated that some of her guests would bring more liquor, they always do.
Her cousin Mark, who was going to oversee the whole event, suggested hiring a DJ for a couple hours and that she should set up a dance area. Suzie thought about the idea of a DJ at her party. She would need to decide where to set up the dance floor, if she could fit a dance floor into the party plan. She might need to move some furniture around. In the end she agreed and her cousin chose a DJ that he knew and recommended, DJ Tennis E. Suzie laughed at the name, “DJ Tennis E.,” she said, “what a ridiculous name.”
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The day finally came that the party was going to happen. Brendan, Suzie and Mark started readying the house early on before lunch with the task of clearing plenty of dance room, hiding away valuables and breakables and locking up off-limits areas. The mess-proofing took them half of the day.
DJ Tennis E. showed up an hour before the party started while they were getting the consumables ready. Mark would help his DJ friend while Brenden and Suzie made sausages and set up the snack table. Everything went according to plan and Suzie was very pleased.
The party went well and everyone drank hard and was merry. DJ Tennis E. got the crowd going and everyone loved the music he played. Suzie was really happy and knew she was going to miss many of these friends that she made over the years. She couldn't help but get sentimental.
At the climax of Suzie's party the power went out. They all waited a minute but the power didn't return. “Everyone outside!” yelled Mark. “I'm getting some flashlights! Everyone outside!”
Suzie and Brendan escorted the party into the side yard of the house. There was no fence, so everyone could see that the power was out all around. The road Suzie's parents lived on was long and the houses were far apart with deep clean empty and fenceless yards. The effect kept a feel of the city while the charm of the country stayed intact.
Several houses away a car was slowly driving up the road towards them. The headlights were peculiar in that they sort of shone in every direction, adding a sense that something was very wrong and out of place and unusual about the power outage.
Mark returned with a flashlight and said to Suzie, “This light was in the kitchen utility storage. It's all I could find.” He immediately saw the light of the car down the road and said, “Look at that, they sure are driving extra slow, aren't they? See the lights on there? There's lights on the doors or something. I don't like the looks of this.”
The crowd on Suzie's lawn got quiet. She said, “Everyone here? I don't see anyone missing, do you?” Everyone looked around at each other and none of them said anything. Suzie said, “I think we're all here.”
Slowing to a stop, the mysterious car was getting closer to the party and some of the guests were getting weary of it being there.
Suzie said, “I am sorry that this happened but as you all can see there isn't anything we can do. I am going to go ahead and call an end to the party. We all enjoyed ourselves and I'm happy that we all got to see each other before we started college. You should make sure that you didn't leave any of your belongings behind before you go. If your missing anything like a coat or your purse, let Mark know and he will take you inside the house with his flashlight and help you find what you're missing. Thank you everyone! Make sure you drive safe and use your designated driver. I want you all to return safely.”
The crowd started to break up and many of them went walking to their vehicles when someone shouted, “Hey look! That ain't no car!”
The light down the road lifted vertically and half of it started to glow, showing a bright pulsing circle underneath with square lights around the top half. There was a magnetic hum that made everyone feel like they were yawning.
“Oh my God!” some girl said, “What is that thing?”
The craft was at rooftop height now and moving towards the party, increasing speed. Girls started screaming.
“It's coming for us! Run!” yelled some young man.
Brendan, Mark and Suzie retreated into the house with some partygoers following them in but everybody else scattered in random directions without a plan. Mark slid the door shut and they watched in terror as the craft took position directly over the scattering crowd.
Numerous beams of light shot out of the craft in quick sequence, lighting up the scenery like lightning strikes, each one aimed at a different person. They couldn't run fast enough and none of the light beams missed. Anyone that was hit was turned into some sort of plastic-like stone. The ones that were running would fall over, completely paused in time, their one leg unable to support them. Others that would stop and look up were instantly turned to stone. They looked like statues paused in time.
A few of them made it to their cars. A small luxury car fired up. Unable to turn around with all of the other vehicles barricading the road, the driver attempted to race past the craft at top speed. He was unsuccessful, the craft locking on with a tractor beam, lifting the car off the road, wheels spinning. Another car tried to slip past a moment later and it too was lifted like it weighed nothing.
Suzie and company inside the house could see the drivers of both cars wildly trying to open their doors but somehow they couldn't open them. Then the craft started to rise directly up, holding the cars in the tractor beams at the same distance away from it as it went, seeming to be unaffected with the added weight. Not a single wobble at all although the two cars together should've weighed nearly the same as the craft.
The craft disappeared into the stars above within the wink of an eye, no blast of supersonic engines, no rush of air, no disturbance at all whatsoever to the leaves of the nearest plant. It was like the craft operated in a completely separate reality and it was no more than a superimposition unaffected.
Suzie, Brenden and the others were still at the door watching, misty tears welling up. They could see a few survivors that cringed underneath a bush on the next door lawn. Statues of the guests were everywhere, at all kinds of poses. Some standing and staring, some with their arms up in defense, some huddled together, some curled into feotal positions, some getting into their cars. All of them with the same plastic texture and color, clothing and all. Turned to some sort of plastic-stone.
Survivors, weeping wildly, started to return to the house. Brenden opened the door to let them in. Suzie didn't know what she could tell them. None of them could say anything. Whoever was left, and there weren't many, stared on within a hypnotized surreal mental state.
The power returned. Their happiness did not.