Grace's backstory

Grace clutched her stuffed puppy, not feeling the shivers pass through her body under the blanket. She wasn’t cold; in fact she was just the opposite in the middle of the afternoon in July. “They won’t find us here, Muffin,” she whispered to the toy in her arms.

In the darkness of the closet with the thick, old blanket completely over her, her hearing was heightened, and she could hear the slowly fading footsteps of the intruders in her home. Once she felt assured they were gone, she slipped out of her hiding place and opened her bedroom door.

Across the hall, the door to her parents’ room was closed, when usually it was open during the day. Maybe Mommy was taking a nap, she thought to herself as she wandered toward the stairs, still hugging Muffin close to her chest. It was a Saturday, and normally Daddy would be down in the living room watching the starship races on the digital monitor. But since the arrival of the strange men earlier this morning, Grace knew that he’d miss the races today.

She carefully stepped down the stairs, making sure not to touch any of the light panels along the walls, in case anyone was still around. All she wanted was to see if Mommy and Daddy were all right.

“Stop, child.” The deep, sinister voice, without any emotion, froze Grace in her tracks. A tall man in a gray lab coat and wearing red sunglasses came around the corner and stood in front of her. His face wore no expression, but Grace could feel his gaze burning into her forehead. She looked down at the floor in front of her, and she wanted to cry.
“Where are my Mommy and Daddy?” came the murmur from her pursed lips.

Unmoved by the girl’s sadness, the man thrust a hand toward her. “Come with me at once.”

A fire swelled inside the six year old that she had never felt before. “No!” she screamed, and sped up the stairs before the man could even process what she had just done. Her first thought was to go back to her room, but seeing the closed door across the hall changed her mind. If Mommy were taking a nap there, she’d have to be woken up, even if it would get her yelled at. There was a man in their house! Somebody had to know.

The door slid open, but Mommy wasn’t lying on the bed as Grace had hoped. The bed was even made. “Mommy?” Grace whimpered as she crossed the room.

Then she noticed two sets of legs on the floor sticking out from the other side of the bed, wearing Mommy’s slippers and Daddy’s running shoes. “Mommy! Daddy!” she squealed, but then the next sight nearly choked her. Her parents lay sprawled on the floor, a large hole in both of their chests. She had never seen anything like that before. “Are you sleeping? What happened to you?”

There was no answer.

“They are dead, child. And now you must leave this place.” The man was in the room now, towering over her. He scooped Grace up by her collar and cradled her under his arm. The stuffed puppy slipped from her arms and fell to the floor.

“Muffin!!” Grace screamed as she was taken from her home. This was the last she knew of this life. Soon her memories would be repressed, and her new life would begin.