July 2012
Democratic Republic of the Congo, outskirts of Kinshasa City
It was sweltering, the sun sitting high in the sky but close enough to sting despite the copious amounts of sunscreen some lathered on.
Naomie was no different, despite having only cleaned herself with cool water mere moments ago she could already feel beads of perspiration forming across her forehead and along the lining of her thin white dress.
She sighed in frustration. If it were any other day she would just wipe the sweat away. If it were any other day she wouldn't be dressed like this. She would be in one of her many faded shirts and whatever pants she could find lying around.
Today was not any other day.
As much as Naomie would like to blame her perspiration on the high temperature, that was only part of the reason. Her stomach was tied into knots of nervousness and fear. She had been planning this day for weeks and now that it was finally here she was getting cold feet.
Nevertheless, she knew without a doubt she would go through with this plan. It had been in the works for too long and if she didn't seize the opportunity now she wasn't sure when another would bless her with its presence.
The family home was quiet, Naomie's mother had taken her younger siblings for a rare day out. Naomie had managed to wiggle her way out of it by claiming sick. She didn't like lying to her mother, but just this once she felt justified.
Tensions began to run high in the house not long after Naomie came of age. While her mother tended to stick to tradition Naomie broke away from everything it stood for. Times were changing, and she refused to get left behind with the past.
With her jaw set, she gave herself a nod of stubborn confidence and pulled out her leather sandals only meant for special occasions.
Now fully ready she passed through the house, guiltily eyeing the small pot of herbal medicine her mother had left for her supposed stomach ache. Naomie promised herself she would come clean once she came back. Whatever repercussions she faced then was a bridge she would deal with once it came time to cross it.
She took the back door out and stumbled into one of the many small alley ways separating the houses. Naomie did not need the granny that lived directly in front of her house blabbing to her mother about her little jailbreak before she could explain.
The neighborhood was as lively as ever with kids running around playing tag and aunties carrying loads of varying sizes in hand. She almost stopped at a street food stall when her eye caught the sight of various processed meats getting deep-fried along with large sandwiches being balanced on plates two sizes too small.
Naomie's stomach gave an almost painful growl. She had ignored breakfast but eating now would only spoil the meal that would come later. At the reminder she sped up her pace, eager to make her rendezvous point at the designated time.
After making a few more twists and turns the small space opened up into a wide highway leading directly to Kinshasa city. The outline of the tall buildings seemed to glitter with promise under the gaze of the hot sun.
Naomie's heart gave a painful throb of longing. Someday, after she had finished her schooling here on the outskirts; she'd moved there. It was the furthest thing from an empty dream. She was already the smartest in her class and hard work was something Naomie had long become accustomed to. She was sure she could make it happen.
So lost in her daydreams of the future it took Naomie a moment to notice one of the many motorcycles that had been zooming along the open road had slowed to an idle in front of her.
When she realized who it was Naomie broke out smiling for the first time in what felt like months. Nothing bothered her then, not her fights with her mother, not her overly concerned neighbor, not even the sweat that was now ruining her outfit.
"Jason."
"Naomie."
The tropical climate had long tanned his skin to a darker hue, but it only served to make his blonde hair stark in comparison.
Jason Dawn was a foreign exchange student attending high school in Kinshasa. Naomie had met him on what he claimed was one of his many travels to the surrounding area. They had become close friends instantly and Naomie wouldn't mind it being something more.
Initially when she had told her mother about him, she was shocked at her negative response. Naomie knew herself to be focused and promised not to let her mind stray too far from her family and schooling, but it did nothing. It wasn't much later that she found out her mother was not angry because she had shown interest in the opposite sex. She was livid because Jason was white, and Naomie was most obviously not.
"Oh no, I know that look on your face. Hop on, we'll go into the city and get something nice to eat."
"What will you feed me?"
"We can go to the restaurant that sells foreign stake, or we can stop at Jackie's and eat fries until they make us sick. Whatever you want."
Naomie hummed happily, letting the rumble of the motorcycle sooth her as she clung onto Jason's waist.
That was the great thing about Jason, she didn't always need to talk to be heard.
What couldn't have been more than five minutes later, they were slowing down.
"What's going on? I wonder if there was a car crash up ahead."
Naomie peaked over his shoulder to get a glimpse at the commotion. Various vehicles were packed before them, as if something was blocking the road.
Strangely, no one was honking their horn or screaming at those in front of them to get moving. Everyone just seemed to be looking on with confusion and curiosity. Some had even gotten out of their cars to film on their phones.
Naomie squinted her eyes at the big ovular object sitting in the middle of the street.
The more she looked, the more it seemed less like an object and more like a two-dimensional hole just hovering there. But she must have been mistaken, there was no way she was seeing a black hole just out in the open. It didn't make any logical sense.
"W-what is it?"
"Don't know, but I'm gonna go take a closer look. Want to come?"
Naomie shook her head, a feeling of dread welling up from the pit of her stomach. "Maybe we should just go back."
Her words flew straight over his head as Jason jumped off the motorcycle and weaved his way through the cluster to make it to the front.
Naomie moved to stand next to the motorcycle but did not take another step towards the... thing.
Near the back of the crowd she could hardly see anything, so she wasn't sure what happened after that, but it changed in the blink of an eye.
One moment everything was fine, weird but fine. The next people were screaming and clamoring over one another and the pack of cars and bikes that was now more of an obstacle than anything else.
Naomie froze when a part in the crowd gave her direct eyesight to what was happening in the front. Something was coming out of the black hole.
A large muscular forest green creature with artistic markings all along it's mostly exposed body stood there. What little it had covered seemed to be made of primitive rough leather.
Naomie's blood ran cold when she saw what was dangling from its large hand like captured game. Even with fresh blood covering half his face and matting a portion of his hair, the unsullied blonde strands were still on striking display.
Jason.
Needing no more confirmation than that, Naomie turned on her heels and ran. The violent animalistic roar that followed the scattering of the crowd made her heart stutter.
She paid no mind the straps of her sandals now painfully digging into her feet, she couldn't even feel the tears running down her face. She had long pushed the confusion to the back of her brain. She could question everything later. Now she just needed to leave, to warn her mother, her younger siblings and maybe even the nosey granny next door.
Naomie didn't falter, even when the people running alongside her began to drop like flies as more of the green monsters caught up with them.
A burning white slash of pain across her back had her tripping over her own feet and falling against the scratchy sun heated surface of the road. Feeling the blood soak through her white dress forced something between a scream and a sob from Naomie's throat.
A blunt object hitting the back of her head had the whole world tilting on its axis as everything went dark.
Maybe I should have stayed at home.