The sound echoed like an explosion in the silence. The nymphs froze, turning sharply to look in the direction of the sound. Dozens of pairs of blood-red eyes were fixed on Jacob. His breath hitched; death was baring its fangs, preparing to strike.
Bang!
A bullet pierced through the darkness, striking one of the nymphs and causing it to howl in agony.
Jacob jumped in fright, quickly turning his flashlight toward the source of the sound. The light revealed the silhouette of a man sitting against a tree root in the darkness, his body drenched in blood, but his eyes remained resolute and he held his gun firmly.
"Uncle..." Jacob exclaimed, his voice trembling, "Uncle Breeze!"
The nymphs shifted their target to a new enemy who challenged them. Despite being mortally wounded, Uncle Breeze met his nephew's gaze one last time. His eyes didn't say goodbye, but a final farewell, before he raised his gun and fired one last shot into the air, a decisive blow to draw all attention to himself.
"run!!"
Uncle Breeze screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice barely able to compete with the beast's roar. That was the last sound he heard before the colossal, dark shadows of a horde of nymphs leaped towards his defenseless body.
Jacob gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face. He stumbled backward before turning and running for his life, through the darkness without daring to look back at the final scene of his beloved uncle.
"Jake! What happened!" Hal's voice, which had been silent for a while, shouted from the pink ball of light that had just floated down. "Was that a gunshot?! Answer me!"
"I..." Jacob's voice trembled, trying to suppress his sobs, breathing heavily as he ran, "I'm coming... I'm running to meet you at the meeting point..."
He fled for his life, but the roar of the nymphs grew closer and closer behind him.
"They're here..." Jacob whispered, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead. "They must have smelled the blood and are calling their comrades for a big feast."
"Go to the hill, Jake! Hurry!" Hal shouted over the phone.
The young boy stumbled through the darkness until he tripped over a rock. His body tumbled down into a wide, recently created pit. In the center of the pit lay a strange, large, metallic, gem-like object, glowing with a soft yellow light, half-buried in the soil. It seemed this object had just fallen and crashed into a hillside, creating the large sinkhole, and Jacob had fallen right into it.
Due to the freezing weather, the heat from friction of the object that had just hit the earth caused plumes of smoke to rise. Jacob sat up, shining his flashlight on the mysterious object. He decided to reach out and touch it... its surface wasn't as hot as he expected.
The young man knelt down and began scooping away the soil around the object with his hands. The deeper he dug, the more surprised he became, because beneath the murky yellow material... it was translucent, and it seemed as if the shadow of something was hidden within.
"Hal... I think I just ran into a meteorite," Jacob called out to his friend through the communication device that was floating behind them.
"I'm coming. Wait there!" Hal ordered in a tense voice.
"Hey..." Jacob blurted out, his voice trembling. "In this rock... it's like there's the shadow of a human hand inside..."
It wasn't ordinary metal, nor was it stone. It might be some kind of capsule, or escape vehicle! The young man continued digging, oblivious to his fear, even forgetting the roar of the nymphs echoing in the forest behind him, until the mysterious object began to loosen from the hole. Jacob mustered his strength and pushed it, letting it roll onto the red soil.
He stood breathing heavily, supporting himself beside the glowing object that had just been unearthed.
*Grab!*
Jacob jumped in surprise when a large hand touched his shoulder.
"What is that…?" Hal's voice rang out from behind him. He had just turned off his scooter parked nearby and hurried over to take a look. "It's a real meteorite… Damn it, Jake! Why did you deliberately run this way? If the government droids find us, we're screwed!"
Jacob remained standing, stunned, his eyes wide, his body still trembling from the shock and loss he had just experienced.
"Jake... are you okay?" Hal softened his tone when he saw his friend's shocked expression, but Jacob remained silent. Jacob was trying to divert his attention from the traumatic event to what he had just discovered.
"Can we... take it with us?" Jacob asked, his voice trembling, breaking the silence.
"Probably, but let me take a look first to see what it is," Hal walked closer, lightly tapping the surface of the object with his knuckles.
"It's hollow inside..." Jacob observed.
"And what's inside?" Hal frowned. "I don't know." The lid was sealed so tightly that it couldn't be opened by normal means.
"You brought a laser cutter, didn't you? Why don't we try cutting it open?" Hal suggested.
Jacob reached into his pocket, pulled out a laser cutter, and handed it to his friend. Hal switched it on, and a high-temperature laser beam sliced through the mysterious object. The crack slowly opened, like a bean pod cut in half. Some kind of glowing liquid began to ooze out along the cut. Once it had completed a full cut, Hal switched off the laser cutter.
"Alright then..." Hal gave the signal.
Jacob held his breath, using all his strength to push the lid open. Hal covered his mouth with his hand, his eyes wide with terror as he stared at the sight before him.
The moment the capsule opened, a glowing yellow liquid gushed out like a broken dam... But what gushed out with the liquid made the hearts of the two young men almost stop beating. It was the naked body... of a very pale-skinned woman!
"Jet...!!!" The two young men exclaimed simultaneously, utterly shocked.