Part One

Never before in my life had I been so daunted by what was placed before me. There, in the plastic tray, sectioned into miserable portions so despicable that I cannot even describe the severity of my trepidation, was the airline food. The chicken breast, boiled and unseasoned, was packaged in a flimsy plastic wrap. Condensation began to bead inside the plastic, showering the breast in a shiny, sweaty film. The rice was melded into a congealed mass, and jiggled uniformly, as a single unit.

Rather than continue to examine misery in edible form, I decided to glance out the rectangular window to my left. We were just above the clouds, shining incandescently as orange light from the sunset bore through them, cutting a vermillion swathe through the sea of grey and white. I turned to the television screen embedded in the back of the seat directly in front of me to turn off the display. I just concluded a viewing of 'The Necklace', a horror movie rife with the typical cliches. The movie itself was enough to invoke the fear of my son, Timmy, who was sitting to my right in the adjoining seat.

I urged him not to watch at the scary parts, but he insisted, as children of his age often do. Despite his terror at the film, he managed to fall asleep, using my arm as a pillow, and clinging to his robot action figure. I leaned my head back in an attempt to fall asleep. Just as I did so, the flight attendant's voice rang through the speaker above my head. "Excuse me passengers, I apologize for the interruption. The captain would like to inform you that we'll be moving through a zone of turbulence. Please return to your seats and fasten your seat belts." I exhaled a deflated sigh, reached over to Timmy's seat and buckled him in, careful not to disturb his rest, and followed suit with my own seat belt. I silently hoped it would be over quickly, as I was no veteran to air travel myself.

The first bit of turbulence was nothing to get excited over, but it was enough to cause me to bump my head against the side of the plane, and wake Timmy from his sleep. As the sleep left his eyes, he looked up at me groggily, in confusion. "What's going on dad? It's all bumpy."

"It's just turbulence, nothing to be worried about. Try to relax."

He looked unsure, but retook his position leaning on my arm. I placed a hand on his shoulder for reassurance. "Trust me. It's going to be fine." Just as I said that, as if on queue, the plane passed through another unruly bout, tossing us violently upward. Timmy cried out, clinging tighter to my sleeve. Admittedly, even I found myself digging my nails deep into the plastic armrests of my seat, and nervously watching the reactions of the crew, watching for any potential warning signs of an emergency. Just as we recovering, yet another bout hit the plane, careening the craft to a steep right. Many screams could be heard over the flight attendant's voice on the loudspeaker; this time, she was in full view as she spoke into the device. She stood poised, her eyes wide with terror.

"All flight attendants and crew please --." She was cut off by the sudden screech of metal being torn apart.

A large crack riddled it's way through the fuselage, effectively splitting the plane in two pieces. The nose descended instantly in a wide arc, leaving nothing but a forested landscape in the place of where the flight attendant once stood. I cursed at the top of my lungs, reaching out to hold Timmy against his seat. As I did so, the larger man two rows ahead of us who had been snoring for hours flew right above our heads and became wedged in the carry-on storage compartment. He went limp, but flailed around due to the intense wind rushing through our section of disembodied fuselage. Timmy was weeping openly, and I had no words of comfort for him. As our section of the wreck descended, the tops of trees came in to view. Despite my earnest attempt to hold Timmy back, he was launched from his seat by the forward motion of the impact. I screamed at the top of my lungs as he was tossed directly over the seats and into the middle of the aisle, striking his head. The plane was now fully grounded, cutting a scar of dirt and mud through the landscape. The wreckage came in contact with a boulder which both skewed its course and unlatched my seat belt. I was airborne for a few moments before I struck my head on the seat in front of me and I lost consciousness completely. I awoke to the patter of rain on the fuselage and a few aches in my back and neck. From what I instantly observed, the plane had come to a stop, and the light was extremely dim. I stumbled to my feet, finding myself in the middle of the aisle. I spotted Timmy a few feet ahead, and began making my way to him, only to notice that I was drenched in blood. The passenger in the carry-on compartment began to bleed, and the gradual trickle slicked my arms and shirt in patches of dark blood. Too concerned to be at all disgusted, I tripped as I made my way out of our seat and fell to my hands and knees in the aisle, and began a slow crawl towards Timmy. As I looked up, a woman in a flight attendant's uniform came into view near the end of our fuselage section, framed by the dimly outlined foliage. "Sir... are you alright? Sir?" I'm not sure why I didn't answer automatically, but in hindsight, I'm glad I didn't.

The woman's skull was suddenly and unexpectedly crushed with a sickening crack by what appeared to be an improvised tool of a stone tied taut to a broad stick, acting as a haft in a makeshift hatchet. She sank to her knees, with the sound of gurgling blood in her throat and an astonished terror etched into her expression, she twitched and convulsed, before a shadowed figure climbed into the fuselage behind her. He pushed the woman aside, leaving her on the floor with the axe in her skull. As soon as I saw that, I instinctively fell silent and held my breath, stifling a shout, and kept an eye open to watch the strange figure walk into the wreck with an air of both confidence and curiosity. It was as if he had never seen anything like this before, but he knew his purpose for being there. It's only then did I realize that Timmy was beginning to stir.

The man, more visible now, had a greyish hue to his skin, and his eyes were a milky white. He was of imposing stature, and he was both caked and coated in what could be assumed to be either red paint, or blood. He reached down and grabbed my child, cradling him in his arms. I struggled to my feet, and the figure gaze met mine. "Let him go, you son of a bitch!" I shouted, with all blood-boiling fury I could muster. The creature said nothing, but advanced on me with a terrifying predator-like speed. I felt the leathery palm of his hand clasp around my throat before tossing me back into the lavatory area immediately behind me. I landed with a terrible impact before beginning to crawl towards it once more. The creature saw my continued movement, and planted his heel into the back of my skull. As the pain radiated and wracked my entire body, I felt my own consciousness beginning to slip once more. The last thing I remember was that thing taking my son, who was still clinging to his action figure, away in his arms.