The Sirens...are they getting closer?

## The Sirens...are they getting closer? by Algraher

(Siren Head © Trevor Henderson)

It was late fall one year when myself and three of my close friends had decided to take an impromptu trip down to Texas. The trip itself wasn’t anything special, just a reason for us all to get together again and have a little road trip. Back in the day, probably our early 20’s, it was something we did fairly often. Now in our early 30’s and burdened with responsibility, the chances of seeing each other are slim and far apart. Going on the trip was myself, my younger brother John, and two of our good friends, Romero and Trev. Who might as well be family. We tried getting a fifth friend to come, but he always says no to these sorts of things. Turns out that was the right call.

The day for us to set out had come and gone. Before I knew it, we were on the road. Most of day one of our two day drive had gone smoothly. We had the usual debates on politics and religion, we reminisced about old times, and a couple of us even decided to smoke a little green. Some things hadn’t changed I suppose, but we at least didn’t let them drive… This time. It was around 5 pm when we first hit traffic and from where I sat in the front passenger seat I could tell it went on for miles. “Dammit, where the hell did this come from” John said from the back seat. Trev began to answer with his expert opinion. The thing you need to know about Trev, is he’s an expert on everything, or so he’d want you to believe. “It doesn’t matter, it won’t change the fact we’re stuck.” I told the group while also cutting Trev off in mid lecture. A fact that caused us all to be a little agitated. We had specifically taken the back roads to avoid this sort of thing.

It was strange to see, and from the looks on everyone's face it was a shared sentiment. That's when I first heard it. When we all first heard it. The sound of dropping water on the car roof. It started off with a few pings and drips here and there, but wasn’t long before the sky above opened up. “Well hey! At least it's raining now right?” Romero said with a dumb smile on his face. He was always upbeat and joyful, even when he’s trying to get under your skin. Ignoring him I continued looking up at the increasingly dark sky. I couldn’t help feeling something was off as I nestled into my seat to sleep.

It must have been several hours when I finally woke to the sound of continuous rain. I remember thinking it was kind of peaceful. That all changed when I finally decided to open my eyes and I noticed how dark it had gotten. Nothing outside the car was visible other lights from the cars in front of us, which led in a line both in front and behind that eventually disappeared into the horizon. It was a real shame, I thought. I've always enjoyed the scenery of Texas back roads. It was during that thought when I began to hear some noise breaking through that of the rain. A low whine, or howl. It was faint, but very noticeable even with the never ending rain. “Is that a… a siren?” I whispered to myself. “Shhh… keep listening” Romero snapped quickly at me while keeping his voice low. At the time, I hadn’t even realized he was awake and was a bit startled by the sudden response. When I turned to look at him he was looking straight ahead, his eyes not focused on anything in particular as they searched for something in the dark. “It’s been coming and going for about an hour now, I almost couldn’t hear it at first” Romero added.

I looked at him puzzled for a moment, before checking to see who else was a wake. Trev and John were fast asleep in the back, with John's head slumped over on Trev's shoulder. “Goofs” was the only thought that came to mind. “Have you been awake this whol…” WOOOSH! Before I had a chance to finish my sentence, four squad cars had blown by us driving up the opposite side of the road. A quick thought flashed across my mind. “Had we seen any cars coming down from the opposite side?”. The thought didn’t last long as myself and Romeo watched as the police cars' lights slowly disappeared further up. We both paused a moment trying to peer through the windows to see if anyone else was going to pass by, but nothing did. “What the hell is going on guys?” Me and Romero both turned to see John, now wide awake, with a half annoyed look on his face. I knew my brother well enough to know he was more concerned now then annoyed and was attempting to hide it. Trev of course could sleep through anything, and now was no exception to that. Romero looked at John and shrugged. “Maybe someone has a flat tire?” He added. John sat back unamused and lit up a cigarette. He was visibly uncomfortable.

We sat there for some time in the dark, rain and in silence. As strange as everything had been up to this point, it was in all accounts, pretty mild, if not boring being stuck in traffic. However, that changed when the sound came back. (God it was so much clearer this time.) That's when I realized something. I could see in Romero’s face he also realized it as well. The howling siren was in fact getting louder… but It was getting closer too. (⅔)

No one had said a word for some time, we all just sat in silence listening to the strange sirens as they would come and go, getting closer and closer each time. During which we watched as people in front of us would leave their cars and look towards the skies; as if searching for something in the pitch black night. It’s hard to understand what true darkness is until you’re in the country. No cities, no light post. Nothing but blinding dark. “Hey did ya’ll see that?!” John shouted while pointing straight ahead. Romero tried to find what he was talking about. “I don’t see anything bud.” he told John. “No look man.” He said, still pointing. “The cars in the front, their brake lights on turning off.” Myself and Romero both looked ahead for a long moment. Intently watching the light from cars furthest up the line. The constant falling water and the somewhat reflective glow from the lights almost putting us in a trance. Suddenly one of the cars just vanished. “There! See?” John pronounced. “Do you think they’re finally moving?” I asked in return. “What else could it be.” Ramero added.

John didn’t seem convinced by this and kept watching. It was around this time the siren was back. It was close this time, very close, but not where I expected. The siren wasn’t coming from up the road, but from up above. In the darkness where we couldn’t see. “ We should turn around guys, I'm not feeling this trip anymore.” John interjected. “I think we’re past the point of no return.” turning around I pointed out to my brother the long line of cars behind us. “Nowhere to turn around, unless we go through the field” Ramero commented light heartedly. “Speaking of the field, I need to take a leak.” All three of us jumped slightly at the sudden response from Trev. We all just looked at him a moment, realizing he had been sleeping and had no idea how our situation was deteriorating. “I think it's best if you stay in the car for now Trev.” I told him. Ignoring me he popped open his passenger door and disappeared into the darkness and rain. “The dude never listens man.” Romero added while shaking his head. In that moment John raised his finger and pointed straight ahead.

He didn’t say a word this time, but his eyes were wide opened and unblinking. Romero and I both followed his finger to where it was pointing. That's when we saw it, or saw something for that matter. A huge shape came down from the sky, but the darkness and rain skewed its true form. The dark mass plunged straight down on top of a car then receded back up. In one very quick and violent motion. Leaving no trace of anything behind it. We turned and looked at each other, hoping maybe one of us would have the answer. THUD! The car was suddenly rocked, breaking us from our stupor. Quickly we turned to see that Trev had slammed into the car in a panic. He was drenched from head to toe in water. We could see him mouthing something and pointing towards the sky as he struggled to get in, but we couldn’t make out what he was saying. The doors were unlocked and trev finally managed to get inside, slamming it behind him. We continued to stare at him in silence waiting for an explanation as he caught his breath.

He finally raised his head to look at us. “Something… Something reached down and grabbed a car man... I could see it when the lightning flashed” His head fell back into his hands; not waiting for our response. He just continued muttering to himself. The three of us looked amongst each other again for a brief moment unsure of what to say or do, when the arm came down again now grabbing a car no more than four lengths in front of us. The siren blared overhead, but this time it was more violent and aggressive. Like a predator that eyed its prey. People began fleeing from their cars as another giant arm slammed down into a car even closer then the last. More sirens begin to call out from further away, only to be met with the sirens above us calling back. “Christ, we need to get of here now!” John shouts from the back. Romero doesn’t think twice when he turns the car and drives into the field next to the road. Lightning began to strike illuminating the sky in quick succession. Myself, John and Trev continued watching the chaos behind unfold. “Look at the size of that thing.”

Trev exclaims. What's more alarming was how many we could see, I thought to myself. Seven, thirteen, twenty. Every strike of lightning revealed more all around us in the rural Texas backcountry. Their height was unmeasurable due to the low hanging clouds masking their heads. Out of nowhere, Romero begins shouting and we come to a sudden stop in the field. The four of us are thrown about the car, only suffer minor bumps and cuts. “What the hell man!” John shouts from the back while rubbing his neck. Romero ignores him and quickly turns off the car and all its lights. He holds a finger up to his lips and points up with the other. “One is right above us.” Romero whispers. We all exchange a concerned look. A moment passed that felt like it stretched on unnaturally long. The lightning had stopped and the sirens began to fade. Terrified to make even the slightest noise, we sat motionless in the field half of a mile from the road. The sound of rain filled the pitch black night. John quietly began to direct our attention back towards the road. “What am I looking for, it's too dark to see.” Trev whispers.

John looks back towards myself and Romero; fear coated his face. We understood instantly why this was. “There aren't any car lights…”. I said to no one in particular. Not knowing what to do the four of us slumped back in our seats. The rain was persistent and continued throughout the night. The sirens were gone and the darkness now more suffocating than ever before. Outside our windows we could barely see the tall grass surrounding us. “Do you think they left?” I asked. John, Trev and Romero shared unsure glances with each other. Right as Trev began to speak, a series of lighting strikes lit up the sky around us. We instantly looked outside, hoping to maybe see that the danger was all but gone. What we saw in those brief flashes instead, was piercing terror in its rawest form.

Dozens of the things which had been hidden by the dark, now towered over our car. All around us, and even though we still couldn’t quite see, we knew they were looking right down at us. Waiting. The sirens began howling once again and the sound this time was deafening. Through the noise we could see John mouthing something to us, but we couldn’t make it out with the sirens blaring overhead. He held up his hand and began counting down from five. When it reached one, he bolted out the car. The rest of us followed his lead without hesitation. We didn’t know where to go, we only knew these things were lumbering towards us and we had to stay close together. “Over there!” Trev shouted through the rain. He was pointing to a barn we could barely make out in the dark. The sirens were getting closer and closer. We could feel the vibration of their massive forms moving through the dark behind us. We had finally reached the barn and with our combined weight we smashed through whatever lock they might have had on the barn doors.

“Shit man, I just want this to be over already.” John pronounced to the group. Catching our breath, we nodded our heads in agreement. “Wait, where's Trev?” I asked. We looked around frantically for a moment. “Maybe he took a wrong turn?” Romero remarked. His normal light hearted mantilty now all but gone. “We need to go look for him!” John stated. Romero shook his head no. “If he didn’t make it here, then he must have found somewhere better to hide.” I added. “He would have told us then if that was the case right?” John asked. Realizing quickly it's Trev we’re talking about, John dismisses his own question. We looked around the barn for a bit, before settling in for what we felt would be a long wait. The sirens continued through the night, some close, some far. They never attempted to get in and we eventually passed out from exhaustion. When the first rays of sunlight started seeping through the cracks of the barn and waking us up, we decided now was as good a time as any to leave. Outside the barn we could see clear skies and a bright Texas sun, but everywhere else looked like chaos.

Fallen trees, smashed and tossed cars, even giant craters of up turned earth. The three of us looked at each other with an expression of relief, before the realization of Trev being gone came back. CRACK! We all jumped back by the sudden noise. Myself falling into mud in response. We turned to where the noise had originated, only to see a nearby outhouse door fly open with splintering wood. Trev, in all his glory, spilled out onto the ground from within. Romero couldn’t help but laugh. “Seriously Trev?” John remarks. “Had to make a stop. Door got stuck when I slipped inside… whatever. I don’t want to talk about it.” Trev answers while brushing himself off and making zero eye contact.

We wouldn’t have to wait much longer for the police, firemen and even a few reporters to show up. The official story we were told is a tornado touched down and whipped up all the cars and basically caused a big mess. We know what we saw though, we know the experience and terror we lived through. Even though we never did get a good look at them, I think all in all that might have been for the best. God only knows what kind of head would be on a thing making that awful sound. “Guys...guys!” Romero begins looking around frantically. “What is it man?!” John asked concerned. “I don’t…” Romero continued looking around the field in a panic. “I don’t remember where we left the car..”