Chapter 7

“So, how do you propose we bring this thing to that thing?”

That was me asking the question to Goldy. We were back at the location of the second Kuhe-something we met. But, as there were a few things we hadn't thought of for the hunting scene we wanted to film, I shot him that question.

First of all, we put the A Cock’s Kid in a cage. If we bring it to the Kuhe-something as is, needless to say it would look completely unnatural and uninteresting as a video.

There are also two problems in taking it out of its cage if we want it to fall prey to the Kuhe-something.

There was no guarantee it would go where we wanted it to. It was not a trained animal, let alone something we could converse and negotiate with.

We could release it closer to the Kuhe-something, but it runs the risk of the one bringing it becoming the meal instead if the giant creature decided to try something new for lunch. Not to mention there is a chance the cage might show up in the background depending on the creature's movements.

I, Streillaeth and tank top waited with bated breath for Goldy’s decision.

It was for me to bring the bait to our subject.

"That way… you can… film around… the cage", was his reasoning. "At… the same time… you can… film the… Qhestralsquksqhadhaetses… up close."

Of course, I protested it. I've already had two encounters with the Kuhe-something and I'd like to avoid a third time. They were open to alternatives, but all I could come up with was to pass the responsibility to someone else.

"Who’s going to save your sorry ass if you get caught by its appendages again? Streillaeth asked. That needn't any further discussion as she seemed to be the most comfortable with a gun among the crew.

Despite appearances, my kind are slow runners, tank top said. I have the lowest chance of surviving a Qhestralsquksqhadhaetses attack among the four of us.

I was skeptical since I haven't seen him run yet, but the two didn't seem to question it.

Losing me would also mean the rest of you would have difficulty going home as I am the only one who can pilot the ship, he continued. We are a thousand kilometers away from the next settlement.

"He speaks… the truth", Goldy said to me when he noticed I wasn't convinced.

"And what's your excuse?" I asked him in response.

"I let you… touch-"

"Alright, I get it!" I stopped him before he brought up some unsavory memories.

So, after a few instructions on how to open the cage and what the ideal distance to release the bait is, off I went towards the edge of the forest where the Kuhe-something is blending in with the trees, minding its own business.

When I was about twenty meters away, I stopped my advance to check if it’s sensing my approach. I probably took half a minute staring at it, making sure it wasn't moving and reacting to me.

Once I was convinced, I started inching towards it slowly. I didn’t want to startle it and cause me to become its target. There was already one of these things that’s hunting for me, I didn't want to add another pursuer. I walked as silently as I could, but I was afraid my loudly beating heart would alert it, if not the A Cock’s Kid rattling its cage.

Its vine-like appendages can extend up to an extra two meters of its height, so around twelve meters. Based on this, tank top reckoned the ideal distance to stop and release the A Cock’s Kid is around six and a half meters. Not too far for the Kuhe-something to reach for something, but far enough to see if it's trying to grab me and dodge.

I've already forgotten how to do right triangles so I could only take his word for it. But, it did make me wish I paid more attention to trigonometry class and had a six-meter measuring stick.

The three did promise to signal if I was at the right distance. So, when I was about ten meters from the Kuhe-something, I glanced uphill towards them.

They were just standing there watching me.

I took another step and looked towards them again. This time, I stared at them longer.

That prompted them to signal at me to move forward.

Another step, and I got the same reaction.

We did that repeatedly until eventually they motioned for me to stay put.

That was my signal.

I took out my phone from my pocket and started recording. I didn't point it towards the Kuhe-something yet. I just held it for now in case I needed to shoot something unexpectedly.

I then pressed a series of buttons on top of the cage to open it. The A Cock’s Kid didn't get out, though. It stayed inside all limp for some reason when it was so restless the entire approach. I had to pick up a stick and poke it until it came out.

Once it was free, I positioned myself beside the cage and trained it on the bait.

The critter started sniffing on the ground. Not sure why it was doing that, but, somehow, it kept at it and approached the Kuhe-something to my delight as they both were now within view of the camera.

A few paces in, the A Cock’s Kid stopped on its tracks and stood straight up. I still didn't know if it had eyes, but it was looking upwards for something.

The critter stayed like that for a minute or two before returning to sniffing the ground.

But, as soon as it laid its snout on the grass, the Kuhe-something reached for it. Its vine-like appendage wrapped around the A Cock’s Kid's body.

The caught creature thrashed about as it was lifted up towards its captor's mouth. Not in vain to my surprise. It was slowly but surely slipping from the Kuhe-something's grip. If I had to guess, its body fluids were acting as lubricant. However, it was a race between whether it can escape before it's taken to the mouth or not.

As I was filming this scene, I hadn't realized the angle I was taking it was getting closer and closer. The level of elevation was about the same as well. I didn’t have to look up or change the zoom the entire time. In fact, I hadn't noticed I was being lifted up as well.

I didn't notice until the A Cock’s Kid and I were at the top of the flower-like head of the Kuhe-something that we were both about to be its lunch!

"Help!" I cried out, hoping my voice was within earshot of the other three.

"Earthling!" I heard a response. "Keep rolling!"

It was not what I expected nor what I wanted to hear. But, in my panic, I complied. I trained my phone onto the Kuhe-something's mouth.

Meanwhile, the A Cock’s Kid was unable to escape. It managed to slip most of its torso out, but it was still caught by its thighs.

It was also the first thing our captor tried to eat, for better or worse.

The Kuhe-something brought its prey above its mouth and sent it down head first. Somehow, it didn't completely hit the target and the A Cock’s Kid managed to hang on to the side of its predator's mouth with its legs. However, that was the last bit of resistance the poor prey could do as the Kuhe-something's mouth closed in on it.

I don't know if I just have a dirty mind, but the scene reminded me of something lewd.

In any case, the poor thing didn't really have any chance of escaping now as it was slurped wholly into its predator's mouth.

While I caught all that on camera, it also meant I was next on the menu.

"Guys, I really need that help now!" I pleaded as the appendage holding me brought me to the mouth.

I was still filming as well. I didn’t have the mind to stop when I was about to be eaten.

Thankfully, the three finally decided to rescue me.

A laser beam cut through the appendage that was holding me, causing me to be dropped ten meters from the ground.

Goldy caught my fall.

Then, we booked it into the forest just like the first time I was chased by a Kuhe-something.

From the lessons learned from the past, the Kuhe-something was fast on open fields. In the forest, it was slower, which is why I didn't hesitate going into the woods.

But, I didn't have time for nostalgia. As expected, it also gave chase.

I zigzag across tree roots and giant rocks. I hop over tree trunks and trenches. All to get to the cliff and - as counterintuitive as it sounds - jump over it to my death like I did twice before.

"Cliff!" Goldy shouted as he pointed forward.

He slowed down to stop, but I was intent on running past the edge.

Once I was close, I leapt.

However, while I could no longer feel the ground on my feet, I was not falling. Instead, a vine-like object had me wrapped around my torso.

I look back to see I was caught by a Kuhe-something again. Not the one currently chasing me as it was visibly still running towards me. The seared edge of the appendage holding me indicates it to be the first Kuhe-something that tried to eat me. I can't say for certain, but I had no doubts about its intentions with me.

"Help", I pleaded to Goldy as I was moved towards my captor's mouth.

Unfortunately, he was like a deer in headlights as he helplessly watched me be swallowed by the Kuhe-something.

The next thing I knew, I was back on the now familiar bright white ceiling of the ship.

"Oh, you're awake", I hear the pillbug lady say.

"What happened?" I groggily asked. "Was I able to jump off the cliff?"

"No", she replied.

"Oh, then was Goldy able to rescue me after all?"

"No, you were definitely eaten by the Qhestralsquksqhadhaetses."

That caused some alarms within me.

"So I'm now in the afterlife", I mused.

"Is that how you earthlings describe it when you're on your way back home?" she asked.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"The captain was satisfied with the mission", she replied. "We are en route back to Earth."

"So, I'm not dead?" I asked, not sure whether to be happy about what was just said to me.

"Yes."

"I thought the Kuhe-something had strong acids that could melt me almost immediately if I was eaten?"

"That’s the thing, it was unable to digest you", she said excitedly. "Not only were you immune to its acids, there were things on your skin that caused a bad reaction in its digestive system."

"So, it spat me back out?"

The pillbug lady hesitated to answer before telling me, "If that's how you call it if it comes from the other side."

Needless to say, I was in the decontamination room the rest of the trip.

When we arrived at Earth, the four beings from outer space only had a few words for me.

"Thanks… to the discovery… of your immunity… to the… Qhestralsquksqhadhaetses… we may… just save… the species", Goldy said to me. "Once we… analyze what… exactly made it… spew you out… they will… no longer… be a threat… to the populace."

"Wait, what about the video that you wanted me to do?" I asked him.

"We will… leave it… for you to… decide… whether to… upload it… or not."

Then, they beamed me down back to the campus gate, the same place where they abducted me, but the school was now closed. It was the middle of the night.

I wasn’t sure how to feel that they no longer wanted the thing they felt the need to shanghai me for. But, that wasn't going to stop me from making a video to upload on the internet.

And why not? Believers of extraterrestrials will love this! Some occultists might like it, too!

It has potential to be another viral video.

So, despite not knowing what time it is, I went to visit Chris. It was there that I knew it was two in the morning on the day after I was abducted. Only nine hours on Earth has passed during the entire misadventure with Goldy and co.

It felt like I was there longer.

Anyway, as it was only a few hours, needless to say Chris was still mad at me for the accidental touch earlier. But, I managed to smooth things out with her, including the fact that I visited her at two a.m., due to my enthusiasm about the new video.

We didn’t start working on it immediately, however. She only agreed to work with me if I went home for the night, which I did. But, for some reason, I was feeling energetic so I spent the time until sunrise writing my script for the voice overs.

It took three days of editing before we uploaded the final cut. Instead of framing it as a documentary like the chupacabra video, I made it in the style of a vlog where I described my experiences on the scenes that I took.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as viral as I had hoped it would be. But, it still got a thousand views within twenty-four hours.

There were plenty of comments as well, mostly commenting on how realistic the CGI looked. It seems that none of them were believing I was actually on an alien planet being chased by alien lifeforms.

Although, there are a few commenting about their experiences about the Kuhe-something so I think it has reached an audience in outer space. Whether this will bring about the preservation of the species, though, I'll probably never find out. Hopefully, I never will.