That Night

"A re you sure?" Eliza asked.

"If they come back, they'll need proof. I want to have it, just in case."

"Are we far enough back? The journal said the janitor was in the building, but not how big the building was or how far away from the old device he was when they destroyed it."

"I don't think this is an exact science," Lydia replied. "And we're a mile away. I don't think that building was a mile long."

"No one is around, right? We checked."

"El, we chose this spot because it's remote. It has one way in and out, and we're blocking it right now. I aimed the best flashlight the hardware store had around the area, and you yelled for people."

"What about animals?"

"Babe, we have to do this. We're blocking the road."

"Okay. Yeah, you're right," Eliza said. "Let's do it and get out of here."

She leaned down and looked at the screen. Lydia had set up a tripod with a Wi-Fi-enabled camera attached to it, aimed at the device. They'd opted for something without an explosion so as not to draw attention, and the device sat on top of a little stand that they'd built just for this purpose. Below that stand was a clear bucket filled with acid. They'd bought it online and had it sent to the motel. This way, the device would corrode and be useless, they believed, and there wouldn't be anything loud or bright to cause anyone who might be around to take a look.

Lydia pressed record, and the camera was now filming the device as it sat still on the stand.

"You ready?"

"Yes," Eliza replied.

Lydia nodded, and Eliza went to press the remote for the stand that she had in her hand. Then, they watched the screen. The stand beneath the device fell away just how it was supposed to, and the device dropped into the bucket. They watched as the water bubbled and smoked a little and waited .

"It's okay. Nothing's happening. I mean, nothing about the energy. It's just–" Eliza stopped talking when something did happen.

A burst of something emitted from the bucket. They were a mile away, so they saw it on the screen before they felt it, but when they felt it, it was as if a massive gust of wind just pushed into them and knocked them over. The remote fell out of her hand and to the ground. The screen had been on the trunk of the car and fell down, but not off the car.

"Babe!" she yelled and found Lydia on the gravel, face down.

"I'm okay," Lydia said and rolled over. "Just knocked the wind out of me." She coughed. "Are you–"

"Okay." Eliza crawled over to her wife and checked Lydia's face. "No cuts."

"I'm okay," Lydia repeated. "Check the screen. Is it destroyed?"

Eliza stood up, wobbled a bit, and reached for the iPad they'd used.

"The camera is facing the sky now. I can't see anything."

"Rewind." Lydia coughed and sat up.

Eliza stopped the recording, located the finished file, and rewound it.

"Nothing new. Just the burst of whatever that was before the camera got knocked over."

"We have to go check, then," Lydia suggested and stood.

"I'll go. You stay here."

"What? No way!"

"Lydia, you can barely stand," Eliza argued and walked over to her wife to help her lean against a tree off the side of the road.

"You're right."

"It can wait. I'll stay," Eliza offered.

"No. Go. I'm okay. I'll sit here and try to catch my breath. Just be quick. Ten minutes, and I'm coming in there after you," Lydia told her.

Eliza helped her to the ground first and made sure Lydia leaned back against the tree. She wanted to stay there with her wife and make sure she was really okay, but she knew that whatever they'd just felt had gone on for at least a mile and could possibly hit a cabin or campers in their tents, which were about five miles from here, so they needed to be fast. She climbed into the car, leaving Lydia with the iPad and her phone, and started it. Then, she dialed.

"Hey," Lydia said. "Smart. "

"Easier to make sure you're fine and I'm fine while I go check out this thing."

They stayed on the phone for the two minutes it took her to drive down the gravel. Then, she parked the car and walked into the woods another hundred yards to the clearing they'd set their strange experiment up in.

"What do you see?" Lydia asked.

"Camera on the ground. The plastic bucket is–" Eliza stopped. "It's in a million pieces all over the ground."

"Shit. There's acid there. Be careful. Don't touch anything."

"I don't think there is," she shared and looked down at the ground.

It was dark, but the headlights from the car she'd left on were aimed in this direction. The light they'd attached to the camera, while aimed at the sky, was also still on. Eliza looked down closer at the ground before she knelt down and ran her hands through the dry leaves on top of the dirt.

"It's gone."

"The device?"

"No, the acid. I think it… vaporized or something. The ground is totally dry."

"Damn," Lydia said, and she coughed.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I was just in front of you, so I took the bigger hit, but I'm standing up now and I'm walking fine."

"Okay," Eliza said before she stood and looked ahead toward where the stand had been.

It, too, was in several pieces. She walked toward it and found the device was in three pieces, and all of them looked corroded and damaged beyond repair, which was the goal. Eliza looked around at the trees and saw branches on the ground around her and leaves everywhere when they hadn't been there before.

"Jesus, it's a mess out here now." She turned and saw the tripod. "Shit."

"What? Babe, FaceTime. I need to see."

"No, it's okay. The tripod is just stuck inside a tree. It's sticking out. The camera is in a few pieces on the ground. The light we had on it is still working, but it's, like, ten feet away."

"Energy," Lydia noted. "It had to go somewhere. What about the device? "

"Damaged. It's in a few pieces. I'm going to use the gloves we brought to pick it up and put it in the trunk."

"Please be careful," Lydia said.

"I will. Give me a minute. I'll be right there, and we'll get out of here."

"Eliza, I love you."

"I know that. I'll see you in a minute. Just–"

The phone went dead.