Chapter: The Curse - Part 1 and 2

Part 1
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He had put everything in this attack. But it didn't help. That bastard was just too strong. His skin burned like fire. His clothes slowly peeled off ... 'Kakkarott. My son ..... 'the thought remained unfinished. His dead body slowly dissolved in the glistening light .....
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"Uuuaaah." Lydia stretched. The look at the alarm clock showed 2:00 in the morning .. "Och nöö." tired she turned around in bed and tried to go back to sleep. But somehow it didn't work. She was disturbed by a bright, reddish glimmer of light through the skylight. Annoyed, she rolled out of bed and rubbed her eyes, still drowsy. She walked slowly to the window. There she climbed onto the sofa under the window to raise the blinds. As soon as it was upstairs, the red glow disappeared. Curiously, she pushed the window open, but there was nothing to be seen on the roof. If she had looked at the roof ridge, she would have spotted the two creepy guys.But since she couldn't see anything, she closed the window again. Lydia sank tiredly on the sofa. "Oh man, am I tired," she yawned and fell asleep a little later. ...
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... Lydia startled. She was cold. Where was she anyway? 'Ah ok. I fell asleep on the sofa. 'Still a little dazed, she got up and went into the bathroom. She only really woke up under the cold shower. Her thoughts lingered on the night before. 'What kind of glow was that? "Hey, Lydia. Hurry up. I want to go to the bathroom too." A male voice penetrated the door. "Yes, yes. Take it easy. ..... I'll be finished soon." She hurriedly wrapped her shoulder-long, brown-blonde hair in a towel. "Always this hectic pace." she muttered and wrapped a bath towel around her body. Then she opened the door. In front of her, an approximately 1.80 m tall, well-trained teen built up. His brown curls hung cheekily on his face. "Well, little snail? Overslept again?"" Oh shut up, Enrico. "Grumpy, she pushed past him and ran to her room under the roof. 'What is this rooster imagining! I'm 20 and three years older than him.'" But he is right about oversleeping. "As soon as she entered the room she met an annoying beeping sound. Annoyed, she hit the alarm clock, which immediately went silent. She would have loved to destroy the part with an AI ball, if she could." It's a shame I didn't like I'm the Z-Fighter. '
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It took extra time to get dressed. Today was your first day at work. Enrico's father, Mr Yokima, had hired her at his company. They knew Lydia from an early age. Somehow she was almost part of the family. A few months ago she moved into the Yokimas' small villa.
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As she brooded, her eyes fell on the clock. "Oh shit. Almost half past seven!" She ran quickly into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of sandwiches from the fridge.Lydia hastily stuffed a bread roll into her mouth before slamming the refrigerator door. While turning around, she bumped into someone. "Sorry. Frau Hoffmann" The somewhat plump housekeeper looked astonished into her gray-green eyes. "Watch where you're running, girl." She smiled and stepped aside. Lydia ran out of the house without another word ...
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Three weeks later:
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It was evening. The sun sank slowly on the horizon and let the mountains shine in a fantastic red. Lydia drove comfortably along the tarred agricultural road home. To the right and left there are large fields with various plants. The ears of grain swayed gently in the warm evening breeze. Now and then there was a pasture where horses, cows or a magnificent bull grazed peacefully. Lost in thought, she cast another glance at the sunset. 'Always impressive,' she thought.
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As she drove, she looked at the landscape.A huge mountain range rose to the south, while a gentle hilly landscape formed by former glaciers spread out to the north. Individual forests and villages loosened up the vast arable land and meadows. It was just great to be able to live here. The first stars were already showing in the darkening evening sky.
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Suddenly Lydia saw a falling star. It looked like she was going to fall to earth. Lydia's gaze followed her tensely. And sure enough, with a loud bang, it struck less than a kilometer from Lydia. A hot wind, fanned by the impact, tugged briefly at their clothes. Blown dust obstructed the view. Startled, Lydia threw himself to the ground. She protected herself with her arms as best she could.
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As soon as the wind died down, she got up again. Coughing lightly, Lydia brushed the dirt off her clothes. “Man, * cough * what a force!” With that she got back on her bike and turned off her actual path.She cycled down a dirt road to the point of impact. She stopped about 10 meters from the crater rim and walked there. The crater was quite large, a good 10 to 15 meters in diameter. Debris lay in the middle. It looked strange. It reminded Lydia more of rubble than meteorites. She carefully descended into the crater and examined a fraction more closely. It was only the size of a child's fist, looked somehow like a teardrop and its surface was sanded smooth. It felt like smooth concrete. But how should concrete get into space? Shooting rubble into orbit would be far too expensive and also stupid.
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Suddenly, completely unexpectedly, it was bright as day. The entire sky shone in brilliant blue for 5 seconds. Then the light disappeared again and gathered in a star. After Lydia was able to see most of the time again, the star flickered again briefly. Lydia made note of the star's position and hurried home.She put the meteor part in her pocket.
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When I got home, Lydia rang the doorbell. She did not yet have her own house key. Frau Hoffmann, the housekeeper, opened the door. "Hello Lydia, back so early?" "Yes. Is Enrico there?" "He's back in the garden. But I don't know if you should disturb him now." "Please, it's urgent. It's about the shooting star, that one It struck near here. You must have seen her. "" Oh, she. Don't say now that you found her and brought her with you. "" Yes ... "" Enrico will be happy. Come on in. .. "said Ms. Hoffmann. "... and please take off your shoes. I have freshly cleaned." Lydia quickly took off her sandals and hurried through the living room directly onto the terrace of the house. Enrico sat there and peered at the stars through his professional telescope. He was an established amateur astronomer and the son of what was probably the richest family in the area. Thanks to him, Lydia was allowed to live in this house. He had also got her a job in his father's company.They were close friends and looked more like siblings than friends.
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Lydia approached him carefully from behind and tapped his shoulder. A little confused, he looked back over his shoulder. "Oh, it's you." he smiled at her. "Hello Enrico." she gave him a kiss from behind on the cheek and asked: "Did you also see the shooting star earlier?" "Yes. It's a shame that it hit that far. I would have liked to have examined it." "Hm .. What would you say? when I was very close to the impact? ”“ Really? ”He looked at her face, both questioning and excited at the same time. Lydia had meanwhile wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and looked dreamily at the stars. "If I tell you." she grinned at him and pulled the meteorite out of her pocket. "Take a look at it. It looks strange, doesn't it?" Excited, Enrico took the meteor from her hand and jumped up. He looks at him with shining eyes. “Can you wait a moment?” “If I can use your telescope in the meantime?"" Sure, it's set for Mars. It glowed and flickered so strangely today. "Thank you, have fun examining it!" Lydia called after him. And Enrico had disappeared into the house. 'Did he also notice that it was briefly as bright as day?' Lydia asked herself in silence.
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Curiously, she turned to the telescope. When she looked in, she was amazed. Mars was brighter than usual. In addition, instead of its two small satellites, it had a significantly larger moon. On closer inspection, even supposed cities could be seen. But everything on the planet's surface was mostly hidden under a thick haze of clouds. The whole thing looked kind of crazy. Shouldn't there be life on the red planet? If so, why did they hide for so long? Questions to which Lydia still had no answers.
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Very absorbed, she did not notice how Enrico stepped onto the terrace again. "You probably want to piss me off." Lydia looked slightly startled into his disappointed face."No, I didn't mean that. ..." "It's just a piece of rubble." he cut her off harshly. "And then how do you explain the teardrop shape?" replied Lydia, slightly irritated. "It was shaped by the wind. .... You fetched the thing from some construction site. I can not imagine anything else." "Well, only that there is currently no construction site in the area. But we can go to the crash site drive and look for the meteor there, if you don't believe me. "" Well, then we'd better drive off right away. "Enrico gave Lydia the" wrong "meteorite and disappeared back into the house. Lydia put the stone back in her pocket and trudged after Enrico.
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In the kitchen they met Enrico's parents. With some persuasion, Enrico persuaded his father to lend him a car for tonight. Reluctantly, Mr. Yokima handed out the car keys. As soon as Enrico held it in hand, they said goodbye and set off.<br />
Outside the house, both of them got into an off-road vehicle. The drive to the crater took less than 10 minutes and was silent. When they got to the crater, they got out. They were lucky that they were the first and only at the crater. Apparently almost no one had seen the shooting star.
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Still slightly annoyed, Enrico descended into the crater. Lydia, who had also got out, shone a powerful flashlight on the crater floor and followed him. The lighting of the off-road vehicle provided additional light.