I live in a small Alaskan town. Something weird has been happening since the cruise ship docked.

Like the title says, I live in a small town, on a small island, just off the coast of mainland Alaska. It’s a super popular destination for cruise ships. We’ve got a massive season for them that splits everyone in half; the locals who hate tourists and just want to be left alone, and the people who own stores and love the influx of business. I’m usually smack between the two. I hate the fact people come out in droves, leaving their trash on the trails, making noise, and bothering local wildlife…but I also run a small coffee shop out in the middle of town and yeah, we need the tourists to keep in business.

That’s…kind of all the backstory you need, I think?

Basically, we had a massive cruise ship land here about two days ago. It cut through the fiber optic cable that provides internet and phone service to the island, which means only lucky people like me (who have Star Link) can still get access to the outside world.

This actually happens way more often than you think.

So, the island pretty much ‘went dark’ right when the cruise ship landed. I was expecting a bunch of angry tourists showing up and bitching because they didn’t have cash on them and we can’t take cards without internet but…so far, no one’s been by.

And then last night…something woke me up. At first, I thought it might have been the weather. We had a nasty storm passing overhead, pretty common for this time of year, and thunder wakes me up all the time.

I’m lying there in the dark, staring up at the ceiling, trying to will the storm away so I could get some decent rest…and then I heard it again.

Something was humming.

It made my stomach churn. It felt like I could feel the sound in my very bones, like I could feel it in my teeth.

I got up and went to the window, pulling the curtain back just a crack. The town was dark outside, the rain making it difficult to see anything.

The humming was getting louder. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say it sounded like there were more people making the sound?

I dropped the curtain, pulled on my raincoat, and stepped out onto my balcony. I live on the sixth floor of an apartment building, so I had a pretty good view of everything nearby. The humming was even louder outside. I curled my hands around the ice-cold metal of the railing and leaned forward, squinting through the rain…and there it was.

Strange, green light coming out of the thick pine forest and heading toward the street below. It looked like the bioluminescent algae that bloomed sometimes in the summer, except it was clinging to people. They were the ones making the sound.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.

I don’t know why, either. It’s like something in my tiny animal brain just went ‘that’s bad news, you’ve got to run’ only my body was frozen in place, too terrified to go anywhere.

I was about to call out to them, see what was going on, but someone beat me to it. A ground floor building across the street threw the door open and a man stepped out into the street shouting, “for fuck’s sake! Do you even know what time it is? Fuck off with that! Some of us have to work!”

What happened next happened fast. So fast, I don’t think anyone could have stopped it.

One of the glowing, humming people–it looked like it might have been a tourist–pulled away from the group and charged him. She tackled the man to the ground and started…biting him! He was screaming and howling, struggling to fight her off. The others in the group ran at the door too.

“Hey!” I grabbed this potted plant from the edge of my balcony and I threw it down into the street. It hit the ground between the group and the door and exploded. Half the group turned and charged my building instead. I could hear them slamming into the front door, beating on it, like wild animals!

Terrified, I backed into my apartment and closed the balcony doors. I knew there was no way they could get through the locked lobby door–only residents have a key for it–but it still freaked me out so much I flipped the deadbolt down on my door and shoved a chair in front of it.

Since then, the humming has gotten louder. Like, a lot louder. And people are screaming outside.

I don’t know what’s happening and I’m too afraid to go out and check.

If you’ve heard anything about something strange going down in Alaska, can you let me know?

Please. I think I really need help.