A Vincent Price Welcome

     Thank you for visiting my blog!  Over the past month I have come up with Twelve chilling excerpts from which I hope to grow entire stories. I call it: #sinistercountdown.  For now enjoy my very own pictures and twisted sense of writing for Halloween.  You can always follow my writing and pictures on this blog or look for my user name: eatinganelephant on Instagram! 

http://instagram.com/eatinganelephant

Now scroll through my blog to older posts and leave a comment if you'd like! Hope you have a terrifying Halloween! And no I did not take that picture of Vincent, were not that good of friends.

Brother and Sister

     Streetlights flickered on and off while rain fell lightly on black asphalt roads. The neatly trimmed hedges along either side of the sidewalk grew darker with each passing minute. 

     "Hansel you're walking too fast! It's too slickery for my shoes." To prove the point Hansel's sister Gretel slid through a shallow puddle. 

     Neon lights flickered between water droplets, they were alone it seemed. 

     "Did you hear that?" Hansel's hands tightened around Gretel as the unmistakable slosh of feet echoed off locked store fronts. 

     "He's followed us." Gretel began to shake at her own words. Unbidden, both moved quickly, skirting puddles as their plastic rain jackets whipped behind them. 

     "There! See that store! I think it's open, there's a light on!" Gretel fought down rising bile as she scanned shelves and shelves of brightly packaged items through large windows. The foot falls grew louder as their follower splashed heedlessly through puddles. 

     He was getting closer. 

     They reached the door, which was cheerfully frosted to look like a waterfall. Large curved door handles seemed to reach for their open hands. Hansel hesitsted, 

     "This isn't right." 

     "Hansel this is no time to think, we're going to get caught by Him!" Hansel reached out and grasped the brightly colored door. It stuck fast to his skin, as if coated in sugar. 

     "It's sticky...Gretel, I think it's made out of-" Before he could finish the statement Gretel pushed him inside, the door clicking shut behind them. "-candy."

 #sinistercountdown

The Witch

     The rain had subsided, clouds breaking apart to reveal a deep azure sky. They walked me down the main street, hands bound in thick iron cuffs. 
     "Curse thee, wicked woman!" A crowd has gathered in the slick thoroughfare, they brandish burning torches and baskets of rotten food. 
     "How dare thee bring the wrath of the Almighty upon our people!" 
     A priest dressed in black from head to toe brandishes a worn bible, "Thus saith He that those caught in lying and secret combinations with the Devil deserve unending torment!" 
     I stare at the sky, saying a last goodbye to clouds above me. My God has forsaken me, I am surrounded by lies and treachery. More shouts sound as I continue my path, crossing the main square and onto the steps of the town hall. 
     A woman pushes to the step below mine and spits in my face, "It was thee who brought on the plagues, the fires and worms and rotting crops! The Devil can have thee!" 
     These people have no idea what is about to happen, I am the last stone holding back the tide, if I go IT will take every last one. 
     Up flights of stairs and onto a small balcony, my life is to end on a projection of stone, where a noose swings in the gentle afternoon breeze. 
     "Have ye any last words oh Witch?" The hangman asks as he lifts the rope up and around my neck. 
    "They will never learn." 
A firm hand pushes me into open air.
 #sinistercountdown

Resolved to

Voices hissed through dried leaves that still clung to brittle branches. 
     "Come to us." They called, rustling in the cool autumn air. "Come." 
     The small boy stood before the gnarled and twisted tree. It towered over him, branches twisted into a sinister smile. Seth was told never to play next to the Whispering Tree because it would learn your secrets. 
     "It took your father one day." His mother had said, staring out the kitchen window as they sat at the table. "It learned about the darkest part of him and the next day I found him, curled at its roots, his body covered in tangled bark and leaves. 
     "Blood was everywhere. The police said it was suicide, but I knew better. It was that tree." Seth remembered a solitary tear had run down her cheek, falling from hollow eyes. 
     "I promise mom, I promise I will never go near the Whispering Tree." But today, Seth knew he had to break that promise, even though it would mean his death. 
#sinistercountdown

Creature

     I'm being hunted, my skin crawls as I feel a single pair of eyes seeking me out.
     "Aaarrrrrooohh!!" It's getting closer, I need to get to the water. My feet slip over wet stone as I hear the thing panting, air sucking down its snout, claws slashing a path through dense foliage. It can smell my blood, my fear. My foot steps into a cool current and I slip down, down into a deep pool.
     "Aaaarrrrooh!!" Water swallows up my head, filling my open eyes, "I hope I'm not too late." #sinistercountdown

The Grove

     Drums echoed within his head, thundering all around the darkness. His body shift side to side as if dangling over an open abyss.
     Boom. Boom. Boom. 
     "Where am I?" Was what he wanted to say but his tongue, it seemed, had swelled inside his mouth. He opened his eyes, fear energizing his body. Colors swirled around his head. Below him ground passed by quickly. Piles of pine needles and leaves stared back at him as he traveled upside down.
     "Mmph!" Gagging, he drew in a deep breath, cool air stinging his nostrils.
     I am upside down. He thought, as the smell of smoke filled his nose.
     Boom. Boom. Boom. 
The drums sounded louder and clearer now. He looked up, tears stinging his eyes as he saw his hands and feet tied to a thick wooden pole. 
     What is going on? Why am I here? Who's doing this to me? 
     Boom. Boom. Boom. 
     Two tall figures stood in front of and behind him, breathing heavily and grunting with the effort of carrying his body. In the dimness he saw their outlines, huge arms and heaving backs, thick horns curling back over their heads. 
     "Mmmrrphng!" His shout did little, but elicit a sharp grunt from the form at his feet. Their pace quickened. 
     Boom. Boom. Boom. The light began to brighten, dancing over the trunks of passing trees. A cloud of smoke passed over the three figures. The man looked past the figure hauling his body. Ahead of him flames danced in an open pit, great branches piled on one another, blacked by heat. 
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. 
     Figures danced in the light, twisted and shimmering around the open flames. His entire body started to shake. He could see two large iron poles, with forked tops, on either side of the fire now.
     "Hhhrrrghng!" He screamed, but only strangled fear leaked through. "I'm going to die." He though, as the light became unbearable to his eyes. 
     I'm going to die. 
The men holding him lifted the pole even higher, flames reached for him. 
     BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! 
     I'm going to die.
#sinsitercountdown

An Afternoon in October

     The leaves whispered above me as I laid under the cool shadows of a tree. 
     "Rest, rest." The tree called with every breath of wind. I found myself lost in the moment, unaware of all around me. Which is why when I heard the screaming, I didn't immediately jump from where I lay.
     Something dripped on my face and arm. Curious I opened my eyes. The leaves swung in the late afternoon breeze, red gold in the sunlight, blue sky unrelenting against the autumn colors. 
     The screaming continued. 
     Another drop fell from the bows above, splashing down onto my nose. A metallic tang filled my senses and I quickly raised my hand to my face. I wiped the liquid from my skin, smearing it over my cheek. It was warm and clung to my skin unlike ordinary liquid that fell from the sky. 
     More drops fell on me and I stood up slowly, a drop landing square in my open mouth. My stomach dropped and heart began to race. 
     It was blood. 
     Blood. 
     Blood was falling from the tree. 
#sinistercountdown

Luck Runs Out

     Hands reached out with broken nails and bloodied fingers, swiping blindly through the shattered window. Moans of the dead filled the air as she screamed, "Open the door, open the door!!" 
     His hands fumbled for the key, scraping it against the lock. Behind the two figures wood groaned under the weight of a hundred bodies. 
     "I've got it!" He shouted, "I've-" CRACK! The door gave in, ragged corpses piling in like a mountain of sand. At the same moment the key caught in the lock snapping in half. 
     "-Got it." The woman screamed. 
#sinistercountdown

A Debtors Due

A metal spade scraped across dirt and stone, thundering down onto a warn wood lid. 
     "Don't do this! It wasn't me!" Soil continued to pour down heedless of muffled cries. The single pool of light filling the space darkened as he twisted, brushing against damp walls. 
     "Don't. Don't, d-don't bury me alive!" 
#sinistercountdown

Dream 1, Part 6

He’s trying to drug me again, says something about how the force is stronger that attracts them to me when I’m asleep. He keeps slipping me drinks here and there in my drinks but I dump them down the drain when he’s not looking, and drink out of my stolen water bottle.
I can feel my head beginning to clear, but my sense of smell and taste still is gone. It’s horrible. I’m trapped in a death cage with nothing to protect me but glass and machinery, Otis has assured me that the bus can handle anything the Night-Crawlers can throw. I don’t believe him.
Its thirty minutes to show time, the peaks are growing darker, the special force waiting just behind the walls are ready. Now we wait. I think I might snap.
“K.C. you might want to lay down for a bit, conserve your energy. I’m shutting off all lights now, night vision on.” Were being monitored by the task force, so we have to keep the pretence up that were related, I nod and lay down on the bed. Otis probably thinks I‘m going to be out within a few minutes. I do my best impression of falling asleep.
Time ticks by, and I see, through slit eyes that he’s getting his contraptions ready, I didn’t bother to listen when he explained it.
A chill runs through me, the mountains are completely dark. I feel them moving. They are coming. I hear the bus door open, and see Otis walk out with the equipment, fresh air reaches my face, and for an instant I can smell it, faintly. But then he’s back and the door is closed. I feel energized from inside. I close my eyes again, they are almost here, somewhere a censor beeps, notifying Otis of their approach. The Task Force must be securing their weapons. I feel fear rise, like a wave. It’s not my own.
I can’t describe it. Suddenly lights appear on the main street and a car careens out of control and smashed into a wall. Out jump three haggard humans, screaming. They’re waving their arms and running for the protection of the wall.
I can feel their fear, as if it is my own. Something clicks inside of me, I suddenly smell the sweat coming from their bodies, crusting wounds. I smell the oils of the air, the burn wood, flesh and rubble that has surrounded me. In the air around me is the taste of antiseptic and cleansing materials. And for the first time I smell Otis. It is a musty smell, but registers in my brain as delicious.
Otis is cursing into the com about the three figures. The first has made it to the door, and is screaming. I feel and taste something in the air, it is familiar. The last figure, closest to the car disappears. I smile, the second one notices, and I almost laugh at his fear. He will not make it.
The second man disappears. I sit up in bed, and as quiet as a leaf falling I crawl onto the floor. I can sense my prey has no idea what is to come. I taste his frustration and anger. Things slide out of my fingers, I look down in surprise to see I can no longer see myself. I am black as pitch. I raise my claws in the darkness and flex them. Oh it feels good to have them back.
I slink down the walk way to the front of the bus. Otis is waiting, but he has no idea. They have come, not because I attracted them. They have come because I called them.
I slip through the plastic, right behind him before he could blink. I sank my claws and teeth into his back and neck. Oh it feels so good, I revel in his screams.
Now I know.
I am one of them.

Dream 1, Part 5

“I can’t let you go." The statement echos in my ears. "I can't let you go."
You see. . . I think you have a special connection with the Night-Crawlers. One that I haven’t seen in anyone, you attract them.” I gasped involuntarily taking a step back, “listen please we don’t have time. I need you for my experiment, tonight were going to park the bus outside the walls, where they’ve had the most Night-Crawler action. I need you to bring them to me.”
That uneasy feeling is back, and behind it is a cloud of fear. Whoever is watching me, I can feel them drawing closer, because of my fear. I look at Otis, his pleading in my eye, I look out the window, a group of soldiers is waiting by the front of the bus; someone tall is walking towards them.
“Please, this could be humanity’s salvation.”
I have to say yes, it’s the only way. I can feel it inside of me. I nod my head, not a minute to soon, the doors to the bus click open and I hear booted feet coming up the stairs. A tall beefy man, with arms the size of my entire body parts the plastic and steps towards us. His demeanor is one that demands respect and fear from all. Surprisingly enough, I feel nothing, just blankness.
The man sneers at me and turns to Otis, “So you and you’re . . . son are here to capture one of the Night-Crawlers. Well good luck. There’s not a chance in hell you be able to. Our gunners have to blast everything outside the walls to get anything. They can’t ever see them. But I guess if you come from the Top Dogs themselves, I’ll have to humor you. You both leave at Oh Seven Hundred, be ready.”
Turning from Otis he sneers at me again, I keep my face blank. He’s gone; Otis turns to me with a grin, “Let’s get rolling.”
The mountains are on fire again. I’m looking at them feeling my own fear. I can feel them coming near. Were outside the walls now, down a small suburban street, dead limbs and leaves have fallen around and blow in the breeze. Several houses still stand looking at us through smashed windows. I have no idea what day it is, or how long I’ve been with Otis, but I know I must escape tonight. I’m not sure how, maybe I’ll make a dash for it before the Night-Crawlers come, but I know they’re close.

Dream 1, Part 4

Everything is crystal clear tonight; I see Otis’s face floating above me, high above me. I realize I’m in a pool of liquid green water, well beneath the surface, all around me are shifting shadows, watching me with a thousand eyes. I hear mumbled words and hissing. Suddenly the shadows reach out to my body, I try to twist, but my body is solid stone. Pain erupts where ever the shadow touches, my arms, legs, sides, head. The shadows move around my body, touching, searing my flesh. When they come away I see the skin is black and blue, with minute holes peppered everywhere. I feel myself being to ooze out of the tiny openings. I try to scream, but when I open my mouth water rushes in. I involuntarily breathe, feeling water enter my lungs, bursting their insides.
I awake with a start and sit up in bed. Morning sun streams through my window. Beyond the streams of sun, silhouetted awkwardly is the largest tank I have ever seen in my life, with its muzzle point right over the top of the bus. I jump out of bed, stumbling over my still weak legs. Otis isn’t in the front seat, I call his name, but no one answers. I look at his chair, noticing a case of water bottles open behind his seat. Some empty bottle sit on the floor, point down the stairs. Following their advice I step down the stairs and push open the folding doors.
I’m greeted with a cacophony of sound and sight. Soldiers bustle around the bus, like worker bees in a giant armored hive. Jeeps and trucks I don’t even know the names of are parked helter skelter. Around me stand three huge buildings, squat square thing that have no windows, naked trees stick out around the buildings, probably once looking elegant. Dead grass mashed into dirt and broken cement paths crisscross around them, like shattered smiles. I cling to the door handle, swaying dangerously, so much to take in.
But there is something missing from the whole scene, and I finally realize what I’ve been missing. I cannot smell a thing. All thoughts of finding Otis are gone, I take a huge sniff, catching the eye of a guard walking by he just shakes his head and moves on. Good worker bee. I feel panic rising within me. I cannot smell. I smack my mouth experimentally, but taste nothing. Its almost like not being able to breath and I fall back inside onto the stairs, gasping.
Somehow I find myself back next to my bed. There’s another tray of food, just like yesterday. I reach out and tentatively grab a piece of bread. I put it up to my nose and sniff. Nothing. I lick the bread, nothing. Shivering with panic, I shove the whole piece in my mouth. How could I not notice this before? Was I just too caught up in what was going on around me? My throat is closing around the piece of bread, I need water. Stepping quickly over to the water cooler, I automatically grab a cup from its shelf. Then something catches my eye for the second time: the opened case of water bottles.
Why would Otis drink out of water bottles if he had a perfectly good sink, and water cooler? My choking momentarily forgotten, I swallow and step towards the bottles on the floor. I’m the only one that has been drinking from the cooler, why? Maybe Otis drinks from it when I’m asleep, I haven’t been the most alert person . . . wait. Asleep.
I feel again, the sense of someone watching me, its faint, but I can still feel it. Outside the bus soldiers march relentlessly by. I can hear a thundering somewhere.
A memory, foggy as it is, flashes through my mine. A syringe, in Otis’s hand, a proffered cup of water just before I fell into unconsciousness, the offer of the water cooler and refusal by him.
“Otis is drugging me!” Out loud, the words seem small, but I say it again. And again. And again, until I’m almost shouting them, “ HE’S DRUGGING ME!” I look down at the close I’m wearing, standard gray pants and a long sleeve shirt. I rip off the shirt to look at my arms, huge black and blue bruises are all over my arms, the nook of my elbows, the tops of the arms, even my wrists. I look at my chest; several white scars lace my sides.
I scream, an anguished scream, but it’s swallowed up in a terrific blast of engine as a huge flying machine swoops over the assemblage, rattling me to the core. I am a prisoner here.
Why? Why am I so scared? What is going on? Where is Otis? I’ve fallen onto the bed, face up. Sitting up I look out the window, there a white lab coat among the green gray uniforms. It’s Otis.
Quickly I put my shirt back on. I run over to the case of water bottles and grab one. Hurrying back to my bed I slip it under my pillow, just in time to hear the folding doors slip open, and footsteps. Casually I turn to Otis, as he pushes through the plastic. He smiles quickly at me, and then drops into a serious tone, “It’s good to see your awake and alright. Sorry I was gone.”
In a mock tone I reply, “I was getting worried, where were you?”
“I had to speak to command; they needed to know what my status was. I haven’t been in contact with anyone since I found you. But we need to be quick, the commander of the Stockade is coming, he’s going to inspect our equipment. I’ve come up with a name for you, seeing that it would look strange that you have no clue who you are.”
I have serious misgivings about everything that Otis is saying to me, but comply with a simple nod. Why a Commander of an Army would think that is beyond me, but who’s to say, I can’t trust anyone now.
Otis continues, suddenly picking things up and rearranging them, “I need you to listen closely, you are my son K.C. you are here on this expedition to help me with catching a Night-Crawler. If you aren’t blood related they’ll ship you off to the orphanage here, then who knows what else will happen to you.”
I nodded, that’s all I could do, but questions burned beneath my skin, what is this guy thinking? A question broke through, “Why not let me go? Won’t that be the best thing?”
Otis looked pained for a second, behind his eyes something flashed, was it fear?
“I can’t let you go."

Dream 1, Part 3

I’m in a pool of black water, there no movement in my body, not even breath. The waters moving now, something’s here with me, I still cannot see anything, just black. Something wriggles past my arm, I try to flinch, but nothing happens. Agony ripples across me, whatever it is, is chewing through my neck. Before my eyes open Otis’s face swims up before me.
There’s sun on my face, and hear Otis whistling a familiar tune, but again I cannot place it. I see a tray of food rattling slightly next to the chemistry set. I devour it instantly, and before I know it, I’m through the plastic door, buckling myself in. How do I miss all that?
“So how went the night? Did I miss anything exciting?”
“Nothing much, Night-Crawlers don’t make appearances on the freeways, they don’t like the openness of it, we think. Or they just don’t like the cars.” I can tell he’s being truthful, ‘cause I can see the disappointment in his eyes.
Were farther into the city now, I can see tumbled sky scrapers and burn suburbs everywhere. The devastation is humbling. I remember what Otis said to me last night, “the Night-Crawlers didn’t do this to us. We did.” I decide not to pursue the matter, seeing that were suddenly swinging off the freeway and down onto a highway.
Immediately I feel something lurch inside of me, “What are you doing?”
“We have to leave the freeway to get to the Stockade; it’s only about ten miles east, towards the mountains. We should get there just before nightfall.”
“What if we don’t make it by then?” The lurching in me is now squirming.
“We have to, otherwise we’re locked out for the night, and we don’t want to be on the other side of their defenses when darkness falls.” There’s more implied to that statement than I can guess at, but the lurching inside me has defined itself as clear uneasiness. Like when someone who watches you the entire time as you’re walking by them, you can just feel their eyes burning into the back of your head.
“Do you feel that?”
Otis looks at me again from the corner of his eye, “Feel what?”
“I dunno, like were being watched.”
I can see Otis grip the steering wheel tighter, his knuckles are turning blotchy.
Time passes, I don’t bother to count, I’m too engrossed with the dead world around me. Feeling incomplete and uneasy at the same time makes me jumpy. Every shadow seems to be a threat. I can’t target what part of me is missing, but the uneasiness is coming from all sides, almost like a prickly blanket. We better get to this “Stockade” soon.
The sun continues to sink lower in the sky, the mountains grow larger and larger, seems like the fangs of a long dead behemoth. I can see their beginning to turn golden pink from the sun. I turn to Otis, he hasn’t whistled a sling note since I awoke, he’s sweating pretty badly.
“Do you need me to get you something to drink?” I automatically unbuckle myself, and twist to get off the seat.
“No that’s okay; I’ve got my water bottle here.” I shrug and head back towards the sink. Otis calls over his shoulder, “fill free to drink out of the water cooler, cups are in the cupboard above the sink. Sure enough, they’re there and I’m tipping back refreshingly cool water.
The bus sways this way and that as I make my way back, I hold the cup close and deposit myself onto my bench, buckling myself. I think it’s time to find out a little more about myself, “Otis, where did you said you’d found me?”
“I found you inside an old barn.”
“A barn?”
“Yeah, you and about fifty other people, except, well. . .” The sentence hangs in the air for a minute.
I prod, “Except. . .”
“Except everyone one else had been mutilated in one way or another. You just had a gash on your head.” Otis turns up a wide avenue, there are stills houses standing here, some cars, burned of course, still parked in driveways.
“You had no wallet, no I.D., nothing. I’m sorry kid, I don’t know your name, who you are or where you came from. All I knew was that the sun was setting fast and I needed to get you into the bus as soon as I could.”
“Oh.” My voice feels small in my head. Even more that thing that I’m missing is weighing in on my mind. I think the feeling of being watched as turned into more of being followed. I look to the sky, and see the mountains afire with light.
“Almost there, apparently the Stockade is an old University, we’re only two main streets away, take a left then the second right.” It’s a bit too much info for me; my mind begins to over load. I feel my neck growing weaker, and my chin hits my chest. I am growing more tired, more than I should feel. I sense the bus slowing down, and stopping.
We shouldn’t be there already. I feel someone dragging me. I feel myself fall into my bed, but I fall past it into sleep.

Dream 1, Part 2

Dark waters wash around my ears, I know my eyes are open, but I see nothing. Just dark sloshing all around to me, then a sudden blinding white fills my vision, senses, everything.
I’m awake, my eyes snap open, it takes me a second to see I’m staring at a chemistry set, with a counter, sink and garbage can. Everything on it is rattling slightly. I roll over, feeling woozy, I’m now looking up at a curving ceiling, that has a sign for “-TRANSIT AUTHOR-“ under it is a picture of what looks like the front of a bus. My eyes are draw to what I thought was a wall, it’s a sheet of thick glass, and beyond it. . .
I gasp as colors, objects, things whirl by me: trees, bushes, and what I can only take as rubble, lots of rubble. There are broken things everywhere. I tear myself away from the window and look down past my feet, there’s no door, like my hallucination the night before, but a sheet of plastic, with a makeshift door slit into it, a flap swinging slightly.
I put my arms behind me and raise myself to a sitting position. I’m on a bus, well if you can call it that. All the regularly cramped and uncomfortable seats have been stripped out. And in their place, is equipment, tons and tons of equipment that I can’t even begin to describe, let’s leave it at lots of lights, screens and buttons. I realize that my bed has the only window; every other wall is covered with technology.
I can move my legs, so I slowly poke one, then the other out of the sheets. I feel rough carpet under my bare toes as I touch them to the ground. Then I slide my whole weight onto them.
I’m a bit shaky, but can hold my own. There’s a strut to my right, and before I know it, I’ve moved down the walk way, to the plastic door. I feel dizzy, like just having ran a mile sprint, but I put that aside. The plastic is cool, and easy to lift aside. What greets me, is the man, sitting behind the wheel, gazing out over a vast stretch of field. The road in front of us is like a solid black arrow pointing us in a direction.
The man notices me, “Well it’s good to see you’re up and walking. How do you feel?”
“Fine,” I mumble, looking out the windshield, “Where are we?”
He says the name of a place, but it doesn’t ring a bell, besides I’m not listening, something catches my eye, the burnt out hulk of a car. We pass it in a flash, but just as quickly as it disappears behind us, another one comes into view, then another and another.
I hear the man mumble, but I’m too engrossed, the cars seem to be pilling up, some are on the road, causing our to bus veer left and right. The fields around the road are nothing but burnt stubble, the same as the cars. I can’t believe how many.
I feel the bus moving up hill, and look to the horizon, the road is rising above the ground, and huge mountains seem to grow to our left. All around us are hundreds of rusted and burnt frames. We reach the top of the hill, and both of us gasp.
The horizon is a huge smoking mass. Plumes rise up everywhere. It’s a sight to behold, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it, and our road points to the middle of it all. The mountains disappear behind their smoky veil.
“You might want to strap yourself in, this could get pretty bumpy.” I look to my right, there’s a stairwell to the folding door, above and behind it is a bench with seatbelts. I buckle myself in.
“What happened here?” I ask, taking in the devastation.
“You mean to tell me you don’t know?” The man’s looking incredulous out the corner of his eye, “You don’t remember anything at all, what’s been happening for the past six months, where I found you, how you ended up like this?”
“Coma remember?” I’m irritated. For some reason his surprise scares me and I hug myself tightly.
The man hesitates, “I thought it was bad, but not that bad. Well where do I begin?”
“Six months ago.”
His hesitation is again irritating and for some reason, my insides burns. I want to know everything, now. It’s a strange feeling, I’m not even sure of who I am right now, but I need to know what is going on around me. Oh I’m missing it.
“- government ordered the whole country under attack, everyone was really scared. It started in Mexico then spread North and East. Leaving destruction everywhere, millions died within the first week. Before we knew it, the capitol fell and it had reached coast to coast.”
I interrupt, “What started, what did this?”
There’s an uncomfortable pause, as the bus swerves around the carcass of a similar looking bus.
“That’s just it, no one knows.” He’s distracted; we slide past the hulk of a tractor trailer, somehow looking forlornly burnt.
“What do you mean no one knows, something this big happens, the whole world should know.”
The man lets out a breath, I still don’t know his name, I don’t even remember my own. He starts to speak, but I interrupt, “What’s your name?”
“Otis, my names Otis, sorry I didn’t even bother to introduce myself. I work for the government. Like I was just about to say, I’m here trying to figure out what it is that is attacking everything. You see,” another pause, more debris, “whatever it is, it’s never been spotted because it only attacks at night.”
“And it took the entire country in one week?” I was a little more than incredulous.
“We’ll these things, we call them Night-Crawlers, have a strange effect over electricity and things run by it, we believe it has to do with-“
And he’s off onto technical stuff that I don’t’ understand, typical of a scientist. I’m letting him ramble on, seeing that the good stuff will come soon enough. The clouds of smoke are growing larger by the minute, along with our highway, it’s now four lanes one way. This road is probably going to lead right to the heart of this city. Gosh, there’s burning rubble on either side, as far as my eyes can see. Ash is falling lightly, and I can see smaller forms scattered around empty streets. I hope they’re not what I think they are. Something doesn’t feel right. Almost like I’m missing something, crap he’s wrapping up.
“So within those first few hours, security, communications, military, everything was down, and in total darkness. What’s left of the government has turned into stockades, heavily guarded sections of cities, with people held up inside, waiting for this war to end. That’s where we’re headed now.”
“Will the war ever end?” To me it sounds like something that will end once everyone runs out of food and guns, but I can’t really voice this to Otis, it might snuff out his hope.
My head shoots up at his next words, “My hope is that it could end within a few weeks.”
“But how? Whose going to do it, how many of them are out there, what kind of military do we have?” I want to say more but he waves me silent. Were driving over a cracked overpass, I can feel the ground shift slightly beneath us. I wonder how long it will take to get where were going.
There is still something I feel missing from my body, mental check shows everything is there, but still.
“I’m going to capture one of the Night-Crawlers.” It’s a fact, almost as if Otis has done it already. My mouth drops open.
“But no one’s even seen one.” My protest again is cut through by his hand, it’s kind of annoying, and something stirs in my gut.
“I have my way you’ll just have to see.” He looks up to the sky, “were going to have to spend the night here on the road, the sun is setting fast.’
I didn’t even notice. The sky is turning a brilliant shade of orange, tinted with the brown of smoke. Night is coming on, I suddenly feel too tired to keep my head up, I think Otis notices because I feel the bus slowing down, we pull behind yet another hulking frame of twisted and melted metal.
I un-strap myself and Otis guides me back through the plastic door to my bed. Lying down in my bed, I see Otis filling a cup of water for me.
“Here,” hands me the cup, “this will help you sleep.”
I think nothing of it and immediately feel myself slipping away, I voice one last question to him.
“Otis, how on earth are you going to capture something that’s turned entire cities into smoked marshmallows?”
There is an infinite amount of quiet, and my mind is surrendering itself to sleep, when Otis answers, “The night crawlers didn’t burn us out. We did.”

Dream 1, Part 1

This story comes from a dream I had, it has to be broken into segments, which will be updated day to day (probably at 10:00am every day). So if some parts are boring, stay tuned! It'll prove exciting I hope.


A Nightcrawler's Dream



I feel movement around me, my body shifting left and right. I am accelerating, my blood rushes up to my brain, I can feel bumping, and there’s a roar. Nothing is in focus around me, I am rushing along in complete darkness. I hear something, muffled sounds, like shrieking, yelling. I feel my body jerk, then complete darkness envelopes me again.
“Hey . . .” there is a push on my arm; I think it’s my arm. “It’s okay, wake up, your safe now, wake up.”
The voice is unfamiliar, I ache to open my eyes, but it feels like someone is pressing down on my skull, forcing me into the ground. I twitch a lid.
“That’s it, nice and easy, just don’t move quickly.” The voice is clear and deep, I’ve never heard it before. I finally lift one lid, my left one, though it shouldn’t matter right now. Everything is blurry still, I try to open my right eye, light pours in, and I flinch.
“Its going to be okay, you’re in a safe place.” The voice is in front of me, I can feel breath on my face. I inhale, and the room snaps into focus. I look into the bearded visage of a man, dressed in a lab coat. Behind him is the smallest hospital room I’ve ever seen in my life, and weirdly enough through the door that leads out into the hall has two seats, a steering wheel and a windshield.
“Where am I?” My voice seems to bubble from my lips, I find it alien, like it hasn’t been used in years.
The man in front of me smiles, “You’re in MCL 32, Mobile Chemistry Lab 32. I know it’s a bit disorienting, you’ll probably feel that after the action you’ve seen.’
“Action?”
“Do you remember anything?” His voice grows softer.
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve been in a coma for a month.”
I know shock should be paralyzing me right now, but all I can feel is numb.
“A coma. . .for a month?”
The man walks over to a calendar on the wall: it reads October 1st 2011. He flips pages back, “Yeah, I picked you up the beginning of September, see, and I’ve been trying to wake you up since then.”
I feel weakness flood into me, my mind is racing over a blank slate in my mind, “Where, how, why?”

I feel disjointed, and I can see darkness trailing the edges of my vision.
Something somewhere beeps, and I feel several forces pulling me into the bed, the wall, the floor and the ceiling. The darkness seems to keep threading itself into my eyes.
I feel pain, lots of pain, and I hear something, a low hissing that swallows itself into darkness.

9-1-1 Emergency Call October 13, 2001 9:01p.m.

THE CALL


"911 emergency-"
"Please you need to help me!"
"What is the situation ma'am?"
"I'm stuck inside of an elevator."
"Is security on their way?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then all you have to do is sit tight mam, they should be there in a few-"
"I don't have time! Somethings in here with me."
"Sorry miss did you say someone is there with you, are they hurt?"
"NO, its not with me, its outside."
"The person is outside? Are they leaving the elevator?"
"Oh my gosh you don't understand."
"Ma'am, where are you?"
"Oh gosh, its close. I can hear it crawling towards me."
"Ma'am, where are you?"
"A hotel."
"Which hotel?"
"Its sniffing, oh, it can smell me. I GOING TO DIE!"
"Ma'am, which hotel?"
"What hotel?! It doesn't matter, freak I'm going to die!"
"Ma'am try to stay calm, you aren't going to die. What hotel are you in?"
"Oh my- its going to crawling inside. Oh Gosh, help me!"
"Ma'am, try to remain calm."
"Are you still there?"
"Yes ma'am, just tell me where you are and I can get our guys to you."
"Where am I? Where am I! Freak its getting closer."
"Focus,okay whats your name?"
"My name? Lisa, its Lisa."
"Where are you Lisa, whats the name of the hotel."
"I'm Lisa,I'm in the.... Oh my its climbing around. . .the Radisson! I'm here in the Radisson."
"Which one?"
"How'm I suppose to know that? Oh freak, I think its chewing through."
"Lisa stay with me girl, Focus! Where are you?"
". . . . .its the one on north and 36Th, by the freeway."
"Perfect, were calling there now, just stay with me-"
"OH GOSH, EVERYTHING IS SHAKING! ITS SHAKING!"
"LISA stay calm, LISA I'M HERE!"
". . . "
"Lisa?"
". . . . ."
"Honey, are you still there?"
". .the lights are out, I can't. ."
"Don't worry help is on the way."
". . .its. . .its. . ."
". . . ."
"Its inside. . ."
". . . ."
". . I- somethings moving on the ceiling. . "
". .I . .don't. . ."
". . .hsssssss."
*Click*