Post by Part 1 Draft ASAS on Aug 10, 2009 14:49:18 GMT
Through The Eyes of the Devil:
Another Side; another Story
It came so fast that no one saw it coming, not even the founders, until it was by far too late. Not until one of them was there. Stood there ready to eat the flesh off your bones. They gave mercy to no one, they ate until we were dead and they could enter the remains that were left, which was very little once they’d finished their meal. Once we were over and they took control, it began again. There will be no winning. There will be no happy ending.
We were doomed from the start.
Chapter One
The first year of children to change was the youngest, year seven. The kids were now even more vicious than usual. They ran around the dark, desolate and dusty schoolyard eating anything they could and chanting in a strange, unknown language.
Whoever or whatever had killed them had disfigured most of their faces and transformed them into mutant like creatures with grotesque features. Some were missing ears, some fingers; even some were missing major facial features such as their nose.
They all marched, hopped or dragged themselves in groups, soldier groups. They all fed in groups, that way there was no way for their prey to escape the grasp of their decaying fingers. They all ventured in syncopation for their next meal, us. Once they caught another life to destroy, the screams of the suffering could be heard throughout the dark, eerie, empty corridors of the school.
The school motto, ‘Respect’, was only obeyed to a certain extent of leaving enough on the bones of the eaten so that another could inhabit the remains, one of the long awaited tenants of Earth.
No one was left alive throughout the school except a teacher, ‘Mr Smith’, and a pupil.
Chapter Two
The three scientists stood, jaws dropped, in front of the work they’d just completed. All three were wearing their work outfits, which consisted of a pair of black pants, a surprisingly white shirt and a white smock. They looked like your typical movie scientists, two of them even wore those stereotypical giant specs, which fully covered their faces and enlarged their eyes to an extreme of ugliness.
What they were stood in front of was the result of their yearlong experiment, a portal into another world. None of them dared enter the swirling black hole on the wall opposite for the fear of losing their little, sad lives. They all just stood there staring into the abyss though the comedy glasses.
‘Where did it lead?’
‘What was actually on the other side?’
These were just a few of the questions they were asking themselves. These were just some of the questions they’d wish to answer soon.
Biological test tube logos covered near enough everything in the glossy white painted room in which they stood. It was pasted on the books, the walls and the coats; to name a few.
Nothing could be seen without the logo printed on it, besides a leather jacket laid out on the table in the middle of the room. The leather jacket belonged to none of the scientists in the room at the time, it belonged to another, a black male known as ‘Leroy’ who was no longer in this room, no longer part of this company, no longer part of this world.
Leroy was murdered not so long ago by one of the security staff of the company. He was shot twice directly through the heart, for trying to steal highly classified information and substances. For what, was unknown.
Leroy was the first to pass over; he was the first to taste the blood of the human race.
Once he was up and moving again, he dragged his decaying body over to the room containing the three scientists, ‘Experiment Room 28’.
***
The scientists were finally discussing the hole and who was going to venture inside when the creature entered. At first none of them even noticed he was there. It was only once the creature spoke, did they blink and focus their attention on something other than the portal.
“What beautiful flesh you all have!” Shouted the creature over the swirling noise passing around the room.
For a while none of the three even dared speak a word. They all held their breath and fought back a scream. It was the youngest one who first noticed the puncture wounds entering his chest.
“My God! Are you OK?”
“What the f*ck do you think smart arse!” replied the creature angrily.
“What do you want? We have no money.” Asked one of the scientists.
“Don’t worry; you can keep your stupid money. I’ve no need for it now… but I guess neither do you. All I want is… your flesh!” screamed the creature.
Before any of them had chance to plea for mercy, the creature flipped the light switch situated on the wall next to him.
The lights never returned and neither did the men, not as themselves anyway.
Chapter Three
“Sir, Sir are you OK?”
The teacher was sprawled out on the table in front of the young girl’s eyes. Blood trickled down from his wounds and ran across the table to the ends, until it dived to its death on the floor below. Each minute drop of his blood joined the pool increasing on the floor. Every drop created a loud noise, which echoed throughout the room and no doubt was heard in every other room in this section of the school.
The girl sat in the corner of the room with her knees up, covering her face. She prayed that no more of them things would return and finish the job. Finish by eating her and her dying teacher.
She prayed in her head for some saviour to come and rescue her from this near death experience.
‘Please, please someone. Help me. Please’
***
Mr Smith had become seriously injured whilst rescuing the young girl. He had been running around the school for hours and had been hiding in and out of the classrooms he’d once used to teach in.
He found the girl in the corner of, what seemed the millionth, classroom he’d entered. She was huddled up, surrounded by four of those creatures. They were all ready to eat; ready to devour the poor defenceless girl in front of them lay on a plate.
The girl must have been about sixteen, most likely in the last year of school. She must have been new, as Smith didn’t recognise her one bit.
She was just sat there, waiting to be eaten. Obviously the girl didn’t want this to happen but maybe she’d just given up.
The creatures couldn’t wait to share her meat between them. They planned to eat as much as possible without completely destroying the shell of the girl, not too much that she couldn’t return as her other half.
Three of the creatures stalked towards the girl. They walked with a slight swagger. Their shoes glided, their feet hardly left the floor, and it was extremely disturbing to watch. This was as close to a real life horror film he’d ever been or wished to be.
From a distance Smith could slightly recognise the reanimated corpses. One was the remains of Mr. Cloud, one was Reece Storey and the other was Pete Black. He’d taught the two young boys several times and it was understandable that their bodies were still wondering the school premises but it was unknown why the older gentleman was here.
Scanning the room, Smith noticed a broken chair leg lying on the floor not two feet away from the door, which he stood in. The wooden piece looked like a gift from heaven. The way it laid alone in a circle of nothing made it the centre of attention, literally.
The rest of the room was in total destruction. It was too good to be true that the room was still standing.
Smith stepped into the room and over to the chair leg.
Quietly, he lent down and gripped the wood in his hand.
He shot upright as he heard the shuffles of feet directly in front of him. Just as he thought, the one creature left had noticed his presence and had started on his way to attack Smith.
Smith had no time to think as the creature leapt through the air and grasped his throat with both hands. The strength put into crushing Smith’s throat was abnormal. No human could have had the will power to try such a thing. This thing was no human.
Smith swung the wooden piece around and caught the creature directly on its temple. The air was then filled with tiny splinters as it broke on the creatures face. Several pieces lodged into the creature’s skull and it collapsed to the ground. What was left of the piece he dropped on the floor.
With all the commotion, the other three creature’s attention was drawn onto Mr Smith.
Their glare was like a sharp knife through his heart and almost immediately his eyes began to water. The pain grew sharper and his eyes flooded with more water.
‘What’s going on?’ thought Smith
He’d defeated several of these things on his way around the school and was completely confused by the pain he felt now with these ones. These creatures seemed to hold some kind of mental ability, and it worked, it worked a lot.
Through all the pain, Smith fainted and fell to the floor…
***
The girl had counted the drops of blood for the past couple of minutes, which had been dropping onto the floor.
“152…153…154” she whispered.
She thought maybe she should get off the floor and go wrap up his wounds but decided against it as she couldn’t be sure he hadn’t already passed over. She couldn’t be sure he wasn’t one of them already, waiting for a sense of security to pass over her. Waiting to pounce on her, eat her.
***
The girl looked up out of her arms and noticed that the creatures she’d waited to eat her were now looking the other way. They were now facing someone else.
‘Mr Smith!’
She could tell it was he just by the clothes he wore and the style of his hair. He was the only teacher, which actually made an effort with his appearance, unlike the rest she’d seen around and about over the week.
He was laid on the floor with a wooden piece propped up out of his back. Blood had already exited the wound and was flooding in her direction.
A young girl stood behind him looking down at the blood being absorbed by his shirt.
The young girl brought her head up and looked directly at the girl sat on the floor. The creature-inhabited child was missing a leg, had many teeth bitten holes in her arms and had pure red eyes.
Her eyes didn’t look as much bloodshot as bleeding. They looked like a pair of false eyes you could most likely buy from a joke shop in town. But these eyes didn’t look amusing they terrified the girl but not as much as the mixture of blood and saliva dripping from her mouth onto the teacher below.
***
He opened his eyes and looked around the room he’d been brought back into. From what he could make out, he was in the body of a little girl and was situated in the middle of a classroom.
‘This isn’t my body!’ he thought.
Just then, a human dashed past the room and stopped outside the room opposite.
‘Great, food’
The creature tried to pull itself up but was stopped as it realised it was missing its right leg.
‘Stupid f*cking idiots! How many times did we say, don’t eat the God Damn legs!’
The creature wanted its meal none the less. It slowly began to drag its body across the floor towards the door. Placing one hand in front of the other he grabbed the legs of the tables and pulled himself onward. Before he knew it he was at the door and was able to grab the knob and thrust himself onto his one remaining leg.
From where he was stood he could see a male, a little girl and four of his dominions. His men were staggering towards the little girl they were ready to eat.
‘They can have her but he’s mine. I’m going to love eating you.’ He thought.
The male lent down and picked something up from the floor, which was unrecognisable from this distance.
Before the human had chance to stance himself one of my men jumped at him. Most likely wrapping his decaying fingers around his throat. But the human was surprisingly fast witted and was breaking the piece of wood, which I could now make out, over his head. Within moments the creature was out for good and bleeding out of his temple all over the shoes of the male responsible.
“That’s it! He’s mine!” muttered the creature.
Quickly, the creature hoped over towards the room containing all the commotion.
Once inside, he noticed that the human had dropped the remaining piece of wood on the floor and was immobile in the centre of the room.
Rapidly, I picked up the wooden leg and pushed the broken edge into the back of the human. I pulled it out several times and plunged it back in again.
The creature watched as the human fell to the floor and blood emptied out of his back and flooded the surrounding laminate boards.
I was amazed at how quickly the blood swam and was even more amazed at the beauty of the girls flesh opposite. She looked good enough to eat. That was the plan. She looked delicious. So much so that saliva filled my mouth.
Chapter Four
James could hear the cries for help of the humans being eaten from miles away. Their final breaths were taken away from them as the creatures tore out their thoraxes and sucked the muscle off the bone.
The fog infested streets echoed with the screams of young children to seniors. But no matter what he age, they all screamed the same thing:
“Please God! Why? Help! Please, help!”
He could help not one of them but his gut feeling said he should. The best thing he could do for them now was to blow their brains onto the floor and end the lives of them inside their bodies.
It was near impossible to see them coming out of the fog until they were inches away from his face. Constantly, their claws batted away at the air in front and James constantly struck them down with one empty of his shotgun.
In the past few minutes he’d walked down the streets towards his destination, he must have killed at least 20 of them. They just kept coming, one after another. Some of them he could recognise from people living in the area. The ones, which were harder to kill, were the little kids. Not because they had more strength than the older ones, as they did not, but mentally it felt wrong for James to decide their fate of collapsing onto the floor, one more time.
This increasing amount of young children attacking him was an indication that James was getting nearer to the school he’d been looking for, since she’d asked him to.
It took him quite awhile to realise that the creatures were noticing his presence not because they could smell him like dogs smelt fear, like he initially figured, but because of the noise empting from his gun, which joined the bullets scattered, with each shot was the only remaining sound bouncing through the streets and entering the creatures empty minds.
Even with this in mind, he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop shooting or running through the streets. He didn’t slow down his pace in an attempt to soften the noise his shoes were giving off. He just carried on as he was, until…
Chapter Five
The creature just stood there for a moment, staring at the girl in front of him. He knew that the girl couldn’t escape him and had nowhere to run or hide. This sent a sensual tingle down his new spine and caused his body to spasm in ecstasy.
Once his body stilled he noticed the three other creatures edging towards the girl.
“Tharsward belosue dintina!” shouted the creature to the others.
They immediately stepped away from the little girl and stood up straight like army men to a commanding officer. They all looked like they were under control and unable to move an inch.
A grin grew upon his face and near enough touched each ear. Saliva dribbled down his chin but he didn’t rub it off but left it for the moment. It was a feeling he’d never felt in his world, nothing ever made him so hungry before. He’d never wanted anything so much. The grin soon disappeared though as gunshots exploded out in the corridor.
***
The creature acknowledged the noise, as did the girl.
The girl looked up out of her arms and saw the creature nod to the other three. They immediately ran out into the corridor to inspect the cause for the commotion and the leader continued to stare at her.
“ What’s your name darling?” asked the creature.
The girl just sat there staring at the floor. She hoped that the creature would either get it over and done with or leave her alone. She knew that the second option was far from going to happen. So she’d rather not speak or interact with the damn things.
“I said what’s your name, girl?” repeated the creature but with a lot more authority in its voice this time.
The creature began to hop towards the girl and in the process wiped the saliva and blood from its face. Its eyes never blinked or showed any other emotion but lust. Lust for flesh.
Eventually, the creature made its way to the girl and leant down to whisper something into her ear.
“I would have done it quick if you just paid a little attention. All I wanted was to know your name but you couldn’t even give me that. For that, I’m going to take my time with you. You’re going to feel every single bit of pain.”
The creature grabbed a hold of the girl’s throat and tensed his fingers, whilst lifting her up onto her feet.
The girl wept and tears rolled down her face uncontrollably. The giant droplets of water passed over her cheeks and onto the hand of the creature, which he almost immediately licked up with a devilish smile.
“Salty. I’m going to enjoy this” spoke the creature.
***
James ran through the mist towards what he thought was the position of the school. He knew in his stomach that there would be someone still left alive inside, someone who needed help, his help.
He had developed this ‘sixth sense’ for danger. He wasn’t sure how he’d caught this ability or why he was the one to have to carry this burden but no matter how hard he tried to stop seeing the deaths of these unknown humans, he never prevailed. The upside to this ability was that he had saved a few people since obtaining the power.
Like ‘Thomas’ and ‘Zak’.
Unfortunately he didn’t follow his gut straight away and it cost them both their lives.
Thomas, father to Zak, was injured in his own home, whilst defending his boy. He held onto what life he had left for about half an hour. He lived again for one last minute, to kill his son.
Luckily James, had heard the screams of the boy, was able to burst into the room and blow Thomas’s head onto the wall and his sons onto the floor before he too changed into one of them.
The poor boy must have been in a hell of a lot of pain, both physically and mentally. Not only was the pain of having his limbs being torn off of him and eaten by one of those things enough that the creature responsible was his dad.
When James entered the room and looked upon the two men he’d not long ago known as new friends he felt no sadness in ending the lives of the two, especially the teenage boy. James hadn’t had time to examine fully the actual amount of bloodshed in the room and he sure wasn’t going to return once he’d done his work, but he could graphically remember the pure crimson of the blood infested walls and the boy’s torn torso.
Once again all James could think about was about the pain the poor must have endured in the last few hours.
James couldn’t even begin to imagine the upset the lad had been under in his last moments of life. Then the pains of having your brain torn out and thrown onto the floor like a piece of useless shit by a man you’d only just met. The idea of others suffering, whilst he was alive drove him onwards in hope of saving those still left to save.
James soon reached the front entrance of the school and continued to sprint up the steps even after he noticed the creatures walking the hallways. They looked like any normal person would do prowling the premises in search for something. Whereas a human being would look for food eaten by most, they looked around for us; we were their food. You wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference between the living and the creatures when they walked around like this. The only way to tell was by examining the state of their bodies and faces. If they were distorted in any way, then you knew something wasn’t right and they were most likely one of them.
He planned to run around the school in search for whoever was left without attracting to much attention but that was straight out of the window when he was spotted by one of the few walking around inside.
The creature that spotted him was a man older than James, his face had been shredded and his left eye was swinging out of its socket like a pendulum in a grandfather clock.
James shouldered his shotgun once again and began blowing the creatures into little pieces around the hallway. The disembodied body parts looked a lot like confetti being thrown at weeding. He knew that insanity was taking control of him but at this stage anything remotely resembling the civilisation he once loved to live in was amusing and cascaded a smile across his face.
The only thing keeping him going was the hope of seeing his daughter one more time or even hearing her voice.
After empting the final rounds left in the gun and ending the lives of the creatures surrounding him, he gave out a sigh of relief. It didn’t last long though because not so soon after, three more creatures emptied out of one of the classrooms into the hall.
The creatures circled James and spoke in an unknown language to him.
“Hisapongly Detrarie Goopliect! Hisapongly Detrarie Goopliect!” screamed the three, in time with each other.
James watched them all carefully and circled in the opposite direction to enable him to keep all three in sight in case they attacked. He wouldn’t give them any chance at jumping him from behind. He wasn’t planning on going out that way, not after all he’d been through and the thought of his daughter suffering the same fate.
Even still, he didn’t know what to do now.
He had no bullets left in his gun.
All he had was hope and his fists.
Chapter Six
“Come on baby! We’ve got to leave now! Only get what you need, we’ll get daddy to get the rest, OK! Hurry!” shouted Carol.
Carol was stood outside her beautiful house. The house was the biggest on the street and, by her mind, the nicest also. She had James to thank for that. He brought in all the money for the past six years, since their baby girl; Layla was born.
Carols shoulder length hair shone in the blazing sunlight. It was so hot out that it wouldn’t be surprising if the black hummer’s paintwork were to drip straight off onto the floor.
Carol glanced around and searched the empty streets for any sign of human life. Another soul was nowhere to be seen. This was when Carol realised that it had begun and it was too late to wait any longer.
“Layla! Baby! Come on, quick!” she shouted again into the enormous house.
Turning her head back around to meet her daughter stepping out into the sun, an extremely painful blast exploded on the back of her head. This was the results of what happened moments ago. She didn’t think that the effects would appear so quick.
***
Layla stepped out into the sun and was blinded momentarily by the reflection off her mother’s hair. She winced and covered her baby blues. Her tiny hands clasped over her face and blocked out the outside light and burning heat. It was strangely hot today considering the time of year.
Layla paused for a moment and smelt the air. It wasn’t fresh liked she’d expected. The same smell from inside the house had followed her outside. It smelt like the bin in the back yard.
One time, Layla jumped up and into the bin out of pure curiosity, only to get stuck inside for what seemed an hour. Until her dad came to her rescue and lifted her out of the smelly black mouth. Ever since then she’d never go near the bin just in case it ate her again. In case it wanted another taste of her. This was the smell she was inhaling now. It was the most horrible stench she had ever had to endure and she wasn’t at all happy she had to.
She wanted her dad again like last time but he wasn’t to be found. She’d spent the last few minutes looking around the mansion she lived in but was unable to find any trace of her parent. She gave up after her mum had shouted her down for the millionth time. Her mum was a good replacement for her dad though. She didn’t have the brute strength he had, but she had the caring side and she also would do anything to help her, even save her from a bin if needs be.
Layla was startled slightly when a hand was placed onto hers. She jumped in her skin and took a step backwards before removing her hands from her eyes and looking up into the street.
With the sun shining down onto the body before her, Layla had trouble realising who it was at first but once the person shifted and shadowed the rays of light, she realised it was her mum and not a stranger.
Her mum smiled down at Layla, who forced one onto her face also even knowing that her beloved dad wasn’t in her presence. She took a deep gulp and swallowed hard and let the words roll right off of her tongue.
“Where’s dad? I want dad. Is he coming too?” demanded the little girl.
“No honey, he isn’t. He’s going to be meeting us there, OK? But don’t worry, you’ve got me for now” replied the woman in front.
Layla looked down and sighed like the young girl she was. Looking down she noticed she was wearing sandals with no socks. Her little sausage toes poked out of the wholes and wriggled around like worms.
She was dressed slightly strangely today. She wore sandals, denim shorts and a ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ top her dad had bought her not a lot more than a month ago for her birthday. The T-shirt she wore had a picture printed onto it of the main character, Jack Skellington, his dog, Zero, his girlfriend, Sally, and the little rascals know as Lock, Shock and Barrel.
Layla was continually referred to as ‘Shock’ by her dad. It was her nickname given to her because of her likeness to the fictional character. She behaved just like her; she was always getting into trouble and was a lot smarter than she looked. She definitely knew how to invade getting into trouble by family members, by turning on the cute face. She figured out how to manipulate her dad when she was very young when she spilled a tub of paint and as soon as she smiled, her dad melted and she didn’t get into any depth of trouble liked she’d expected.
That was another reason why she preferred her dad to her mum, because her mum didn’t brake so easy. It took time to beat down her mums temper. She always did so but only after hours of crying.
Layla stupidly told her friends at school about her nickname and a boy in her class had bullied her over it for months. He said she looked like the character because of the resemblance of the nose, the big, pointy nose. Layla had run home several times crying, asking if it were true, and each time her dad would reply - “No silly. You’re beautiful, that’s why you’re my little, Shock!”
Once he said this, it was then her time to beat her dad up and laugh away the tears but now her dad wasn’t hear to make her laugh and wipe away her tears. She was alone, near enough anyway.
“Come on baby, let’s get into the car.” Whispered her mum.
Chapter Seven
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll make you a little deal. You tell me your name and I’ll let you listen to whoever is outside, get eaten alive. You can listen to his screams and whimpers and once he’s dead you can share his meat with me. How does that sound?” muttered the creature.
The teenage girl just stood rigid, under the grasp of the creature. Her eyes were closed and her lips were closed. She didn’t speak.
The creature shook her violently and repeated his offer.
“What is your name, bitch!” screamed the creature.
The girl didn’t reply but began to whimper.
The creature shook the girl even more violently and the whimpers grew louder.
The girls face was one of total agony whereas the creature’s was one of glee and joy. He was enjoying this immensely.
***
The three creatures continued to circle James and he continued to circle with them.
They all spoke this unknown language and didn’t seem to be interested in making the first move, so James took the opportunity.
He stooped turning and swung the butt of the gun into the creatures face nearest to him.
The creatures face imploded and James was surprised it took so little to destroy the life of a human being. Then James realised it wasn’t a human anymore and that the strength put into the swing was most likely enough to brake a piece of metal, never mind a plump piece of flesh and bone.
The creatures stopped and turned to look at the body of their fellow partner of the underworld, which had just been broken.
The creature fell stood momentarily, until James grabbed the end of the gun and forced it out like ‘Excalibur’ from the stone.
Not only did the gun retract from the creatures face but also a great amount of brain matter and muscle.
A long string of red what looked like spaghetti attached to the gun was the only thing holding the creature’s body upright.
James pulled the gun backward and the string of flesh snapped with a wet sound of slush.
The creature fell to the floor with an almighty thud. As soon as the creature’s head impacted with the stone floor, a spray of blood exited the whole on the front of its face and covered all of James face and eyes.
His vision was now filtered with the red colour of blood. It was blurry at first and James could see nothing.
The first thing he saw was the fist…
***
The two women clambered up into the black hummer. It was a struggle for both but more so for little Layla. She had always had trouble getting in and out of the beast but with the increasing heat wrapping around ever inch of her body, it took a lot more power to grab onto the handle beside the seat and to lift herself inside.
This was a reminder of her size. Layla had always been known for her small size. She was the second smallest in her class, the smallest being Steven, the young boy who called her ‘Shock’. The two would argue over everything and anything. Layla would usually win; she had an ability to control the opposite sex, men. The younger ones didn’t know what to reply back with, and the older ones were too fixated on how cute she was to argue back.
Too many times to count, had most people called Layla cute, which she’d met in her short lifetime. She probably had been called it more than an elderly woman had in her centuries of existence.
Layla was blessed with her looks. She had her dads blue eyes and her mum’s long blonde hair. Layla’s hair wasn’t as fair as her mothers but it was noticeable she was her daughter nonetheless.
After several attempts to get into the car and onto the seat, Layla’s mum ended up helping her in.
Layla stuck her tongue out at her mother once up and into the car. Her mum smiled down at her and lay back in the seat.
Layla grappled with the seat belt, pulled it towards the buckle and was satisfied once it clicked into place.
‘Safety first’ thought Layla.
Then Layla sat and waited.
***
The blow into James face sent him flying down the corridor and the gun in the opposite direction.
James slipped on the waxed floor and was sent metres away from the two remaining creatures. He was actually surprised at just how far he’d been sent. He didn’t feel any pain from the blow until he stopped sliding and rubbed his nose to make sure it wasn’t broken.
It wasn’t but it bled just the same as it would if it was. The mixture of his own blood and that of the creature ran down his front, trickled down his legs and bounced off of his boots onto the floor.
His one black boots, were now covered in blood and debris from the doors he’d broken down before. The colour had turned pinky. Pink was his daughter’s favourite colour. Again, this slight reminder of his daughter forced him to fight onwards.
James attempted to get to his feet but the pain of the blow he’d just been given was uncontrollable and sent him to the floor once more.
The two creatures laughed and mocked James and his little amount of strength compared to that of their own. The echoes of laughter sent a powerful surge of anger and energy through his body.
James shot up onto his feet and looked above himself to the roof of the corridor. There were several pipes passing across the wall above and James knew he needed one, so he jumped up into the air and pulled down on one of the cold pieces of metal. With all his weights pressure put into the pull, it wasn’t long until the piece came loose and dropped to the floor.
James fell with the piece and the laughter continued.
With his left arm, James searched the floor with his eyes closed. He did this to force all his energy into his arms. Being in the army for the past few years had taught him how to push all he had into a few minutes of anger.
Eventually, James’s hand passed over the metal piece and he closed his grip around the cold weapon. Once he felt his grip was firm, James pushed himself up and dragged the metal up to his level.
The laughter had now stopped and it was again silent in the school.
James scanned his surroundings and noticed a small electricity box planted on the wall next to him.
Taking a step back, James swung the pipe with all his strength, watched as sparks exited the box and smiled as the lights went out. With the lights now out, the corridor was engulfed in complete darkness apart from the flash of light from the bulbs above every few seconds.
James used the anger he’d surged and ran towards the creatures. They didn’t even know he was there until the lights flickered again. Eyes dilated, mouth open and weapon rose; James turn…
Chapter Eight
The car drove down past bungalows, flats and fields at a speed, which Carol would never have been at in any other situation.
The sun had become unbearable now. Carol opened her side window and was glad for the breeze passing in from outside. A wet substance ran down her forehead and was taken away by the air as soon as it left her face.
Carol glanced around to her daughter and noticed her miming along to a song on her CD player. The radio wasn’t working, there were no signals whatsoever, but she wasn’t at the least surprised. After all, it was the end of the world; they weren’t going to be playing songs to die to. Something like ‘I’m not OK!’ by ‘My Chemical Romance’ would be a suitable song to sing right now.
***
Layla noticed her mum was looking at her through the corner of her eye when the song ‘Far Away’ had finished.
Her mum was smiling at her but it didn’t look normal whatsoever. It was as if she was possessed or something.
Layla quickly turned off her CD player and turned to face her mum.
“What’s the matter, mummy?” asked Layla.
Her mum didn’t reply. She just sat there driving without looking, smiling. A slight worry passed over the little girl. She asked again.
“What’s the matter, mummy? Mummy?”
Her mothers belly rumbled the loudest she’d ever heard before.
Her mum turned her head and revealed a massive blood clot in her hair. Blood was all down her back and covered the seat.
Layla looked forward and noticed a supermarket up ahead. She could find food for her mum there she was sure.
“Time to eat… Layla” mumbled her mum.
***
The lamppost shuddered as the car collided with it. There was a loud crash and then it all went silent. Layla and her mother’s bodies were still momentarily. Then her mum moved…
Chapter Nine
James swung the long pipe through the damp, musky air. The lights flashed through the corridor and let the creatures now of his position.
The creature that should have taken the impact, quickly ducked down just as the piece flew towards its head. So the other creature took the blow instead.
‘Don’t matter. As long as one of them pays’ thought James.
The creature was sent flying into the wall just like he had been sent down the corridor not long ago. Its head broke on the side of a door and its eyes rolled back into its head as the brain of its inhabitant fell out and onto the floor.
James stepped over to the corpse and placed his foot onto the brain. A wet squelch noise came out of the brain as James stepped onto it and forced the inside of it out.
‘All that’s left now is the other’ thought James.
***
Layla woke. Her eyes had stuck together with the tears she’d given off during her sleep. She rubbed her tiny hands back and forth on her protective lids. The salt burned and she almost began to cry again but this time from pain, not from the crash.
Once her vision had returned she looked out the car window and noticed the sun had now set. The once beautiful hot, gleaming ball of light had been replaced by seemingly pure evil, darkness. There were no stars out and the moon was nowhere to be found. The only lights visible were the cars battered headlights screaming at the front outwards and a few lampposts further down the road.
The lamppost they’d crashed into was no longer working but Layla couldn’t really remember if it was before they collided.
‘Mum!’ Layla thought.
She wrestled with the snake like safety belt around her waist for over a minute, eventually pulling it lose and setting herself free from the slimy devil. She couldn’t believe she put it on before for safety but now she was dying to get it off. She then searched frantically in the small space remaining in the front of the car, which was covered in the broken glass pane from the front and then swivelled herself around to search the back for any sign of life.
The vast emptiness sent a cold shiver up her spine and she began to whimper quietly.
“Mummy…Mummy please… where are you?” whispered Layla behind her tears.
Minutes passed until Layla calmed down and heard shuffles coming from outside the car. The slow paced feet movements’ weren’t the steps of a natural person. They were the sounds of feet being dragged underneath a great deal of weight.
The noise didn’t get any closer or any further away. It sounded as if the person responsible was circling something.
The quieter Layla got, the louder the sounds became and that was when she began to hear her heart pounding inside her fragile chest. She couldn’t even count a second in between each beat.
Layla had always been brave and these strange noises weren’t going to stop her from finding her mum and stop her from searching for her dad.
Opening the car door was surprisingly easy considering the devastation of it. The door had been crushed upon itself and there was a crease in the metal down the side.
Layla slowly and quietly clambered out of the giant black piece of scrap metal she’d always been scared of sitting in. Even though she didn’t like her mum helping her in the car, she wished she were there to help her out. The distance to the ground looked as if it was twice the size of her away but she took the chance and it paid off.
Once fully out and both her feet were firmly planted on the ground, Layla looked in the direction of the noises.
She now noticed that she was stood on the outside of a supermarket car park.
Several cars were scattered around the lot but not enough to fill the void of danger imbedded in her head with the feel of safety she wished to have.
Only a few lampposts shone down and gave an indication as to what was there. With the limited amount of light and vision, Layla decided to shout out to whoever was there for help.
“Hello? I’m lost and my mummy isn’t here, could you please help me find her?” asked Layla into the dark abyss.
A low-pitched mummer echoed from not so far off and boomed in her ears. It felt as if they could have bled if the note was held any longer.
Layla stood frozen glaring in the direction of whoever or whatever it was that was making the terrible noises.
The dragging off feet grew louder and faster now. They were coming in her direction. It was then that she saw it.
***
James wiped the blood from his eyes and just stared at the third creature, which now was looking slightly worried. His two friends were now lying on the floor motionless, dead. He had done it. He had killed them and this scared the creature. He’d only just come through the portal and he sure didn’t want to go back any time soon.
With this in mind the creature ran towards James. It ran with its arms outstretched ready to grab a hold of James’s flesh. The rage in its eyes was unbelievable.
James stood his ground firmly and held the metal piece in both hands. As the creature grew closer, his grip tightened. He was ready…
Chapter Ten
Layla froze on the spot at first, just to try and take in what she was witnessing. She couldn’t believe her eyes, didn’t want to either, but nonetheless it was true. This was happening and it was happening fast. It was getting faster.
The creature was stood in the darkness at first and Layla was unable to see the total devastation through the pitch-black night. The creature was heading toward her and she had no one to run to. It was infact her mum who was now running toward her.
The creature, embodied inside her mother, dragged its broken bones in the direction of her old daughter, new food.
It dragged itself into the band of light beneath a lamppost and it was then that it was clarified that it was her mum. Obviously her mother hadn’t worn her seatbelt like her aware daughter. The creatures face was torn to shreds and half of her scalp was missing. Only from one side, could you tell it was the reanimated corpse of the once beautiful woman, ‘Carol’. Even the side, which was better off, looked a mess. Within the mist of night, you’d never tell.
Whether it was, mum or not, made no difference to the fact that she was coming toward Layla with no intention of making her safe. She wanted only one thing, and somehow, even with Layla’s young age she knew, it was flesh.
Layla searched the surrounding car park for any place to hide but there was nowhere.
Layla’s eyes passed the car several times but she thought it would be useless getting into the car now, after being seen, plus it would probably take about half an hour to get up the giant steps anyway. Suddenly, Layla realised she didn’t need to get inside the car, only under it. It was her best option, her only option. She took it.
Layla dove underneath the car, scurried as close to the centre as she could and waited.
All of a sudden a loud roar engulfed the streets. Layla clasped her ears and closed her eyes. The noise grew louder and louder. Moments later the noise subsided and it was silent for about 3 seconds. Then there was a louder roar, possibly a gun. A bright white flash shone through the lids of Layla’s eyes and she was blinded momentarily.
When her vision returned, the loud roar had drifted back into the night.
Layla removed her hands from her ears and opened her eyes.
Lay out directly in front of the car was Layla’s mothers’ dead body. The corpse looked now even worse, up close. A bullet hole was indicated in her skull and blood and brain matter exited. Her eyes stared directly toward where Layla was crouched, even when the blood ran across the lenses. She was now, most definitely dead.
Chapter Eleven
James’s car pulled up into the driveway of his home. He didn’t even take time to turn off the engine. He quickly sprung out of the seat and out of the car. After all, he had absolutely no intention in staying.
His bright blue eyes shone in the sunlight, which was joined by the uncontrollable, undeterminable, unsatisfactory heat.
James was a stocky male of around 30 years of age (no one knew for sure). The one thing he lacked was height. He wasn’t overly small as to look stupid, but he would have liked to have bin a bit taller.
Today, he fashioned a popular pair of ‘denim’ jeans and a ‘Ben Sherman’ T-shirt his wife had bought him last Christmas.
His hair was fairly long and in need of a trim. It would have most likely passed over his ears if he didn’t constantly push it back, behind them. His fringe covered most of his forehead and was on a battle to invade his vision.
His hair was a dark brown. He could remember just before his daughter was born, him and his wife would joke about what colour their unborn child would get. His brown hair or her blonde locks. Now science would say that it was most probable that she would come out with a head full of brown flowing hair, and that’s why James made a bet with his wife. Funnily enough his daughter ended up having blonde hair and James lost the bet. His wife made him fulfil whatever she wanted and pay forever underestimating the female mind.
Where his daughter had brown hair or not made no difference to how much he loved her. She was his little ‘Shock’, his little Layla.
James set his mind ready for whatever was about to happen. He took a deep breath and ran through the open door of his home into the next chapter of his life.
***
James scanned the hallway and stared at the blood-drenched rug beneath his feet for a moment.
‘Aw shit!’ he thought.
The blood trailed into the kitchen directly opposite him. He was by far too scared to venture any deeper into this nightmare straight away. The blood had to be someone’s; he just hoped it wasn’t either his wife’s or daughter’s but he could think of no ones else’s it could be.
Turning around, James was facing a mirror. The mirror didn’t exactly flatter him much but that wasn’t its fault. It was himself that made him look like this. The rush home had taken the breath out of him and he was now covered in sweat. His fringe clung to his forehead and collected near enough every drop of salt water, which attempted to enter his eyes. He was now thankful for his annoying fringe, protecting his sight and stopping the water from causing the burning pain in his eyes, which he’d, experienced plenty of times before.
James knew he needed to check the kitchen even before he took his first step. Each step shook the world around him and he needed to stop every few just to regain his balance. Once he was happy that he could continue further, he did.
Passing further down the empty, blood drenched, corridor, towards the kitchen meant that he passed a room, the dining room.
Stood underneath the doorframe, James glanced inside then dark room, just to make sure there were no intruders there ready to pounce on top of him and finish off the only remaining person from the family.
‘That means they got Layla and Carol!’ he thought.
James instinctively realised he was poisoning his own mind with darkness. No one needed to jump him from behind, they could charge at him in this state and it would take him hours to react and defend himself. He couldn’t go any further thinking this way, and he knew it. So, he swung his hand around his face and gave himself the hardest slap he’d ever obtained; apart from the many he’d taken off his beloved wife throughout their marriage. He was pretty sure he’d met her by running into her hand.
The hand stung a lot more than he hoped it would and his eyes began to water due to the build up of sadness and the slap he’d just idiotically given himself. Through the glaze of the water, James saw a bright white envelope situated firmly on the table opposite his frozen body.
The front had the word ‘James’ wrote on the front. The handwriting hand obviously been either written in a hurry by his wife or by someone new as it didn’t look familiar to his eyes. Tiny droplets of a red coloured substance covered the white letter and distilled outwards making some parts turn pink.
He so wanted to run up to the envelope, rip it open and read the letter inside. He hoped it’d be off his wife saying that they were safe and would be home soon. He knew it would not, so he decided it would be best to find out what the blood was for first.
James turned back around and carried on down the long corridor. He was almost there, almost at his destination. All he needed to do now was peer around the corner of the kitchen door and into the mysterious darkness inside.
One more step took him inside the room and sent a powerful blow to his heart. He felt it break inside and crumble down his back. He could bare the thought of opening his eyes and seeing one of his family laid out on the floor dead, covered in blood. So he shut his eyes as he turned his head. It wasn’t the best idea he’d had he admitted but when all you can do is pray for survival of so many, you instinctively close the lids of your eyes and speak to whoever you supported up above.
Having them shut for so long, it was difficult to open them again and it took all of James willpower to do so. Once he did, he looked inside the mouth hell and took in all that was happening in one enormous pill.
What he saw terrified the life out of him…
***
James had lived in this house for over five years. All the family loved their home. The surroundings were perfect, the people were the nicest around and the space was incredible.
It had a massive, beautiful back garden that led into the ‘Black wood’ park behind. Little Layla had her own room she’d always wanted. The room was originally a storeroom for all of his and Carols past memories and happenings; from photos to teddies he’d bought her on their first date together, the fair. He won it on a basketball game, which cost £5 to play, he was the best in school all his life and therefore he knew he had the bear for her even before he actually won.
When they found out they were set to have a child of their own, they emptied the room in order to start some fresh new memories, Layla’s.
The house had two floors with two bedrooms, two beautiful bathrooms, a living room, dining room and the kitchen…
***
James opened his eyes and looked upon a mangled, distorted body. The unknown person was lay with its back flat against the fridge door. The person’s stomach had been slit open and its intestines writhed on the tiles next to it. Blood was everywhere and James could now determine the cause for the stains outside. But the blood covering its torn stomach was mixed with a brown, lumpy substance.
James didn’t dare go near it for several reasons. It was no doubt a murder scene and he didn’t want his prints covering everything around the place and also the smell, his nose had now been subjected to, was as close to the stench of rotting flesh he needed for today.
‘What the f*ck is it?’ he thought.
It looked as if it used to be human but now it looked strangely twisted, like one of those horror creatures you’d see on an old, cheap movie on the TV.
Its eyes were bloodshot red and it looked no longer like someone of this world, just like the people he’d nearly run over coming down here. He knew something was up on the way home but this clarified his suspicions and sent a cold gust through his blood.
James decided it was most defiantly time to read the letter in the dining room, next room. It might give him an idea as to where his family was now and he needed to know this just as much as what this thing was.
He turned and sprinted into the room and clasped his shaking fingers around the corners of the blood kissed envelope. After fumbling with the opening for a moment, he opened the cage to the note inside.
Turned sideways, the letter inside slid out and fell to the floor below. James dropped to his knees and felt his bones clash with the hard floor. Panicking, James lifted the letter up and unravelled the unknown. Once open fully, the words were visible. So much so that he could now recognise it was his wife’s.
‘Thank God’ he thought.
Slowly, he read the letter aloud.
***
“Dear James,
Something’s happened, something really bad. Both Layla and I heard about the incident in the middle of town. We knew we had to move quickly but we didn’t expect it to reach us as quick as it did. We wanted to wait for you but when this thing came and did this, we knew we had no time left to spare. I was stood in the kitchen thinking of what would be best to do when it came. It ran in through the back door and caught me off guard. I wrestled with it for a moment but it was far too strong for me. I’ve fell and hurt my head. I can’t see just how bad it is but its bleeding a lot. That’s why there’s blood covering this letter. I pulled out a knife from the cupboard and did what I could; I opened up its stomach once id regained my strength, in the hallway. I don’t know if its dead, it just fell to the floor. I’ve dragged it into the kitchen out of sight of the little one. She obviously asked about the blood but I told her it was something else. We should be OK. Were heading to my mothers, in London. I’ll see you there honey.
I love you so much!
We both do.
Carol and Layla”
James closed the letter and pushed it deep into his pocket and deep into his mind. He looked down at the carpet floor and knew exactly what was needed of him now.
Slowly and steadily he pulled himself up straight, with the table as a support, and took in just what was happening. He thought about his wife a child, the danger they’d just been in, whilst he was away and out of screaming distance.
‘What if he came back and it was his wife, dead in the next room? What would he do then?’ he thought.
He couldn’t control it; his eyes filled with water and ran like a river. Joining the fluid was an almighty cry.
That was when he heard it move…
Chapter Twelve
The creature looked around the room and passed its red eyes down onto the entrails of intestine intertwined beside him. With its nearest hand, it reached out and grabbed the slimy snakes. Squeezing the tubes of flesh made a splatter of blood flow out which join the pool around him. Shortly followed the puss.
Feeling excitement and hunger, the creature lifted up its own body part and probed it into its starving mouth. Chewing down on the tubes of meat felt like the first time of having sex. It was that slight feel of confusion and fright but the feel of ecstasy that joined not long once it began.
The meat fell down the creatures decaying throat and emptied back out onto the floor through his slit open stomach. The creature thought back to what happened not long ago, the woman who he’d wished to eat. He remembered that she’d battled with him well but he was by far stronger. He giggled when he remembered her catching her head on the wall.
‘She’ll be dead soon enough!’ he thought.
He grinned at the thought and decided it was time to move and search for some more food. There was no way he was going to sit here; in his own blood and remains, eating whatever he could find from the heap of his insides lay neatly next to him. He was going to find that bitch that had done this and kill her, eat her meat and resurrect her body for himself to use for yet another kill. One bitch had already escaped his clutches tonight; she certainly wasn’t going to keep the trend going.
Pulling himself up with the fridge handle, the creature rose from the floor and stretched the dangling intestines from the hole in his side. The tubes only came lose and let go of the ventricles inside, when the creature used all his un-human strength.
Once they were loose he threw them onto the floor, to join the rest of the organs spilled down before. It was like a piece of art, all the red, brown, and raised lumps of meat laid out in one heap.
Whilst he was looking upon the organs and blood, the creature overheard a conversation going on in the next room. From what he could tell, it was a male but he could hear no one else. The fool was talking to himself.
A wide grin spread across the creatures face and when he heard the human crying, he knew it was teatime. The creature spun around and headed towards the door; the passage way to the buffet. With all the positive emotion and the rush he was in, the creature didn’t see the knife hanging off the edge of the table.
He caught the blade and sent it crashing gently onto the floor. The noise rang in his ears and therefore it was most certain that the human would have done also. So the creature increased his pace and ran towards the door.
‘Next stop, blood fest!’ he thought.
***
James shuddered at the thought of the thing next door eating his arms, legs, torso and everything else. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he sprinted out of the room and into the corridor. Only to be met half way by the creature from the kitchen.
Its eyes looked even redder up close and the smell was a lot more repulsing than he suspected. Its teeth glistened with blood and bits of flesh. Just looking upon this thing was enough to give anyone heart attack, but not James.
James twisted his frozen body and charged down the corridor but the creature followed almost immediately. The creatures nails dug deep down into the back off his neck and James released yet another yell. Even through the pain, James continued to run; he knew his only chance was to reach the upper floor.
The hallway seemed even longer now, almost like one of those cartoon clips where the character ran as far, as fast as he could but never seemed to make it any further. Simply by basic instinct did his brain cancel out all the impossible chances of this and did he realise it was because his eyes were once again filled with water.
His vision was extremely blurred and the clinging tears blocked his view of the surrounding walls causing him to collide with both sides like a drunk walking down a back alley. Pain ran all the way down his back, so did the blood flooding out.
After what seemed an eternity and an almighty physical push like he’d never experienced before, James reached the staircase. Step by step he clambered upward toward his last hope.
All he could think about was why the creature hadn’t jumped on his back yet and finished the job. Why had it not yet killed him?
Every step he took, took him closer to his destination. The gun…
***
Once the creature reached the door, a trail of blood had layered the dry blood already there. It was beautiful, just like the pavements of his own world. The blood trail led to his meal ticket, the tasty human. The man stood in total fear and looked as if he was going to crumble to a bag of ash.
‘Not before I have a taste!’ he thought.
The human then made the wrong choice and made it more difficult for himself. He ran in the opposite direction and so the chase began. The creature needed a little instinctive first though.
The creature leapt toward the human and dug his new nails deep into the meat on the back of his neck with no hesitation whatsoever. He’d done this plenty of times before and this was no different to the rest. Dragging his nails south, four strands of flesh were torn from the victim’s bone.
The human screamed through the pain yet continued to run away. Abnormally though, slightly lopsided, it wasn’t long until he collided with the encasing walls on either side. It was amusing to see his meal injured so little yet react with such insanity.
‘It’s only a little scratch!’ he thought. ‘Stop being a wimp’
He looked down at the slices of flesh he’d just taken and wondered what it would taste like.
‘Let him run a little, he’s going nowhere’
Staring at the dangling, swinging, dripping bits, he opened his mouth and tilted it backwards allowing the meat to slide down his throat easily. The pleasure was even more en-heightened than before, it always did when it wasn’t your own, and it was like he was having multiple orgasms.
‘Certainly is tasty’ he thought. ‘Some more would be nice’
Just as he’d finished his last piece he noticed the prey staggering up the stairs.
“Where do you think your going?” muttered the creature through his blood-drenched thorax.
The creature therefore decided it was time to end this charade and finish the job. Finish his meal…
***
Another Side; another Story
It came so fast that no one saw it coming, not even the founders, until it was by far too late. Not until one of them was there. Stood there ready to eat the flesh off your bones. They gave mercy to no one, they ate until we were dead and they could enter the remains that were left, which was very little once they’d finished their meal. Once we were over and they took control, it began again. There will be no winning. There will be no happy ending.
We were doomed from the start.
Chapter One
The first year of children to change was the youngest, year seven. The kids were now even more vicious than usual. They ran around the dark, desolate and dusty schoolyard eating anything they could and chanting in a strange, unknown language.
Whoever or whatever had killed them had disfigured most of their faces and transformed them into mutant like creatures with grotesque features. Some were missing ears, some fingers; even some were missing major facial features such as their nose.
They all marched, hopped or dragged themselves in groups, soldier groups. They all fed in groups, that way there was no way for their prey to escape the grasp of their decaying fingers. They all ventured in syncopation for their next meal, us. Once they caught another life to destroy, the screams of the suffering could be heard throughout the dark, eerie, empty corridors of the school.
The school motto, ‘Respect’, was only obeyed to a certain extent of leaving enough on the bones of the eaten so that another could inhabit the remains, one of the long awaited tenants of Earth.
No one was left alive throughout the school except a teacher, ‘Mr Smith’, and a pupil.
Chapter Two
The three scientists stood, jaws dropped, in front of the work they’d just completed. All three were wearing their work outfits, which consisted of a pair of black pants, a surprisingly white shirt and a white smock. They looked like your typical movie scientists, two of them even wore those stereotypical giant specs, which fully covered their faces and enlarged their eyes to an extreme of ugliness.
What they were stood in front of was the result of their yearlong experiment, a portal into another world. None of them dared enter the swirling black hole on the wall opposite for the fear of losing their little, sad lives. They all just stood there staring into the abyss though the comedy glasses.
‘Where did it lead?’
‘What was actually on the other side?’
These were just a few of the questions they were asking themselves. These were just some of the questions they’d wish to answer soon.
Biological test tube logos covered near enough everything in the glossy white painted room in which they stood. It was pasted on the books, the walls and the coats; to name a few.
Nothing could be seen without the logo printed on it, besides a leather jacket laid out on the table in the middle of the room. The leather jacket belonged to none of the scientists in the room at the time, it belonged to another, a black male known as ‘Leroy’ who was no longer in this room, no longer part of this company, no longer part of this world.
Leroy was murdered not so long ago by one of the security staff of the company. He was shot twice directly through the heart, for trying to steal highly classified information and substances. For what, was unknown.
Leroy was the first to pass over; he was the first to taste the blood of the human race.
Once he was up and moving again, he dragged his decaying body over to the room containing the three scientists, ‘Experiment Room 28’.
***
The scientists were finally discussing the hole and who was going to venture inside when the creature entered. At first none of them even noticed he was there. It was only once the creature spoke, did they blink and focus their attention on something other than the portal.
“What beautiful flesh you all have!” Shouted the creature over the swirling noise passing around the room.
For a while none of the three even dared speak a word. They all held their breath and fought back a scream. It was the youngest one who first noticed the puncture wounds entering his chest.
“My God! Are you OK?”
“What the f*ck do you think smart arse!” replied the creature angrily.
“What do you want? We have no money.” Asked one of the scientists.
“Don’t worry; you can keep your stupid money. I’ve no need for it now… but I guess neither do you. All I want is… your flesh!” screamed the creature.
Before any of them had chance to plea for mercy, the creature flipped the light switch situated on the wall next to him.
The lights never returned and neither did the men, not as themselves anyway.
Chapter Three
“Sir, Sir are you OK?”
The teacher was sprawled out on the table in front of the young girl’s eyes. Blood trickled down from his wounds and ran across the table to the ends, until it dived to its death on the floor below. Each minute drop of his blood joined the pool increasing on the floor. Every drop created a loud noise, which echoed throughout the room and no doubt was heard in every other room in this section of the school.
The girl sat in the corner of the room with her knees up, covering her face. She prayed that no more of them things would return and finish the job. Finish by eating her and her dying teacher.
She prayed in her head for some saviour to come and rescue her from this near death experience.
‘Please, please someone. Help me. Please’
***
Mr Smith had become seriously injured whilst rescuing the young girl. He had been running around the school for hours and had been hiding in and out of the classrooms he’d once used to teach in.
He found the girl in the corner of, what seemed the millionth, classroom he’d entered. She was huddled up, surrounded by four of those creatures. They were all ready to eat; ready to devour the poor defenceless girl in front of them lay on a plate.
The girl must have been about sixteen, most likely in the last year of school. She must have been new, as Smith didn’t recognise her one bit.
She was just sat there, waiting to be eaten. Obviously the girl didn’t want this to happen but maybe she’d just given up.
The creatures couldn’t wait to share her meat between them. They planned to eat as much as possible without completely destroying the shell of the girl, not too much that she couldn’t return as her other half.
Three of the creatures stalked towards the girl. They walked with a slight swagger. Their shoes glided, their feet hardly left the floor, and it was extremely disturbing to watch. This was as close to a real life horror film he’d ever been or wished to be.
From a distance Smith could slightly recognise the reanimated corpses. One was the remains of Mr. Cloud, one was Reece Storey and the other was Pete Black. He’d taught the two young boys several times and it was understandable that their bodies were still wondering the school premises but it was unknown why the older gentleman was here.
Scanning the room, Smith noticed a broken chair leg lying on the floor not two feet away from the door, which he stood in. The wooden piece looked like a gift from heaven. The way it laid alone in a circle of nothing made it the centre of attention, literally.
The rest of the room was in total destruction. It was too good to be true that the room was still standing.
Smith stepped into the room and over to the chair leg.
Quietly, he lent down and gripped the wood in his hand.
He shot upright as he heard the shuffles of feet directly in front of him. Just as he thought, the one creature left had noticed his presence and had started on his way to attack Smith.
Smith had no time to think as the creature leapt through the air and grasped his throat with both hands. The strength put into crushing Smith’s throat was abnormal. No human could have had the will power to try such a thing. This thing was no human.
Smith swung the wooden piece around and caught the creature directly on its temple. The air was then filled with tiny splinters as it broke on the creatures face. Several pieces lodged into the creature’s skull and it collapsed to the ground. What was left of the piece he dropped on the floor.
With all the commotion, the other three creature’s attention was drawn onto Mr Smith.
Their glare was like a sharp knife through his heart and almost immediately his eyes began to water. The pain grew sharper and his eyes flooded with more water.
‘What’s going on?’ thought Smith
He’d defeated several of these things on his way around the school and was completely confused by the pain he felt now with these ones. These creatures seemed to hold some kind of mental ability, and it worked, it worked a lot.
Through all the pain, Smith fainted and fell to the floor…
***
The girl had counted the drops of blood for the past couple of minutes, which had been dropping onto the floor.
“152…153…154” she whispered.
She thought maybe she should get off the floor and go wrap up his wounds but decided against it as she couldn’t be sure he hadn’t already passed over. She couldn’t be sure he wasn’t one of them already, waiting for a sense of security to pass over her. Waiting to pounce on her, eat her.
***
The girl looked up out of her arms and noticed that the creatures she’d waited to eat her were now looking the other way. They were now facing someone else.
‘Mr Smith!’
She could tell it was he just by the clothes he wore and the style of his hair. He was the only teacher, which actually made an effort with his appearance, unlike the rest she’d seen around and about over the week.
He was laid on the floor with a wooden piece propped up out of his back. Blood had already exited the wound and was flooding in her direction.
A young girl stood behind him looking down at the blood being absorbed by his shirt.
The young girl brought her head up and looked directly at the girl sat on the floor. The creature-inhabited child was missing a leg, had many teeth bitten holes in her arms and had pure red eyes.
Her eyes didn’t look as much bloodshot as bleeding. They looked like a pair of false eyes you could most likely buy from a joke shop in town. But these eyes didn’t look amusing they terrified the girl but not as much as the mixture of blood and saliva dripping from her mouth onto the teacher below.
***
He opened his eyes and looked around the room he’d been brought back into. From what he could make out, he was in the body of a little girl and was situated in the middle of a classroom.
‘This isn’t my body!’ he thought.
Just then, a human dashed past the room and stopped outside the room opposite.
‘Great, food’
The creature tried to pull itself up but was stopped as it realised it was missing its right leg.
‘Stupid f*cking idiots! How many times did we say, don’t eat the God Damn legs!’
The creature wanted its meal none the less. It slowly began to drag its body across the floor towards the door. Placing one hand in front of the other he grabbed the legs of the tables and pulled himself onward. Before he knew it he was at the door and was able to grab the knob and thrust himself onto his one remaining leg.
From where he was stood he could see a male, a little girl and four of his dominions. His men were staggering towards the little girl they were ready to eat.
‘They can have her but he’s mine. I’m going to love eating you.’ He thought.
The male lent down and picked something up from the floor, which was unrecognisable from this distance.
Before the human had chance to stance himself one of my men jumped at him. Most likely wrapping his decaying fingers around his throat. But the human was surprisingly fast witted and was breaking the piece of wood, which I could now make out, over his head. Within moments the creature was out for good and bleeding out of his temple all over the shoes of the male responsible.
“That’s it! He’s mine!” muttered the creature.
Quickly, the creature hoped over towards the room containing all the commotion.
Once inside, he noticed that the human had dropped the remaining piece of wood on the floor and was immobile in the centre of the room.
Rapidly, I picked up the wooden leg and pushed the broken edge into the back of the human. I pulled it out several times and plunged it back in again.
The creature watched as the human fell to the floor and blood emptied out of his back and flooded the surrounding laminate boards.
I was amazed at how quickly the blood swam and was even more amazed at the beauty of the girls flesh opposite. She looked good enough to eat. That was the plan. She looked delicious. So much so that saliva filled my mouth.
Chapter Four
James could hear the cries for help of the humans being eaten from miles away. Their final breaths were taken away from them as the creatures tore out their thoraxes and sucked the muscle off the bone.
The fog infested streets echoed with the screams of young children to seniors. But no matter what he age, they all screamed the same thing:
“Please God! Why? Help! Please, help!”
He could help not one of them but his gut feeling said he should. The best thing he could do for them now was to blow their brains onto the floor and end the lives of them inside their bodies.
It was near impossible to see them coming out of the fog until they were inches away from his face. Constantly, their claws batted away at the air in front and James constantly struck them down with one empty of his shotgun.
In the past few minutes he’d walked down the streets towards his destination, he must have killed at least 20 of them. They just kept coming, one after another. Some of them he could recognise from people living in the area. The ones, which were harder to kill, were the little kids. Not because they had more strength than the older ones, as they did not, but mentally it felt wrong for James to decide their fate of collapsing onto the floor, one more time.
This increasing amount of young children attacking him was an indication that James was getting nearer to the school he’d been looking for, since she’d asked him to.
It took him quite awhile to realise that the creatures were noticing his presence not because they could smell him like dogs smelt fear, like he initially figured, but because of the noise empting from his gun, which joined the bullets scattered, with each shot was the only remaining sound bouncing through the streets and entering the creatures empty minds.
Even with this in mind, he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop shooting or running through the streets. He didn’t slow down his pace in an attempt to soften the noise his shoes were giving off. He just carried on as he was, until…
Chapter Five
The creature just stood there for a moment, staring at the girl in front of him. He knew that the girl couldn’t escape him and had nowhere to run or hide. This sent a sensual tingle down his new spine and caused his body to spasm in ecstasy.
Once his body stilled he noticed the three other creatures edging towards the girl.
“Tharsward belosue dintina!” shouted the creature to the others.
They immediately stepped away from the little girl and stood up straight like army men to a commanding officer. They all looked like they were under control and unable to move an inch.
A grin grew upon his face and near enough touched each ear. Saliva dribbled down his chin but he didn’t rub it off but left it for the moment. It was a feeling he’d never felt in his world, nothing ever made him so hungry before. He’d never wanted anything so much. The grin soon disappeared though as gunshots exploded out in the corridor.
***
The creature acknowledged the noise, as did the girl.
The girl looked up out of her arms and saw the creature nod to the other three. They immediately ran out into the corridor to inspect the cause for the commotion and the leader continued to stare at her.
“ What’s your name darling?” asked the creature.
The girl just sat there staring at the floor. She hoped that the creature would either get it over and done with or leave her alone. She knew that the second option was far from going to happen. So she’d rather not speak or interact with the damn things.
“I said what’s your name, girl?” repeated the creature but with a lot more authority in its voice this time.
The creature began to hop towards the girl and in the process wiped the saliva and blood from its face. Its eyes never blinked or showed any other emotion but lust. Lust for flesh.
Eventually, the creature made its way to the girl and leant down to whisper something into her ear.
“I would have done it quick if you just paid a little attention. All I wanted was to know your name but you couldn’t even give me that. For that, I’m going to take my time with you. You’re going to feel every single bit of pain.”
The creature grabbed a hold of the girl’s throat and tensed his fingers, whilst lifting her up onto her feet.
The girl wept and tears rolled down her face uncontrollably. The giant droplets of water passed over her cheeks and onto the hand of the creature, which he almost immediately licked up with a devilish smile.
“Salty. I’m going to enjoy this” spoke the creature.
***
James ran through the mist towards what he thought was the position of the school. He knew in his stomach that there would be someone still left alive inside, someone who needed help, his help.
He had developed this ‘sixth sense’ for danger. He wasn’t sure how he’d caught this ability or why he was the one to have to carry this burden but no matter how hard he tried to stop seeing the deaths of these unknown humans, he never prevailed. The upside to this ability was that he had saved a few people since obtaining the power.
Like ‘Thomas’ and ‘Zak’.
Unfortunately he didn’t follow his gut straight away and it cost them both their lives.
Thomas, father to Zak, was injured in his own home, whilst defending his boy. He held onto what life he had left for about half an hour. He lived again for one last minute, to kill his son.
Luckily James, had heard the screams of the boy, was able to burst into the room and blow Thomas’s head onto the wall and his sons onto the floor before he too changed into one of them.
The poor boy must have been in a hell of a lot of pain, both physically and mentally. Not only was the pain of having his limbs being torn off of him and eaten by one of those things enough that the creature responsible was his dad.
When James entered the room and looked upon the two men he’d not long ago known as new friends he felt no sadness in ending the lives of the two, especially the teenage boy. James hadn’t had time to examine fully the actual amount of bloodshed in the room and he sure wasn’t going to return once he’d done his work, but he could graphically remember the pure crimson of the blood infested walls and the boy’s torn torso.
Once again all James could think about was about the pain the poor must have endured in the last few hours.
James couldn’t even begin to imagine the upset the lad had been under in his last moments of life. Then the pains of having your brain torn out and thrown onto the floor like a piece of useless shit by a man you’d only just met. The idea of others suffering, whilst he was alive drove him onwards in hope of saving those still left to save.
James soon reached the front entrance of the school and continued to sprint up the steps even after he noticed the creatures walking the hallways. They looked like any normal person would do prowling the premises in search for something. Whereas a human being would look for food eaten by most, they looked around for us; we were their food. You wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference between the living and the creatures when they walked around like this. The only way to tell was by examining the state of their bodies and faces. If they were distorted in any way, then you knew something wasn’t right and they were most likely one of them.
He planned to run around the school in search for whoever was left without attracting to much attention but that was straight out of the window when he was spotted by one of the few walking around inside.
The creature that spotted him was a man older than James, his face had been shredded and his left eye was swinging out of its socket like a pendulum in a grandfather clock.
James shouldered his shotgun once again and began blowing the creatures into little pieces around the hallway. The disembodied body parts looked a lot like confetti being thrown at weeding. He knew that insanity was taking control of him but at this stage anything remotely resembling the civilisation he once loved to live in was amusing and cascaded a smile across his face.
The only thing keeping him going was the hope of seeing his daughter one more time or even hearing her voice.
After empting the final rounds left in the gun and ending the lives of the creatures surrounding him, he gave out a sigh of relief. It didn’t last long though because not so soon after, three more creatures emptied out of one of the classrooms into the hall.
The creatures circled James and spoke in an unknown language to him.
“Hisapongly Detrarie Goopliect! Hisapongly Detrarie Goopliect!” screamed the three, in time with each other.
James watched them all carefully and circled in the opposite direction to enable him to keep all three in sight in case they attacked. He wouldn’t give them any chance at jumping him from behind. He wasn’t planning on going out that way, not after all he’d been through and the thought of his daughter suffering the same fate.
Even still, he didn’t know what to do now.
He had no bullets left in his gun.
All he had was hope and his fists.
Chapter Six
“Come on baby! We’ve got to leave now! Only get what you need, we’ll get daddy to get the rest, OK! Hurry!” shouted Carol.
Carol was stood outside her beautiful house. The house was the biggest on the street and, by her mind, the nicest also. She had James to thank for that. He brought in all the money for the past six years, since their baby girl; Layla was born.
Carols shoulder length hair shone in the blazing sunlight. It was so hot out that it wouldn’t be surprising if the black hummer’s paintwork were to drip straight off onto the floor.
Carol glanced around and searched the empty streets for any sign of human life. Another soul was nowhere to be seen. This was when Carol realised that it had begun and it was too late to wait any longer.
“Layla! Baby! Come on, quick!” she shouted again into the enormous house.
Turning her head back around to meet her daughter stepping out into the sun, an extremely painful blast exploded on the back of her head. This was the results of what happened moments ago. She didn’t think that the effects would appear so quick.
***
Layla stepped out into the sun and was blinded momentarily by the reflection off her mother’s hair. She winced and covered her baby blues. Her tiny hands clasped over her face and blocked out the outside light and burning heat. It was strangely hot today considering the time of year.
Layla paused for a moment and smelt the air. It wasn’t fresh liked she’d expected. The same smell from inside the house had followed her outside. It smelt like the bin in the back yard.
One time, Layla jumped up and into the bin out of pure curiosity, only to get stuck inside for what seemed an hour. Until her dad came to her rescue and lifted her out of the smelly black mouth. Ever since then she’d never go near the bin just in case it ate her again. In case it wanted another taste of her. This was the smell she was inhaling now. It was the most horrible stench she had ever had to endure and she wasn’t at all happy she had to.
She wanted her dad again like last time but he wasn’t to be found. She’d spent the last few minutes looking around the mansion she lived in but was unable to find any trace of her parent. She gave up after her mum had shouted her down for the millionth time. Her mum was a good replacement for her dad though. She didn’t have the brute strength he had, but she had the caring side and she also would do anything to help her, even save her from a bin if needs be.
Layla was startled slightly when a hand was placed onto hers. She jumped in her skin and took a step backwards before removing her hands from her eyes and looking up into the street.
With the sun shining down onto the body before her, Layla had trouble realising who it was at first but once the person shifted and shadowed the rays of light, she realised it was her mum and not a stranger.
Her mum smiled down at Layla, who forced one onto her face also even knowing that her beloved dad wasn’t in her presence. She took a deep gulp and swallowed hard and let the words roll right off of her tongue.
“Where’s dad? I want dad. Is he coming too?” demanded the little girl.
“No honey, he isn’t. He’s going to be meeting us there, OK? But don’t worry, you’ve got me for now” replied the woman in front.
Layla looked down and sighed like the young girl she was. Looking down she noticed she was wearing sandals with no socks. Her little sausage toes poked out of the wholes and wriggled around like worms.
She was dressed slightly strangely today. She wore sandals, denim shorts and a ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ top her dad had bought her not a lot more than a month ago for her birthday. The T-shirt she wore had a picture printed onto it of the main character, Jack Skellington, his dog, Zero, his girlfriend, Sally, and the little rascals know as Lock, Shock and Barrel.
Layla was continually referred to as ‘Shock’ by her dad. It was her nickname given to her because of her likeness to the fictional character. She behaved just like her; she was always getting into trouble and was a lot smarter than she looked. She definitely knew how to invade getting into trouble by family members, by turning on the cute face. She figured out how to manipulate her dad when she was very young when she spilled a tub of paint and as soon as she smiled, her dad melted and she didn’t get into any depth of trouble liked she’d expected.
That was another reason why she preferred her dad to her mum, because her mum didn’t brake so easy. It took time to beat down her mums temper. She always did so but only after hours of crying.
Layla stupidly told her friends at school about her nickname and a boy in her class had bullied her over it for months. He said she looked like the character because of the resemblance of the nose, the big, pointy nose. Layla had run home several times crying, asking if it were true, and each time her dad would reply - “No silly. You’re beautiful, that’s why you’re my little, Shock!”
Once he said this, it was then her time to beat her dad up and laugh away the tears but now her dad wasn’t hear to make her laugh and wipe away her tears. She was alone, near enough anyway.
“Come on baby, let’s get into the car.” Whispered her mum.
Chapter Seven
“I’ll tell you what. I’ll make you a little deal. You tell me your name and I’ll let you listen to whoever is outside, get eaten alive. You can listen to his screams and whimpers and once he’s dead you can share his meat with me. How does that sound?” muttered the creature.
The teenage girl just stood rigid, under the grasp of the creature. Her eyes were closed and her lips were closed. She didn’t speak.
The creature shook her violently and repeated his offer.
“What is your name, bitch!” screamed the creature.
The girl didn’t reply but began to whimper.
The creature shook the girl even more violently and the whimpers grew louder.
The girls face was one of total agony whereas the creature’s was one of glee and joy. He was enjoying this immensely.
***
The three creatures continued to circle James and he continued to circle with them.
They all spoke this unknown language and didn’t seem to be interested in making the first move, so James took the opportunity.
He stooped turning and swung the butt of the gun into the creatures face nearest to him.
The creatures face imploded and James was surprised it took so little to destroy the life of a human being. Then James realised it wasn’t a human anymore and that the strength put into the swing was most likely enough to brake a piece of metal, never mind a plump piece of flesh and bone.
The creatures stopped and turned to look at the body of their fellow partner of the underworld, which had just been broken.
The creature fell stood momentarily, until James grabbed the end of the gun and forced it out like ‘Excalibur’ from the stone.
Not only did the gun retract from the creatures face but also a great amount of brain matter and muscle.
A long string of red what looked like spaghetti attached to the gun was the only thing holding the creature’s body upright.
James pulled the gun backward and the string of flesh snapped with a wet sound of slush.
The creature fell to the floor with an almighty thud. As soon as the creature’s head impacted with the stone floor, a spray of blood exited the whole on the front of its face and covered all of James face and eyes.
His vision was now filtered with the red colour of blood. It was blurry at first and James could see nothing.
The first thing he saw was the fist…
***
The two women clambered up into the black hummer. It was a struggle for both but more so for little Layla. She had always had trouble getting in and out of the beast but with the increasing heat wrapping around ever inch of her body, it took a lot more power to grab onto the handle beside the seat and to lift herself inside.
This was a reminder of her size. Layla had always been known for her small size. She was the second smallest in her class, the smallest being Steven, the young boy who called her ‘Shock’. The two would argue over everything and anything. Layla would usually win; she had an ability to control the opposite sex, men. The younger ones didn’t know what to reply back with, and the older ones were too fixated on how cute she was to argue back.
Too many times to count, had most people called Layla cute, which she’d met in her short lifetime. She probably had been called it more than an elderly woman had in her centuries of existence.
Layla was blessed with her looks. She had her dads blue eyes and her mum’s long blonde hair. Layla’s hair wasn’t as fair as her mothers but it was noticeable she was her daughter nonetheless.
After several attempts to get into the car and onto the seat, Layla’s mum ended up helping her in.
Layla stuck her tongue out at her mother once up and into the car. Her mum smiled down at her and lay back in the seat.
Layla grappled with the seat belt, pulled it towards the buckle and was satisfied once it clicked into place.
‘Safety first’ thought Layla.
Then Layla sat and waited.
***
The blow into James face sent him flying down the corridor and the gun in the opposite direction.
James slipped on the waxed floor and was sent metres away from the two remaining creatures. He was actually surprised at just how far he’d been sent. He didn’t feel any pain from the blow until he stopped sliding and rubbed his nose to make sure it wasn’t broken.
It wasn’t but it bled just the same as it would if it was. The mixture of his own blood and that of the creature ran down his front, trickled down his legs and bounced off of his boots onto the floor.
His one black boots, were now covered in blood and debris from the doors he’d broken down before. The colour had turned pinky. Pink was his daughter’s favourite colour. Again, this slight reminder of his daughter forced him to fight onwards.
James attempted to get to his feet but the pain of the blow he’d just been given was uncontrollable and sent him to the floor once more.
The two creatures laughed and mocked James and his little amount of strength compared to that of their own. The echoes of laughter sent a powerful surge of anger and energy through his body.
James shot up onto his feet and looked above himself to the roof of the corridor. There were several pipes passing across the wall above and James knew he needed one, so he jumped up into the air and pulled down on one of the cold pieces of metal. With all his weights pressure put into the pull, it wasn’t long until the piece came loose and dropped to the floor.
James fell with the piece and the laughter continued.
With his left arm, James searched the floor with his eyes closed. He did this to force all his energy into his arms. Being in the army for the past few years had taught him how to push all he had into a few minutes of anger.
Eventually, James’s hand passed over the metal piece and he closed his grip around the cold weapon. Once he felt his grip was firm, James pushed himself up and dragged the metal up to his level.
The laughter had now stopped and it was again silent in the school.
James scanned his surroundings and noticed a small electricity box planted on the wall next to him.
Taking a step back, James swung the pipe with all his strength, watched as sparks exited the box and smiled as the lights went out. With the lights now out, the corridor was engulfed in complete darkness apart from the flash of light from the bulbs above every few seconds.
James used the anger he’d surged and ran towards the creatures. They didn’t even know he was there until the lights flickered again. Eyes dilated, mouth open and weapon rose; James turn…
Chapter Eight
The car drove down past bungalows, flats and fields at a speed, which Carol would never have been at in any other situation.
The sun had become unbearable now. Carol opened her side window and was glad for the breeze passing in from outside. A wet substance ran down her forehead and was taken away by the air as soon as it left her face.
Carol glanced around to her daughter and noticed her miming along to a song on her CD player. The radio wasn’t working, there were no signals whatsoever, but she wasn’t at the least surprised. After all, it was the end of the world; they weren’t going to be playing songs to die to. Something like ‘I’m not OK!’ by ‘My Chemical Romance’ would be a suitable song to sing right now.
***
Layla noticed her mum was looking at her through the corner of her eye when the song ‘Far Away’ had finished.
Her mum was smiling at her but it didn’t look normal whatsoever. It was as if she was possessed or something.
Layla quickly turned off her CD player and turned to face her mum.
“What’s the matter, mummy?” asked Layla.
Her mum didn’t reply. She just sat there driving without looking, smiling. A slight worry passed over the little girl. She asked again.
“What’s the matter, mummy? Mummy?”
Her mothers belly rumbled the loudest she’d ever heard before.
Her mum turned her head and revealed a massive blood clot in her hair. Blood was all down her back and covered the seat.
Layla looked forward and noticed a supermarket up ahead. She could find food for her mum there she was sure.
“Time to eat… Layla” mumbled her mum.
***
The lamppost shuddered as the car collided with it. There was a loud crash and then it all went silent. Layla and her mother’s bodies were still momentarily. Then her mum moved…
Chapter Nine
James swung the long pipe through the damp, musky air. The lights flashed through the corridor and let the creatures now of his position.
The creature that should have taken the impact, quickly ducked down just as the piece flew towards its head. So the other creature took the blow instead.
‘Don’t matter. As long as one of them pays’ thought James.
The creature was sent flying into the wall just like he had been sent down the corridor not long ago. Its head broke on the side of a door and its eyes rolled back into its head as the brain of its inhabitant fell out and onto the floor.
James stepped over to the corpse and placed his foot onto the brain. A wet squelch noise came out of the brain as James stepped onto it and forced the inside of it out.
‘All that’s left now is the other’ thought James.
***
Layla woke. Her eyes had stuck together with the tears she’d given off during her sleep. She rubbed her tiny hands back and forth on her protective lids. The salt burned and she almost began to cry again but this time from pain, not from the crash.
Once her vision had returned she looked out the car window and noticed the sun had now set. The once beautiful hot, gleaming ball of light had been replaced by seemingly pure evil, darkness. There were no stars out and the moon was nowhere to be found. The only lights visible were the cars battered headlights screaming at the front outwards and a few lampposts further down the road.
The lamppost they’d crashed into was no longer working but Layla couldn’t really remember if it was before they collided.
‘Mum!’ Layla thought.
She wrestled with the snake like safety belt around her waist for over a minute, eventually pulling it lose and setting herself free from the slimy devil. She couldn’t believe she put it on before for safety but now she was dying to get it off. She then searched frantically in the small space remaining in the front of the car, which was covered in the broken glass pane from the front and then swivelled herself around to search the back for any sign of life.
The vast emptiness sent a cold shiver up her spine and she began to whimper quietly.
“Mummy…Mummy please… where are you?” whispered Layla behind her tears.
Minutes passed until Layla calmed down and heard shuffles coming from outside the car. The slow paced feet movements’ weren’t the steps of a natural person. They were the sounds of feet being dragged underneath a great deal of weight.
The noise didn’t get any closer or any further away. It sounded as if the person responsible was circling something.
The quieter Layla got, the louder the sounds became and that was when she began to hear her heart pounding inside her fragile chest. She couldn’t even count a second in between each beat.
Layla had always been brave and these strange noises weren’t going to stop her from finding her mum and stop her from searching for her dad.
Opening the car door was surprisingly easy considering the devastation of it. The door had been crushed upon itself and there was a crease in the metal down the side.
Layla slowly and quietly clambered out of the giant black piece of scrap metal she’d always been scared of sitting in. Even though she didn’t like her mum helping her in the car, she wished she were there to help her out. The distance to the ground looked as if it was twice the size of her away but she took the chance and it paid off.
Once fully out and both her feet were firmly planted on the ground, Layla looked in the direction of the noises.
She now noticed that she was stood on the outside of a supermarket car park.
Several cars were scattered around the lot but not enough to fill the void of danger imbedded in her head with the feel of safety she wished to have.
Only a few lampposts shone down and gave an indication as to what was there. With the limited amount of light and vision, Layla decided to shout out to whoever was there for help.
“Hello? I’m lost and my mummy isn’t here, could you please help me find her?” asked Layla into the dark abyss.
A low-pitched mummer echoed from not so far off and boomed in her ears. It felt as if they could have bled if the note was held any longer.
Layla stood frozen glaring in the direction of whoever or whatever it was that was making the terrible noises.
The dragging off feet grew louder and faster now. They were coming in her direction. It was then that she saw it.
***
James wiped the blood from his eyes and just stared at the third creature, which now was looking slightly worried. His two friends were now lying on the floor motionless, dead. He had done it. He had killed them and this scared the creature. He’d only just come through the portal and he sure didn’t want to go back any time soon.
With this in mind the creature ran towards James. It ran with its arms outstretched ready to grab a hold of James’s flesh. The rage in its eyes was unbelievable.
James stood his ground firmly and held the metal piece in both hands. As the creature grew closer, his grip tightened. He was ready…
Chapter Ten
Layla froze on the spot at first, just to try and take in what she was witnessing. She couldn’t believe her eyes, didn’t want to either, but nonetheless it was true. This was happening and it was happening fast. It was getting faster.
The creature was stood in the darkness at first and Layla was unable to see the total devastation through the pitch-black night. The creature was heading toward her and she had no one to run to. It was infact her mum who was now running toward her.
The creature, embodied inside her mother, dragged its broken bones in the direction of her old daughter, new food.
It dragged itself into the band of light beneath a lamppost and it was then that it was clarified that it was her mum. Obviously her mother hadn’t worn her seatbelt like her aware daughter. The creatures face was torn to shreds and half of her scalp was missing. Only from one side, could you tell it was the reanimated corpse of the once beautiful woman, ‘Carol’. Even the side, which was better off, looked a mess. Within the mist of night, you’d never tell.
Whether it was, mum or not, made no difference to the fact that she was coming toward Layla with no intention of making her safe. She wanted only one thing, and somehow, even with Layla’s young age she knew, it was flesh.
Layla searched the surrounding car park for any place to hide but there was nowhere.
Layla’s eyes passed the car several times but she thought it would be useless getting into the car now, after being seen, plus it would probably take about half an hour to get up the giant steps anyway. Suddenly, Layla realised she didn’t need to get inside the car, only under it. It was her best option, her only option. She took it.
Layla dove underneath the car, scurried as close to the centre as she could and waited.
All of a sudden a loud roar engulfed the streets. Layla clasped her ears and closed her eyes. The noise grew louder and louder. Moments later the noise subsided and it was silent for about 3 seconds. Then there was a louder roar, possibly a gun. A bright white flash shone through the lids of Layla’s eyes and she was blinded momentarily.
When her vision returned, the loud roar had drifted back into the night.
Layla removed her hands from her ears and opened her eyes.
Lay out directly in front of the car was Layla’s mothers’ dead body. The corpse looked now even worse, up close. A bullet hole was indicated in her skull and blood and brain matter exited. Her eyes stared directly toward where Layla was crouched, even when the blood ran across the lenses. She was now, most definitely dead.
Chapter Eleven
James’s car pulled up into the driveway of his home. He didn’t even take time to turn off the engine. He quickly sprung out of the seat and out of the car. After all, he had absolutely no intention in staying.
His bright blue eyes shone in the sunlight, which was joined by the uncontrollable, undeterminable, unsatisfactory heat.
James was a stocky male of around 30 years of age (no one knew for sure). The one thing he lacked was height. He wasn’t overly small as to look stupid, but he would have liked to have bin a bit taller.
Today, he fashioned a popular pair of ‘denim’ jeans and a ‘Ben Sherman’ T-shirt his wife had bought him last Christmas.
His hair was fairly long and in need of a trim. It would have most likely passed over his ears if he didn’t constantly push it back, behind them. His fringe covered most of his forehead and was on a battle to invade his vision.
His hair was a dark brown. He could remember just before his daughter was born, him and his wife would joke about what colour their unborn child would get. His brown hair or her blonde locks. Now science would say that it was most probable that she would come out with a head full of brown flowing hair, and that’s why James made a bet with his wife. Funnily enough his daughter ended up having blonde hair and James lost the bet. His wife made him fulfil whatever she wanted and pay forever underestimating the female mind.
Where his daughter had brown hair or not made no difference to how much he loved her. She was his little ‘Shock’, his little Layla.
James set his mind ready for whatever was about to happen. He took a deep breath and ran through the open door of his home into the next chapter of his life.
***
James scanned the hallway and stared at the blood-drenched rug beneath his feet for a moment.
‘Aw shit!’ he thought.
The blood trailed into the kitchen directly opposite him. He was by far too scared to venture any deeper into this nightmare straight away. The blood had to be someone’s; he just hoped it wasn’t either his wife’s or daughter’s but he could think of no ones else’s it could be.
Turning around, James was facing a mirror. The mirror didn’t exactly flatter him much but that wasn’t its fault. It was himself that made him look like this. The rush home had taken the breath out of him and he was now covered in sweat. His fringe clung to his forehead and collected near enough every drop of salt water, which attempted to enter his eyes. He was now thankful for his annoying fringe, protecting his sight and stopping the water from causing the burning pain in his eyes, which he’d, experienced plenty of times before.
James knew he needed to check the kitchen even before he took his first step. Each step shook the world around him and he needed to stop every few just to regain his balance. Once he was happy that he could continue further, he did.
Passing further down the empty, blood drenched, corridor, towards the kitchen meant that he passed a room, the dining room.
Stood underneath the doorframe, James glanced inside then dark room, just to make sure there were no intruders there ready to pounce on top of him and finish off the only remaining person from the family.
‘That means they got Layla and Carol!’ he thought.
James instinctively realised he was poisoning his own mind with darkness. No one needed to jump him from behind, they could charge at him in this state and it would take him hours to react and defend himself. He couldn’t go any further thinking this way, and he knew it. So, he swung his hand around his face and gave himself the hardest slap he’d ever obtained; apart from the many he’d taken off his beloved wife throughout their marriage. He was pretty sure he’d met her by running into her hand.
The hand stung a lot more than he hoped it would and his eyes began to water due to the build up of sadness and the slap he’d just idiotically given himself. Through the glaze of the water, James saw a bright white envelope situated firmly on the table opposite his frozen body.
The front had the word ‘James’ wrote on the front. The handwriting hand obviously been either written in a hurry by his wife or by someone new as it didn’t look familiar to his eyes. Tiny droplets of a red coloured substance covered the white letter and distilled outwards making some parts turn pink.
He so wanted to run up to the envelope, rip it open and read the letter inside. He hoped it’d be off his wife saying that they were safe and would be home soon. He knew it would not, so he decided it would be best to find out what the blood was for first.
James turned back around and carried on down the long corridor. He was almost there, almost at his destination. All he needed to do now was peer around the corner of the kitchen door and into the mysterious darkness inside.
One more step took him inside the room and sent a powerful blow to his heart. He felt it break inside and crumble down his back. He could bare the thought of opening his eyes and seeing one of his family laid out on the floor dead, covered in blood. So he shut his eyes as he turned his head. It wasn’t the best idea he’d had he admitted but when all you can do is pray for survival of so many, you instinctively close the lids of your eyes and speak to whoever you supported up above.
Having them shut for so long, it was difficult to open them again and it took all of James willpower to do so. Once he did, he looked inside the mouth hell and took in all that was happening in one enormous pill.
What he saw terrified the life out of him…
***
James had lived in this house for over five years. All the family loved their home. The surroundings were perfect, the people were the nicest around and the space was incredible.
It had a massive, beautiful back garden that led into the ‘Black wood’ park behind. Little Layla had her own room she’d always wanted. The room was originally a storeroom for all of his and Carols past memories and happenings; from photos to teddies he’d bought her on their first date together, the fair. He won it on a basketball game, which cost £5 to play, he was the best in school all his life and therefore he knew he had the bear for her even before he actually won.
When they found out they were set to have a child of their own, they emptied the room in order to start some fresh new memories, Layla’s.
The house had two floors with two bedrooms, two beautiful bathrooms, a living room, dining room and the kitchen…
***
James opened his eyes and looked upon a mangled, distorted body. The unknown person was lay with its back flat against the fridge door. The person’s stomach had been slit open and its intestines writhed on the tiles next to it. Blood was everywhere and James could now determine the cause for the stains outside. But the blood covering its torn stomach was mixed with a brown, lumpy substance.
James didn’t dare go near it for several reasons. It was no doubt a murder scene and he didn’t want his prints covering everything around the place and also the smell, his nose had now been subjected to, was as close to the stench of rotting flesh he needed for today.
‘What the f*ck is it?’ he thought.
It looked as if it used to be human but now it looked strangely twisted, like one of those horror creatures you’d see on an old, cheap movie on the TV.
Its eyes were bloodshot red and it looked no longer like someone of this world, just like the people he’d nearly run over coming down here. He knew something was up on the way home but this clarified his suspicions and sent a cold gust through his blood.
James decided it was most defiantly time to read the letter in the dining room, next room. It might give him an idea as to where his family was now and he needed to know this just as much as what this thing was.
He turned and sprinted into the room and clasped his shaking fingers around the corners of the blood kissed envelope. After fumbling with the opening for a moment, he opened the cage to the note inside.
Turned sideways, the letter inside slid out and fell to the floor below. James dropped to his knees and felt his bones clash with the hard floor. Panicking, James lifted the letter up and unravelled the unknown. Once open fully, the words were visible. So much so that he could now recognise it was his wife’s.
‘Thank God’ he thought.
Slowly, he read the letter aloud.
***
“Dear James,
Something’s happened, something really bad. Both Layla and I heard about the incident in the middle of town. We knew we had to move quickly but we didn’t expect it to reach us as quick as it did. We wanted to wait for you but when this thing came and did this, we knew we had no time left to spare. I was stood in the kitchen thinking of what would be best to do when it came. It ran in through the back door and caught me off guard. I wrestled with it for a moment but it was far too strong for me. I’ve fell and hurt my head. I can’t see just how bad it is but its bleeding a lot. That’s why there’s blood covering this letter. I pulled out a knife from the cupboard and did what I could; I opened up its stomach once id regained my strength, in the hallway. I don’t know if its dead, it just fell to the floor. I’ve dragged it into the kitchen out of sight of the little one. She obviously asked about the blood but I told her it was something else. We should be OK. Were heading to my mothers, in London. I’ll see you there honey.
I love you so much!
We both do.
Carol and Layla”
James closed the letter and pushed it deep into his pocket and deep into his mind. He looked down at the carpet floor and knew exactly what was needed of him now.
Slowly and steadily he pulled himself up straight, with the table as a support, and took in just what was happening. He thought about his wife a child, the danger they’d just been in, whilst he was away and out of screaming distance.
‘What if he came back and it was his wife, dead in the next room? What would he do then?’ he thought.
He couldn’t control it; his eyes filled with water and ran like a river. Joining the fluid was an almighty cry.
That was when he heard it move…
Chapter Twelve
The creature looked around the room and passed its red eyes down onto the entrails of intestine intertwined beside him. With its nearest hand, it reached out and grabbed the slimy snakes. Squeezing the tubes of flesh made a splatter of blood flow out which join the pool around him. Shortly followed the puss.
Feeling excitement and hunger, the creature lifted up its own body part and probed it into its starving mouth. Chewing down on the tubes of meat felt like the first time of having sex. It was that slight feel of confusion and fright but the feel of ecstasy that joined not long once it began.
The meat fell down the creatures decaying throat and emptied back out onto the floor through his slit open stomach. The creature thought back to what happened not long ago, the woman who he’d wished to eat. He remembered that she’d battled with him well but he was by far stronger. He giggled when he remembered her catching her head on the wall.
‘She’ll be dead soon enough!’ he thought.
He grinned at the thought and decided it was time to move and search for some more food. There was no way he was going to sit here; in his own blood and remains, eating whatever he could find from the heap of his insides lay neatly next to him. He was going to find that bitch that had done this and kill her, eat her meat and resurrect her body for himself to use for yet another kill. One bitch had already escaped his clutches tonight; she certainly wasn’t going to keep the trend going.
Pulling himself up with the fridge handle, the creature rose from the floor and stretched the dangling intestines from the hole in his side. The tubes only came lose and let go of the ventricles inside, when the creature used all his un-human strength.
Once they were loose he threw them onto the floor, to join the rest of the organs spilled down before. It was like a piece of art, all the red, brown, and raised lumps of meat laid out in one heap.
Whilst he was looking upon the organs and blood, the creature overheard a conversation going on in the next room. From what he could tell, it was a male but he could hear no one else. The fool was talking to himself.
A wide grin spread across the creatures face and when he heard the human crying, he knew it was teatime. The creature spun around and headed towards the door; the passage way to the buffet. With all the positive emotion and the rush he was in, the creature didn’t see the knife hanging off the edge of the table.
He caught the blade and sent it crashing gently onto the floor. The noise rang in his ears and therefore it was most certain that the human would have done also. So the creature increased his pace and ran towards the door.
‘Next stop, blood fest!’ he thought.
***
James shuddered at the thought of the thing next door eating his arms, legs, torso and everything else. Wiping the tears from his eyes, he sprinted out of the room and into the corridor. Only to be met half way by the creature from the kitchen.
Its eyes looked even redder up close and the smell was a lot more repulsing than he suspected. Its teeth glistened with blood and bits of flesh. Just looking upon this thing was enough to give anyone heart attack, but not James.
James twisted his frozen body and charged down the corridor but the creature followed almost immediately. The creatures nails dug deep down into the back off his neck and James released yet another yell. Even through the pain, James continued to run; he knew his only chance was to reach the upper floor.
The hallway seemed even longer now, almost like one of those cartoon clips where the character ran as far, as fast as he could but never seemed to make it any further. Simply by basic instinct did his brain cancel out all the impossible chances of this and did he realise it was because his eyes were once again filled with water.
His vision was extremely blurred and the clinging tears blocked his view of the surrounding walls causing him to collide with both sides like a drunk walking down a back alley. Pain ran all the way down his back, so did the blood flooding out.
After what seemed an eternity and an almighty physical push like he’d never experienced before, James reached the staircase. Step by step he clambered upward toward his last hope.
All he could think about was why the creature hadn’t jumped on his back yet and finished the job. Why had it not yet killed him?
Every step he took, took him closer to his destination. The gun…
***
Once the creature reached the door, a trail of blood had layered the dry blood already there. It was beautiful, just like the pavements of his own world. The blood trail led to his meal ticket, the tasty human. The man stood in total fear and looked as if he was going to crumble to a bag of ash.
‘Not before I have a taste!’ he thought.
The human then made the wrong choice and made it more difficult for himself. He ran in the opposite direction and so the chase began. The creature needed a little instinctive first though.
The creature leapt toward the human and dug his new nails deep into the meat on the back of his neck with no hesitation whatsoever. He’d done this plenty of times before and this was no different to the rest. Dragging his nails south, four strands of flesh were torn from the victim’s bone.
The human screamed through the pain yet continued to run away. Abnormally though, slightly lopsided, it wasn’t long until he collided with the encasing walls on either side. It was amusing to see his meal injured so little yet react with such insanity.
‘It’s only a little scratch!’ he thought. ‘Stop being a wimp’
He looked down at the slices of flesh he’d just taken and wondered what it would taste like.
‘Let him run a little, he’s going nowhere’
Staring at the dangling, swinging, dripping bits, he opened his mouth and tilted it backwards allowing the meat to slide down his throat easily. The pleasure was even more en-heightened than before, it always did when it wasn’t your own, and it was like he was having multiple orgasms.
‘Certainly is tasty’ he thought. ‘Some more would be nice’
Just as he’d finished his last piece he noticed the prey staggering up the stairs.
“Where do you think your going?” muttered the creature through his blood-drenched thorax.
The creature therefore decided it was time to end this charade and finish the job. Finish his meal…
***