Go For Stories

The Anne-monster crouched before the glass wall of the lab. Masses of her new species milled around behind her, scraping and chittering. She turned towards the sound, her limbs creaking and popping, as if being used for the first time. She stepped towards the horde and chittered back at them, rocking on her feet, constantly in motion. For just a moment, they all stopped to look at her, then continued in their attempts to get in. Anne-monster spun her head backwards to face the people in the room with her. Her body twisted and she took a step towards the four of them with a quiet, menacing chitter.

They stepped away from her. Slowly backing up through the rows of the desks and benches. Anne lowered herself on all sixes, her limbs bending to allow her body close to the floor. She moved towards them like a spider hunting a fly, her elbows and knees pointing to the ceiling either side of her skulking body. Still, she looked around as if the world was new. She sniffed the air and twitched, her movements jerky. The way she moved reminded Nigel of old stop motion films, the ones where you can see the jumps between frames. With each twitch she neared them, stalking them but still unsure as to why. It wouldn’t be long before she figured it out, or attacked anyway. She was a creature bunched, ready to pounce.

They backed away through the aisle of benches. Jacob stumbled and Bec grabbed his arm to stabilise him. Nigel kept his eyes fixed on Anne as she herded them down the aisle. Her head moved from one side to the other, sweeping the room; learning her new place in the world. Nigel looked around as well. As soon as Anne realised what she now was, as soon as the fugue of transformation lifted, she would attack. When that happened, they would need to be ready. The only place nearby that Nigel could see was the bathrooms in the corner. At this distance, they might stand a chance to reach the door before she reached them. He picked up the pace of their retreat. The others followed suit, including Anne. Still, she hunted. Never looking at them, but following them all the same. Her anxious chittering grew more urgent.

Nigel reached back towards the door, his fingers stretched beyond their normal capacity. They hurt with the effort, but he dared not look away from the Anne-monster, lest she take the opportunity to swipe his head from his neck. He fumbled for the doorway, feeling his fingers slide along the smooth wall before finally slipping onto the shining metal door. At his touch, it clicked open and slid into the cavity built into the wall. Anne’s head perked at the sound and she stared right at him. He wanted so desperately to turn away from those murky yellow eyes, but couldn’t. They were not Anne’s anymore, he could see that now. Anne was gone and had left in her husk a being of death and destruction. Her eyes were so large, so bulging, that he could see the liquid swirling about in the soulless spheres. Behind the solid yellow was a dark, muddy colour that reflected his trepidation and fear.

Nigel waved the others through the door without turning to look at them. The monster lunged forward at the movement, realising with sudden panic that her meal was escaping. Nigel took a step back and stumbled over his own nervous feet. A pair of hands grabbed his shoulders and steadied him as the door closed and clicked shut. Nigel turned to see Jacob tap his watch and the door locked with a ‘thunk’.

“Neat trick,” he said with a puff, his quivering voice betraying his fear.

Jacob winked and allowed himself another smug smile. A smile that disappeared as soon as the monster thudded against the door. Not too hard, just a test shot. They could see the shadow of her movement coming through the gap at the base of the door. It slid along the floor from left to right then, two seconds later, right to left. She paced in front of the door, guarding it, guarding them. They were hers now and she would wait for them to come to her. Her chittering noise had taken on a tone of determination now, almost pure glee through anticipation of her future meal.

Nigel, in an attempt to ignore her and the menace of her prowling, turned to look at the room in which they now found themselves. They had entered a short hallway with a door on either side. One was marked ‘MEN’ and the other, “WOMEN”. There were no allowances made for the impaired, as there had been strict health testing for all employed here. At the end of the hall was narrow, blank wall adorned only with a painting. Depicted on the canvas was a bleak landscape; burning and barren. Trees were reduced to stumps and buildings, rubble. From amongst the centre of this dark and dreary locale, a great tree with bright blossoms burst through the hard earth; a beacon of hope and prosperity.

The men’s toilet door opened.

A man stepped out, his blue eyes bleary and bloodshot and his hair matted to his head. The mark of tears streaked down his face as he looked at the people staring back at him.

“Henry?” asked Milly in a hoarse whisper. “Oh my god, Henry, are you okay? I haven’t seen you since the explosion.”

“I, I…” He rubbed his eyes with both hands before staring at them like they were strangers, visions he could not decipher. “I was seeing things,” he said with a vague tone, “horrible things. Evil things. I couldn’t go back. I felt okay this morning. I thought I would be okay. I thought I could come back.” He paused and looked around. “Then the siren and, and, they went outside to see. They all went out there.”

“Henry.” Nigel stepped forward, his hand out in a peaceful gesture. He spoke in a low, even voice. “Henry, it’s okay. I saw them too. The visions. It was the smoke from the bomb. It did something to our minds.”

Henry blinked at him. “What? No, no it wasn’t. They came for me. But I felt better, you see? So, when they went to check on the noise. When they,” he waved his hand towards the metal door leading to the lab, “when they went to see, I closed the door, I locked them out. As an offering.” He let out a sharp, manic laugh. They all stepped back. “And it worked. It actually worked. They left me alone in here. And now you’re here to save me. I made it.” Tears ran from his eyes. “I made it.”

“Woah, woah,” Nigel held up his hands, “we’re not out of the water yet, mate. They’re still out there.”

Henry shook his head. He held his hands out, indicating the safety of the room in which they all stood. “It doesn’t matter. Don’t you see? We’re all okay.”
He moved towards the door, tapping the emergency exit on the wall beside him.

“No, no, Henry don’t.” Nigel lunged at him.

Henry turned and smiled as the door slid open. “See? It’s fine,” he said. “Nothing to-”

His head burst in an explosion of blood that splattered on the walls and floor. It hit Nigel in the face and he staggered back. Through the mist of crimson, the monster appeared, screaming the terrifying scream of the albinoids with her wide, jagged mouth. Henry’s body, relieved of its head, crumpled to the floor. Being closest to the door, Nigel fell to the floor as the monster slashed the air, narrowly missing him with her claws. The bright blood shone on her white body as she flexed her muscles and screamed again.

Nigel pushed himself off the floor and rammed his shoulder into her chest, throwing her backwards. She tried to grab him around the middle, but he dropped again, avoiding her lithe arms and spinning to the side. Bec raced forward and kicked at the monster. Her foot connected with the monster just above the hip and she staggered back.

“Now, Jacob,” hissed Milly. “Shut the door. Now.”

Jacob stared for a second before clueing into what Milly had said. He tapped at his watch and the door slid shut, pinning the monster where she was. She thrashed her arms and the door shook, threatening to dislodge from its track.

“Grab her arms,” said Nigel. “We can hold her.”

He moved around the wall to get beside her, Milly followed close behind and the others slipped along the other side. The albinoid struggled and stretched, reaching for her prey. Slashing the air at their faces. Once they were all in position, Nigel nodded and sprang forward. He grabbed her top arm as Milly reached in underneath. Jacob and Bec avoided her deadly thrashing and also managed an arm each. The impact of their attack shook the door hard and it retracted back into the wall, programmed to avoid calamity. As the door opened, they fell as one onto the floor next to the body of Henry. The monster bucked and twisted, trying to throw them off, but they held strong.

“Pin her legs!” shouted Nigel over the screaming and thumping. “Pin them.”

Milly looped one of her legs over that of the albinoid and locked it down as best she could. Jacob, having gotten the lower arm on his side, was able to use his upper body to trap both the arm and leg in one spot. The albinoid bucked in a violent effort to release herself. Milly grunted as the creature kicked out again and again. She was tiring, however. Her screams faded to squeals, faded to manic whimpers. At length, her struggles stopped and she was still. No more thrashing, no more twitching. Her eyes darted around and her gaping maw opened and closed. Had Nigel not seen what these beasts were capable of, he would almost say she was afraid.

“What now, Einstein?” Bec asked. She raised her brow at Nigel. “We can’t let her go. She’ll kill us.”

“It may not matter,” said Milly as she looked up at the face of the creature with a puzzled expression. Nigel followed her gaze. The monster’s jaw hung loose now. Nigel could see past the sharp teeth and into her deep, dark throat. Her eyes no longer darted, but rolled slowly. Her fingers and toes clenched and unclenched with weak pulses. She was not well. As he watched, the light died from her eyes and they shrunk in on themselves, as if drained of fluid. Any tension in her lean muscles released and her head slumped to the floor.

“What?” asked Bec. “What happened?”

Nigel stared into the cold, hollow eye sockets and let out a long, slow breath.

“I,” he said, choking on his words, “I think we killed her.”