Genre: Horror
Plot: A creature who becomes more human with every person he kills.
Words to use: monster, beast, guilt, subhuman, alien, parasite, vulture, blood, plot, shadow, murder, prey, hunt, kill, leach.
Life began, deep in the cave.
The dank smell of mildew went unnoticed, a mindless presence gurgled and oozed in the darkness. The sound of water dripping down the rock made the dirt beneath it damp and soft to the touch of mounds of distorted and round of what you could call flesh, but not quite. It rolled and gushed plasma on the ground, mixing with moss and algae.
Tiny stumps appeared through the angled lines of red veins and proto-viscera. A monster untangling itself from the flora within the cave; a beast emerging from dark blood and shadow. Instinct pulled it forward. It groaned and quivered, a force greater than itself took over.
It took its first steps, as they were, through the ferns and tree debris through the slivers of light of the sun filtered through the leaves. It said nothing, it couldn’t. There was no mouth, no consciousness, not even subhuman…yet. A craving bubbled up inside though, something unfamiliar, but gaining strength with each labored breath through the gills on each side of its form. Suddenly, a presence made it stop and turn with an abrupt movement, something scurried away through the brush. It felt a deep hunger within the blistering flesh. A snap of twig and a bob of movement came through the trees. With sudden rush, it moved with stealth and purpose. I will feed, it mused. Blood splattered in all directions from the strike from the monster’s blade that came from inside. It spurted with each pump of the heart. The monster breathed in the force as it exited, second by second, until finished, the limbs limp like a rag. The monster roared and bent back and forth, pain rushing through the newly formed stumps of arms and legs as it grew outward, newly formed life beginning as the other ended with a whimper and sigh of relief from the parasite.
It wobbled like a newborn with its new legs, looking through a glaze of sight at its new arms as they formed slowly, creating two flesh-covered protrudances from what was once an unsymmetrical ball of viscera and ooze. The victim laid in a pool of blood, mangled and silent, lifeless. A strange sensation went through the monster’s body, a feeling, something it didn’t understand. It left it in the forest, for the moment. It roared, the lust returning, pulling and overwhelming itself. “More!” it roared in instinct, shocking itself and disturbing the life above, frightening and retreating from the disturbance beneath that lumbered through the debris.
The hunt began again. Wind rushed through the trees, an acrid smell caused the monster to cringe, but force pushed him toward the movement. The clank of metal hitting asphalt. The smell clung to the air around it. It made out the form it searched for, it hunted for the desire to grow and change brought it closer to the prey. It must kill again, selfish longing for life that must come from death. It desires, deep and unforgiving, to breathe in that life as it ended. It pounced, unsuspecting, a whelp echoed through the trees and it attempted to strike at the alien, it registered nothing, but kept its focus on one thing – taking something to make it whole, its deepest desire.
It shielded itself from the sunlight with its arms, its hands growing, becoming finally fully formed. The smell of pine the monster could smell fully through the lump and holes that perforated it. The gills moved, twirling inward, replaced by the rise and fall of the chest. The exterior viscera creeped now covered with skin. The breeze hit the tiny hairs that grew from the pores. It stretched its limbs, relief creating a sense of calm inside, before the hunger returned. It glanced at his hands, stretching each finger as they grew longer in the warmth of the sun hitting its body. It watched as the toes emerged from the legs that came out from the stumps. It retreated back into the cool shadows of the forest. It looked back toward the lump that laid on the ground. A twinge of … something…he swallowed down. The sensation, strange and new. He couldn’t recognize it so he pushed that aside and the hunger returned. He turned and went through the trees, searching for the object of his selfish desire — life, as a leach drawing it out from within another. He couldn’t resist the pull.
The monster found his way to a small diner set with the backdrop of the thick forest. It peered from behind a tree, aware that it was naked. Out from the door, came his next feast, heading in his direction. The monster slumped down low within the bush and waited, murder on its breath as fire. He began to think, plot, it felt unnatural and natural at the same time. The man, lanky and disheveled, looked through the trees, fire came out of his hand. As the monster gazed at him, he still missed the nuance of what was happening, as it lit an orange blaze, creating a billow of smoke that the stranger inhaled deeply with a strong pull of his lungs. He exhaled more out of his body, he paced and turned back around toward the diner. With a jolt, it striked, the cigarette fell, the embers sparkling as it hit the hard ground, and rolled into the dirt. The man’s eyes bulged, turning red, as it held him tightly around the neck. Without a drop of blood, the monster breathed in his essence. The fear in his eyes turned into nothingness and the monster dropped the body without thought and guilt.
With this latest kill, the monster rejoiced with the finishing touches of his full-formed humanity. All his parts were complete. He let out a bellow and took the clothes from the lifeless body and imitated their placement on his own beautiful body. He took out the metal that clanged in the pocket as he put each fresh leg inside the still warm and soft. He stared at it, placed it between his new teeth and buttoned the pants then the shirt. He shook the keys, they jingled and his mind blank. His gaze caught sight of an object, like the last life had, and made his way toward it. He pushed buttons and pushed the slices of metal in empty spaces until he found the one that fit. He pressed it fully and waited. Nothing happened, he grunted in anger and frustration. The object that hung in the middle of the window caught his attention. It reflected a form and it startled him, quickly turning around. He rubbed his face, admiring the form he had become, a square jaw, deep blue eyes like the sky above him, hair thick and the same color as the tree bark.
A car pulled up and parked beside him. “You having some trouble with your car, buddy?” He said. The monster no longer felt hunger within, it had abated.
“Car,” it repeated.
“Here, let me help you. Is it not starting?” the voice said. The monster tried to move his mouth, making noises, but only simple syllables came out, ya, da, ga. “Are you okay?” he asked him through narrowed brows. The monster nodded, “O-k.”
The man pulled open the door, “Let’s see what’s going on with it.” He turned the key and it came to life, the monster’s face alighted with a smile that danced on his eyes. “Guess, it is working now. Good.” He waved after shutting the door with a bang and made his way inside the diner. Above him, a vulture landed on the edge of the roof and reached its wings into the sun, cleaning from its last meal.
With a few tries, the monster, with his newly formed brain, figured out the car, giving the diner a few near misses, as he pulled out of the space and weaved it through the parking lot onto the street. The radio was on low and he listened as he drove with care. His mind worked quickly, taking in and absorbing everything around him. His hunger remained quiet inside, waiting. The trip took not a long time, the trees got fewer and fewer and the forest ended, vast stretches of land with square buildings set back appeared next, and they got closer and closer until they were denser and taller. Rows of houses and buildings lined the hard cement that carried humans, men, women and children, pulling and being pulled with short, furry animals with dangling tongues. The monster tried to imitate the animals.
The car took him to the busiest part of town where he parked and got out, taking the keys and shoving them into his pocket. He listened with rapt attention to the conversations around him, a few heads turned toward him as he tried to imitate the patterns and sounds. Giggles and stares he didn’t notice nor understand. He learned. He adapted. He started to blend in.
Until the hunger returned. He fell out of form, a finger regressed inside, and the curse roared back to life. Just one life and he would be okay. He hunted through the town, unsuspecting ones out late at night, with hoodies and masks hiding their faces or those weaving from too much joy, breathlessly singing to the cold night air. It became easier and easier, his coy and seductive face, breathing in their life for him to return to his once again. It didn’t take blood, but blood felt better to him. It made him satisfied — for a while. The town wondered about the new man that kept his distance, and the bodies found, but without suspects. Those he murdered went unsolved, but the looks rested on him for too long.The monster felt as an outcast, but he learned to keep his dark secret, mastering the ability to manipulate those who were enamored with his new witty facade.
And he waited…for the next time.
