Parasites Love Earth!

  If that wasn't bad enough, things only got worse.

  A week later, Miles came home and announced that the children were going to be "honored" by the Hive Mind.

  Caroline had a sinking feeling she knew what that meant.

  "They are to be brought to the cave and modified," said Miles.

  "No!" said Caroline. "I will not permit it!"

  Miles pressed his chest against hers and stared her in the eyes. "You are not in the slightest position to stop it," he said ominously. Then his tone lightened. "However, you are in a position to make the transition easier for them. If you tell them to welcome it, the process will be less painful for them."

  "No, no, and no," said Caroline. "You took my body over, you took my husband's body over. You forced us to breed. You killed my husband. You took over my other children. You have nothing left to bargain with. There is no way you can make me cooperate with you."

  "Isn't there?" said Miles, his dark eyes flashing. "You know, it has not quite been decided what should be done to Mark and Marie. They could be fed to the giant spiders."

  "No!"

  "Or fed to the riders for nourishment."

  "No!"

  "Or have their minds or bodies irrevocably altered with insect parts," said Miles.

  "Please, no," Caroline cried.

  "Or... they could receive the most minor of modifications," said Miles.

  "Minor?" Caroline asked. "How minor?"

  "Telepathy, for Mark. So he could communicate with the Hive Mind at a distance."

  "Telepathy? Would that affect his mind in any other way?"

  "No," said Miles.

  "And Marie?"

  "An experiment to slow down her aging. Her lifespan will double."

  "Double?"

  "Conservatively speaking. It could even triple."

  "And there are no side effects?"

  Miles shook his head. "Of course, that's only if you cooperate. If you don't...."

  "I'll do it," said Caroline quickly.

  "I knew you would," said Miles wolfishly.

  She had a talk with the children when Miles was not around. She thought it better that way. She explained how they were all going to a cave, in the Santa Monica foothills, where the creatures had a lair, and how their bodies would be changed.

  "No, Mother," said Marie immediately. "You must be crazy! I won't do it."

  "You have no choice. None of us do," said Caroline, giving a sad smile. "Now that your rider has matured, it can give you enough pain so that you will agree to do anything it wants. The best we can do is try to make a deal, which I've done, guaranteeing that you won't be substantially changed."

  "It seems you've made a lot of deals with them, Mother, deals that they haven't honored," said Mark.

  "You're right," said Caroline. "But what other choice do we have?"

  "We can run away. Call the police," said Mark.

  "You've tried both. How successful were you?" Caroline asked.

  Mark's head dropped down.

  Miles chose that moment to make his appearance. "All right! Everyone's here! Ready to go on a family picnic?" He was all smiles.

  They drove to the cave in gloomy silence. On the way there, Caroline tried to think of a way, anyway, which she could have avoided this fate for her family. She couldn't think of any, except to have abandoned Ella at the outset. Knowing what she knew now, they never, ever should have agreed to let Melinda give them their first worms.

  When they got to the cave, they followed Miles' example and disrobed.

  "Mom, why doesn't Dad have a rider like we do?" Mark asked.

  Caroline simply shook her head. She didn't have the heart to tell them.

  The kids were stunned by what they saw; all the different kinds of parasites; all the people being experimented on; the giant Hive Mind staring down at them. Marie screamed as she felt the malevolence of the Hive Mind's glare. Caroline hugged her, pressing her larger breasts against her daughter's, trying to calm her. She looked around. The cave seemed more crowded with people than ever. The Hive had been growing.

  Melinda met them right underneath the Hive Mind. She gave Miles a hug and a kiss. For once, Caroline was not even remotely jealous.

  "And you Caroline, I haven't seen you in so long!" Melinda cried, reaching out and giving Caroline a tight hug. Caroline felt Melinda's breast and pubic region pressing against her own and hated herself for feeling sexual arousal.

  "And look at your darling family. You must be Marie, and you must be Mark!" she said. "I've heard so much about you!"

  "You have?" said Mark doubtfully.

  "Yes. You have a very bright and wonderful future ahead of you." She snapped her finger, and another woman appeared, a redhead.

  "Gabrielle, take Marie to the preparation area."

  "Mother!" Marie cried.

  Miles gave Caroline a hard glance.

  "It's all right, dear. Go with them," said Caroline, hoping it really would be all right. Only if they kept their promise.

  "So you want to stay with Mark, then? Very well, my dear," said Melinda. "Follow me." And once again they found themselves following her wiggling ass.

  She led them into a chamber which had a fleshy table, and some kind of creature and/or apparatus hovering above it. It seemed alive; it was hard to distinguish technology from life forms in this place.

  Melinda gestured for Mark to lie down on the table. Mark looked at Caroline, who gave a reluctant nod. Mark lay down on his back.

  Immediately, restraints sprang to life over his wrists and ankles.

  "Wait, don't tell me. It's for his protection, right?" said Caroline sarcastically.

  Melinda smiled flirtatiously at her. "Are we ready to begin?"

  "Mom," said Mark, looking up at her with worry in his eyes.

  "It's going to be all right," said Caroline desperately, holding his hand.

  Melinda activated some hidden switch, and a mask descended down on Mark's face. It covered all his face, except his ears and the top of his head. The mask actually looked like the exoskeleton of the face of an ant or similar insect. Caroline wondered what it was for.

  The creature or life form above Mark hissed, and things came out of it that clamped down on Mark's arms and legs. A lot of steam was released, pushing Caroline back. Mark started to scream as something was done to him.

  Caroline tried to run forward, but Miles held her by the arms. The creature above Mark hissed and groaned and the steam continued to stream outwards for several minutes. Finally, when it was cleared, she could see what had happened.

  Mark's arms, legs, and chest had been... changed. It looked like giant black insect shells had been stamped over his limbs. They looked strong and shiny. The Insect mask was still firmly affixed to his face. Something was changed in his genitals as well. His chest was still bare flesh, but the only bare flesh part of him left. The changes to his body, combined with the mask on his face, made Mark looked like a hybrid, part insect, part man.

  "What are they doing to him?" Caroline cried.

  "Wait and see," Miles grinned.

  Several tubes came down from the creature above him. One was clear and contained a green fluid, which pressed against his skull. Other clear tubes pressed against his ears. Immediately, Caroline could see a long string of insects starting to stream through the tube, into his ears.

  Mark cried out just as the tube of green liquid pressed against his head started to bubble. As he screamed, she saw the water level of the green tube starting to drop. Somehow, the green liquid was entering his head. Could it be dissolving into his skull? From this angle, Caroline simply could not see.

  She couldn't see Mark's face either, which was covered by the mask. But she could hear his screams.

  "No," Caroline cried, watching as the green liquid seeped into his head, as the insects surged into his ears. "This isn't what you promised."

  "No, but it is what we want," said Miles, whispering in her ear as he held her.

  Mark
cried out several more times as the green liquid level dropped precipitously, and then he went abruptly silent.

  "Mark? Mark? You've killed him!" she cried.

  "But something else will be born. Something wonderful," said Miles. "Just wait."

  Caroline had no choice. She watched as the green liquid drained entirely into his head. She watched as the bugs flooded in and out of his ears. She watched as new bugs dropped onto the mask on his face and started to make chittering sounds as they appeared to rub the mask with their claws.

  And then, ten minutes later, it was all gone. The tubes, the bugs, everything. All that was left was Mark.

  The restraints withdrew.

  "Rise," said Melinda.

  Mark, if that was Mark, slowly stood up.

  "How do you feel?" Melinda asked.

  "Momomomomomom," said Mark.

  Caroline looked at his face. The mask had fused to it. Mark now had the face of an insect, with limbs to match.

  "Mark!" she cried again.

  Mark turned and faced her directly. "Momomomomom," he repeated.

  "What have you done to him?" Caroline cried.

  "He has been turned into a harem guard," said Melinda proudly.

  "Harem guard?"

  "With our increasing successes, we need guards to better manage our slave population. We thought Mark would fit in perfectly with the program. In addition, becoming a harem guard offers one other benefit, which you will see shortly," said Melinda. "Ah, and here is his beautiful sister!"

  Another harem guard appeared, dragging Marie by the arm. "Mother!" she cried, hugging Caroline tightly.

  "Are you all right? What did they do to you?"

  "They put some insects inside my... my...."

  Caroline looked at Melinda. "You're going to use her for breeding, aren't you?"

  "We couldn't afford not to try," said Melinda. "Given how fertile you and Miles were, we couldn't pass up an opportunity to test your children."

  "Children?"

  "That's right. You and Miles will create another child, and Mark and Marie will do the same," said Melinda. She watched as Caroline slowly realized what was about to happen. "But first, you need your spider eggs. Take them to the lair!"

  In moments, Caroline and Marie were lying on their backs in a spider hammock. Caroline watched as a giant spider put eggs inside of Marie. Marie, who was completely as terrified as Caroline was her first time, cried out repeatedly.

  But Caroline felt no fear. There was nothing left to feel. She felt nothing at all as the spider hissed menacingly on top of her, She experienced no terror as it stuck its ovipositor deep within her, filling her with eggs. She was totally emotionally drained.

  Afterwards, she and Marie were brought to an empty chamber with a soft, webby flooring. Miles and Mark were there waiting for her, as well as Melinda.

  "I'll leave you lovebirds on your own," said Melinda, winking broadly. "Don't worry, you won't be disturbed, you have the best guard in the cave protecting you," she said, indicating a harem guard standing at the doorway. It was a woman with an insect face, insect arms, and insect legs, but she still had a human chest with small, firm female breasts.

  Caroline looked puzzled.

  "Oh, don't you recognize your own daughter, Caroline?" said Melinda.

  Caroline looked at the harem guard. "Ella?" she said.

  Ella looked at her mother. "Momomomomomom," she said.

  "No, not Ella!" Caroline cried.

  "She was simply wasted material in the communing chamber. Anyone could see she had much more potential," said Melinda. She smiled. "And now the happy family is entirely reunited. Have fun, kids!"

  Miles took her by the arm and laid her on her back on the soft, webby flooring. She could see Mark doing the same with Marie, right to her. Mark now seemed to have some kind of insect modified sexual organ.

  In moments, Miles was plunging between her legs just as Mark was making identical motions between Marie's thighs a few feet to her right. Marie was horrified to be copulating with a creature with an Insect face and an insect body. She screamed, and then she moaned, and then when Mark stiffened, and filled her with his seed, she cried out in despair..

  Miles, smiling broadly, chose to synchronize his climax with Marks', spurting into Caroline at the exact same time. "We do everything together, just as a family should," he winked.

  They were kept in the cave for three days and three nights, having sex over and over, until they were sure that both Caroline and Marie were pregnant. They were given little rest, and only a foul green liquid for nutrition, which Caroline spat out the first day, but drank hungrily the second when she no longer had a choice.

  And then they were home. It all seemed like it could have been a bad dream, except for the fullness in their bellies, and the fact that Mark was now gone. Mark was now a harem guard, like Ella, and he worked in the cave.

  "Mother, what are we going to do?" Marie sobbed one day, hugging her when Miles wasn't around.

  "I don't know," said Caroline.

  "What are these... things we are going to give birth to?"

  "I don't know," said Caroline again. But she did know. It would be more duplicates. But duplicates of whom? That was the question.

  A week later, they gave birth together, in the basement, squatting side by side, each one of them squeezing out a green pod. When it was done, Caroline forestalled more questions by simply shaking her head, and pulling Marie up the stairs.

  Two days later, Marie said, "And so we just wait? Wait for more of those creatures to be born? Do you even know who they are going to look like?"

  "I don't," said Caroline. But she had a sneaking suspicion that she did.

  By the fourth day they could see that they were both going to be females, which only solidified Caroline's worst fears. But what could they do? Try to run away? Their riders would stop them before they had gotten three steps.

  Their only chance was if those creatures were other women. Maybe she and Marie were being used to duplicate other people.

  But Caroline's dread only increased as the days passed. On the seventh day, she and Marie were sitting in the basement, waiting for hours. Waiting for it to happen. They held hands, but didn't say a word.

  Finally, they heard a cracking sound, from Caroline's cocoon, as the outer layer of the pod started to rupture. A green liquid started to emerge. Then the same cracking sound could be heard from Marie's pod.

  In a moment, the new life forms emerged.

  It was as Caroline feared. She and Marie were staring at a new Caroline and Marie. They had been impregnated with their own replacements.

  Marie cried out and tried to run, but only got three steps before she was incapacitated by the pain. Caroline didn't bother to run. All the fight had been drained out of her.

  Caroline, the new Caroline, came up to her. "You're more beautiful than I imagined," she said, giving her a kiss. Caroline responded woodenly. When she pulled back, Caroline asked, "Why are you doing this to us? We did everything you asked."

  "That you did," said the other Caroline. "And this is your reward. You are one of our most valuable, fertile servants. We couldn't afford to let that go to waste. You should feel flattered."

  "I'm not," said Caroline.

  The other Caroline smiled and shrugged. She took Caroline by the hand. "At least your last few hours will be pleasurable. I guarantee you that."

  The new Caroline took Caroline by the hand and led her to the master bedroom. The new Marie took Marie by the hand and led her there as well. Both were quickly stripped of their clothes and made to lie on the bed.

  "You see, we need your memories," said Caroline, smiling at them as she experimentally rubbed her own breasts. "We are telepathic, to a limited degree, but we must be touching to receive it."

  "After which you have no further use for us," said Caroline.

  "One Caroline is wonderful. Two are extraneous," said the other Caroline. She smiled. "I'm sure you'll agree."

/>   Caroline didn't respond. Marie whimpered, "Mother!" as they both were mounted.

  Caroline and Marie's rider filled them with sexual attraction as their duplicates rubbed their bodies against them. Caroline felt herself kissing her, pulling her mouth open with her hand, and inserting her tongue into her mouth. Despite her situation, Caroline moaned. She felt her other self rub her breasts against hers. Her nipples grew hard. Her other self snaked a hand between her legs, and started rubbing her clit.

  But even as Caroline was sexually aroused, she felt something else. Tendrils, in her mind. Absorbing, sucking, taking. She looked up, and saw the other Caroline's green eyes, inches from hers, staring intently as she began to drain from her.

  Caroline looked to her left and saw Marie deeply engaged in intercourse with her other self. Marie's duplicate was also draining her mind, even as she roughly ground her inner thigh against Marie's clitoris, eliciting a wild groan. But Marie's body was stiff as a board, as her mind was drained even as her body was stimulated.

  Time seemed to proceed in a blur, and when Caroline realized what was happening again, she was lying on the bed, with Marie. Their counterparts were standing up, drinking glasses of water.

  "Brain sucking is such thirsty work," said the other Caroline. The other Marie grinned at her. "How much more do you have to go?" Caroline asked the other Marie.

  "Not much more. Just a few minutes. We're at the high school years now," said the other Marie. "You?"

  "I have a bit more to go," said Caroline. "Mommie has a few more memories than baby girl does," she grinned.

  And then they were both mounted again, and Caroline again felt breasts being rubbed by breasts, and her clitoris being rubbed by set of nether lips, and her mind was once again probed, as the duplicate took what she wanted.

  Time fell into a blur, for a short time, it seemed, until Caroline heard a cry, and she managed to turn her eyes to see Marie's body, as it started to shrink, and turn into powder. She wanted to cry out, but couldn't say a thing. The other Caroline's eyes were on her, demanding her undivided attention, and Caroline was forced to look into them, even as her body was still being stimulated.

  And then it was done, and the other Caroline gave her a gentle kiss, and said, "Thank you. Thank you so much. You were such an obedient servant." And then Caroline hugged her tightly, she felt a searing pain all throughout her body, and nothing else.