Parasite ; Sleeper Cells ; Kingdoms of the Dead

by Ian Woodhead

  “I’m fine. I just came over all funny, that’s all.” He stopped in front of the door, placing his hand against the metal, wondering if he dare open it. That decision was taken out of his hands then the door slowly opened on its own accord.

  Katy pulled him through the door. “Come on, don’t dawdle,” she said. “I want to find this kid.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “God, I don’t half feel weird.”

  Cade, didn’t answer her. His emotions had not been right ever since they had walked through that doorway. That vague feeling of belonging here had increased tenfold, along this the resentment of knowing that he wasn’t the first one down here. This should have been his discovery; it wasn’t fair that Cade should find this place by accident.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered. “You’re shivering.” Katy then squeezed his hand tight. “Look at that!”

  Just above their heads, carved into the smooth grey rock were the detailed etchings of two ensigns. The one of the left was unfamiliar but he recognised the design on the right. He should do, Cade had been wearing the exact pattern on his arm since birth. Cade stood under the etchings, listening to his heart beating. It was so loud. His eyes dropped to his feet and noticed the patterns were duplicated on the floor as well.

  “Someone’s coming,” whispered Katy. She pulled him over to the far wall and ducked behind a stone outcropping.

  Cade bobbed down as well, his mind was in turmoil, none of this made any sense to him, but no matter what he did, Cade couldn’t shift the feeling that this hidden chamber had been waiting for him for over a decade. It was this place that had convinced Cade to keep coming here.

  He caught his breath at the sight of another shadow climbing the wall. His elusive girl had finally made an appearance. He couldn’t understand why he felt the sudden urge to jump out of their hiding place, run over to her and carry the little bitch away from this chamber before she had chance to… Cade frowned, that last piece of information refused to make an appearance. He had no idea what the little girl intended to do.

  Katy’s foot slipped, causing a pile of tiny stones to tumble down the slope. Katy gasped but the girl didn’t even register the noise. She just crouched down, traced her fingers along one of the patterns before sighing. It was such a sad, mournful sound, almost heart wrenching. She then shrugged off her tattered green dress and sat down cross-legged on the floor.

  None of this made any sense to Cade. He gazed in confusion at this pretty little girl, wearing just panties, white socks and shoes, slowly rocking back and forth. He then saw something that made him start; the girl had a large birthmark on her left shoulder. It wasn’t like his though, the pattern was different. “Oh no,” whispered, Cade, when he realised that it matched the pattern on the floor and above the girl. He shook off Katy and stood up, suddenly aware of where they were and what this place was. Those patterns, gouged into the stone floor all led to the lip of that well. They were there for only one reason. He then saw the flash of metal in her hands. The girl held one of those ancient weapons. Cade screamed out, but the girl didn’t even flinch. She lifted the blade above her head and savagely slammed it down, burying the blade deep into her chest.

  His limbs unfroze and he found his body lunging forward of its own accord, the girl see-sawed the knife down her chest, opening herself up, the two sections splitting apart like a huge set of bloodied lips. The girl’s robotic motions stopped and she dropped to her knees and slumped forward, her forehead cracking against the lip of the hole before falling into the abyss.

  Cade stopped by the hole, unable to take his eyes off the sight of the pool of her thick blood flowing along deep gullies cut into the stone, the fluid dripping into the hole.

  “Why the hell did she go do that?” Katy ran over to the rock, leaned over and emptied her stomach. “Oh God,” she blurted. “We have to get out of here, right now.” The girl stumbled over to the entrance, looking behind her when she saw that he had not budged an inch. “Cade!”

  “That should have been me,” he murmured, feeling his birthmark itching. It felt alive, biting into his skin, like a thousand fleas, all needing to drink from that one area. Somewhere in the distance at what sounded like a thousand miles away, he could hear the other girl screaming his name. She didn’t matter, this had nothing to do with her. He crouched down and traced his finger along one of the furrows, feeling the remainder of the girl’s blood coat his flesh, it wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. In fact, the action woke up a memory that he knew wasn’t his. Cade closed his eyes and felt himself fall backwards.

  ***

  The sound of the others screaming through the clan’s defenses chilled his already cold blood. He didn’t have long to finish the preparations. The Swarmer clan was going to rip him to pieces and feast on his flesh. He already knew of his fate, he would be their final meal, no matter what happened next. He could not fail his own masters though. The ceremony just had to be completed.

  The girl in the corner had stopped her quiet sobbing. Had she, like him, resigned herself to her fate? He shrugged, it mattered not. Her life was unimportant. The Swarmers had reached the final barricade, even from down here, he could hear their screams of frustration to find their way to salvation blocked. Despite his master’s hastily built fortifications, it would not take them long to break through. There were hundreds of those evil things now, they would make short work of the wooden barriers.

  As he summoned the shivering girl over to the well, he could hear the guards’ low muttering; they were getting ready for the final assault. Like the barrier before them, their weapons would only stop the Swarmers for a few minutes, just enough time for him to complete the task. The girl jumped at the sound of the wood splintering.

  “It is none of your concern,” he hissed, forcing the naked girl into the kneeling position. “Put your head down, you stupid child! Hurry up, they’re nearly here.”

  He held his dagger up, seeing his emblem stamped into the blade, they all carried the mark of the clan. It was in their blood to serve their masters, from birth to death. He gazed down at the trembling girl. He counted to three and hoped her body would contain enough blood to keep his masters alive until their next awakening.

  He dropped to his knees, listening to the others giving their lives to stop the Swarmers from entering the temple before he had completed his task. Soon it would be his turn. He slammed the blade down, feeling the razor-sharp metal bite into the girl’s flesh. It pieced her heart through her ribs. For the girl, her death was quick and painless. He looked into the well, gazing down at the five undead pale faces looking up at him, their long yellowed fangs gnashing together, all waiting for him to throw in the girl. He looked up and glanced towards the entrance, sensing the final guard fighting like a wild bear protecting her cubs.

  He pushed the body down, watching it tumble, the long serrated knives jutting out from the stone, slicing through her flesh. He sighed and stood up. Hs task was now complete. The other clan would no doubt perform the same ceremony but he now knew that they were the first. No matter what happened. Their clan would survive the big sleep.

  ***

  Cade snapped his eyes open, feeling somebody tug at his shoulder. He sat up, the vision still vivid in his memory.

  He had failed his master, thanks to his lack of vision, the enemy, the Swarmer clan had received their sacrifice first. Those bastards would now waken and destroy them all. Cade pushed the girl away and crawled over to the hole. Maybe he wasn’t too late. Sure, the Swarmers would awaken, but they’d be slow, weak and defenseless. If his master awakened at the same time, both clans would stand a chance of surviving.

  The jagged blades were still there, long strings of wet flesh dripping from the metal shards. All he needed to do was to cut himself then drop down. He scooped up the ancient weapon and sliced the blade down his lower arm.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  Cade shook his head, trying to clear that hurtful voice ringing in his mind. He had no time for im
aginary voices. He had to finish this before it was too late. Cade watched his own blood drip into the well then stepped up to the edge.

  He cried out in agony and shock when something heavy slammed into his legs. He stumbled and fell back, landing on the girl’s body.

  “What the fuck has got into you, Cade?”

  The voice was not imaginary. The mention of his name cleared his vision and a young woman’s face swam into view. She looked so familiar but he couldn’t yet place her. Cade’s heart then skipped a beat when a mournful noise rose from deep beneath the well.

  “They are coming!” He sobbed. “I didn’t stop them.” Cade then looked deep into the girl’s eyes. His mind, like his vision began to clear. “We are so fucked.” Cade hissed in pain, looking at the gash in his arm. He wanted me down there.” He shuddered at the thought of those blades biting into his screaming body before those things down there tore him into confetti-sized bloodied meat.

  The noise from the well grew louder as more of them woke.

  “I don’t know what’s happening!”

  He looked at the few spots of blood, left from the girl. Just how far had she travelled to get here and just how had she been able to find a way into this chamber so easily? Was the other clan that strong? He then realised that he was actually jealous of her. “Fuck me,” he muttered. “I really am going insane.” He grabbed the girl’s wrist and pulled her out of the chamber. “Come on,” he hissed, if we don’t move now, we’ll never get out of here.”

  Chapter One

  Darlene Myers clamped her hand tight against her lips, trying not to burst out laughing. Her son had kept that one quiet. She approached his unmade bed, unable to take her eyes from Damian’s newest poster. Clad in a skin-tight black leather outfit, complete with a random collection of satanic trinkets hanging from her wrists and neck, the longhaired, blonde young woman cut an impressive figure. She wielded her long handled, double-edged axe with dexterity and expertise, if the pile of decapitated mythical animals lying around her feet was anything to go by. The only detriment to the whole panorama was the female’s impossibly huge breasts.

  Even with good support, she would have trouble walking, never mind fighting. Darlene leaned forward and attempted the read the band logo splattered across the woman’s legs in a mixture of black and red ink. It looked like House of the Unholy, but she wasn’t willing to put money on her guess.

  If it was House of the Unholy, the band had some serious misconceptions at how sexy women were supposed to look. Then again, what did she know? Darlene was only a mother and according to her seventeen-year-old son, she was way past it.

  She giggled. “If only you really knew, Damian.” Darlene turned and walked over to Damien’s dressing table and gazed into the long mirror, pleased at the trim looking thirty-six year-old woman smiling back. Darlene shrugged off her white t-shirt and pushed her hands up, under her black, bra, “Give me an axe and I’d show you how well a proper woman could handle herself,” she said, giggling, imagining the look on her son’s face if he happened to walk in right now. Darlene picked her t-shirt off the carpet and quickly dressed herself, looking at his poster one more time.

  Her mood darkened ever so slightly at the thought of how her husband, Geoff, would react at the sight of what Damien had blu-tacked above his bedpost. He would not find the image so amusing, which was ironic considering he was just like Damien when she first met him all those years ago.

  Okay, so all of this modern, extreme metal horrified Geoff but when he’s been Damien’s age, his taste in music wasn’t exactly mainstream. Hell, her husband to be even sported hair as long as Damien’s and a rather cute beard. Darlene so missed that gorgeous mane. When did he start to look and act so old?

  “More to the point, sweetheart, how come you never noticed it?” She shook her head, vowing, one more time, never to grow old gracefully.

  Why wasn’t her husband comfortable with Damian’s musical taste? Geoff preached to her on more than one occasion that he believed that anyone listening to metal just had to have something wrong with them. Geoff said that the only reason why he had tolerated Damian’s current passion was because he thought it was just another one of Damian’s silly phases. According to him, Damien went through a lot of silly phases. She didn’t find it all that surprising that he never used those remarks on their daughter, Elsie. In Geoff eyes, Damien’s twin sister couldn’t put a foot wrong and butter wouldn’t melt in her eyes. Then again, what did he know? The man hardly ever saw his kids nowadays. Even when he was at home, he was too involved with work to pay attention to anyone else.

  Darlene pulled her son’s quilt cover up to his pillow, making note that she ought to get this lot in the wash at the weekend. She walked over to the door, taking one last glance at Damian’s walls. Over the last few months, he’d covered three walls with posters depicting scenes similar to the one she’d giggled at. Geoff would not find it funny, that much she did know.

  “He’d go mental.” Darlene nodded to herself. Oh yeah, he really would go spare if he saw that poster all right. Considering that she was trying to keep the equilibrium, it might be a better idea to have a quiet word with Damian. He’d understand.

  “He’d better,” she muttered. That last thing she needed right now was for anything to upset the apple cart. Darlene turned off the light and closed the door, wondering for the tenth time today why she didn’t have the guts to admit that her marriage was dead.

  “Honey, are you up there?”

  “No, I’m stood in the kitchen, you silly man,” she whispered. Darlene rushed along the landing and saw Geoff stood at the bottom of the stairs swapping his car keys from hand to hand. “Is it that time already?” she asked, smiling down into his distracted face. Even from up here, she saw that his mind was elsewhere. It certainly wasn’t where it should be, staring up at his beautiful wife wearing a very tight t-shirt and sexy black shorts. Darlene was very proud of her toned legs. By the looks of it, though, she was the only one.

  He nodded, “Yeah, looks like it.”

  At thirty-eight, her husband retained the looks that Darlene had fallen for sixteen years ago. Granted, a few grey hairs had made an unwanted appearance on that thick head of short brown hair and the pub lunches and lack of exercise had given Geoff a noticeable paunch, but he was still a gorgeous hunk. At six foot five, he towered over Darlene by a full foot.

  “Come on then,” he said, looking at his watch. “Where’s my kiss. I don’t want to be late.”

  Darlene silently sighed and walked down the steps, still keeping the smile fixed upon her face. “Of course not, sweetheart, we wouldn’t want that now would we?” Did the bitterness show in her voice? Darlene threw her arms around Geoff’s neck and brushed her lips on his. “Take me upstairs, Geoff,” she said, “I need you, I need you right now.” She dragged her hand down his spine and squeezed his arse. “Take me upstairs, sweetheart. I need to feel you inside me. Come on, I want you to fuck me raw.”

  He untangled her arms and gently pushed her away. “Darlene, don’t do this to me, my little flower pot. You know I’ve got a presentation tonight.”

  She closed her eyes and nodded, desperately trying not to allow his rejection to get to her. For crying out loud, did she honestly expect him to choose between work and his wife?

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Darlene gave the man the accustomed kiss on his cheek before opening the door for him. “You try to have a good time at work, Geoff.”

  He returned the kiss then gave Darlene an unexpected hug. “If I have enough energy left when I finish work, I’ll see if I can do something about your urges.”

  Darlene kissed him back and grinned, wanting to punch the bastard in the nuts. He made it sound like she had something wrong with her, that wanting sex was somehow dirty. “I’ll be waiting for you, my little peanut.”

  Geoff slowly walked up the garden path, stopping before he reached the gate to wave to Darlene one last time. She looked into the starlit sky trying to wor
k out just when everything in her life turned to complete shit. Darlene gave him the customary wave and watched him climb into their family car.

  “It’s time for fun now, girl,” she said, watching him turn the car, reverse and drive out of the cul de sac. “You ought to be grinning, feeling all sexy, your heart all aflutter.” She felt none of that. All Darlene wanted to do now was to just go to bed and stay there for the next fifty years.

  At the same time as she whispered goodbye to the car’s headlights, the door to number twenty-eight opened. Darlene watched as Paul Spencer made his way through his own garden and crossed the road, heading towards her house.

  Her affair with the young man who lived across from her was getting as tired as her marriage to Geoff. The danger of getting caught had worn off months ago. She tried to compete with Paul’s eager grin and found that she really couldn’t be bothered.

  “He’s definitely not coming back tonight is he?”

  Darlene shook her head, even their conversations followed the same nightly pattern. “No, Paul, you have me until the morning.”

  He slyly looked both ways before Paul placed his warm hands on her side and slid them over her t-shirt before placing them on her breasts. “That’s good, cos I want to have you.” He groaned and rubbed his thumbs across her nipples.

  She pulled him into the house and kicked the door shut. “Not out in the street!” she snapped, although, Darlene did have to admit, the thought of some nosy neighbour peering through their window and catching this young man caressing her tits did turn her on. “I’m not wearing any knickers, Paul.” Darlene saw his hand automatically heading towards her thigh and slapped it away. “Not yet, not here.” She ran up the stairs and stopped in front of her son’s bedroom, watching him race after her.

  “You want to go play in there, Darlene? But, I thought you said that room was forbidden.”