Becoming the Gateway

by Justin Roberts

  But in the last act of mercy this existence would grant Charlene, her mind did not notice the surrounding calamity. Her world was now a swirling vortex devoid of any want or need beyond the merciful embrace of death.

  But this was not a merciful night.

  Bradley’s chest was torn open, ragged strips of cloth from his ripped shirt dangled from his frame. The gaping hole in the boy’s chest began to pucker as he stuffed the pistol back into its hiding place from which he had reached in and pulled it from as his mother was staggering away from him moments before.

  The child’s face was now contorting, trying to find its shape, although it was clearly adopting an insect-like quality with the eyes turning black and the skull expanding backwards into a bulbous cone shape. His lips simply melted away from his mouth and the lower jaw disjointed and dropped down to the ground, leaving only the teeth of Bradley’s upper jaw still attached to the skull. Vicious looking pincer like mandibles suddenly jetted forth from where the lower jaw has fallen away from. They looked like the jaws of a giant ant or predatory beetle. The skin from his face bubbled for a second and then melted off just as the lips and lower jaw had seconds earlier. The pincer-like mandibles spread apart, revealing a beaked mouth, like that of an octopus or squid. The beak opened and the creature spat out a massive wad of black sludge. The sticky ooze landed directly on the massive leg wound that would certainly bleed out in seconds, and began to swirl around as if it were a living mass. A moment later the black ooze had completely sealed off the gushing leg wound, stopping the bleeding immediately. The lower part of Charlene’s leg was not quite reattached, but sort of super glued back onto the rest of her. The thick goo bubbled and made a sizzling sound as small plumes of smoke crept up into the night air. Another wad of ooze spat forth and sealed the gaping shoulder wound.

  Charlene seemed to snap out of her dazed state all of the sudden and reality came crashing down upon her psyche with all the fury of an avalanche of misery. Her body was completely wracked with unbearable pain, although her terrible leg wound had begun to turn completely numb, as if she had been injected with a massive dose of Novocain. The terror and anguish of losing her children to whatever sinister force had taken them from lovely, innocent children and made them into things far too abhorrent to even be called monsters, things that even the most disturbed mind’s nightmares could not even manifest, coupled with the insanity inducing experience of having to witness a series of events that the human mind was simply not conditioned to accept as reality, brought about an agonized scream that tore its way through the darkness of this late summer night like wrecking ball demolishing the feeble remains of a building many years past its condemning.

  The creature Bradley had morphed into let out a cackling laugh similar to the sort of sadistic laughter small children might let out as they watched slugs helplessly squirm in agony after they’d had salt poured over them. It grabbed Charlene by her left shoulder and dug into the flesh as claws sprouted forth from the boys small hands.

  Charlene let out another painful shriek and looked up at the fiend that her sweet little boy had turned into. She saw that his head and face had transformed into a huge insect-like figure, although small parts of Bradley were still recognizable. His upper jaw still held its teeth, though now they were pointing more outwards then down, and just below the teeth was that vicious set of pincer jaws that were clicking against each other as strands of that thick, black goo drizzled down his chest. His eyes had seemed to become small black ovals with no lids, and she noticed that more of these black eyes were forming in rows up each side of the boy’s skull until he had four eyes on each side. The skull itself has found its solid form by now, with a large boney shield-like frill jetting about two feet out behind the head, and small horns were lining each side of the elongated skull frill.

  The child creature began dragging its mother along the gravel road, slowly at first, but its speed was increasing with each step. Charlene howled out into the blackness and dug her finger nails into the gravel and dirt in a desperate, and ineffective, attempt to slow the things progress.

  As she was dragged along she noticed the black goat from earlier was standing just past where she had fallen from the gunshot wound. It was not exhibiting the same aggressiveness it had earlier. In fact, it looked more solemn than anything, at least as far as one can tell from looking at the face of a goat. A terrible melancholy fell over Charlene, and considering the current state of affairs it was remarkable that she could even fall any deeper into despair.

  This was not the same horrific pain that she had been experiencing as she witnessed her family’s destruction. Rather, it was a deep sense of mournful regret. In her panic as she raced to the ranch to save her children, she had not even taken the time to consider that these animals were not trying to stop her, but were rather trying to warn her away from the scene because, for whatever reason, they knew what had happened and also knew that it was too late for her to save her family. Charlene felt this now just as she felt the dirt beneath her. Somehow, this goat was telling her this without actually doing anything to communicate, it just stared at her with those deep, sorrowful eyes and sort of projected the thoughts into her head. Then it sent another message, still a telepathic signal but this one came through her mind clear as day.

  “We are sorry,” A strange, sad voice spoke from what seemed like inside her head, “We tried as best we could. It has plans for you, plans that if brought to fruition will bring about the end of all. You cannot let them have their way, they need you alive until the moment of procreation, if your life ends prior then its plans will have to wait and we can regroup. The barrier is up now, they have gained enough strength to block Earth’s armies from entering. Your life is over either way, do not let it end on its terms.”

  The beast that was dragging her noticed the goat, the fiend let out a terrible shriek at the animal. The goat’s eyes suddenly turned the color of flames, then actually became flames. The flames engulfed the goat entirely but did not burn the animal, just danced around the hide of the goat as it let out a loud bleating sound that almost sounded more like a roar than any sound a goat could actually make. Then it turned into a thick cloud of smoke and blew away into the air.

  The Bradley creature hurried its pace. The thing’s legs bent backwards at the knees and became rear jointed like a grasshoppers and it began to leap up the road, covering great distance with much astounding speed.

  As Charlene was dragged and bounced along she could feel the gravel tearing strips of flesh from her back and legs, leaving a red trail of blood, torn flesh, and cloth in their wake. As they approached the ranch house again she could hear the sinister howls and moans of the fiends that awaited her.

  Chapter Three

  By the time Charlene had been dragged back on to the grounds of Bear Creek Ranch her sobs and screams had become a chorus of quick squeals and hyperventilated moans. Her physical and emotional pain had taken to her to levels of suffering that would undoubtedly cause even the strongest minds to crack.

  The world had become chaos. There was no reason or understanding to be had from this night. Nothing that held together the fragile strands of sanity in her mind was left uncorrupted. Grief was not a word fit to describe Charlene’s state of mind, nor was madness. Her world had been so overwhelmed from the shock of the night’s trauma that she was quite simply now unable to really feel much at all. Sure, her entire body was screaming out in undeniable agony from the terrible abuse it had incurred thus far, but her mind by now incapable of any emotion besides fear and rage.

  Despite how desperately she longed for death to rescue her permanently from this horrific new world, she was absolutely terrified of losing her life by the hands of whatever evil had violated her children’s souls. Whatever had made its way here tonight was undoubtedly pure evil in its most atrocious form. This was not just the result of some horrible home invasion murder spree, this was something of pure malice. It did not just kill, it relished in causing suffer
ing and terror. It took her babies and twisted them into things so unimaginable that it was quite obvious it was not just trying to kill or consume. It wanted Charlene to run and scream and cry. These creatures were powerful and fast and could have easily killed her at any point of the night. But it wanted her to experience everything, to feel everything. It made sure to give her the chance to find her children, only to have bear witness to their transformations minutes later. She was being toyed with just like a mouse getting batted around by a cat and let go just long enough to be chased down and tormented some more.

  When she came to the lifeless lawn in front of the ranch house the creature that had been dragging her flung her through the air. She flipped end over end just like a seal being tossed by orcas and had to have traveled at least twenty feet into the air. On her way down she was struck fiercely by the right arm of the huge, bloated beast that used to be Clarence Henderson. There was a loud cracking sound as her ribs shattered and she slammed into the awning that still barely hung over the front porch. She seemed to hang there for a few seconds before sliding down off the awning and landing on her back on the porch steps.

  “She cried out as blood spurted from her mouth, “Please…please just kill me!”

  The Bethie creature, which now had more of a reptilian look than it did earlier, something like a huge, black lizard head atop a body that still had the forward leaning shape seen in drawings of dinosaurs. Only she wasn’t really scaled, her skin looked more like that of an amphibian such as a frog or salamander. Her tentacle arm with the gleaming butcher knife blade sticking from the tip waved around in the air before it slashed across Charlene’s face as she lied in agony on the porch steps. Her face opened up in a diagonal gash that had slashed right through her right eye and left her right cheek dangling down, sliced nearly off her face.

  Charlene cried out as blood gushed out and covered her entire face and most of her upper body in just a couple seconds. The wound would not cause her to bleed to death, but she was now blinded due to one eye being soaked in blood, and the other eye being completely lacerated and left useless. Charlene twisted herself around onto her hand and knees. More accurately, she was really only on one hand and one knee since her right arm was broken savagely on her injured leg was totally useless, just barely dangling at the knee cap from the black sludge Bradley has vomited on it to hold the leg on and prevent her from bleeding out.

  As best she could, she dragged herself down from the steps, which were one of the only parts of the house still intact. She pulled herself across the now dry and brittle grass, it crunched beneath her as if it had been dead and dry for months even though twelve hours earlier it was lush and green. Her vision was still clouded from the blood in her one remaining good eye. She wiped it away as much as she could with her arm and was able to slightly make out the scene around her.

  The creatures were all there, looking down at her as she pathetically dragged herself across the front yard with absolutely no destination to reach with any chance of escape. Bradley clicked his huge pincer jaws together and hopped around the yard screeching and spitting black ooze. The Bethie creature just waved its tentacle with the knife blade wildly in the air as it roared up into the clear night sky. Alyssa was scurrying back and forth across the yard on all eight of her arachnid-like legs as her stinger tipped tail uncurled and curled back up repeatedly. The eel-like things squirming from her eye sockets wriggled around and twisted together with each other as slime oozed from their circular mouths. She let out another of her ear piercing shrieks, which caused the Bethie creature to hiss back at her.

  The massively blobbish thing that Clarence had become seemed to be keeping more to itself. It was letting out a deep growling noise as it shook around like it was having a seizure, his milk white eyes rolling back in his skull. The massive sack of flesh it had been dragging behind it was pulsating violently like a giant egg sack about to burst.

  Then she heard Dennis’ voice speak calmly from over towards the wreckage of the house.

  “Aren’t they beautiful?” He said as three giant tentacles carried him up from somewhere below where the house had stood and let him down gently on the porch steps. His hairless, naked body was dripping with a thick, clear mucous-like slime. With each step he took down the steps he left a thick puddle of this clear ooze. His black eyes had more depth to them now, they were still black but now actually looked more human accept for the odd color.

  “What…did you…?” Charlene gasped out.

  “Oh I didn’t do all this.” Dennis smiled as he spoke, “I can’t take credit, I am just a humble servant of our Lord.”

  “No, Dennis, please!”

  “I know that you’re suffering, Charlene. But the truth is, it had to be this way. The only way to be remade is through suffering. That is what it thrives from. But your pain will be over soon, there are things set in motion, prophecies are going to be fulfilled, and you play the most important part.”

  “Fuck you!”

  “Such fire! You will be the perfect queen.”

  “I’ll die first!”

  “NO!” Denis’ voice lost its calm demeanor for a second. He paused and took a deep breath before continuing, once again in his calm tone, “You will not. Not until God says it’s your time, and God has very important plans for you, my sweet bride.” He crouched down beside her and stroked the side of her face that was not sliced apart. She wanted to fight him off but all she could do was sit there sobbing, completely helpless, her body simply refused to keep moving.

  “Please…don’t…don’t…”

  “Don’t what?” Dennis now chuckled as he spoke. “You have no idea what is in store for you. You couldn’t possibly imagine!” Dennis let out a low chuckle then said, “My wife and my brother had no idea either. They thought they were so clever!” Dennis laughed hard at this thought, when he did so the skin on his face rippled around like there were larvae squirming beneath its surface.

  Dennis reached down and grabbed Charlene by the hair and yanked her up from the ground then forced her to her knees. He jerked her head backwards so quickly it was a miracle he did not break her neck. He knelt down and whispered into her ear, his breath smelled like bile and sulfur, “Now they serve a true purpose. The true God grows stronger from their screams. It awakens more and more with every second of suffering they offer. This is how it always has been, ever since thousands of years before my family came here. It is truly ancient. This is its world, not ours.”

  He ran his thumb up the length of her face wound, making sure to dig his thumb nail into the wound as deeply as possible. Charlene cried out in pain and lost control of her bladder once again.

  The creatures, all but Clarence who was still convulsing, all let out wild shrieks and howls when he said this. A giant mass of tentacles was rising up into the air from the grounds of where the house once was.

  “Would you like to see them?” Dennis let out a perverted sounding moan and began dragging Charlene by her hair across the yard, he was taking her in the direction of the pulsating mass of grey flesh that used to be the beloved ranch hand for the Bear Creek Ranch. He held her in position as the skin on the creature began to stretch to its tearing point. Clear mucous-like slime, like that which Dennis was covered in, began to seep out from the area where the skin was ripping apart. Dennis smiled then began touching his pale and shriveled genitals in a lewd manner, he was grunting slowly with every dramatic breath. He began to pant loudly while he had saliva dripping down the sides of his cheeks, which now looked as pale and hairless as the rest of him, but the skin now pruned and shriveled looked as that of someone’s feet that had been soaking in water for quite some time.

  Dennis just looked down at Charlene’s lacerated face and smiled at her as he said, “Looks like the old fucker’s just about ripe, aint he? But first…I thought you might want to check in with the father of your two lovely children. By the way. How are Bradley and Alyssa?”

  “GO TO HELL!” Charlene shrieked at Dennis.r />
  “NO, you silly, stupid whore. Why go to Hell when we can make Hell come here?” He let out a soft laugh then added, “So, before good old Uncle C. here bursts from excitement how about we say hi to that rascally little brother of mine!”

  A horrible screaming suddenly came echoing up from the rubble strewn area where the house once stood. A deluge of thick, grayish-black sludge came pouring up from the foundation of the broken house and splashed out along the front yard, creating bubbling tar like pits that seemed to grow and spread across the dead lawn until they all formed what looked like one giant tar pit that bubbled up and sent smoke and foul gasses floating into the clear night air.

  Something stirred just beneath the bubbling surface, something extremely large.

  Dennis held his hand outstretched toward the tar pit and shouted, “Come forth! Bring up the filthy pawn to be witnessed before its damnation!”

  The thing beneath the bubbling, black ooze crested above the sticky surface. It was a huge, white, pulsating maggot-like creature that also resembled a sort of massive slug. It began to squirm its way out of the tar pit, and although the black tar-like sludge was just splashed onto the yard, this creature that was crawling out of it was at least the size of a small school bus. And it was not the only thing swimming about in the vat of black slime. Long, wiggling eel-like creatures skidded along the surface and strange dorsal fins and squirming worm-like creatures were breaking the surface repeatedly.

  The giant maggot creature slithered and oozed its way toward Charlene and stopped just short of touching her with its dripping wet beaked mouth. The mouth of the creature resembled that of a parrot’s, a sharp beak that began chattering at Charlene as black strands of goo began to spittle forth from the mouth. The thing began to heave forward like a cat trying to cough up a hairball. Greenish-yellow mucous began to sputter forth from the maggot’s mouth as its beak snapped open and shut repeatedly. The thick snot-like slime splashed along Charlene’s sliced up face. The slime that landed in her face wound stung her like it was corrosive. Smoke actually rose from the wound and Charlene screamed so loud that she nearly shredded her vocal chords.