Now she was alone. Alone, except for the creatures out on the street. The rotten corpses with empty eyes that wandered looking for another meal, another victim. Their growling and calling had frozen her heart in terror at first. Now it was nothing more than a background noise.
Cheri refused to be the next victim of those... things. She was determined that she would choose how she died. Here, alone in the general store from starvation if that was what it took. Not by their hand, and not as one of them. She would make her own choice because that was all she had.
She knew how to survive. She had to ration what she could find in the store. More looters had arrived the day that Mr. Jenkins had left. She had hidden then, let them take what they wanted. She had pushed her teeth into the flesh of her own arm to fight the sobs, to stay silent and undetected, and hoped that they left something for her. They didn't leave her much. She had hidden what was left behind the counter with a blanket and some firewood.
The fire wasn't a good idea. Smoke attracted the creatures. Bringing them to the boards on the windows. Making them scratch and bang and call out to her. Trying to make her go out to them, to go outside to her death. Sound did that too. Any sound. So she sat in silence, freezing in the cold of the building. Stiff from being as still as she could be. Waiting for help that might never come. Hoping that someday soon that it would.
Cheri pulled the blanket closer to her. Wrapping it tighter around her bare legs that were uncovered by the skirt of her uniform. It didn't make much difference. Hunger made her colder than anything else. She had no idea now how long it had been. Maybe a week, or just a few days. The time had become a blur as the hours had merged into each other. She had counted at first, but it made her tired. She couldn't afford to sleep because it would mean that she was unguarded if the creatures found a way in. But the exhaustion made her weak. Sometimes she couldn't help it. Her consciousness slipped away and she lost a little time. Minutes, or hours, or days. She didn't know. There was no sense of time any more.
A movement behind the office door startled her. Breaking her thoughts and making her instantly alert. She was sure that the office was secure. It only had one small window, which was covered with some wood broken from a delivery box, and no external door. There was no way that a creature had gotten into there. She told herself it was a rat, or a mouse, but her body stayed stiff with fear as she listened.
Another scratching sound made her jump again. Cheri's skin prickled in terror. The new sound was louder. More definite. She heard one of the wooden planks drop to the concrete floor, followed by the other. The window was now uncovered, she was sure. The office door was made from weak, cheap wood. She had nowhere to hide. This was her end, and she had no strength to fight it. Only enough to drop down low and roll against the corner of the counter. Hoping that maybe the creature, the intruder would miss her scent and go back off into the night.
She could barely breathe as she heard another bump, and a groan as the visitor pulled itself through the opening and onto the office floor. Another as it knocked into the heavy desk that Mr. Jenkins had once used to complete his papers and orders. It shifted slightly. In the heavy silence the creaking noise echoed, mixed with another pained groan.
Cheri pulled herself closer to the floor. She wished that she could just disappear, melt into the ground, and never come back. She would give anything to go back a few hours. She would rather starve than be here right now. Would rather freeze than see the office door open.
It opened.
There was no sound after the click of the door and it swinging back on its hinges. For a moment the room was still and so silent that she could hear the blood pumping through her pounding heart. Pumping so hard in her ears that she could barely hear the first shuffle of whatever had joined her in the room.
She held her breath, focussed on the sound and trying to decide how close it was. By the door. By the stand that held postcards showing images of Angel Wharf as it once was. Of the quaint prettiness that she once loved and now grieved. Near the refrigerator that once held the cans of cold soda. Now empty, with the glass of the door smashed and broken. She heard the crunch as a foot crossed the glass.
It was close, near the counter. Only the display stood between them now, and she could hear it breathing heavily. The air turned stagnant with the smell of rotting flesh and she knew instantly that it was a creature. There was no escape.
The rancid smell moved closer as the creature sniffed at the air. It was tracing her scent, trying to locate her. She had seen this through the gaps in the boards before. The creatures on the hunt, searching for any surviving humans. Now this one had found her and she could only say a silent prayer that it would be distracted before it got any closer.
It moved closer. Reaching the end of the counter where the hatch was standing open. Only a small gate on hinges could hold it back and that didn't have a lock of its own. Cheri said her final goodbyes to everybody and everything that she loved. Knowing that at the best the creature would kill her. Eating her skin, and muscle, and organs until it reached her heart, or brain, and the pain would stop. The other she didn't want to think about. John Jenkins didn't die before the infection took hold of him. That was the worst option. Not that she would have any choice.
The gate opened.
The creature moved forward. Cheri buried herself beneath the blanket, hoping that she was covered. One final, possible chance of survival. One that she knew would be hopeless. But she had to try.
Another step. She heard the tapping of unsteady feet moving towards her. The sound of fabric creasing as the creature bent. Time seemed to slow to almost nothing as she felt the blanket pulled from her, revealing her.
She pinched her eyes and mouth closed as tightly as she could. Screaming inside, but not making a single sound.
The creature groaned and sniffed, shuffling closer and dropping to it's knees. Cheri could feel it next to her now. She could feel it brushing against her leg as it leaned towards her, sniffing at her. She could feel it as it thrust it's mouth to her neck.
She couldn't feel it any more. She was overcome with red-hot pain that caused her to scream and cry out. Trying to fight and pull away was in vain, but she tried anyway. Her body thrashed and fought as her natural instinct to survive took over. She was weak already, and the creature was tearing at her skin with it's teeth.
Cheri felt her life draining from her. She felt her blood grow cold as the creature finished it's meal and she felt her heart slow. It's beating becoming harder to detect. This was the end, and there was no fight left in her. Giving in to the cold, unforgiving darkness that was fogging her brain, she let herself die.
NOW OR NEVA
NOW OR NEVA
The small boy shifted a little in his sleep. He moved his head sleepily across the pillow as he rolled underneath the thick blanket, kicking it almost completely from the small bed. One leg, dressed in dark blue pyjama bottoms shot out from under the disturbed material and hung over the side of the bed. Neva focussed on it, frozen as she hid in the shadows beside the hard wood dresser. She listened to his heartbeat and breathing, waiting for any sign of him waking completely.
The last thing that she needed tonight was to get seen too soon. It wasn't really that much of a big deal. She had her ways of solving that problem, but she was already behind on her list and she definitely did not want to lose this tooth. There were only so many hours in a night and Neva knew that she needed to be finished and back home before dawn or she would never hear the end of it. Morden loved a reason to yell at her, and being late was one of his favourites, as was returning without the precious teeth. Most of the time he didn't even need a reason to yell, he simply enjoyed making her life a living hell. It seemed to be his favourite pastime and he would find any possible excuse to put her on punishment.
Of course, she was not prepared for an ambush. Her attacker was hidden next to the thick woollen rug across the centre of the room. His tiny, plastic green form leaning against the edge of the pile. His gun, with a sharp pointed barrel, pointed straight into the air and directly at her foot. She stepped and instantly felt the red hot heat of the toy soldier's attack. Her foot exploding as she felt the weapon pierce the soft skin between her toes.
She bit back a scream. Mumbling obscenities under her breath as she hopped around and tried to soothe the pain. She carefully dropped her foot to the floor, kicking the toy away from her and wishing that she had worn something other than the silver sandals that she had opted for. They were cute, and comfortable. But the bedrooms of small children were like battlefields. She should have known that there would be at least one obstacle. Usually it was a pet, or a football. That instantly made anything with a heel impossible. Now she mentally removed every but steel toed boots to the list.
Neva stepped forward one more time, slipping her delicate hand underneath the boys pillow and sliding it across the mattress until she felt her fingers brush the prize that she had been searching for. She closed her hand around the tooth, moving it gently out so as not to disturb the child and delivering it into the tooth pouch on her belt without even looking at it. She had seen a million teeth before and she really did not have time to see another.
She took a last glance at the young boy, who was now laid on his back. His head was turned towards her. His blue eyes were illuminated in the glow of the moonlight that broke through a crack in the curtains. They were open, and focussed directly on her, taking in her form beside his bed with a look of confusion on his face.
Her reaction was instantaneous, and she barely had chance to squeak out a short, broken apology before she felt the transformation begin. Her eyes began to glow deep blood red that felt like burning inside her irises. She could see the colour on the edges of her vision, glowing and flickering with red lights. Her teeth lengthened and sharpened into sharp points and her hair frizzed out from the stylish curls that she had spent and hour styling, into a teased mess that stuck out around her head and forged her a new silhouette. She felt her fingers and nails extend into long claws, destroying her fresh manicure.
The boy's eyes widened in fear. The creature from his worst nightmares was leaning over him, growling menacingly. Only he could hear, but it was loud enough to force his heart to being to race loudly. He was frozen to his bed, tears already beginning to form little rivulets in his eyelids before he managed to scream out for his parents.
That was the cue for Neva to make her escape. Getting seen by a child was one thing. But getting seen by an adult was a disciplinary waiting to happen. She slipped back into the shadows just as the door opened and the light from the hallway flooded the space where she had been standing.
Neva did not wait for the adults to cross the threshold into the room. She closed her eyes and let herself fall into the void between the human world and her own. The sensation of air rushing past her, and the sudden warmth of the institute telling her that she had travelled home safely.
Her feet had barely hit the ground when she heard her boss's sigh.
“What now Mordy?” Neva pulled a scrunchy from her pocket and pulled her, now ruined, hair from around her face and into a ponytail. She hated the transformations. True, they served a purpose, but they played havoc with a girls appearance in the long term. She had lost count of the number of salon visits she needed each week just to straighten up the damage. But children did insist on waking up at the slightest thing.
Morden was standing a few meters away from the entry pad. His body was rigid and his face flushed with anger. Whatever it was, Neva knew that she was definitely in trouble again. She searched her memory, sure that she had followed procedure. It was still before dawn, only one child had seen her and she had transformed. Not that she had a choice about that part.
“You failed to file your paperwork again last night,” he growled at her. The frustration in his voice telling her that it was much more than just a few forms that had annoyed him. “that is unacceptable. As is calling me Mordy. My name is Morden and I would appreciate if you would use it correctly.”
“Jeez, calm down big man.” Neva smiled, trying to keep her voice confident. After two years in the institute she knew that she should never let anybody here see her fear. That is what they all thrived on, fear.
The institute created both fairy-tales and nightmares. They were the reason that children believed in the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and even the Easter Bunny. They were also the reason that children feared the Bogeyman. Unfortunately, the human world would never know the truth. That the fairy-tales and monsters were the same thing. That the monsters only existed because they tried to find proof in the fairy-tales.
Neva hated that. She wished that she could simply do her job, collect the teeth and leave. But it was always more complicated than that. If a child woke, their imagination would transform her into their own idea of a nightmare. She had been everything. From a monster, to a large dog. She had no choice, the changes were automatic if a child saw her and they were designed to terrify. She was the reason that so many children hid under their blankets at night. It definitely was not even on her list of things that she had wanted to be when she grew up.
“Are you actually listening to me?” Morden's voice burst through Neva's daydream, bringing her back down to earth with a crash. She was so tired that she had forgotten where she was, her head still nodding along with the droning rant that she had barely been paying attention to.
She rolled her eyes and nodded again. “Of course.. paperwork... yeah yeah.”
“Neva, if your attitude continues I will be forced to take you off collection and to give you a more... appropriate role.”
Neva laughed. “You know you can't do that Morden, so don't even try to threaten me.”
Her boss flushed a bright pink colour. Which, over the current red of his skin, made him look as though he was glowing purple. “Just because you took your mother's place does not mean that you will ever be able to even come close to her. Not that you ever try.”
Her mother had been one of the very best. Award winning, and the smoothest collector that the institute had ever seen. She had collected fifteen teeth in one night. Teeth so perfect that they had created the softest dream-dust. Dust that would then be sprinkled onto the minds of sleeping children to give them the either the very best dreams, or the very worst nightmares.
Neva had never dreamt. It was not something that her kind had the ability to do. She sometimes wished that she could dream. That she could escape into a world behind her closed eyelids and never return. That she could dream of being human, and of doing something other than terrorising small children.
Neva turned and looked at the transporter. She was still standing in the same spot, and the machine had not yet locked down to keep her within the institute. It wouldn't do that until she stepped off the platform. For safety reasons, she guessed.
There was nobody close enough to stop her, not with Morden away from his desk. She could escape right now and go and hide in the human world. She knew that it would be risky, but she also knew that she had the choice, as long as she made it right now. It was nice to finally be able to ma
ke a choice.
Of course, there was always the transformation. If she was seen by a human child, she would transform. There was no way that she could stop that. But that only happened after dark. If she stayed away from children after dusk she could quite easily live a normal life, and find a normal job. She could not think of a single reason not to do this.
She forced herself not to hesitate. Anything would be better than the life that she had right now. Anything would be better than the constant comparison to her mother. She stepped forward, focussed on her destination and let herself fall.
Thank you for reading.
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Debut Novel Coming 2015!
Alone: A collection of Short Stories Page 2