Re: dangercheetah's Shortstory Extravaganza
Haha, what you say?
Who you callin rapist? Ain't that a *****
You devils, are so two faceted
Wanna see me locked in chains, dropped in shame
and gettin stalked by these crooked cops a-gain
****in with the young black male, tryin to stack mail
and umm, stay away from the packed jails
I told the judge I'm in danger
and that's why I had that fo'-five with one in the chamber
**** the world!
---
Mass ended late that night. The pastor's sermon had lasted almost an hour, as he condemned sinners and blasphemers and all the other people that would never hear his oaths of damnation, as they did not attend Church. Anita had spent the entire time biting her lip and shaking her legs, restless in her white vestments. Her fellow virgins often had to rest their hands on her knees to stop them from shaking the bench too much; it had almost gotten to the point where worshipers were beginning to stare.
One of the other virgins, Vanessa, had given her a warm smile. She knew all too well why Anita was nervous. This small gesture helped her last until the end.
They spent the last few minutes of sunlight in their dormitory, wrapping themselves in the heavy wool necessary to keep them comfortable in the unseasonably cold fall. Vanessa tried to make idle conversation, but Anita's nerves kept her silent. She shakily fastened her jacket as her friend droned on about meaningless things. At least, meaningless in the face of what they were about to commit to.
Vanessa finally noticed Anita's trepidation and once again gave her a warm smile. “Be calm,” she said, helping her friend secure her white hood. Even under all their heavy clothes, their position must still be obvious. “Everything is going to be fine.”
Anita covered her face with her hands. “You must think I'm such a wreck... I don't know how you managed to cope with your first time.”
“I had a friend to help me.”
Anita laughed a bit and hugged her friend, whispering her thanks.
A cough from behind them brought them out of their embrace. Standing in the doorway to their room was Pastor Franks.
“Are you two going out tonight?”
“Yes, it is a friend's birthday today!” Vanessa said, smiling broadly. Anita was amazed and a bit dismayed at how quickly her friend was able to lie.
The pastor rubbed his wrinkled and sunken chin, his eyes narrowing. “It's not that ***** you two always seem to pal around with, is it? I told you, I don't want any of my girls associating with *****s.”
Anita stepped forward, wringing her hands. “She's not a *****, she's a kind person. And... she's just...”
“It's not her, pastor,” said Vanessa, interrupting Anita's stuttering. “It's an old friend from our childhood, a very devout young woman. Why, you'd probably even want her to join our Order, were it not for that fact that she is to be married this Spring.”
Franks considered what she said a moment, then nodded in stubborn resignation. “Alright. It's good you two are staying away from that other one. She's trouble, y'know.”
Vanessa sighed. “Yes, pastor, we know.”
“These are, after all, troubled times. You two be careful out in the city tonight. The air...” he stared past the girls, suddenly lost in his own mind. “The air is heavy these days. This is a deep fall, no doubt.” He snapped back into focus. “Say your prayers, and mind be careful. Try to be back before midnight tonight.”
Each of the young women kissed the pastor on the cheek and thanked him, then hastily made their way to the exit, nervously giggling at the close call.
The streets outside were all but abandoned. The congregation had long since dispersed to the safety of their homes, their doors locked and their lives content. A few citizens mulled around the ever-darkening streets, all moving hastily to their respective destinations. The girls, too, quickened their pace. The streets had become dangerous of late. Muggers, rapists, murderers, and combinations of the three had infested the city after dark. Two virgins by themselves would be prime targets.
They wound their way through the dark alleys. The sky was an iron gray, as it had been the entire season; a sure-warning that the coming winter would not be gentle. It also meant that the girls could barely see a few feet in front of their faces. Anita relied on Vanessa to make sure that they found the Tower in time for the ceremony.
The Tower was not, ironically, a tower. It was an old bar, long since closed and abandoned. It proved a very popular hangout for the older children, drug addicts, *****s, and any ne'er-do-wells who needed refuge. However it was quite safe now; the Fellowship had made sure of that. Not just safe, either. They had made it hidden.
Hidden to all but those who belonged to the Fellowship. Members like Vanessa, and by the end of that night, Anita as well.
Finally, after almost an hour, they had reached the old oak doors. Confidently and with an air of familiarity, Vanessa knocked an odd tune. Barely a second later, the doors opened, and the girls let themselves in.
It was dark inside, the only light being a lantern held by another young woman. Her name was Karen; she was the “*****” Pastor Franks thought so little of. She held the lantern close to her face, giving her pale features an eerie glow. In fact, everything about the place was eerie to Anita. It was cold, yet unnaturally humid. It was silent, yet she felt a pulsating hum in her ears. She couldn't help but suppress a shudder.
Karen smiled in the lantern-light. "You guys are just in time! C'mon! He's waiting.”
Vanessa stopped suddenly. “We're... we're going to see Him? Tonight?”
“Oh, yes! Isn't this exciting? He's very anxious to Indoctrinate you, Anita. He says you have a lot of potential.”
Anita began to fuss with the hem of her jacket. “How does.... how does He know?”
“He knows a lot of things,” said Vanessa, laying a hand on her friend's shoulder. “Come on. We don't want to keep Him waiting.”
They began to walk through the tavern, winding around dusty, chair-less tables to the back of the space, where a dark door waited. Although innocent enough, Anita felt the hum in her ears grow in intensity as they neared the door. It was almost like the darkness within was trying to reach out to her, to pull her in.
She whimpered a bit. “Is He frightening?”
Vanessa and Karen exchanged looks. The virgin smiled her smile and said, “Only at first. Once you get to know Him, he really is quite magnificent.”
“He's beautiful,” said Karen wistfully.
Vanessa continued. “You will be surprised at first, but please, try not to panic. You are safe here. He is a friend, and He loves you. Once you understand that, you won't feel the fear you do now. He will give you peace.”
Anita nodded, and the three crossed the threshold and into the basement of the Tower.
The first thing she noticed was the smell. It wasn't repugnant, yet it wasn't... right. It was an aroma unlike any she had ever experienced. It suffocated her, filled her head, yet she couldn't help but take it in. She began taking deep breaths, just to get more of it. She began to feel euphoric.
As the three women walked down the stone staircase, they heard moans coming from down below. Before Anita could even ask, Karen said, “Those are the Brides. They are filled with a constant state of pleasure because He has chosen them to bear his young.”
Anita found herself once more playing with the hem of her jacket. “How many are there?”
“A few dozen,” said Vanessa quickly, “He is always interested in finding more, though only those he finds worthy.”
Finally, they reached the bottom of the staircase. They found themselves in a relatively small, low-ceilinged room, illuminated by lanterns behind green glass. A single red carpet led to the opposite side of the room to a large, locked metal door. On either side of the carpet were the Brides, lounging on pillows and couches, each with swollen bellies, and each moaning in pleasure. They writhed, clutching at their large stomachs, their backs arched, their eyes rolled, and even with their tongues lolled out. They wore long black skirts buckled just under their breasts, and nothing else.
Although her mind was becoming more and more bogged down because of the aroma, and because Karen and Vanessa rushed her to the metal door, each anxious to meet Him, Anita was still able to catch one glimpse of a bare belly of one of the Brides. The woman in question had the skirt lifted all the way, so that she may undoubtedly enjoy the tactile pleasure of feeling the skin of her stomach. But there was something odd, something that the virgin knew was wrong.
The belly was larger than most pregnant women she had seen in her life, and it was even slightly discolored. It almost looked bruised, and she was sure she saw dark veins lining the protrusion. Something rang in the back of her mind, some kind of warning bell, but she could not quite understand the wrongness of the situation.
Before she could get a better look, the metal door swung open, and the three women pushed through. It closed behind them with a hallow click. Karen and Vanessa fell to their knees, pulling Anita with them. She did as they did and bowed her head, as if in prayer.
Although she couldn't see, Anita could definitely hear an assortment of odd noises over the now-ever present hum. A distinct sound of metal grinding against metal, a thousand silent clicks from an unknown source, the occasional hiss of steam, and a tinny metronome were just a few of the things she heard.
A light female voice suddenly spoke, clear as a bell in the seeming din. Her voice was halting and uncomfortable, as if she were unused to speaking at all. Even more odd, was that with every word she said, there was a low, garbled rumbling somewhere in the room. “Three approach,” she said. “The one from PI325, the one from PI34, and a second new one from PI325.” She breathed in quickly, and then with a long, familiar sigh, said “Vanessa... who is the second new one?”
“A friend, from Church. She is a virgin, like myself. Her name is Anita.”
The woman sighed again. The deep rumbling, however, belied the loving manner. “Stand, Vanessa, Karen, Anita. Let me see your faces.”
Anita stood with her three friends and stared. Where it not for the fact that she was lost in the aroma dampening the Tower, she would have screamed.
The voice came not from a woman at all; at least, not entirely. Propped up on a long, jagged metal spike was the disembodied head of a woman, her features all but hidden under a jumble of tubes and bolts sticking in and out of her near-visible skull. The tubes in question ran down the length of the spike and floor to the back of the room, where a massive jumble of machinery lay sprawled across the entire length of the basement. Pipes and tubes and odd shards of jagged metal hung from the ceiling and walls and pulsated with artificial activity, each leading to one of several strange-looking engines nestled amongst the tangled mass of technology.
The engines themselves were the source of most of the noises Anita heard earlier; the clicks, the humming, and the steam, all came from these massive devices. Dozens of multi-colored lights flickered across their panels while grinding pistons and black pipes churned the massive amounts of energy undoubtedly coursing through the entire ensemble.
Yet all this was simply a background to the true oddity, the thing that caught Anita's eye immediately.
A large... something was at the center of it all. Something alive. The creature was, indeed, comprised mostly of the strange technology which smothered the room, but it was something more. Beneath a carapace of metal and gears was a dark, slick skin, heaving with breath. Several long, metallic appendages stuck out from its main body, splaying either against the wall or on the floor, like that of a spider. Its head—like most of its body—was encased in a metal armor, but its multiple eyes and gaping, salivating mouth were bare. Two smaller, clawed limbs were folded beneath its head, rubbing against each other slowly.
The engines all seemed to be connected to the beast through some means; the cords and tubes sticking out of its thorax at odd angles. One such jumble of cords led to the disembodied head.
“Anita,” sighed the head. When she spoke, the monster's own mouth moved, its multiple mandibles clicking as the deep rumble rolled from behind fangs. “You are a particularly beautiful one. You are fearful, but please be calm. I mean you no harm. Only peace.”
Anita's lower lip quivered. Every voice in the back of her head was screaming at her to run, to get away from the horrible thing staring at her. But the smell... the perfume, it slowed her. She couldn't help but say, “Yes... yes I want peace.”
The disembodied head smiled. It was a grim sight; it had no teeth or tongue, merely a mouth full of cords and gears. “Then peace is what you will receive. All you must do is serve me. Swear fidelity to my wishes, and you will have anything you want.”
The young virgin fell to her knees and bowed her head. “I am yours. I serve only you. Do with me what you will.”
A long, slender tendril snaked from the jumble of pipes and tubes and ran up Anita's body. Though it felt alien against her, she did nothing to stop it. It curled around her neck and brushed against her face gently.
“Welcome to the Fellowship, Anita,” sighed the head. “Welcome to my family. When the Day of Emergence comes, you will be amongst Chosen, and you will be spared.”
Vanessa suddenly stepped forward. “I have done good, yes?” she asked quickly, a strained smile on her face. “Please... please, like you promised...”
The tendril slid off of Anita and crawled towards her friend. Others joined it as it twisted around her leg. “Vanessa, my beautiful... you have done more than necessary.” The tendrils wrapped around her arms and other leg, until she was completely ensnared. She began to weep; joyfully so, it seemed to Anita.
Vanessa sobbed and lowered her head. “I love you.”
“And I love you, child. This will only hurt for a moment.”
The tendrils all but lifted the young woman into the air as they brought her closer. Another appendage emerged from the beast, this one thicker and tipped with a sharp metal barb.
Anita averted her eyes as it stabbed into Vanessa's abdomen, the woman's screams only barely audible above the sudden violent churning of the engines.
When it was over, the tendrils uncoiled and the woman fell to the floor, limp. The head turned to the remaining two women and said, “Fit her in the gown of a Bride, and lay her in the antechamber. Make sure to take care, as she now carries my ilk.”
Anita felt Karen's hand on her shoulder, and stood. She laid a hand on her face where the thing had touched her, and she smiled. “We will do as you say, my God.”
08-03-2009, 10:12 AM
