by Steve Wands
The Harvest
Steve Wands
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SMASHWORDS EDITION
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Published by:
Steve Wands on SMASHWORDS
The Harvest
Copyright © 2010 by Steve Wands
http://www.staydeadrev.com
Cover Design and Layout by Apparatus Revolution
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Smashwords Edition License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.
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Thanks and Dedications
Thanks to you for picking this up, I hope you find something to fear. Thank you to all my faithful blog followers and readers who made this worthwhile. Thanks to my family and friends, especially Carmela and my son, Jacob.
I'd also like to thank the wonderful website, http://www.2torialblog.com, for their tutorial on creating an outerspace scene. Without it, the cover to this story would not have become what it is.
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The Harvest
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Chapter One
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Len said.
He was about to open the door to his car when a flash of light blinded him and rendered him unconscious. He woke up in a slimy chamber, naked, shivering, and covered in some sort of dark slimy sludge. He pulled his hand out of the muck and flicked it off his hand as best he could. He then wiped what he could off his face.
"Where the hell am I," he asked himself, not expecting an answer.
"You're here," giggled a voice from a dark corner of the chamber.
"Wha---oh, fuck! Who's there," he called into the darkness.
"No one you care to know," said the voice. "Just a meal for them, just like you," the voice giggled.
"M-meal," Len replied.
"M-meal," the voice echoed, giggling still.
"Keep laughing and I'll ram my fist down you're throat," Len said, surprised at his own anger.
"Oh, be nice. I m-mean you no harm," giggled the voice.
"You bastard, show yourself," Len demanded.
"I don't think you can handle my appearance," the voice said.
"Try me," Len said.
"If you insist."
From the corner of the chamber skittered a spider-like creature, with pale yellow skin and bulbous pustules leaking all over the top of its form. Len stumbled backward, falling back into the sludge.
"I told you," came the voice, but Len couldn't see a mouth.
"What are you, where am I," Len asked.
"I am me, and we are here," the thing giggled, "I am called EeMeee, though I have no name and we are prisoners aboard a vessel."
"What do you mean a 'vessel'," Len asked, his fear growing by leaps and bounds.
"A spacecraft," EeMeee said.
"That's not possible."
"Look around you, look at me," have you seen anything like this on your world EeMeee asked.
"No, but you can talk...you can talk English," Len tried to reason.
"I cannot. I have no mouth. I have no language. You're not hearing me, I am inside your head---what you call telepathy---I can only use what you know to communicate," EeMeee said.
"This isn't possible. I was going to work, I...I..." Len stammered.
Light erupted from overhead, shining down upon them in rays that pierced through a large grate. Shadows moved through the light, they made loud noises and clattered something on the grate. The shadows moved away, and the light went off.
"They said to shut up, or die painfully," EeMeee translated.
"What are they?"
"What you would call Vampires, Bloodsuckers," EeMeee paused, "but they are not much like the ones in your mind."
Len began to dry-heave.
Len didn't believe in vampires, they were myths, folklore legends, and chick-lit paperbacks. They certainly didn't fly around in space and abduct average Joe-Schmoe's like Len Higgins. Yet here he was, naked, covered in slime, talking to a giant, telepathic, space-spider. What the fuck am I going to do now, he thought, and didn't have the slightest idea.
Chapter Two
"We've got to get out of here," Len whispered, pacing around in the sludge, his member shriveled.
"They will kill us," EeMeee reasoned.
"They're gonna kill us anyway," Len snapped. "What difference does it make if we try to escape or sit here and wait? If we sit here, we know we're going to die, right? So, if we at least try to get out of here, there is the slight chance we might not die."
"No, there is the very good chance we will die that much quicker," EeMeee replied.
Len wanted to scream, the space-spider had to be nuts. Why else wouldn't the creature want to escape? Unless he was one of them---but Len didn't think he was. Len looked around the chamber. It was very dark, and therefore very hard to see anything. He held his hand out in front of him and could barely see it. The sludge came up to his knees, it was thick like oil and stank like rot and mold.
He slowly moved around the chamber and eventually found a wall. He walked along it feeling along the wall hoping his fingers found a way out.
After several trips around the chamber they found nothing. There were seems, and grates, sure, but no glowing exit sign. He put his back to the wall and slumped down into the sludge. He had to piss, so he just let it go. It made a small patch of warmth around his crotch and he didn't care.
"Even if we could get out of here, what would you do? How could you get home?" EeMeee asked.
"I don't know...kill them all and try to steer this thing home," Len replied only partially serious.
"Oh, you're a violent one," EeMeee began to giggle, "don't like violence. So messy, so very messy," the spider-thing skittered closer to Len.
"No, I'm not violent. When I get angry sure, and when some space vampires want to drink my blood yes," he paused, "but violent? No, I can be if that'll get me home."
"Home. I don't think we are ever getting to go home. This is home now," EeMeee accepted.
"Wait...you can read my mind right?"
"Mostly."
"What do you mean mostly," Len asked.
"If you are open to it, I can. I know what you are thinking, but these 'vampires' as you call them don't usually leave their minds open."
"Can you open them?"
"Maybe," EeMeee replied.
"Well, fucking try it, man," Len said excitedly.
"It may prove fatal, but if you insist."
The bulbous creature moved itself to the center of the chamber. The pustules on its back began to swell and pulsate. Len heard---no, felt---shrieking noises begin to grow in the back of his head. It grew loud
er and higher. The pain was furious. He could hear other noises---what sounded like screams---from other chambers, he thought. Light erupted once more through the grates, followed by the shadows. They screamed into the chamber in their native tongue, slamming their hands and feet against the grate.
EeMeee continued to emit its loud noise. The creatures above grew angrier---their shouts more fierce. The grate shifted open and one of the figures swooped inside clinging to the ceiling. It moved like a swift shadow from ceiling to wall to floor to between Len and EeMeee. The thing was cloaked in dark rag-like cloths and wore what looked like a gasmask with several tentacles dangling in front. Its hands were disproportionately long as were its fingers---pointy too. It hissed at Len, who pressed his back against the wall, then turned its attention to EeMeee. It lifted EeMeee with one of its long-fingered hands, shouting something and squeezing the poor spider-like alien. The noise stopped, and then the creature threw EeMeee against the wall. The cloaked space-vampire then leapt after it and began to shout again. It then left as swiftly as it came. The grate closed, and the lights were gone again. Len rushed over to EeMeee.
"Are you okay," he asked.
"No. Lot of pain," EeMeee replied. "It worked," the thing giggled.
Chapter Three
"What happened? How did it work?" Len rifled off.
"She was too occupied to guard her thoughts. A one-track mind," EeMeee said.
"That was a she, huh? Didn't seem very feminine," he paused, "so, what did you see?"
"I didn't see anything. I read her mind, parts of it anyway. There is a way out, however, its right above us, and neither of us can reach that high."
"Hmm, that's not exactly great news Eem," Len said, thinking.
"I guess we can try that," EeMeee said.
"Try what," Len asked.
"Oh, sorry, I read your thought. We can try that if you want."
"Yeah, do it!"
EeMeee reached out telepathically, looking for other creatures that may share the same interests. There were many---possibly even thousands, but EeMeee couldn't be certain---though, not all capable of getting themselves out of their chambers and not all of them wanted to get out. One in particular had the size, strength, physical prowess and preferred proximity. EeMeee reached out to it---learning its language and conversing with it. It liked what EeMeee had to say and would like nothing more than to attempt an escape.
"Now it's your turn, Len," EeMeee said.
"My turn for what?"
"Get the attention of our captors."
"You're kidding right?"
"No. You want to get out of here don't you?"
"Well, yeah..." Len hesitated.
"Then get their attention. I don't want to get hurt again, so soon---you know I hate violence," EeMeee giggled.
"Shit," Len mumbled. He took a deep breath and began to scream. "Come and get me you bloodsucking fuckers! Come on, let's see what you leeches got," he yelled himself hoarse.
They came. One entered the chamber, the same as before. Len cowered away. The cloaked figure moved to him quickly raking her long, sharp fingers across his chest. Len screamed and fell backward. He had four large scratches across his chest. They began to bleed. The tentacles on the mask darted outward and began to suckle at the scratches. Len whimpered. The cloaked creature hissed.
From somewhere close by erupted a monstrous roar and the sound of shattering metal. The tentacles retracted, and the cloaked figure quickly left the chamber. The roaring drew closer. The vampiric captors screeched. The noises of intense battle echoed overhead and reverberated in the chamber. The noises ended---a victorious roar was heard, followed by the thudding footsteps that ended on the grate above their heads.
The creature roared again, and EeMeee spoke back by way of its telepathy. The large creature tore the grate to shreds and jumped down, splashing the sludge everywhere.
"W-werewolf," Len muttered.
"Not exactly," EeMeee replied, "but close, this one is much bigger than those you perceive."
"Yep," Len squeaked, straining his neck to look at the massive beast. A trickle of piss ran down his leg.
The werewolf roared.
"He said we must go. There are more coming. He can smell them," EeMeee translated.
Chapter Four
The werewolf threw Len over his shoulder and grabbed EeMeee with the same arm. He jumped up grabbing the twisted metal of the floor and threw himself upward. The large beast landed on the cold steel with a powerful THUD.
"Now what," Len asked.
"This was your plan, you tell me," EeMeee replied.
The werewolf roared in frustration.
"Fuck! You said you read that bitch's mind," Len yelled.
"To get us out of the chamber," EeMeee replied calmly, stifling a giggle.
The werewolf took off running, smashing his free hand on the wall in aggravation. From behind them screeched their captors---they were in pursuit and moving like fast shadows.
"How can we kill them?" Len asked.
"Many different ways," EeMeee said.
"Are you trying to be cryptic?"
"No."
The werewolf roared, and began to slow down. At the other end of the corridor another group of the space-vampires rounded the corner. They were blocked on both sides. The werewolf stopped and placed both Len and EeMeee down. He looked around quickly; spotting a series of pipes to his right he punched at them. The blow was enough to crack them open, making them easier to pry off the wall. He pulled them loose, kept one, and gave the other to Len.
Len took the pipe, it was heavy in his hands and he fought to keep it upright. The werewolf held it in one hand with ease. It looked tiny is his grasp. The vampires slowly approached. The sludge that covered most of Len had dripped off---he was still filthy with it, but with most of it gone he realized how naked he was.
"EeMeee get us out of this," Len pleaded.
The werewolf roared furiously at the approaching bloodsuckers. His thick tufts of hair glistened with the oily sludge. As he roared more of the sludge fell to the floor, revealing more and more of his silvery-grey fur. His snout was long and scarred. His eyes as red as blood.
One of the space-vampires leapt at the werewolf, quickly followed by a second and a third. The werewolf swung at the first and connected---he smashed something inside the creature to bits. One of the others landed on his back, wrapping his arms around the werewolf's thick throat, while its tentacles dug into the big beast. The third tried to tackle the beast at the waist, but the massive werewolf didn't budge. The other two slowly approached Len and EeMeee.
The werewolf raked its razor sharp claws across the back of the vampire at his waist. The creature screamed and slashed back, giving back an equally bloody set of gashes---the werewolf howled and swung back tearing off the vampires head. Once he dropped the creatures head the two that approached Len and EeMeee stood their ground, not wanting to move in any closer. The other still clung to the werewolf's back, drinking its blood via the tentacles that extended from its mask. The massive werewolf reached up with both hands clutching the creature, and throwing it against the wall. The vampire moved with the throw and landed in a crouch against the wall. It eventually cowered away, but released an angered hiss first.
They stood at a standstill. The vampire that clung to the side of the wall raised his hand to his face, pressing a button on his mask. It said something quietly and brought its hand back down.
"What was that," Len asked.
"You ask many questions," EeMeee replied, "are all of your kind so inquisitive?"
"Just great, I get stuck with a wise-ass space spider," Len shook his head.
"You think I resemble a spider?" EeMeee asked.
"Never mind."
"Concerning your question, he notified his superior of this event."
"Great. If they're getting reinforcements we're gonna need more help to fight these things. Are there anymore werewolves that can help us out?" Len asked.
"Not that I can tell. There are dozens of humans. Some other animals from your planet, and many more wonderful creatures---though not many of a violent nature," EeMeee replied.
"Well, get the violent ones, please," he paused, "now."
Chapter Five
EeMeee began his telepathic search again. His pustules grew engorged, oozing atop its bulbous body. Its spindly legs twitched. Len's head began to ache, as did the werewolf's. The vampires grew agitated and began to hiss. EeMeee eventually stopped his search.
"We shall have help momentarily," EeMeee stated.
"Looks like they may be too late," Len pointed at several more of their captors approaching from further down the corridor. They were equipped with what looked like cheesy ray guns out of an old b-movie.
"Well, this was your idea," EeMeee giggled.
Len paid the wise-ass space-spider no mind. He turned to the werewolf whom looked ready to pounce. His massive shoulders were hunched and his teeth were glistening with saliva. The ray-gun toting vampires began to raise their weapons. They took aim, and fired without warning. Thin bright bursts of white-hot energy blasted out of them. All the shots hit their marks; Len screamed as the energy blasted him in the gut, he fell to the ground convulsing; EeMeee dropped instantly, writhing in pain---though it didn't verbalize it; and the werewolf took the blast without wincing. The werewolf roared and lunged at the guards. Two more fired their weapons, one missed, and one hit, but the massive beast trudged forward.
