Danny shrugged, “Eh, you get used to it.” He pushed himself off the wall, a dark fire suddenly in his eyes, a malicious grin turning his lips. “You get used to the torture his creations will inflict upon you…the way they hunt you, prey on you, catch you. They’ll kill you over and over again, each way worse than the last…and then you’ll wake up and it’ll start all over.”
Danny’s face was inches from mine, his breath hot on my face. I leaned away, eyes bloodshot and wide. “Stop it…stop saying those things…this isn’t real…it can’t be.”
Danny lightly slapped my face, “Oh, it’s real. But before you’re committed to a lifetime of agony, you have a choice to make.”
My eyes met his.
“You can always feed The Pig.”
“W-what does that mean?”
Danny began to circle me, “You can let The Pig devour you, consume your sin and wickedness. Once it is finished with you, it’ll decide what to do with you.”
“Do with me?”
Danny’s fingers traced my chains, “It’ll either send you to Hell or it’ll release you back on Earth for another chance at your pathetic life. It all depends on how you…taste.”
“What the fuck kind of choice is that!?” I cried.
Danny grinned, “Your only choice. Or you can just stay here with me…with us. Forever.”
I felt my mind groaning under the mental stress and physical exhaustion. Feed The Pig? Get sent to Hell? Stay on the Black Farm? What kind of options were those? What if I chose The Pig and was sent to Hell? What awaited me there? What awaited me here?! Questions collided with one another in a cocktail of madness and I found myself quivering under the weight of it all.
I just wanted to die.
I just wanted to fucking die.
Suddenly my eyes went wide, a rush of foul air pulled past my lips, “Jess. Where’s Jess?”
Danny went back to leaning against the wall, saying nothing, his face revealing no answer.
“Where’s Jess!?” I yelled, leaning towards him, chains cutting into my wrists, “Where is she? I have to see her! Let me see her, PLEASE!”
Danny slowly shook his head, “She has her own choice to make, Nick.”
“Let me see her!” I howled, thrashing about. The thought of her trapped in this place crushed my willpower, destroyed my imagination with scenarios of her own suffering. What was she enduring? What torment was she going through?
I pictured her alone in a room like the one I was in. I imaged the slug-man paying her a visit. I could almost hear her terrified shrieks, see the fear and confusion in her eyes.
No, no, no, NO!
I needed to be there for her! I needed to help her! Part of the reason she was here was my fault! I hadn’t tried to stop her from killing herself, hadn’t insisted we found another way to ease our pain. If I had just steeled myself, been strong for the both of us…
I felt tears form in my eyes. I hadn’t done any of those things, not seriously. I was more than willing to join her in death, just give up and make the sadness disappear. And now look at us. Look at where we had ended up.
I gritted my teeth, “Get me out of these fucking chains.”
Danny snorted, “You sure about that, Nick?”
Tears rolled down my face, “I’m not going anywhere without Jess. Fuck The Pig, I’m going to go find my girlfriend.”
Danny came and stood before me, arms crossed, “Can I just ask you something first?”
I trembled in my bindings, staring at him, cheeks damp.
“Why do you give a shit about her now? If you really cared about her you wouldn’t have let her kill herself.”
Fire exploded in my chest like a spark hitting gasoline. I lunged forward, snapping my jaws in Danny’s face, missing by inches as he jumped back, a surprised look on his face.
“I’ve made my choice,” I snarled, panting, “Now release me.”
Danny smiled. “Got some life left in you after all. All right tough guy, I’ll release you. But know this…maybe Jess has chosen to Feed the Pig, taken her chances. Maybe she’s already gone. Maybe she’s burning in Hell. Or maybe she’s been returned and is weeping over your dead body.”
“Tell me,” I growled, “Just tell me where she is, you bastard.”
Danny suddenly stepped forward and grabbed me by the throat, eyes alight with hatred, “Let me make something perfectly clear to you, fucker. Once you go out there, into the Black Farm, there are things that will rip you apart piece by piece. They tell me that Hell is worse than here…but not by much.”
I struggled to free myself from his grasp, but he tightened his grip, leaning close, his voice like gravel. “And when you’re being torn apart, I want you to remember that I offered you a choice.”
And with that, he released me. I sputtered and sucked down oxygen as he reached up and freed me from my chains, the iron falling to the floor in a heap. I almost fell over as the pressure and strain left my aching muscles. I leaned over and gasped, feeling the knots in my shoulders loosen. I rubbed my bleeding wrists and stretched my arms, steadying myself.
Danny came and stood by my side, “Now get the fuck out of here. I have others to see.”
I gave him a poisonous look, every ounce of me screaming to punch him, but I didn’t. Instead, I took one last look at the dead slug and walked out the door.
A hallway stretched in either direction, lined with similar doors leading to rooms like mine. I chose left, my feet echoing off the wet cement, heart racing in my chest. I had so many questions, all knotted around a nest of growing fear. Distant screams crawled down the hallway behind me and I hurried along my path, away from it. All the rooms I passed were empty, dashing any hope of immediately finding Jess.
What if she had fed The Pig? What did that even mean? What was The Pig?
As I approached a large closed door at the end of the hall, I realized those questions could wait. For now, I needed to find Jess and make sure she was safe.
And what do you plan to do if she isn’t?
I placed my hand on the cold door before me and braced myself.
Whatever I have to.
Muscles straining, I pushed open the heavy door and stepped out into the Black Farm.
3
Instantly, cold rain assaulted my vision and I raised a hand to shield my eyes. I heard the door close behind me but paid no attention to it. What lay before me defied any sense of understanding and I felt my breath leave my lungs like a hurricane.
To my right was an impossibly massive industrial building. Its size dwarfed me as my eyes roamed the hundreds of feet it occupied. It was structured like a barn, but the red wood was interwoven with sections of black steel. It was as wide as it was tall, towering towards the gloom above and scraping the heavens. An array of spires extended from the roof of the structure, wide and circular. Billowing from the towers were great plumes of dark smoke, lazily exhaling from open ducts and disappearing into the overcast sky.
Coiled around the smokestacks were titanic slabs of pink, organic matter. As I squinted, I realized that it appeared to be human flesh, slotted gills cutting into the twisting abominations. At the ends of the snake-like creatures were elongated human heads, their jaws protruding from their disjointed faces like a dog.
The eyes in each head were completely white and wide, tainted only by bloodshot spiderwebs that spread like lightning across a cue ball. Their skulls were devoid of hair and their nostrils flared in the rain like twin caverns.
The size of them almost stopped my heart as I watched them writhe and thrash in the storm, never detaching from their spires. I followed their fleshy, tube-like bodies and saw that they protruded from the walls of the giant barn.
The sound of clashing metal and blazing furnaces echoed across the muddy plain towards me and I thought I could hear the scream of my fellow humans.
That has to be where The Pig is, I thought to myself, chest thundering.
I tore my eyes away and I was met with an expanse of d
irty plains, the grass dead eroding from the soggy soil. In the distance I could make out other shambled structures, smaller than the barn, but impossible to tell for sure.
To my left was a wooden fence, sloppily constructed and running along the length of a thick forest. The trees were tall and sturdy, their branches fanning to form a smothering canopy of leaves. The woods pressed in close and I saw nothing but darkness from inside.
Assessing my options, I looked to the sky. I noted the strange red gashes in the clouds, reminding me again of gored flesh. The strands of maroon drool hung from the eerie edifices, dancing in the wind like tattered fabric.
Where do I go? I thought to myself, blinking against the gale, an icy wind slashing rain across my skin.
Where the hell would Jess go?
I wiped my eyes, trying to make up my mind when I saw something moving towards me from one of the distant structures.
It was tall and fat, a gray smudge on the horizon.
I cupped my hands to my face and tried to make out what it was.
I felt fear slam into my gut.
It was one of those creatures, one of The Pig’s creations, like the one that had dragged me here.
And it was sprinting right for me.
My decision was instantly made and I quickly hopped the fence to my left and bolted for the tree line. I heard a roar boom across the sky, an animalistic snarl of rage and hunger.
Feet churning the soaked earth, I thudded through the muck towards the trees, pulse racing. I chanced a look over my shoulder and saw the vaguely human-shaped monster now on all fours, spraying clumps of mud as it drew closer. It was still far off, but the rate at which it was approaching dumped panicked adrenaline into my veins and I sprinted through the tree line into the forest.
The sudden darkness was immediately apparent as I crashed through the snagging underbrush. I couldn’t stop, wouldn’t let myself stop, terror pushing me deeper and deeper, my breath slowly becoming ragged.
I didn’t know where I was running, didn’t dare look behind me, plowing forward with a prayer on my lips. Branches scraped across my arms, rocks rose to trip me, gloom and dripping moisture clouded my senses, but I didn’t slow.
Behind me, I heard something roar again, vicious and sinister, cutting through the foliage like an ax.
And it was close.
Chest burning, muscles turning to stone, I heard the crash of wood behind me and the thunder of heavy feet pounding the soil.
“Shit, shit, shit!” I cried, desperately looking for some place to hide.
An earsplitting cannon blast boomed through the woods and I heard the massive shudder of creaking wood as a tree came thundering to the earth just a couple dozen yards behind me.
It’s going to catch you.
Suddenly, a root found my boot and I went sprawling, smacking my face into the unforgiving ground. Stars exploded in my head like fireworks and the breath was knocked from me. My body ached and my lungs clawed for oxygen. I clutched my sides, gasping, rain and blood washing across my skin.
The ground vibrated as the predator grew closer, cracking the sky with another guttural roar. Strands of wet hair scraped across my forehead as I turned to look for something, anything, to hide.
At the base of a great tree, amidst the coil of roots and knots, lay a natural burrow in the trunk, just an arm’s length away. Gritting my teeth, I pulled myself through the claws of the undergrowth. My muscles quivered in protest, stone and vine reaching to pull me back.
Wood splintered and I could feel through my grasping hands just how close the monster was. Grunting through my teeth, body soaked in sludge and sticking leaves, I slid my body to the tree and into the open hollow.
Darkness swarmed me as my body tumbled inside, the interior unexpectedly spacious. I rolled to the side, away from the entrance, and held my breath, slamming my eyes closed.
Seconds later, something huge rocketed past my hiding place, snarling and crashing through the underbrush. I waited with agonizing trepidation, fully expecting it to slow and come barreling into my wooden cove, teeth gnashing and eyes wide.
But it didn’t.
It never slowed its charge and I exhaled a gentle hiss as it tore past the tree. I listened to the crashing branches, slowly fading away from me, growing more and more distant. Finally, mercifully, I was alone in silence.
“Hello.”
I screamed, despite myself, the tiny voice rattling me in the small space. Clawing myself back against the rough bark, I spun and gazed deeper into the hollow to see I wasn’t alone.
A small boy in a filthy red onesie sat against the far wall a few feet away. Stretched across his face was a plastic devil mask, completely covering his features except for two huge blue eyes that stared back at me.
“What the FUCK? Who are you!?” I gasped, placing a hand over my sputtering heart.
The boy didn’t move and I noticed his eyes were bloated, unnaturally round and jutting from the red plastic like neon water balloons.
“I’m hiding,” the boy responded calmly, idly tracing a padded foot in the dirt.
I forced myself to calm, sensing no immediate threat. “You scared the shit out of me, kid.”
He just looked at me, almost bored.
“Are you hiding from that…that thing?” I asked, pointing outside.
He shook his head. “No…I’m hiding from Pudge. He doesn’t like me very much.”
I adjusted myself against the tree. “Who’s Pudge?”
“It’s what I call him cause he’s a big fatty. He’s always trying to kill me. I don’t know why. I didn’t do nothing to him.”
I blinked. “He…wants to kill you?”
The boy looked at me like I was stupid. “Are you new or something mister?”
I nodded. “Yeah, actually.”
The boy groaned behind his mask. “Great, more dumb Sky Sludge.”
I held up a hand. “Sky Sludge?”
The boy pointed outside, “Yeah, Sky Sludge. That’s where you all come from. That red drool in the clouds? You drip out of it and fall to the ground. Then the Reapers come and bring you to Danny.”
I shook my head, confusion twisting my brain into knots. “You mean the…the cuts in the clouds? We come out of that?”
“Yeah, after you kill yourself, you big dummy,” he said, his voice muffled beneath the plastic, “Don’t know why you’d want to come here. Suicidals are so dumb.”
“Wait,” I said, “you’re not…one of us? What are you then?”
The boy snorted, “I’m Pig Born.”
Alarms began to ring in my head. “You didn’t…you’re not…human?”
“No, dummy.”
I swallowed hard. “Danny said your kind are evil, that I should stay away from you.”
The boy grunted. “You should, Sky Sludge. We’ll cut you up and eat you down.”
I eyed him cautiously. “Then…why aren’t you?”
The boy looked at me like I was a slab of hung meat, “Eh…too big. You’d probably kill me.”
The matter-of-fact tone in which he said it shook me, the casual way he confronted violence and death.
“Who’s Pudge?” I asked again.
A hatred filled the child’s eyes, “He’s a big fat cow who’s hunting me. I’d be an easy to kill. Not as hard as some of the other Pig Born.”
I ran a hand over my mouth. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“What do you care? I’m Pig Born. If I was bigger, I’d kill you.”
I held up a hand, “Look, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m searching for someone. My girlfriend, Jess. She came here with me. I need to find her, make sure she’s ok. Have you seen her? She’s about my age with short blond hair. Pretty.”
The boy snickered, “I bet Muck has her. He loves pretty things. Always touching his pee-pee.”
The news turned my stomach. “Who’s Muck? Where can I find him?”
The boy shook his head, “Stay away from Muck. He’s worse than Pudge. He�
�s mean, mean, mean. If he has your girlfriend, just hope he kills her quick so she can come back somewhere else. Somewhere away from him.”
My heart burned. “Jesus, kid, help me out here. Where is he?”
The boy adjusted his mask before replying, “Stupid Sky Sludge. You always think there’s some way out. You always think you can out-smart this place.” He leaned forward. “Well, you can’t. This is the Black Farm. And it will rip you to shreds over and over and over again. Just accept it like the rest of us. If your girlfriend was smart, she would have fed The Pig.” He waved a hand outside. “And if she hasn’t…there’s nothing you can do for her.”
I suddenly felt angry, a sharp twist in my chest. I leaned forward and grabbed the kid by his collar, hissing in his face, “Listen, you little shit, if you think I’m going to give up on her then you are sadly mistaken.”
The boy seemed unaffected by my outburst. He didn’t struggle as he leaned into me. “Haven’t you already, though? Isn’t that why you’re here?”
I stared into his enormous eyes for another second and then pushed him away, letting out a disgusted snort. He was right. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. But that didn’t mean I was going to give up. As fucked up as it was, this was a new reality with new problems and I damn well wasn’t going to let Jess face it alone. I needed to find her.
The boy brushed himself off and crawled to the opening. I watched him, feeling disgusted with myself and with the situation I found myself in. What I wouldn’t give to go back. I sighed and felt a weight settle in my chest, a dawning realization of the horrific position I found myself in. My life had gone from sad to survival.
Sensing my change in attitude, the boy looked back at me before scampering away. He pointed out into the forest. “Muck is that way. He lives in a big hole by the Temple of the Pig. You’ll know it when you see it.”
I smiled a little, eyes meeting his, “Thanks, kid. Good luck to you.”
The boy spat at me, “Fuck you. I’m telling you where Muck is so he can rip you apart. See you around, Sky Sludge.”
The Black Farm Page 3
