by Megan Alban
“Well, that wasn’t it. However, it is now. What do you say to, we dump the rest of these breadcrumbs into the pond and race home for some loving.” He pumped his eyebrows, then leaned in and nuzzled her neck. Alexis giggled, pushed him away and continued to feed the ducks.
“Ahhh…” Blake screech out, moving away, his hands flew to cover his ears at the piercing cries that flooded his brain, long enough for him to remember. Slade’s voice screamed in his ears telling him to wake up, followed by Slade hollering as if in pain, then the sound began to drift off.
A sense of panic rose through Blake. “Alexis, we have to go, we’re in danger,” he said, pulling her onto her feet with him as he stood and looked around them with fresh eyes. “None of this is real.” He whispered, his words sounded unsure to his own ears. He needed to fight the urge to surrender once more to the calming sensation clamoring to regain control over his senses.
“What do you mean by ‘none of this is real’?” She clasped her hands against his cheeks. “It feels very real to me. We’re together and we’re back in our hometown, what more could we want? Aren’t you happy Blake?” she asked, caressing his cheeks, drawing his face toward hers.
“I guess I am, but—” She didn’t let him finish. Their lips met and she kissed him long and hard. A kiss meant to aid him to forget, continue the lie and feed the beast.
Blake felt himself slipping away and fought against it. He pulled free of Alexis’s embrace, with a resounding “NO.” He gazed at her, stunned that she wanted to continue to exist this way, and noticed for the first time how dilated her pupils were.
That’s right, she’d been in this place a lot longer than him. Maybe this thing, whatever it was, had a firmer hold on her than it did him.
“Sweetheart, we can’t stay here. If we do we’ll die.”
“No we won’t. We’ll still be here, still be happy and together. Stay young forever.” She wrapped her arms around him. Her voice had a calming, sultry hue, pulling him from a place of reality back into a dream state. “Why would we ever want to leave this place? It’s perfect for us.” Her words lassoed him, binding him to her will.
He began to wonder why he was fighting it. Of course, she was right. He hadn’t felt this good, this complete, in months. He sat back on the bench and pulled Alexis onto his lap. Stroked her hair and kissed her on the mouth. The love he felt for her bubbled to the surface of his emotions. Tears rose to his eyes and blurred his vision. He could and would live anywhere as long as they were together.
They separated, Blake nodding his agreement. He opened his mouth to put what he’d agreed to in words.
Right before he could tell Alexis he’d do anything she wanted him to do, the sound of someone yelling his name distracted him. He looked around to see who it was. The voice was familiar yet strange.
Blake’s muddled mind worked hard to recognize the caller, this stranger running toward him. He stood and set Alexis on her feet. Seeing the stranger broke down the wall Alexis’s words had almost completely built up in his mind, and rekindled his desire to free them from their situation.
The cloud shifted. He had clarity and recall.
“Slade? How did you get here?”
Chapter Nine
Slade woke with a mouth full of dirt and grass. His body ached as if he’d been dropped from a great height. Unlike Alexis and Blake, he didn’t feel that calming sense of serenity. He was pissed, he was bleeding and he was in some shithole of a park, in a town he didn’t recognize.
That is, he didn’t recognize it straight away. Then he remembered. Oh, yeah, he was in that idiot’s and his woman’s happy place. Fuck knows why anyone would want to come here. The place was pretty, pretty dull, and as exciting as an enema.
He spat out the grass, stretched and surveyed his surroundings. If he got out of this alive, he was going to visit Nate Steel in his bed, in the dead of night, and punch him right in his death trap, number-giving, yapper. Tell him to forget his digits once and forever. And he could consider the loan null and void. In Slade’s book, risking his life was payment in full.
Shit for brains obviously ran in the family.
Slade continue to bitch and moan, as he searched his surroundings. Now where was it, he saw that ass wipe and his girl.
Slade’s body pivoted in place until he saw the pond in the distance. He began to run toward it. God only knew how much time they had left, before all hope of the three of them getting out of this with their lives was gone.
If memory served, Blake’s woman was fast becoming moss kibble. And something told him Blake wouldn’t leave her behind. So he’d better find them, and find them fast.
As he ran down the slope of grass leading to the pond, he saw two people sitting on a bench. That had to be them. He began to shout Blake’s name, hoping for a reaction he could gage from this distance. There was no point continuing downhill if it wasn’t them.
Luck was on his side, Romeo was looking around, good. Slade picked up the pace and raced forward. If he was going to save him and his Juliet, Blake had better be open to discussion and fast decision-making, and open to the fact, if his lady was too far gone. They were going to have to leave her behind in order to save themselves.
When he was close enough, he heard Blake say his name. This was a good sign--he hadn’t known him before today. Shit, how easy a life can change in a few hours. However, he couldn’t contemplate that now. What this meant, if Blake still had memory of him, he was going to be okay. But only if they left the planet, as soon as he’d worked out, how they were going to leave.
Hairy frigging scrotums! How were they going to get the fuck out of there? He hadn’t thought that little gem through. Up until now he’d been playing it by ear.
Crouched over, his hands resting on his knees, trying to catch his breath, he responded to Blake’s question. “What do you mean, how did I get here? The same way you did. Although it was a lot more difficult. I guess I’m not as delectable as you guys seem to be.”
“But why didn’t you just fly off? I’d already paid you. You have no reason to put yourself at risk for us. You don’t even know me.”
Slade grimaced. “Jeez, and here I was thinking you’d be happy to see me.”
“I am, I mean we are. I just don’t know why you’d risk it.” Blake stared at him wide-eyed.
“Who knows why anyone does anything. Maybe you appeal to my sense of honor, or you’re as desirable to me, as you are to this shit guzzler. The bottom line is, I am here to rescue you and your bony ass girlfriend. Now do you want rescuing or not? I’m quite happy to leave you both here. Just wish I knew your thoughts sooner.”
“Sure we do, but how are we going to get out of here?” Blake asked looking around him.
“I’m fucked if I know!” Slade shrugged.
“Blake, who is this?” Alexis gripped Blake’s arm and moved closer to him. The gaze she gave Slade was laced with suspicion.
“Oh sorry honey, this is Slade the pilot who brought me here, to rescue you.” The irony wasn’t lost on Slade who grinned and raised his brow.
“But what is he rescuing you from? We’re happy here, aren’t we?”
The smile fell from Slade’s lips. “I don’t have time for this. I need to find a way out.”
“I haven’t noticed anything.” Blake’s gaze shifted from Alexis to Slade.
“You wouldn’t, from what I saw of your memories, looking for a way out stopped somewhere between doppie’s legs.” Slade jetted his chin in Alexis’s direction.
“He’s rude.” Alexis pouted, then pursed her lips.
Blake’s color deepened. “You could see that?”
“Yep, as if…I was in the room,” Slade said without shame.
“What’s he saying?” Alexis asked narrowing her gaze.
“Nothing important.” Blake draped his arm across Alexis’s shoulder. “We need to find a way out of here.”
Slade chuckled at Blake’s attempt to spare Alexis’s embarrassment, nice deflectio
n.
“From what I could tell it can be hurt from the outside. I just need to check something. This is as new for me as it for you. But I think I’ve figured a few things out. So here goes.”
Slade removed his pistol and aimed it at the sky and shot into the air. Blake and Alexis watched the blast strike the clouds, which exploded into balls of fire that screamed out in pain and anger. Blake’s eyes meet Slade’s. They smiled, nodding their understanding. Alexis looked at both men in confusion.
Putting his space pistol back in its holster, Slade said to Blake, “Your woman’s been here too long. I think we need to explain things to her or she could make escaping difficult.”
“Maybe I should start. She’ll hear it better coming from me,” Blake said. He explained to a confused Alexis about his dream. How he’d hired Slade to bring him to the planet to rescue her.
Slade took over from where Blake was dragged into the cave. How the rock monster could be hurt on the outside and now he’d proved he could do the same on the inside.
From what he could gather, if his pistol worked in here, it wasn’t totally a dream. They were still functioning as themselves, but she and Blake were in an altered state, an alternate reality. So whatever they brought in with them functioned in the usual way.
For some unknown reason he wasn’t affected. It was possible this was due to the fact these weren’t his memories. So he couldn’t be influenced by his surroundings as they were alien to him. Anything that happened here meant nothing to him, thereby making him immune.
He was a piggyback rider, surfing on the tide of Blake’s memories, and he purposely hadn’t thought of anything else.
Chapter Ten
Still fused with a sense of peace and tranquillity, Alexis rejected everything she’d heard. She placed her hands on Blake’s chest, and gazed into his eyes in earnest.
“Blake, look at me. This is real, we’re real. I don’t know this man and to be honest I don’t want to know him.” She pulled on his arm. “Let’s just go home and forget everything he said.” She ran her hand down his arm and took Blake’s hand, and began to lead him away from Slade.
“For fuck’s sake wake up man. She’s trying to manipulate you. Pull you back into this fantasy that doesn’t exist. If you stay here, you will die. Didn’t you hear anything I said about the rotting scientists? That’s the future you have waiting for you. Doll face won’t look so cute with the life sucked out of her.” Slade grabbed Blake’s other arm.
“Let him go, creep. The only thing dangerous around here is you,” Alexis snarled at Slade.
Slade pulled his pistol from the holster and pointed it at her. She gasped, her hand slipped off Blake’s arm. She moved back. Her heart roared in her chest. Not so much because of the gun pointed in her direction, but the menacing look in Slade’s eyes.
“What the hell!” Blake stepped in between the gun and his woman, and slid Alexis behind him. She clutched the material at his waist.
“She’s a cave whore. I’m going to do her a favor and kill her while she still has her looks,” Slade said through gritted teeth, glaring at Alexis.
She popped her head through the gap in Blake’s arm. “Who are you calling a whore, rat face? It’s clear to me you’re a madman. Probably escaped from the psych ward at Bellevue.”
“Bitch. Move, you idiot. She’s going to get us all killed.”
“Be careful Slade,” Blake said. Alexis saw Blake’s fist clench and his eyes narrowed, as he looked from her back to Slade. “You need to put that gun down, because I’m not moving and you’re not going to shoot her. We’ll find another way.”
“Yeah, we will.” Slade’s hand clenched with purpose and drove forward at speed. Too fast for Blake to react and stop Slade’s fist from connecting with Alexis’s nose, as he punched her in the face.
A blinding pain shot through Alexis’s skull, at the same time a cracking sound bellowed in her ears. Her eyes glazed over and she staggered backwards. Releasing her hold on Blake she brought a hand to her face. Blood gushed from her nose onto her fingers.
Alexis launched herself at Slade, the fingers she had clutching his neck, froze. Her blind rage vanquished along with her sense of peace and happiness. Replaced with anxiety and fear, as her new emotional state tore down the fabric of her delusion. She gaped as her hometown began to disappear before her eyes. The pungent stench of rotting flesh filled the air, and turned her stomach. She took a deep breath, then wished she hadn’t as she swallowed back the bitter taste that filled her mouth.
From the look on both Blake and Slade faces, she could tell they saw and smelled it too.
The hometown she knew and loved crumbled away and transformed into a hideous, pulsating, ugly brain cell, full of black sickening tumors. Bile lodged in her throat. She was too shocked to scream. Fear gripped her heart as her mind scrambled to make sense of the terrible sight. Within the beating, breathing tumors, Alexis could see the memories that were raped from the innocent scientists, being injected into the black membranes like medicine.
Grabbing the stunned Alexis’s hand Blake pulled her forward to follow behind Slade, who’d galloped off down a tunnel made of thick ugly flesh, without checking to see if they were following behind.
Sick, diseased vines began to give chase. Even though she guessed their chances of escape was impossible, she wasn’t prepared for what seemed like suicide. Slade stopped dead in his tracks, and turned around, arms stretched outward, welcoming. Alexis and Blake ran past him. Blake looked over his shoulder, and paused. Alexis raised her brow at Blake.
Slade’s actions were bizarre, the man was a weirdo.
“Stop running, we’ll never be able to outrun them,” Slade said, without turning around. “I’ve got a plan. Stay with your hands together and think of the most scariest and horrible memory that you possibly can. See it, live it, feel it. Don’t falter, give it everything you got.”
The vines overtook them, slivering up and around, encasing their bodies. Slade, Blake and Alexis were trussed up like a Christmas present and dragged back through the cave. All three conjured up the most painful memory they could. Their eyes closed.
Blacking out: Alexis
Alexis woke to a nightmare experience which almost shattered her life. At sixteen, one hot summer’s night, she’d fallen asleep in her bra and panties, on top of the bed covers, with her bedroom window open. A young man from the neighborhood, who unknown to her, had been stalking her, saw his opportunity and climbed in through the open window. His presence in the room disturbed the air and stirred Alexis to consciousness. Although she remained completely still, with her eyes closed, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. A shiver tingled and ran down her spine. Goosebumps pricked and rose to the surface of her skin. Alexis held her breath and listen for the creaks underfoot as he got nearer. He paused at her chest of drawers, she could hear him rummaging through. She fought the urge to open her eyes fully, and prayed if it was a burglar, he’d take what he needed and leave her alone. She peeked through squinted eyes and saw him sniffing her panties. Her stomach churned at the sight. Rage and disgust lay siege to the intrusion into her personal space and blatant violation of her underwear. Although she knew none of this was real, the emotion elicited was just as strong as it had been, that fearful night. She hung onto those feelings, knowing her life depended on it.
Blacking out: Blake
Blake woke to what he believed to be his worst nightmare. An apocalyptic earth, being chased by mutant zombified creatures. Running for his life he’d reached a dead-end. No immediate escape and the creatures were bearing down on him. Their decaying limbs fell off as they crawled, scraped and dragged their way toward him. Pus and slime oozed out of their noses and mouths. Spare giant insect body parts held firm in the limbs that were still attached to them. Their sole purpose was to rid him of his humanity and turn him into a mutant like them.
His heart raced, his breathing shallowed, and beads of sweat graced his skin. He screamed and fought to s
tay human, gripped by a sense of hollow defeat and hopelessness. The creatures had pinned him down and were ripping off his arms and legs. He lost control of his bodily functions, overcome by the sense of doom, delirious from the imaginary pain rippling through his body. When the mutants had finished working on him, he was placed in front of a mirror. Drool dangled and fell from his lips, his eyes bulged. His stomach contracted with the cry of terror and despair, as he saw his reflection. Spider legs protruded from his shoulders, abdomen and hips. Tears ran down his cheeks. Crippled by devastation, the desire to end his life engulfed him. Blake held onto his suicidal feelings of despair and prayed Slade was right. There was no way he wouldn’t need years of therapy after this.
Blacking out: Slade
Slade woke standing before a court martial panel, being tried for a crime he didn’t commit. His second-in-command was on the stand spewing lies about him, playing a recording of a distress call from the planet, which stated that he left them behind to die. He didn’t know how the prick did it. But there was no way anybody could have signalled ahead. The communicator on their spacesuit couldn’t transmit that far. No one seemed to want to hear that. Easier to find someone to blame for their cock ups.
His second was supposed to be the one piloting the vessel that day. He’d called in saying he was struck down by influenza. Slade believed him, due to the shortage of pilots from the flu epidemic. He’d decided to pilot the spaceship himself. Why wouldn’t he? It was a straight forward clean up mission. The Intel didn’t state the cockroach- like creatures that, which inhabited the plant emitted a poisonous gas.
He was saved by his paranoid rule of not removing his helmet. He watched his colleagues die one by one. He’d checked for life before leaving the planet, but he hadn’t turned on the digital recorder in his suit, which was later found to be inoperable due to malicious damage. By the time the replacement crew reached the planet there was nothing left of the fallen soldiers. No way to clear his name, the cockroaches had eaten everything, including the recording equipment.
