“Hey, fucker, do you have a question or not?” Danny said, snapping his fingers in front of my face.
I was sucked back into reality and I asked the only question that mattered.
“Is this hell?”
Danny snorted, “That’s always what you people ask.” He began to pace back and forth in front of me. “No. This is not hell. It’s not heaven, either. This is the Black Farm. And no, I didn’t name it that. This is where God sends the souls who have ended their own life. Suicidals. You see, he doesn’t really know what to do with you…and neither does the Devil. There are genuinely good people who kill themselves. Seems cruel to banish them to hell for all eternity for a moment of weakness, right? Personally, I think God and the Devil were just tired of arguing about it. And so they send them here, to the Black Farm.”
“Did…did God create this place?” I asked, growing more and more confused.
Danny spit on the floor, chuckling. “Sure, at some point. But he lost control of it when he put The Pig in charge.”
“What’s The Pig?” I asked, unsure I wanted to know the answer.
Danny held up a hand, annoyed. “Can I fucking finish? God created this place eons ago, put The Pig in charge, and then forgot about it for a while. Well, when his back was turned, The Pig decided to use his new powers to try to create his own little world. This mess you see around you is the fractured remains of that experiment. The Black Farm used to be a lot nicer, but The Pig wanted things to be different. He wanted to create his own vision. These people you see, these monsters? They are The Pig’s attempts at creating functioning life. Instead of mirroring God’s Earth, these mutated horrible creations are full of sin and hatred. They run rampant here, unabashed. This place is chaos. The Black Farm is a circus of freaks and monsters. And it’s your eternity.”
Fear boiled in my gut like thick oil. No. No this couldn’t be my end. I didn’t believe in stuff like this. This wasn’t real! I would wake up soon and realize I was just having a nightmare! That had to be it!
Danny stood before me and lightly slapped my face. “Hey, hey! Don’t go into hysterics on me. I haven’t finished yet.”
I raised my teary eyes to meet his.
Danny smiled. “You can always Feed the Pig.”
My breath pushed from my lungs like burning steam. “W-what does that mean?”
Danny spread his hands, still smiling, “It’s as simple as that. Feed the Pig. If you do so, there’s a chance he’ll send you back to your life.”
“A-and w-what happens if it doesn’t?” I bumbled.
“You get sent to hell. So flip a coin if you have one. Stay here with us or Feed the Pig. If you choose to stay, I’ll let you go…I’ll let you go out there,” he said, pointing toward the door, “but let me assure you…what awaits you at the end of the hallway…well…let’s just say hell isn’t that much worse.”
I swallowed hard, trying my best to digest everything. Why wouldn’t I try Feeding the Pig? Whatever that meant. If there was even a sliver of hope, I would take it. An eternity in this place, the Black Farm, be sent to hell, or…or Feed the Pig? I would do anything for a chance to go back. This nightmare made my problems seem like nothing in comparison.
Danny raised a hand before I could speak. “I’ll let you think on it a while. I’ll be back later.”
“I want to Feed the Pig!” I cried, not wanting to spend another second in this awful room. I could hear a woman screaming down the hallway, her cries rising as something meaty pounded into her. My breath came in sharp pulls and my throat burned. Danny noticed the noise and grinned.
“Sounds pretty bad, huh?” he said softly as the woman’s voice creaked with agony. Something was still slamming into her, the sound of beaten flesh igniting my imagination with horrors.
“Please,” I gasped, breathless, “just…just let me Feed the Pig. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”
Danny turned away from me. “I’ll be back later. Enjoy your time alone. Really think about your situation. Weigh your options. And remember…you put yourself here.”
And with that he was gone, leaving me in the dim room.
Tears streamed down my face.
The woman didn’t stop screaming for hours.
At some point, I fell into a semi-sleep. The darkness in the room seemed to press in on me and my eyes fluttered shut. My body ached and my throat was a halo of fire. Thirst raked at my windpipe like sharp glass. My lips felt like crumpled paper. My head thundered like a drum. The room swam in and out of focus and my mind drifted toward the horrific sounds that never ended.
I was lost in a haze, unaware that something was sliding into the room until I felt a sharp prick on my big toe. I jolted out of my daze as my bare foot ignited with pain. I screamed and tried to move, but my bindings held me tight.
The room rushed back into focus and I blinked in agony as I felt blood trickle between my toes. I looked down for the source of pain and I felt a scream claw up my throat.
Staring up at me was an armless man. He slithered on the floor like a worm, his bald head scabbed and filthy. His legs were wrapped together in barbed wire, forcing him to wriggle his body to move. His eyes were lidless and wide, two bloodshot white orbs that stared up at me with hungry intensity. His teeth had been removed and replaced with long screws which jutted from his bleeding gums like a broken rock formation.
Around his neck was a chain leash, which I followed across the floor to the open door. The end of the leash was held by a tall, naked man. His body was hairless and flabby, covered in similar scabs like his pet. A dirty bag was pulled over his head that hid his features except for a single red eye that peeked out at me from a crude cut in the cloth.
He stared at me and groped his engorged penis, his breath heavy and labored. As the armless man wriggled toward me again, his master started to masturbate. I screamed as the screw-filled mouth bit at me again and my cries seemed to stimulate the naked man even more.
“Get off of me! Stop it!” I screamed, horrified. I tried to kick at the man, doing my best to avoid his sharp metal teeth. I brought my heel down on his head and he screamed as his face bounced off the floor.
A moan of pleasure escaped the bagged man’s mouth and I turned away as a mist of black sprayed out onto the floor. There was a rattle of chains and I turned back to see the two of them leaving, the armless man dragged by his neck out the door. I looked at where the bagged man had ejaculated and saw a puddle of dead ants. I vomited onto myself, thick chunky curtains of bile and slime.
“GET ME OUT OF HERE!” I screamed, strands of puke running down my chin. “I DON’T BELONG HERE!”
I listened to the two men retreat down the hallway, the clank of chains accompanied by the sound of flesh being dragged across the concrete. I screamed again, but I knew no one was going to help me. I spit a wad of phlegm and bile onto the floor, ridding my mouth of its sourness. I forced myself to calm down. It wasn’t easy.
After some time, I heard someone else approaching. I had been in a miserable lull, my mind a blank canvas of dark despair, but the noise roused me from my trance-like state. The muscles in my arms burned from being restrained for so long and I shifted them desperately, trying my best to prepare myself for whatever horror was about to walk through the door.
Footsteps drew closer and then a woman walked into the room. She stopped at the doorway and looked at me. One of her eyes was missing, a dark cavernous hole in her skull. Her hair was ratty and wild, a brown tangle like a forgotten nest. Her skin was pale and filthy and she was dressed in rags. I couldn’t tell how old she was, but there was maturity in her one good eye.
“Still thinking?” she asked, her voice course and brittle.
“What?”
She took a step closer. “Are you still deciding whether you’re going to Feed the Pig or not?”
I looked at her cautiously. “Yeah…I am. Who are you? What do you want?”
“I was once where you are now,” she said, “trying to decide
my fate. I couldn’t believe that this was what happened…what happened after we die. It wasn’t what I was taught…religion didn’t warn me about this place.”
I tested my bindings again before asking, “You killed yourself, too? You’re a person like me? You’re not one of those…those creations?”
She snorted, “Breaks my heart you have to ask,” she touched the hole where her eye should have been, “though I can understand your caution. Yeah, I’m a Suicidal. I’ve been here a long, long time. But that was my choice. I decided to chance it here.”
I motioned with my head toward the door, “What’s out there? What is all this?”
She exhaled heavily and leaned against the wall. “I can’t even begin to describe this place. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. You walk down that hallway and go out…into it…and…” she swallowed, “You’d have to see it to understand.”
“How bad is it? Why are all these mutated people hurting and killing each other?” I asked.
She let her head loll back against the wall. “It would take years for you to fully understand this place. Years you don’t have. Right now you have to make a decision. Stay or Feed the Pig. They tell me hell is worse than here, but it can’t be by much. Monsters and Suicidals roam the Black Farm…killing, raping, brutalizing…and then you wake up and wonder how long you can survive before something else kills you. It’s an endless cycle.”
“So why did you stay?” I pressed. “Why didn’t you Feed the Pig? I don’t even know what that means, but I would do anything for a chance to go back. I can’t stay here, I…I just can’t!”
She smiled sadly at me. “Why? Why did I choose this? It’s simple, really. I’m a coward. I was a coward when I was alive and I’m a coward in death. When it came down to it, when the moment presented itself, I chose to stay here. I didn’t know what awaited me outside. It boiled down to a simple choice fueled by my own fear.”
“What is The Pig? What does it do to you?” I pressed.
She suddenly turned to go. “I’m afraid that’s for you to find out. But let me warn you. Think hard before you make a decision. Sometimes suffering through your fear is better than suffering for eternity. Be brave.”
“What do I do!?” I yelled, shaking in my chair as she walked out the door.
She paused and took one last look over her shoulder. Her eye darted around and she dropped her voice to a whisper, “Feed the Pig.”
And with that she was gone.
I sat in silence once again. My mind was spinning, desperately turning over my options. I still couldn’t fully understand the situation I was in. It was too much, too overwhelming. The other side of death wasn’t supposed to be like this. I didn’t know what I had expected, but it wasn’t this nightmare. Questions crashed over my mind like cold waves onto a sinking ship. How was I supposed to make a choice when I didn’t even know what my actions entailed?
This place, the Black Farm…I couldn’t stay here. But what if I went to hell? What if I didn’t get sent back? I would be out of the fire and into the frying pan. My existence would forever be damned to unending misery. Here, though…here there were people like me. Suicidals. It wasn’t all monsters and mutilated murderers. Maybe I could hole up somewhere with them, try to scrape together a passable existence. Surely that would be better than getting sent to hell!
No. No, this wasn’t going to be how I spent my eternity. I refused to let it be. If there was even the slightest sliver of hope, I would take it. I didn’t want to wonder what could have been. I didn’t want to be tormented by doubt. I would Feed the Pig and accept whatever fate chose for me. When I boiled it down, that was the only option left.
I would Feed the Pig.
“Hey! Hello!? Danny!” I yelled, rattling in my chair. “I’ve made my decision! Danny!”
After a couple seconds, I heard footsteps echo down the hall toward me.
Danny walked through the doorway, an annoyed look on his face.
“I’ve made my choice,” I said. “I’m going to Feed the Pig.”
“Sounds like you’ve really thought a lot about it since I left you,” Danny said sarcastically.
I licked my lips. “You’d do the same thing if you were in my place.”
Danny walked behind me. “I was in your place once. And I chose differently.” My eyes widened and then Danny wrapped my entire head with a strip of thin cloth, blinding me. I sucked in as much air as I could, but each lungful felt empty.
I felt Danny cut me free from the chair, and my body sighed as my stiff muscles were released. I rolled my shoulders as my hands were released and I moaned with relief. I dug my fingers into my back and I stretched, my bones creaking.
“Keep your blindfold on and follow me,” Danny said, pulling me up.
My legs shook as I put weight on them, my thighs trembling after their long-cemented position. I groped blindly in front of me and found Danny’s shoulder. I rested my hand on it as he walked us out of the room.
As we entered the hallway, I could suddenly hear sound I hadn’t before. The clank of metal, a long fleshy tearing noise, something vomiting…these sounds sprang to life in my ears, painting the darkness before my eyes with imaginary scenes of horror. I gripped Danny’s shoulder tighter, stumbling behind him, my heart thundering.
I heard something trailing behind us, but Danny didn’t seem to notice. Or if he did, he didn’t care. Flesh slapped the concrete mere inches behind me and I suddenly felt hot breath on my neck and the click of a wet tongue against gums. My breathing became even more labored as fear choked me.
“Goin’ ta feed da piggy are ya?” Something whispered in my ear. I felt something press against the back of my head and I tried not to think about what it might be. It was wet and slimy and I heard the thing chuckle.
“Ee’s a ’ungry piggy, you make shor’ ee gets iz meal now,” the thing whispered again, its voice low and unlike anything I had ever heard before. It was like a series of grunts and moans jumbled together to form broken words.
To my relief, I heard the thing retreat back to wherever it had come from and I continued to follow Danny. He remained silent as we walked and I could feel shifts in the air. The thick heat gave way to a cooler, almost pleasant temperature, but then it kept decreasing and soon I was shivering violently against the cold. I couldn’t see anything but I felt a breeze on my face, like we were outside. I didn’t hear Danny open any doors, but nothing about this place was natural. It was like reality blurred and bled into itself, like reels of film melting together.
Teeth chattering, I was suddenly blasted with intense heat and I gasped. My feet tripped over themselves as the terrain changed and I was suddenly walking on what felt like warm iron. My ears were filled with the sound of blazing furnaces and the clash of working machinery. I couldn’t see it, but I felt like there was a vast open expanse overhead. I smelled ash and tasted dirt on my tongue, sweat already forming along my spine.
Suddenly, I crashed into Danny as he came to a halt. I backed up a few paces and muttered my apologies. I could hear movement in front of us, a rustle of chains and an odd clicking sound on the metal floor. Something else too…something…snorting.
And then the room filled with the deafening sound of an immense pig squealing. I covered my ears, head splitting at the high-pitched wail. I gritted my teeth as the noise echoed off the metal and faded into a series of snorts and grunts.
It sounded absolutely enormous.
“I’ve brought another one,” Danny announced, a slight tinge of respect lining his voice. “He wants to Feed the Pig.”
I waited, expecting to hear some answer, the cloth around my eyes sealing my sight to darkness. I realized my knees were shaking and my back was coated in sweat. I was terrified.
“If that is what you wish,” Danny said and I felt him bow under my hand. Apparently some unseen conversation had just happened and Danny took my wrist and pushed me forward.
“Approach The Pig,” he instructed.
My wh
ole body trembled and my knees locked into place. Robbed from sight, I raised my hands, trying to get my bearings, the heat and ash filling my head with nausea. I felt like I was going to throw up, my stomach rolling like a dead sea. I didn’t know where I was or what horror lay before me. I felt lost and tiny, a fresh splash of tears dripping from my eyes and soaking into the cloth around my face.
“P-please,” I begged, “let me see what’s happening.”
Danny was suddenly behind me, pushing me forward. He guided my hands toward something as we stepped together in unison. Even with the cloth around my face, I could see a giant mass of towering darkness before me. It was a spot of black on an already darkened canvas.
As we walked forward, I was suddenly assaulted by a horrendous smell and I gagged, turning away. Danny’s grip tightened and forced me to continue. I could sense something just in front of me, a living, shifting mass of flesh. The smell increased to a wretched level and I gagged again. Then hot air was being blown on my face, a blast of heat that came in repeated short bursts.
I vomited into my cloth, the source of the smell stemming from the hot air. I choked as the bile gushed over the fabric, soaking it and momentarily cutting off my oxygen. Danny slapped my hands away and I took a few seconds to steady my breathing again. I was openly crying now, fear and misery collapsing my willpower.
The wet cloth stunk as I sucked in soggy breaths. My own stomach acid coated my skin and I begged for all of this to be over.
And then something squealed directly in front of me.
I felt my bladder go. I was standing before The Pig.
It was the source of darkness in my obscured vision—a fat, titanic creature that filled my senses with every breath it blew into my face.
Danny raised my hands and suddenly I was touching The Pig’s snout. I recoiled immediately, but Danny forced my hands back. Its fur was stiff and brittle and as my shaking hands explored up its nose, the size of the animal became clear to me.
The Worst Kind of Monsters Page 12
