Canopus and Keel - The Hive.

by Stephen Jarrett

“You have been feeding these occupants the dead, haven’t you?” asked Keel calmly, gun pointing at Sid.

  “They would have perished if I hadn’t! There are children in there! They needed nourishment. It was Drexel’s orders, he told me she wanted them kept alive. Said they were her prized servants.”

  “Who is she?” asked Vince, voice trembling. Was the Red-girl controlling Sid too?

  “Doctor Lillian Fox.” Sid edged to the doorway away from Keel’s gun, “I know it wasn't right but the occupants are fascinating, they really are. We had to see what they would become, if we kept them alive -”

  Shaking pale hands, old and young leapt from behind the doorway, grabbing and clawing at Sid’s clothes. Sid tried to pull away but within seconds, more and more hands took hold and pulled him screaming behind the door.

  Keel ran and elbowed the door shut just as two occupants burst into the room. One occupant was a large naked man, bruises and sores ran across the right side of his body, like in the diner, the sores were covered in hard black goo. The second occupant was a naked woman, with a thick black shiny head and jagged black teeth, it was missing its arms, in their place were large black tentacles that thrashed around the room, smashing into the walls and floor.

  “Run Vince run!” whispered the Red-girl’s voice.

  Vince ran towards the door, ducking under a thick oily black tentacle that smashed into the wall, creating a cloud of powdered plaster and brick. A second tentacle grabbed Vince’s leg and threw him across the floor.

  Keel rolled to a crouch and fired two shots into the neck of the large naked man, they passed through, embedding in the brick wall behind, triggering two large puffs of smoke. The man spun and fell to the floor, within seconds black goo filled the holes and the man started once more to rise. Behind the door, Sid’s muffled screams stopped and the door started to shake under the pounding of hits.

  Leaning on the metal desk, Keel stood up and edged towards the wall. Vince was passed out on the floor, his leg was obviously broken, as it lay twisted in an unnatural position. The tentacle woman turned to face Keel and slowly walked towards her.

  Keel, scanned the room, the female creature was 30 steps away from her and at its current speed would be on her in 35 seconds, the naked man was stumbling, dragging his right foot, ankle broken from where he fell, he would be within striking range in 40 seconds, on the ceiling was a spinning metal fan and one metal desk, 80 chambers were placed in the walls, two were open, one with the bearded man with bite marks on his neck, the other containing the large man with bite marks on his legs. Keel’s mind went into overdrive, quickly thinking through possible scenarios. She had 35 seconds.

  Scenario 1 - Shoot the fan.

  Wait till the occupants are under the fan, dive under desk, shoot the fan, 65% chance the fan blade will fall spinning at a trajectory of 70 degrees, approx. 45% chance of disabling an occupant allowing me to get to exit, Vince rescue infeasible. Time 30 seconds.

  Scenario 2 – Cast Ice hex.

  Cut hand, run to wall, make hex, 65% chance of correctly making hex, trigger hex, 75% chance of freezing occupants and Vince. 50% chance Vince would survive. Time 35-40 seconds.

  Scenario 3 – Blaze of Glory.

  Charge at tentacle occupant, fire two shots in legs, knocking occupant to floor, time to repair, four seconds, move right, fire two shots in left leg of the occupant, crippling his left leg, allowing

  five seconds to head to the doorway. Chance of success 65%, with dragging Vince to safety, 30%.

  Keel quickly flicked her gaze to the cold chambers on the wall.

  Scenario 4 – Burrow down alone

  Run to cold chamber, pull out bearded man, get inside. Time without Vince, 28 seconds. Wait for Canopus. Success rate 55%.’

  Scenario 5 – Burrow Down together.

  Run to cold chamber, pull out bearded body, grab Vince, place in cold chamber, shut cold chamber, shoot at closest occupant, naked man, wounding left leg, pull large fat man out of cold chamber, dodge tentacles, fire gun at tentacle woman’s face, blinding her? 65% chance, and get inside cold chamber, pull closed from inside, wait for Canopus. Success rate 40% Time 35-40 seconds.

  Keel took a deep breath and chose a scenario.

  THIRTEEN.

  Drexel tugged on his moustache as he and Canopus stood outside the morgue door. “Before we enter, we are friends, right?”

  “Well I wouldn't call us friends but I’ve tolerated you for a long time. Do you even have friends?” Canopus pulled on the door it was locked. “You have a key, right?”

  “Yeah, I have a frigging key, and don’t brush away my question. I need to know that we are friends.”

  Canopus narrowed his eyes as secretly turned the safety of his gun, feeling the weight of the gun in his hand “Yeah we’re friends. Now open the door, friend.”

  Drexel seemed satisfied. He produced a ring of keys from the back pocket of his jeans and placed a large key in the door, “Like I said, some weird shit been going on in this town. You saw the files.”

  Canopus took a slow step back, Drexel was out of shape but he was a big guy, strong too and Canopus was starting to get a feeling that not everything was what it seemed, “Uh-huh. Yeah I saw them.”

  “So, no judging brother. Alright?’

  “Look Drexel, I just want to get my partner and sort out the kid.”

  Drexel pulled open the morgue door and stepped into the dark corridor, “Jeez he still hasn't fixed this. Hang on.” He pulled out a small flashlight from his jacket coat and shone it down the dark corridor. “Follow me, there is a light switch at the end.”

  Canopus picked up a large stone and placed it between the door and the frame. “So, tell me about these, what did you call them… ‘shells?’”

  Drexel seemed preoccupied, “Yeah, shells. Like I said, they are like vegetables most of the time. When you cut them though…”

  “Cut them?”

  “Like I said, don’t judge. You cut them and this black shit comes out and seals them right up. I thought it might be some kind of disease or parasite but the Doctor said it wasn't.”

  “Jeez! They are dangerous Drexel. We only just managed to take down a few of them in a diner a few miles out. How many did you say you had here?”

  “That, was you? I heard about something happening over there. We have around forty shells, easy. But we have them under control. Ahh, here’s the switch.” Drexel, flicked on the switch and a flickering bright light filled the corridors.

  Canopus shielded his eyes from the blinding light, when he moved down his hand, Drexel was pointing his magnum at him.

  “Drexel? I need to get to Keel, If she is hurt in any way I will kill you, you know, that right? And shooting me with that peashooter isn’t going to stop me Slide it over.”

  Canopus slid his gun across the tiled floor and Drexel picked it up.

  Drexel smiled, “Now, listen up bruther. First, this ain’t no peashooter, it’ll blow a hole right through you so big I’ll be able to stick my head through it. So, calm the frig down and let me explain everything.”

  FOURTEEN.

  Doctor Lillian Fox, fallen angel, stared closely at Julia and Mellissa. Both girls were sitting frozen on metal chairs, their eyes wide with fear

  “I command you to come forward.”

  Lillian Fox watched as first the shroud’s hands slowly appeared on Julia’s shoulders, followed by a large rubbery black head that looked through Julia’s skull, two faces staring at her. “You are strong. Much stronger than the others.”

  The shroud squirmed.

  “So much energy in you, hurting you. You must release it.”

  The shroud vibrated with excitement.

  Lillian Fox held up a finger, “show me.”

  The shroud slowly nodded and then instantly moved from Julia to Mellissa. It held Melissa’s body with its long fingers, its lips sucked so hard on her neck that the skin vibrated.

  “Feed me.” Lillian Fox said as she opened her mout
h.

  The shroud leaned forward and opened its large mouth wide, rubbery lips trembling as it vomited pure energy from Melissa into Lillian Fox’s mouth. Melissa suddenly felt tired and yawned.

  Lillian Fox licked her lips. She had never felt such power, lifting up a small golden hand mirror, she stared at her reflection, the grey in her hair was fading, as were the crow’s feet wrinkles near her eyes. She looked up at the shocked faces on the twins and at the shroud sucking more raw energy from Melissa’s neck.

  “You three are marvelous.” Lillian Fox smiled and prodded Melissa’s lip bottom lip with her finger. “Do you know how much energy a lip contains, how much blood?” She held the lip tight and tugged, revealing white teeth.

  Melissa groaned.

  “I could pull this right off your face and you wouldn’t even move. You would feel it though and that sweet sorrow is the perfect dessert to my feeding. Lillian pulled harder and harder at the lip. Blood started to fill between the lip and jaw bones, flooding over the white teeth. Lillian Fox’s eyes grew wider and wider, while tears streamed from Melissa’s eyes. The first noises of the lip ripping away sounded to Julia like thick painter’s tape being torn from a wall. She pushed her eyes to the left and saw Melissa’s lip half hanging from her jaw, blood, dripping down her neck from the grip of the doctor.

  Lillian Fox turned and smiled at Julia, she breathed in, savoring the smell of sorrow. She felt her skin tingle. She couldn’t feel sorrow from prayers anymore, but she could feel a crude form of it through inflicting pain. Letting go of the lip she licked the blood from her fingers. The lip hung from Melissa like a plump caterpillar. Melissa screamed as loud as she could, but her body didn't move and no sound appeared.

  Lillian Fox walked over to Julia and quickly grabbed her lip between her finger, tugging it hard as she talked. “Twins should look like each other, shouldn’t they?”

  Julia felt a warmth across her groin and heard drops of warm liquid hit the tiled floor and her feet.

  “You run like a girl and sit down to pee, why is everyone picking on me” whispered Lillian Fox. She pulled Julia’s lip hard and then released. She turned to Melissa and with a wave of her hand, Melissa’s lip lifted back into place. The blood in her mouth dried.

  “There, all better now. Sleep,” commanded Lillian Fox.

  Julia and Melissa closed their eyes.

  FIFTEEN.

  Lillian Fox stood up and smiled, her muscles felt stronger, her bones younger. Maybe twins were the answer, a perfect way to keep her fed.

  She stretched, relishing the feeling of her back not creaking or popping. But how long will this last? Constant feeding was becoming a drag and she was running out of humans. The shrouds she created were useful but the longer they stayed connected to a human, the more they merged, until they lost their use to her.

  She had sent Adelene and Ludvig out with two of her strongest shrouds, to set up new hives but they both failed. Now all she had was this town, and the feeding was becoming slim. Soon, Bonners Ferry was going to run out of humans, replaced by shroud human hybrids, they were glorious and she saw them as her children, but these creatures couldn't feed her, they could only act as muscle. True, she had used them to locate Ludvig and to even bring in fresh humans from neighboring towns, but that was leading to too many questions and she knew that she already had them looking for her. “Witches” she said aloud. Just saying what they were filled her mouth with bile. Humans pretending to have power but they wanted her power the most. They would hunt her down for it. To them she was no more than a battery or a trophy. Like a ‘fox’ being hunted by fox hunters, she laughed at the irony, her voice clear and melodic.

  Lillian Fox hadn’t felt another angel’s presence for centuries, but that would soon change, she would release them from where they hid.

  ‘I am hiding no more’ she bellowed. Her shadow became long and distorted forming black wings across the floor and ceiling and then shrank back down to the shadow of a tall woman.

  She looked at the sisters and at the shroud, she smiled warmly. So, a shroud could move between the twins, it would feed on one while the other recovered its energy and then once recovered, would move back, returning to feed once more. A constant supply! She gazed at the shroud’s glistering body as it fed off Julia. The shroud was getting big too, strong, powerful. Would that be a problem? She didn't think so, the shroud had to feed to survive and it had to excrete its energy to her or it would burst. With the twins, maybe there is no need for a hive at all?

  Reaching out, she pulled a long streak of grey hair from Melissa’s head and traced her fingers across the heavy lines appearing on Melissa’s once youthful tight skin. She lifted up an eyelid and gazed into green eyes, they were still wide with fear.

  Yes, the twins were the answer, but how long would they last? Just after one feeding and already this human had started to decay. They were so fragile, compared to higher beings.

  “I could make you younger, it wouldn't be hard and the energy used is minimal to what you are giving me back.” Yes, that is what I will do, she thought, I will make them both younger and stronger.

  Lillian left the lab and locked the twins inside.

  In the corridor outside, she looked up at the signs, locating the one she wanted. To make a human being young again, she needed ingredients and the children’s ward had just what she needed.

  SIXTEEN.

  “So, explain. But you better be quick, because in thirty seconds I’m going to find Keel.”

  As Canopus took a step forward he looked Drexel in the eyes, ignoring the gun pointing at him. If he took eight more steps, he could knock Drexel out, one punch. He was sure his left hook still had the power.

  Drexel stepped back and pulled back the hammer on his gun, stopping Canopus in his tracks, “Like I said friend, before you go in there, I need to explain.”

  Canopus narrowed his eyes. “You got twenty-five seconds.”

  Drexel sighed, “Look, I’m a simple man, I like when things make sense. You know what you get when you mash potatoes? Mashed Potatoes.”

  “Uh-huh.” Canopus edged forward.

  “When the Doctor wanted me to place these shells in my cells and gave me all these bullshit reasons, I didn’t ask questions, I nodded look a good old dog. And you know why? I wanted to see what they were for myself. I wanted to see what she was up to, I didn't trust her one bit. So, I studied them. The Doctor said that they had no energy, that they were spent, y’know empty and man was she right. These shells, that’s what they were, just shells. I tried to feed them, give them some energy back and that’s where I fucked up.”

  “What did you do?”

  “First I tried food we all like. French fries, ice cream but nothing, zip. The food would just sit in their mouth. I had to scoop it out with my finger or they would have choked. I tried meat too, bloody steaks, even put a live mouse in one of their mouths.”

  “Jeez. Drexel.”

  Drexel lowered his gun and tugged on his beard, “Yeah not the best thing to feed a kid, but I wanted to see what happened. I was running experiments.” He tapped his nose. Canopus edged even closer. He was now six steps away.

  “So anyway, I had an idea. I cut the finger of one the cadavers. Just to see what would happen and you know what? It lapped it up, it sucked the flesh right of that finger, gnawed it to the bone too. Crunched it up till it’s teeth broke. So, Sid and I fed them more, cut huge slices off the dead and they started to, y’know change.”’

  “How?” Canopus froze as the gun pointed back in his direction.

  “Like I said, you cut them and black stuff came out. Sealed up the cuts. They were strong too, they tried to escape a few times, so we locked them up deeper, in the holding cells. Feeding them dead flesh got them a taste for living flesh, nearly lost my freaking throat when one got too close. That’s when the Doctor appeared, she wanted them back, took some too. The ones she left got worse, tentacles and shit started to come out of their bodies until they looked
less and less human. You ever seen a kid with thick tentacles coming out of it? Its frigging grim.”

  “And you just let her take them?”

  “Yeah, I did and yeah, I know I shouldn't have, not with what I’ve seen in the past but the Doc is kind of persuasive. It was hard to resist her and it wasn’t because she was beautiful, she is, but there was a commanding power in her voice. It was hard to say no.”

  Canopus stood still, blood drained from his face and heart pounded, “What’s her name?”

  “Yeah, so when you asked me about the name upstairs, I lied. It’s Lillian Fox.”

  “Goddamn it Drexel. You lied to me? Pointing a gun at me fine, but you lied? After everything we have been through. There’s a code you know.”

  “Yeah, I know the freaking code. I had to lie, she’s got freaking spies everywhere. It’s why I led you down here. I wanted to explain it all to you, face to face, just in case we find your partner dead and questions came up. I wanted to tell you in my own words. And stop trying to get close enough to punch me, you think I’m an idiot? Here.”

  Drexel lowered his magnum and handed back Canopus’s gun.

  Canopus slowly walked forward and pulled his gun from Drexel’s grip. “Nice story. But you are a huge idiot, you know that. Now take me to Keel.”

  “Yeah, sure. But if she’s dead and those things are loose, don’t blame me OK?” He pushed the elevator button and they stood in silence watching the elevator rise.

  “What’s this Doctor then? Mad scientist? Witch, I know you’ve been hunting those.”

  “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” replied Canopus, anger in his voice.

  “Try me.”

  “Fallen Angel.”

  Drexel laughed then stopped. “Seriously?”

  Canopus nodded, his face stern.

  Drexel frowned. “Huh. They easy to kill?”

  “Nope.”

  “Great.”

  With a ‘ding’ the door to the elevator opened revealing a large creature with thick black tentacles.