Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horror. Show all posts

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

A CALIFORNIA STORY - A SHORT STORY BY THE BROTHERS SPENCER

             My name is Jonas Berger. When I was a kid, I had big dreams like everyone else. I wanted to move to California and become a star, and I almost did. However, before I get into that, I need to start at the beginning.

It was just me, Mom, and Dad. Mom used to homeschool me while Dad worked on our farm. On this one particular day, Mom decided to take a break to fix us some lunch. She climbed the step ladder and reached for a can of beans in the cabinet. She slipped. Her head hit the stove and her body went limp. All I could do was watch Mom bleed out. I was only seven-years-old; I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I cried out to her, but she never replied, she never moved again. Dad mustn’t have heard me, because hours passed before he came in. He found me kneeled beside her with blood soaked into my overalls. I’m surprised I didn’t die from shaken baby syndrome; the way he shook me and yelled at me asking what had happened. But I couldn’t say anything, because I really didn’t know. Eventually we cremated her, but I think the hardest part about it was watching Dad throw her onto a pile of lumber then drive nails into her hands and feet with a sledgehammer. I could tell that he wasn’t prepared for that sort of thing; otherwise he wouldn’t have made me help him. He was in such a rush too, like something bad was going to happen if he didn’t hurry up. He didn’t care if the tractors were going to be down for a weeks if we dumped every ounce of gasoline we had all over her; we did it anyway. Then he lit a cigarette, took a long pull, and flicked it into the lumber. As the flames towered us, Dad told me never to forget how beautiful Mom was.

            After that, he took over homeschooling me, which in itself was interesting, because he only had a sixth grade education. It was then that I noticed how often he drank. His drink of choice was whiskey; it didn’t matter the quality and he always had lots of it. I remember him taking as many swigs as the answers to my math problems and when his flask was empty he’d go to the bookshelf, which had no books, grab a bottle, and dump it in his mouth like there was no tomorrow. He even made me drink; he said it was good for me. I’m in no way proud to have been an under aged drinker, hell, I hated the stuff, but ever since Mom died, I developed an anxiousness that only whiskey could cure so in a sense, it was my medicine, and I guess it was his too.

            Our farm was so far from the rest of civilization that we rarely had any visitors, but when we did it was always these strange men, always ten of them, always dressed as if they were on their way to a funeral, and always with a woman I only knew as Barbara. She always wore bright red lipstick and seemed to have had darkness casted over her. I think it stormed every time she visited. Anyhow, the men would wait outside while Dad poured him and Barbara some whiskey. Then they’d go into the cellar and shut the door. At first I thought Barbara and her gang was some uppity city folks that came to buy produce and meat from us or they were sent to check on Dad due to some bad business deals, but they always left empty handed. I never knew what they did or talked about, and I was never allowed to be a part of their meetings. It went on for years. That’s how life on the farm was. For me it was all so - normal. 

            By the time I was twenty, it became a regular thing for me to sneak off the farm and into the city. Often times I went to the library. Since we didn’t have a television, surfing the internet to keep myself updated on pop-culture took up most of my time there. Another reason the library in particular was my stop of choice was the assistant, Tori. She was your typical twenty-something girl-next-door type. I figured she was attracted to me, because she always had the biggest smile when I walked in. She even fed into my growing obsession by sneaking in pop culture mags the library didn’t have in circulation just for me. The funny thing was, I was just this sheltered kid who was too shy to ever say anything to her and of course she knew that already. Then one day while surfing the internet, Tori, who was a bit more curious than usual, came up behind me and whispered in my ear.

            “Hey, Farm Boy, do you have a girlfriend?”
Instantly, her soft breath against my ear aroused me, “Um, no.”
“O.M.G.! Are you serious?”
“Well, yeah… Surprised?”
“It’s just that you’re cute and a bit mysterious. So, I just figured…”
I couldn’t believe she was having an actual conversation with me. I didn’t really know how to talk to a girl, so I just went along with it.
“I don’t have time for girls or friends. On the farm, there’s so much work to do, you know?”
“That’s a shame. I bet you get pretty lonely.”
“Sometimes,” I said, nervously.
Tori whispered seductively, “I’ve been wondering; how do you release all that bottled up loneliness?”
“Um, what do you mean?”
“Well, you don’t have a girlfriend, right? So do you jerk your meat, or what?”
I was embarrassed, “What?”
“Do you rub it out yourself, or do you have sex with your animals?” asked Tori laughingly.
“No!” I tried to keep my voice down, “No way! I don’t do any of those things!”
_“Shhh!”_ shushed the librarian behind the desk.
            “Sorry, Mrs. Rose,” apologized Tori as her whisper returned. “She’s such a bitch. Anyway, Farm Boy, I bet if I touched it, you’ll pop like a champagne bottle, huh?”
            At the time, I had no idea what she was talking about, “I guess so.”
“My break starts in few. You should come with me. Maybe I can help with your - loneliness.”
“Tori, I… I thought you were a - nice girl…”
“Me, nice? Oh I’m nice alright. Let me show you something.”

She reached over my shoulders and typed into the web browser. All of a sudden, a bunch of videos and pictures of Tori naked and doing freaky things to herself with strange objects flooded the screen. I was shocked! I’ve never seen anything like that before. It was fascinating. She was absolutely right, because after looking at her website, I was ready to pop right then and there, but I needed a little help.

“How long is your break?” I asked eagerly.
“Long enough…”
“Let’s go!”

Tori grabbed her purse and then we darted into the men’s room so fast that I don’t remember if I closed the web browser. She locked the door and we went at it. Our mouths were wrecking balls when they collided and our tongues were chains that fought to be linked. It was brutal. It was ecstasy at its purest, and I was ready. She damn near tore my pants off and then with her jaw dropped, Tori backed away in sheer terror.

“OMG, Farm Boy! Why didn’t you tell me it was so - big?”
I looked down at myself and realized what she meant, “Oh, I didn’t know it mattered; especially with you being a _professional_ and all.”
“I’m not a pro, I’m just an amateur,” she laughed.
“Oh, what now?”
“Look, call me a chicken all you want, but you’re not sticking that thing in me, sorry. Now, can you put it away, it’s looking at me.”
I zipped my pants, but I was still hot and ready to blow, however, that’s really when Tori blew my mind.
“You know, you should put that thing to good use,” suggested Tori.
“How?” I asked confused.
“By doing what I do.”
“You mean, on the internet?”
“No, here at the library… Of course on the internet, stupid! I know a lot of people who would pay big bucks to see you in action. I mean, what the hell are you doing working on a farm anyway? You could be rich and famous.”
“Then why aren’t you rich and famous?”
“Saturated market… Anyway, we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about you. I can hook you up with people who could make you a star, but you have to go where the stars are.”
“California?”
“Yup; and I know who I’m hooking you up with,” Tori reached in her purse, pulled out a business card, and gave it me. “Call Reginald. He’s the guy I work for. Just tell him I referred you.”
Before I could respond, Tori’s face was suddenly all bloody.
“Oh my God, are you okay?”
She ran into the stall, ripped some toilet paper, and then wiped her face in the mirror.
“I’m alright,” she said. “It’s just a nose bleed, I think.”
Just then, someone banged on the door. I totally forgot that it was locked.
“You have to go or I’m going to get fired!” cried Tori.
“Well, what do you want me to do? I can’t just go out there and whoever it is will find us in here!”
Tori, blood gushing and all, opened the window, “Go!”
“Ok, but what about your…”
“I’m fine. I’ll take care of myself, now get outta here!”
Thank God it wasn’t some epic plunge to the ground or anything like that. I made it out safely and headed straight for the nearest payphone. I got to thinking, Tori was right. After all, I had a lot going for me. I was an all American white boy from rural Ohio who just so happened to be very well endowed. There was nothing going for me there, so I had nothing to lose.
It may have been the last time I’d ever see her, but Tori left with me a precious gift, a business card. I called Reginald. I was fortunate to get him on the first try. He said he doesn’t usually answer the phone for numbers he didn’t recognize, but it was my lucky day, because one of his actresses threw up on his cell so he had to get a new one. Nonetheless, I introduced myself, told him I knew Tori, and the rest was history. I was so thrilled that I bought a bus ticket to California and went home to pack right away. Finally, my dreams of becoming a star were at my fingertips. I was so ready to leave the farm life behind, but first, I had to find a way to break it to Dad.
            It was late when I arrived back at the farm. I tried to sneak in the house, but there Dad was sitting at the kitchen table waiting for me. He was very upset about something, I knew, because there were two empty whiskey bottles beside him and another that he cracked open in front of me. He filled his glass and shoved it in my hand. Ironically, after the day I had, I really needed a drink. I took a sip, but in mid swallow he started yelling.
            “I don’t want you going back into the city, especially that damn library! You hear?”
            Confused, I asked, “How do you know that I was at the library?”
            “I have eyes everywhere, Jonas! How do you think we maintain around here?”
            “I’m sorry, Dad.”
            “Sorry? That’s the best you can come up with after the headache you caused me?”
            “What did I do?”
            He just threw his hands up, “Aw, the hell with it.”
            There was no easy way to segue into my news, but at that point I had no other choice. I just went for it.
“I need to talk to you about something.”
            “Whatever, Jonas, just make it quick. Barbara’s on her way over. She’s pissed and I don’t feel like hearin’ her shit.”   
“Well, as you know, I’m a man now and, uh, I think life has more in store for me.”
He took a gulp so big that his face twisted up like it hurt to swallow, “Oh really?”
“Yes. I want to travel. See the world. Get a regular job.”
            “So what, this isn’t regular enough for you, son?”
            “It’s just that I’m tired of the farm. I have money. You pay me well and I appreciate that, but I don’t have anything to spend it on. I just want to go.”
            “And just where do you think you’re gonna go, huh, Jonas?” 
“Well, I applied for job and they want me to come out there as soon as possible,” I explained rubbing my sweaty palms on my thighs, “in California.”
            “You can forget it!”
            “But, Dad!”
            “Forget it!  I can’t have you leaving the farm! We gotta whole lotta work to do around here and I can’t do it by myself! Besides, people like us don’t need to be in the outside world anyway.”
            “Dad, you can’t keep me here!” I fumed. “I know with Mom gone, your lonely and sad all the time, but I can’t stay and be your crutch!”
            He gripped my arm, “Who been putting these ideas in that head of yours, boy, that poor girl at the library?”
            “What, no one!”
            “You can’t leave! Maybe it’s time you sat in the meetings with Barbara. You’ll get a better understanding of what I’m trying to protect you from once you know the truth. Now go get cleaned up!”
            “Dad…”
            “Trust me, Jonas! You can’t go out into the world, it just can’t happen!”
            About an hour later, a black Cadillac Escalade drove up and with it was the darkness it contained. My emotions ran wild then. I knew if I stayed Barbara would most certainly side with Dad and make me stay on the farm for whatever reason. So I packed my clothes and dumped all my money into a suitcase. I waited until I saw everyone come inside, then I took off out the back window and refused to look back.
            When I arrived in California, I was immediately overwhelmed, but most importantly out of place. I stuck out like a sore thumb. I figured that once I started with Reginald some of his fancy friends would show me around and take me shopping or whatever. So, I didn’t want to waste any time. I just made my way over to his studio.
A woman with big hair and big breasts, you know, like the ones in the magazines, was dressed only in a kimono when she let me in.
“Mmm hmm, look at the fresh meat!” she exclaimed in the manner of a true southern belle.
I was a nervous wreck, but I went to shake her hand anyway, “Please to meet you, ma’am. I’m Jonas, from Ohio.”
“Don’t worry, honey; I won’t bite, unless you want me too. The name’s Vanessa.”
She smacked my hand away and gave me the biggest hug. I couldn’t breathe! Vanessa’s breasts were so big they nearly suffocated me.
“Reggie Baby, Tori’s farm boy is here.”
“Well got-damn, Vanessa!” shouted Reginald. “Don’t smother the boy to death before I get my money’s worth!”
“Oh calm down before you give yourself another coronary,” she fired back as she released me from the depths of her cleavage.
“Welcome to my humble abode, Jonas,” stated Reginald proudly as he escorted me in.
The place was huge. It was more like an upscale house rather than a studio, either way; I’ve never seen a place like it before. It felt so amazing to be there. To know that I had escaped a farmer’s life to become the next _big thing_ excited me.
            “How about a drink?” he asked.
            “Got any whiskey?”
            “Son, I got everything. Now what kind you want? Bourbon, scotch, Irish, I even got some of that Canadian crap around here somewhere.”
            “Honestly, it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s whiskey.”
            “I like this guy!” exclaimed Reginald. “Who taught you how to drink, kid?”
            “My dad…”
            “Well, I need to meet this dad of yours one day. I’m sure he’s a good man.”
            Reginald wasn’t in any way what I expected. After all, he was a fat baldy with a ponytail, but he seemed like a genuine guy, which worried me.
            “Vanessa, get Jonas a shot of our finest whiskey.”
            “Sure thing, Reggie Baby.”
            There were cameras on tripods everywhere. In the living room, Sam, the cameraman was setting up a scene. I could hear laughter of two girls coming from the bathroom. Vanessa came over with my drink, but I just couldn’t stop staring at her breasts.
            “Alright, Farm Boy, take off your clothes,” she demanded. “We need to see what you’re workin’ with.”
            “Sure!” without taking a sip, I put down the whiskey and got undressed.
            “Damn!” blurted Sam while cleaning a lens. “Looks like we got ourselves an eager beaver over here!”
            “Sam, would you be a dear and tell Mika and Mali to get their asses out here?” asked Vanessa.
The girls in the bathroom finally came out. I couldn’t believe it, beautiful Thai twins, both naked and wiping cocaine off their noses. Reginald walked over and put his arm around me.
“Take good care of him now,” he said to the twins. “I got ‘em all the way from Ohio.”
Mika and Mali said something in Thai, I couldn’t understand it, but they seemed excited. That’s when my pants hit the floor. A hush fell over the entire studio. I was a magician dazzling an audience. I was proud of myself. Everyone was blown away, even Sam and Reginald. The twins broke the silence when they started pointing at me and screaming at Reginald. He excused himself and quickly shoved them off the set. I had no idea what was going on so I pulled my pants up and sat down on the white leather loveseat.
            “I don’t think Mika or Mali wants to take that, my friend,” explained Sam laughing in disbelief.
            Vanessa was beyond intrigued, “Jonas, honey; have you used _that thing_ on anyone before?”
            “No,” I replied blushing.
            A displeased Reginald returned on set, “We have a hitch, Jonas. The twins have, in so many words, informed me that they’re not daredevils. So I’ll have Vanessa make a few calls to see who we can get up here on such short notice. Otherwise, we’ll have to reschedule.”
            Vanessa spoke up, “Reggie Baby, um, Farm Boy here is a virgin!”
            “What?” exploded Reginald.
“I can do whatever you want!” I explained. “I’m not scared!
            “Reggie Baby, please, let me break him in,” pleaded Vanessa.
            “Are you kidding me?” he asked.
“Come on now, I’ll be the warrior bitch. You know damn well that if anyone can take that monster in his pants it’s me! The twins can stick to foreplay and we can film the whole damn thing. It’ll be great.”
            Reginald still wasn’t happy, but he gave in, “Yeah, alright. Well, get the twins and y’all go jump in the hot tub. Start there and then we will make it into the bedroom. Sound good, virgin?”
            It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me, “Sure, I’m all for it!”
            Vanessa grabbed my shaft like it was a leash and fluffed me up all the way to the hot tub. Sam configured the rest of the cameras and lights while Reginald took the director’s seat.
“Enjoy the girls, Jonas,” he said as he lit a cigar. “However, when you and Vanessa’s scene begins, don’t go trying to break her in half with that thing. I need her. She’s my biggest money maker - and she’s my wife. I’d like to be able to feel her when we go to bed later, you know what I mean?”
“Uh, yes, sir. I’ll be extra careful.”
“Action!”
Mika and Mali started making out. I moved between them and joined their party. They were both kind of delicate and their broken English was really sexy. Mali’s lips were like silk. Soon enough, it got heated between us. Then all of a sudden Reginald yelled like a crazy person.
            “Cut! Cut! Cut! What the hell?”          
“Mali, you bleed from nose!” Mika cried worriedly.
            “Get your sister cleaned up in the bathroom!” Reginald commanded Mika.
            I was very concerned, “Will she be okay?”
            “It’s probably just the coke, honey,” said Vanessa with a smirk. “Let’s take this party inside. We don’t need to be swimming with blood in the water, might get eaten by a shark or something.”
            We took the filming back to the bedroom set. Even though I wasn’t sure what happened to Mali, I was primed and ready to bust. I really could’ve used that whiskey, but by then it was the furthest thing from my mind, because Vanessa begged for me to start and I just couldn’t wait.
            Reginald yelled, “Action!”
I threw Vanessa onto the bed and just rammed it in her. It was the best feeling; so warm, so soft, and wet. My California dream had come true. I looked down and Vanessa was bleeding from her nose, eyes, and ears, but I couldn’t stop, I didn’t want to stop.
            “What the hell man, something’s wrong with Vanessa!” cried Sam.
            “Cut!” roared Reginald as he and Sam rushed to push me off of her. “Stop, Jonas! Stop it!”
            “Get away!” I replied in a deep, demonic voice that wasn’t mine; at least I didn’t think it was.
And then my mind went blank.
The next morning, I woke up on the living room floor in a pool of someone else’s blood. My head didn’t feel like it was going to explode, it exploded already. It was so quiet. There was blood everywhere and the place looked like it was hit by a hurricane from hell. I called everyone’s names, but nobody responded. I got up to look for them. The bathroom door had holes punched through it and blood seeped from underneath. Anxiety swallowed me whole as I opened it; and there they were, Mika and Mali torn to shreds. It was horrible. Their guts were draped over the shower rod and I couldn’t tell which one of their heads was floating in the toilet. I couldn’t take it and I threw up.

It took a lot for me to venture onto the bedroom set. When I entered, Reginald, from the waist down only, was on the floor and Sam was pinned to the wall by a tripod. It was too much. However, Vanessa was still on the bed. She was barely breathing, but alive. I ran over to her. Suddenly, her stomach inflated like an airbag, but it was hard as a bowling ball. I was a madman scouring for a phone. I dug in Reginald’s pocket for his, but I threw up again this time on his new one. I wiped it off, but before I had a chance call for help, the bowling ball in Vanessa’s stomach made these shrieking noises. I could see something moving around and then it – busted out! For the life of me, I had no idea what the hell it was nor did I want to know, but it had wings and claws and looked like a human/dragon hybrid of some kind. It was unreal. It roared at me as its wings spread. Then it crashed through a window and flew away.
I was beside myself. I knew that if I called the police they wouldn’t believe me. So I called the one person who told me I shouldn’t have come here in the first place.
“Hello?” answered a woman’s voice.
“Uh, can I speak to my dad?” I asked losing my breath.
“No need, Jonas, this is Barbara,” her voice stayed sweet and constant. “I’ve been waiting for you to call. I suppose you’ve gotten yourself into a bit of a pickle out there in California, huh?”
“Yeah, I need… I can use…”
“Some help?”
“Yes.”
“Is everyone dead?”
“I think so.”
“Good. That makes things a little easier.”
“Some kind of creature hatched out of my friend and flew out the window!” I cried as I found a camera that was still running.
“Jonas, I want you to stay where you are. Whatever you do, don’t call the police. I am dispatching a crew to your location and I’ll make sure this get handled. As for you first born child, a different set of skills will be needed to bring it home. I’ll have your dad take care of that.”
“My - child?” I asked with bewilderment. “I think what happened is all on tape. We were filming ourselves, Barbara.”
“All electronics will be confiscated and any information about your presence will be deleted. Do not worry, Jonas. _We_ are your family, and we take care of our own. I’ll see you shortly. Oh and by the way, if there’s some whiskey around, you might want to have some; it takes the edge off.”
After Barbara hung up, I didn’t try to understand what she said, I just couldn’t process it. So instead, I hit play on the camera. It started just when Sam realized something was wrong with Vanessa. I heard myself speak with that demonic tone. That must’ve been when my mind went blank, because everything that happened afterwards, I had no recollection of.
Right when I released into Vanessa, massive demon wings shot out of my back and then a _dragon-like creature thing_ shed my entire body like a snake sheds its skin. The creature stabbed Sam with a tripod over and over again until he was stuck to the wall. I could hear the horrified screams of Mika and Mali in the bathroom as the creature punched through the door to get to them. Reginald tried to help Vanessa, but the demon ripped him in half with its claws. Then it ate his head, chest, and arms.

I didn’t understand. It was all too much to grasp. I just dropped the camera to the floor and waited.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Creation of Sisterhood - Excerpt from The Armageddon Lecture Vol.One

Creaking of her quarter’s heavy stone door startled Tinara. Someone struggling to push open the massive rock appeared before her blurry vision. Not sure who was coming in, she reached to the floor to find her wooden dagger. To her surprise a woman, definitely not Antri, but just as pale with her brown hair wrapped with torn maroon fabric entered.
At first, the laid up pregnant teenager went unnoticed as the woman pushed a metal cart with wooden water buckets and a pile of old grimy washrags on its surface. Tinara’s inner child could barely contain her excitement while her young adult-self had hundreds of questions to ask. Never had she been given the opportunity to interact with another woman besides Antri. Tinara was so curious; she started with a simple greeting.

            “Hello!” Tinara’s unexpected voice caused the woman to knock over one of the water buckets. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to frighten you!”
The slave woman, whose rotted teeth shown as she cracked a smile of embarrassment, lifted the empty bucket from the floor, “Um, its okay. I didn’t know anyone was going to be in here. That old lizard just told me there was a mess that needs to be cleaned up, so here I am.”
            Even then her smile brightened Tinara’s day and therefore she smiled back, “You must be talking about Slithor.”
            “What, you know that ugly decrepit thing’s name?”    
            “Of course,” gazing at the splattered fruits and meats around the room, Tinara continued with herself now embarrassed, “he’s the one who brings me this food.”
Not all that excited about having to clean it up, she replied, “I see! You sure are eating pretty good up here!”
“Do you have a name?” she reached to shake the nervous slave woman’s hand. “Mine is Tinara.”
            “I’m Penelope,” Tinara shook her hand and immediately recognized how dirty and rough Penelope’s hands were, “I’m told it’s a bit old fashioned, but um, that’s the name I was given nonetheless. Well it’s nice to meet you, Tinara, but I really shouldn’t make small talk. I have to clean this place up in a hurry or they’ll kill me!”
Penelope got down on her hands and knees and scrubbed the floor like her life depended on it.
Tinara’s curiosity didn’t allow her to let Penelope to clean in peace.
“What do you mean, old fashioned?” asked Tinara as if the term is foreign to her vocabulary.
            “Well, I was a small child when we were brought here. One of the ladies who looked after me said it comes from a time long ago before the Empire was formed, which is why it’s old fashioned.”
            “I think it’s a nice name.”
            “Thanks. Hey, how old are you, Tinara?”
            “I don’t know, Antri told me I was a newborn baby when we came here. Since then she’s lost track of time.”
            “Really? Then you have no memories of the Empire of Earth, do you?”
            “No, but Antri told me all sorts of stories. She even drew me pictures on some tree leaves she stole from Venomous’s quarter.”
Memories of Antri’s thievery caused Tinara to dig through the straw in her bed. She burst into laughter when she unearthed a fistful of papyrus, the same used to inscribe Melonite archives, with childlike scribble all over them.
“Here, I still have them. Take a look. Is this what the empire looks like?”
Penelope burst into laughter of her own while evaluating the awful artwork. Tinara was instantly displeased with the slave woman’s reaction to her caretaker’s drawings.
“Why are you laughing? Is something not right?”
            “I’m sorry, Tinara, but these are terrible!” Penelope tried to stop laughing, but couldn’t. “It looks like a kid drew them! Your caretaker is a horrible artist!”
            “Stop laughing; and don’t say bad things about Antri either!” an offended Tinara chastised.
            “Oh, I’m sorry, Tinara,” Penelope released her last bit of laughter, “but the Empire of Earth is much more beautiful a place than these pictures can show you. However, if this is all you have, hold on to them dearly; at least it’s something.”
            “I’ve dreamt about it though; about what it may look like, but I guess I’ll never really know, huh, Penelope?”
Eight seconds of awkward silence briefly superseded their chatter. Answerless, Penelope simply got back to what she came up there for in the first place, but of course Tinara couldn’t stay quiet for too long.
            “How many years have we been here?”
 Penelope dropped the fruit covered washrag into a bucket of filthy water, “I have something to show you.”

Hidden beneath her garment’s collar, Penelope excavated a dull silver necklace with the pyramid shaped locket. She popped it opened and revealed a glowing display of constantly changing numbers and words that Tinara recognized from Antri’s teachings.
“Have you ever seen one of these before, Tinara?”
            “No!” she replied awestruck. “What is it?”
            “It’s a calendometer. It keeps track of time. Years, months, days, hours, minutes, seconds, you name it and its all there.”
            “Wow! How does it work?”
            “Well, it’s quite simple really. See this dial?”
            “Uh huh…” Tinara had no idea what she was looking at, but still expressed a deep interest.
            “All I have to do is point it towards the sky during sunrise and then again at sunset, turn the dial so it records the information then it calculates days, months, and so on based on the time interval between day and night. It also stores previously recorded information so you could compare the current time zone with other locations. For instance, if I want to know the date and time on the Empire of Earth, I just go into the memory index and find the data; see here?” the technical explanation went right over Tinara’s head, yet she still listened with open ears, “but here’s the craziest thing about it; in our time on Melonon we’ve been taken to several different parts of the planet to do work. Every chance I have, I record information just to get a general idea of just how endless or days and nights are. Then one day, I decided to compare all of the Empire of Earth’s time data with what I gathered here. And do you wanna know what I found out? Melonon’s sunrise and sunset, no matter where you are on the planet, will match identical to one of the nine districts on the empire, which means that the time between the two planets runs parallel to each other!”
            “I see.”
“I’m not making any sense to you am I?”     
            “Oh no, it’s not that; I was just thinking. Is it possible for that thing to be wrong? After all, Penelope, we’re in an entirely different universe. Please forgive me. I’m not the smartest person I’m sure, but wouldn’t it make more sense for time to be different also?”
            “A different universe, huh? Then I guess anything’s possible. To tell you the truth, I can’t believe this thing still works. The capacitors mustn’t have run out yet.”
            “What’s a capacitor do?” asked Tinara again as the vocabulary was new to her.
            “Capacitors are storage devices for energy. The calendometer harnesses solar energy, you know, from the sun. Are you following me so far?”
            “Yes,” said Tinara with a smile.
“Okay, then it transfers that energy into twelve capacitors, one for each month. The calendometer can operate up to a full year without additional power from the sun. Whenever they take us from the Oblivion Cell to work on the surface I’m able to let it charge. I have to be careful though. I keep it hidden so the lizards won’t take it from me or worse. I’ve had it for quite some time now.”
“It must mean a lot to you, Penelope.”
“Yeah well Seru, the woman who looked after me when we were brought here, gave it to me on my fifteenth birthday. She said it was the only piece of the Empire she had left and she wanted me to have it. Then she died…” Penelope started to tear up, “Anyhow, I can use it to find out how old you are! Let’s see. Ah, wait a minute it’s easier than that.”
            “What do you mean? You said it was simple. So far it doesn’t sound all that simple to me!”
            “Oh relax, Tinara!” Penelope laughed when she returned the imperial relic to its hiding place. “I figured out that we’ve been on this planet for seventeen years, if you were a newborn when we came then you’re obviously seventeen years old!” 
            “Seventeen?” the new information excited Tinara. “That would mean that Murderar is seventeen years old too!”
            “Murderar, as in King Murderar; what does he have to do with anything?” Penelope continued to clean.
            “He’s the father of my hatchlings,” she said unhappily. “That’s why I’m here and not down in the Oblivion Cell, supposedly. For some reason I was… chosen to give birth to his heirs, but I don’t know why.”
            “What! You actually know which one of these monsters is the father of your babies? Six times now I’ve been impregnated by God knows probably six different snakes! I wouldn’t even be able to recognize their ugly faces if I seen them. So you’ve never been in the Oblivion Cell?”
            “No, well except for when Antri and I tried to escape. Obviously we were didn’t make it.”
            “Hey, that was you? Yeah! Now I remember. You and that other woman ran past my cage. We were all routing for you! We hoped you’d get away although we knew you wouldn’t make it. You and your caretaker are like celebrities you know?”
            “Celebrities, what are they?”
            “You know; you’re kinda like heroes to us. Your courage just for attempting that was something we’ll never forget! Your caretaker, Antri right; where’s she now? Why isn’t she the one cleaning this mess up?”
            “After we were caught; I haven’t seen her since,” Tinara’s face sunk. “At this point I don’t know if she’s alive or dead. All I know is I miss her so much.”
“Wait, you tried to escape and you’re still alive? They didn’t throw you down there with the rest of us? Wow, you must be really important!”
            “I don’t feel as though I’m any more important than you or anyone else.”
            “Well, you must be,” after finishing the floor, Penelope started on the door and wall. “Think about it, they didn’t put you in the Oblivion Cell and out of all the women; you were chosen to carry on a royal legacy. The rest of us, we mean nothing to them. We’re just biological soldier factories! They come and go as they please; taking away from us everything that makes us who we are! I’ve given birth to twenty some-odd children. I’ve lost count it’s been so many and I’m still young and fertile so I know I have a long road ahead.”
Sympathetic ears listened as Tinara realized that her situation was nothing compared to the women in the Oblivion Cell.
“They kill us you know,” a tear trickled down Penelope’s cheek, after we’re no longer fertile or when our bodies had enough, they kill us; burn us alive in their giant furnaces. Death and suffering is all I see now; only about half of the women who were brought here still remain. So how does it feel to be important now?”
            “I don’t know. I haven’t really thought of it that way before.”
            “Well you should; and when you find out, embrace your importance… as long as you can. It may save your life.” 
            “Do you really believe that, Penelope?”
            “Yes I do, Tinara, very much so,” she responded while scraping meat from a crack in the wall.
            “I’m not so sure I do. I keep asking myself if this is the life God intended for us to live? Lately, I’m beginning to think that maybe it is. I don’t understand it, but I can only hope that somehow some good will come from it.”
            “Hold on to your faith and never let go. You lose that, next it’s your humanity; then what’s left, huh?”
With Tinara left at a loss for words, Penelope gathered her cleaning utensils and dumped all the broken bowl pieces in a waste bin on the cart.

“I’m all finished now,” said Penelope with a hint of sarcasm. “I must go before that Slithor character comes looking for me. I thank you for making that horrible mess; talking with you gave me a chance to escape reality for a moment, although that’s all we talked about mostly. I see you’re in your last trimester. Good luck with your babies Tinara. Goodbye now.”
            “Wait!” the pregnant teen desperately pleaded, “don’t go just yet! Please stay as long as you can! I have more fruits in that bowl over there and there’s fresh water in the basin if you’d like to take a warm bath! I also have some clean garments that Antri made for me; you can change into one if you’d like! Oh, Penelope, please stay a while longer! I’m in debt to you for sharing yourself with me!”
            “Tinara, you’re so kind and I’m glad to have met you, but I can’t accept these things. They’re yours and they were placed here for you only. Remember what I said; embrace your importance ― as long as you can.”
Penelope rummaged in her collar to retrieve the calendometer again. She rested the imperial timepiece in Tinara’s palms then closed her hands around it.
“I want you to hold on to this for me,” insisted Penelope.
            A jaw dropped Tinara couldn’t believe it, “but I can’t, it was a gift to you —”
            “I know, but one way or another, God will allow our paths to cross again someday and when that day comes I want you to give it back to me. Can you promise me that?”
            “Yes,” she said unsure of herself. “I promise.”
            “You may look at this device and think it’s nothing but a hunk of metal with fancy numbers, but it’s so much more than that. It’s a representation of our home world, the Empire of Earth; it’s a small piece of where we come from, our heritage, and who we are as a people. If I can’t give you that Tinara, then I have given you nothing at all.”

Penelope hugged Tinara, kissed her forehead, then pushed her cart into the torch lit hallway, but again the seventeen-year-old stopped her.
            “Penelope! I have a favor to ask of you.”
            “Yes, what is it?”
            “I need you to promise me something now. If you see Antri down there, can you tell her that I love her and I miss her?”
            Penelope smiled, “I promise.”
            “Thank you. Thank you for everything!”
            “The pleasure was all mine.”
Tinara sadly listened to the wheels of Penelope’s cart bang against the uneven cobblestone floor. She listened until it could no longer be heard.
She played with the calendometer all night long. Tinara cherished it knowing that it was a token of a new friendship.

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Lieutenant Killarak - Excerpt from The Armageddon Lecture Vol. One

Like an angel of death falling from the high heavens, Lieutenant Killarak over and over again avoided the initial danger of the webbing torpedoes. His descent came to a screeching halt when he landed directly on an Almasain spider creature crushing its thorax, breaking all four legs, and leaving all four arms mangled. The quick-witted Venom swung ruthlessly his axes in an X fashion, splitting the unfortunate arachnid into four separate pieces. With attacks coming from all directions, he didn’t think, he didn’t have time to; he just swung his battle axes tirelessly and with an undeniable passion.
The mastership of his craft was impeccable.
Hell accompanied every swing.
Salvation from a life worthless and purposeless followed every strike.
His spiteful blades demonstrated their exoskeleton’s inferiority.
Severing limb after limb, dismembering heads, dodging each and every webbing torpedo, Lieutenant Killarak and his once out numbered faction spearheaded the extermination of Almasain spider creatures until the entire vicinity was rid of them.    
King Murderar ordered that the Lieutenant and his faction were to conquer Almas’ southern sector, city by city. Twenty-six more Messiahs provided reinforcements.  Simultaneously, twenty-six cities were destroyed. Lieutenant Killarak and his faction scoured the fresh ruins for survivors to be used as slaves; unfortunately, the injured and fatally wounded were of no use and therefore the unsympathetic Venom war official gladly supervised and took part in ending their misery.
They left behind them the carnage of forty-nine conquered cities before reaching the hive city of Bersand where ahead in the near distance, an unimaginably numbered army of hornets, yellow jackets, and dragonflies, didn’t hesitate to intercept the raging reptilian outlanders.
Lieutenant Killarak never flinched.
He ran toward his opponents; his opponents flew toward him.
Ignoring the uncomfortably humid air’s smell and taste of burning flesh, he ran toward his defining moment, toward the opportunity to create his legacy; governed by all that was Melonite within him, with his bloodstained battle axes tightly gripped, he ran — he ran in the direction of conquest.

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Lieutenant Serpentine - Excerpt from The Armageddon Lecture Vol. One

Nightfall hung over their heads like a canopy. Visibility was practically omitted from being. And the mountains were quiet, too quiet. Not even the wind’s whistle could be heard. A Melonite-Venom Army faction of over fifty thousand, under the authority of the first born Venom, was led into the dark caverns. She halted them.
“This does not seem right!” Lieutenant Serpentine voiced to herself.
Her Melonite intuition compelled her to just concentrate on the unnatural silence. Blocking out the distant explosions and cries for mercy to listen to the muted mountains; Lieutenant Serpentine could not only hear the wind, but she could hear beating hearts and footsteps treading against the rocky hillside.
“The mountains are indeed alive!” she confirmed. 
Lieutenant Serpentine commanded her soldiers to activate their all-seeing optical masks to enable sight in the darkness.
Sneak attack!
Cannons blasted at the looming reptiles as the mountainous territory crawled with humanoid ant militias. However, the Melonites’ primitive war tactics reigned supreme over the Almasains’ technologically superior weaponry. They swung their swords faster than they could aim. Lieutenant Serpentine’s spheres of spiked malachite destroyed the enemy faster than they could pull their triggers. Gaining the upper hand, she guides her faction through the high hills, valleys and trees, leaving apocalyptic casualties to pave over the rough environment.
“Lieutenant Serpentine!” King Murderar yelled through her wyspor.
Lieutenant Serpentine didn’t stop fighting; she just continued to lead the insect massacre. Bludgeoning ant creatures with spiked balls in one hand and then answering her wyspor in the other, she promptly responded.
“Yes, my King!”
“I need you to withdraw from your attack!”
“What!” immediately she didn’t agree and nearly said so, but she remained silent.
“I repeat, withdraw! Some time ago Calligaster called for reinforcements in the northwest sector. General Cyclopian reported that your father’s faction was extremely outnumbered and would not hold up for long. He has already lost a vast number of soldiers and we have since lost contact with him. Dirge’s and Qopporhed’s factions had also fell victim in the struggle.”
Lieutenant Serpentine panicked, “What do you want me to do?”
“While the remainder of General Cyclopian’s faction continues its conquest in the west, he has acted alone in an attempt to save your father and I was unable to reason with him. Since your faction is within the closest proximity to the northwest, you will have to provide additional forces if he stands a chance to make it out alive. Make your way to the northwest sector before time runs out!”

Messiahs hovering over the dark mountains busted them wide open as nuclear doomsday devices left giant craters of death where life used to be. Mountain tops avalanched as Lieutenant Serpentine and her armada of Messiahs navigated their way to the northwest sector to rush to the aid of her doomed kindred. 

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Thursday, November 13, 2014

Burning Flesh Shot To The Ground Like Comets - Excerpt from The Armageddon Lecture: Vol. One

            Amongst the outer perimeter of the Royal Fortress, once lurid statues erected in the likeness of past Melonite kings and septemvittatas made for an awe-inspiring pathway to The Tomb of Tortured Souls. Illuminated by the melancholic soiree of torchlight, Septemvittata Khanquisidor’s lifeless body continued to bleed out all over the incinerator. 
            The grieved King’s impaired thoughts caught up with him as he stared into the open eyes of his damned mate. By now he was used to insects crawling from out of her hemoglobin dripping cheekbones. King Venomous’s hand attached itself to the lever as if it had a mind of its own and without hesitation opened the hell beneath her.
              Septemvittata Khanquisidor’s burning flesh shot to the ground like comets. The inconsolable Melonite sovereign covered his ears for he couldn't bear the screams of her tortured soul as it escaped its smoldering prison. The screaming was over for what was left was nothing but ash. King Venomous didn'tallow the salty water to return.
            “I have found a way,” he said. “For you and I may have been defeated, Khanquisidor, our lineage will not be.”
            King Venomous made sure the newborn Murderar saw his Mother’s fiery remains as he declared to him, “Since you cannot bear a sword, I will bear it for you… When I return; a new Melonon will be born, and then the stepping stones to your reign will be placed before you.”

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Saturday, June 14, 2014

The Daring Escape - Excerpt from The Armageddon Lecture Vol. One

           Tinara had no choice but to leave her dear Antri behind as Qopporhed and the guards clawed their way up and out of the ventilation shaft after her. Disoriented, she found herself in a dock bay of the Ark transport ships. Frantically she hobbled behind a storage bunker. She covered her mouth so the chasing reptiles wouldn’t hear her heavy breathing, but she could hear them.
            “Split up!” commanded Qopporhed. “That human could not have gone far. I can still smell it!”
            Blood dripping from her palms made her realize that she left a trail of bloody footprints. Tall shadows came closing in.
            “I can’t out run them!” she thought, “If I have any chance to make it I won’t be able to stay behind this bunker for long! Please, God, don’t leave me!”
She made a run for it!
            “There is the human! After it!”
            Desperate times called for desperate measures. Up ahead, Tinara noticed that an Ark was left with its cockpit open. It never crossed her mind that she had never flown one before, so climbing inside and madly punching the buttons on the control panel was like second nature to her. Knowledge of Melonite hieroglyphics allowed Tinara to at the very least understand which buttons did what. Before she knew it, the Ark’s engines fired up and it began to drift forward.
            She steered it to the landing strip, but not before Qopporhed and the Venom guards jumped on top. Tinara never figured out how to close the cockpit hatch, but with her desperation possessing her every thought, she pushed the throttle until it could go no further. The Ark shot to the sky in seconds. The Venoms couldn’t keep their grip and one by one they were flung to their demise.
            Now that she had a moment to breathe, Tinara figured out which button closed the cockpit. She had no idea where she was going, but she was going somewhere and that’s all that mattered.
It hit her like a ton of bricks; Tinara saw her caretaker for the last time.
           Tears spilled over.
           “I’ll come back for you, Antri. I prom―”
           The cockpit’s cargo door opened! Qopporhed barged in and unloaded upon her a vicious bare-knuckled assault. Tinara fended him off the best she could, but the Venom quickly made it apparent that her arms were too short to box with the Devil. She kicked him and then she kicked him again. His hands were reduced to shields that failed to protect what was left of his now forever damaged reproductive organs. One last scrotum buster knocked him into the control panel. Qopporhed must’ve hit the throttle in the process, because in a matter of seconds, the Ark shattered the sound barrier.
As they turbulently blurred throughout Melonite airspace, the furious Venom tangled his scaly mitts in her dreadlocks. He easily could’ve ripped her hair out if he wanted, but instead, Qopporhed rammed Tinara into the control panel over and over again until her fight was over.
            He tossed the inanimate escapee to the floor, activated the Ark’s wyspor, and then patched through to Dirge.    
            “I have apprehended the human,” he said in obvious pain.
            “Well, it is about time!”
           “What should we do now?”
            “Take her to King Venomous,” said Dirge. “He will know what to do!”
            “There is no time. Murderar’s ordination will begin in any moment.”
            “Precisely…”

            Concussed and bloodied, Tinara felt the Ark turn around, and then she passed out.



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