"Ana, look at what I can do!"
The young girl, eleven year old Vivian Curtis, spun around awkwardly on
the inline skates that she wore, half skating herself into position, and
half lifting her feet and simply turning. There was a brief moment of
pause when she stopped, as though making sure that she really had
stopped, and held her arms in front of her and apart for balance. If she
had fallen, the protective gear that she wore, wrist guards and a helmet,
would have protected her from serious bodily injure, but would have done
nothing for her pride.
She looked up, checking to make sure that Ana was watching. Ana's eyes
were on her as she leaned out of her car window, a grin on her face as
she waited patiently. Vivian grinned herself and then did her "great
trick".
She leaned back, ever so slightly, and rolled her feet back on her
skates. For a second, nothing happened, but then, she began to move
backwards. Her grin turned into a smile as she looked back up to Ana.
"He-eey," Ana piped! "That's great!"
Vivian beamed as she skated to Ana's car and rested her hands on the
door. She was pleased that she had impressed the woman that she had
admired and secretly wanted to be like. Vivian had always thought of Ana
as beautiful, and though not thinking of herself that way, she did think
that she was cute, and would become beautiful when she grew up like Ana.
They both had blue eyes and blonde hair, though Ana's was shoulder's
length while Vivian's flowed down her back. She had wanted to cut her
hair, but her mother wouldn't let her. They both also had the same smile,
though in actuality, it as really Ana's smile and Vivian simply adopted
it, practicing in front of a mirror until she got it right. Ana's smile.
Ana's walk. Ana's laugh. Vivian had even planned to become a nurse when
she grew up, just like Ana.
"That was great Vivian," Ana smiled at her, a proud, parental one that
filled Vivian with joy.
"You just coming home?" Vivian leaned on the car door. She already
knew the answer to the question, but had asked just the same for
conversation. To spend at least a little more time with her idol.
"Yeah," Ana's voice changed a little as if express the exhaustion that
she felt. "I just did a double. I can't wait to get into the shower."
"Okay," Vivian took the hint and backed away from the door. "Can I
still come over tomorrow?"
"Of course," Ana was already putting the car into drive. "Watch out
for cars."
"Bye," Vivian waved as she skated away.
Vivian skated the short distance home. About half a block up the street
that Ana lived on was an intersection. To make a left would have taken
her to her best friend's house, who was out having dinner with her
family. Just as well anyway, because it was also uphill and she didn't
really feel like putting in that type of leg work.
She made a right at the intersection and started down hill, keeping her
feet together and letting gravity do the work. She was halfway home when
she passed Mrs. Davis, an African American widower, as she watered her
garden of violets. She waved and Mrs. Davis waved back, smiling. Two
houses from her own was the two women who lived together. Vivian didn't
know their names, but she had heard plenty of rumors from the big
neighborhood kids, as well as a few whispers from her parents when they
thought that she wasn't listening. From this, she got an idea of who they
were, but she still couldn't figure out the "how" which would make their
relationship work.
She was beginning to move too fast, so she applied the brake on her right
foot. There was a dragging rumble as the rubber dragged along the gravel
to slow her. Leaning, she turned right into her driveway.
The neighbors living below her on the hill had two four year old boys,
twins named Erin and Todd, who were playing in the front yard. They were
running in circles as a Wet Willie sprinkler rained water on them,
Willie's wild hair jumping to and fro and shooting streams of water into
the air. One of the boys spotted Vivian as she skated up her driveway and
stopped giggling long enough to shout a greeting to her.
"Hi," he waved.
His twin turned, saw Vivian, and waved, "Hi."
"Hi," Vivian waved back.
"We're playing in the water," the first boy reported.
"I see," Vivian smiled. They were just too cute.
"You can play too," his twin offered.
"Thanks, but no thanks," she paused just long enough to finish talking
before ducking into the open garage door. "I have to eat dinner."
"Okay," the first boy said, already returning to his water game.
"Bye," his twin shouted and joined in.
She had just entered the house and skated to the refrigerator when:
"Vivian," her mother scolded, walking into the kitchen herself. "What
have I told you about wearing those things inside of the house?"
Vivian sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. "I'm going to stay in the
kitchen."
"I don't care," her mother's face stern as she went to a pan of boiling
vegetables on the stove. "Take them off."
Vivian sighed again, and rolled her eyes.
Her mother turned to her with her eyes bucked as though she were
surprised that her child did not immediately jump to the order she had
given. The "or else" look.
"Now," she hissed through clenched teeth.
Vivian skated to and plopped down in one of the kitchen chairs. She
removed her helmet and wrist guards and then went to work on the laces.
Vivian's mother was a large woman. Not fat in the unsightly ways of some
people as they let themselves go, but she did carry a load. She had
chubby cheeks, an extra chin, and thick rope like arms and legs. Her
brown and grey hair ran down her back in a way that always made Vivian
think of those women that she had seen in old movies that went around
saying things like "peace dude".
Vivian kicked off the inline skates and went back to the refrigerator,
opening it.
"Get out of there," her mother didn't even bother to look at her, but
instead opened the oven to peer inside. "Dinner's almost ready."
"I just want some yogurt," Vivian shrugged and held up a hand as though
presenting the simple treat. Her body said something else though.
Something that she would never say to her mother out loud, at least not
yet. It wouldn't be spoken out loud until she was a least sixteen and
feeling more confident in her physical abilities. That is, if she and her
mother had lived to see her turn sixteen.
The message was sent through her eyes and posture. "I know what I can
eat you idiot," it read.
Her mother turned to her, her eyes narrowing and she placed a hand on her
hip, her own message being sent. "I'm the queen bee," it said, "and
you're about to get stung."
Vivian slammed the refrigerator door closed and turned to leave the
kitchen in a huff.
"And take your skate stuff with you," her mother returned to her cooking.
Vivian scooped up her skating gear and headed to her room, passing
through the family room where her father sat in his lazy-boy recliner and
drinking from a can of Busch beer. He was a large man who, at one point
of time, used to play college football. But that was a long time ago. He
stood at six feet four inches and had a solid frame, but time and beer
had taken a toll, especially to his stomach which hung over his belt at
though he was pregnant with twins and they were both standing up.
"Hi Sweetie," he gave her a quick glance before returning to the game.
"Hi Daddy," as she walked out of the room.
"Damn-it," Vivian's father shouted at the television as a touchdown was
made. "God damn-it to hell."
"Peter," from the kitchen, "can you set the table please?"
"Yeah," he brought the beer can to his lips and finished what was left.
"This is over anyway?"
He reached for the remote, pointed it towards the television, and
stopped. The game suddenly disappeared from the screen, replaced by big
bold letters that read: NEWS ALERT.
"Did we win," his wife asked from the kitchen.
Disgusted, he pushed the power button and the television screen went
black.
"No," he said. "We lost. We lost bad."
With a grunt, he lifted himself from his lazy-boy and went into the
kitchen.
It happened later that night, after dinner and after Vivian's homework
had been done. After she had taken her bath and changed into her pink
sleeping clothes and brushed she teeth. After she had tried to say
goodnight to her parents, but they had been watching the television so
intently that they didn't even notice her. After she had said her prayers
and gone to bed and fallen to sleep. That was when her mother screamed.
It brought her out of the deep sleep that she was in, but didn't wake her
completely. Another scream from her mother and this time a yell from her
father as well.
Vivian began to emerge from the haze of sleep. Her brain had already
heard and recognized the cries from her parents. Had given her a image of
them, the last one that she had: both of them as they watched the
television so closely, leaning forward in their seats and their mouths
agape. Her brain told her that now, something was wrong. But she was
still unable to move. Her body felt numb, as though drugged and trying to
wake it, to just be able to move her arms, was like fighting the
downwards sucking of a great whirlpool as it tried to keep you under.
"Nooo!" her father yelled out.
That broke sleep's grasps over her and adrenaline shot through her small
body, sending tiny needles of electricity through her arms and legs. She
bolted up in bend, listening.
The noise coming from downstairs was the sound of destruction. Glass
broke. Wood splintered. Furniture turned over. Her father's yells,
sometimes in rage, sometimes in pain. And a strange yell from someone,
no, something that she could recognize. A fierce maddened and hungry cry
that brought forth the image of a monster with sharp teeth and long
claws.
Her father yelled again, his voice smothered in pain. Vivian sprang from
the bed and darted to her door. Opening it, she ran out of her room and
down the staircase.
Vivian ran into the family room and her sight was instantly drawn to the
fight taking place. It was between her father and Mr. Jones, her next
door neighbor and father of the twins. Her heart thudded heavily in her
chest at the sight of the massive blood loss from both men. Her father
seemed to be covered with wounds, his arms, legs, and chest a bloody
mess. Mr. Jones was also injured. The button down shirt that he wore was
ripped open and Vivian could see the torn flesh beneath. But what scared
Vivian the most were Mr. Jones' eyes. They were scary, wide, and
murderous. There was nothing of the man that she would wave to in the
mornings on her way to school. No. These were not the eyes of a man, but
of something else. Something evil.
"Daddy!" she cried out. She had wanted to tell him to be careful. That
the thing he was fighting, though it looked like Mr. Jones, wasn't Mr.
Jones. That whatever it was, it wanted to kill him. To kill everyone.
Her father turned to the sound of her voice and the creature charged,
wrapping its arms around his large gut and bringing its mouth to the
man's stomach. He shrieked and grabbed the creature by the hair, yanking
its head back. With it, his shirt pulled away and ripped under the
thing's teeth, wrapped around a bite sized hunk of flesh.
Her father screamed and brought his fist down hard onto the creature's
nose. There was a sickening thud and crunch as the face bones broke under
the blow. The creature simply chewed on the flesh and shirt in its mouth
and swallowed. It then opened its mouth again, shaking its head as it
tried to get free.
Vivian screamed. She wanted to help her father. To run over and hit the
thing that looked like Mr. Jones hard enough to knock it away. Far away
so that it would never bother them again.
To do that, however, would mean that she would have to go over there. To
try and fight it. To maybe, get bitten. Fear, steady and powerful, held
her in place. She realized that the injuries on her father were from
where he had been bitten. He was being eaten alive.
She loved her father. She wanted to save him, more than anything in the
world. But she didn't want to be bitten. To be eaten.
Her eyes darted across the family room in desperation. It was a mess. The
32" television had been knocked off of its stand, the couch and the lazy-
boy knocked to their sides. The pictures that had hung neatly on the
walls now cluttered the floor, as did the vases and plants that once
rested on end tables.
Vivian's eyes widen as a fresh wave of horror rode through her. Her
mother laid on the floor. Her eyes were opened, but she didn't move.
There was a bloody wound on her neck, and blood flowed out in an even
stream and soaked the carpet beneath.
Vivian ran to her mother, tears already filling her eyes.
"Mommy, get up," she shook the woman's body, already knowing that she was
dead. Her mother's head moved each time Vivian shook her, side to side as
if to say no. One last bit of body language.
Her father roared, causing her to look up. He lifted the Mr. Jones
creature into the air and threw him hard to the ground. He stumbled back,
his breathing labored and he seemed that he was about to fall, but
didn't. The thing started to pick itself up when her father grabbed a
large trophy, his pride and joy from his college football days, and
brought it down on the back of the creature's head. It dropped, but
continued to move. With an exhausted battle cry, her father lifted the
trophy again and brought the large marble base down hard on the
creature's head.
It landed face down, its skull shattered. Other than the blood that
flowed from the wound from her father, there was no movement.
Vivian's mother suddenly sat up in front of her!
At first, Vivian gasped and jumped back, surprised at the sudden
movement. And then there was relief. Her mother was alive. She had been
wrong when she had thought that she was dead. She must have only been
knocked unconscious by Mr. Jones, or that thing that looked like him, and
that was why her father was fighting it. But everything would be okay
now. The monster was dead, her father had killed it, and her mother was
alive. Alive and awake.
Things would be different from now on. She no longer thought of her
mother as the "stupid cow" that she would sometimes say under her breath
so that she was not heard. Her mother was... her mother, and she loved her
with every bit of her heart.
Vivian's mother turned her head away from her and towards her father. He
stared at her with wide eyes, and opened mouth. She had just shifted her
weight, putting her arm under herself to stand when:
"Mom," fresh tears of joy swelled in Vivian's eyes. "Mom, are you okay?"
Her mother's head spun around with a snap as her eyes locked on Vivian.
She quickly brought her hands up, holding the child by both sides of the
head and brought their faces together.
Vivian puckered her lips for the coming kiss. She could feel her mother's
lips as they briefly pressed against her own. Then they parted and she
briefly felt the hard teeth beneath, but then they too parted. And then
there was pain. A white hot bolt of electricity that shot from her mouth
and into the rest of her head.
Vivian shut her eyes tightly against the pain and tried to pull away, but
her mother's grip on her head was too strong.
She opened her eyes, looking directly into her mother's, and realized
instantly that the thing holding her and biting into her lips was not her
mother. It was whatever Mr. Jones had become, and it was going to eat
her.
The creature's teeth clicked together and it shook its head once to the
left then quickly to the right before separating their faces, tearing
away the flesh in its mouth.
Vivian shrieked. A high pitched, little girl yell that turned into a wet
gurgle as blood filled her lipless mouth.
The creature moved in again, opening its mouth and going for her face.
Suddenly, its forward thrust was halted as it was yanked back and away.
Vivian was pulled along until she was almost in a standing position
before the creature lost its hold on her head.
She fell forward, landed on her knees with a thud and clapped her hands
over her mouth. She screamed again at what she felt. The lips that she
had stared at for hours in a mirror as she practiced Ana's smile,
learning it perfectly, were gone. Blood flowed through her fingers and
ran down her arms.
"Run!" Her father's voice broke through the pain and she looked up at
him. The creature that looked like her mother struggled franticly in his
arms. Using both of its hands, the creature pushed one of his meaty arms
to her mouth and bit deeply into it.
The man that to Vivian seemed to stretch to the sky when he stood up, who
she thought could walk into busy traffic and if a car were unlucky enough
to hit him, would cave in on itself as if it had hit a tree, began to
sob.
"Get out," he cried through the tears. She could tell that he wouldn't be
able to stand much longer. "Run! Run away! Hurry!"
Fighting back the tears and pain, Vivian stumbled for her feet and headed
for the sliding glass door that lead to the back yard, noticing for the
first time that the glass had been shattered in. The shards poked her
bare feet as she crossed over them.
She looked back one last time at her father. He had fallen, and her
mother was over him, sitting on his stomach and biting chunks from his
shoulder.
Vivian stumbled outside into the warm night air. The usual night sounds
drifted into her confused mind. The sound of crickets chirping, dogs
barking, and the wind as it gently pushed its way through the leaves
hanging from trees. There were also a few new sounds. Every so often, she
could hear a scream, or yell, or cry for help.
She weakly made her way through the back yard and towards the patch of
bushes that lined the rear property line. She didn't think much of going
there, she just did it. Within the thick bushes was a small opening that
not even her parents had known about. To find it, on would have to have
gotten on all fours, which was exactly what she was doing when she
discovered it six years ago. The hiding spot was not much in the way of
room, but it was wonderful for whenever she had just wanted to be by
herself.
She made it to the opening and dropped to all fours. The blood poured
from her damaged mouth in a steady run and the world began to spin. She
willed herself forward and into the small opening, crawling until the she
was completely invisible from the outside. She then lay on her side and
curled into a fetal position.
She could see her house, though not much. A small part of a wall through
the space between some leaves. Another part between another space. She
lay still and watched, not moving. Not wanting to. Her vision kept
spinning and blurring and she felt cold and numb. Her mouth didn't hurt
anymore, and she just wanted to sleep.
Two creatures ran from the house into the backyard, one looked like her
mother, the other like her father. Vivian caught glimpses of them as they
looked around the yard, running in one direction before stopping and
looking and listening. Then they would turn and run in another direction.
Finally, her father ran for the neighbor's house, opposite the Jones. Her
mother followed. The lights were on, and when they reached it, they began
pounding on the rear door. The door was glass at the top, a semi circle
where the shadow of a head appeared and peered out. Her parents banged
harder on the door.
"Frank! Carol!" the man next door could be heard. There was the metal
clicking of locks being unfastened as he spoke. "I tried to call the
police, but they're not answering. What was all of that yelling..."
The door opened a crack and the creatures that looked like her parents
rushed inside. Vivian could not see what was happening, but she could
hear the old man begin to scream.
She didn't care. She was tired, and just wanted to sleep. She closed her
eyes, and quickly sank into the darkness.
Twenty minutes later, the body of what used to be the pretty little girl
opened its eyes. There was a moment of disorientation as it looked
around, eyes darting. The brain within the body had all but shut down,
the only parts still working was what was needed for mobility, and what
was needed for sight and sound and smell. Gone were the areas for reason
and fear and pity, and with them gone, the only other remaining part of
its brain that still functioned ran unchecked. It was a dark, primal
place that all people had. From time to time it would flare up in
everyone. Sometimes it would take the form of a fantasy in which someone
would be hurt, or even a sexual fantasy were someone was made to do the
imaginer's desire. Sometimes it flashed forward as anger and people would
yell and curse and hit another. Sometimes they would even kill another.
Always though, reason or fear or pity would keep it in check.
Until now.
Ancient urges filled the Vivian monster as it stood among the bushes,
branches snapping and breaking as she did. The urges were to dominate, to
feed, and to multiply. Simplified to the perfect predator, the creature
could accomplish all three at once.
There was the sound of something running towards her and pale hand torn
away at the bushes. A second later what had once been Vivian's father was
looking down at it. Seeing all it needed to, it turned and walked away.
The Vivian creature walked through the new hole and around to the front
of the house. It turned left and walked uphill. As it did, it passed the
creature that looked like Vivian's mother, who was walking out of the
house were the two women lived together. A second later and they came
out, their naked bodies covered with bite marks and blood. A few houses
up, she passed the twins as they knelt and feed on the old widower. After
a moment the twins stood and slowly walked away. A second later, the
widower sat up.
Further up the road, a creature that looked like a tall black man chased
a teenaged boy on a bike, a sack of newspapers sling over his shoulder.
Others soon joined in on the chase. Death was traveling uphill in the
quiet community, and it would overtake anything in its path.
The Vivian monster did not go after the boy. Those chasing him were
larger than it was, and instincts told it that once they brought him
down, she would not get the chance to feed. That did not matter though
because it already knew where to find food. The image of a woman, small
framed with blonde hair, kept coming to it, and it knew exactly where to
find her.
The doors to the house were locked, but the house was still unsecured.
There was a side window with a broken latch that could be opened from the
outside. It had been that way for weeks and Louis, Ana's husband, had
been meaning to fix it, but had always put it off. "Besides," he would
joke, "if there were a burglar in this neighborhood, he'd probably ring
the doorbell first and ask if he could have a few things."
And only three people knew about the faulty latch anyway, and two of them
lived there.
There was a pop as the latch moved over the small, metal tongue designed
to keep it in place and the window slowly slid open. The window seal was
only to the creature's knees, so it climbed in easily and pushed aside
the white shades which rustled like leaves with its movements.
As it walked silently through the house, dim rays of orange sunlight
began to seep in through windows as the sun began to rise.
It walked to the staircase and started up, the knowledge of this familiar
place moving it forward. Up the stairs and to the right. All the way down
the hall and to the door that wasn't closed all the way.
The predator stooped slightly as it pushed at the door, trying not to
wake the two that it already knew were sleeping. There was a big male
here, and if it wasn't careful, it would have to fight. It wasn't afraid
of the male, or of being injured. In fact, it feared nothing. But he
would be able to over power it. To pin it down, or even lift it up and
throw it. It was something that would likely happen anyway, but a
stealthy attack would give it the chance to feed as much as possible. If
the attack was blown, it may not have gotten to feed at all.
It froze. The big male moved. He rolled in the bed and opened his eyes,
looking directly at it. He then opened his mouth and made a noise. He
stood up and began to walk towards it, making more noises. He looked
alarmed.
The creature with long blonde hair and a hole in its mouth where its lips
used to be was about to attack. To run to the male, grab and hold onto
his leg, and tear as much flesh free as it could when he suddenly knelt
before it.
He turned back towards the woman with blonde hair and made a loud noise
and she looked alarmed, though the creature didn't notice the last
exchange. It was looking at the male's neck, knowing that that was the
place. He could be brought down if attacked there. He turned back to the
creature just as its mouth opened and it brought its teeth to the soft
tissue of his throat.
The young girl, eleven year old Vivian Curtis, spun around awkwardly on
the inline skates that she wore, half skating herself into position, and
half lifting her feet and simply turning. There was a brief moment of
pause when she stopped, as though making sure that she really had
stopped, and held her arms in front of her and apart for balance. If she
had fallen, the protective gear that she wore, wrist guards and a helmet,
would have protected her from serious bodily injure, but would have done
nothing for her pride.
She looked up, checking to make sure that Ana was watching. Ana's eyes
were on her as she leaned out of her car window, a grin on her face as
she waited patiently. Vivian grinned herself and then did her "great
trick".
She leaned back, ever so slightly, and rolled her feet back on her
skates. For a second, nothing happened, but then, she began to move
backwards. Her grin turned into a smile as she looked back up to Ana.
"He-eey," Ana piped! "That's great!"
Vivian beamed as she skated to Ana's car and rested her hands on the
door. She was pleased that she had impressed the woman that she had
admired and secretly wanted to be like. Vivian had always thought of Ana
as beautiful, and though not thinking of herself that way, she did think
that she was cute, and would become beautiful when she grew up like Ana.
They both had blue eyes and blonde hair, though Ana's was shoulder's
length while Vivian's flowed down her back. She had wanted to cut her
hair, but her mother wouldn't let her. They both also had the same smile,
though in actuality, it as really Ana's smile and Vivian simply adopted
it, practicing in front of a mirror until she got it right. Ana's smile.
Ana's walk. Ana's laugh. Vivian had even planned to become a nurse when
she grew up, just like Ana.
"That was great Vivian," Ana smiled at her, a proud, parental one that
filled Vivian with joy.
"You just coming home?" Vivian leaned on the car door. She already
knew the answer to the question, but had asked just the same for
conversation. To spend at least a little more time with her idol.
"Yeah," Ana's voice changed a little as if express the exhaustion that
she felt. "I just did a double. I can't wait to get into the shower."
"Okay," Vivian took the hint and backed away from the door. "Can I
still come over tomorrow?"
"Of course," Ana was already putting the car into drive. "Watch out
for cars."
"Bye," Vivian waved as she skated away.
Vivian skated the short distance home. About half a block up the street
that Ana lived on was an intersection. To make a left would have taken
her to her best friend's house, who was out having dinner with her
family. Just as well anyway, because it was also uphill and she didn't
really feel like putting in that type of leg work.
She made a right at the intersection and started down hill, keeping her
feet together and letting gravity do the work. She was halfway home when
she passed Mrs. Davis, an African American widower, as she watered her
garden of violets. She waved and Mrs. Davis waved back, smiling. Two
houses from her own was the two women who lived together. Vivian didn't
know their names, but she had heard plenty of rumors from the big
neighborhood kids, as well as a few whispers from her parents when they
thought that she wasn't listening. From this, she got an idea of who they
were, but she still couldn't figure out the "how" which would make their
relationship work.
She was beginning to move too fast, so she applied the brake on her right
foot. There was a dragging rumble as the rubber dragged along the gravel
to slow her. Leaning, she turned right into her driveway.
The neighbors living below her on the hill had two four year old boys,
twins named Erin and Todd, who were playing in the front yard. They were
running in circles as a Wet Willie sprinkler rained water on them,
Willie's wild hair jumping to and fro and shooting streams of water into
the air. One of the boys spotted Vivian as she skated up her driveway and
stopped giggling long enough to shout a greeting to her.
"Hi," he waved.
His twin turned, saw Vivian, and waved, "Hi."
"Hi," Vivian waved back.
"We're playing in the water," the first boy reported.
"I see," Vivian smiled. They were just too cute.
"You can play too," his twin offered.
"Thanks, but no thanks," she paused just long enough to finish talking
before ducking into the open garage door. "I have to eat dinner."
"Okay," the first boy said, already returning to his water game.
"Bye," his twin shouted and joined in.
She had just entered the house and skated to the refrigerator when:
"Vivian," her mother scolded, walking into the kitchen herself. "What
have I told you about wearing those things inside of the house?"
Vivian sighed deeply and rolled her eyes. "I'm going to stay in the
kitchen."
"I don't care," her mother's face stern as she went to a pan of boiling
vegetables on the stove. "Take them off."
Vivian sighed again, and rolled her eyes.
Her mother turned to her with her eyes bucked as though she were
surprised that her child did not immediately jump to the order she had
given. The "or else" look.
"Now," she hissed through clenched teeth.
Vivian skated to and plopped down in one of the kitchen chairs. She
removed her helmet and wrist guards and then went to work on the laces.
Vivian's mother was a large woman. Not fat in the unsightly ways of some
people as they let themselves go, but she did carry a load. She had
chubby cheeks, an extra chin, and thick rope like arms and legs. Her
brown and grey hair ran down her back in a way that always made Vivian
think of those women that she had seen in old movies that went around
saying things like "peace dude".
Vivian kicked off the inline skates and went back to the refrigerator,
opening it.
"Get out of there," her mother didn't even bother to look at her, but
instead opened the oven to peer inside. "Dinner's almost ready."
"I just want some yogurt," Vivian shrugged and held up a hand as though
presenting the simple treat. Her body said something else though.
Something that she would never say to her mother out loud, at least not
yet. It wouldn't be spoken out loud until she was a least sixteen and
feeling more confident in her physical abilities. That is, if she and her
mother had lived to see her turn sixteen.
The message was sent through her eyes and posture. "I know what I can
eat you idiot," it read.
Her mother turned to her, her eyes narrowing and she placed a hand on her
hip, her own message being sent. "I'm the queen bee," it said, "and
you're about to get stung."
Vivian slammed the refrigerator door closed and turned to leave the
kitchen in a huff.
"And take your skate stuff with you," her mother returned to her cooking.
Vivian scooped up her skating gear and headed to her room, passing
through the family room where her father sat in his lazy-boy recliner and
drinking from a can of Busch beer. He was a large man who, at one point
of time, used to play college football. But that was a long time ago. He
stood at six feet four inches and had a solid frame, but time and beer
had taken a toll, especially to his stomach which hung over his belt at
though he was pregnant with twins and they were both standing up.
"Hi Sweetie," he gave her a quick glance before returning to the game.
"Hi Daddy," as she walked out of the room.
"Damn-it," Vivian's father shouted at the television as a touchdown was
made. "God damn-it to hell."
"Peter," from the kitchen, "can you set the table please?"
"Yeah," he brought the beer can to his lips and finished what was left.
"This is over anyway?"
He reached for the remote, pointed it towards the television, and
stopped. The game suddenly disappeared from the screen, replaced by big
bold letters that read: NEWS ALERT.
"Did we win," his wife asked from the kitchen.
Disgusted, he pushed the power button and the television screen went
black.
"No," he said. "We lost. We lost bad."
With a grunt, he lifted himself from his lazy-boy and went into the
kitchen.
It happened later that night, after dinner and after Vivian's homework
had been done. After she had taken her bath and changed into her pink
sleeping clothes and brushed she teeth. After she had tried to say
goodnight to her parents, but they had been watching the television so
intently that they didn't even notice her. After she had said her prayers
and gone to bed and fallen to sleep. That was when her mother screamed.
It brought her out of the deep sleep that she was in, but didn't wake her
completely. Another scream from her mother and this time a yell from her
father as well.
Vivian began to emerge from the haze of sleep. Her brain had already
heard and recognized the cries from her parents. Had given her a image of
them, the last one that she had: both of them as they watched the
television so closely, leaning forward in their seats and their mouths
agape. Her brain told her that now, something was wrong. But she was
still unable to move. Her body felt numb, as though drugged and trying to
wake it, to just be able to move her arms, was like fighting the
downwards sucking of a great whirlpool as it tried to keep you under.
"Nooo!" her father yelled out.
That broke sleep's grasps over her and adrenaline shot through her small
body, sending tiny needles of electricity through her arms and legs. She
bolted up in bend, listening.
The noise coming from downstairs was the sound of destruction. Glass
broke. Wood splintered. Furniture turned over. Her father's yells,
sometimes in rage, sometimes in pain. And a strange yell from someone,
no, something that she could recognize. A fierce maddened and hungry cry
that brought forth the image of a monster with sharp teeth and long
claws.
Her father yelled again, his voice smothered in pain. Vivian sprang from
the bed and darted to her door. Opening it, she ran out of her room and
down the staircase.
Vivian ran into the family room and her sight was instantly drawn to the
fight taking place. It was between her father and Mr. Jones, her next
door neighbor and father of the twins. Her heart thudded heavily in her
chest at the sight of the massive blood loss from both men. Her father
seemed to be covered with wounds, his arms, legs, and chest a bloody
mess. Mr. Jones was also injured. The button down shirt that he wore was
ripped open and Vivian could see the torn flesh beneath. But what scared
Vivian the most were Mr. Jones' eyes. They were scary, wide, and
murderous. There was nothing of the man that she would wave to in the
mornings on her way to school. No. These were not the eyes of a man, but
of something else. Something evil.
"Daddy!" she cried out. She had wanted to tell him to be careful. That
the thing he was fighting, though it looked like Mr. Jones, wasn't Mr.
Jones. That whatever it was, it wanted to kill him. To kill everyone.
Her father turned to the sound of her voice and the creature charged,
wrapping its arms around his large gut and bringing its mouth to the
man's stomach. He shrieked and grabbed the creature by the hair, yanking
its head back. With it, his shirt pulled away and ripped under the
thing's teeth, wrapped around a bite sized hunk of flesh.
Her father screamed and brought his fist down hard onto the creature's
nose. There was a sickening thud and crunch as the face bones broke under
the blow. The creature simply chewed on the flesh and shirt in its mouth
and swallowed. It then opened its mouth again, shaking its head as it
tried to get free.
Vivian screamed. She wanted to help her father. To run over and hit the
thing that looked like Mr. Jones hard enough to knock it away. Far away
so that it would never bother them again.
To do that, however, would mean that she would have to go over there. To
try and fight it. To maybe, get bitten. Fear, steady and powerful, held
her in place. She realized that the injuries on her father were from
where he had been bitten. He was being eaten alive.
She loved her father. She wanted to save him, more than anything in the
world. But she didn't want to be bitten. To be eaten.
Her eyes darted across the family room in desperation. It was a mess. The
32" television had been knocked off of its stand, the couch and the lazy-
boy knocked to their sides. The pictures that had hung neatly on the
walls now cluttered the floor, as did the vases and plants that once
rested on end tables.
Vivian's eyes widen as a fresh wave of horror rode through her. Her
mother laid on the floor. Her eyes were opened, but she didn't move.
There was a bloody wound on her neck, and blood flowed out in an even
stream and soaked the carpet beneath.
Vivian ran to her mother, tears already filling her eyes.
"Mommy, get up," she shook the woman's body, already knowing that she was
dead. Her mother's head moved each time Vivian shook her, side to side as
if to say no. One last bit of body language.
Her father roared, causing her to look up. He lifted the Mr. Jones
creature into the air and threw him hard to the ground. He stumbled back,
his breathing labored and he seemed that he was about to fall, but
didn't. The thing started to pick itself up when her father grabbed a
large trophy, his pride and joy from his college football days, and
brought it down on the back of the creature's head. It dropped, but
continued to move. With an exhausted battle cry, her father lifted the
trophy again and brought the large marble base down hard on the
creature's head.
It landed face down, its skull shattered. Other than the blood that
flowed from the wound from her father, there was no movement.
Vivian's mother suddenly sat up in front of her!
At first, Vivian gasped and jumped back, surprised at the sudden
movement. And then there was relief. Her mother was alive. She had been
wrong when she had thought that she was dead. She must have only been
knocked unconscious by Mr. Jones, or that thing that looked like him, and
that was why her father was fighting it. But everything would be okay
now. The monster was dead, her father had killed it, and her mother was
alive. Alive and awake.
Things would be different from now on. She no longer thought of her
mother as the "stupid cow" that she would sometimes say under her breath
so that she was not heard. Her mother was... her mother, and she loved her
with every bit of her heart.
Vivian's mother turned her head away from her and towards her father. He
stared at her with wide eyes, and opened mouth. She had just shifted her
weight, putting her arm under herself to stand when:
"Mom," fresh tears of joy swelled in Vivian's eyes. "Mom, are you okay?"
Her mother's head spun around with a snap as her eyes locked on Vivian.
She quickly brought her hands up, holding the child by both sides of the
head and brought their faces together.
Vivian puckered her lips for the coming kiss. She could feel her mother's
lips as they briefly pressed against her own. Then they parted and she
briefly felt the hard teeth beneath, but then they too parted. And then
there was pain. A white hot bolt of electricity that shot from her mouth
and into the rest of her head.
Vivian shut her eyes tightly against the pain and tried to pull away, but
her mother's grip on her head was too strong.
She opened her eyes, looking directly into her mother's, and realized
instantly that the thing holding her and biting into her lips was not her
mother. It was whatever Mr. Jones had become, and it was going to eat
her.
The creature's teeth clicked together and it shook its head once to the
left then quickly to the right before separating their faces, tearing
away the flesh in its mouth.
Vivian shrieked. A high pitched, little girl yell that turned into a wet
gurgle as blood filled her lipless mouth.
The creature moved in again, opening its mouth and going for her face.
Suddenly, its forward thrust was halted as it was yanked back and away.
Vivian was pulled along until she was almost in a standing position
before the creature lost its hold on her head.
She fell forward, landed on her knees with a thud and clapped her hands
over her mouth. She screamed again at what she felt. The lips that she
had stared at for hours in a mirror as she practiced Ana's smile,
learning it perfectly, were gone. Blood flowed through her fingers and
ran down her arms.
"Run!" Her father's voice broke through the pain and she looked up at
him. The creature that looked like her mother struggled franticly in his
arms. Using both of its hands, the creature pushed one of his meaty arms
to her mouth and bit deeply into it.
The man that to Vivian seemed to stretch to the sky when he stood up, who
she thought could walk into busy traffic and if a car were unlucky enough
to hit him, would cave in on itself as if it had hit a tree, began to
sob.
"Get out," he cried through the tears. She could tell that he wouldn't be
able to stand much longer. "Run! Run away! Hurry!"
Fighting back the tears and pain, Vivian stumbled for her feet and headed
for the sliding glass door that lead to the back yard, noticing for the
first time that the glass had been shattered in. The shards poked her
bare feet as she crossed over them.
She looked back one last time at her father. He had fallen, and her
mother was over him, sitting on his stomach and biting chunks from his
shoulder.
Vivian stumbled outside into the warm night air. The usual night sounds
drifted into her confused mind. The sound of crickets chirping, dogs
barking, and the wind as it gently pushed its way through the leaves
hanging from trees. There were also a few new sounds. Every so often, she
could hear a scream, or yell, or cry for help.
She weakly made her way through the back yard and towards the patch of
bushes that lined the rear property line. She didn't think much of going
there, she just did it. Within the thick bushes was a small opening that
not even her parents had known about. To find it, on would have to have
gotten on all fours, which was exactly what she was doing when she
discovered it six years ago. The hiding spot was not much in the way of
room, but it was wonderful for whenever she had just wanted to be by
herself.
She made it to the opening and dropped to all fours. The blood poured
from her damaged mouth in a steady run and the world began to spin. She
willed herself forward and into the small opening, crawling until the she
was completely invisible from the outside. She then lay on her side and
curled into a fetal position.
She could see her house, though not much. A small part of a wall through
the space between some leaves. Another part between another space. She
lay still and watched, not moving. Not wanting to. Her vision kept
spinning and blurring and she felt cold and numb. Her mouth didn't hurt
anymore, and she just wanted to sleep.
Two creatures ran from the house into the backyard, one looked like her
mother, the other like her father. Vivian caught glimpses of them as they
looked around the yard, running in one direction before stopping and
looking and listening. Then they would turn and run in another direction.
Finally, her father ran for the neighbor's house, opposite the Jones. Her
mother followed. The lights were on, and when they reached it, they began
pounding on the rear door. The door was glass at the top, a semi circle
where the shadow of a head appeared and peered out. Her parents banged
harder on the door.
"Frank! Carol!" the man next door could be heard. There was the metal
clicking of locks being unfastened as he spoke. "I tried to call the
police, but they're not answering. What was all of that yelling..."
The door opened a crack and the creatures that looked like her parents
rushed inside. Vivian could not see what was happening, but she could
hear the old man begin to scream.
She didn't care. She was tired, and just wanted to sleep. She closed her
eyes, and quickly sank into the darkness.
Twenty minutes later, the body of what used to be the pretty little girl
opened its eyes. There was a moment of disorientation as it looked
around, eyes darting. The brain within the body had all but shut down,
the only parts still working was what was needed for mobility, and what
was needed for sight and sound and smell. Gone were the areas for reason
and fear and pity, and with them gone, the only other remaining part of
its brain that still functioned ran unchecked. It was a dark, primal
place that all people had. From time to time it would flare up in
everyone. Sometimes it would take the form of a fantasy in which someone
would be hurt, or even a sexual fantasy were someone was made to do the
imaginer's desire. Sometimes it flashed forward as anger and people would
yell and curse and hit another. Sometimes they would even kill another.
Always though, reason or fear or pity would keep it in check.
Until now.
Ancient urges filled the Vivian monster as it stood among the bushes,
branches snapping and breaking as she did. The urges were to dominate, to
feed, and to multiply. Simplified to the perfect predator, the creature
could accomplish all three at once.
There was the sound of something running towards her and pale hand torn
away at the bushes. A second later what had once been Vivian's father was
looking down at it. Seeing all it needed to, it turned and walked away.
The Vivian creature walked through the new hole and around to the front
of the house. It turned left and walked uphill. As it did, it passed the
creature that looked like Vivian's mother, who was walking out of the
house were the two women lived together. A second later and they came
out, their naked bodies covered with bite marks and blood. A few houses
up, she passed the twins as they knelt and feed on the old widower. After
a moment the twins stood and slowly walked away. A second later, the
widower sat up.
Further up the road, a creature that looked like a tall black man chased
a teenaged boy on a bike, a sack of newspapers sling over his shoulder.
Others soon joined in on the chase. Death was traveling uphill in the
quiet community, and it would overtake anything in its path.
The Vivian monster did not go after the boy. Those chasing him were
larger than it was, and instincts told it that once they brought him
down, she would not get the chance to feed. That did not matter though
because it already knew where to find food. The image of a woman, small
framed with blonde hair, kept coming to it, and it knew exactly where to
find her.
The doors to the house were locked, but the house was still unsecured.
There was a side window with a broken latch that could be opened from the
outside. It had been that way for weeks and Louis, Ana's husband, had
been meaning to fix it, but had always put it off. "Besides," he would
joke, "if there were a burglar in this neighborhood, he'd probably ring
the doorbell first and ask if he could have a few things."
And only three people knew about the faulty latch anyway, and two of them
lived there.
There was a pop as the latch moved over the small, metal tongue designed
to keep it in place and the window slowly slid open. The window seal was
only to the creature's knees, so it climbed in easily and pushed aside
the white shades which rustled like leaves with its movements.
As it walked silently through the house, dim rays of orange sunlight
began to seep in through windows as the sun began to rise.
It walked to the staircase and started up, the knowledge of this familiar
place moving it forward. Up the stairs and to the right. All the way down
the hall and to the door that wasn't closed all the way.
The predator stooped slightly as it pushed at the door, trying not to
wake the two that it already knew were sleeping. There was a big male
here, and if it wasn't careful, it would have to fight. It wasn't afraid
of the male, or of being injured. In fact, it feared nothing. But he
would be able to over power it. To pin it down, or even lift it up and
throw it. It was something that would likely happen anyway, but a
stealthy attack would give it the chance to feed as much as possible. If
the attack was blown, it may not have gotten to feed at all.
It froze. The big male moved. He rolled in the bed and opened his eyes,
looking directly at it. He then opened his mouth and made a noise. He
stood up and began to walk towards it, making more noises. He looked
alarmed.
The creature with long blonde hair and a hole in its mouth where its lips
used to be was about to attack. To run to the male, grab and hold onto
his leg, and tear as much flesh free as it could when he suddenly knelt
before it.
He turned back towards the woman with blonde hair and made a loud noise
and she looked alarmed, though the creature didn't notice the last
exchange. It was looking at the male's neck, knowing that that was the
place. He could be brought down if attacked there. He turned back to the
creature just as its mouth opened and it brought its teeth to the soft
tissue of his throat.