Chapter 14. The Tame One
Several years ago…
Little Katie fiddled around in the burning garbage, poking aside bones and ashes with a stick. Her father had found and demolished yet another Morlock's lair. A tiny shrieking nearby a well-hidden bush caught her attention. She crawled underneath of it to find a freshly burrowed hole. Inside two eyes squealed back at her in fear.
"Hey look poppa!" She grabbed the leg of this creature and yanked him out. It was a Morlock toddler. "A Morwock baby!"
"Oh dear." Jones, a friend of her father, was first on the scene. "Poor little rascal. Here I got an idea." He pulled a long rag out from his backpack and wrapped it around the little Morlock. "We should keep him! He would be very useful for studying."
"I wanna name it!" Katie blurted out. "I wanna name the Morwock!" "Okay you give him a name then." Jones smiled as he tried to calm the squirming baby.
"How about Fatty? Or maybe Spots!" She cheered.
"Well he isn't a dog. Think of a name for a human baby." Jones corrected. "How about Shadow. It suits any Morlock very well."
"Shadow! Shadow!" The girl jumped up and down and patted the bundle. "I love that name!"
Present time…
George sat at his desk, sorting out books and paperwork. His oldest daughter waltzed by the door for a quick wave. Her father stood concerned and waved her back in. "I want you to watch out okay? We have a wild Morlock locked up and a strange Eloi as well. Be careful."
"Of course daddy." She hugged him and went on her way. A large three-story house stood facing the beautiful field of tall grass and white flowers. Long vines twisted themselves around the planks and pedestals of the porch. She went inside and entered a large dark room. Something inside seemed different from the rest of the Eloi that would regularly tread inside. The girl stopped to a complete halt and lowered herself. Behind her suddenly a roar rumbled throughout the room. She spun around and gasped, shielding her face from the terrible threat.
It was a Morlock! The pale creature pounced on her with jutting tusks ready to pierce her soft neck. His heavy weight pinned her down on the ground, giving her no chance at all of survival.
"Argh! Stop it Shadow! You're too heavy!" She pressed her hands against his chest and pushed. The Morlock rolled off and started to wave his hands about frantically. He raised his head up and hollered out in joy to see her.
"I-missed-you-Katie." The collar around his neck translated his groaning for her. "Is-it-dark-outside-yet?"
"No it's only noon silly." She patted his head. "Jones caught a Morlock last night and some strange Eloi. I don't know what he means by that."
"Could-we-see-them? Never-seen-another-Morlock-up-close." His collar echoed.
"We could try and sneak in." Katie pulled her dirty blonde hair from her face. "But first you have to feed the horses and the livestock."
Shadow plopped down on the floor and started to chew on some of the cow bones from his left over dinner. Unlike other types of carnivores, Morlocks had no top molars. So when they chewed on something hard they used their very hard canines. Typically a wild Morlock rarely chewed anything. They simply ate the softer meat and would smash the bones to get at the soft marrow inside. Only the offspring had milk molars on the top jaw. Shadow lived a boring lifestyle compared to the others of his kind so he had a habit to chew things. Here Jones had learned to age a young Morlock by how many top baby molars it had lost.
He was also quite a large male for a Morlock only because he was very well-fed. He had shiny, white tusks and flashy long hair from lack of cutting it. Unlike the scraggly Morlocks down below he was well-kept and very clean. Never less he still had that putrid Morlock musk lingering around on his body. Katie had long since grown used to it but her father, George, could never get over the awful stench.
The giant male was extremely friendly and enjoyed playing constant games with his hybrid friend. He also enjoyed putting parts of objects together being that it was bred into his blood. To a stranger Shadow would look very formidable.
Katie picked up a brush and ran it through the long hair on his arms. Being washed constantly it was a gentle, silky texture. Often times he had a haircut as Morlock fur grew very fast. What Katie gathered up she would twist and turn it into thin yarn ropes and store it away for some use. Her father resented this because the yarn had the awful stench attached to it.
Shadow leaned forward and rubbed his face against her chest and under her chin. Morlocks often instinctively rubbed their cheeks against a friend's body, showing and strengthening bonds. The more Morlocks could scent an individual the more allies they know that individual had. Katie was the best friend he had, so he made sure she sure smelled like it. Katie gently pushed his face away and rubbed the stinky oily residue off on her clothing, further spreading it. Often he tried spreading the "bond" around on the other family members but they quickly moved away when he tried, hurting his feelings.
When night finally fell Shadow darted out from his homely prison to feed the livestock and walked among the crowds of Eloi that slept around him. The Eloi seemed to prefer sleeping under the stars rather then in a house so they typically stayed outside. Being used to Shadow, the Eloi paid no mind to him. In earlier times he attempted to play with them. He found them too fragile and Katie's father often punished him. He grew distant of the shallow blonde heads and kept to himself and Katie.
Now that Shadow was coming on his eighteenth year his feelings began to warp his psyche. He became less playful and felt more aggressive. Sometimes he would charge the Eloi and flair out his hair, making him take on the appearance of some big fluffy dog. Deep inside his mind he wanted to sink his tusks into their tiny necks and rip the blonde heads off.
Another lure that he had rising up in himself was the discover his own kind. Only rarely did he manage to sight a few Morlocks if they dared to come close enough to his home. Never had he talked to one before or actually been to one up close. In his dreams he would meet the Morlocks. They would only stare at him and distance themselves, driving him mad with craze. He would shriek at the top of his voice, begging them to stay.
Now again this night he felt that calling again. After taking care of the animals, he sat on the edge of the hill and stared at the burnt Sphinx that once housed Morlocks years ago. Inside the burnt chambers below he could still pick up a faint whiff of a past Morlock with his strong nose. He had no idea how his brethren had died down between the burnt walls and rusting machinery. Most of the areas were caved in, revealing burnt bones of his kind to the sun. Deep inside he felt somebody else rage up, making him throw back his head and issue a shrill cry to the stars. The Eloi down below tucked their heads in between their legs and fell silent. The young male's hair bristled as he snorted the night air. Tonight was that night he should seek the others.
"Shadow where are you going off to? Dad will be very angry." Katie stepped up next to him. The Morlock threw her a wary glance and groaned loudly in his calling again. His voice raised to a high pitched shriek that human ears could not stand. Being half Eloi, Katie could only tolerate it. She winced and raised her hands.
"What's wrong?" She questioned.
"I-want-to-see-the-others-of-my-kind." He huffed. "I-have-no-idea-why-but-I-do."
"Dad would be extremely angry for that. You know how he is about you being influenced by outsiders." Katie warned. Her father always constantly told them how one day Shadow might turn on them considering he was a blood-thirsty Morlock. She wouldn't believe him, he never liked the underground dwellers anyways.
"Anyways don't you wanna check out that wild Morlock Jones caught?" She continued. "And did you feed the animals? Dad wants you to work the horses."
Shadow faced her and nodded. "I-forgot-all-about-that. Yes-lets-go-see."
Mog was slumped against the back of his prison, staring out through the bars. He stiffened up as he heard somebody enter the lab. Slowly he flattened himself to the floor and murmured softly incase it was his soft mate.
"Be quiet now Shadow. He's really mean." Katie led him inside. Shadow walked up to the cage and peeked inside. Mog flared out the hair along his shoulder and begun to growl. The sight of seeing another one of his kind up close also made the tame Morlock's hair stand on end. He smiled and pressed his face against he bars
"Hello friend! Me Shadow!" He grunted in the only amount of Morlock he knew how to speak.
Mog suddenly slammed his body against the bars and roared in return. "I don't give a damn who you are you pet!" The scarred Morlock narrowed his eyes. "Yes do you even know why you are living with them? Don't you even have a family of your own kind?"
"No, master raised me." Shadow lowered his head. "Why wrong with that?"
"The man who raised you slaughtered your parents." Mog snorted and sat back against the walls. "You feed and beg from him like an Eloi I bet."
Shadow shook his head violently and whimpered. "That not true! Me born here!"
"Are you dense? You are a Morlock living in a pack of stupid men and Eloi. Unless you just believe some stray blonde popped your miserable ass out randomly." Mog teased with a sneer. "The man you live with kills your kind for fun. It is true! My parents went the same way. In the beginning me and you were the same."
"I no believe that!" Shadow hit the bars and turned out of the room with Katie behind him.
"Stupid foolish Morlock." Mog frowned. "He will get a very rude awakening."
Shikha lay hidden in a group of Eloi who sat gathered around a large fruiting tree. She had once again escaped from the grasp of the evil men. Now she only waited to think about how to break out her mate Mog. The Eloi around her were a very cuddly sort and kept hugging onto her and speaking soft simple words to one another. The one common word they all seemed to shout often was "Prambee". They often used it when one of the strange men would come out and feed them fruit. Shikha noticed they didn't have a complex language like the men and the Morlocks seemed to have. So far she only picked up a total of seven different words from them. They usually only used a word to describe something. It was usually food or water or the night time. All of the Eloi obviously came from different backgrounds. Most of them looked very much the same but some were very fearful of the night, some didn't care and some seemed to actually cling to the Morlocks. She noticed this the other night when a lone Morlock was wandering around the yard with several Eloi following behind him. At first she mistaken him for Mog until she noticed the long wavy hair he sported. Also the odd manner he seemed to carry himself as. She soon came to realize the human family had a Morlock addition ironically.
She attempted to speak to the Morlock but found him very limited in his original tongue. For being such a large and broad male he lacked highly in any confidence and aggression. It was a sad sight in her eyes. Though the family probably meant well and the tame Morlock didn't know, he was extremely blind to his true self and his life was cruel.
Some of the Eloi's poked at her enlarged stomach, knowing she was carrying life inside. Shikha brushed their hands away and felt the round of her belly. She wondered if Mog had noticed it before they were captured.
"Tonight I shall let him loose. I have to try before they attempt anymore experiments on him." She told herself in thought. "I can't stand to be here another night."
As the short day fell back into darkness, George and his family were preparing for dinner. Weena had yet to cook properly despite attempting to learn for over twenty years. The best recipe she could muster was a fruit salad, which in fact was actually quite tasty and popular for the family. Jones felt like part of the family so he always joined in during meal time. Shadow rarely participated as George didn't want to smell him from across the table. But his usual excuse was that since nobody can see their food in the dark it was rather pointless to have Shadow suffer eating with the lights on.
Katie munched slowly on her steak, being part Eloi she wasn't particularly fond of meat even though she still needed a small amount in her diet. Her two other brothers and her other sister ate quietly amongst themselves. Katie was never really close to her siblings naturally.
Being part Eloi affected the family very much. Weena herself didn't hold the greatest bond with her children as George did. It wasn't her fault because of the centuries of breeding prevented this sort of ever-lasting bonding. Of course she was still very sweet to them all and did the best she could. The children too had lost the bond they had with both their parents and would occasionally drift in and out with the other Eloi to just play. Like Katie they had a much higher intelligence rate then their mother but their other half downplayed it often.
Katie herself being more self-aware couldn't help but feel connected to the Eloi as well despite the fact she enjoyed being with Shadow. On many occasions she felt that deep fear that most Eloi had when approached by the ugly Morlocks.
The Eloi blood in them seemed to very dominate in genetics as all of George's children looked nothing like him. You could throw them in the crowd of the gentle people and never be able to point them out if in the proper clothing. It was only their higher intelligence that made them more distinguishable.
Being that older age now Katie found herself constantly courted by the Eloi males. She had no interest in them as they wanted to start no lasting relationship with her. They would only approach her out of nowhere and start to wrap their arms around her and attempt to kiss. It was their way of saying "hey lets have sex."
"Can Shadow come inside now since we're finished?" Katie asked after pulling herself out of one of her daydreams. "Wanted to read stories with him."
"Not tonight now Katie. Since the nights come earlier now in this season the Morlocks are closer then usual."
Katie wanted to protest on what that had anything to do Shadow but figured this was going to be a loosing battle anyways. Little did she realize that Shadow was already wandering around the porches of the house, wishing he could find a way to climb inside and see his friend that way. Some of the Eloi, as usual, followed his heels. An injured female was rolling on the ground nearby in agony. Her tiny body writhed about in pain. She had fallen from the tree beside her and shattered both her legs. Shadow snorted and stared at her in a tense posture. There were those feelings again.
The tame Morlock came closer and sniffed at the puddle of blood smeared across the grass. His nostrils flared and his parted his lips to lap it up. The taste of the minerals in the blood brought pleasure to him. The hair along his back and shoulders flared out as he purred softly beneath his breath.
Red came over him as he found himself sinking his teeth into the Eloi's neck and shaking her small figure about like mad. Before he was even finished the other blonde's moving fast around him triggered another deep feeling inside of him. He suddenly shot out after them in a fit of raging roars and fell one by one till the yard was covered in bloody bodies.
George and Jones heard the commotion and charged outside with a shotgun. A misaimed shot brought down an Eloi instead of the Morlock. Shadow snapped out of his red trance when the shot came close to range near him. He halted and drew down to the ground and pleaded forgiveness.
"It was bloody Shadow!" George roared. "What the hell do you think you are doing to the Eloi?!" He pointed at the carpet of dead bodies beneath him.
Shadow lowered his head as he felt himself being clouted over the head with a horse whip. George grabbed him by the hair on his head and dragged him to the lab. Jones followed closely behind him.
"Lock him up Jones. I can't have him doing mass murders! My own people!" George snarled and left. Shadow had sunk down whimpering with his head hiding under his hairy arms. Blood was splattered across his face and hands from his victims.
"I am sorry Shadow but why did you do such an awful thing? You should know better." Jones asked calmly, giving him a towel.
"I-didn't-mean-to!-There-was-some-sick-Eloi-that-was-bleeding-everywhere-and-I-just-smelt-the-blood-and-it-was-nice." He pressed his nose into the damp towel and inhaled deeply. "They-tasted-very-nicely."
"Stop talking like that Shadow." Warned Jones, feeling disturbed by his dark behavior. "Stay away from the Eloi at all costs Shadow or next time I won't miss with the gun."
Shadow's jaw dropped and he gasped. "What-do-you-mean-by-that?"
Jones rubbed his hand against his damp forehead and sighed. "We can't have you endangering the family Shadow. If you are eager enough to kill Eloi you are just as eager to kill George's family."
"Never!" Shadow shook his head and cried. "I-never-hurt-my-own-friends!"
"I am sorry Shadow but this is for the best." He locked cuffs around the Morlocks hands and kept him closed up in another unit. The Morlock sunk down on his bottom and cried out loud in hope it will soften Jones's heart enough to let him back out. Sadly to no avail, Jones turned away and didn't heed to his pitiful cries.
The lab was heavy with the scent of other Morlocks and medical supplies. Shadow whimpered and rocked back and forth on his fabric bedding. His silent companion from across the room snarled at him. Mog was still confined to his cramped unit and not doing so well. He stared wild-eyed and fangs bared at Shadow.
"Shut up you fucking pet! Only a few minutes and you are already bitching your head off! Shut up you worthless hunk of hair! Undeserving of whatever balls you even have!" Mog whapped at the bars. Shadow bit his bottom lip hard and whimpered to himself.
"I don't want to live here anymore. I made my decision!" Shadow grunted in what Morlock tongue he knew. "The master never liked me and now I'm being locked up."
"For whatever reason I may ask? Did you piss on his bed sheets?" Mog sneered. "See I told you that master you beg for treats from is a Morlock killer."
"I killed some Eloi. I didn't mean too! I just had that feeling and I had to." Shadow wiped his eyes.
"It's bloodlust." Mog answered slyly. "All of our kind feel it because it is natural."
"It's natural to kill Eloi?" Shadow lifted his chin up.
"Of course it is! They are our food! Our life source! For centuries we have always been their masters! We have always feasted on the Eloi. It is how the world is." Mog snapped at him. "You did nothing wrong!"
Mog's defiant voice made Shadow's hair raise with confidence. "You are right. I won't stay here any longer! But what about Katie. I'm her only friend."
"Katie his daughter? So? Leave them all anyways. Better yet you should kill them and drink their blood." Mog gritted his teeth at the delicious thought.
"Never! I would never eat Katie! She's been my only friend ever." Shadow fell back against the wall. "I often wished I wasn't this horrid beast that I am now."
"You should be proud to be a Morlock." Mog snorted. "I hate that stupid band around your neck. It keeps repeating your words in their nasty sounds."
"I can turn it off." Shadow reached back and pushed a button. "There."
"Better. Keep it off if you want to live with Morlocks. Otherwise they will just think they have people stalking them." Mog leaned back against the bars. He closed his eyes and whispered to himself. "Oh I wish to see my mate."
"I wish I had a mate." Shadow answered him, being able to just barely hear his words.
Mog glared at him and dropped his head back to the ground for another pointless nap. "No way is any female ever going to accept you."
Meanwhile in the dining room, George and Jones sat discussing complicated issues over the ill-fitted family monster.
"I don't know what we are going to do with him." George wiped his mouth clean. "The only thing I can think of is to keep him locked up in his little hut."
"You think that will solve the issues?" Jones protested. "Think of him like this. Have you ever studied lions? Or perhaps tigers or other predators? It's all the same. Think of him as a lion then. You can't keep a pet lion on just canned dog food and rawhide chips."
"I know what you are talking about. But he's much smarter then any lion and should know better. You've told me they were intelligent creatures. You've taught Shadow to read and write and so much more."
"Yes but they have a much stronger prey-drive then any man does." Jones frowned deeply as he came to a conclusion. "He has the bloodlust now George. He's tasted Eloi. He's had a taste of blood and I know where this will lead to unfortunately."
"You mean he might attack us?" George's eyes widened.
"To my great dismay it's a good chance he might turn." Jones pulled the wine close and filled his glass to the brim. "Keeping him locked up and refusing his instinct to hunt will make it much worse I assure you."
"Well I don't know what to do Jones. Really I don't. I know keeping him locked up will be just cruel for him." George sighed and decided it was best to retire for tonight. "Let's discuss this again tomorrow and see what has to be done."
Shadow and Mog sat brooding inside their units. Both being not very tired resorted to preening knots out from their hair. Jones had came back and opened up Shadow's cage.
"I trust you won't hurt anymore Eloi, correct?" Jones asked sternly. "I want you to go and work the horses now. George wants to go out for a ride with Weena tomorrow."
"Thank-you! Yes-I-will-get-right-to-it." Shadow clapped his hands and ran off outside.
Naturally Shadow did a lot of the work around the place. The family kept a few cows, chickens, horses and sheep for their own personal use. It was his job to tend to their feeding and cleaning and slaughtering. The horses George obtained from the past with a special large time machine similar to his original. His lovely wife, Weena, enjoyed the animals. The machine was big enough to carry large items. The horses had been transported already trained and finished. Shadow, being a curious learner, learned much from the books Jones gave him to learn about them. He worked them weekly through their steps to keep them fresh for the family to ride for fun.
There were five horses in all. A handsome black dressage stallion that was reserved for George to ride. There was two smaller, older ponies that the kids and Weena would ride on. Next was a lanky chestnut gelding that sometimes Jones would ride on. Last was Ugly, a cumbersome Percheron draft cross gelding that had no other real purpose then be a complicated piece of flesh for Shadow.
Ugly soon became Shadow's own personal ride if the draft would put up with it long enough. All of the horses feared him naturally because he was a predator and reeked of it. Shadow made it clear to Ugly that he was going to have to trust him if nobody else. He lead him in a round pen and stayed with him all night. He had repeated this every night for the rest of the month till Ugly finally accepted him. Often during the night he would take the coarse gelding out for a night ride.
"Damned Showfer quit acting like a dick." Shadow grumbled as he rode the black stallion around in the small arena. "If you buck the master off he will kick my ass and not yours."
Katie appeared at the side of the fence and watched him. "He's always so stubborn. Dad likes his fiery temperament though."
"Fiery pain in the bloody ass." Shadow snorted and pulled the reins around tighter. "Okay I've worked him for a good hour now." He halted the fidgety stallion and leapt off. "One of these loathsome nights you will find a pair of shears in between your legs."
"Why don't we go out for a ride." Katie leaned against the fence. "I feel like going for a gallop."
"During the night? Are you crazy? Plus your dad is going for a ride tomorrow with your mother. You could go with them." Shadow led Showfer back into the barn.
"I feel like riding now. You haven't worked Ugly yet have you?" Katie followed beside him.
"No I haven't." He sighed. "Okay a quick ride. Your dad won't be happy at all though that we are riding out in the night. He doesn't care if I do but you?"
"I can do what I want." Katie winked and opened up one of the pony's stalls. "Gonna take Sugar-cube. I like her more then Cucumber. He's just too spooky at everything."
The two trotted out of the barn on top of their steeds. For kicks Katie did circles around the front yard while hooping and hollering. Jones peered outside and rolled his eyes when he was the rowdy couple on their wild-eyed mounts.
Shadow and Katie cantered next to each other through the clearings that formed a maze around the great forests of fruits and flowers. Shadow breathed a great sigh of relief to be out in the opening. He pulled his mount around and faced Katie.
"Hello there shortie. No matter what I always tower over your midget ass." He chuckled.
"Well I'm much faster then you any day. Take that you both big plodders." She sprinted her pony around him and backed into the gelding.
"Hey, hey now no shoving. You know how Ugly is about being bumped about." He raised his brow at Katie and licked his lips. "You also know how he likes your mare's ass."
"Oh jeez you sicko." She pulled her tiny pony away and shivered. "I feel something is wrong."
"What do you mean?" Shadow's hair raised. "I admit I'm having that feeling too."
"Let's go over that hill. At least it's more in the open." She turned her mount around.
Shadow silently followed after her and squinted at the half-moon. He dismounted and laid down on the grass. Katie led her pony towards a tree and tied it up to a branch. She grabbed a few flower berries and laid down next to Shadow. The breeze felt like a gentle caress across her cheek.
There was a sudden abnormal moan and a ruffle of the bushes nearby. Katie lifted her torso off the ground and stared wide-eyed into the dark woods. Shadow peered over her shoulder with the same wild-eyed expression. The pony was gone and only the reins dangled from the crooked branch. The both of them leapt off the grass and hopped on the terrified Ugly, flying back home as fast as they could.
"What do you mean the pony is gone? You go out without my permission and you are already missing one of the horses?" George clenched his fists as he scolded Katie and Shadow. "You probably didn't tie up the pony correctly. We'll have to go out and find it now before something else does."
The last sentence brought a cold chill down Katie's back. She didn't feel like going outside anymore.