This is another story I created based on a "give a premise to this title " post on Reddit. Just like Don't Eat The Jellybeans, the title was originally thought of by Ok-War-1459, I just came up with the story in the comments.
This story takes place on Valentine's Day. As can be expected, lots of people are kissing, making out, etc, including students at the middle school the protagonists attends. But unknownst to the townspeople, aliens have infected the people with a virus triggered by physical contact (,ie kissing, hand-holding, sex) which causes them to mutate into horrifying creatures: blob monsters vampires, zombies, etc. The only one not affected is our asexual protagonist, immune to the effects of love or the virus, who must track down the alien mothership, confront the aliens, and find a cure. Will they succeed in time, before the entire town, or the rest of the world, is turned?
Goosebumps belongs to R.L. Stine and Scholastic. I only own THIS story and THESE characters.
Chapter 1
It was Valentine's Day, and as usual Cronenberg Middle School was having its annual Valentine's Day party. The school went all out to celebrate EVERY holiday: Valentine's Day, Easter, St Patrick's Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Every year they decorated the school with the appropriate colors, decorations, murals, and held pagents.
Since it was Valentine's Day, of course, the theme today was red: red streamers hung from the ceiling, red paper hearts decorated the walls and windows, little cupids were painted on some windows and lockers. Kids stood trading Valentine cards and candies and flowers. Some were even kissing openly. The school, luckily, was lenient about public displays of affection.
Dashiell Fleming, known to his friends as Dash, was one of the very few not participating. Not only because he didn't have a significant other, but didn't care for one either. It wasn't because nobody wanted him. He was rather good-looking, and he knew it: brownish-blonde hair, grey-green eyes, perfect facial features, and an athletic build, with muscular arms and legs. He played on the boys soccer team.
No, Dash didn't participate in these things because he just didn't FEEL much affection, romantic or otherwise. He didn't get horny, like most 12 year old boys,or go crazy over hot girls, which the school had plenty of. His best friend Jay was horny enough for BOTH of them.
Dash had wondered why he had little to no interest in anything romantic or sexual until he'd looked it up, and found about asexuality. Then it clicked. He was asexual, and possibly aromantic.
As could be expected, most of his friends didn't understand asexuality, and either asked him the usual annoying questions, like "do you still masturbate?", or "So you'll NEVER have a girlfriend/wife?", or treated him like some special ed child.
Luckily he'd found an online chat group for other asexual people, both kids his age and older. Chatting with other aro/ace people made him feel a bit better, a bit more normal.
Anyway, when the day started, Dash was standing in the hall by his locker, watching the other kids going V-Day crazy. First period was just about to start. He was beginning to zone out, tired of all this sappy, lovey-dovey drivel, when he heard something that DID catch his attention, something that sounded, mercifully, non-Valentines related.
"So, nobody else saw it. It just passed over the Air Force base outside of town, where my uncle works. They tried everything they could to pick it up on radar, tried all channels to contact it. Nothing. Whatever it was, my uncle said, it was HUGE, but it just vanished. And get this: around the same time, all the local radio stations started messing up, like something was disrupting the signal. " The speaker was Brock Hutchins, who was in a few of Dash's classes.
"Yeah I heard about that. My parents listen to the radio at night, it helps them sleep. It kept messing up, they tried all the different local stations, all of them came up static. My dad even called the radio station, they said it was happening everywhere. " The other speaker was Preston Tucker, another kid from class.
Curious, Dash walked up to them. "Hey, what you guys talking about?", he asked.
Brock turned to him. "You didn't hear? The Air Force spotted a strange aircraft in the sky over town. It was HUGE, about the size of this building!! There was lots of clouds, cause of the storms and stuff, but they saw it. Lots of lights, really bright. They tried every frequency, trying to radio the ship, but no response. When they sent out a couple of jets to intercept, it just vanished, into the clouds. It was gone. But some campers said they saw a big aircraft over the trees in the woods, close to the radio tower. People think that's why the local stations aren't working. They think it interfered somehow. My uncle works at the Air Force base, he said enemy planes can jam radio signals, but this definitely wasn't a plane. Everybody's talking, and they think..."
"They think it was ALIENS!!!", Preston finished.
Dash waited for them to laugh, to say "just kidding ", but they stared at him with serious expressions.
Dash forced HIMSELF not to laugh. Of course THEY would believe it. Brock and Preston were two of the biggest sci-fi nerds at the school, staying up to date on the latest science fiction movies and shows, playing Dungeons and Dragons, reading all those comic books, and even going to conventions. Unlike most kids who HATED building models and presentations for the school science fair, they actually ENJOYED it. Of course, Dash was too kind and well-brought up to call them nerds to their faces, and even occasionally enjoyed talking to them, if only because they didn't talk about girls or sex or any of that stuff. Usually.
"Come on guys. ALIENS?! Guys, I'm sure it was just a big drone, or maybe a new hovercraft. Maybe it came from another base in the next town. Besides, campers see weird things ALL the time. You spend too much time in the woods your mind plays tricks on you. Every year a camper or hiker claims to see Bigfoot. But none of it is ever true."
Brock and Preston stared at Dash as if HE was an alien. Dash was about to argue his case further when somebody pulled his shirt over his head from behind. Furiously, he spun around, fixing his shirt. He looked up to see his assailant. As he had guessed, it was his best friend, Jay Landry, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
"Gotcha", Jay laughed. Dash just rolled his eyes. Jay had been his best friend since kindergarten, and lived only a block away from him. Dash liked to spend his evenings at Jay's place, shooting baskets in front of the garage, or playing video games. It beat staying home with his annoying little brother, Jasper, or doing homework. Dash just wished Jay wasn't another hormone-driven tween like most of his other schoolmates.
Jay was the same age as Dash (12), and had jet-black hair, which he liked to style with a lot of hair gel, either wearing it spiky, or slicked straight down, like greasers in the 50s. He also had thick eyebrows, and really long eyelashes, and dark brown eyes. Adding to his bad boy greaser image, he was fond of wearing short-sleeved white shirts, and an oversized black leather jacket. He always had either a lollipop or toothpick between his teeth. Today it was a toothpick.
"What's up, Jay?", Dash finally asked.
Jay smiled. "Nothing much. These nerds telling you about the flying saucer? My dad's friends with those campers who said they saw it. What a load of bull. Nothing exciting ever happens HERE, especially aliens. "
Dash laughed. "Really. But at least it'd be cooler than seeing everybody here going Valentine's Day-crazy. Talk about disgusting. " He shook his head.
It might have been his imagination, but Dash thought Jay looked hurt. "You know, you should just try enjoying it. Even if you aren't ready to date, at least try APPRECIATING it. Lots of the girls here like you. I know for a fact a few of them even made you a card. Thora Westlake, for instance. "
Dash was surprised. He had to admit, Thora was cool, for a girl. She played on the soccer team too, and was also on the swim team. She was also a Straight-A student, from what he heard. She was definitely cool. And that's why he was surprised: she was too COOL to fall victim to something as lame as a sappy Valentine's card!!
As if reading his mind, Jay pointed behind Dash. He turned to see Thora herself standing by her locker, talking to two other girls. They were whispering and giggling. Thora turned and caught Dash looking. She smiled and waved, then turned back to her friends and said something he couldn't hear. They giggled again. Dash was pretty sure he felt his face turn red. He turned back to Jay, who shrugged.
"Go talk to her, dude. Just enjoy yourself. Me? I'm going to go chat up the Donnelly twins. I know they're always watching me on the basketball court."
Dash gagged as he watched Jay walk up to the sisters. The Donnelly twins: Two scrawny airheads who always wore way more makeup than any middle school girl should wear, and always had different highlights in their hair for every month. And of COURSE they watched Jay: they watched EVERYONE, they were the schools only cheerleaders!!!
Dash rolled his eyes, but walked over to talk to Thora. Seeing him coming, she waved goodbye to her friends, who walked off, still giggling about something.
"Hey Dash", Thora said, smiling. Dash had to admit, she WAS pretty. Thora was biracial: Black mother, white father. She was tall, about a head taller than him, with sleek dark hair in cornrows, and hazel eyes. Dash liked her smile: Always sort of crooked, like she tasted something sour, but was trying to act like she enjoyed it.
"Uhhh. Hey Thora. Um, Jay said you had a card for me?"
She pretended to look shocked. "Oh god, i could KICK him!! It was supposed to be a SURPRISE!!!"
Dash laughed. "Well you know Jay, he can't keep a secret. So, can i have it?"
Thora frowned. "Well... i kinda planned to give it to you later, at the end of the day. It's a really special card, not store-bought. I made it myself. I don't want anyone else to see. Come see me later, when school lets out, ok?"
Dash was about to ask what the big deal was, why she didn't want anyone else to see, why he couldn't just have the stupid card NOW, when a loud scream cut him off.
He looked over, and saw Eve Henley, a girl from his class, pull away from Karl Robinett, who she had just been kissing moments before. Karl stood in the middle of the hall, his body convulsing. Something was wrong. VERY wrong. His skin had turned bright red. His entire body, like he was covered in hives, or had been badly sunburned. As his skin became redder, his hair started to disappear, and suddenly he started to shrink. No, that's not it: more like SAG: his red skin appeared to melt, become fluid, liquid. His head disappeared into his sagging, liquefying body as his arms were sucked into the red gelatin that had been his body. His clothes fell off. Next second, Karl was gone. In the spot sat a giant red blob of slime, which lurched toward the shocked crowd of students.
"OH MY GOD!!!!", screamed Thora. "WHAT THE HELL??!!!"
As she and Dash watched, the Karl-blob reached out with slimy tentacle-like arms and grabbed the legs of a fleeing student. The boy fell down, and was dragged across the floor. Several other kids rushed to grab him and pull him back. But the blob formerly known as Karl was surprisingly strong: they too were pulled off their feet as the monster tugged the helpless student.
Meanwhile Eve, who had stood watching, stood frozen in place. Her face was blank. Was she in shock?
Thora turned Dash. "Help him!!! I'm going to check on Eve!!"
Dash nodded. "Got ya!!"
He rushed forward, running past the blob monster, and joined the other students in the tug-of-war with the slimy creature. The boy was screaming, crying. Dash grabbed hold of both of his arms. As one, Dash and the others pulled his upper and lower arms as the blob pulled his legs. Dash was pretty sure he heard a bone pop. He just hoped they didn't pull his arms off...
Finally, the gelatinous tentacles released the boys legs, and he and Dash and the others went sprawling into a heap as the blob monster retracted its tentacles. As Dash watched,the monster appeared to melt, became smaller,till it was a mere puddle of red. Like a puddle of blood, Dash thought. The puddle moved along the floor till it reached the doors of the cafeteria and slid under, probably in search of new prey.
Dash turned to the boy he'd rescued. "You ok?", he asked. The boy nodded. "Yeah, i think so. Thanks. Ow, my arm. I think it's dislocated. "
Dash was fixing to tell him to go to the nurse when he heard Thora scream. He looked up. He gasped in shock: Eve had grabbed her by the throat, and, as Thora struggled to pull her off, was moving her face as she tried to bite her.
"THORA!!!", he yelled. He jumped up and ran forward. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw students running, pushing each other to get out of the way. The hall filled with screams.
He reached Thora and Eve just as Thora managed to push her off. Dash looked at Eve in shock. Her eyes, only moments earlier filled with shock as she watched Karl transform, were now completely white and lifeless. Her skin had turned a strange shade of grey. She lurched toward Dash and Thora slowly, with an awkward gait.
"BRAINS!!! MUST. FEED!!!", she rasped.
Thora backed up, her eyes wide. "EVE!!! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?!! WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??!"
Dash looked over and saw Jay running down the hall, the Donnelly twins chasing him. Their eyes had turned black, and, as they chased him, screaming, he saw they now had fangs. FANGS!!
"HELP ME!!!!", Jay screamed.
As Jay ran towards them, Dash pulled Thora out of the way as Eve lunged at her again. Eve staggered and slammed into the lockers, her head smashing into a dial. She staggered again before collapsing. Dash pulled Thora with him down the hall before she could get up.
Jay reached them, gasping. He pointed at the twins, trying to grab the running students. "I...they... tried to... WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!!!"
Dash tried to answer, but was cut off as he heard another scream, this time an ADULT scream.
He looked, and saw Mr Weiss, the janitor, on the floor. Several students, their skin the same ash-grey color as Eve's, holding him down. As they watched in horror, one of them grabbed his arm and bit. Blood gushed from the wound as Mr Weiss screamed again. Another bent down and bit into his chest. Blood gushed out and spattered the Valentine's Day displays on the wall, covering the hearts and cupids in blood. His cries of agony and terror were cut off as yet another sank her teeth into his throat. Mr Weiss thrashed on the ground for a couple seconds, then lay still, as the zombies-formerly Dash's schoolmates-continued biting and feasting.
Dash looked at Jay and Thora. Thora had her hand over her mouth. He heard her gag. Jay's eyes were wide with shock.
"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON, DUDE?!!", Jay screamed.
They looked around the halls, from left to right, looking for a way out. More and more kids had changed. Some into blob monsters like Karl, only different colors: some blue, some green. some yellow. All reaching out with slimy tentacles, trying to grab victims. Others had turned into more zombies, others into vampires like the Donnelly twins, while others had grown green, scaly skin, and were crawling on the walls and ceiling, sticking out long tongues. The students not mutated ran into the classrooms or auditorium or gym, all screaming.
"WE'VE GOTTA GET OUTTA HERE!!!", Thora cried.
Dash nodded. "The gym is closest. We can run in there and block the door with the benches. They move. Let's go!!"
They ran to the gym door. Dash looked back. The boy he'd helped rescue, and the students who helped were cornered by the Donnelly twins and Eve. They were advancing slowly.
"Look at us. Don't you want to KISS us?", asked Tricia Donnelly, standing inches from the boy, fixing him with her evil stare. "It's ok, just a kiss. You KNOW you want to."
"Yesss", hissed Rose Donnelly. " Just one kiss. We won't bite. Too hard. It won't even hurt. Then you'll be like us."
Dash looked at Jay and Thora. " We gotta help them first!!"
Jay groaned. " I KNEW you were going to say that!!"
Thora pointed to the fire extinguisher on the wall. "You guys distract them, I'll spray it and cover our escape!!"
Dash and Jay ran forward as Thora grabbed the fire extinguisher. Dash shouted: " HEY!!! Forget them, bite US!! Eat US!!!"
Eve and the Donnelly twins turned to Jay and Dash. Eve growled and took a menacing step. "MUST. EAT. SO. HUNGRY.", she rasped.
Rose Donnelly licked her lips, her fangs glistening. "Yes. You.", she pointed at Dash. "So strong. Your blood will be DELICIOUS. Come to me.". She looked at him with her black eyes. Dash thought he saw them start to sparkle red, as if a fire had lit behind her eyes. He couldn't look away. He was starting to feel so tired. So sleepy...
Suddenly Thora rushed forward. She pulled the handle of the fire extinguisher, and a jet of foam burst out, hitting Eve and the Donnelly twins. The twins shrieked as the wave of foam knocked them back. The area around them became a fog of heavy white particles, as if a snowstorm had struck the hallway. He started to cough as the foam reached his nose and mouth.
"COME ON!!! Everybody, run!!!", Thora screamed as she sprayed again.
The kids the monsters had trapped ran forward, through the white foamy veil. The boy he'd helped earlier still clutched his wounded arm. Dash put a hand on his shoulder, guiding him forward.
Thora sprayed one final blast from the extinguisher, then threw it. One of the Donnelly twins shrieked, but whether from the canister hitting her, or losing her prey, Dash didn't know, or care.
They reached the door of the gym, and Dash opened the door. "EVERYBODY IN!!!", he yelled. The kids he'd saved rushed in, followed by Jay, then Thora. Just before closing the door, he took one last look at the hall. One of the blob monsters, a fat purple one, had grabbed Ms Addison, the math teacher, with its tentacles. She twisted and thrashed, struggling helplessly. She screamed for help, but another tentacle wrapped itself around her mouth, her face. She fell to the floor, struggling helplessly, silently, till she finally lost consciousness. Then the blob pulled her forward, and he watched in terror as she disappeared into the gelatinous creature. First her head, then her shoulders. Her torso. Her legs. Then her feet. In seconds, she was gone. Dash thought he saw the blobs color turn darker, and its form grow larger, as it digested its meal. Dash felt his stomach churn. He felt nauseaus...
"DASH!!! Close the door and HELP me!!!". Thora's voice snapped him back to reality. He turned. Thora had grabbed one of the benches. Jay stood next to her, along with the kids they'd saved in the hall. He was surprised to see Brock and Preston standing in the back of the room He hadn't seen them run in.
He ran forward and grabbed one end of the bench. Together, they started guiding it to the door. The bench made an earsplitting racket as it slid against the floor. It was heavier than it looked. Brock and Preston rushed forward and grabbed a hold too, and finally they reached the door just as something crashed against it. They almost lost a hold of the bench as the door tried to swing open, as whatever was trying to force its way in continued its assault.
"KEEP PUSHING!!!", Thora cried. "Jay, Dash, keep holding it in place!! We'll grab something heavy to put on top!!!"
She rushed off, joined by a couple of the other kids. Dash, Jay, Preston and Brock kept pushing the steel bench with all their might, as the monster on the other side kept slamming against it, trying to force its way in. Dash heard growls and monstrous screams from the other side.
Finally Thora and the others returned, their arms full. Dash looked. Each held several brown bulky bags. Judging by Thora's expression, they were heavy.
"What is that?", he asked.
"Salt.", she said. "Remember, Mr Weiss used to salt the driveway in winter so the buses and cars wouldn't slide. These bags are really heavy. If we put them on the bench, all over, it should hold."
Dash felt his stomach churn again at the mention of Mr Weiss. Remembering his screams, his blood spilling in the hall, splattering the walls as the zombie kids had chewed into him like a Thanksgiving meal.
He nodded. "Try it!!".
Thora and the others placed the bags on the bench, laying them all over, on every seat. When they were done, she rushed back to the equipment closet and came back with a couple more.
Finally, they let go of the bench. The monsters on the other side kept pushing and slamming against the door, but the bench held steady, the heavy bags of salt staying in place, keeping the bench from toppling over or pushed aside.
He looked at the others. Including himself, Jay, Thora, Brock and Preston, and the kids from the hall, there were only 8 people in this room. Not much of army if the monsters found another way to break in.
"Now what?", he asked.
End of chapter 1
So what do ya'll think so far?
A few things: i decided to name the school Cronenberg after the Rick and Morty episode Rick Potion No. 9. Since both this story and that episode features students being transformed into monsters, and since the monsters in that episode were referred to as "Cronenbergs", i felt it fitting.
Atm, i don't yet know what kind of romance or sexual stuff/nudity will happen. If you've read my Werewolf Skin story you know i have no qualms about doing sexual stuff with underage characters, cause i know lots of readers, at least of certain fandoms, like that stuff, but at the moment i don't know. Certainly the blob kids will be naked when/if they turn back to humans, but as for romance angles I'm still figuring that out. I wanted Dash to be asexual as both an acknowledgement for the asexual community, to show my support, as well as to show that he'd be immune to the mutation virus, since he wouldn't be kissing or doing other lovey stuff. YET. I mean, it's obvious Thora has the hots for him, but I'm not sure yet how that will play out. I'm open to suggestions. I love romance as much as i love action, horror and violence!!
Anyway, chapter 2 might take a while, I'm working on other stories, including my Werewolf Skin story. But i wanted to get at least the FIRST chapter of this one done BEFORE Valentine's Day, since it takes place ON Valentine's Day. But chapter 2 should be up AROUND V-Day, or after. I dunno yet,but rest assured it IS coming!!!
Anyway, thanks for reading, and I'll see ya'll soon(ish) in chapter 2!!!