Sunday, September 4, 2016

Bandages

When I was 13, my imaginary friend of childhood died by my hand. It was when I learnt that he was really real.
When I was 14, I killed my father in anger after he got drunk one night and hit me with the glass bottle. I kinda felt sad I did but I have since had no regrets the week after.
When I was just 15, my mother left. I think she knew. I’m glad I didn’t have to hurt her. She loved me too much and understood me, kinda.
When I was 16, I found out that my blood was like acid to the living. One drop could burn a hole in someone. Their own blood would not go near it. It’d sizzled near the drop. 
I had to be careful about myself. It’s dangerous to even spill just a drop. But, I did have those accidents where I killed those that didn’t need to die. Or worse. I didn’t want someone to try and do first aid on me.
Now, I wrap myself in bandages, to try and stem any blood I may start to spill. I also used to wear a mask. Used to.
Next thing I knew, it became my face. I can’t take it off, and my expression is shown on the mask. I probably lost my skin and adopted the bandages. I don’t try to see if I can take it off. I don’t have my skin melt off from my blood, but if I can forget long enough, I don’t have to think and then worry about it. But then after a while, I wonder about it. I mean, first the mask, why not the bandages?
It works, sorta. I haven’t killed anything yet and it’s been years. Well, except for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 
Having left home a week after my mum ran, I haven’t had a haircut since. It’s been 10 years. My black hair looks ridiculous dragging behind me, but living in the mountains, I kinda only have rocks to cut them with. I tried. It hurts. They even absorb the blood, which is kinda gross.
Yet, I’ve managed to adapt to this new life. It’s hard. But I know there are others like me out there. I saw one just before. A white mask wearing kid that makes me feel uneasy. Makes my skin crawl... I think it’s my skin and not the bandages. I don’t try and think about it.
But I could tell he was scared. He avoided me and my little camp.
I left food in the open a fair way away from the camp, suspended in a way that he may hopefully reach or manage to get down while still out of reach by nature.
One day, we’ll band together. I have that feeling... I like the thought and it make my masked face smile. Then I stop because I still miss having a normal face. Or is this normal and “normal” humans are in fact, the monsters?

There is a monster after me. I see him sometimes, looking down from a long ways above me, be it tree or rock. A plague doctor.
Am I his patient? Or his experiment? And how do I know he’s related to this?

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Project D.E.A.D.

~Introduction~

          I slammed urgently through the ornate, wooden doors, using all my might to do my usual business without being noticed by the paparazzi waiting for me outside my workplace, but to no avail. The camera shutters clicked rapidly, the bright, silver lights annoyingly flashing in my eyes, blinding me and leaving a temporary footprint on my vision. I was struggling to break free from the crowd that had concealed me entirely, pushing away the microphones they had shoved forcefully in my face.

           I had noticed how unbelievably calm and content I was acting, even in spite of the Hellish task that lay ahead for me. I felt like I was about to play God and be rewarded for it, and that’s not a fun thought to have, especially when you’re about to make the biggest scientific breakthrough in history.

         Our task was simple: We were going to implant a vitreo-neuron enabler, that allowed us to view everything a person sees through a computer monitor, into the heads of three young adults. It took eighty-three years to perfect this device since the idea was recommended by Stephen Hawking in 2022, and after several prototypes were used on animals, I was going to be one of the first scientists to use it on a human being.

         And what I was going to use it for… It turned my stomach inside out, like someone had given me a huge blow. The nervousness stirred inside me. I felt depressed. I felt sick. I felt like someone had just discovered a huge secret about me that I’d intended to keep for years, and the rumor was spreading like wildfire. I could NOT do what I was assigned to do.

        We were going to see what happens when people die.

~Part One~

        I creaked open the door slightly, peering over to the side, where the audience sat, before abruptly stepping in and walking to my seat. The medical theatre was exponentially large, dark and brooding, as I had thought it would be. A single hoverlight lit up the room over the podium where the person who started Project D.E.A.D, Mr. Conoway, would be presenting and answering questions at the end of the experiment once the results were given.

       I was very late, but that wasn’t what was on my mind. The theatre was more full than I’ve seen it ever before. The seats were all dotted with scientists, medical doctors, and news reporters from around the entire Earth, all converging on one small town in Great Britain. At first glance, I was very happy with the amount of people present and accounted for, until my heart sank to the lowest pit of despair it had ever reached, when I noticed the “special guests” I was frequently warned about: The Ethics Committee. What we were about to do was apparently deemed so unethical that they had unfortunately taken it upon themselves to attend this scientific study. This only added to the sickening, dreadful, impermissible feeling that had started just moments prior.

         Mr. Conoway was an old man of age 67, and was going gray at an alarming rate. He was very tall and skinny, yet he was always hunched over, probably due to him grabbing onto his cane that he seldom used for anything other than fashion. He was usually very nimble, happy, charming, and quick on his feet, yet today, something seemed a bit… Off… About him. He was exasperated, as if he had just run a mile-long race, and his tight brown suit was somewhat wrinkled. He was walking slower than usual, and he seemed rather irritated with something or rather. He had a look of desperation for help in his eyes, a sad, depressing look that I can’t shake off, even today. What he was sad about, I can only guess.

          He feebly, clumsily stepped up to the podium, clearing his throat in preparation for the speech that would be told to a million generations to come, “Greetings, my fellow scientists, doctorates, and variations thereupon. As you are all well aware of, we at Project Deceased Experimentation and Documentation, ironically abbreviated D.E.A.D, have gathered in this room to witness what we as humanity have mystified in awe over for millions of years. We will witness the truth as to what really happens when the mind is put to its final rest.

          “Theories over the millions upon millions of years in which humanity has existed have sprouted up on infinitely numerous occasions. Let it be known that it has been estimated that there are more theories about the afterlife than the amount of people living on the world today. Do we become ghosts, forced to roam the world we once knew as home forever and ever? Do we reincarnate into new bodies throughout time, with similar, or perhaps identical, souls and personalities? Do we ascend to Heaven, rewarded by the presence of God, or burn in the murderous pits of Hell for all eternity? Or are we granted with an empty, white void of blank nothingness, unable to think or perceive of anything ever again?

         “Whatever happens during the visionary test, I promise that it will thoroughly answer the age-old inquiry, with no dispute or denial. Thank you for joining us today, and please wait patiently as I assemble the materials for my life’s work. In the meantime, please watch and encourage the slide show ‘Concept to Reality’, telling the origin, inspiration, and story behind Project D.E.A.D, voiced over and put together by our very own Patrick Samuels of the LGM Department, Division 34.” Mr. Conoway stepped down from the precarious podium, almost tripping over his own two feet while doing so.

          The audience applauded powerfully and noisily, roaring and whistling for Conoway’s words of wisdom and true dedication. Behind the curtain, the leader of the experiment lurched a finger at both Patrick and I, as we made our way to the black curtains, and behind the massive stage.

           “Well done, sir! That was great, absolutely spectacular!” Patrick congratulated Mr. Conoway. But the man didn’t say a word. It’s not at all like him to ignore his star pupil, not at ALL. What was up with him today? He walked, tired and confused, towards a crate, sitting on top of it to retain his balance. He took out a handkerchief, from his coat pocket, and wiped the glistening pool of sweat off his brow, quietly sobbing to himself. That’s when it finally clicked: Something was wrong, more terrible than I could’ve ever imagined.

~Part Two~

           After the last slide had finished being projected over the silky, black curtain, we had managed to calm down Mr. Conoway enough to get him back onstage. We got nothing out of him as to why he was acting hysterical, and even as I type this, I get chills brushing against my spine thinking about who, or what, could have made him break down into a such a fetal state. The whole project seemed to be riddled with bad luck. First, Stephen Hawking died shortly after imagining the original idea. Then, several prototypes of the experiment imploded, killing all scientists in reach of the test subjects. And now the person who finally got it working, who reimagined a rather old idea that people never thought possible, becomes unusually depressed, right when the experiment is put into effect?

           Regardless, the experiment I’d been working on for ten years was finally going to begin, and better still, in front of the largest scientific committee I’ve ever seen, and that was enough to put a large, ecstatic grin on my now darkened face. The three young subjects, who volunteered for the experiment due to health issues beyond their control, stood, fixed on either side of the podium. I still feel terrible for allowing them to participate in this strange and fatal operation. Even if it was their own decision, I felt sickened by the thought of three children in their twenties getting murdered for some brute science cadaver. The fearfulness and terror that showed in their eyes could have driven me to tears, had Mr. Conoway’s second utterance not have begun .

         “Hello, all. I hope you enjoyed the slideshow as much as Patrick did making it,” Several nervous chuckles echoed off the walls of the circular theatre. The seemed just about as distraught and terrified as the ones who were about to get murdered on stage. As the dry laughter died down, Mr. Conoway continued on,” As you can plainly examine, beside me are three young adults on either side of the dais.

           “The woman on the right is a Muslim, the man on the left is a Christian, and the second woman east of the man is an Atheist. As you have probably inferred, the difference in religious preference is to make sure that the outcome is the exact same for all beliefs. The subjects in question will be given an electrical shock that will theoretically, and hopefully, be wholly painless, but will be proven deadly when reaching the cerebral cortex. We will begin once they have donned on their headgear and lie on the silver stretcher provided.”

          All three subjects slowly and frightfully put on the collinderlike helmets, which were laced with several different branches of wire and machinery, leading to the 67-foot contraption hidden under a tarp that we had been diligently working on for years. The blank stare of terror and disbelief made a small amount of vomit creep up my throat. We were going to take the lives of three pedestrians so that we may act like Gods. I was condoning a murder, and if there was a Hell, I was sure that I would be the one to occupy it.

          Mr. Conoway limped tiredly toward the pumping, impaling hidden machine, and flicked the switch labeled “ON” overb the exterior of the tarp. It felt as though a frog was going to crawl out of my throat, and hop away frantically. My mind was a hazy gray mixture of disgust and dread as I heard the words emerge from Mr. Conoway’s quivering lips: “Patrick, my good man, please project the image onto the curtain.” He said it with such confidence and meaning that I couldn’t help but trust him, mindless to the theoretical hypnosis he had put me under.

         The hoverlight dimmed, giving off a creeping grayish tint, as the room was ecstatically brightened with blue, dancing sparks, branching, swirling, crackling with small bursts of electrical currents flying in the air, giving a wonderful sight for the audience to observe. The room was entrenched once again in a flurry of subtle brightness, as the perspective of the three patients zapped onto the black drapes with finesse. The show was about to begin.

~Part Three~

          The professor primed the machine, circling around the levers and buttons, and a slow, electrical buzz rang in our ears. That can’t be right, I thought to myself. The machine is supposed to be silent, save for the light sparks, and the occasional clang of pipes and wires. It shouldn’t buzz at all. Just then, with a sudden jolt of mind-shattering electricity zapping across the wires, I flew myself back, gasping in shock. Sparks were exploding, crashing, zapping, spreading out in every direction possible, reaching all the way up to the 129-foot ceiling of the humungous auditorium. I fell out of my chair, struggling to get back up, as my heart was about to emerge from my chest.

        The current was wisping around the room, circling the walls, lining every inch of the floor with blue, radioactive elegance. The current zipped past my feet, swirling on the hard ground towards a middle-aged man in a doctor’s cloak. The sudden boom of angry sparks caught up to the unfortunate soul, climbing his thin posture and wrapping itself around his head. He disturbingly wailed as his face was scorched to a near unwatchable state. He had fallen to the floor, as the gleaming killer creeped back onto the ground, searching for the next victim of its abhorrence. He was stone dead. And Mr.
Conoway let out a maniacal, raspy, insane laugh.

        I got back up on my wobbly feet, as the oxygen was drained from every corner of the room, only to blow back into us forcefully, as if the room had developed a respiratory system. People were frantically running about, dancing around the glowing slayers that were now targeting them, screaming violently, tripping over one another as they shoved at each other to move towards the door. I sprinted towards the metal exit, as the discord continued on behind my back. But the outbreak of brute insanity was only fueled when I had found that the door was locked. Wind, electrical static, and barbaric shrieks were the only things I could hear, as papers and notes blew about, scattering across the room randomly. I frantically spun around, and I saw it… everyone in the midst of the strange, deadly debacle missed the worst part, the most hideous, heinous sight that came out of this failed experiment from the depths of Hell.

        Being projected onto the backstage wall, where the curtain used to hang, but since then fell lightly onto a nearby stage prop, were the perspectives of the three victims that had caused this mess. But each perspective didn’t show what they were observing at the time, no. What was being displayed, clear as day, yet no one turning a blind eye at it, was a message, spoken throughout the ages, a message that creeped into my soul, and left a regrettably permanent impression. The message disgusted me, and wrenched my stomach with heavy force, starving me of all things good and righteous. The twisted message...

            “THOU SHALT NOT MAKE UNTO THEE ANY GRAVEN IMAGE.”

       I understood now, why this lawlessness had taken effect. Why every attempt at building the machine to peek into the afterlife had gone faulty. And right then it had blatantly come to mind, while eyeing that single, deep heeding: This message had made its way into my timeline on countless occasions, no effort given to hide it from my unsuspecting eyes. It was engraven on my doormat, written on an envelope in my mailbox, chipped and carved into an ancient stone tablet I had seen on my sabbatical to Egypt. This message was meant for me, and me alone.

          And almost instantaneously, after my horrifying realization, the text flickered away, in the manor of a dying luminescent light bulb, and out of the shadows of my mind, I bore witness to a face manifesting on the wall, a terrible, deformed, ungodly figure, hunched over into a slouched, depressing position. It was enrobed in a ripped, bloodstained hooded coat. It shined brightly through its gas masked visor, and the menacingly slithered into my soul, surveying my purposeless essence with its clouded, lightless glass voids. It had entrailed inside me, merging my small, pathetic mind with its divine glory. I could understand everything, all that once was, all that will be. While it was linking me into its collection of death, I as well could observe its intentions, and its lengthy, disturbing timeline. And thereupon, I had the answer. The answer I was looking for all my life. The answer I had dreamed of finding.

      The answer to life after death. We must embrace it.

      When you pass on, it wraps its arms around you. It takes you in. And you are a part of it. The stiffs, the ones on the other side. The ones who kill, the ones who hate, the ones who steal. They are clasped in its grace, screaming, writhing, descending, all their souls sucked into a single enigmatic, gas masked demon, forced to control its every movement…

        The figure in front of me, embracing my aura, was not a figure at all. It was more than a location, more than an entity, more than an embodiment...

        It was Hell.

        It nasally took in slow, meticulous breathes through a disc-like filter infuzed onto its pail, leathery face. I stared into it, and it stared back into me. And then I saw, that its deep, shaking breathes were causing the air to move as if it were breathing. It was the source of everything that had happened that worrisome day. And It shined with delight, pulling out a small, silver dagger from it’s coat pocket. It was pleased. It was going to kill me.

       And then it released me. My throat was dry, with a stabbing, sharp pain sliding down my trachea. I vomited a vile black tar-like substance onto the ground, and collapsed heavily onto the earth, my arms weak, knowing I was without hope.

        But the air stopped blowing, and the figure disappeared from the screen, vanishing into the night.

       Hell was gone. And I smiled.

       The hoverlight flickered abruptly, and I was encircled in the comfort of brightness and warmth I felt I had forgotten so long ago. The locked doors clicked satisfyingly, and a wave of mentally scarred scientific officials spilled out into the vacant hallway. Some hadn’t left their seats, still praying to God in their tireless hopes of forgiveness. And after what had just occurred to me, all my faith in a good and just God had vanished completely.

       I still lay on the ground, unable to get up. The information I had previously explained about what I had learned was all I could retain. There was a tremendous amount of smarts I had been given, but the rest of the knowledge had left. I was free. I watched each and every scientist’s actions with my head tilted east and my head aching as it lay right where it had smacked onto. My heart was beating with a force I had not yet discovered, and the veins pumping through my arms were flowing not with blood, but with what seems like pure adrenaline. I was freezing cold, fixed in a twisted lying stature. I was about to drift off into a coma, when my eyelids shot up into the ceiling. I couldn’t be seeing this. This isn’t real. This isn’t god damn real. This is a dream. I couldn’t believe it. I watched, with fixed eyes onto the stage, as the three young adults rise up from their seats, looking dumbfounded and confused as to where they were. The weren’t dead.

       And they sauntered out, hands in pockets, as I drifted into the falling oblivion...

~Epilogue~

         “Wake up, Jaden.”

        I slightly opened my weak, wavering spectors. My brain felt as if it was mashed into a dripping pulp, and a piercing headache shot through my body. I lie on a cold, metal medical stretcher, as I was carried through the long, winding corridors, out the sliding doors, and to the familiar exterior of Lost Prophet Hospital, thoroughly packed to the brim with police cars, ambulances, firetrucks, and more, radios chattering on about the events I had just awoken from. The chaotic whizzing blair of noises, beeps, and sirens was almost too much to handle because of my splitting, painful headache, but after a few minutes of doctors saying repeatedly that it was a “damn shame”, I was finally ascended into a white medical van.

      And coming from behind the doctors was a man, sprinting ecstatically towards me. And the figure spoke in a voice that I dreaded to hear again, with the simple little phrase... “Hello there. My name is Mr. Conoway. This young man was my star student, and I would much rather ride to the emergency room with him, to keep him company through this awful experience.”

    And they let him in.

   “Alright, Ms. Jaden. We’re going to take you home now. I’m closing the doors. Mr. Conoway will keep you company while we drive.” The young, blonde, agile nurse in the long medical gown reassured me.

      The doors creaked shut, and alI of a sudden, I was alonewith Mr. Conoway. The night was a dark, engulfing nothingness, only illuminated by an unsteadily flickering hoverlight. I was still paralyzed, yet my head managed to turn towards the bulletproof, plexiglass window, to see the commotion ensue from the other side.

    And right in front of me, plain as day, I spectated something, the worst thing. A sight that haunts me, rips me into pieces, kills me, exhausts me of oxygen, a despicable, disgusting sight, worse than Hell itself.

     On the ground, twisted into an ungodly screaming position, was the figure sitting in the small blue chair next tome: Mr. Conoway’s body, lying face first in a pool of his own blood. Dead. Mutilated. Smiling.

      I snapped my neck towards the thing sitting in the van before me, still retaining the shape of Mr. Conoway. But for a split second, a small fraction of a fraction of a moment, I could make out several distinct features.

       A gas mask, a hoodie, a knife, everything bloodstained.

     “Looks like we’re going to have some fun tonight, aren’t we?!” Hell said, hoarsely cackling in a raspy, coughing chuckle. “Now, what shall we do to you tonight? Hmmm… Oh, I know!”

        Hell pulled out the same sharp knife I had seen on the screen
        andVGhlIERldmlsIFdlYXJzIGEgR2FzIE1hc2s=
EMBRACE THE ARCHANGEL.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Ossuary - Frame Story

"Captain!” the man, barely more than a boy shouted.

He'd climbed the rigging to about halfway up the mast, spyglass in hand. “There's an island on the horizon!” The captain, a man with salt in his skin and hair, 40 year sailing veteran, looked along his cadet's line of sight. He pulled out a much finer spyglass and sighted the dark blur on the blue horizon. His brow furrowed in confusion. They were in the middle of the Atlantic on their way to New York. There were no islands out here. He'd made this run more than 20 times, there'd been no island here a year ago.

“Mr. Arnold!” The Captain shouted. His first officer was beside him in under ten seconds. The huge man was dependable to a fault. “We've sighted an island that isn't on the map. In 5 hours we'll disembark on this island and do a survey. A midway port in the Atlantic would net us all a handsome bonus from White Star Line. Let the crew know after morning mess.”

Light was just beginning to brighten the sky. It would be at least an hour before the crew was up and working. But the captain was a man in love with the sea. When he was on dry land he felt small, limited, insignificant. One voice among thousands. Here on the open ocean he felt at peace. He was awake hours before his men every morning breathing in the salty air.

The island came into view far sooner than the Captain had believed. It was also much larger than he had first believed. Miles long and green as the shores of his mother's country. No, greener. As they moved closer he saw the lush greenery of the African Congo, not the clover hills of Ireland. The Captain checked their speed. The island was approaching far too quickly. Yes, the island is coming to us the Captain realized. He shook his head roughly. That was nonsense. Islands couldn't move. Perhaps he was getting old enough to retire as his wife had constantly nagged. He roused the crew to their posts well before the hour was up. The crew quickly got to their work and the big ship came to a halt about a quarter mile form shore, just soon enough to avoid running into too shallow water.

“Gentlemen, and whatever else is on this tub, this is an uncharted island.” the Captain's gruff booming voice hit the sleepy men like raw coffee beans. “Which means that if we chart it and report back we may be looking at a second payday from White Star. The loading crew will use the lifeboats to go ashore and begin a survey. Mr. Arnold!”

“Yes Captain.”

“You will lead the survey party. Make a rough sketch of the island and be back by sunset.” The man saluted and turned to gather the necessary crew members. “Oh, and Mr. Arnold. If you find anything valuable out there I encourage you to bring it back. We still have plenty of room for cargo.”

***

Two dozen sailors hacked their way through the thick vines and foliage. Most of them had never seen vegetation like that. It was like walking into a whole new world. The smell of the sea vanished after the first 50 yards replaced by a thick green smell. It was getting hotter the farther they got from shore. All 24 of them were sweating and grumbling after little more than an hour. Another hour passed without anything different coming into view. On the third hour they found a stone wall covered in creeping vines and various dark plants. “My brother would kill for a find like this.” Arnold muttered to himself.

His brother, an archeologist for the British Museum, had only brought back a few pots and relics in the last few years. And bored the shit out of his younger brother making him look at the books he'd written and the stuff he'd collected. Arnold the younger used his knife to clear away the plant life. There were some old illegible scratches on the lichen coated stone. Big blocky letters that look kind of like english. Atrocitus the sailor sounded out in his head. It had been a long time since Latin in Sunday school. He could sound it out but he had no idea what it meant.

“Oy!” One of the men yelled. “Have a look at this!” Mr. Arnold walked quickly to the voice and immediately recognized

“Good work.” Was all he could say. A huge opening in the stone structure yawned before him. The top of it had to be at least 50 feet tall. Based on the rubble around the entrance there had been stone decorations there at one point in time. The point in question being better than several centuries ago. Pieces of carved stone were littered all around the gateway. About 15 feet in the bright sunlight just disappeared. Like there was a point the light couldn't pass. “We're gonna need torches and a lot of rope.”

An hour later they'd fashioned a dozen torches and tied a few dozen ropy vines together. As it turns out, they needn't have bothered with the rope. The entire structure was just a single massive chamber. Statues, whole and undamaged were abundant inside. What they were statues of was up to interpretation. They didn't match any mythological or religious figures the sailors had ever seen. And they'd literally been around the world a few times. The figures weren't Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Obeah, Taoist, Shinto, or shamanistic. They were grotesque misshapen lumps of rock with unorthodox geometries. Never the less, they each possessed individual qualities that separated them from each other.

“Gents, we seem to have found some valuables.” Each statue had a coffin sized chest laying at the foot of it. The chests were made of some precious metal of a light pinkish hue. Mr. Arnold began organizing the men to carry the chests back to the ship along the trail they had blazed. The boxes were strangely light, maybe 50 lbs a piece. Working in pairs the men were able to take eight of the nine chests from the building. And they were happy to be gone. The place had a way of making cold settle into their bones. All alone Mr. Arnold's curiosity got the best of him.

“Guess I am just like my brother.”

He pulled his knife and started working the edges of the box to pry it open. The knife slipped in just the barest fraction of an inch. Black smoke gushed out of the coffin and Arnold got a lungful before he could pull back. It scorched his throat and lungs, made his eyes burn. He started coughing and couldn't stop. He coughed up a thick clear fluid, more and more with each cough. He was drowning on dry land, some black corner of his brain noted with a sense of irony. He wasn't getting enough air to cough up the fluid anymore. His head felt light and compressed at the same time, his chest burned fiercely and he could barely see through his teared up eyes. He tipped over and his head cracked against the unforgiving stone.

He died cold and alone with his last sight being the lid of the coffin opening to release more of the black smoke. It swirled around his corpse for a few moments before soaking into the body, now an empty shell. The corpse began to spasm and twitch. More clear fluid poured from it's mouth onto the stone. The last of the smoke disappeared into the dead flesh and the spasms stopped. The corpse stirred slowly, experimentally flexing digits and limbs. The former Mr. Arnold opened it's eyes to view it's prison. The metal box, once bound shut by the rites of a long dead people lay open. Inside were mere specks of dust where bone had once been. The boxes had succumb to the destroyer of all things, time. But so had the not-Arnold's previous physical form.

“A perfect vessel gone to waste.” It muttered in the dead man's voice. “Oh, but not this.”

It reached into the box and retrieved something that didn't belong entirely to the physical world. Age had not diminished it in the least, just as it had not diminished the potency of the being inhabiting the body of the late Mr. Arnold. The being shuffled through the memories of it's temporary shell and learned much, including the fact that it had not been entombed alone. It's brothers had already been removed from the ancient prison. The greedy fools. Worked into the stone of the temple were the bones of 10,000 men and women who had willingly died to imprison it. Even if the structure crumbled to dust the beings entombed there would not have been able to escape on their own.

The boundaries set in the ether were firm and immovable to such as it. But to mortals, to beings native to this world such boundaries meant little. They had destroyed the sanctity of the place in their ignorance. Not-Arnold walked from it's ancient prison in malevolent glee, it mocked it's long dead foes with every step. Cursed their souls with every breath it drew into the dead man's lungs. Then it spoke the words that a civilization had died to keep from being spoken. “We are free!”

It headed back to the boats it knew were moored at the shoreline. It knew exactly what the Captain would do with it's brothers. And it had absolutely no objections to those plans. The empire whose name had been lost to time had been able to contain them because they had been in the same place. This being from beyond the world of matter would not make the same mistake again.

The ship headed out later than night. The Captain had overseen the stowing of their treasure and issued express orders that none of their cargo was to be opened. They had been careful not to jostle the odd boxes overmuch and the Captain was no stranger to handling historical artifacts. Delicacy was the key. There were museums in Britain and Europe, as well as a few individuals in America who would pay handsomely for sarcophagi like these. And for a map to the island where they had been found.

“Mr. Arnold!” The Captain called, more out of habit than anything. Like usual his first officer appeared in front of him in a minute amount of time. But something was off. He looked pale, too pale for one who spent so much time in the sun. Certainly more pale than he had no more than a few hours ago.

“Yes Captain.” the man said, as per usual. The Captain dismissed the change out of hand citing his old age once more.

“The men reported 9 boxes, but only 8 are on board now.” he stated. The Captain was looking for an explanation.

“Too badly damaged, sir. Unlike the others it was badly rusted and nearly broke apart when I touched it.”

“That is unfortunate. Carry on.”

Oh he certainly would. Not-Arnold smiled once his back was turned to the Captain. He put a hand to his loose and heavy shirt to feel for the item he had taken from the old prison. Soon it promised itself. The Ossuary was now far behind. Unthinkable delights lay ahead.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Mission Briefing


Good evening, Sub-Division Gamma. This is the Professor from the main headquarters of Project Evolution at -----------, ---------------.                    

Given that you are the ones receiving this briefing, you should be aware of its classification as a Class 9-A mission. That is, one involving a threat too powerful for Sub-Divisions Alpha and Beta to contain. Intelligence is not very clear on the threat, so for the time being, treat this information as a class X2 document.

The document will cover the main threats, another documents detailing the strategies need to stop them is being written. ON advance you are warned that little information regarding the second threat is available, so we are afraid that you will have to improvise.

The threats, as detailed are:

Threat A-1, priority level 10.
Denomination: FRP-9, commonly known as “The Glitch.”
Threat U-1, priority level unknown.
Tentatively classified as UXP-23. Main feature is Mesopotamian-style body armor accompanied by a crown, hence “Gilgamesh.”

Currently UXP-23 has been in a passive role, having appeared in the city of ---------, England, here referred as Area-21.  Upon manifesting there, the entity has done little more than act as a statue.  Occasionally, it is capable of movement, changing the expression of its mask from angry to content. It only seems to adopt his “happy” face whenever FRP-9 is absent.
FRP-9, however, is more active and appeared at the same British city. It caused heavy destruction in the area, virtually rendered every medium of communication in the area unusable and, if readings are to be believed, caused several space distortions. Current body count is at 74, with Area-21 being the epicenter of all the attacks.
On 30/04/05, Sub-Division Alpha was sent to try and restrain FRP-09. Unexpectedly, after two hours of being there, they helped it to further the destruction, using their Project technology to destroy the communications on the zone as well. Three hours later, Sub-Division Beta went MIA after reaching Area-21.
Your objectives are, for now, the following:
- Evacuate as many civilians as possible from Area-21.
- Investigate Sub-Division Beta’s disappearance.
- Try to contain Sub-Division Alpha. If essential to the mission’s success… Stop Sub-Division Alpha. By any means necessary.
Addendum:  A message from Operative Johnson was sent to the base from Area-21. The voice did not match Johnson’s.
“Thanks for the assistance, dear Walter. This anarchy needs to stop, the world needs to see… and that will happen once that abomination of a creature stops being a nuisance. Do not heed its lies… I am here to help.  I am the help your world needs. Just let the world see me.”

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Five Short Stories About FACTS

"What was that?" 

Nathan raised the lamp higher above his head, allowing its thin light to stretch farther into the shadows. 

"Did you hear something?" 

The girl beside him quivered slightly, but shook her head; her eyes jaundice in the amber light, muscles tense. Nathan tried to give the girl a reassuring smile, squeezed her shoulder, then took Julia's hand into his. 

He guided Julia forward; the lamp held aloft, cloaking them in a yellow glow, shadows wrapped around their feet. The cellar seemed to stretch on endlessly; the walls and ceiling obscured by the choking blackness, steps echoing into the deep. Every few steps, Nathan would speak up to communicate hopeful words. 

"Shouldn't be far now." 

"Just another few minutes." 

"We'll be fine, just you see." 

"We're going to get out of this." 

But Julia never responded to any if these; simply staring down at the worn concrete, or forward into the void.  

Nathan frowned slightly, this had not been part of his plan; he doubted that any person would want to venture into a place like this, especially given their circumstances.  

If only the road had been clear. 

If only they had been able to avoid this subterranean place. 

But now he needed a way to cheer Julia up; sooner rather than later. Bad things happen to runners who fall into shock.  

"Do you want to hold the light?" 

This perked Julia's attention, drawing her eyes up to the old lantern held high above their heads. 

"You can have it, if you want." 

Julia opened her mouth as of to speak, closed it, and nodded slightly. Nathan lowered the lamp to her, and she reached up to take it. 

As it slide into her hand, his shadow touched the outer darkness. 

Nathan was flung backwards, swallowed up in the shadows as the noise of tearing and screaming filled the air, high and desperate; growing louder and louder. Bones breaking, muscles ripping, skin peeling, voice rent from lungs. 

And then silence. 

There was a crack. 

A wet pop. 

Something splattering across the floor. 

Julia stood under the lantern, frozen but for trembling muscles. 

"nathan?" 

A small whisper escaped. 

"Nathan?" 

Louder this time, fledgling hope. 

Something shifted in the darkness, pallor against the black. It glided forward, seemingly drawn to the light. 

Almost a face, white but for the coating  of gristle and stains of red, floated into the glow, held up by a long tendril of shadow. 

Julia bolted, feet pattering against pavement as she sped herself from the thing, lamp held high to illuminate her path. It followed behind, a groan like thunder echoing in her wake. Every once in a while a shadow would solidify in front of her, swipe with a twisted hand or jointed tentacle. 

They ripped into her clothes, her hair; shreds of fabric and bloody chunks pulled from her. But in the distance ahead, a sliver of light, not yellow but white; a gap between doors. 

The outside. 

Julia sprinted to it, desperate, frantic; the rumbling rushing toward her.  

She flung them open and raced out into the moonlight, dropping the lantern in her panic; it sparked and shattered as it collided with the concrete. 

Freed from its awkward weight, Julia raced farther ahead; away from the churning void.   The streetlights and store windows blurred past Julia in her flight, the empty street a haven from the horror in the cellar. She turned corner after corner, putting as many barriers and as much distance between her and It as possible. Her legs pumping against the ground, her lungs heaving. 

Julia nearly collided with Him as she rounded another corner.  Her legs have out beneath her, and she sprawled before Him; neck craning up as He peered down at her. 

The reason she and Nathan had run in the first place, the one they tried to flee. The reason they had tried to go through the cellar originally.  

He stretched up into the sky; somehow never ending but clearly seen. White head cocked to one side, arms and legs contorted horribly, body reaching farther and farther away.

His hand began to reach to her; pale, twisting fingers spreading wide, inches from her face. 

And He stopped.  

His hand retracted, His face directed at something else. Julia turned, and her eyes fell upon It; a massive, amorphous silhouette in the middle of the street.  

He seemed to straighten up, seemed to get taller still. For a moment, all was still, then It moved too; sliding forward, becoming something different. 

Stilt like legs and dragging arms, long, cruel fingers, shoulders and warped body. From its depths, the pale visage emerged, as though from deep water, stretched out on a long neck, perched above its horrid form. 

The two stared at each other; one almost curious, the other indifferent. He tilted His head to the side, and slowly, almost painfully so, It did the same.  

It moved again, stepping over Julia, pointed legs carving gashes into the asphalt. White, semi-faces locked on each other. 

It slashed forward, claws ripping into His chest, black ooze splattering across the pavement. As He stumbled back, there was a sense of something that was almost surprise, almost shock. He had bled, actually been cut by this thing.  

He swiped back, awkward limbs slamming into its form. It shifted backward, tendrils shooting out of it to keep it upright.  

They righted themselves and smashed together, something like an inaudible scream filled Julia's head as their arms twisted around each other. Tentacles sprouted from His back and lashed out at It; and It returned in kind. Black tendrils colliding against shadow appendages.  

Suddenly It seemed to swallow up all the shadows around Itself, and more arms sprouted from Its form; flailing wildly, drawing black muck with each swipe.  

It's legs rooted themselves in the street, and It shifted, throwing Him into the ground. There earth shook silently as His impossible body was cast down. 

It stepped forward, raising Its arm above Him. 

From deep within His chest, a single, dark tentacle, more solid than the previous, lashed upward; up into Its face. 

The crack tore into the quite, rended it apart.  

It's face smashed open, shadows streaming out of it, Its form flailing and growing faint.  From Its depths, something shot out at Julia, a thick silhouette of a thousand, writhing fingers. They wrapped around her arm, digging into her flesh. 

The horse scream echoed into the sky as skin was stripped away and muscle was spliced apart and bone was torn out.  

And DARKNESS washed over her.

                                                                           ***

They moved Their body, not the small body, Their true body, and the nearest thing's head spun around to face Them. Several of the black, flying things inside the thing tried to get out, but They fixed that. They removed the false space that the things had made and crushed the black things inside.

The other thing made noise at them with its mouth, and opened its jacket. The black flying things swarmed Their small body and tore out Their ears and eyes, but this was not a problem; They had only useless ears and eyes, They used their true body to hear and see. The real problem was the thing.

They had to fix the problem.

They moved Their true body again, and the thing crumpled into itself, crushed the thing inward.

One of the black things pecked its way into Their smaller body's head and began to rip out the smaller body's brain. This meant that They had to part ways. What was left of the mind of the smaller body screamed out at It, but this was not a problem.

It left and took another small body who's mind was able to hold it. There were so many small bodies to take if It needed more to solve the problems.

And there were always problems for ENDLESS to fix.

                                                                            ***

He had always hated hospitals.

The hallway was a blur around him as he streaked through it; legs pushing forward against tiled floors.

It had been more than just the connection to death and disease, or even that, despite putting on the mask of cleanliness, the places were actually filthy.

Farther back in the hallway, the sound of something warping could be heard; the high, eery tone, mixed with the sound of chirping birds and subtle wind.

It had been more about the knowledge that people were recorded there; thousands if infants having their existence marked down in cold, mechanical writing.

His feet stung and his eyes watered and his lungs burned and his tongue throbbed.

No matter what you did later, no matter who you became or who you interacted with, you couldn't escape it.

He slammed into the door with his shoulder, the pain rocketing up into his neck, clouding his brain; but the door gave way, allowed him passage through.

You can't escape your origin.

He looked back long enough to see the doorframe bend out of the way, to see an untouched wilderness in its absence, to see the world collapse back onto itself seconds after.

You can't escape your first years.

What touched him was not a hand, nothing like a hand at all; just an image, a thought of what a hand should look like, had looked like at one point. But it was not a hand.

You can't escape yesterday, or the day before, or the year before that.

He tried to run forward, to get even a step farther; but as his foot touched the ground, it gave out beneath his weight and he skidded to the floor. He had enough time to gaze, with horrified wonderment, at the twisted, broken, infant's foot connected to his ankle.

You can't escape the years and decades and centuries and eons before you were born.

The un-hand reached out again; stroked, mother like, his exposed throat.

You can't escape the past.

In the hallway mirror above, he watched his neck shrink down, smaller and smaller; changing to something it had once been, his scream rising up to become a shrill, piercing squeal. There was a dull spike of pain, and everything faded away.

You can't escape PAST.

                                                                        ***

The doors of the church rattled in their frames as something smashed into them; the sound echoing off the marble walls. 

The preacher lowered his arms and glared at the entry; the watchers in the pews tuned to look at the source if the noise. Some stood and faced the entrance way. 

The wood peeled back, dust poured from holes that widened on the surface, the frame crumpled inward. 

Through the holes, something pale could be seen moving about; shifting from side to side. 

The watchers made their way toward the entrance; drifting forward with the slightest ease. 

The doors creaked and moaned as they began to fall apart, then limply collapsed, parts shattered and disintegrated as they hit the floor. 

And nothing. 

Through the decimation, only the empty hall could be seen. The watchers shifted, almost confusedly; some turned back to the preacher for guidance. 

The preacher did not move or speak, instead stroking the chain around his neck, seemingly in contemplation. He continued to stare and the breaking door. 

And then a section of the ceiling collapsed. 

In the dust and rubble, something almost like and animal moved. Awkward, crooked back and warped, eyeless face; four strangely jointed legs and bony, black and gnarled protrusions sprouted from Its back; a set of slowly undulating, fleshy tails twisted behind it. Where it walked the floor became cracked and slumped inward, window frames around It rusted and fell.  The nearest enlightened hissed and rushed forward, arms outstretched. 

The beast turned to face him, head peeling open to reveal a set of jagged, human like teeth.  

It pounced forward, wrapping the midsection of the man in its mouth before whipping its head sideways. Liquid spewed from his halved body, remains crumpling and disintegrating where they hit the floor. 

More watchers charged to the creature, hissing loudly. Some collapsed to the floor as their legs splintered beneath them. Those who remained swarmed in, attempting to punch or claw.  

The monster lashed out with its tails, crushing bodies and severing limbs. The enlightened who managed to grasp Its form pulled away stumps of hands and arms, flesh unwinding and dropping from their collapsing bones. 

The preacher stepped out from behind the pulpit, brandishing a gnarled staff at the beast. 

And Hiiln spoke. 

"Foul, archaic monstrosity. You have outlasted your purpose in this world." 

He took the amulet from around His neck; holding out the odd, hodgepodge religious symbol.  

And crushed it in His hand.  

Immediately the broken pieces twisted and wrapped themselves back together again; remaking their form.  

"We have felt our echoes from across the great void, learned from our mistakes. We will not be banished this time." 

Hiiln made a slashing motion with His staff, and a coil of ebon flame shot toward the creature.  

The fire caught the beast across Its shoulders, flesh stripped away to reveal a black endoskeleton. It didn't even pause as It continued to tear into the nearest enlightened, his body already sinking into the floor. 

The beast turned to Its attacker, yellowed teeth spread wide. Hiiln punched forward and a ball of black fire erupted from His hand. The creature dodged to the side and sprinted forward, pews crumpling easily under its influence. The watchers who remained tried to give pursuit, but could only claw helplessly across the ground as their bodies continued to break down. 

Hiiln swung His staff and it connected with the beast's head; there was and audible crack as unearthly bones splintered. The creature whipped back with its tails, slamming Hiiln to the ground and rending apart the priest robe. More shadowy flames exploded from around Hiiln and It was flung back, flesh scorched away from Its body.  

Hiiln was immediately back unto His feet and punched the ground, sending a line of dancing black flames toward the beast. It rolled out of the way, though losing one of Its tails, and charged Hiiln.  

It slammed into Hiiln, knocking Him back; It wrapped its mouth around Hiiln's arm and pulled down, shattering His shoulder blade. Hiiln reached out and clutched the beast's head, and It was encased in dark fire, skin and meat and bones beginning to immolate.  

The air began to vibrate. 

Seeming to realize what was coming, Hiiln tore His arm free and slammed His staff into the creature again, pushing it back. Hiiln's body appeared to shimmer slightly, and He vanished. The creature reared it head back and the world shuddered. 

And everything sublimed.  

Standing alone in the crater, black flames still licking at what remained of Its flesh, the beast plodded along. It had perhaps several hours left before Its own influence destroyed it, just as surely as the flames would have. There was still much it could do in that time. 

Behind it, back in the heart of the crater, particles of organic matter began to link themselves together.  

And another body of CHAOS started to grow.

                                                                           ***

There was something dripping onto the floor.

pak

pak

pak

Slow, methodical noise echoing around the abandoned prison.

pak

pak

pak

The moonlight poured in through an open ceiling grate; the only source of illumination.

pak

pak

pak

The white glow caste itself around two figures, pulling their forms from the shadows.

pak

pak

pak

One was a girl, prone on the metal walkway; the other was almost like a man.

pak

pak

pak

But it was only vaguely like a man.

pak

pak

pak

SSSSHHHRRRRRIIIIIIKKKKK

The noise of meat torn from bone; pale teeth flashing it the darkness; head rearing back, splashing the walls with crimson warmth.

The bleached, emaciated man; intestines bursting from His abdomen, yet never, ever, could He be full. Atop His head, perched like a crown from some bygone age, the rotting head of a goat.

But though He was alone in that place, He was not all that was there.

The earth began to shake, rumbling and shifting, pulling upward. Concrete and rebar and dirt, twisting and melding together; growing into something more. The Man turned from His feast; watching the Thing sprout.

The high, animal screen exploded from Him as He flung Himself down at It. He tore and ripped at the Thing with impossible strength, pieces of metal and stone breaking and pulled from Its form.

The ground rose up, shoving Him back and sending forward a set of flailing, twisting appendages.

He dodged to the side, lashing out to easily shatter the earthy tentacles.

Unnoticed, on the level above, the corpse of the girl was pulled into the shadows.

He dashed forward, rolling out of the way as concrete spikes sprouted from the ground. He leapt forward, smashing into the Thing and shoving it backward.

Something shot out of the blackness and He was thrown back; sliding on the rough concrete.

The rumbling earth and the shifting darkness stood together, slowly approaching the prone man.

He rolled back to a crouched position and retreated a step.

And They materialized beside him.

One was a massive man, His head a mound of black fur and muscle; the horned likeness of a bull crafted in its flesh.

The other was almost like a woman, slim and lithely. But she had no human eyes and her legs ended in hooves and thorny antlers twisted from out of her tawny hair.

The others did not stop, did not slow; they cared not for the number of adversaries, only that the problems be solved.

The bull man charged forward, forcing back the approaching earth while the deer woman rushed to the darkness.

It shifted at Her approach, copying Her form and movements. Bone and shadow antlers clashed as face and skull were brought together.

The bull man slammed his fist into the peak of the Thing, blasting away a It's upper half. He raised His first again, preparing another strike.

A black, skeletal beast tackled Him to the ground, ebon flames licking at what was left of Its flesh; the creature biting and tearing with its bony jaw and claws.

The growing mound returned to the emaciated man, lashing out with concrete arms.

The earth, the beast, the shadows.

The deer, the goat, the bull.

Three of five and three of three.

Fear and Need and Concept and Truth.

All together on a little sphere of water and dirt.

A sphere of matter.

The medium of MASS.

Sunday, March 9, 2014

The Day we Lost

Everything has been a hell for the last months… But there was a day… that day… It was the day where we really lost. 

We’ve been one of the strongest vaults… Yes, that’s how we are called. After our OWN houses stopped being safe, we had to move to safer grounds…

I don’t know if an abandoned subway line is safe, but it has worked for some good 3 years. In comparison, most vaults usually last 12 hours or less. And the results often haunt the nightmares of many… Until another attack, far more “creative” than the original, takes the headlines.

I didn’t know what made us so long-lived… At first I thought it was because we learned to avoid them. They are like animals… they would hunt where there is prey. Maybe we found a way to make us untraceable by their “senses”.

Then, I thought it was because they couldn’t reach us… We had our own water reserves, we didn’t have any reflective surfaces, and we learned to rely on each other so there couldn’t be any secrets or isolation…

Sadly, all my theories were met with a slap on the face. An old laptop we had suddenly began working, showing a transmission.

It was in the UN, or what remained of it. The Secretary General was giving a speech, to the vaults out there that were still alive…

“Don’t be afraid, people. We found a way. After all this years, we found a way to make it safer for us to live.  We managed to find our edge against them! We just need to be strong. Strong and patient. If we can endure a bit longer while the plan is executed, the payoff will be worth it. Just a bit more and this madness will end.”

We rejoiced when he pronounced those words… but the joy turned into horror when we saw the “edge” against them: Another of them. But this one was new… we didn’t remember seeing it in any board or bulletin.

It was a colossus, standing seven feet or maybe more. It was clad in some kind of armour, covering his chest and down to its knees. His arms and the rest of his legs were made of some kind of metal, as they seemed to shimmer with a golden light every time the camera panned over it. Its face was hidden by a mask of beaten gold, one inexpressive mask of beaten gold.

The creature was immobile, like a statue. It was in a very evocative position, his left hand to his chest, the right one with the thumb, the index and middle finger held together. Its face showed a serene smile, but to me, it seemed like a malicious grin.

“He is the Golden Emperor! He has been responsible for keeping them out from the western vaults. But now, he has agreed to extend his reach to the other communities!”

For a minute, we saw two blue orbs inside the two eyeholes of the Emperor’s mask. While the mask was facing the camera, those two orbs keep a constant look on the Secretary General. His face then changed. It stopped displaying a calm smile… but a victorious grin.


Eight Bony Claws

Patient: Raymond ██████
7/17/1949, Day 1 of Research

Patient was admitted to the hospital, suffering from an abnormal laceration on the right upper arm and a strange claw-like incision on the right side of the chest. Patient suffers from convulsions and possible blood poisoning. Patient has been put on life support, along with 500 mg of ██████████.

- Dr. █████ ██████

~

Patient: Raymond ██████
7/19/1949, Day 3 of Research

Patient has begun secreting an unidentified silvery substance from the lacerations and the circular intrusion in the chest. Patient's convulsions have been increasing in frequency and intensity, and had to be restrained by three nurses. Patient's eyes are extremely bloodshot.

Blood tests reveal something strange- the veins have been swelling, and we have found minor traces that match the silvery substance found in the veins.

-Dr. █████ ██████

~


Patient: Raymond ██████
7/26/1949, Day 10 of Research

Patient is now mostly covered in the silvery substance. It's covering all possible entryways for air on the face, yet his oxygen intake, blood pressure, and vitals all seem normal. Small boil-like growths are growing on the sides of his torso, six, three on each side directly across from each other.

Patient somehow is able to write in this condition. He wrote, "Can you unstrap me?" Nurses are keeping constant watch over him.

-Dr. █████ ██████

~

Patient: Raymond ██████
8/02/1949, Day 17 of Research

Patient has managed to get loose and carved his nails into the wall, spreading the substance that he secretes around the entire room. The boils have also burst, also secreting the substance, along with a lot of gritty, black specks.

The substance has remained a mystery for over a week. We're sending a sample over to people at the nearby material science wing of ██████████ █████ University. 

-Dr. █████ ██████

~

Patient: Raymond ██████
8/04/1949, Day 19 of Research

Patient has managed to cut open its left index finger and write in the fluid that seeped out. The fluid is not blood, as it now seems to contain more of the substance. It wrote, "The Madame's Face," over and over. How this happened is unknown. The Patient's eyes are completely covered and it should be rendered blind by it. Strange, elongated growths are spouting out of the oozing lesions where the boils once were.

The substance is unlike anything the Material Science division has before seen. They are now doing further study to determine malleability, acidic properties, and other such characteristics. They are greatly intrigued. I, myself, am worrying my ass off, though.

-Dr. █████ ██████

~

Patient: Raymond ██████
08/12/1949, Day 27 of Research

The patient has escaped. Two of my nurses have been found inflicted with the same kinds of stab wounds that Raymbond came in with. I'm buzzing for the orderlies to find the patient at all costs. This is a medical mystery and it's walking out the fucking dooit's at the door.

~

15 August, 1948

The stinger didn't stab too deep into my collarbone. I still am retaining my bodily functions, but I don't know how much longer it will take.

~

18 August, 1949

I'm finding boils on the sides of my torso, just like Raymond's. I'm scared.

~

19 August, 1949

My eyes are fogging up. I can barely breathe. I did a test on myself. I cut myself open, and the silver, pus-like substance oozed out of the wound. I need to find a way to get myself away from my wife. I don't want her hurt. I'll have to lock myself away. I don't want to be like Raymond. If it becomes too bad, I want people to know that I, █████ ██████, am truly and deeply sorry for what I may do.

~

sEpt 49

ATtention. tHe qUeen is coMing. prepAre for the queeN'S arrival.

~

dec 49

hatchmydarlings

~

Now I have only one question. Do you believe?