horrors2

Ridgely__Fan.The_Cocoon.tex

  1\chapauth{Ridgely\_Fan}
  2\chapter{The Cocoon}
  3
  4\section*{Part 1}
  5
  6This place was new.
  7
  8
  9
 10My eyes took several seconds to adjust to the dim light, while I
 11slowly drank in my surroundings. My head was throbbing, and my
 12throat was parched. And it was cold in here. Very, very cold.
 13
 14
 15
 16I seemed to be in some sort of dungeon, as comical and absurd as
 17that sounds. Or the kind of thing an insane millionaire would build
 18to approximate a dungeon. Instead of cold, damp stone walls, there
 19were cold steel surfaces and unfinished concrete floors. Instead of
 20a brazier in the hallway, the ambient lighting was set low. They
 21got the stink right though, and of course the barred entryway that
 22looked like the door of a jail cell.
 23
 24
 25
 26I began going through my head, trying to figure out whom I'd
 27pissed off enough to get myself into a place like this, when I
 28heard a voice from a hidden loudspeaker.
 29
 30
 31
 32``Well well Mr.\ Landon. I see you're awake. I hope you
 33like your surroundings, you'll be here for some
 34time.''
 35
 36
 37
 38``Who are you?'' I shouted. My voice was harsh and raspy.
 39``Why did you put me here?'' I was on the verge of tears.
 40If this was a prank or a trick, it was going way too far.
 41
 42
 43
 44``My name is Bravarious. Luke Bravarious. It's my job to
 45keep the good people of this city safe, and that means keeping
 46horrid creatures like you locked up down here.''
 47
 48
 49
 50This had to be a joke. But if it was a joke, why go to such
 51lengths? I put my hand to my forehead to think. There was something
 52slick there. As I retracted my hand I saw it: blood. This crazy
 53asshole must have knocked me unconscious to bring me here. The
 54speaker started again:
 55
 56
 57
 58``Don't worry Mr.\ Landon, your headache shall soon pass.
 59Your kind heals quickly, even in your cocoon state. I can see
 60you're confused. All shall become clear shortly.''
 61
 62
 63
 64This was some Silence of the Lambs shit. I remembered back to that
 65movie, the FBI agent said it was smart to get the serial killer to
 66recognize his victims as human. Maybe I can do something like that
 67here{\ldots}
 68
 69
 70
 71``Mr.\ Bravarious, I can just barely hear you through the speaker.
 72Why don't you come down and talk to me through the bars?
 73I'd like to talk man to man anyway.''
 74
 75
 76
 77There was some silence. He seemed to be thinking it over. After a
 78short time (surprisingly short) I heard a familiar voice in the
 79doorway.
 80
 81
 82
 83``I don't see a problem with that.'' 
 84
 85\section*{Part 2} 
 86
 87The man in the doorway was short and stocky. Pudgy even, though it
 88was hard to tell in his trenchcoat. His hair was thinning, and had
 89been clumsily combed to the side. His face shone from sweat or
 90grease. This guy needed a bath. At least it gave me some idea of
 91who I was dealing with.
 92
 93
 94
 95``Mr.\ Bravarious, why did you take me here? Is this a joke? If
 96it is, I'll keep it between just us guys, you got me good.
 97Just let me go.''
 98
 99
100
101I hoped he couldn't hear the fear or despair in my
102voice.
103
104
105
106``I can tell that you're scared Mr.\ Landon, but that
107fear too will pass, as you emerge from your cocoon.''
108
109
110
111This guy was crazy, but he was not going to be easy to manipulate.
112I know it's not a good idea to feed into the fantasy of a
113schizophrenic or crazy person, but I had to know what he was
114talking about.
115
116
117
118``What do you mean cocoon? Is this some metaphorical
119thing?''
120
121
122
123``Not exactly, Mr.\ Landon. You are one of an ancient race. A
124race that has hunted humans for millennia. A predator that acts
125like a parasite. Your kind leave its offspring in the form of a
126human for humans to raise. When that offspring reaches adulthood,
127it abandons its cocoon and emerges a hunter. Fast, powerful,
128unstoppable, and hungry.
129
130
131
132``I'm saying that you are one of these offspring. In just a
133few weeks you will emerge. But instead of hunting humans, you will
134stay here. I have prepared food for you.''
135
136
137
138Bravarious pointed to a corner of the room, where I could now make
139out a pile of decaying meat scraps. That explained the cold and the
140stench. I wretched and nearly threw up.
141
142
143
144``That's disgusting!''
145
146
147
148Bravarious appeared calm. ``I thought you liked uncooked
149meat.''
150
151
152
153``I like a rare steak, not a rotting pile!''
154
155
156
157``So your transformation has not yet started.''
158
159
160
161It seemed like he had some twisted explanation for
162everything.
163
164
165
166``How do you even know I'm one of these
167things?''
168
169
170
171Bravarious started to look self-satisfied. Maybe I'd struck
172the right chord.
173
174
175
176``It was a simple matter of checking the records at an
177orphanage where the last of your kind was known to feed. You had
178certain{\ldots} traits. I confirmed these traits by watching you
179for the last two weeks. There is no uncertainty Mr.\ Landon, you are
180the monster I was assigned to capture.''
181
182
183
184I hadn't seen anyone following me. Who knows if he really
185had. It was just as likely that he was lying or had just imagined
186it.
187
188
189
190Still, how did he know I was adopted? Did he know about my suicide
191attempts as a youth, about me dreaming of harming the others in the
192orphanage, my insane pleas for them to kill me? The years of
193therapy that my adopted parents paid for? How could he know? He
194spoke again before I could ask.
195
196
197
198``Now Mr.\ Landon I have other duties to attend here. I must
199assume you'll be alright.''
200
201
202
203``No!''
204
205
206
207I had to think of something quickly. I rubbed my forehead
208absentmindedly, breaking the scab that had formed there. Blood
209flowed anew. I had an idea.
210
211
212
213``Mr.\ Bravarious, I haven't turned into one of these
214monsters yet. That means I'm still human. I'm human and
215I'm hurt, and I might die of thirst. Please just give me some
216water and some bandages before you go.''
217
218
219
220He appeared to think this over very carefully. ``Very well,
221you cannot harm me in that state. I shall return
222shortly.''
223
224
225
226He was right, I couldn't hurt him. What was I going to do? I
227started feeling angry at my predicament, angry at this crazy
228bastard for locking me up. The anger dissolved my fear. I had to do
229something myself, I couldn't wait for the police or
230whoever.
231
232
233
234I heard footsteps, and crept beside the doorway.
235
236
237
238``Mr.\ Landon, I am leaving your supplies beside the
239do-``
240
241
242
243Bravarious didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before
244I grabbed him through the bars. He struggled at first, but I put a
245stop to that by smashing his face into the door several times. An
246eye for an eye.
247
248
249
250I found the key to the dungeon in his pocket. The maniac also had
251an old filthy Beretta, loaded and with the safety off.
252
253
254
255As I let myself out and stepped into the hallway, I slid Bravarious
256into the room to take my place. I was feeling much better. The joy
257at my freedom, and my survival, was starting to cure my
258headache.
259
260
261
262Just before I closed the door, I smelled the meat in the corner. I
263hadn't eaten for days. I started salivating. Looking down at
264Bravarious, I felt a new urge. An urge that was new to me and yet
265felt timeless. Prehistoric. This all made sense now. Yes, he was
266right, it would be several weeks before I emerged, but he
267didn't realize that before that came the hunger. I would need
268to feed before my transformation. And so feed I did. 
269
270 
271
272
273
274% bz We could correct this for the dude if we wanted to
275%\by{Ridgely\_Fan}
276%
277%
278%Oops.
279%
280%Uh, my story features Luke Bavarious' distant Romanian cousin, Luke
281%Bravarious, also private investigator.
282%
283%
284%
285%Also:
286%
287%Edited to include the main theme and to fix some grammatical
288%problems. 
289% 
290%
291%
292%
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