What strange new world is this? I am born upon it, and am cradled in its tempestuous womb. I lay out upon this sea of dark blue, rocking about in the dusky glow of a few overhead lights. They seem to be moving about, examining this substance I am on - are they examining me?
A friend, a most wonderful friend! I was sitting alone, and suddenly the tiniest of sprites floated down beside me (she must be from the lights above.) She smiled silently and laid down by my side. I am trying to speak to her, but she makes no replies, simply smiling emptily back at the lights. Her own faint glow has a warming effect on me. Maybe more will come along soon!
As I sit lazily watching the lights in the sky, I notice another speck floating down; another sprite to join the first (I named her Desdemona.) As the speck grows closer, though, a demon I could not speak of! Foaming at the mouth, evil red eyes, snarling and scratching at me from a distance. Desdemona is in a clear state of panic. She flutters about, looking for somewhere else to go, but there is nowhere to hide in this open ocean. The monster grabs a hold of Desdemona, and when I reach out to grab her and pull her to safety, it snaps at me, taking a vicious bite out of my hand. He succinctly rips off her wings, throws them to the ground in front of me, and swallows her whole in one gnashing bite. Apparently sated, it flies off, leaving me alone with the bloodied and useless wings in front of me. What sick horror is this?
More of them! The creatures have come down now, in packs of twos, and threes. They grin wickedly, snarling and pawing at me. Some of the ones that have been here the earliest are getting restless. They pace around, looking up to the skies, as if waiting for something. One of them sniffed me, but I batted it away. It snarled again, and hissed at me. They are everywhere, and their hideous eyes are always watching me. I can't sleep at all.
It's terrible! Another sprite is coming this time, only much bigger! She looks perfectly angelic, descending on me, and as she nears, I could tell she is more important than Desdemona. But before she can land, the creatures are upon her, mauling her, ripping her limb from limb, feasting on her insides. She screams a dying scream of agony, and then she is silent. The pack howled intermittently as they ripped chunks of flesh from the steaming carcass. I try to look away, but one of the creatures has flung a piece of the dead fairy at me, and as it splashed across my feet, oozing red, I gag. What did I do to deserve this hellish place!
The creatures number nearly half a score, and as group they are bold. They have begun gnawing on my extremities, and whenever I kick, they come back and scratch at me, opening wounds all over. I don't have the strength to run - some invisible force holds me in place. I had begun to stop fighting - one of them took a large gouging bite out of my ear, and the blood trickling down me is sticking to my skin - when suddenly they scattered. They flew off into the dark distance, until their red eyes were but mere nightmares.
Then I heard the noise. A dull thud, and then the sickening slide of metal across metal. With every screech, the thud grows louder and louder. Off to the right, I can see it - whatever it is - approaching. It's carrying a lantern, and appears to be dragging a large box behind it. It's getting closer, stopping now and then, looking at things I can't see. Soon it is very close, and I can see its face: such a hideous countenance! Wild bloodshot eyes, greenish skin, an unkempt mane of hair, two sharp tusks rising out of its ghastly mouth.
I can see now it is not a large box, it's a cage. Inside the cage - no, it can't be! Hundreds of people just like me. They are stacked up, covered in blood and pus, moaning, wailing. Some are desperately reaching out to me, as if I may save them. Others are not moving, and I suspect the worst. The beast who carries them is upon me now, and as he looks down on me with a delighted chuckle, he says, "You'll do nicely," and plucks me from my only home, tossing me in the back of the cage with the rest of my brothers and sisters.
Here I have finally seen my fate, my hell. Every night the beast goes out with his large box empty - and each night he returns, more bodies in tow. He puts them in the dungeon with the rest of us, as grain to the mill. Then he selects a few of the older bodies from the pile, picking them up with one free hand and throwing them into a large pot. Before he shut the door, I peeked outside. He had a roaring fire going, and a spit above it. The agonizing screams echo through the walls, sending a chill to my very core. It's obvious what will happen now. I am to be his meal. Is there no humanity? What have I done wrong? What curse was this, to be put upon this world as mere food for the Devil himself? More sinned against than sinning! Spare me, cruel master! Nolite mortis quaerete quod vos certe invenient!
"Aww man!"
"What is it, dear?"
"Well, I wrote this thing. You know, that website I write for - e2. Anyway, I thought it was pretty funny. Looks like at least one other person did, too - I got an upvote. But then it got ugly. People downvoting it like crazy, and one person cooled it and then softlinked it to Ching of Death. And now I just got the message that it got nuked."
"Well, that's too bad. But we'd better get going or we'll miss the movie."
"Right-o. I guess it just couldn't hack it in the nodegel. My car or yours?"
For The Blood is the Life: A Frightful Halloween Quest, and a friendly competition with Sam and The Eye.