Attached

“After the execution of the city of Cole Blood, the president and the federal council will speak tonight on how they will honor those whom lost their lives during the horrific incident of September 2019.”

Nathan turns down the dial on the radio and sighs. 

“All those people…”

Nathan clears his throat and smiles.

“This’ll be fun,” Nathan says with a hint of disappointment.

“A little family getaway is just what we needed, right?”

The kids in the back remain silent, too glued to their devices to give a response.

“I just don’t understand why you chose this place to have our vacation,” Nathan’s wife, Mandy, scoffs at him.

“I chose this place because we’re always surrounded by noise. It’ll be so quiet here, we’ll actually have time to think,” he remarks.

The two have been married for 12 years now. 6 of those 12 have been just as draining as the last 6. Needless to say, their interactions for the past few weeks have been as bittersweet as a bleach milkshake topped off with whipped cream and a cherry.

“Oh my God, Alisa, you’ve been on the game like the whole trip. Let me play it now,”Richard yells.

“No, get your own,” she says, nearly finishing a level.

Richard reaches over and attempts to pull it from her grasp, which results in a backseat squabble.

“Will you two knock it off? Alisa, let your brother play it, please.”

Alisa rolls her eyes and drops the portable game system in his lap.

Nathan longingly stares at clouds above, as if they would give him a sign of some sort. Wondering how he ended up driving into a forest. Trying to slowly reassure himself that he actually has a plan in place.

“How much further are we driving, Nathan? You still haven’t even said where we’re going.”

Nathan’s face folds like a bag of chips. 

“Could you let me handle this for once, Mandy? I’m trying to do something for us since all we ever do is sit in the house,” Nathan says, his voice slightly raising.

“Mom and dad are fighting again,” Alisa says, whispering to Richard.

Richard suddenly sniffs and expresses a face of disgust. 

“What’s wrong, Richy,” Alisa asks with actual concern.

Richard looks up and sees what could be hundreds of animal carcasses, scattered about the lands of the forest. Nathan’s speedy acceleration pushes through the road, hiding the bodies behind trees.

“There’s deer out there,” he points, amid the loud bickering from the front of the car, it’s all his mind can muster.

“Yeah, we’re out in the mountains, there’s going to be deer who live here,” Alisa remarks, placing her earbuds back in.

But what Richard saw weren’t just frolicking animals, basking in the cool mountain air. The dead deer had bite marks in them the size of gallon jugs. Their bones protruded from their sides. The bodies were nearly liquid. He wondered what could have done something like that. The imagines still burned in his young, impressionable brain.

“Look, Mandy, just stop,” Nathan says while grasping the steering wheel. “We’re almost there.”

They pull into a dirt trail and begin to descent down the forest.

“Is this place gonna have internet,” Alisa asks with one earbud in hand, blasting music.

“No, honey, that’s why we’re here, to enjoy some time away from all that stuff,” Nathan says with a smile her way.

She rolls her eyes and places the bud back in.

As they keep rolling down the trail, they see the home in the distance. 

It’s a small, shanty sort. About as interesting as one would expect a cabin in the woods to look. Two windows and a small door on the front. 

“This is the place,” Mandy hisses.

“Yes, Mandy, I think it looks gorgeous.”

Nathan pulls in closer to the cabin and parks. He exits the car and slams it behind him.

“Ahhhhh, would you just smell that fresh, pine,” Nathan says, exhaling.

“Oh yeah, this is great,” Mandy says with a hint of sarcasm.

The two walk up to the cabin door while the kids exit the truck.

“Hey, Richy, you okay? You haven’t said anything else in a while,” Alisa questions.

He forces a smile.

“Yeah, I’m okay, just kinda tired.”

“Ha. Yeah, I guess it probably is your bed time, huh?”

His terseness stemmed from his refusal to himself that he would bring it up again because he was afraid no one would really listen. He tried his best before, but Alisa just sort of shoved his question to the side. Although it bothered him, he was just going to try his best to let go of what he saw. Maybe it was really nothing?

“Well, this is pretty vintage looking,” Mandy says.

The inside is filled with antiquated furniture. It most likely dates back to the early 70s. Besides the infant, vomit green carpet and sofa, the place looked rather banal.

“I’ll unpack the bags,” Nathan says, leaving the small, living room.

He disappears into the back room.

“How long are we gonna be here, mom,” Alisa asks.

“No idea, honey. Might as well enjoy it while we’re here, right?”

“I guess so, the water does look pretty outside.”

Richard wanders off into the back of the cabin, facing the river behind them. He sees someone dragging something out of the water. It looks bloody and he can’t get a good look at the person from afar. Richard squints and moves closer to the window.

“What are you doing back here alone, Richy, didn’t you say you were tired?”

Alisa puts her hand on his back, causing him to jump.

Richard turns around.

“Whoa, are you okay?”

“There was a man dragging something in the river out the-“

He turns around,  

Richard turns back around, gesticulating at the window, but nothing is there.

“Geez, Richy, you’re losing it haha.”

Alisa laughs and walks to their room that’s right across their parent’s.

“But I saw someone…”

Later that night…

Nathan leans over the bathroom sink, brushing his teeth as if he were trying to remove stains from a strip of leather.

“So what’s your plans for tomorrow, Nathan,” Mandy asks, walking into the bathroom behind him.

He spits into the sink.

“I think it would be fun to maybe go on a hike. The weather was pretty nice today.”

He looks over to her and smiles.

“Oh, cheer up honey, you know this’ll be fun.”

He grabs her and pulls her in for a kiss.

“Let go of me, Nathan,” she says with a puckered lip and a slight blush.

“Ya know, it’s been awhile since we’ve had some alone time,” Nathan says, lightly kissing her neck.

“Nathan…”

They stare at one another briefly before going in for each other’s lips.

“Get off of me,” Richard yells from the other room.

They pull from each other’s grasp and run into the children’s room where they find Richard, thrashing about in his sleep, like a crazed animal. Nathan runs up to him, picking him up. While Mandy runs towards Alisa.

“Wake up buddy, everything’s okay.”

Richard’s eyes pop open, strained and glossy.

“What’s going on Alisa,” Mandy asks.

“I-I don’t know. I just woke up to all this,” she says, rubbing her eyes.

“I had a really bad dream, I’m sorry daddy.”

Nathan sighs, running his hand through his son’s hair.

“You scared me, buddy.”

Nathan just sits there, holding Richard in his arms.

The next day, the family packed their things and traversed through the leafy paths of the forest for a hike.

“Dad, we’ve been out here for hours just walking, can we take a breakkkk,” Alisa says while dragging her body through the dirt.

“Yeah, honey, she’s right, we have been walking for a while,” Mandy says. “Where are we going?”

“Haha, that’s actually a great question.”

“Nathan, are you serious right now?”

Both begin to lower the voice to not concern the children.

“Well, uhm, I may have lost the map.”

“What hell do you mean, you ‘lost the map?’”

“I mean what I said, Mandy, the map isn’t here.”

“So what are we supposed to do?”

The concern on their faces overshadows their hushed tones.

“I could swear I have seen these same sets of trees like 4 times already,” Alisa points out.

Nathan looks around and feels the moisture in the air that accompanies onset storms.

Richard looks up the beaten path above and sees an old man standing in the distance.

Among the senseless chatter, a torrential downpour invades the trees above, instantly soaking the family.

“Christ,” Mandy says. “This was so sudden.”

“Yeah, we need to find somewhere to stay clear of all this.”

The family starts moving quickly through the forest, dodging rain drops like The Matrix.

“I’m telling you guys, we’ve been through here before,” Alisa screams beyond the rain.

As they continued up the path, they decided to make a sudden turn that led to an unmarked location in the forest. There, they found a small house, buried in the thick of it. A tall, elderly man could be seen seated on his porch, lightly strumming an instrument.

“Hey, why don’t we ask that man up there how to get back down the river,” Mandy inquires.

“I don’t know, we don’t want to bother the guy. He looks pretty comfortable,” Nathan says.

But Mandy was not about to allow the man’s comfort to get in the way of them asking him where they were in relation to where they needed to be.

Mandy walks faster ahead, leaving the family at quite the distance behind her.

“Mandy, wait,” Nathan says behind her.

“Hi sir, excuse me,” Mandy yells out of breath. “We don’t mean to bother you, but we’ve been stuck in the rain, trying to make it back down the river where our cabin is. Do you have a map by any chance or could you tell us how to get back from here?”

The man stares at Mandy while she speaks the entire time. He never blinks or takes his tired eyes off her. Although he was seated, his tall structure was evident in large part to his lanky legs and arms. His face was leathery with freckles. And his eyes drooped as if they were melting down his chin. His hair was as white as coconut. He appeared to be in his mid 70s. It was no telling the things he had seen or heard in a dense forest such as that. 

He smiles at her request. 

“It is a pleasure to meet you all. I don’t usually get any visitors in a place like this. The storm out is quite awful. Please, why don’t you all come in until it at least pasts overhead.”

“Oh no sir, we don’t want to impose, we just want to find our way ba-“

“Oh, nonsense, I insist. The storms come and go here. Why don’t you step inside for awhile. I have food on the stove that I would not mind sharing.”

Nathan and the rest of the family catch up.

“What’s going on,” Nathan asks the two.

“This nice man-“

“You can call me Albert,” the man says with smile.

Mandy smiles in reply.

“Mr. Albert here was just inviting us inside for lunch.”

Nathan’s eyebrow visibly raises.

“We don’t wanna bother you, sir.”

“Oh, c’mon Nathan, we’ve been out here for hours and haven’t even eaten anything yet. Why don’t we take this nice man up on his offer,” Mandy says, squinting at Nathan.

Nathan looks at the man and then looks at the small house behind him. 

“Okay, but only for a little bit because we really gotta get back on the trail.”

“Wonderful,” the man says. His smile spreads open slowly.

The family follows the man into the house.

Inside looks like outdated decor, much like their living arrangement back at the cabin. Each step creaks on the pattered floor boards that are covered in light green rugs. 

The old man relied on cob webs to do most of the decorating. Each corner held them like ornaments on a tree.

The family walks around, surveying the home.

“Please, make yourselves at home. The meal will be ready to eat in just a few minutes now,” they hear Albert’s voice echoing from the kitchen.

“This place is so old and it kinda smells like pennies too,” Alisa says before getting a prompt elbow nudge from her mother.

“Don’t be rude. He is being nice enough to welcome us into his home.”

She sighs.

“Yes ma’am. Sorry.”

Richard wanders around the living room and latches onto a piece of fur from what appears to be a freshly killed animal. His eyes slowly enlarge.

“Hey son, don’t touch that,” Nathan says while cupping his head with his arm, like a football.

“Alright, everything’s ready.”

During dinner…

“And then I said, ‘why are we walking in circles,’” Alisa says while stuffing food in her face.

Almost everyone laughs.

“This place can be a maze at times, but I’m sure you all will be just fine,” Albert says while smiling at Richard, who quickly darts his eyes back at his plate.

“We actually weren’t really planning on staying long. I felt like we all just needed a little vacation time away from the city, ya know,” Nathan asks.

“And his first plan of action was to lose our map while hiking,” Mandy says, while flashing a half smirk at Nathan.

Nathan returns the comment with a frown.

“Anyways…Albert. How long have you lived here,” Mandy asks with fork in hand.

“That’s an interesting question. When you live in a forest like this, time always finds a way of escaping you. Or maybe that’s the old age.”

Mandy laughs.

“It’s been a few years now. I have loved every second of it.”

“Well maybe you can show us around the area more. Like Nate said, we’re more accustomed to the city, but I guess it is pretty peaceful here. We’ll definitely miss it when we’re gone.”

She smiles.

The hissing of the rain outside of the old house subsides as the kitchen becomes silent.

“Well, sounds like the rain stopped for now,” Nathan says dismissively while wiping his mouth and standing up. 

“C’mon Nathan, we just got here not too long ago.”

“Oh, it’s quite alright,” Albert says with a smile. “I’m sure you all have to get back home.”

The kids stand up as well and Mandy is the last to stand. 

“Thank you for the meal. Mr. Albert, This is was very nice of you,” Mandy says standing up.

“It was my pleasure,” Albert says, patting the ends of his lips with a napkin.

“If you need a quicker way back to your cabin you can simply turn around and head back down the hill you came up from,” Albert explains with his hands.

“Got it, thanks,” Nathan says grabbing his coat from his chair.

The family heads out of the the old home as Albert waves them goodbye.

Later that night…

“Mandy, the guy is fucking weird,” Nathan retorts, walking into the bathroom.

She sighs.

“Nate, you didn’t even give the guy a chance. He was being nice allowing us to eat with him and stay out of the rain for awhile.”

“Did you not see how he was looking at us? That weird ass smirk on his face? The odd way he was talking?”

“I think you’re just being dramatic, Nathan. He’s just some old man living alone. We were probably the first people he’s seen in months or even years.”

“Yeah, you got that shit right,” Nathan sarcastically scoffs.

“The food was pretty good,” Alisa says, putting the covers over her body. “Did you like it?”

Richard was already in the bed lying on his back. He was looking up at the ceiling. Thinking about Albert’s face, and how his stature looked so hauntingly familiar.

“Hello, Richy?” 

He snaps out of the daze.

“Oh, it was good.”

“Good? I thought you really liked chicken.”

“I do. It was okay. The seasoning was just kinda weird.”

“But there was no seasoning,” Alisa says rising an eyebrow.

Richard yawns.

“I’m tired Alisa. I’ll see you in the morning,” he says rolling over in his bed.

Alisa’s raised eyebrow asks more questions while she stays silent.

What the hell is his problem, she thought, rolling over in her bed as well.

Nathan lies in his bed, knocked out, when he hears an ear piercing screech emanating from behind the cabin. He springs up to find Mandy missing from his bed side.

“What the fuck was that,” he says, rubbing his eyes and trying to mobilize his vision.

“Baby, did you hear tha-,” he looks to his side and notices no one there.

He hears the scream once more and it causes him to jump out of bed.

“What is that,” Nathan says while getting up and peeking through the window.

He sees a silhouette of a child in the back of the cabin with its face buried in its arms.

“Is that…my son?”

Nathan slowly opens the door and tiptoes outside. He hears crying in the dark ahead. The rustle of the wind pops the leaves like wood in a fireplace.

The moonlight glints down on the trees, illuminating the ground floor.

“Son,” he calls. “Do you hear me?”

He sees Richard standing over something. He doesn’t respond.

Richard slowly walks towards him. Cool wind breezes through the thin air. Nathan’s feet slide across the ground as he nears his son’s feeble stature. 

He’s weeping.

“Son, is everything okay? I heard s-“

As Nathan pulls closer to Richard he sees a deep puddle of blood under his feet. 

“Buddy, what is-“

Nathan looks down and glares at the large knife brandished by his son. It’s covered in so much blood that it seeps down the tip and falls into the puddle. 

“I-I couldn’t stop.”

Nathan’s eyes stay widened as his son adds new words to his already long, weeping, sentence. He looks past him and sees a trail of blood leading to the rest of his family.

“I tried s-so hard, daddy.”

“Son…”

Suddenly, his weeping seizes and he glares up at Nathan.

“But he made me do it.”

“Wh-“

Before the question slips Nathan’s lips, Richard launches his knife straight through Nathan’s stomach.

Nathan roars out a scream as sweat falls beneath his eyes and lips. His bed was drenched with salty body water. And his clothes were soggy like rags left on a shoreline.

“A fucking nightmare,” he utters between hurried pants.

Nathan looks around the room and notices that Mandy is not lying beside him and he hears no commotion in the cabin either.

“Where the hell is everyone?”

He squints outside the backyard of the cabin and sees his son, drawing in the dirt with a small stick.

Nathan changes out of his soaked clothes and puts on something more comfortable. 

“Hey buddy, where’s mommy and big sis,” Nathan asks while walking out of the sliding door.

He looks up from the ground and stares up at Nathan.

“They’re at the front talking to Mr. Albert.”

Nathan’s face goes from relaxed to annoyed.

“Why did they leave you back here alone and why is he even here to begin with?”

Richard just shrugs and goes back to his senseless task.

“Hey buddy, head back into the cabin, I don’t want you to be out here by yourself, okay?”

Richard nods and walks back inside, heading to the front room of the cabin.

Nathan storms to the front of the cabin to find Mandy laughing at whatever Albert’s jokes were.

“Oh my God, that’s crazy that you say that. You’re just like us,” Mandy says with laughter.

“What’s going on here,” Nathan says, interrupting them.

“Oh, look who finally decided to wake up. Mr. Albert was telling us that he is from a big city too. I mean, can you believe a mountain man like him would be from a place like us?”

Alisa is nearby watching the two from a tree, drawing.

“Mandy. Can I talk to you for a second?”

“What’s up, Nathan?”

Nathan walks further away from Albert and waves her over to him.

She gets up and walks up to him.

“Nathan, what’s the de-“

“Mandy why was Richard by himself back there while you were up here with him?”

“Nathan what is this ab-“

“And why the hell is he even here anyways? Didn’t we just talk about how I think the guy is weird?”

“Nathan you’re being completely ridiculous. Albert’s done nothing wrong to you for you to even be acting this way. And plus, wasn’t it your idea that we go camping here in the first place?”

Nathan sighs.

“You’re missing the point-“

“No, Nathan, the point is that I’m actually enjoying myself and you can’t stand to see me happy. How about you worry about you and just leave me alone.”

“Mandy, look I-“

Mandy pushes Nathan to the side.

“Hey, Mr. Albert, we’re having dinner tonight, would you like to join us?”

He smiles.

“I do appreciate the offer, however, I am going hunting tonight for dinner.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” Nathan says with hyper aggression.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay a little longer,” Mandy insists.

Albert rises from the ground.

“No, thank you. I really must get going. Thank you for having me.”

With that, he walks away, disappearing into the thick of the forest.

That night…

“Mandy, talk to me.”

“Nathan, ever since we got here and met that man you have been acting like a big baby.”

“Big baby? You’re kidding me right? How the hell can you not see that there is something wrong with the guy?”

“You have yet to explain to me how some poor elderly man is some threat to you or us. Are you jealous that he is spending more time with me or something.”

Nathan palms his face into his hand.

“He is an old man, alone in the middle of nowhere, the tone of his voice is strange, like it’s almost not…normal. He has a bunch of hunting equipment and we just so happen to be the only people he’s seen in the past few years?” 

She just stares at his accusations blankly.

Nathan drops his head.

“Have you never seen a horror movie of any kind?”

She sighs. “Clearly, you base your logic off of them if you think that any of that matters. And have you seen Richard? He’s been a nervous mess since we’ve been here. Have you been watching those movies with him again,” Mandy scuffs.

“God, Mandy, you’re not understanding me. There is something going on wit-“

“That’s it, I don’t want to hear anymore about this.” She lies under the covers and rolls over. “I’m going to bed.”

Nathan sighs.

“Fine.”

Later that night…

Richard tosses and turns in his bed when he suddenly hears a rustle outside his room. He looks over to see his sister fast asleep. The noise worsens outside, so he gets up and slowly raises his head up to the window. He sees…Albert outside once again.

He is savagely engaging in feast, just like before. Blood, flesh, and fur flies around the woods, as he furiously naws at the animal with his back turned to Richard. Richard shakes and steps back from the window, accidentally stepping on a loose leaf sheet of paper.

Albert pauses, and slowly turns his head towards the cabin. He peers into Richard’s window with blood covering the bottom of his face. He stands up and walks over to the window. His wrinkled, nude body oozes with the wind as he stomps at the cabin. Richard quickly dips below the window, clinching to the wooden panel as if he were hanging for dear life from a cliff. Albert touches the window. Looking through it, he begins to pull his fist back, like a slingshot, but hears another animal rustling deeper in the forest. He stops in place and pushes back from the window to scurry towards the sound.

Richard slowly pulls his head up and searches for the man, but he’s nowhere to be found. Even the carcass of the deer has disappeared.

The next day…

Nathan wakes up, yawning from his restless sleep. His dirty blonde hair appears as a jumbled mess on his head. The room is empty, but he can see his family outside in the back of the cabin. He sees Richard standing up from the river and walking up to the front of the cabin. Mandy tries to hold on to him, but he snatches free. She shakes her head while looking at Alisa.

“What’s going on,” Nathan asks aloud.

He stands up and quickly gets dressed sufficiently to step outside towards the front. He sees Richard in a fetal position, leaning on a tree.

“What’s the matter, buddy,” Nathan says kneeling down.

“It’s nothing, daddy.”

Nathan’s eyebrow rises.

“Buddy, you’ve been quiet this entire trip. Look at me, it’s okay to be a little homesick.”

“It’s…it’s not that,” Richard says with his head burrowed in his arms.

“Then what’s wrong? You can tell me anything, remember,” Nathan says with a smile.

Richard looks up at Nathan ever so slowly and tears just roll down his face, like wheels on a track. He reaches out and clings to Nathan’s neck.

“Tell me what’s the matter, son.”

“T-that man.” He sniffles. “Last n-night.”

“Who buddy, what man are you talking about?”

“The man from a f-few d-days a-ago.”

“Albert,” Nathan says in between his teeth.

“H-he was behind our c-cabin. He was eating something.”

He pauses and swallows.

“He was naked an-“

“Wait. Slow down. He was what,” Nathan pulls him back and sternly looks into his eyes.

“He wasn’t wearing clothes.”

“Son, did he touch you in anyway?”

“N-no but I saw him outside the win-“

“That motherfucker.”

Nathan stands up and clinches his fists.

“I’m gonna kill him.”

“Daddy, wait-“

“Tell your mom and sister that daddy went for a walk, okay?”

Before Richard could even speak, Nathan storms off towards his room. He digs into his closet until he pulls out a small, black revolver underneath some clothes. He pulls the cartridge down and spins it, checking to see if it’s fully loaded.

He slams the closet shut and heads back out the door, leaving his son in the same spot he found him. Richard gives him a final look of desperation before he goes storming off into the woods.

The trek to Albert’s house feels longer than before, but Nathan knew from the very beginning that something was off about him. Although dealing with his son’s needs were a top priority, he felt this man needed hell to pay for whatever horrors he put Richard through. Nathan continues over leaves and under branches until he stops at Albert’s old abode.

“You’re fucking dead, old man.”

He steps towards the front door and bangs on it senselessly.

“Open up Albert. We gotta talk.”

But no one comes to the door.

“Okay, we’ll play that game then,” Nathan says before cocking back and thrusting his foot into the weathered door. With one forceful tap, it swings off its hinges and lands inside.

Nathan runs in, gun pointed up and scanning.

“Come out, you sick bastard,” he yells.

But no one replies.

Nathan continues to move around the creaking home and kicking in every door he could find. Then he kicks in a door located in the back of the cabin’s inside. It appears to be a bedroom. His mouth dips as he sees…papers. They’re plastered all over his walls. Some of them are tears of newspaper articles while the majority are hand written notes.

“The hell is all this?”

Nathan starts to go down the line, reading the papers in a random order. The first thing he walks up to is an article titled, In Remembrance Of The Lost Souls Of The September 2019 incident. 

“2 years later, a victim speaks out on the horrific incident for the first time ever.”

“Why would he have this in here?”

Nathan continues down the walls, reading strange, scribblings.

Log 1. January 27th, 2019. 

“The subject is dormant in its solution now. Everything is going according to plan. It is pink in color and shaped like a jelly mass with small legs. After decades of work, I’ve finally created something revolutionary: a creature that soothes the pain of illness and loss. With this, I can essentially cure addictions to harmful drugs and alcohol. The creature utilizes the same emotions as humans to attach to an individual and ‘feel’ for them. This empathetic symbiosis allows for a much safer method to coping. It does this by harmlessly bonding with an individual through any opening leading to the brain. I will continue to monitor and log it’s success here. This could change life as we know it.”

Log 16. March 16th, 2019. 

“We have been monitoring its progress for a couple of months now, and have come upon a number of new discoveries. Upon reviewing its interactions with mice, one thing is very clear: the creature is much more powerful than we thought. It appears that it has evolved the way with which it soothes its hosts. It realizes that the process may be a frightening endeavor, so, it releases some type of pheromone into the atmosphere around it that acts as a numbing agent for the host(s) to become more favorable towards it. The pheromone has a very distinct aroma. I am not certain what it may smell like to animals, but to me, it almost bears a rustic or metallic smell to it. I will further advise on its development. This is very interesting indeed.”

Log 32. May 25th, 2019. 

“The various tests that we have run the past few months have been exceptional. I have even decided after all this time to give the creature a name: Iremía. It’s Greek for serenity. It’s a very fitting name for it at this time.”

Log 62. July 21st, 2019. 

“Today was…interesting to say the least. Iremía displayed to us it’s ‘bonding’ process in all its glory. After several months of test running we decided to use primates. We chose them because we share many characteristics with them. So, in essence, the way with which it ‘bonds’ with these animals would be almost identical to how it would interact with humans. It opened its mouth and released the pheromone like before, but this time, these red tendrils sprouted from holes in its mouth and forcefully injected them through multiple parts of the ape’s body. I can still hear the haunting screeching of the primate as it beat on the enclosure for its dear life. The other scientists placed sticky notes on Iremía’s glass a few months ago with the words, ‘itchy’ and ‘tasty,’ to joke about its humanesque behavior. But now, after today’s display, I am inclined to believe that it’s actions are less human…and more concerning.”

Log 105. August 25th, 2019. 

“I was wrong. About everything. This was supposed to be the best thing to walk this earth. But it…it’s gotten a mind of its own, and clearly does not want to be kept here any longer. Typically, it gains sustenance from raw proteins, but today, during its feeding, it did something it’s never done before. I was opening its case to feed it when it went from being seemingly dormant, to full-on attaching itself to my hand and for a brief moment, it felt like every fiber of my being was being touched. It somehow connected itself through just my muscle tissue alone. All those months of seeing it attach to mice revealed that it could do things that would have an even greater affect on humans. We would have the mice follow a very specific schedule. It would follow this schedule right before being ‘bonded’ with and like clockwork, the creature would remember everything that the mouse had ever done and will do next. I would argue that it theoretically could store the memories of every subject it had been attached to, essentially taking on a little bit of each subject with it. When analyzing the brain activity of the mice during this process, the brain readings remained consistent with an individual…dreaming. This could mean that it’s process takes place only mere seconds, but the subject could be in a daze forever, effectively living their lives as if the outside world never changed. It would be as if the subject’s consciousness detached from its own body and floated around within the creature’s membrane. Trapped, thinking their life was still their own. To place this into perspective, the creature could attach itself to someone new, take on everything about this person, and recall everything that’s happened to said subject before and after its attachment as if it were telling a story. What that means for me…well I’m a bit concerned about that myself. Was I researching this thing all this time…or was it researching me?”

Nathan steps back from the wall, slowly. His mind still trying to allow the information to marinate.

“What did I just read?”

Suddenly, he feels a hand snatch him from the ground, lifting him and throwing him into the living room of cabin. Dusts flies around the rooms as his vision and body tries to re-acclimate to the sudden force.

Albert walks out of the room looking down at Nathan.

Nathan quickly gets up and points the gun at Albert.

“Don’t come any fucking closer,” he yells.

Albert smiles. 

“I am very impressed by you, Nathan. You appear to be full of surprises.”

“I don’t give a fuck about your sick fan-fiction or your disgusting urges. I’m gonna make sure you don’t touch anyone else.”

“I assure you that this is no farce. Everything you’ve just read is true. Perhaps you may have some confusio-“

“I’m not confused about anything, you did something to my son and now you’re gonna pay.”

“Oh, that is what this is about?”

“Who the fuck are you and what is going here,” Nathan yells, thrusting his hands forward.

“I have gone by many names. I have been many, many people. How I got here was of no fault of my own.”

“Yeah, you’re some kind of alien that controls people. Cut the bullshit and explain the shit on your wall.”

“I know all too well that you’re aware of the incident from years ago.”

“All those people died. They had to leave the place a biohazard mess. You’re the monster that did that?”

“No. They led themselves towards damnation through no involvement of my own.”

“No, shut the fuck up. You’re a terrorist. You fled the city and now you’re here. I don’t know how you found us, but you’re not getting away with this.”

“Getting away with what, Nathan? I am a product of man just as you are.”

“Don’t compare yourself to me.”

“Humans were conceptualized into a world that controls them. You’re all puppets to guardians, institutions, and occupations.”

Nathan rubs his head.

“The nightmares and uneasy feelings are from you. What did you do to me? To us?”

Albert walks around the room, sliding his hand on the wall.

“There are no notes from the scientists about those symptoms. I knew you were special. Both of you.”

“Special? What the hell are going on about,” Nathan says, his gun still trained on Albert’s body.

“I have a question for you, Nathan.”

“I’m not getting involved with whatever sick plans you have to exterminate more people.”

“Exterminate? I need humans. Even though all of you have such feeble flesh, each one of you somehow have varied thoughts and opinions. It’s interesting. Nathan, for nearly a year I was poked and prodded as part of a larger experiment.”

“Yeah, I read the notes,” he says sternly.

“Then you must understand that I only wish to have the same chance that every human when entering this world.”

“…”

“To live, Nathan. You would deny me that right?”

Nathan absorbs the question, pondering on what was being asked of him. He pulls the hammer back on the revolver.

“Yeah, I thought about it, and I think I’ll have to pass on your request.”

“Hmph. Perhaps you weren’t as special as I thought. I suppose it always must end this way. Don’t worry though, I’ll always remember you.”

Nathan steps back as Albert’s skin begins to bubble. Blood pours out of every orifice. His body bends backward as a gaping hole appears in the center of his chest. Nathan stares in utter disgust as the skin and bone begin to spew blood and flesh. Inside the hole, he can see thousands of faces staring back at him. The body begins to wiggle and gyrate as tiny, red tendrils sprout from holes all over his body. The edges of the tendrils squeak and move about, like a wounded animal. Eyes pop from the sides of them and they ooze a purple like substance.

“W-what…the fuck are you?”

In an instant, they shoot towards Nathan. Nathan closes his eyes and pulls the trigger…

A shot rang out while my eyes remained closed. I hear the body of that thing fall to the ground with a heavy thud. It continues to spray blood everywhere, giving each wall a new coat of smelling paint. It lie there twitching for a few more seconds before sitting still. I drop the gun and look at my hands. I thought they’d be covered in blood, but just like the rest of my clothes, they all remain clean. I run outside and vomit all the disgust out of my system.

“What just happened?”

Then a thought came into my mind like a sharp needle.

“My family!”

I get up quickly and run back the way I came. 

I run back to the cabin and everyone is sitting in the truck, buckled up.

I stop and grab at my knees and bend over, gasping for air.

“Is everyone okay,” I say in between breaths.

“Jesus Nathan, did you run a mile to go pee,” Mandy says looking at me through the half rolled window.

“Go pee? What are you talking about?”

Mandy sighs.

“You said you had to go take a quick leak before we got out of here. We’re ready to go when you are.”

Nathan blinks.

“How long have we been here?”

“A week. You know time tends to escape you.”

“Yeah…”

“So, you driving or are we gonna stay another week,” she smiles.

“Yeah, dad, I’m hungry and Richard won’t stop unplugging my music,” Alisa says, punching Richard.

“Will you two knock it off already,” Mandy yells from behind her.”

I am losing it or something?

“Nathan…are you coming?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right there.”

I buckle up and grab the steering wheel.

“We better get going, before the sun goes down, Nathan. Otherwise, this drive might feel like forever.”

I turn the key and pull out of the dusty forest.