Duplicity (16 page)

She watched the man close his eyes and rock on his heals. “They are all going in the same direction now.” his face was ashen. “We don’t have much time left.”

Chapter Eighteen

Albert lay on top of the bed sheets, soaked in sweat. His earlier tiredness was nothing compared to how he felt now. He smiled and sighed. His
lost treasure
had fucked away all his anxiety and stress.

She had left him here, in the room of a recently deceased patient, telling Albert that she wouldn’t be long. He didn’t really care about what was happening to the nursing home any more.

Somehow, the woman had also fucked away any guilt that he felt about all those people dying. Albert slowly sat up, he yawned, finding himself very hungry. He climbed off the bed and walked into the kitchen, not bothering to dress. The cooling sweat felt good, he shivered.

The kitchen cupboards rewarded him with a single tin of beans, hidden right at the back; it would do until later on. He pulled off the lid and dipped his fingers into the cold beans, scooping them out into his mouth. It took him just seconds to consume the contents. It made him even hungrier.

He walked back into the bedroom, startled to see that his
lost treasure
was back and sitting on the bed. He hadn’t heard her come in. He couldn’t believe that it was possible but in the space of a few minutes, somehow, the woman had become even more ravishing, he felt life down below, Albert didn’t think that was possible either, this was just insane. She giggled; it was such a beautiful sound. She threw him his trousers.

“It’s time for the final preparations, Albert. The others are on the way.”

His
lost treasure
got off the bed, walked up to Albert and handed him his shirt. She then helped him put his trousers on.

“I’m so hungry.”

“That isn’t too surprising, my sweet. You’ve been very energetic for these last few hours.” She brushed her hand against his crotch. “And you’ve been very generous with your fluid.”

“I still don’t understand how I’ve managed to keep going. I mean, don’t get me wrong here, I’ve always had an active sex drive but I’ve never performed this well, even in my twenties.”

His
lost treasure
took his hand. “Albert, my people know how to extract everything from our chosen mates.” She led him over to the door. “Don’t you worry, my sweet. I’ll see to your dietary needs. First, though, don’t you want to see what I’ve created with your fluid?

She opened the door and took him along the hallway. His trousers itched, there seemed little point in dressing; nobody would see them. After all, they’d dealt with the staff and he had locked the doors to the common room were most of the residents still were. It left about twenty residents remaining in their rooms but he knew they were all bed ridden.

She led him past the room where she’d killed the staff; he gazed at her angelic face, wondering just how much of his recent past was actually true. His
lost treasure
was just too beautiful to have caused those atrocities that his mind kept showing him.

“Are you excited, Albert? You’re going to see our children. Come on.” She dragged him into the resident manager’s office and over to his huge antique desk. “We’ll have to watch them through the PC monitor, Albert. It’ll be too dangerous any other way.”

“Wait, I’m confused, what do you mean by our children?”

His
lost treasure
pushed him into the chair. “I’m no longer pregnant. I had to quicken the process; there was no chance that I was willing to share the food with any of the others making their way up here. Our children are almost ready to hatch out. My sisters will soon wish that they had stayed where I had commanded.”

He nodded, remembering her story about having to leave her home in search for her two missing tribe members.

She turned on the monitor, Albert found himself staring in on the common room. That unnerved him a little; he had no idea that the place even had cameras. Most of the residents were crowded around the exit. Albert saw three of them were still sat in the high seat chairs, watching television. “How did you even know about the cameras?” He asked looking at her.

She pointed to a slumped figure in the corner of the room. “That was your boss, Albert. I found out all kinds of interesting stuff after I ate his brains. Don’t look too upset, he didn’t like you very much.” His
lost treasure
tapped on the glass. “There’s no sound, not that it matters. Our babies are about to emerge.”

He watched as hordes of tiny doll-like animals emerged from the cupboard where they hid and swarmed over the terrified people. The slaughter lasted just seconds. He turned away, wanting to throw up, sickened at what he’s just seen. Albert looked up at the girl, her face still glued to the images, she displayed another emotion; it was joy.

“Are you still hungry?” she asked gazing down at him.”

“No way.” he muttered, shaking his head. “Oh Jesus, I’m a fucking monster, I’m as bad as you.”

The woman climbed off the table and walked over to the door. “Thank you for everything, Albert. I couldn’t have accomplished any of this without your help.”

He turned off the monitor. “I don’t understand.”

She shrugged. “There’s nothing too understand. It’s simple; you’ve served your purpose, Albert. There’s just one thing left.” She pointed over to the body. “I left my two most important babies inside that body. They’ll need live food once they hatch.” The woman slammed the door shut.

Albert heard her slamming the bolt home. He turned around to see the body fall to the floor. Two tiny versions of his
lost treasure
burst from the corpse’s stomach, showering the carpet with wet entrails. He spun around and slammed his fists against the wood.

“Get me out of here; you can’t lock me in here with these things!” Albert turned around and pressed his back against the door. “I’m not an old bastard.” He muttered. “There are only two of them.”

They hadn’t seen him yet. The tiny figures were pulling lumps of grey matter from their smooth pink skin. He spied a bookcase on the wall beside him and slowly edged towards it. “It’ll be just like breaking a couple of Barbie dolls.” He whispered as he helped himself to some of the heavy medical volumes. Albert threw the first book, screaming in triumph as it landed on top of the first creature.

The other one looked up and spat at Albert before leaping onto the wall. It clung there like an insect, glaring at him. “What are you going to do now, you little bitch? I’ve splattered your sister. You’re going to be next!”

Albert raced across holding the book above his head, intending to squash the thing against the wall. It didn’t stay still, as soon as he reached it, the creature skittered up the wall and onto the ceiling. He screamed out in agony when it dropped onto his shoulders and dug its long claws into his skin and shredded his flesh. Albert spun around and tried to grab it.

The creature raced down Albert’s body and sunk its tiny teeth into his ankle. Albert screamed and twisted around; he lost his balance and fell forwards. The strong smell of perfume stung his nostrils as he watched the edge of the wooden desk rocket towards his face.

Chapter Nineteen

Henry gripped William’s hand then pulled him up onto the roof. “You are putting on a bit of weight, you know.” He looked up into the night sky, marvelling at how beautiful those stars looked. He looked at his two companions and wandered if either of them knew just how fortunate they were to never wonder if there was more to life than an endless mazes of black tunnels. He doubted it, before his old memories returned, Henry never gave his situation any thought.

“Why are they all coming here?”

“Meat is meat, William. It doesn’t matter where is comes from, not to us anyway. Like you, our tribe could happily survive on the shit your species eat. Now according to your scientists, the mind just dies when you die. According to your religions, it goes somewhere better, or worse, depending on how good you were while you lived.” He leaned forward. “All your memories and experiences stay locked inside that large muscle long after you die. Like a discarded battery, they fade as it rots.”

The girl shrugged, “So what?”

“
Our people can access all this hidden information by consuming the brain.”

“That’s bullshit.” William said. “It just isn’t possible.”

“If it’s bullshit, William, can you explain how I look, act and sound like your meek friend? His memories are now my memories”

“You mean you ate his brain?”

Henry nodded; grinning at the girl’s shocked face. “Like I said, meat is meat, don’t look so distressed. If you had eaten that pie instead of throwing it at me, you probably would have eaten some brain as well. When our people lose their usefulness, we eat them to preserve their skills. The older they are, the more prized there brains are. There used to be many of our species under the hills but now, only a few of us remain.”

“I’m not surprised.” William said. “You keep eating each other.”

Joanie lifted a skylight cover and glanced back at Henry. “And you believe that they come here?”

“They are already here, Joanie.”

“I still think that we should get help, probably help that are carrying big fucking guns.”

Henry stood up and walked over to William. He gently placed his hand around the man’s neck, lifted him off his feet and carried him over to the edge of the building. “Joanie, just half an hour ago, I caught this man fucking the woman whom I believe was my wife.”

She walked over. “Are you going to drop him?”

Henry stepped away from the edge and let William go. “No, why should I kill him when I saved his miserable life?”

He crouched beside him. “After all, it probably wasn’t even his fault. The female chose William to be her mate; he’s strong, confident and smart. Our females always get their man; the males can’t help themselves, no matter what species they appear to be. Henry dragged William over to the skylight. You would have ended up as your offspring’s first meal.” He lifted up the plastic cover. “In you go.”

Henry jumped down after him and helped Joanie through the gap. “How are you doing?”

She brushed herself down. “I want this finished, Henry.”

He gazed at William who was staring down the empty corridor.

“I think I just saw one of them.” He whispered.

Henry pushed the pair of them against the wall and put his arms around their bodies. “Don’t move or speak.”

He turned his head and saw a small number of infants scuttle past them. Their need to feed upon anything that moved grabbed him like a vice. These yearlings were very strong in both mind and body. Unlike his own diet at their age, these ones had been given the highest quality meat. Henry had only just survived his birth. Even the strongest of his litter fought over scraps of a month old brain from the last remaining elder.

Henry felt both the human’s strong hearts pumping rich, pure blood through their veins, just millimetres from his fingers. It would be a stupid idea, no matter how tempting. Just one scent of running blood would send those yearlings into a feeding frenzy. They’d have no problem with consuming Henry if he resisted.

Most of them had moved away but he watched a single specimen slowly walk up to him. He let out a quiet moan as the yearling rested his tiny-clawed hand on Joanie’s ankle. Henry slowly moved his hand away from Joanie’s back as it started to excitedly chatter like a bird. He whipped his arm out, seized the yearling, and squeezed tight until it went limp. Henry choked back a sob, feeling as though a part of himself had just died.

He looked towards where the other had gone and saw shadows approaching; they’d discovered one of their group was no longer with them. “Run!” He shouted.

They raced down the hallway, with the excited horde of yearlings right behind them. William pushed open a fire door and kept it open until the three of them were through. He pushed it shut and put his back against the door.

“The little bastards won’t be able to get through that.” He panted.

They didn’t need to; Henry saw that the yearlings had their own method of travelling through the building. He watched them scurry along the wall, heading for the ventilation shaft. Two of them pulled off the panel and scuttled inside. The others followed them in.

Joanie looked up, at a panel just above their heads. “We are so fucked!”

He pulled them both away and sprinted along the hallway, towards the nearest door. He pulled on the handle and screamed in frustration at finding it locked. He watched William try the next door.

“What the fuck are we going to do now?” he shouted.

Henry saw the panel on this side start the buckle.

“Follow me.” Joanie shouted.

She led them back through the fire door and down an intersection towards a fire exit.

“That will take us back outside.” Henry said.”

She shook her head, “No it won’t.” The girl pushed open the door and held it open. “We’re in an enclosure that only staff and residents can access.” She raced across the manicured grass towards one of the housing blocks.”

“Where is she going?”

“It’s obvious. She knows one of the residents.” He looked at William. “She’s about to have one more piece of her life ripped out.”

Henry pointed at the shut door. “We barely escaped with our lives. How do you feel all the old people in here have fared?” He followed Joanie, watching as she entered one of the houses. She raced from one room to another, shouting a woman’s name.

He entered the apartment, wondering how he’d be able to calm the girl down. Without warning, Joanie dived on him; he hadn’t been expecting her to do that. He fell to the floor, with her on top of him.

“She’s not here, my grandma is dead. I’m going to kill them all, starting with you.”

He threw her off him easily. Henry grabbed both her arms. “Joanie, listen to me.”

“What?” she scoffed. “Are you about to tell me that she might still be alive and not to give up hope?”