Authors: Harry Adam Knight
Slimer (16 page)
Mark then told Paul and Linda the whole story about the deal he had with Alex to smuggle heroin as well as hashish into Britain. When he had finished Paul said quietly,
'Perhaps I should have shot you after all. You know how I feel about heroin. Not only that but you exposed Linda and me to an amazing amount of risk. If we'd have been caught by the Customs we'd have got between ten and fifteen years for something we knew nothing about. I suppose then you'd have said how sorry you were.'
Mark made an anguished sound. 'Hell, I am sorry Paul. But you don't know what it's like being hooked this way. I couldn't say no to Alex. I had to do what he said.'
'Yeah, sure you did,' said Paul wearily. He got to his feet. 'Come on, you and I are going to look for Chris. You'd just better hope it's not too late to save her.' He turned to Linda. 'Do you mind staying here with Ro?'
Linda frowned. 'Can't we both come with you?'
'I don't think I can walk very far,' said Rochelle, with unusual promptness. 'I get dizzy when I stand up.'
'I think it's best she stays in bed,' said Paul. 'We'll try not to be long. And I'll leave the flame thrower with you. I'll pick up the other one now, along with the rest of the stuff. Just make sure everything is blocked up. You'll be quite safe.'
'Well, okay,' said Linda dubiously. She didn't want to be separated from Paul. She had the strong feeling that some-thing bad was going to happen if they weren't together.
He saw her anxiety and came over and kissed her. 'Hey, cheer up. Everything's going to be okay.'
Neither of them noticed the ghost of a smile on Rochelle's lips as she watched them from the bunk.
THIRTEEN
'Damn,' muttered Linda.
The lights had been getting appreciatively dimmer dur-ing the last few minutes and now suddenly they'd gone out altogether. That meant the emergency generator had run out of fuel now as well. It also meant that the others were stumbling around out there in the dark, which wasn't a pleasant thought. Or had Paul taken one of the flashlights with him? She couldn't remember.
She began to feel around for her own flashlight which she'd got ready as soon as the lights had begun to dim. As she did so she became aware of strange sounds emanating from the direction of Rochelle's bunk. It sounded as if she was having a convulsion, 'Ro!' she cried, 'what's the matter? Are you alright?'
There was no answer but the disturbing sounds continued. She found the flashlight and switched it on. Rochelle was lying with her face against the wall but her body was jerking and shuddering under the blanket. Alarmed, Linda stood up and was about to go to her when Rochelle turned towards her.
Linda froze. There, clearly visible in the beam of the torch, was Alex.
He flung off the blanket and sat up. Parts of Rochelle's clothing were still attached to him but even as Linda watched they melted into his skin and disappeared, like drops of water evaporating on a hot pavement.
By the time he swung his legs round off the bunk he was completely naked and she could see an erection of gigantic proportions extending out from his crotch. It resembled a child's arm.
'Hi, Linda. I've been waiting for this for a long time,' he said, in a voice that sounded as if it was coming from a blocked drain.
With a tremendous effort of will she forced herself to stay calm. She knew if she panicked she was finished. 'Hello Alex,' she said. 'I can't say I'm pleased to see you. Where did you spring from?' But she already knew the answer to that. He'd been here all the time. As Rochelle. She wondered when the thing had got to her. And what about Chris?
He stood up, an ugly sneer on his face. She saw he was taller than before. Bigger. She couldn't help glancing at his penis, fascinated and repelled at the same time. 'Pretty impressive, huh?' he asked, gloating.
'You always were a big prick, Alex. Now you're an even bigger one.'
He began to advance on her. 'You can't fool me,' he said. 'Under that tough talk you're scared shitless.'
She backed away. 'Don't come any closer, Alex. I'm warn-ing you.'
He grinned. 'Yeah. Warning me of what, bitch? You're helpless and you know it.'
She edged to one side, trying to keep as much space between them as possible. What could she do? Her mind raced. She weighed up her chances of making a rush for the door. Would she have time to unlock it and open it before he got to her? No. No way.
She kept talking, stalling for time. 'When did you - it take Ro, Alex? When Mark and Chris left her alone awhile ago?'
He grimaced. 'Other way round. She got taken first. Then she took me.' A look of sick fear passed across his face, as if he was remembering something almost too horrible to contemplate, then the sneer reappeared. 'You want to talk to her? She's around here someplace. Having fucking hysterics… She hasn't adapted like I have…' He sniggered.
'Sure. I'd like to talk to her,' said Linda, still continuing to edge sideways away from him. Anything to delay the inevitable.
Suddenly Rochelle's voice filled the room. 'Linda, Linda? Is that you? Help me, Linda! HELP ME!' The voice became a scream then turned into a scared whimpering that sounded so heart-rending that Linda wanted to cry too.
'Help me, Linda… I want to go home… help me…' the voice sobbed.
Her scalp tingling with the horror of it all Linda said hoarsely, 'I'll help you, Ro. We'll get you to a hospital. You'll be alright. But Ro, you've got to keep Alex away. Can you do that? Just for a little while at least? Can you?'
'No she can't, bitch,' said Alex. He was back.
Linda's bowels turned to water. She couldn't take much more of this. She had to do something. They were still circling each other but Alex was getting closer all the time. It wouldn't be long before…
She remembered the flame-thrower. But that was useless. She'd have to light the burner first. There was no chance of having enough time. Perhaps she could grab one of the guns? But where were they? It was so dark…
Stall. Stall. 'What about Chris?' she asked, with difficulty. Her throat was so dry she could hardly speak.
'She's in here too. Or rather bits of her are. Some memor-ies. Odd thoughts. She'd been dead awhile before it took her. It meant her personality didn't come through intact. But yours will baby. I'm gonna keep you alive to the very end…'
She forced herself to smile. 'Going to have your cake and eat it too? That's just like you, Alex.' Inside her head it was just one big scream.
'Oh, you're a cool one, Linda. I got to hand you that,' he said with grudging admiration. 'But then you always were. A cool bitch. Superior. Always looking at me as if I was some sort of low-life scum…'
He suddenly darted forward, catching her off-guard. He grabbed her by the throat with one of his large hands and shoved her backwards into a corner. 'But you're not superior any more. Are you?' he hissed.
Gasping for breath, she said, 'No, no, Alex - ' Then she tried to hit him with the flashlight. But he caught her wrist with casual ease, blocking the blow before it could land.
'Yeah,' he said. 'Expected you to try that.' He leaned closer to her. His fetid smell washed over her, making her feel even more nauseous. 'I still haven't forgotten how you tried to brain me with that gun yesterday.' He loosened his grip on her throat and began to drag her towards one of the bunks. 'Now it's my turn.'
'What are you going to do?' she asked, unable to keep the fear out of her voice.
He shoved her against the bunk. 'It's what you're going to do, baby. Put the flashlight on the bunk so that it's pointing at me. I don't want you to miss anything. Then get on your knees.'
She knew then what he had in mind. And she remembered Ro telling her once that the thing that most annoyed her about Alex was his frequent demands for blow jobs. It was practically all he ever wanted.
As she knelt before him she said, 'Alex, I don't think I can do this. You're too big. I won't be able to open my mouth wide enough.'
'You'd better. Otherwise I'll just dislocate your jaw to make it easier for you.'
He wasn't joking, she knew. Shakily, she said, 'Okay, I'll try… I'll try…'
She took hold of him with her left hand. The skin felt rough, dry and very cold. Inhuman. With her right hand she was reaching for something else…
'Hurry up,' he commanded.
She opened her mouth as wide as she could, stretching her jaws until they hurt. While with her right hand she carefully removed the glass stopper.
As her lips touched the end of his member she suddenly recoiled and leapt to her feet. At the same time she flung the sulphuric acid at him. It sprayed over his upper body, most of it catching him in the face. A small amount of it splashed onto the back of her hand, burning it instantly.
Alex tottered backwards, clawing at his face. He let loose a high-pitched scream of agony and Linda knew she'd aimed right. She'd got his eyes…
Now to reach the door. But as she tried to duck past him he flailed out with one of his arms and she screamed as his razor-sharp nails raked down one side of her back. Then he had a handful of her shirt and was jerking her backwards off her feet.
The fabric gave way but too late to prevent her from being slammed into the wall with an impact that winded her. Alex was continuing to lash out wildly, trying to find her again. She managed to avoid a blow that would have probably broken her neck and attempted to duck by him for the second time.
She succeeded. Then she ran for the door. She got there and began feeling for the doorknob and key. It seemed to take a hundred years before she found them. She turned the key…
And screamed again as claws dug deep into her right shoulder. The next thing she knew she was being picked up and hurled like a sack of potatoes down the length of the cabin. She hit the far wall hard and felt something snap in her left forearm. She knew immediately it was broken.
She lay there in a heap, almost upside-down, stunned and helpless. She couldn't even move as Alex lurched across and stood menacingly over her. In the dim light from the torch she saw his face was covered with large white and yel-low blisters from the acid. Both his eyes had been closed up by the burns but, incredibly, a third eye, a rudimentary one, glared down at her from the centre of his forehead.
'Fucking bitch,' he rumbled. 'For that I'm gonna peel your skin off in long strips and make you eat it.' He bent down, his huge hands reaching out for her. A sick despair filled her. She'd almost made it, but now…
Then, unexpectedly, he stepped back from her. He began to make a thin, wailing sound, like a terrified child, then fell to his knees in front of her and cried, 'Oh God, it's back! It's here… it's hurting me… No! It's eating me! Eating my mind!' Alex screamed and covered his ruined face with his hands. Linda saw that his body was starting to pulsate, as if something inside was trying to get out…
He took his hands away and the single, unfinished eye stared at her imploringly. 'Linda, help me! Don't let it pull me back down there again! I want to stay up here, in the light! Oh Jesus, it's tearing me to pieces…'
His face started to change. The mouth closed up and vanished, as did the eye, and the head became more elongated. Whether he wanted to or not Alex was going.
Linda seized her opportunity. The thing was blind now, and presumably deaf, so she twisted round on her hands and knees and began to crawl past it towards the door. But moving at all was difficult; her body didn't want to obey her commands and the pain in her left arm was excruciating.
Finally she reached the door and stood up. She felt dizzy, as if she was about to pass out. Do that and you're dead, she told herself angrily.
She glanced back over her shoulder and saw that no trace of Alex remained. The creature resembled some kind of huge, fish-like foetus. Its skin was now a dead-white colour and looked wet and slimy. The head was long and very narrow and completely smooth except for the two large, round fish eyes…
Eyes. It had eyes again. And it was looking straight at her. It started to get up.
Linda screamed and desperately tried to open the door. It seemed to be jammed, then she realised it opened inwardly but in her panic she was trying to open it outwards.
At last she was outside. She hurled herself into the pitch darkness of the corridor and ran for her life, not caring where she was going just as long as it was away from that thing.
She kept running, trying to ignore the explosion of pain in her broken arm that came with every jarring step, until she collided with the wall at the first turning in the corridor.
She bounced off it and landed hard on her backside on the floor. This caused an even greater burst of agony in her bad arm.
Idiot,
she told herself. She struggled to get up again, gritting her teeth as she felt the two ends of the broken bone grind together. Then, behind her in the darkness, she heard a distinct plop sound. It was if someone was trying to run in flippers…
It was after her.
She ran blindly, not even sure if she was running in the right direction. For all she knew she could be heading straight towards it. But she knew that if she should run into the arms of that white, slimy horror her mind was going to snap instantly.
No, thank God. It was still behind her. She could hear the wet sounds of its footsteps.
She whimpered to herself as she ran. She held her right arm out in front - she didn't want to hit another wall. If she knocked herself off her feet again she knew it would reach her before she could get up.
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