I want to announce the youngest winner of my “Nightmare Writing Contest” that I hosted on my blog and on my facebook writing page.
Abigail is currently going to school and wants to be a writer someday. I hope you enjoy her story as much as I did. I will be leaving for Australia come January 1st, so I wanted to make sure I got these up for you all! Keep watching and you will see the next one posted tomorrow! (which, will be Emily Kunkel) They will soon be moved to the “Contest” Tab at the top of the web-page. :) I hope that all of you have a lovely NEW YEAR! What are your New Year’s goals and dreams?
The Monster Inside of Me
Short Story by: Abigail Anderson ©
Chapter: 1
John opened his eyes, he felt odd. He couldn’t see. Everything was black. What was wrong? He tried to move, but couldn’t. He could hear people around him. ‘What’s Wrong With Me?’ He tried to yell- but he couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything. ‘Where was Emily?’ Emily was with him before all of this had happened. John felt a sharp pain in his arm. He tried lifting his arm, but felt something interfering. John continued to pull on his arm; the voices around him grew louder. Every time he pulled, he could feel his arm moving bit by bit. John felt his hands pushing down on his chest. He decided to try sit up, there was even more yelling around him. There was another sharp pain in his shoulder. John was trying to shake the hands off, but the pain kept growing. John started pulling on his other arm, the right one was just going to be amputated, because of all the hands pushing down on it. The left one was actually looser, so in a few yanks and pulls- his left arm was free. He reached up- and blindly tried to grab the hands on his chest. He grabbed one, and pulled until the person let go of him. He reached up to his face, he felt a rough sort of fabric on his face. He pulled it off, but felt another hand grip his wrist. He reached for the fabric- while the person kept pulling his arm. He kept pulling as hard as he could, but whatever was on his face, wasn’t going to come off easily. Since he couldn’t pull it off he pulled it down over his eyes. When the fabric came down, he opened his eyes. The bright light from above burned his eyes. There were people all around him. He reached up, and pushed all the people off his chest, then brushed all the people’s hands off of his arm. There were only a few still trying to hold him down, but he sat up while pulling his left arm out of what looked like a strap. He looked at the people surrounding him; a few ran as soon as they saw him. John didn’t care if the people were staring at him; he was getting out of here. He tried to move his legs, they wouldn’t move, when he realized that they too were strapped to the table. He reached down, and stared fumbling with the leather straps. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the men charge at him. John put out his arm and knocked the man to the floor. He finished undoing the strap so he could free his legs. John pushed himself off the table, more people ran after him. There were only a few left. John stumbled towards the door, while those people rushed up behind him and grabbed him. He kicked, twisted, and pushed. There was a person on either side of him. One of the men John had knocked down seconds ago stood up in front of him.
“You’ll never escape John Cooper. You have no idea what you are, what I made you. You’ll never control it without us.” The man snapped.
“Watch me.” John Spat.
John used all the strength he had and turned, flinging the two men onto the floor. John turned around and picked up a needle filled with bright blue/green liquid off one of the trays. He turned back towards the open door, and plowed down the man standing in front of him. John stumbled into the hallway. He picked himself up, and started running down the hallway. John had no idea where he was going. John’s heart pounded in his chest. He suddenly stopped. Emily! He needed to find Emily! He turned in a circle.
Where is she? John spotted movement in a room just ahead of him. He ran to the room, and looked inside. A girl whipped around with her eyes wide. John stepped into the room, while closing the door. The girl was literally pressing herself against the wall. John went to her, grabbing her lab coat.
“Where is my sister?” John growled.
The girl shook, “I don’t know!”
“Where is Emily!?” John asked again.
“Please don’t hurt me!” She wailed. This girl was on the verge of crying.
“Well, maybe if you give me some answers, I won’t!”
“Your sister- your sister is down the hall.”
John quickly held up the needle and asked, “What is this?”
The girl’s voice was cracking, “It’s a serum to help you stay alive.”
“To stay alive?”
The Girl Nodded, “The doctor created it to keep you alive during the process”
“What process?” John growled.
A voice broke in the room, “The one I already told you, about!”
John whipped around; the man was standing blocking the entrance to the hallway.
“I told you John, I made you what you are now.”
“Enough!” John yelled.
The “Doctor” was stepping towards him, “Come on John, don’t you want to know what I made you? Can’t you feel it inside you?”
“No. I don’t want to know.”
The Doctor laughed, “John, I know that’s a lie. You want to know everything about who you are and what you are.
“No!” John yelled, running for the door.
The Doctor didn’t even bother stopping him. John pushed open the door, and started running. He needed to find Emily, and get out of here. He looked in every room. Nothing. A closed door, lead to a room at the end of the hall, the door was closed. John ran to the door pushing it open.
“Emily-” John whispered.
John slowly walked to the table. Emily was laying there. All around him were empty needles. Just a few still had the liquid in them. He looked back at Emily, she too was strapped to the table. Fabric covered her eyes. John slowly stepped to the table; he reached out and touched Emily’s arm- ice cold.
“No-” He whispered.
John looked at Emily’s face, her mouth was open- he reached out and slowly slid the fabric off her eyes.
“Noooooooo!” He wailed. “No, Emily!”
Emily’s eyes were wide open, but the smell of death filled John’s nostrils. He stumbled backwards in disbelief. He looked around the room and heard yelling. He needed to go now! There was a bag sitting on the chair by Emily. He quick took it off the chair, and dumped all the papers out of it. John picked up all the full needles, and stuffed them in his bag. He threw it over his shoulder and looked back at Emily one last time.
“I’m sorry Emily-” He whispered and then headed for the door. But something stopped him. He looked down at the papers that had fallen out of the bag. One of the papers titles was “Project: Monster” He kneeled down and picked up the paper. Maybe these papers would be useful. He didn’t have time to look through them all; he picked them all up and stuffed them in his bag. He opened the door and looked down the hallway, no one. He shut the door behind himself. His heart was beating so loudly he could feel it in his throat, he just couldn’t believe it. He tried to remember where the doors were that he he had been held in. He started running and hooked a left at the end of the hallway. The image of Emily’s body raced through his mind. He then turned left at the second hallway. He could see the doors and ran as hard as he could, and pushed on the doors, but it was locked. He looked around, what was he going to do? He saw a chair. He picked it up, and went aimed it, and threw it shattering the glass. He jumped through the hole in the glass door and landed, while feeling a sharp pain in his foot, he looked down and realized he had been barefooted the whole time. He felt the bottom of his foot, a piece of glass had gotten stuck in his foot, and he quickly pulled it out and then set his foot on the ground. It hurt so bad, he picked up the chair and threw it again, at the second set of glass doors. The glass shattered again. He looked for glass as he jumped through this time. John held on to the bag as he stumbled out into the street, he started running again. His foot throbbed in pain, as the sunlight blinded him, but he kept on running. He needed to get as far away as he could from that place. Also as far away from that Doctor, and the experiments, and that also meant away from Emily.
Chapter: 2
John lay down on the grass of the park, his chest was heaving and his foot was throbbing. He had just run about half way across town dodging people, cars, and just about everything else. Somehow, he felt weak- maybe it was just shock? With the combination of running that far? His foot? He sat back up and opened the bag, the papers and the needles were still there. He took one of the needles out. What is this stuff? The doctor said that it kept him alive. Could it make him stronger?
There was only one way to find out, what did he have to lose? He brought up his arm and squeezed that area of skin where he slowly pushed the needle. It pinched as he sucked in a deep, sharp breath. He pushed the liquid though the needle, into his arm. After the liquid was gone, he pulled the needle straight out. He waited- nothing was happening. Suddenly, he felt a shock of power through his body. He breathed in and stood up. His foot didn’t hurt anymore. What’s Happening To Me? He thought. He walked to the building next to the park, and stared at his reflection in the window. He felt different. He didn’t feel weak anymore, but felt different somehow. John looked more closely at his face, something was different. His eyes were blue- not brown. His natural color was brown. He looked a little closer and he saw that his eyes were flickering in between blue and brown. He looked at the empty needle in his hands. What is this stuff? What did that doctor do? What was he? …Was he a Monster?
He saw a telephone booth not far away and decided he had to do it. He couldn’t disappoint Emily, Not again. He opened the phonebook and searched for Jessix’s number and found it. He put a quarter in and dialled the number. It rang three times before he picked up.
“Hello?”
“Hey Jessix, its John.”
“John? John Cooper?”
John was looking over his shoulder, “Yeah… hi. umm, I was wondering if you’d help me.”
Jessix’s voice had a small nervous tone to it, “With what?”
“Jessix… I can’t tell you…,” He paused, “I’ll have to show you.”
“Alright?”
“Jessix? Do you still live in the apartment that you lived in when you first graduated?”
“Yeah-”
“Can I meet you there?”
“Alright! But, you better hurry.”
“Alright. See you there.”
John hung up the phone and turned, Jessix lived near the collage… which he passed… when he ran from the building- and he had to pass his apartment… “No…”
John was walking down the street, he had to face it- he was going against his better judgment- but he had to face it. John had to cross town- passing his apartment- passing the place he had been held earlier that day- and John remembered he had to also pass the police station on the way there. Oh god. This wasn’t going to be pretty. John pictured a map in his head. He had to pass his apartment first, then the building, then the police station. He had to stay in the dark, not to be seen. He couldn’t risk something like that. He couldn’t risk getting caught.
First destination. John watched his apartment form an alley. Amazingly- he was wrong about what was there. John had thought there would have been at least 10-15 police cars, but there wasn’t. There was only a black van. But he figured to just ignore it, but he couldn’t be too relaxed. He watched the apartment as he sneaked by, he felt like a criminal- maybe he was… and he didn’t like it. He finally broke the glare, and stated running down the street. Sudden panic had struck him. That black van had started down the street. ‘I Can’t Do It! I Can’t Do It!’ His mind screamed. He couldn’t stop. He couldn’t. People looked at him as he ran past. A man with blood running down his face, barefoot, changing color eyes, and dirt all over him; bolting down the street. He was a criminal. That’s why he was running. He was a criminal. Second destination, but this time- there were a bunch of cars there, but John didn’t stop. He bolted past, dodging everything. ‘Two Times in One Day.’ Third destination, there were only a few cars, but if he could hide before they saw him… that could work. Nope. He just kept running. He didn’t want to stop. He kept running. He ran across the road, a truck he ran right in front of honked his horn as loud as he could, and John jumped onto the collage yard. John stumbled, but kept moving. He wasn’t going to stop before he got to Jessix’s. He ran across the collage yard, almost running into 5 college students. They all stared as he ran by. John looked up; Jessix’s apartment was just up there. John went to the building, and ran in, the man at the counter tried to stop him, but John couldn’t hear anything. His head was pounding. He ran up the stairs, two at a time. He had to get to the 4th floor as soon as possible. John counted as he passed the floors, ‘Second… Third… Fourth…’ He ran up the last few stairs, then turned into the hallway. John ran down the hall, looking for Jessix’s apartment. He turned the corner, and stopped in his tracks. John believed that this was Jessix’s apartment. He pounded his fist on the door. The door suddenly opened and hands grabbed his shirt and drug him into the apartment.
Chapter 3:
John landed on the floor and heard the door slam shut.
“Are you crazy?!” a voice exclaimed, “There’s a warrant out for you!”
John smiled, “Good to see you too Jessix.”
Jessix took John’s hand and helped him up, “Sorry man, It’s just so weird.” Jessix looked behind John, “Where’s Emily?”
John’s head drooped, “Jessix, I have to tell you something…”
After John was done explaining to Jessix, Jessix stared at John. “So… what your saying is… You’re like a Monster?”
John nodded, then turning to the bag. “These papers say so.” Taking out the papers, then taking out the needles. “And These Needles Are Like A Power Boost or Something.”
Jessix took a needle, “I could analyze these, and make more for you so you don’t run out.”
John smiled, “That’s why I love ya’ Jess.”
Jessix got up and went to a back room, John got up and followed. Jessix was squeezing the liquid onto a tray, “John, I’m going to need a DNA sample from you also.”
“Can’t you just take it off my face?” John laughed.
Jessix grabbed a clean needle from his drawer, and went over to John, “Alright, just let me get at your wrist…” Jessix shoved the needle into John’s arm, drawing that deep red blood from his veins. Jessix pulled it out of his arm, getting almost a full needle of blood.
“Hey, you good so far?” John asked, “Cause’ I wanted to go see something quick.”
“Yeah, sure.” Jessix Replied, “But clean up before you go, they’ll know your suspicious if you have dirt and blood all over your face with no shoes. And just take a pair of mine.”
Jessix threw John a towel, which John wiped all the blood from his face, and slipped on a pair of shoes.
“I’ll be back in a minute Jess.” John said, walking towards the door.
“I’m just going to go through these papers and analyze this.” Jessix called back.
“Alright!”
‘Where was the black van? The cop cars?’ John asked himself as he walked up the flight of stairs. John had gone back to his apartment; he needed to know what they had done to his home. John got to his room, and the door was slightly open just a crack. John hesitated, but pushed open the door. As John walked in, his jaw dropped.
Papers were flung all over the floor, all the cabinet doors and drawers were wide open, his desk was on its side, everything was scattered across the floor. John kicked a pile of debris, and heard a rather heavy thump. John looked back and knelt down, pushing aside a few papers, a broken photo frame with a photo of him and Emily. The glass was shattered, John looked around again, there was other things he remembered; like Emily’s vase with her favorite flowers in it was shattered across the floor, all of their pictures were thrown off the wall, Emily’s homework for collage was in ruins, John saw that their clothes had been thrown out into the hallway. It’s was a complete mess. John couldn’t clean this up now. He had to go back and check on Jessix. He Needed Answers.
“Jessix!” John called, stepping in the room, “Jess, did you figure it out?” The room was silent. “Come on Jess, no time to fool around.” The apartment was still silent. John stepped back towards the back room. “Jess?” It was still silent. Something was wrong. He stepped into the back room, and John got the same smell as in the building, Death. “Jess?!” John looked down, and stumbled backwards, “No…”
Jessix’s body was on the ground. Bullet wounds showed in his shirt, and blood showed through his shirt. John was gasping for air, he couldn’t believe it. Not again. First Emily, now Jessix. John looked up on the wall, there was spray-paint covering the walls. It Read:
John Cooper, Surrender Or You Will Have To Pay Another Price. Another Life.
John was shaking. What was this? Who? Then it hit him harder than a bag of bricks. He knew why. He knew who. Rage boiled over the top.
John gripped the needle, and held up his arm. A spot on John’s arm was black. Almost like a tattoo. It looked like a sick, twisted cross. In the same spot that Jessix had drawn blood. John closed his eyes, and shoved the needle into his arm. He felt the liquid rush through his body, and he dropped the needle and watched it go down… down… down… John peered down on the street. He was standing on the top of the building. Ready to jump, jump to his death- or not. He didn’t know yet what he was, so he had to try. What did he have to lose? Both Jessix and Emily were dead, why not him? John looked down once more, and stepped off. John felt the wind rustle through his hair, he felt as if he was flying. John closed his eyes just before hitting the ground.
Chapter 4:
John could see bright lights through his eyelids, ‘Am I in Heaven? I Sure Hope So.’ John moved his arm but never opened his eyes.
“Emily?” he moaned.
John heard a voice, “Oh my god. He’s still alive.”
“What?” John opened his eyes. The sunlight blinded him, but he saw the outline of three people.
“My god… He is alive.”
John tried to sit up, “Where am I? What happened?”
One of the people spoke up, “You’re outside, on the Collage lawn. We saw you jump off the building.”
John could see them a little better, “Am I still alive?”
The one girl let out a nervous laugh, “Yeah, apparently.”
John cursed under his breath and tried to get up.
“Whoa, you might not want to try that.”
John got up, and straightened. He didn’t feel any different. Except he could honestly feel blood run down his face again, But he wasn’t dead. But he did know who was going to be in a minute. He looked once more at the three people, than took off across the lawn.
John’s mind was racing. He was almost there. Now for sure he called himself a criminal, he was just about to commit something John would have never done before- Murder. He was going to kill the person responsible for killing Emily, killing Jessix, killing the inside of him. And he was so close to it. One more street, The final street. John ran into the alley, looking for the door.
John slowly walked down the hall, trying to be as quiet as possible. John quickly crouched down as a person walked out of a room. John’s eyes followed the person all the way around the corner. John- still crouched- followed the person down the other hall, and watched him turn into a room. John listened; he could hear a group of people talking down the hall, plain as day. John straightened, and walked toward the voices. John stopped at a closed door; the voices were coming from here. John just stopped, and listened for a moment.
“So where is this Project of yours?”
“We don’t know, he ran away, but I do know that he’s still in the city. We have every single Trooper, Cop, and Person looking for him.”
“And what is his name? His real one.”
“John Cooper.”
“Was he in any relation to Emily Cooper?”
“Yes, it was his sister.”
John could hear the Doctor’s voice most of all; it made him cringe every time he heard it. John was tired of them talking about him; he was going to kill, now. John kicked open the closed door, and walked in. There was a huge conference table, and had a lot of people sitting around it. All eyes were on him. The Doctor was sitting at the end; everyone on the right side got up and ran to the back of the room. John’s chest was heaving, with rage and anger.
The Doctor slowly got up, “Ah, John. Glad You Could Make It.”
“You killed them.” John spat, “You killed Emily and Jessix.”
“Yes… but-”
“But what? They were in the way of killing me? You killed everything I had! And you’re going to pay the price for that!” John moved to the table and shoved it to the wall, almost crushing the people that were sitting in the chairs.
The Doctor looked at the table, “Alright, John. calm down.” John went to the Doctor and seized him around the throat, “Give me one good reason to not snap your fragile little neck.”
“I.” he stuttered, barely able to speak, “I can tell you everything, I can teach you how to control it.”
John loosened his grip.
The Doctor continued, “All your senses are heightened. You can’t die, you can hear ten times better than a normal person, you can see in the dark, you have a longer adrenalin rush, You’re better than a normal person.”
John was barely holding on to the Doctor’s throat, “And the liquid?”
“The serum will keep you strong till your body can do t on its own- and by that time you’ll have a mark.”
John held up his wrist, “Like this?”
The Doctor stared at the cross, “Yes. Like that.”
John let go of the Doctor’s throat, but stared deep into his eyes, “You’ll teach me. But if you slip up just once- I will snap your neck, and kill all of your friends. Got me?”
The Doctor stared back, “Yes. Welcome to the other side John Cooper.”
I was so happy to finally get a flat, because after a while it got to be too much with the searching and such. A huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Now, I am gong to be job searching. Next week I will search around the city for jobs. I majored in English/mass communications so of course my dream is to write. I would love to do anything in the writing, editing, publishing, marketing field. So, I will search high and low for something like that, but in the mean time I will also look for available jobs that will allow me to get some spare change! The saying starving artists could be true. At least I enjoy what I do, right? :) I joined the Queensland Writer’s Centre and am very excited with the events and seminars that they have going on in the very near future. I am going to take one on March 10th which is called Going The Distance: Rediscovering Your Writing Drive and then in April sometime, my boyfriend and I will be headed to Toowoomba (Which I am looking forward to, because I absolutely adore that area. It is full of trees, fields, hills (The Australians call them mountains, but compared to what the Rocky Mountains are… they would be considered foothills, but for the Aussie’s sake I will call them mountains! lol!) We will be attending a writer’s conference on Memoir and telling your life story! I am looking forward to that. :)
