Masters of Horror (15 page)

“
No shit. I’m just concerned about you. This isn’t something pleasant and it needs to be treated as soon as possible.” When I finished that statement I felt a warm movement on my upper lip.

“
Dude, your nose is bleeding,” he said just as I caught the trickle of blood in my hand before it could hit the white carpet. “Here, man.” Will handed me a box of tissues.

“
Thanks,” I said and took the box. I took one and placed it under my nose, tilting my head back.

“
I’ve never seen you with a nosebleed before.”

“
Yeah, well, only God knows where these intruders are in my body.”

“
It must be gross to know you have an alien within you.”

“
It’s not an alien,” I replied, but in essence, he was right.

“
Metaphorically speaking it is,” he had said, then his brow wrinkled, and his lip curled in disgust. “Holy Shit!”

“
What is it?”

“
You can’t feel that?”

Then I did feel it. That same grotesque wiggling I felt earlier across my cheek. “Son of a bitch,” I said as I walked toward Will’s bathroom.

“
Dude, that is so
gross
!”

“
Do you mind?”

“
Sorry.”

I stared at the white worm protruding from my left nostril. This particular worm’s diameter was much larger and looked as if it were three times larger than the previous one. The worm continued to wiggle inside my nose without making any progress of getting out.

“
God, that feels awful,” I moaned as I continued to watch.

“
What are you going to do?” Will asked. “Oh, Jesus!” he hissed as I grabbed the worm between my fingers and began to pull. I screamed out as more blood flowed from my nose.

“
Be careful, man. Don’t those things have
hooks
on them?”

“
I don’t know,” I muttered, my voice full of pain. I didn’t care. I just wanted the fucking thing out. Will’s face contorted, as if he were going to vomit, as I continued to pull.

I gagged as I felt the tail end tickle the back of my throat. I successfully fought back the intestinal juices and continued to pull. As I did, a puddle of blood began to fill the sink. I released one last agonizing scream as I finally yanked the thing out.

“
My God. It must be a foot long,” Will gasped.

When I turned to face him, Will’s face tightened and his eyes squinted.

“
Dude, it happened to
me
, and I didn’t throw up! What are you, a little girl?” I said, trying to amuse myself at his expense.

Will’s gagging didn’t let up and it wasn’t long until he vomited. It took all of my will power not to follow his lead as I stared at his breakfast. The fact that the worm was still wiggling between my fingers didn’t help.

“
Will, are you all right?”

He was unable to answer. His gagging intensified. I took a step back when the next thing that came out of his mouth was blood. I watched in sheer horror as his eyes opened fully, acknowledging the excruciating pain.

I saw a ripple under his shirt.

“
Dear God!” Will managed to shout.

I quickly ripped open the front of his shirt and stared, dumbstruck, at the massive vein bulging under his skin. No. Not a vein at all.

It was something much larger.

“
Help me!” Will blurted as he grabbed my shoulders.

I could feel my jaw dangling open as I watched the worm move under his skin. “I don’t know what to do,” I replied, helpless.

“
Oh, God! It’s coming out!”

“
No…!”

Before I could react, the worm burst from his chest, just below his heart. His blood splashed across my face and the worm’s head slammed into my body. The force sent me crashing to the floor. Will’s body also fell, just outside of the bathroom. The tapeworm slithered from the wound and I was temporarily paralyzed with fear. It was enormous. I figure it had run out of room inside his body.

It lifted its head high into the air and turned toward me.
Could it SEE me
? Not wanting to find out, I quickly threw myself across the floor and slammed the door shut just before the worm crashed into it.

I sat there with my back against the door, bracing it against the worm’s battering.

“
How the hell did it get so fucking
big
?” I yelled…and then the answer hit me.
The steroids.

I heard myself whispering “Oh shit, oh shit,” and for the first time in my life I had an inkling of what unadulterated panic felt like.

I frantically looked around the room for a weapon. My thoughts drifted to Lisa and at that moment, I was willing to do whatever I needed to do to survive this ordeal and to see her once more.

The worm’s pounding was taking its toll on the hollow door. It was beginning to splinter. I stood up, wedged my left foot against the door and stretched to retrieve a can of hairspray that was sitting on the counter. Once I had it in my right hand, I dug into my left pants’ pocket and pulled out my lighter. I perched the lighter by the nozzle and got ready to hose down the thing with my makeshift flame-thrower.

As the worm’s head broke through the door I lit the lighter and pushed down on the aerosol can. The hairspray instantly ignited and the flames hit their mark. The worm unleashed a high-pitched squeal as it retreated.

I quickly followed it out and, as soon as I was in range, I sprayed the flammable fluid through the lighter’s flame once again. The worm continued to slither away, but when it was cornered, it swung its massive tail at my legs, knocking them out from underneath me. I fell on my ass and dropped both the lighter and aerosol can. The creature appeared to have absolutely no eyes, but somehow it knew right where I was and quickly it was upon me.

I found it extremely difficult to breathe with the creature’s weight on my chest. The worm’s head lowered and hovered inches above my face. It remained motionless for a few seconds; sweat began to roll down my forehead as I stared at its bristly scolex. Suddenly, the worm raised its head and drove it downward with incredible force. I dodged what would have been a fatal blow and the worm’s head crashed through the floor. Though the floor was carpeted, it didn’t soften the blow. The worm slowly lifted its head out of the hole, obviously dazed by the impact.

With all my remaining strength I landed a right hook into the side of its head. The worm’s body crashed to the floor beside me and I jumped back to my feet, kicked the worm in the midsection and ran into the kitchen. I rummaged through the cabinets until I found what I was looking for. Will always had a bottle of vodka lying around. It was his vice.

As the worm began to recover, I retrieved my lighter and began to pour the bottle of vodka all over its moon-colored flesh. With the bottle empty, I lit the lighter and tossed it onto the worm.

It was instantly encased in a blanket of flames.

“
The worm has definitely turned!” I shouted with a kind of manic glee.

The worm made one final charge but I quickly dodged it. Its body crashed to the floor. I stood over its charred remains, watching it closely for any signs of life.

I called the police. I take full responsibility for what happened next. But I beg for your forgiveness.

Will’s body suddenly stood up, the large crater in his chest bleeding profusely. He stumbled toward me with his arms stretched out before him. There was no emotion in his eyes and that frightened me.

“
Will, you’re alive!” I said, but I was wrong. Dead wrong.

He grabbed me by the throat and began to choke me violently. I struggled to break free. I grabbed at his wrists but his hold was too tight. I punched him in the side of the face, splitting his cheek. My eyes widened as I saw several white worms writhing inside the flesh. Finally, I broke free of its grasp and ran out of the house. It followed me. I had left my car unlocked and I quickly reached in and grabbed my steering wheel club. As the thing that once was my best friend came within reach, I swung the club and struck it on the left side of its head. The skull exploded and hundreds of worms spilled out onto the ground. They must have been controlling him.

Please believe me…if I had
known
those things would live long enough to find another host and grow, I would have reacted differently. I would have run back into the house, retrieved the aerosol can and my lighter, and burned every last one of them to a crisp. All of them. Instead, I jumped into my car and burned rubber for half a block.

Please understand that at that moment, I was teetering on the edge of insanity. I had just survived a living nightmare and I reacted poorly. I know that now, but put yourself in my shoes. What would
you
have done?

The power just went out. These things are smart. They are using us. They are growing.

The last report on the news was of a sighting of several large worms traveling across the Hudson River. They were said to be nearly 40 feet in length.

Dear God.

Without my television, I am truly alone.

I am afraid.

My biggest fear is that when the door gives, and I see what it is out there that so desperately wants inside, I will lose all hope.

Lisa’s hollowed-out husk.

Clawing to get in.

The phenomenon of “cutting” is more prevalent than you’d expect. Princess Diana was rumored to be a ‘cutter’, although I cannot confirm or deny this.

In the book THE ALCOHOLISM AND ADDICTION CURE, Author Chris Prentiss explains how ‘cutters’ think, as he cured one. “You feel bad before you cut yourself; you feel better AFTER you cut yourself. You’re cutting yourself to feel GOOD,” he told a woman…and that particular vice was revealed and subsequently defeated.

As New Zealand’s Master of Horror Lee Pletzers describes, it’s not always defeated…

The Seal

By Lee Pletzers

From the depth of his soul it came forth, ripping and tearing skin.

Claws gripped the flayed skin, a black head the shape of a panther with a long snout and a jutted jaw, slid from the opening, surveying its surrounds. It lunged forward, forcing its thick muscular body forward, struggling, wriggling its way through, and ripping the man’s torso apart in the process.

Feeling no pain, he watched the creature stride to and fro, claws clacked on the vinyl covered floor. Malevolent eyes, green and deep, stared at the man. Its lip curled up exposing a row of jagged teeth, tips gleamed in the fluorescent lights. Water dripped off its slick coat creating a puddle on the floor.

The lights flickered. The creature vanished in the flickering darkness. With each flash of light the beast moved closer like stop motion photography. The mattress sunk as it leapt onto the bed, growling, hungry and eyeing his exposed heart.

“
Wake up,” came a female voice with a stern tone. “Warwick, wake up.”

The creature eyed the woman, licked its lips, and poised on the bed it crouched, ready to strike.

“
Don’t make me restrain you.”

Warwick’s eyes snapped open, momentarily startling the woman.

“
That’s better,” she said, absentmindedly brushing down her nurse apron. She grabbed his wrist and looked at her watch. “You must calm down,” she scolded. “All the machines went into alarm.”

“
Leave,
now! It’s watching you!” His voice was a harsh whisper full of urgency and concern.

“
Mister James, there’s nothing there.” The nurse stared at her watch. She shook her head. “I’m going to have to give you something. Your pulse is racing.”