story Chapter 2

[Butchern]

At the sight of the seemingly endless tunnels of the alien creatures, Coupard's mind gave way. He jumped up as straight as he could and ran for the exit, his head smacked into the nearest sleeping creature as he stood.

The creature's eyes opened, and all the breathing stopped . . . for just a moment. Then the tunnels were filled with the cracking of joints and the rustling of feathers. They were all awake now.

[matt_s]

The mind of a professor is a majestic thing. It contains multitudes and embraces the enlightening power of knowledge unearth by fellow colleagues across the world. Books, articles, field expeditions, all these experiences chisel new features on the glorious marble frieze of human understanding. And he had added to this panorama the last few days as they delved into the mystery of Broder's death and all the threads issuing from forth it.

 

Like marble, a mind is hard and can withstand all sorts of shocks and tribulations. But it is brittle, and when a crack forms, the entire facade can SHATTER. This Coupard would now understand if he was in his right mind. He was not. The dissected bird, Ramirez at the hospital, the glowing sample in the lab, sacrifices on the rock, the aberrations in the tunnels, and the everclosing confines of the darkness - all of together was too much, and he covered eyes and fled towards what little thought he had left hoped was the exit to this foul place, wailing like a madman.

 

The Professor had spent his entire life searching for knowledge. He had succeeded.

[Sir Lazeabout]

Malcolm is barely aware of Coupard running away screaming. His mind is frozen with horror, and all he can think about is that he must keep moving forward, that the answers he has sought his whole life is somewhere ahead of him. Like a fearless fool, he ploughs ahead, arms raised to protect his face.

[Butchern]

The creatures began to detach themselves from the tunnel ceilings and flying for the exit. In seconds the tunnels were filled with a blinding wall of feathers, beaks, and talons. Three of the closest creatures to Malcolm alighted on him and began pecking at his face and neck.

Coupard, in his blind terror, put his first foot upon the makeshift bridge and his hand upon the rope with little thought to his own safety. A wall of angry alien creatures was amassing behind him.

[Sir Lazeabout]

Malcolm flails around, trying to rid himself of the loathsome attackers. He keeps running, though he can no longer tell which direction he's heading in - all that matters is getting away.

[matt_s]

Coupard in his blind panic slipped on the crude bridge, and he fell headlong over the side. His body crashed into the floor of the pit, and Coupard was gone. All that he had ever known or felt, a first love in secondary school, late nights drinking and cavorting with friends out on a dig site, the joy of discovery late into the night in his laboratory, a raucous celebration of tenure, the simple pleasure of a walk in the fresh night time air, the entirety of Tristan Coupard was splattered in a grotesque display far from any light or eyes.

[Butchern]

One of the awful creatures took a chunk out of Malcolm's neck before he was able to swat it away. It's feathers felt greasy against his skin.

[Sir Lazeabout]

Malcolm breaks and runs, whimpering like an animal in pain as he tries to race in the direction he dimly remembers the exit was.

[Butchern]

The birds didn't following Malcolm en masse. Rather, they continued their chaotic migration toward the hole behind the distraught man. Any of the creatures that Malcolm collided with paused long enough for a scratch or a peck, but the fact that he was not getting in their way seemed sufficient for the moment.

Malcolm reached the makeshift bridge not long after Coupard did. The open area above the hole was already swarming with the black greasy creatures.

[Sir Lazeabout]

Breath in his throat, Malcolm tries to make the crossing...

[Sir Lazeabout]

... and slips, and falls, arms flailing helplessly, fingers ripping themselves bloody on the side of the chasm without being able to grab hold of anything. For an instant, his terror-crazed mind makes him think that he has become one of the bird-things, that his quest for true magic has given him wings and that he's flying through the endless vastness of space. And then he hits the ground, and the illusionist's last, feeble illusion is crushed right out of him along with everything else.

[Butchern]

About an hour later, the sheriff arrived at the hole, some of the less confused "singers" were with him. He found Maria sitting by the rim of the well, head in her hands, her face and arms covered in cuts. "Pecks and scratches" was all she would say about them. Her injuries were described in the final police report as "likely self-inflicted."

There was no sign of Malcolm or Coupard or any of the townsfolk who went into the hole when the seal crumbled. One local man were found on the ground between the hole and the tree line. He was shot dead, but the gun used to shoot him was never found. Maria was arrested and charged with his murder. She later confessed. Dr. Livingston used all her influence to get Maria moved to a hospital for treatment, but Maria was hanged four months later. Agnes Livingston left the state and never returned.

The creatures, too, were gone. All of them. Black feathers were found everywhere, but none of the carcasses of the creatures remained. The sheriff's report, under "Notes," read "Mass hysteria?" "Cult?" "Murder-suicide?" But all had been scratched out.

Dealing with the fall-out from what happened at the farm took the sheriff weeks. Other reports piled up on his desk that he never looked at. One of those reports was of a young girl named Stephanie Ramirez at the South Carolina Hospital for the Insane. She died of a self-inflicted wound to her skull and brain with a mattress spring. The doctor called it "the most tenacious and pernicious attempt at self-harm" he ever seen. The attending nurse reported that late in the night Stephanie became agitated and kept calling out, "Es la hora. Ellos se van. Yo también debo ir." Her body was not found until the nurse brought her breakfast in the morning.

 

The End