This is just a rough prologue I've written for an Alien fan fic I'm working on as a side project. I'd love to know what you guys think, any feedback at all will be appreciated thanks!
Aliens: Leviathan
Prologue
Cole stood alone on the beach watching the grey waves roll over one another before crashing on the dirty grey sand. A strong wind whipped at his coat and tore at his ears, overhead ugly, bloated gulls squabbled amongst themselves petulantly. Cole couldn't quite remember the last time he had been to the beach, it was at least twenty years; thirty if he counted time spent in hyper sleep. Yet after all these years, he still found something soothing about the beach, a gentle calm descended over him, even on a cold, windy day like today. Out to sea, the skeletal silhouettes of huge rigs were etched against the grey sky, like gently brush strokes on a dirty canvas. Cole was aware of the risk he was taking coming to Earth, but a man in his line of work had to go where the money took him and unfortunately it had brought him to Earth. As far as anybody knew, Thomas Cole was dead, though it didn't fill him with any particular confidence, the Company wasn't exactly forgiving. Particularly to someone who had destroyed their prized weapons project and cost them six hundred million in the process.
Earth was a lot uglier than he remembered, much more industrial, the green had been chased away by ugly grey and chrome, lost under the wheels of apparent progress. If there was such a thing, Cole hadn't seen it. The cities were a mis-mash of high rises and slums, where the rich sat in their glass towers surrounded by wealth and security, and everybody else scrambled around on the city floor trying to make a living out of nothing. A lot had changed in twenty years. He took his cigarettes from his pocket along with his lighter. The lighter had been his father's, the only thing left to Cole after his father had died. Cole's father had been a Marine, killed after his transport crashed while on a training mission. He'd survived four tours in the Corps, but died in a routine exercise close to his final stretch. Cole ran his thumb along the faded Marines insignia on the side of the lighter, before placing a cigarette in his mouth. The lighters flame danced swiftly in the wind but stubbornly refused to go out, Cole placed the lighter back in his pocket and drew deeply from his cigarette. He never fully understood why he'd kept the lighter all these years, he and his father had never been particularly close. His father had been on active duty for the majority of his childhood, and died before Cole had reached his tenth birthday. Cole certainly wasn't the sentimental type. He blew a long stream of smoke, which was quickly abducted by the wind and checked his watch, his meeting was in fifteen minutes. With that, he turned to walk back up the beach, leaving the squabbling gulls and crashing waves behind.
The sand crunched under his boots as he made his way back up the beach, drawing once more from his cigarette before tossing it. To his surprise he saw a little girl playing alone in the sand. She wore a dirty white dress, her shoulder length brown hair covered most of her face. She busily but carefully placed sand into a small pink bucket, filling it to the brim. Then holding one small hand over the top of the sand tipped the bucket over and placed it on the ground, spilling some in the process despite her best efforts to keep it all in the bucket. She then carefully pulled the bucket upwards, leaving a near perfect sandcastle in its place, then started on filling the bucket again. Cole was sure she wasn't here when he arrived, but more troublingly, she was alone. It was cold, the beach was otherwise deserted and secluded, it wasn't safe for a child to be out here alone. He scanned the beach for any sign of her parents or an older brother or sister but saw nothing. Then again, it wasn't his problem and he had an important meeting to get to, not to mention he wanted to get off Earth as quickly as possible, yet something nagged at him as he passed the girl. If she noticed him she didn't let on, instead just continued to fill her bucket. Cole paused, thought about saying something, thought again and continued up towards to grass topped dunes.
"If you're wondering where my parents are mister, they're not here." The little girl said, stopping Cole in his tracks.
"Excuse me?" He said, turning on his heels, a gust of wind slapping at his black coat. Undeterred, the little girl continued to fill her bucket.
"I said my parents aren't here mister." She said, Cole pondered what to say for a few moments,
"Oh.... You sure you're okay to be out here on your own?" He asked, the words feeling completely alien to him. The little girl said nothing, just shovelled more sand into the bucket. Cole saw that she wore no shoes, he didn't see a jacket or a coat either. How could she sit out in this wind? He'd pulled his own coat around himself because of the cold.
"I like your sandcastle." He said, taking a knee beside her.
"My daddy taught me how to make them." She replied, tipping the bucket over once again. Cole nodded,
"Does your daddy know where you are?" He asked, brushing sand from his coat.
"No, he's dead." She said bluntly, "My mommy too."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"You should be mister, it's your fault." The girl said, hefting more sand. Cole's heart stopped for a second, sure that he hadn't heard her correctly.
"What..."
"I said you should be mister, it's your fault they're dead." She said again, only this time she looked at him, dropping the shovel into the sand. Alarmed, Cole got to his feet and took a step back.
"I don't understand..." He said, a look of worried confusion crawling across his face. The little girl got to her feet, the wind buffeting her white dress and pulling her hair across her face.
"I think you do Thomas." She said. How the hell did she know his name, he wondered, feeling the icy hand of fear stroke delicate fingers up and down his spine. A trickle of blood ran from the girl's nose, snaking over the top of her lip. Her dark eyes glared at him with pure hatred, and she pointed a grimy finger towards him.
"You did this!" She bellowed, walking towards him. Cole didn't know what to do, he took another step back almost tripping. Now blood seeped from the corner of the girl's eyes and slithered down her cheeks like crimson tears. With a look of complete horror, Cole turned away only to be confronted by a crowd of about thirty people. Where the f**k did they come from? He wondered to himself in a blind panic. The crowd was a mix of ages, men women and children all staring at him, their faces dark, blood streamed from their noses and eyes too.
"You did this!" A blonde haired woman shrieked, a little boy screamed the same then an old man with a nasty scar above his right eye, then all of a sudden a chorus of voices were screaming,
"YOU DID THIS!!!" Cole shook his head, pleading, then he tripped and fell face first into the sand. The crowd were frenzied now, chanting over and over again as Cole wiped the coarse sand from his eyes, nose and mouth. The little girl loomed over him now, her dress spattered with blood.
"You did this." She rasped but instead of pointing at him, pointed at her own chest, suddenly her solar plexus bulged, a red stain spread across her dress like an ink stain. Cole heard the snapping of bone as the embryo punched its way free, tearing through her dress and presenting its self to the world slick with core and entrails. Instead of escaping, the embryo turned to look at Cole with its eyeless face and with the little girls voice simply hissed.
"You...did...this." Cole screamed.
And sat up in his sweat soaked bed, his heart pounded in his chest and he was trembling uncontrollably, his stomach lurched, Cole lumbered from his bed, vomiting heavily into the small toilet on the other side of the room. Falling to his knees, he rested his hands on the rim and vomited again. He waved his hand over the sensor on the lid of the toilet and sat back against the wall, trying to gather himself for a few moments. The dreams were becoming more real, they were always the same, on that damned beach, yet every time he didn't know that he was dreaming, and that's what scared the shit out of him the most. The stench of vomit hung in the air like a bad memory, his stomach groaned a complaint, but it passed.
"f**k." He said to himself, still shaking.
well done. I realized it
Spoiler
was a dream
when the blood started coming out. Before that though it really had me wanting to know WTF was going on.
Thanks, it still needs a lot of work, the pacing towards the end is a little off
Great writing. You have my complete interest. Please continue. :)
Thanks! The next part should be done today
I'm liking this so far,looking forward to the next part
This is part one of the first chapter, it's very rough any thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated, please also excuse my lack of technical knowledge!
Thanks guys
Chapter 1
Ealing walked briskly down the corridor, ignoring the glances of his co-workers. He'd f**ked up and he was in trouble, he knew it. Company heads didn't call emergency meetings this early of a morning for nothing. Someone had stolen heavily classified files from the Company's database, really serious stuff. A black bag R and D project, linked to Colonial Administration, Ealing hadn't seen the files himself, he'd always took it upon himself to steer clear of the gory details, it helped him sleep better at night, not that he'd slept much in the last couple of days. The blame would be firmly laid on his doorstep, he knew that for sure. At thirty one years, Jack Ealing had been the youngest man in the Company's history to be promoted to Head of Security, and most likely he was now going to be the youngest to be fired. No other Company would touch him after this, his reputation would be in tatters, he'd be lucky to get a rent a cop job on some far flung colony by the time Weyland-Yutani were finished burning him. The corridor was lit by soft blue strip lightings, but seemed to grow darker as Ealing approached the boardroom, he tried his best to keep a calm composure but fear had already nested within his belly, his skin grew hotter
A young receptionist with dark hair tied back glanced up from her desk, regarding the blonde haired man in the grey suit as he approached. She offered the faintest of smiles, but shared the same nervous look that Ealing wore.
"Mr Geuwen is expecting you Mr Ealing." She managed, Ealing felt the dry lurch of fear crawl from his gut to his heart, felt the first beads of sweat begin to gather at the top of his forehead. He nodded, waiting for the doors to the boardroom to open. You f**ked up Jacky boy. The voice in his head said, and Ealing knew it. The doors parted with the softest whoosh, gathering himself and taking a deep breath, Ealing entered.
The boardroom was dark, save for the dull glow of the huge monitor on the back wall at the far end of the room. The windows were blacked out, in the centre of the room was a huge wooden table, oval in the shape. At the head sat Mr Geuwen, Company director, he ran a hand through his grey hair as he stood. He wore a dark blue suit, white shirt and blood red tie, and offered a smile that Ealing didn't doubt for a second was fake.
"Please Jack, take a seat. I'd like to introduce Drew Harper, Oscar Luiz and Elaine Howarth, from Colonial Administration." He said pointing to the two men and woman that sat on the left of the table.
"Also General Powell and Lieutenant Genarro of the Colonial Marines." Motioning to the two men on the right, the General was pushing sixty at least, gazing sternly at Ealing as he took his seat. The Lieutenant, a much younger man nodded gently. Despite Geuwen's apparently relaxed attitude, Ealing felt six pairs of eyes burning into him as he rested in his chair. He shuffled nervously in his seat, his throat had suddenly one dry, threatening to close completely before he managed,
"Firstly Mr Geuwen, I'd like to apologise for any...." Geuwen waved away his apology.
"Please Jack, there'll be plenty of time for that later. For now I'd like to understand just how somebody was able to lift some very sensitive files from our system and leave the building with them." Ealing nodded,
"She had full clearance, a level nine security pass, only myself and the people in this room have that kind of access sir." Geuwen nodded, tapping his hand on the table.
"The woman in question, claimed to be a systems technician. Ami I correct?" He asked.
"Yes sir. I ran an I.D check, she's on the system, and I went through every standard security procedure. There are protocols in place that don't allow the downloading of any files without Company permission." Ealing continued, to the disapproving looks of the others, the General in particular.
"Yet she still managed to download those files and leave the building with them." The General uttered disbelievingly. Ealing shot him a look,
"She was somehow able to bypass my protocols, override them and extract the files that she needed. I've got forty seven people working on finding how she did it as we speak. It wasn't a virus, she knew exactly what she was looking for, and from the looks of things this has been planned for a long time."
"Son, do you have any idea what was on those files?" The General barked, chewing on a cigar he'd pulled from his breast pocket. Ealing shook his head,
"No sir. It's not my job to know, it's my job to ensure any sensitive materials don't fall into the wrong hands."
"And a marvellous f**king job you've done so far son, seriously where did you find this pencil dick?" Snorted the General, holding a hand out to Geuwen. The woman, Howarth jumped in.
"Regardless, what do we do about it? Mr Geuwen, Colonial Administration has so far been very generous in not concerning itself with your special projects, but if word got out of what was actually going on... well it wouldn't be pretty, for any of us." Howarth had short dark hair, and cold blue eyes behind wire rimmed glasses, she spoke softly but Ealing felt the threatening tone of her words. Her associate, Luiz nodded in agreement.
"Howarth is right. It's no secret to us of Weyland Yutani's interests, we've always played ball and you've been very generous so far. That being said, the ball has definitely been dropped." Even though Luiz didn't look at him, Ealing knew for sure that was a swipe at him.
"It's no secret Weyland Yutani has enemies. Geuwen began. "Could be separatists, a rival company who knows, what's important is retrieving those files." He pressed a small button on the table in front of him. Instantly the monitor on the wall presented the picture of a woman with brown hair. She was pretty, in her late twenties. Her brown hair was tied back neatly. The video was from a security cam, it showed her entering through a set of double doors, being greeted by Ealing. The two shook hands, then Ealing led her into a console room.
"She'd called a day in advance, said that she was here to do some routine checks on our security system. I contacted her people, everything checked out." Ealing said.
"Security checks a common thing Mr Ealing?" Luiz asked, Ealing nodded.
"We have them twice a year, always performed by an external Security Head, I've done them myself off world. We use external security to limit the chance of in house espionage."
"But not outside?" The General remarked. Ealing looked at him disapprovingly, thinking what an arrogant prick he was.
"Like I said, she had full clearance. Access comes from the Director. Mr Geuwen has to approve my clearance should I carry out such a procedure. Am I right sir?" He asked, looking at Geuwen hopefully. The old man nodded.
"That's correct. Like Jack said, clearance comes from upstairs, they contact me and I relay the message to my Security Head." The General didn't look convinced and he looked on Ealing as a man would look on a fly he had just squashed under his boot.
"I can assure you every precaution was taken. This had been planned for a very long time, she... Miss Anderson must have worked her way up the ladder in order to gain this information." Ealing hadn't noticed the man sat in the far left corner of the room, either the gloom or the glare of the monitor had obscured him from view. He hadn't known he had been there until he spoke.
"What I find so strange, is she knew exactly what to look for." The man stood, Ealing sat back in the chair.
"Your point being?" He said. The stranger stepped in front of the monitor, he wore a long black coat, his brown hair was cropped short and walked with a very faint limp.
"Miss Anderson knew exactly what files she needed and where to find them, and if I'm not mistaken only on site staff are aware of what files are kept on their systems." Ealing nodded slowly,
"That's true." He replied.
"So, that means somebody from this installation let slip the location and content of said files." Ealing shook his head.
"I'm sorry, you are?"
"This is Mr Bryce, he's a.... specialist. I brought him in as a consultant, to help with the retrieval of the files." Ealing looked as if he had a bad taste in his mouth.
"I wasn't made aware of this."
"Of course you weren't." Bryce interjected, "There was no reason for you to know anything beyond your own failings." He now had his back to the table, facing the monitor, he held his arms behind his back.
"As I was saying, somebody had to let slip the location of the files, and allow Miss Anderson access to them, then let her walk out of here with them."
"That's impossible, the only two people that have that kind of clearance are sat in this room." Ealing declared, a flush of anger rising in his voice. Bryce suddenly whirled on his heels, and for the first time Ealing saw his face, saw those bright blue eyes, but more horrifying was the huge burn scar that covered the left side of his face, curling his lip into a snarl.
"Exactly!" Bryce declared, Ealing was shaking his head.
"Mr Geuwen I can assure you I had nothing to do with this!" Fear now clawed at his heart and his guts were cold jelly. He looked at the people sat at the table, they all stared at him saying nothing. The General blew a long grey stream of smoke which was quickly sucked up by the extraction unit on the ceiling. Bryce made his way around the table, nodding slowly.
"Most importantly is containment, we can't have those files falling into the wrong hands. Mr Geuwen has given me his full support and any resources I need, but most importantly the freedom to take care of this matter in my own way." Ealing was out of his seat,
"I can assure you I had nothing to do with this, please you have to believe me." Bryce approached, the scar gave him a maniacal smile that terrified Ealing. The "specialist" nodded understandingly and placed his hand gently on Ealing's shoulder.
"Relax Mr Ealing, nobody is accusing you of anything." Ealing felt a sharp prick on the nape of his neck, he took a step back placed his hand to where it hurt but couldn't feel anything, and then the room began to spin. The last thing he remembered before everything went black was Bryce saying.
"Not yet anyway."
again I'm liking it,I would suggest that you spent just a little bit more on describing characters that ar e going to be around for a bit because the entire time I was wondering how the general looked,also and this is stange coming from me but I would cut back just a wee bit on the swearing,it just seemed out of place to me.all and all though I'm enjoying it and cannie wait for the next part
Chapter 1 (cont....)
Ealing came round slowly, his head aching something fierce. He was on his back, on a hard cold floor that felt as if it was made of stone. His back and neck ached a complaint as he sat up. Where the hell am I? He wondered to himself as his eyes adjusted to the gloom. He was in total darkness, save for threads of soft grey light that caressed the walls enough to let him know he was in some kind of tunnel. The last thing he remembered was that son of a bitch Bryce putting his hand on his shoulder and smiling that damn smile, then somebody turned the lights out.
"Hello?!" He called out hopefully, but the only reply he got was his own voice bouncing off the walls, getting quieter the further away it bounced. Ealing swayed on his feet, his head span for a second, whatever they'd given him had hit him hard and fast and it hadn't quite worn off just yet. He rested one hand against the wall to compose himself, instantly repulsed by the clammy feel of it. Pulling his hand away he steadied himself, wiping his hand on his jacket and then began to amble his way down the tunnel.
It was deathly silent, save for the scraping of his feet and the pounding of his heart. What the hell was going on? He'd had nothing to do with the security breach, he'd done everything by the book to ensure nothing was compromised, it wasn't his fault. The bastards were breaching his human rights by doing this, he had a right to a fair trial at least, this was kidnapping. He stumbled on through the tunnel, the source of the light had begun to grow a little stronger, and he was sure he felt a gentle breeze growing stronger the further he went. The breeze he was grateful for, it was hotter than hell in here, cloying, making it impossible to breathe at times. Ealing removed his jacket, and tossed it to the floor, his tie as well. Dark sweat stains had formed under the arms of his shirt. Not that he gave a shit about hygiene right now, he just cared about getting out of this place, whatever and wherever the hell it was.
The source of light drew closer, now yellow light crept across the walls eagerly, Ealing found himself squinting as he approached. The light revealed strange designs on the walls, carved into the stones. To Ealing it looked like Salvador Dali's worst night mare, loops of bio intestines like the living insides of a machine. It was on both walls, and ceiling too, and it definitely wasn't helping the former Security Head's sense of unease one little bit. He could have been out for days, Jenny and the kids would be wondering where the hell he was, or preparing themselves for bad news, he had to get out of here, and fast.
The light had been coming from a huge industrial unit on the ceiling, round, cased in dully dirty grey plastic. Ealing stood under it now, for a few seconds staring at the insect graveyards at the bottom of the casing, dozens dragged to their deaths under the false promise of warmth and light. Was the same thing happening to him he wondered, feeling the familiar jelly feeling in his gut and those icy fingers begin to creep along his spine. To his right was a small, dully grey comm box, covered in dust and dead cobwebs. Ealing wondered if it still worked, as it looked like nobody had used it in years. On top was a small flip switch, Ealing reached out a hand to switch it on, suddenly a voice wrapped in harsh static erupted from the box.
"Hello Mr Ealing." It said, dust and cobwebs shook themselves free.
"Who is this? What the hell do you want with me?!" Ealing demanded, resting his hand on the comm box.
"You don't remember me Jack? I'm offended." The voice said mockingly. Ealing felt another rush of anger, almost yelling.
"Who is this? Bryce?" The patter of clapping bled through the comm, slow almost patronising in its pace.
"Congratulations Jack. Geuwen was right, you catch on quick." Bryce said.
"Where the hell am I Bryce?"
"You're underneath a research facility of mine, in a maze of sorts."
"Why? I haven't done anything wrong!" Ealing pleaded.
"That may be the case Jack, but given the sensitive nature of what has transpired, I feel the need to test your loyalty. It's relatively simple Jack, navigate your way through the maze within an hour and my people will be waiting for you on the other side."
"What will that prove?" Ealing asked, confused. Why didn't they just strap him to a lie detector device? Those machines were flawless, there was no point in any of this.
"It's a simple test of your loyalty Jack, as well as your resourcefulness and quick thinking. I can assure you, the only way out of here is through the maze. You do want to see Jenny and the kids again I assume?"
"Yes, yes I do." Ealing admitted, he wanted that more than anything right now and if going through this maze was the only way to do it, then so be it.
"Very good, your time will commence in thirty seconds Jack. Best of luck Mr Ealing."
Bryce sat back in his chair in the control room, a broad smile spreading across his face as he gazed at the array of monitors on the console in front of him. On the bottom left screen, Jack Ealing tentatively began to find his way out of the maze, taking a few nervous steps towards the intersection. Every tunnel in the maze was monitored and fed through to the control room, Bryce had eyes and ears on everything that would transpire, and it was all being recorded to for tests in the future. General Powell sat in the chair to his left, chewing on another cigar. The old man's face was weather beaten and scarred in half a dozen places, a true field commander if there ever was one. A man that had earned his stripes by spilling blood, including his own. Bryce wasn't overly impressed, his own scars had been earned, the one which now covered half of his face had come from something the General had never faced in all his years, somehow Bryce had survived even though he had been left for dead. The thought burned him, made his blood boil, there would be plenty of time for vengeance against the man who had left him to die, but for now he needed to get paid, and once this little demonstration was over, paid he would get.
"I can't believe you gave him an hour." The General grumbled, Bryce turned to look at him, for a second regarding the General's old green eyes with his own, noticing that the General's attention had turned to his scar covered cheek. Bryce smiled simply,
"I could give him twenty four hours, and he'd never find his way out." Powell nodded, waving an empty whiskey glass at Bryce, the melting ice clunking against the inside of his glass. Bryce nodded, and pressed a button on the console in front of him.
"Bring the General another drink please Sergeant. And prep Leviathan for demonstration." A voice crackled over the comm.
"Yes sir." Bryce sat back, and took a cigar from the General's hand. Lighting it and drawing deep he smiled to himself once again.
Ealing had no idea how long he'd been walking for, but had this growing feeling that his time was running short. The maze was impossible to navigate, every tunnel was identical in appearance and left, and the impression of going round is circles had been apparent for some time. His legs ached, and the same headache still thumped away at the inside of his skull, he was tired, sore and close to tears. He didn't deserve this, he hadn't done anything wrong and he'd been taken against his will by a man he didn't know under the instructions of his own employers. The feeling that he was never going to see home again was becoming stronger by the second. The thought of never seeing Jenny or the kids again made him sick to his stomach, but the thought of Jenny never knowing what happened to her husband was a million times worse. He could hardly believe the Company would tell her the truth, that your husband was taken away and forced to run round a maze until he found his way out or collapsed, that was never going to happen.
It was only the thought of his family that was keeping him going right now, otherwise he would have slumped to the floor and waited for Bryce to send somebody in to kill him, but as long as he could he would strive to get home to his family. As he took another right turn the lights abruptly shut off, plunging the tunnel into complete darkness. Ealing's heart missed a beat and he held his breath, frantically feeling for the wall to his right, finding it he rested his back against the rough, clammy surface. What the hell was happening now? The voice in his head shrieked.
"Time's up I'm afraid Jack. You were so close too." Said Bryce coming from another comm box, further down the tunnel, Ealing crept along the wall, taking slow steps so as not to trip. Searching with his hands, he eventually felt the cold grey of the comm box.
"You still there Jack." Bryce crackled.
"Yeah. What the hell happened to the lights?" Ealing asked, fear creeping into his voice.
"Power surge, my men are working on it now. Unfortunately for you Jack you've run out of time."
"No please, you said I was close, give me more time." Ealing pleaded, something hissed further down the tunnel, Ealing jumped, his eyes searching the darkness pointlessly. He must have been hearing things, or maybe it was the wind, yeah it was just the wind through the tunnels.
"I'm a generous man Jack, I'll tell you what, and I'll give you an extra three minutes to find the door." Bryce replied. Ealing breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank you." He said, Bryce's voice crackled through the comm again.
"But hurry up Jack, you're not alone down there now." Then the comm died.
"What do you mean not alone?!" He asked, fears grip now tightened around the base of his spine. The comm didn't reply, he only had three minutes to find his way out in total darkness. Using the wall as a guide, Ealing continued on. He stepped carefully but quickly, running his hand along the wall, behind him the sound of something scratching stone made him jump, his heart stopped and he turned in the direction that the sound had come from. Was there somebody following him? Bryce had said he wasn't alone down here, what the hell did that mean?
"Hello?" He called out, his voice devoid of any confidence, the voice of a man trying to sound brave but sounding terrified instead. Ealing waited for a few seconds, expecting someone or worse, something to burst from the darkness. Nothing. Finding the wall again, Ealing continued on, every now and again casting a glance over his shoulder into the sea of black behind him. After twenty feet or so, he found a turning to the right, trembling he made his way around the corner, half expecting something to be waiting for him on the other side. In the distance was a soft green glow at about waist height on the left wall, suddenly his fear was replaced with joy, that had to be the door! He thought to himself excitedly. Whoever was down here with him must be lost in the maze, and he could see his freedom no more than twenty yards away. With renewed confidence and great relief, Jack Ealing broke into a run. He made it ten yards before something took the legs from under him and he crashed against the floor face first. Ealing screamed and kicked out at his invisible assailant, his face throbbed and his mouth filled with blood. He felt a front tooth loosen and fall out and his knees and palms burned from where he had skinned them. His would be assailant didn't attack for a second time, and Ealing backed up against the wall, hitting his head. Abruptly the lights came back on, chasing away the gloom to a degree and to Jack Ealing's horror, revealed that he hadn't been attacked at all.
The skeleton sat against the opposite wall, seeming to grin at Ealing as he caught his breath. There was a hole in its forehead, as if it had been punctured. Ealing was beyond terrified now and he forced himself to his feet, bones crunched under his shoes as he stumbled to the door. The floor was littered with human remains, and Jack's mind suddenly reverted to the dead insects trapped in the light casing on the ceiling. He couldn't count how many people were strewn on the floor, there were too man scattered pieces and torn shreds of clothing as well as the odd shoe and sneaker. Sobbing, Ealing slammed his fist against the green button to the right of the double doors, he had made it, that's all that mattered. Imagine his surprise and abstract horror, that on the other side of the door, Bryce's men weren't waiting for him, instead a creature that resembled both insect and machine, with a huge banana shaped head devoid of any eyes. Ealing noticed that it's skin had a soft orange hue to it as he was frozen to the spot, feeling depth warmth rush down the inside of his trouser leg. The thing regarded him for a second, tilting its obscene head, Ealing tried to scream but found himself unable to, his throat had closed completely. This had to be a nightmare, he was going to wake up in a second surely? His body trembled uncontrollably and he tried to will his legs into running but they may have well have been encased in concrete. The things lips parted, revealing diamond hard teeth that were strangely human in shape. Then it's arm shot out and wrapped one claw around Ealing's throat and ran its other hand along the inside of Ealing's left thigh, over his crotch. Its teeth parted, revealing another set of inner jaws, the thing hissed again.
Jack Ealing managed one brief scream.
you set the scene brilliantly in the maze the images that came to mind would be terrifing
Gracias
Cole ordered himself another whiskey, and took his cigarettes from his pocket. The bar had emptied in the last hour or so, leaving only himself and a very inebriated man in a Weyland Yutani cap slumped in the corner. The Colony bar was open twenty four hours a day to accommodate the processing plants shift workers, perfect for Cole to come somewhere to drink at five am when he couldn't sleep. In truth the dream had shook him to his core, he was exhausted but he daren't go back to sleep. The dreams were becoming more real, the weight of guilt and anxiety had begun to take its toll, and at least the whiskey chased the guilt away for a brief period of time. The barmaid smiled as she placed his drink on a napkin in front of him, she'd have been pretty if Cole had been the least bit interested. Twenty four years old, shoulder length red hair, flawless pale skin and blue eyes that were far too bright for someone who worked until this time of the morning.
"Thanks." Cole muttered, lighting his cigarette.
"Can I get a beer too please?"
"Sure thing hun." The barmaid replied, still smiling and reaching into the fridge. She took the lid from the bottle and placed it on another napkin. Cole drew from his cigarette, then necked his whiskey. It was cheap, not the best he'd ever drank but would do for now. He shook the glass, the melting ice clinking against the inside of it, signalling that he wanted another.
"Rough night?" The barmaid asked.
"Something like that." She smiled again, taking another glass from below the bar top. She filled both of them with whiskey.
"These are on me." She said, sliding Cole his glass. He nodded, and drew deep from his cigarette.
"Thank you."
"I'm Jade." She smiled.
"Cole." He replied. Jade raised her glass, Cole raised his own clunking them together.
"Nice to meet you Cole." Impressively she drank her whiskey in one go, not even pulling a face afterwards, Cole did the same.
"Another?" She asked, Cole nodded. Crushing his cigarette in the ashtray. Jade pulled out the whiskey and refilled both glasses.
"So what brings you to this fine establishment? You don't strike me as the colonist type."
"Don't I?" Cole said, half smiling. Jade shook her head, wiping her hands on her black t shirt.
"Nope. You're too quiet, you don't have that usual ogling slack jawed shift worker look."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"You should. If I didn't know any better I'd say ex-military. Am I right?"
"You're very observant." Cole replied, Jade laughed necking another whiskey.
"Well people watching is eighty percent of this job, that and avoiding the grabby hands of my clientele. So I'm guessing Marines." Cole nodded, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand.
"A long time ago maybe." He downed his whiskey. Jade met his gaze.
"Judging by the look in your eyes I'm guessing it's something you don't want to talk about." Cole shook his head.
"You seem very nice Jade, and I don't mean to be rude..."
"It's okay, I like a man with a bit of mystery about him. Sure beats the hell out of the miscreants I have to put up with in here every night." As if on cue, the drunk in the corner coughed in his sleep, dislodging something slimy in the back of his throat.
"Is he okay?" Cole asked, Jade smiled pouring herself another shot of whiskey.
"Herb? Yeah he's fine, he comes in most nights, his wife died from cancer a month back, and he comes in and drinks himself to sleep. But he's harmless."
"Poor guy." Cole offered. The bars doors whooshed open, admitting a man wearing a denim shirt, jeans and brown boots. He had blond hair cut short, and dark stubble covered his cheeks. He shot Cole a nod as he entered, pulling up a stool next to him.
"How'd you find me?" Cole asked sounding a little disappointed. The man's name was Parker, he patted Cole on the back as he sat.
"I called your room, no answer and I know you don't sleep. This dustbowl only has one bar, not exactly one of the Universe's great mysteries partner." Cole signalled for another whiskey. Parker laughed,
"Jesus, chasing beers with whiskey at five am, not the best of ideas partner. Luckily I'm a big fan of bad ideas. Can I get two beers and two whiskeys please hun?" Jade nodded and went about her work.
"What do you want Parker? We're not supposed to meet for another two days." Cole asked, finishing his bottle.
"Work partner. What else?"
"I'm not interested." Cole replied. Parker gave him a look.
"At least here me out first."
"Fine, but I'll still say no." Parker shook his head, but pulled a small black disk from his shirt pocket as Jade placed their drinks on the bar. He then pulled a silver credit card from his jeans pocket.
"For these and his bill too thanks." Jade took the card away, Parker slid the disk over to Cole.
"Two days' work. A woman needs a package delivering off world on Orion Six. Small colony, smaller than this one, but she's brought some serious heat with her. She needs someone who knows what they're doing smuggling a package off world."
"How serious?"
"Pretty serious. Outside contractors, probably mercs. Whatever she's got is big. Two hundred and fifty thousand credits for two days work."
"I'm not interested." Cole reiterated. Parker swigged his beer.
"Come on partner, the sad angry guy thing is out. This is real work, real money." Jade tried to join in the conversation, flashing them another smile.
"Give us a moment please hun." Parker said, if she'd taken offence, Jade didn't show it. To Cole, she said,
"I get off at seven." Before walking to the other end of the bar. Parker watched her leave, half smiling.
"Nice! See, things are already looking up. Bullshit aside Cole, you're the best guy for the job. It's one hundred thousand up front, the rest on delivery, the girl and the package. Take a job, get some air, two hundred thousand credits can go a long way for a guy like you." Cole snatched up the disk, placing in it in his jacket pocket, before fishing out his cigarettes and lighter.
"I'll think about it."
"Good!" Parker declared, necking his whiskey and getting to his feet.
"I got you a ride of world, seven thirty tomorrow night, and bay seventeen. Don't be late." With that Parker left, as he got to the doors Cole yelled,
"I said I'd think about it." Parker laughed,
"Yeah you did." Then left, the doors sliding closed behind him. Cole sat alone again, pondering whether to take the job. Two hundred and fifty thousand credits was a lot of money for a simple smuggling job and that troubled him. By now the whiskey had infiltrated his system, his muscles relaxed and that familiar fuzzy warmth had filled his head. From the end of the bar Jade shot him a mischievous smile. f**k it, he thought to himself, what's the worst that can happen?
End of chapter 1
The middle of chapter one is perfectly paced and friggin' terrifying keep it up! ;D
keep it up man your story is keeping my interest better than most of the books I'm reading
Not posted in this for a while, been too busy with Uni assignments and work, for those who've read it and enjoyed it so far, some more should be coming tonight
Good to hear it take your time life comes first,btw your scene in the where the alien is stalking the guy would make a great level in the new alien game
So basically I've redrafted the opening, and the subsequent chapters, and written all the way up the fifth chapter which should be up over the weekend, but here's the re drafted Prologue, longer and less about Cole is revealed than before. I'd love to know what you guys think. I use fan fiction as a writing exercise before I focus on my other work to get the gears going. But still if anybody gives it a read and let's me know what they think I would be most grateful
The attachment is at the bottom
I liked it ! ;) . You should post it on Fan Fiction so more people will see it !
Here's a link : https://www.fanfiction.net/ (https://www.fanfiction.net/) .
I really like this - but watch out for the adverbs, man. Everyone that dies, the angels in copy editor heaven sing.
Thanks dude, yeah I've re-read it... Pretty sure that's a Stephen King quote too ;)
I stole it from somewhere, but I don't know where!
It's very true!