Page 6 of Crucified By the Dark
They strapped him down to a bed for what felt like days while his skin itched with the feeling of insects crawling underneath. Didn’t they understand he had to scratch his arms, or the bugs would infect his brain and lay eggs? Then the insect aliens would hatch and take over. That was what they wanted wasn’t it? They wanted those eyes hatch and the alien bugs infect him.
“Let me out of here.” He thrashed against the straps that were holding him. All he wanted was to leave. Well, no, that was a lie. He also wanted to get high and escape it all. He shouldn’t have agreed to come here. Dean tricked him and told them they would help, but this didn’t feel like help. They were trying to kill him.
When the door opened, his heart was pounding so hard that it felt like it might burst in his chest. The same woman from earlier walked in with what looked like a doctor and a nurse, but he knew better. They were all aliens and they were sent to collect him for study. Yes that was exactly what was happening. He was going to end up like those cows he read about with the eyes and asshole missing. They were going to drain him of his blood and all that would be left was a dried-up husk when they were through.
“No, no, no. Get away from me! You can’t have my body or my soul!”
“His blood pressure is too high. We need to sedate him, but he’s so aggravated that I’m not sure if it will even work. It may make things worse.”
“I said, let me out of here. Don’t you understand? I want to leave. Please, please, don’t cut me open. Please, don’t take all my organs. I don’t want to be an experiment,” he said, then started to cry.
“What do you suggest?”
They spoke like they couldn’t hear him. Was it possible? Was he already trapped inside a body that wasn’t really moving, and he just thought it was moving? Was it possible he was already dead? No, it would be peaceful if he were dead. This was something else. He was already under their mind control and on their table.
He looked down at his body, and all he saw were dots and a white glow. Everything was white. Did he have clothes on? The skin on his arm moved, and he screamed as he watched the huge insects moving below the surface. It was too late, they’d already infected him. There were so many, thousands, and they were taking over his body, making their move to infect his brain. The lumps were moving up toward his shoulder. It was happening.
“No, get them away from me. Get them out of me.” He tried to reach for his arm, ready to cut it off if needed, but couldn’t. “Ahhh.” He lifted his body and slammed it down onto the bed over and over.
Something warm grabbed his arm, and Jeremy’s eyes snapped open. Breathing heavily, he stared into soft gray eyes that reminded him of storm clouds. The woman from earlier was talking. He could see her mouth moving. She sat on the side of the bed, and her eyes never left his. She ran her hand up and down his bare arm. Usually, he didn’t like to be touched, but there was something soothing about her doing that. The bugs didn’t seem to like her touch and were disappearing. Was she not one of the aliens? Was she here to help?
“You’re okay, Jeremy,” Morry said calmly. “I know you’re scared, but no one is trying to hurt you. That is the withdrawal talking.”
“But something is moving under my skin. Look,” he demanded.
She picked up his hand and laid it in her lap as far as the strap would allow. She rubbed her hand over the spot where the huge insect had been.
“How did you do that? Where did it go?”
“It’s gone. You’re safe,” she said softly. “I won’t let them hurt you.”
The fear started to ease. “We’re going to give you something to help with the pain.”
He gripped her hand hard. “Don’t leave me, please.”
“I’m not going to leave you. I will stay with you as long as you need me to. Okay?”
Her voice was so pretty, so calming.
“We’re going to put an IV in your hand. Okay?”
Immediately, his breathing started to quicken, and she gripped his hand and rubbed circles into his chest with her other hand. “What did I say?”
“That it will help with pain,” he said.
Just then, he was hit with pain that felt like his muscles were ripping away from his bones. He gripped Morry’s hand as tight as he could and arched off the bed. Tears ran down his cheeks as he turned to look at the woman Dean brought him to and couldn’t decide if she would save him or kill him.
“I’ve got you, Jeremy. Just breathe.” He slumped onto the bed and then saw another with a needle in her hand. “Don’t look at her. Look at me.” She smiled. “I promise she is a friend of mine. Tell me something about yourself. Do you like sports? You seem like a sports guy, maybe football?”
“Baseball,” he said. His head lulled to the side, and she swiped the longer strands of hair from his face. “I screwed it up,” he said, and the tears came harder. “I could’ve had a scholarship, but I fucked that up.” He found her eyes again. They felt so comforting. “My parents hate me. They hate me. I fucked up. I…” The room swam a little, and he looked at his other hand. Something was sticking out of it. “What did you give me?”
“Something to help with the withdrawal symptoms, but you’re going to be okay,” Morry said and held his hand to her chest.
He believed her. There was something in those eyes that felt like she could command all the demons away. The other woman left the room and closed the door, and he stared into those eyes as she softly sang a song he didn’t recognize until he was pulled into the darkness.
Jeremy awoke with a start, and as he did, the pain came back. He cried out. Movement caught his eye, and there she sat on the floor beside the bed with her hand still in his.
“It hurts.”
