This story is the next Random Rendering that I just finished last night. It is not related to the first Rendering in any way whatsoever, though.Let me know what you think.
Random Rendering #002: The Demon Within
I woke suddenly. My eyes flew open, and my vision was greeted with the white glowing light of the stars and moon above. One of the first things that I realized was that I was laying on my back with my arms extended firmly at my sides and my legs stretched straight down. The leather jacket that I had on felt hot and sticky; the wasteland seemed unusually warm that night. Soon, the warmth that occupied my torso ran down my legs and to my feet.
Abruptly I shook my head from side to side, trying to bring all of my senses to their most alert state. I sat up quickly and slowly looked around. Ian, my companion that had been with me since the time I left Shady Sands a few weeks back, was sound asleep. He had no idea what was going on.
A sharp chill ran down my spine despite the incredible heat. The amazing coldness of it caused my whole body to convulse with shivers. I lost control of my jaw as it began to chatter uncontrollably. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself. After a few minutes, I finally won the battle and stopped convulsing. My breathing was heavy and my whole body began to ache from the struggle. I had experienced this before, but the after effects had never been this strong.
Then, without warning, my breathing increased even more. All of my muscles suddenly felt like they were working overtime. Slowly, I leaned back to rest on the ground again. I groaned lightly from the pain that my muscles now suffered. The pain turned into a burning feeling, until at last it felt as if my body was emblazed.
My breath was still coming hard and fast, and try as I might I could not stop it. Combined with the heat that my body was now suffering, I began to fear I would die. As I contemplated that thought, things turned worse. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostril. Panic set in as I began to think about what the smell was. Slowly and cautiously I lifted my left hand off of the ground, and even more slowly brought it to my face.
Once my hand was in sight, my eyes revealed to me a burning disfigurement instead of a hand. I stared at it for a moment, and then realized that what I saw was indeed my hand. I wanted to cry out, but could not; I was breathing too heavy to make any vocal sounds. Then, I attempted to move the mutilated body part out of my vision, but I no longer had control over it. Instead, all I could do was watch helplessly as my hand burned. The skin melted as if it was nothing but plastic, and the blood underneath began to quickly drip down onto my face. Soon, the flow of blood was accompanied by chunks of burning flesh that lost its contact with the bone.
Tears slowly came to my eyes as I wished for this nightmare to stop. However, the horror continued. I stared upward again, taking in the horrible site of my burning hand, watching as more and more bone was revealed. I tried again to scream, but as last time had no success. I attempted to move my head to look away, but quickly realized that I had lost control of that body part as well. All I could do now was watch my own hand burn.
The pain that I felt in my hand was unnerving. I had never felt anything that intense or painful before in my life, and I had been in some pretty wicked battles and suffered many wounds. Suddenly, my thumb, which had been dangling from the rest of my hand for some time, finally fell. Time seemed to slow as I watched the thumb spiral downward. My eyes followed its every move, and my body became struck with even more horror as the body part fell directly into my mouth.
The taste of burnt flesh filled my mouth and nausea consumed my stomach. I moved my tongue, trying to push the crisped body part out of my mouth. Each time my tongue came into contact with the finger, the horrible taste became even more evident. After a few attempts, I managed to wrap my tongue partway around the thumb. Then, using all my concentration, I managed to slowly slide the appendage out of the right side of my mouth. However, the taste remained, and seemed like it would never leave.
Once again, I looked up at my hand. All that was left was some burning flesh and bone. I began to wish that this would be over and that I would not have to endure anything more, but was very doubtful that I would be that lucky. My fears were confirmed in the next instant as a long strip of burning flesh lost its hold on my hand. I opened my eyes wide as it fell downward, and time once again seemed to slow down. Flames flew upward from the flesh as it spiraled towards my face. I quickly judged where it was heading for, and the result caused my eyes to open wide. Soon enough the tissue reached my face. Its landing pad had been what I expected and feared as it became settled across my nose with one end in each eye.
Bright colors flooded my vision as I felt my eyes begin to burn and smolder as a result of the flaming flesh that was resting on them. The smell of burning eyeballs was even worse than that of my hand. Soon, my eyes failed completely, and everything became black.
I awoke later that night. I had no idea how much time had passed, but the smell of burning flesh, the awful taste in my mouth, and the pain in my eyes were all still present. I blinked a few times, and surprisingly I could still see. Slowly, I pulled myself to a sitting position. I raised my left hand carefully and positioned it in front of my face. Miraculously, the flaming disfigurement was no longer present, but instead my hand appeared normal. However, there was something different about it.
I brought the hand closer to my face. The moon and stars above provided barely adequate light for me to see what was different. Concentrating as hard as I could, realization of the differentiation became evident. The skin on my hand was nothing but scar tissue now instead of the smoothness that it once held. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was impossible, even implausible. At first, I thought the previous events were just an extreme figment of my imagination, but now I wasn’t so sure. However, that left the question of how my hand managed to heal itself.
Then, without warning, sudden coldness set into my body. My blood, my skin, and my bones themselves seemed to freeze in that instant. Strangely, though, the low temperature seemed welcomed to my body. I did not shiver, and I did not feel the coldness as a normal person would. I knew that my body was freezing, but it was as if my mind did not care.
Carefully I brought myself to my feet. It was then that everything came into perspective. There was one thing that I had forgotten about since my childhood and had dismissed as utter nonsense, but it seemed to be the only explanation.
While growing up in Vault 13, many of the adults would tell me stories about what they believed was outside that large door that kept us safely secured underground. One man, whom everyone knew as Limb, always told the stories that seemed to be the most far-fetched. Most of his stories included some sort of bodily dismemberment; it was one of the reasons why he became known as Limb.
I don’t remember how old I was at the time, but late one night Limb took me to his quarters and said that he wanted to warn me against the worst monsters that arose after the Great War. He referred to the beast as ‘The Demon Within,’ and told me it was nothing but a bundle of energy that resulted after a nuclear blast.
Apparently right before the war, some countries, including the United States, were on the brink of perfecting artificial intelligence. As doomsday came closer and closer, however, the scientists became frantic to finish their task. They knew that the world as we knew it would end, and believed that all humans would be destroyed, even those who made it to the vaults. They feared that everything would be left in ruins and no humanity would be left. All of the scientists felt that the best chance for life after the war was in A.I.
However, time ran out before this new life form could be finished. Days before the war, scientists worked frantically to finish their task. They worked nonstop, experimenting everything that they could think of. Because of the lack of time, though, they did not take the time to eliminate their failed attempts. Instead, they left them on the hard drives of various computers. All of the attempts the scientists made were on computers. The plan was, though, if they would succeed, the being would be able to arise out of the drive, as if un-installing itself, and become free in the world.
Finally, the day that the world was consumed in nuclear devastation arrived. The scientists did not succeed, though they were very close. There was only one problem with their latest creation that caused it to fail. There was not enough energy given to the A.I. However, when nuclear bombs were set off in the vicinity, the race of energy from them caused the Artificial Intelligence beings to spring to life. Using the powers that the scientists had given them, the beings launched themselves upon the wasteland.
Instead of saving what was left of the world, though, these beings tried to continue the destruction. The last nuclear weapons that went off were not done by human hands, but instead at the hands of the Artificial Intelligence.
After everything was destroyed, surprisingly the surviving humans struggled out of the wasteland and tried to form communities. Most of the Artificial Intelligence beings eventually ran out of energy and simply died, but the rest lived on. They adapted to their environments, and saw everything different from them as a threat and enemy. Because of this, one of the adaptations that they made was the ability to infest a mind of any animal, including humans. Once that was done, the being could implant whatever memories it wanted into the human and take complete control of their body. However, the person would not know the difference.
After the beings took over the mind of one human, however, it could not dislodge itself. The entanglement between it and the human brain was too complicated and, try as it may, the Artificial Intelligence could not free itself from the human without taking both of their lives.
One of the last things that Limb told me about the Demons was that they could affect the thoughts of anyone around a human that it already infested. I thought the story was nothing but fiction at the time, but now it seemed like the only explanation.
I looked over at Ian slowly. I knew now that he was not the man I had met in Shady Sands, but instead a man being controlled by something that he could not even sense. I could not stand to go through another nightmare like the one before. I clenched my teeth, and then set out to perform the task that I knew must be done.
The first thing that I did was search through my bag of goods. Quickly, I found some thick rope; I would need rope to carry out my plan. Then, I ran my hand across the ground until my hand found a fairly large rock. Grabbing the two items, I walked oh so quietly over to where Ian slept silently on the ground. Poor guy, I thought to myself. He had no idea that his body has been taken over.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to proceed. Slowly, I kneeled down on the ground and raised the rock above my head. I did not wish to kill Ian with the rock, of course. I just merely wanted to ensure that he would remain unconscious. Without further thought, I brought the object down upon his head. There was a light ‘thud’ sound as the rock met my companion’s skull. It was sickening to hear, but at the same time a gentle relief. Ian let out a small moan, but then silence ensued.
I dropped the rock and reached over his face with my hand. I then proceeded to slap him a few times to make sure that he was unconscious. There was no reaction; everything was going smoothly.
I smiled diabolically and then began to search Ian for the knife that he held so dear to him. So many times I argued with the stubborn man, insisting that a knife is not a good weapon in combat, especially when he could have a solid gun. However, Ian would have nothing of it. Soon, I found the item that I desired. I tossed it down by the rope, and then proceeded to roll Ian from his back to his stomach. He was still completely unconscious and did not make even the slightest sound. Next, I took the rope and sliced it in half with my newly acquired knife. The first half I used to fasten Ian’s hands behind is back. The other half I used to tie his feet together. I wanted to limit the amount of struggle as much as I could. As I was finishing with his feet, he moaned slightly. Just on time, I thought for myself, for you to witness your demise.
Quickly, I finished the task of tying his feet and then rolled him onto his back again. I grabbed the rock again as well as the knife. Then, I stood over my former companion with one foot on each side of his lower torso. I smiled to myself; I couldn’t believe I was about to defeat the worst evil that came from the war. After this, nothing will stop me, I thought happily. Slowly, I lowered myself to my knees with one leg still on each side of Ian. Just then, his eyes fluttered open.
“What the-" he began.
“Silence!” I cut him off. “You’re evil, and now you’ll die!”
I didn’t wait for a reaction from Ian. I didn’t want to give him the chance to talk his way out of this fate. I knew that what I was doing was right, and would not give him the opportunity to hurt me again, even if it was unintentional.
I lifted the rock high above my head and brought it down as hard as I could onto Ian’s sternum. The solid crash that filled the placid night air was music to my ears. However, the chance for enjoyment was cut short as a bloodcurdling scream escaped Ian’s throat. Annoyed at this, I quickly dropped the rock and slapped him across the face. The slap turned his head to its side, and the yell ceased. At first I thought he passed out, but quickly he returned his gaze to me. His eyes were glazed over with wetness. The immense pain he was in showed on his face. It was too bad for him that I was just getting started.
Quickly, I grabbed the knife. Now came the fun part. I would use Ian’s favorite weapon to kill him. Slowly, I cut through his leather jacket and shirt on the middle of his chest. I did not want to go to fast; a being this evil deserved to feel pain and suffer. Soon enough, though the jacket and shirt were torn away from his chest.
A smile formed across my face. The end for this beast was near, oh so near! I lowered the knife slowly to Ian’s exposed chest. Then, in a rapid jabbing motion, shoved it into his chest. The knife went through near Ian’s heart; however, I was careful not to kill him just then. I pulled the weapon down, causing a wide gash to be formed. The amount of blood that poured out of that wound was immense; I had never seen so much blood before in my life. However, this just caused my excitement to heighten. I pulled the knife out of my victim’s chest violently. I then proceeded to slowly cut away the skin that was near the large gash. As I worked, I occasionally glanced at Ian’s face. He was still conscious. His eyes were wide, and his breathing was heavy. I knew that he must be feeling every moment of this.
Once I felt that there was enough skin removed, I put down the knife and continued with my hands. I dug into the wound, ripping out handfuls of flesh and tossing them to the side. Bone particles from his crushed sternum were tossed out as well. I knew what I was looking for, and nothing would stop me from finding it. I suddenly came to a rib, though, that was in the way. However, not even that could ruin the grand mood I was in. I simply wrapped my fingers around it and pulled. The bone soon snapped, and I tossed it aside. Then, I continued my hunt. I don’t know how long I searched through Ian’s chest cavity before I finally found what I was looking for. His heart soon became exposed. The beating of the organ was incredibly loud, but was music to my ears. The job was almost done.
I looked over at Ian’s face and realized that he had not yet passed out from pain. I expected this much; the Demon that possessed him must have been keeping him awake to endure this horrible death. I laughed at Ian, whose eyes did not leave me. Then, I slowly lifted my blood-covered right hand to my face. I proceeded to lick my fingers one by one, all the time staring hard into the eyes of Ian, making sure that he would not blink or miss a moment of it. I don’t know why I did that, but the blood tasted incredibly good on my fingers. Ian did not take his eyes off of the scene in front of him; instead, he just endured the horrible act.
Once my fingers were cleaned of blood, I picked up the knife once again. I smiled down at Ian, and then slowly lowered the knife to his beating heart. The tip of the sharp blade began to push against the organ gently. With each beat, the indent caused by the weapon increased and then decreased accordingly. This alone almost caused me to burst out laughing, but I managed to refrain myself. I looked at Ian’s face once again. The face showed no expression or pain; it was simply blank. I then spit on his face to see if he had not already went brain dead, but as the spit landed on his face, he shook his head from one way to the other. I reached out with my spare hand and firmly turned his face to look at me once again. He did not fight it, but then again, how could he? The man was completely defenseless.
I then turned my attention back to the knife, which I still held against Ian’s heart. The time to end things was right, and I jammed the sharp weapon into my former companions heart. Ian gasped, and then became forever silent. Blood spurted directly into the air from the gaping wound in his heart for a few moments, but then ceased.
I began to laugh hysterically. I had been sent out to save the vault not too long ago, and I had already defeated the worst creature in the wasteland.
“So Demon,” I said, looking down onto the corpse, “it looks like you fucked with the wrong guy.”
I rose to my feet. It was still night, and I still needed some sleep if I planned to travel in the morning. I left the knife in Ian’s chest; I decided that he could keep the weapon that meant so much to him.
I started to walk away from the corpse, but after a few steps, my head began to throb. I had headaches before, but this seemed different. It was as if my head was about to explode. I became dizzy and stopped walking. I reached up and placed both hands on my head. However, the pain just increased more and more. The whole ordeal was unbearable; I didn’t know what to do or how to make it stop.
Then, the realization hit me. I ran through the events of that night, from my vision of a flaming hand to the horrible and bloody murder of Ian. My companion wasn’t the one who was possessed; it had been me! Tears began to form in my eyes as I realized what I did.
However, my thoughts were quickly turned back to the pain in my head. ‘Oh shit,’ I thought to myself, ‘the Demon wants to be free!’ I began to gasp for breath; everything began to seem surreal. The pain grew and grew. Suddenly, there was the sound of a gentle crack. More tears formed as I began to fear what the sound was. I rubbed my hand over my head, and discovered that the pressure against my skull had caused a small crack to form in it. A trickle of warm blood escaped the wound and dripped down to my neck.
I didn’t have time to think about that, however, as the pressure increased even more and another cracking sound was heard. I yelled out into the night, but knew that nothing I did could stop the inevitable. I knew the end was near. Then, I heard a loud popping sound in my ears, and everything went completely black.
A flock of crows were flying around early on a crisp and cool morning over the desolate wasteland, looking for any scraps of food that they could find. One of the crows flew away from the rest; it sensed that there was something nearby.
Soon enough, it spotted two corpses on the ground below. One was on its back, and the other appeared as if it had just fallen forward. The first corpse was cut open and exposed all the way to its heart; it appeared that the knife used to kill him was still lodged in his chest.
The other corpse had a gaping hole in its skull. It seemed as if his brain exploded from within his skull. Pieces of the soft brain tissue were spread widely across the clearing. The crow had seen other corpses like this one, and they always proved to be a feast. Without further thinking, it swooped down and landed near the skull.
Hungrily, it pecked at the gaping hole and gobbled down some of the tasty tissue inside. Then, the crow turned its head to the sky and cawed to the others to join in on the feast. They wouldn’t have to worry about being hungry for a while.
[ June 20, 2002: Message edited by: Scotty the Great ]
posted June 20, 2002 14:56
posted June 21, 2002 01:14
