Probably Alive

These stories were just random horror-actiony ideas. They don't fit Midwel and I probably won't wind up writing any more of them, but they've all got one particular character in them.

Probably Alive

                Well, I survived. That's something. One out of ten's not bad, right? There's one hell of a mess to clean up. I'm not really sure what to do, to be honest. It's a lot more mess than I'm used to.

                I've been doing... monster hunting on the side. Sort of. A relative does it, calls any of us, all of us in when they need a hand. Pays us, too, so it's not bad. Sort of. I don't really talk about it. I was on holiday, anyway.

                I went for a walk around the block, tossing up whether to drink. I'm pretty sure I was encouraged too? Nice scenery, or something. Anyway, during the walk things got a little weird. Honestly, I think it was a bunch of lures. Stupid cliché stuff, too; a fifty dollar note that 'blew' away, people walking around, matching my pace... I lost them, of course. You don't hunt monsters without knowing how to deal with stalkers.

                When I got back I was already sitting down, having a drink. Not me, of course. A double. I'd never seen one before, but my relative's rundown included some crap in case something imitated one of us. Or if someone was compromised. Lots of stuff.

                I caught site of the double from the doorway, so I grabbed my blade. It's an, uh, dagger. Two feet long, silver, sharp as hell. I have it as a show-off thing, lock it up when people are getting drunk. It was right where I left it, thankfully.

                My dagger hidden, just barely, I announced myself. "So why are there two of me?" I think. I guess it's a classic. My double pulled a "What the hell?" Not really a me line. Especially not if he had my memories (another one I was ready for).

                I stared at him for a few moments, then said, "Aight, you don't know jack. Laptop: login to it," I said.

                "What?" my double asked. Everyone else seemed confused.

                "You don't have my memories or you'd be responding a lot differently," I said. "Login to the laptop."

                "Why the fuck should I-" he began.

                "Because I just got back from my walk, and you're sitting there," I said. "I'd say something everyone should know, but it might be a multiple compromise."

                "What?" muttered one of the girls. Lu.

                "Just login to the laptop, man," said one of the guys. Dave.

                "You guys believe him?" asked my double, incredulously.

                I spoke over a couple of people attempting to talk. "It takes five seconds to prove you're real. So do it. It's not even a double jeopardy 'you're going to die if you fuck up' situation. So do it," I said.

                "You've fucked with my-" my double began.

                "I just got here, and I was using my laptop right before I left. Hell, it's locked, not logged out," I said. "Login."

                My double scrabbled for an excuse. Suddenly, one of the other girls said something - Ida. "I saw Mallory fiddling with it!" she said. "She might've-"

                "No-one knows the password except me. Which, uh, you all fucking know. Which means you and Mallory aren't really yourselves, which is fucking great," I said.

                My double glared at me. "This guy knows something. We should end this," he said.

                "Agreed," said Mallory. Ida shrugged. Everyone else was looking kind of weirded out.

                I don't know why they decided that was enough; but I had, uh, certainly underestimated the situation. I should've killed my double outright and knocked off the two outside. It would've helped.

                Instead, my double and the two 'girls' started to shift. My doubles' clothes didn't exist (of course - truth is, I should've just asked my double to remove his fucking jacket, since he was 'wearing' the same stuff), but the girls' did. So theirs ripped to shreds as they changed.

                Of all the fucking things, they turned into seven foot tall, shelled, massively clawed... Creatures. Their 'heads' were part of their body armour, and their claws were behind their hands, stretching over the top.

                Now, three of those in the midst of five unarmed humans... They got Lu and Victor immediately. The screams started, and I had to whirl around to check a thud behind me. It was the front door; and the two people who had been stalking me stood there. They were stripping; obviously they intended to resume the same forms or something.

                I had my blade in my double before he could go after anyone else. Despite seeming armoured his 'shell' was soft, and my blade ripped into it. I think the blessings helped, too; he blistered black around the wound immediately. Might've just been a reaction to the silver, or the air, though. I can't be fucked checking the bodies.

                I had to dig around a bit before he stopped moving, but he wasn't agile enough to get his claws around to me. "Bolt!" I yelled, rushing at the other two.

                One of them was smart enough to give up on the stripping before I reached them; the other lost their head. It was probably a side-effect of the transformation, but my blade slid through without much resistance at all. Definitely no bones.

                The other swung a claw at me that I ducked, then found themself against the wall and me too close for clawing. I put my sword where the rib cage should've been, and cut through whatever the hell it had inside. Quite a bit. It gurgled, and went silent.

                Behind me, things weren't going well. They'd gotten Mitch, Lu and Starla were missing along with one of the creatures. The others had, I think, just finished off Mitch. It looked at me and the bodies, then jumped out the window.

                I'm guessing it didn't expect me to follow, but I did. I nailed it right in the back as it was shifting to a clothed version of Ida; it went splat. I crushed whatever goop it was inside, leaving it half transformed and gasping. A quick stab (I'm not leaping out a window with a sword again, mind - I nearly stabbed myself.

                It was right then that Starla stumbled through the door bleeding, the last creature right behind her. It stabbed her again as she fell over, then I was on it. I sliced off an arm, then slit it open from hip to head. After a low groan it toppled, and I finished it off.

                Starla gasped a couple of times, then went silent. I checked her pulse, but she was dead. I found Lu just inside; the creature had gotten her first. Upstairs, headcount, call family. They've got some clean-up coming. House is fortified, and we're gearing up to clear out a lot of these fuckers.

                I'm hoping it's just five - it seemed like they weren't planning to replace all of us, so there probably aren't hundreds at least. If they had been, they could've just gotten us all at once; poison or something, after one person was replaced. Ida and Mallory are almost certainly dead - I'm not holding out hope on that one.

                Fuck me, I could use a drink. But... It's time to wait. Wish me luck, cyber ghosts. Actually, maybe I'll just hide in the roof. That's... not a bad idea. After I drag the bodies inside though. They might attract some attention.