Critter Volume 4 Chapter 2 : Mothers & Daughters

Mothers & Daughters 

All she did was hop in a cab, and all this had begun. The day Clayton arrived in Bon Temps was the first time she had ever even seen him. Warren was just a cab driver and everything seemed so easy. Girl meets boy and girl likes boy, nothing was complicated. Lena soon found that nothing comes without baggage. Warren was a Mermaid and Lena didn’t quite know how to handle it and then soon enough, he was gone forever. Warren left Lena with the most beautiful gift, a daughter. Athena gave Lena’s life purpose; she never felt special like the others, she didn’t have abilities and she was not supernatural, believe it or not this actually set her apart from her friends. She was a brutal alcoholic for years until she met Jordan and she fell in love for the first time but just like most things in Lena’s life, he died, twice. Athena was the only shred of life she had left in her and she was gone.

Evelyn and Ericka stood in front of Laurens house; rain began to pour as if the heavens were upset about what they were about to do. “Let’s do this” said Evelyn as they moved towards the house. Just then Mitchell and Kyle came speeding down their direction. On top of the truck was a small, not quite developed Critter. One of its pincers had gotten stuck in the roof of the truck. Mitchell slammed on the breaks sending the critter flying in the girl’s direction. It quickly stood up and swiped Evelyn clean in half. “Did you mean to do that?” asked Kyle “nope” replied Mitchell as they both stepped out of the truck.

Ericka blasted the Critter into bits; she glared at Mitchell as if the death of Evelyn meant nothing to her. “Hello again, Mitchell” she yelled, “Welcome to Bon Temps” he replied. Mitchell could see Ericka’s hand begin to light up “Kyle go get the others, make sure their safe!” he yelled as his hands began to light up. Ericka and Mitchell both send beams of energy at each other at the same time causing some sort of magnetic pull in the form of a giant ball of light. Ericka was strong, Mitchell was stronger. He began forcing more energy into his beam but he was weak from earlier. His began to weaken as Kyle ran past them to the house.

Kyle turned to Ericka who was facing Mitchell, it was then he had an idea. Kyle closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He then sunk to the ground and through his clothing came a long snake. The Jararacussa snake was the deadliest snake in all the world, Kyle learnt about it years ago from his science teacher. It had piercing yellow spots with a river of black flowing through its body. Its eyes are big, black and empty. As if it’s life only serves one purpose, to kill. Kyle slithered in snake form towards Ericka’s legs, he felt the power of the bones in the snake’s torso, he was able to pick himself up and prepare for an attack. The power of the venom flowing through him was like nothing he had ever felt before. It was then that he snapped. Jararacussa venom takes up to 12 seconds to sink in, first the body is paralyzed then 15 seconds later the heart stops. There is enough venom to kill over 600,000 mice. Things weren’t looking good for Ericka.

She fell to the ground immediately and so did Mitchell, he was gathering himself as he stood back up. He looked towards Ericka, just then Kyle shifted back into himself. He ran to grab his clothes “what did you do?” asked Mitchell “took care of it” he said “she’s not coming back from that”. The front door of Lauren’s house swung open “GET IN HERE!” yelled Logan. Kyle helped Mitchell up and the two of them headed for the house. Mitchell walked in to see Lena on the couch with a blank stare, her eyes puffy from tears. Rachel was consoling her with her arms wrapped around her. Lauren stood up from the table “where’s Ashley?” she asked. Mitchell’s expression was all she needed to know that she didn’t make it. “What happened?” she asked “I couldn’t save her, he got to us” he said as a tear brewed. Lauren ran to him with a hug “I’m so sorry Mitchell” she said. Rachel heard the news and began crying, “where’s Clayton and Kelly?” asked Mitch “we haven’t seen them since the party” replied Logan. “Look, we don’t have much time, we need to find somewhere safe, those things are coming” Logan added.

Mitch looked around the room; all he had left of his friends and family were standing around this very room. He was going to fight until each and every one of these people was safe. “Maybe this is it for us” said Kyle “who knows, maybe we all deserve to die” he added. Mitchell leaped across the table and grabbed him by the shirt “say something like that again and you’re on your own, understand?” Kyle nodded “Listen up! We ARE NOT going to give up this easy, these things have no idea who they’re messing with! We are all extraordinary people! We have survived so much!” Mitchell chanted, “We need to get out of this house, we stand no chance in here. One thing for sure, we are leaving Bon Temps! First things first, we need to find Clayton and Kelly.

Rachel stood up and walked towards the group talking around the kitchen table “I think Clay said something about the peer, they were headed down there with the other Mer’s” she said. Mitchell began thinking of how to say what he had to say next “things are different this time guys, I have a feeling that there are greater powers at work here” he said “she glitched” the whole room turned to Lena as she whispered these words over and over “she glitched” she said again “Lena, who glitched?” asked Lauren “my daughter, she flickered and then she was gone” she explained “how is this possible?” asked Mitchell “Dayna mentioned the glitching to me, right before she died” he stood up “she told me that when you glitch, it’s because you don’t actually exist, and it’s the universes way of getting rid of you, forever. That’s all she got out, and then she was gone” he explained. Just then Rachel let out a scream, the critters were surrounding the house.

Lena sat on the couch as her friends panicked and began leaving through the back door “Lena let’s go!” Lauren yelled as she grabbed her arm and pulled her off the couch. They began running toward the back door, but Lena heard something. It was a cry, a baby’s cry. She swung around to the direction of the cry. She ran to the window to see outside, she heard another cry. It sounded just like Athena “Athena! I’m coming!” Lena screamed as she swung the front door open to follow the screams. Lauren turned to her friend who was running in the opposite direction toward the Critters. “LENA!” she yelled “What are you doing?” she said as she ran back to get her friend. Lena ran down the porch, she could hear the screams all around her. Lauren ran to the doorway but Mitchell grabbed her and held her back “Lauren no! You can’t go out there!” he yelled as hundreds of Critters began flooding through the tree’s “NO LENA!” she yelled tears flew from her face as she cried for her best friend. Lena stopped when the crying stopped; it was then she heard laughing, but not Athena it was Ericka “Where’s my baby” Lena said “You’re no mother, you’re nothing but property” Ericka was chocking, the venom had caused vomiting “let’s not forget, he calls the shots and if he wants you, he’ll take you” she said as she choked out her last breath.

Lena then looked around her, she could see the creatures running at her in every direction, she looked over at the house where Lauren was trying desperately to blast away the critters. There were too many. Lena knew she was going to die, so she looked up at the sky, it would only hurt for a second, she thought, and then she would be with her family “I’ll see you soon, baby girl” she whispered as the critters took yet another life.

Mothers & Daughters 

Volume 4 Chapter 1 : Trouble

Critter : The Final Volume. 

Trouble

Lauren gripped tightly to the roses. She could barely look at the casket without feeling sick to her stomach. Death had become too common for this group. She walked past her friends and to each person a rose was handed. They would all place it on top of the casket before it was lowered. Rachel held onto Lena’s hand while they cried together, Kelly was buried in Claytons shoulder and had been since the funeral started. Kyle stood with a blank stare, as if he hadn’t quite yet believed it. Lauren placed her hand on Ashley’s shoulder “I’m so sorry Ashley” she said as she handed her the last rose.

Ashley was wearing a beautiful black laced dress that cut off just after her knees, her hair was covering part of her face, she figured this way at least not everyone would see the tears. She wanted to be strong, for him. She began walking towards the casket. “I love you Mitchell” she said as she tossed the rose in the grave. Each of her friends then followed and each rose fell to the hard wood like heartbeats. They all cried as a man in a suit began lowering the casket into the ground.

The sudden movement of the casket awoke Mitchell. His eyes opened, and his instinct was to panic, but he couldn’t move. It was as if his body was molded in cement, he could not scream either. His pupils rapidly moved left to right, his effort to scream caused a blood vessel to pop.

The bottom of his casket then opened, his body free fell until he landed in a pile of sand. He could feel his fingertips brushing up against another. He was able to turn his head slightly to see the person to the right of him was Natasha and the person to the left was Julia. Both women bleeding from the eyes as if the blood vessels had exploded. Mitchell then broke free and regained control of his body. He sat up and noticed that there were many more bodies. Warren, Chandra, Simone, Jenna, Chris, Shaun, Paul, Jason and even Kindred. They were all stuck, lying in their own blood, the blood that had leaked from their eye sockets.

Just then an old record player began playing in the corner of the room. It was a dark corner, although Mitchell could make out a silhouette. The music was old polka music; the song was on a continuous loop. “Hello?” Mitchel yelled. The man then leaned forward, it was his father. This was the first time he had seen his father since he left him as a child. His father’s eyes began dripping blood and his body flickered several times. “She’s better off dead” he said as he began crawling towards Mitch. Mitchell realized he had no legs, as if they were ripped off. “Your legs” Mitchell whispered “critter’s” he said as something appeared behind Mitchell. It stuck its pincer into Mitchell’s chest. He let out a scream, the pain felt so real.

Then he awoke, still lying in the ruble of the cabin where his fiancé’s life was taken. The dream he had just had, seemed so real that he was clenching and clawing at his chest like it had actually happened. This wasn’t the first time he has had a dream so vivid. He almost forgot, about Ashley. When he woke up, it was as if she wasn’t really dead. He knew this wasn’t true but it was a nice feeling at the time. He  wasn’t ready to move on without Ashley, he was planning a future with her and it was stolen from them.

Mitchell heard the spinning of tires on gravel speeding down his way. A jeep was zooming down the pathway to the cottage towards Mitchell. He lifted his head from the dirt to catch a glimpse. A woman stepped out of the front seat; she was wearing brown zipped up boots with tight blue jeans. She had blonde hair and when she ran in Mitchell’s direction he hoped it was Ashley. He then realized it was Dayna. She ran towards him and sat him up “are you okay?” she yelled, “there are things I haven’t told anyone and time is running out. This town is in trouble”.

Clayton sat patiently as his sister and friends were down in the cave investigating the bodies, whatever was left of them. He looked down at his toes digging in the bright green grass. Clayton liked his alone time, it was a moment where he could take time to think but suddenly it hit him, the sadness of losing Jason. He often thought of how perfect he was and how his biggest regret was that he never kissed him. He came close at one time, but he backed out. The fact that he would never have a chance to relive that moment made Clayton have more of an appreciation for life. Little did he know, life was something that would become a rarity.

Kelly shot out of the water gasping for air. She waited for Tara to reach the top until she headed to shore. The two of them swam faster than ever before and came out of the water. Kelly looked at Clayton who had just lifted his head to recognize Kelly “HELP!” she screamed. Clayton ran towards them “What is it? Where is everyone?” he was asking, but Kelly was out of breath. “Their dead, those things are back” she screamed “hundreds of them!” she added “we need to go” she said as a large splash followed by several others occurred behind them. The Critter’s were reaching the surface. “Run, Go NOW!” yelled Kelly.

Kelly had only ever seen small Critter’s, some of these were much bigger. They stood about ten feet tall, digging their sharp pincers into the ground, which helped them gain momentum. They were fast, smart and dangerous, not to mention ugly as all hell. Where they came from, they had no idea. All that seemed to matter was getting to safety before they claim any more lives. Clayton’s idea was to hide away in the underground sleeping quarters of Jordan’s house. They ran past the empty bar, nobody in site. “Hurry! Their coming!” yelled Kelly who turned back to yell for the last of her Mer friends, Tara who was moving slow. “Kelly we have to go!” yelled Clayton “I’m not leaving her! I swore an oath to these girls” she snapped back at her brother. It seemed all too late, the Critter’s had gained too much speed and took Tara out in one clean swipe. Her body was pulled away so fast by the Critter’s as if she was shoved in a wood chipper.

Kelly screamed for her friend as Clayton pulled her away to continue running. They ran through the forest approaching the long driveway that led to Jordan’s house. Clayton and Kelly saw the front door, just then one of the creatures came to the front area of the house. They had to get in some other way. A small window on the side of the house presented itself. Clayton grabbed Kelly’s hand and grabbed a large rock on their way across the lawn. Clayton threw it at the window leading to the basement “Kelly, GO!” he whispered as she fell to the floor to crawl through. Kelly fell to the floor and helped her brother down as well “what about everyone else?” Kelly asked “we just have to hope they found safety, it’s not safe out there for us to be looking for them” Clayton said “God help us” said Kelly “I don’t think God has much to do with this” he replied while pushing a book shelf against the window.

The two of them opened Jordan’s bed and crawled down underneath. “What were those things?” Clayton asked “all I know is that there were hundred of eggs down there, they began hatching and they got Chandra and Simone, but it’s the same creature that was inside Ashley and that killed Chevy, their known as Critter’s”.

When Dayna saw Mitchell lying on the ground, she knew what had happened. “You can’t loose control like this, Mitchell. Your powers are more powerful than you know” she explained, “You need to keep your strength for what’s to come” Mitchell looked up from the ground “who are you?” he asked, “it’s me, Dayna. Some of you knew me as Medusa, but now I’m just Dayna” she replied calmly “whatever’s left of this town needs your help, you’re the only one who can stop what’s happening. You’re the only one powerful enough” she looked around “clearly” she added. Every word that came from Mitchell’s mouth seemed to suck up so much energy “stop what from happening?” he asked “a certain species has released itself onto Bon Temps, they are known by many names. You know them as Critter’s but the technical term is a Blood Drifter. Nasty creatures, they multiply fast and are hard to kill.” She knelt down “the thing is, these creatures have been extinct for over 150 million years and no one knows how they got here” she said as she rubbed Mitchell’s back and stood back up “Now let’s go we have work to-“ she was interrupted by a presence behind her. Dayna had a gun tucked away in the back of her jeans, someone ripped it out. “Kyle” she said “can I have my gun back please?” she asked while holding her hand out “who the fuck are you?” she asked, “what have you done?” he asked again as he looked around at the mess, and his friend Mitchell half alive all beaten and bruised “let me explain” said Dayna as she took a step forward “When will the end Dayna?” he asked “I hope Jenna kicks your ass” he said as he pulled the trigger. A bullet flew through Dayna and came out the other side, splashing blood in Mitchell’s direction. Her body hit the ground and Kyle dropped the gun in fear “she was a killer” he said to a terrified Mitchell.  Mitchell crawled over to Dayna’s body “what do you know?” he said as she whispered her last breath into his ear. What Mitchell heard would change everything.

“What the hell happened?” yelled Rachel “we need to go see if someone’s hurt” she yelled again referring to the blast coming from the cabin. Rachel paced around Lauren’s house and she seemed to be having a bit of a panic attack “wow, for someone who literally can’t die you seem to be taking this harder then the wrest of us” yelled Lauren. Lena sat at the bottom of the stairs with the baby monitor, Athena had been crying for several minutes but she was waiting for some kind of an explanation as to what the hell that explosion was. Nobody knew, and at this point nobody had the answer.

Logan came thrashing threw the front door breathing heavily “We need to get somewhere safe, now!” he yelled, freaking out the others “those things” he said while shaking “their everywhere” Lauren ran to the window and turned on her porch light. She saw something moving in the distance, it was a person, she was running in the direction of the house. Just then she saw another woman running in the same direction. When she realized who they were there was no time to waste. Evelyn and Ericka had somehow found their way back and no one was safe. The feeling that flew through Lauren was anger; there was no way she was going back to Faetasia without a fight. She turned to Lena “go get Athena! And the rest of you, get ready for the fight of your lives” she added.

Lena ran up the stairs and into Athena’s room. Her mothers presence hushed the crying, Lena reached into the crib and picked up her baby girl. She wrapped her up in an old blanket that was no doubt homemade. “Shhh!” she said as she bounced Athena up and down and wiped away her tears. Lena turned to leave the room when something was wrong, Athena glitched once again, but this time was different. She flickered twice and then took longer to come back. Then, she was gone. Athena had completely disappeared. The homemade blanket hit the floor. She couldn’t handle the feeling of not having her baby in her arms, she looked around the room as if she had just crawled away and hid somewhere. The fact that she was really gone hadn’t quite sunk in “Athena!?” she yelled “WHERE’S MY BABY!?” Lena fell to the floor in tears. 

Trouble