There was an old woman
The sliding door of the hospital saw Zoe coming and opened. She hobbled in to the reception area dragging a blood soaked left leg and clasping her right wrist. Her clothes were sodden and torn, and her face was covered in dirt and blood, black grunge smeared across her mouth, and a deep gash wept from her chest; behind her, a slimy brown liquid stretched from the foot she was now dragging across the hospital carpet all the way out of the building and for as far as the eye could see. Heads began to turn in her direction, thoughts running through their minds as to what had happened to this young girl.
Zoe stepped slowly up to the reception desk; a female nurse was standing behind the desk motionless, eye's wide open, starring at Zoe. Zoe slapped her bad hand on the counter, opened her mouth as if to talk or scream but nothing came out, instead her eye's glazed over and she passed out. As her body slumped to the floor her hand slid off the counter leaving a dirty blood streak.
"Doctor - Is this the girl you spoke of?" The detective the hospital had phoned finally arrived 30 minutes later, by this time Zoe had been bathed and placed carefully into a bed.
"Ah, detective - yes, yes it is."
"What's wrong with her?"
"At the moment she's in a coma… from the wounds she had all over her body I would say she was severely beaten and tortured. It looks as if she was almost frightened to death," the doctor paused briefly as he checked his notes, "Oh, and there was a very strange black fluid in her mouth and lungs - I've sent a sample for analysis"
"Has she said anything about her ordeal?"
"She did manage to say one thing"
"What did she say?"
"She said… There was an old woman!"
What the hell did that mean, thought the detective, "That's all?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so"
* * * * *
18 Hours Earlier.
"Look - I'm telling you Zoe, this house is an easy hit. There's an old woman living here - all on her own". It was Stephen's plan, he was always coming up with crazy things for them to do during the summer holidays, but never anything as illegal as this. They'd been considering breaking in for weeks, ever since they'd found out she was a retired scientist. Stephen had even gone to the effort of letting his hair grow long in order to change his appearance, "she's bound to be loaded."
"I don't know. What if something goes wrong?" Zoe was the most apprehensive out of the group; she had never done anything like this before.
"Oh, don't worry Zo, she won't put up a fight - she must be a hundred or some'ing". Sarah on the other hand was never worried about anything, she would quite happily charge into any situation, and with her looks she usually got away with it. Sarah would often just have to flick back her long blonde hair and her problems would magically disappear. All three friends began to make cautious steps towards the old woman's house, Stephen in front, Zoe following slowly from the rear, her body language clearly indicating how nervious she was.
The house was in quite a state of disrepair, the paintwork had flaked and peeled over the years, the building looked as if it should have been pulled down years ago let alone still have someone living in it. Even the garden was overgrown; the grass tall and thick.
Anything could have been hiding in the garden, thought Zoe.
Stephen carefully pulled down the door handle, it didn't move, it was locked, as he expected. They tip-toed round the side of the house and located a small a-jar window. Carefully he opened the window and climbed through into the house. Without a moments hesitation he proceeded to the front door and let the girls in.
"Sheesh, this place is a dump", as usual Sarah was the first to comment, "are you sure there's a scientist living here? I was expecting something a lot nicer than this!"
"Yes there's a scientist living here, so shut your trap and start searching the place". Stephen often had problems with Sarah's flippant attitude.
"You two - be quiet - What's that noise?" asked Zoe. It wasn't until the others had stopped arguing that she was able to hear the noise properly. A deep buzzing sound, one of those noises that resonates through your head and you can't locate where it's coming from, echoed throughout the house.
"I don't know", returned Stephen abruptly, "let's just find something worth us breaking in and get out of here"
They nodded silently, and entered the dining room.
"Shit, this place is disgusting. Look at this!" Stephen approached one of the walls, a thick black goo dribbled down it from corner to corner, and the ceiling was no better; empty light fittings hung dangerously from the centre of the room. They ignored the mess as best they could and continued to search the old woman's belongings.
Room after room was empty, devoid of possessions except for the odd tables and chairs, cutlery and newspapers. Finally they entered a room that resembled a lounge. An old television stood in one corner facing a small sodden sofa. On the walls hung a number of picture frames showing various certificates.
"What's ento… entomology?" queried Stephen as he lifted one of the certificates off the wall; the girls shrugged in response.
A loud bang startled Zoe and Sarah; they all stopped what they were doing and headed in the direction of the bang. It was coming from the basement. The basement door was open but it was so dark that it was impossible to see further than a few feet.
"That weird buzzing noise is coming from down there… I'll check it out… wait here", the girl's had no intention of going down into the basement; Stephen would have to go alone. Cautiously he took a single step into the blackness, the stone underfoot was slippery, his boots failed to get a purchase on the step and he slipped, tumbling into the basement feet first. Sarah and Zoe screamed as they watched their friend disappear into the darkness, they turned and hugged each other for comfort. Desperately Stephen tried to grab something as he fell down into the void but even the walls were slippery, he quickly reached the bottom, and his head struck the stone floor with force, instantly knocking him unconscious.
Another bang brought the girls crying to an abrupt stop, this time however it was coming from behind them, they turned to look and within seconds two hands lunged forward out of the darkness shoving them violently down the basement stairs. Everything went black.
* * * * *
Zoe was the first to stir. Her eyes opened slowly. Her arms felt strangely numb and heavy and then as her eyes began to adjust to the darkness of the basement she realized, to her horror, that her arms had been bound to a radiator above her head. Panicked, she tried to move, but failed, her legs had also been bound together; she was completely helpless.
Stephen's eyes flittered open and he groaned in pain, certain that the fall must have cracked a few ribs.
"Stephen?" whispered Zoe, "are you ok?"
Stephen arched his head over to Zoe, "Where are we? What's going on?"
"We're still in the house. You fell down the stairs, and me and Sarah were pushed."
"Pushed, by who?"
"I don't know - it must have been the old woman!"
"Is Sarah alright?"
"I don't know, she's not here, and I can't move, my arms and legs have been tied."
Stephen tried to move around.
"I'm tied up as well."
"That noise, the buzzing sound, it's even louder down here.. What is it?"
"Don't panic Zoe - we'll be alright!", Stephen wasn't entirely convinced by his own words but they seemed to calm Zoe down a little.
Thirty feet away a door opened and a dull light bled through allowing Stephen and Zoe to focus more clearly, although they soon wished that they couldn't.
"There's something down there - I can't quite make it out"
Stephen squinted desperately trying to see who or what was down there, and then it hit him. It was Sarah, hanging motionless by her hands from a water pipe; her clothes were torn and tattered, her face grimy and beaten. Blood, probably her own, had matted her hair in to thick clumps, and one of her legs had been slashed. She must have been in tremendous pain, thought Stephen and Zoe. Another shadow appeared at the doorway.
"Who… Who's there?" shouted Stephen.
"Awake then are we, ready for some more theivin'?" a deep sinister voice echoed from the darkness where Sarah was hanging.
"Look, we're… we're really sorry we broke in; please let us go", pleaded Zoe.
"Too late, too late for tha'. Got some fun and games for us to play."
"Untie us and we'll do what ever you want", returned Zoe nervously.
"You think me a fool. This is what I think of you!" The old woman turned to Sarah and squeezed her mouth open, then with her free hand she grabbed a fist full of something from a large vat next to Sarah, and with one swift and aggressive move forced the contents of her hand into Sarah's mouth and then held it closed, ensuring that Sarah swallowed. Sarah flinched violently, gagging on the contents of her mouth, close to vomiting. A thick black liquid oozed from the corners of her mouth. Sarah fought all her instincts trying not to swallow, but she couldn't stop it. The old woman let go of her mouth and Sarah tried to scream but no sounds came out. Stephen and Zoe watched helplessly in terror as several flies emerged from Sarah's mouth.
"Holy shit!" screamed Stephen.
"You sick bitch!", added Zoe.
Sarah writhed in terror as the flies continued to flee from her mouth. The old woman wiped her hands clean on Sarah's dress before turning her attention once again to Stephen and Zoe.
"Oh don't ya worry ya little heads - it's your turn soon"
The old woman rummaged around in a pile of junk and retrieved a large baseball bat.
"Ya like baseball?" Stephen didn't respond, "my boy used ta like baseball"
With one forceful swing she struck Stephen's head, knocking him unconscious instantly. Zoe screamed again but it was futile.
"Don't worry dear; I won't keep ya too long", she moved slowly over to Stephen's helpless body, untied his hands and dragged him to where Sarah was hanging. With one enormous effort she hoisted Stephen off the ground and hung him next to his friend. Once again she wielded the baseball bat above her head and swung it into Stephen's gut. His unconscious body convulsed violently, vomit leapt into his mouth, trickled over his lips and down his face.
"Now that ain't pretty, tis it?" glancing back at Zoe.
"Stop it! Why are you doing this?" cried Zoe.
"Ya kids need to be taught a lesson - I's seen ya hangin' around outside for weeks, but don't worry, my special pets will sort ya out"
"I'm so sorry - we didn't mean to…"
The old woman didn't respond. She grabbed Zoe by her hair and dragged her to the back room and hung her next to her unconscious friends. Once more she grabbed a large hand full of black gunge from a container next to Zoe.
"What is that stuff?"
"Why it's pure fly my dear," she said, as if it was perfectly acceptable, "during my work in the scientif'c communi'y I discovered tha benefits of consumin' smashed up flies. They're full of goodness, help you grow up big and strong, and RIGHT!"
"But there's live God damned flies in it"
"Some of 'em survive th' mulchin', but not to worry I have somethin' for that"
Without a moments hesitation she tried to force the mulch into Zoe's mouth, Zoe clamped her mouth closed with all her might.
"now, now, open up dear", Zoe bit down harder, "tsk tsk".
The old woman reached into her pocket and produced a short knife. Before Zoe could react the old woman plunged it deep into Zoe's left breast. The intense shock and agony forced Zoe to scream, and that was all the old woman needed to feed her the mulch.
"There, that's better"
As Zoe choked and screamed in pain the old woman walked over to Sarah and began to feed her another handful. "This one doesn't have a problem eatin' me flies!"
Sarah twisted and thrashed violently; gagging. The old woman took a step back from Sarah and watched her writhe in agony. Zoe tried to speak.
"Do some… thing - you freak - she's choking", but Zoe's scream for mercy fell on deaf ears.
"It's just the cleansin' process."
For a full 5 minutes Sarah thrashed about, the old woman just watching with a mad scientist grin on her face; and then her body went limp. Sarah was dead.
"Oh well, can't save em all - your turn now", pointing at Zoe, "let's get ya all fixed up."
The old woman moved behind Zoe, she was convinced that the old woman was going to kill them all.
"Here we go, this will clear up the fly problem; no worries", Zoe was dreading what was coming as the old woman returned to face her with another hand full of something.
"What… What is it?"
The old woman held out her hand and loosened her grip slightly to allow Zoe to peek at the contents.
"Why, it's spiders of course."
The old woman grabbed the hilt of the knife, still embedded in Zoe's chest, and pulled it out. Zoe screamed as blood sprayed briefly from the wound and the old woman released the handful of spiders over Zoe's head. Zoe struggled as they began to crawl over her face, she flicked her head to and fro desperately trying to shake the spiders off. She screamed uncontrollably but that only served to help the spiders to enter her mouth, fruitlessly she tried to spit them out but there were too many, dozens of smaller spiders crawled past her tongue and down her throat in search of the tasty flies.
Whilst Zoe continued to fight the spiders the old woman checked on Stephen, who was still unconscious, once again squeezing his cheeks she peered into his mouth. Zoe realized the old woman had her back to her and her attention was instantly drawn away from the taste of flies and spiders and the knife wound in her chest. She looked around for anything that might help her to escape, but first she would have to free herself. Very carefully and silently she moved her legs up and forwards, and then backwards, very slowly picking up momentum, gracefully swinging back and forth, faster and faster. Then with one careful twist of her hands Zoe adjusted her swing directly towards the old woman. As the old woman finished her inspection of Stephen she turned back towards Zoe, just in time to see Zoe's feet slamming in to her. The woman staggered uncontrollably backwards across the room, slipped on the floor and crashed directly against the vat of fly mulch. The side of the vat buckled and split, releasing a deafening buzz and emptying the entire contents over the old woman. She slipped and slid in the mulch as she tried to stand, her entire body covered in the black grunge.
Zoe could tell this was her only chance to escape. Once again she started swinging her feet, faster and faster, higher and higher, and with one last push she swung her legs around another pipe in the ceiling, grabbed hold with her feet and pulled with all her might. The pain was unbearable. The gaffer tape round her hands scraped deep cuts in her hands as it slowly began to give way and tear. The tape snapped and Zoe swung upside down from her feet, then remembering her gymnastics classes, attempted to somersault down to the ground, it was an almost perfect dismount, but the pain from her body prevented her from standing and she collapsed to the ground. With one eye on the old woman, now motionless in the mulch, Zoe quickly went to help Stephen, but she was too late, he was already dead.
Zoe, filled with rage after the death of her friends and her own torture, turned back to the old woman, who had begun to twitch and move in the slime.
"Oh, don't worry BITCH - I've got something that will clear that fly problem right up!" Zoe turned to the vat of spiders, removed the lid and with one final effort pushed it over. The vat exploded as it struck the stone floor of the basement; thousands of spiders fled the confines of the vat and scurried mercilessly towards the old woman, who let out a deep demented scream as the spiders completely cover her from head to toe and began to feed on the flies.
Zoe couldn't stomach any more of this horror; she clambered up the basement stairs and barged through the front door and into the light. It bathed her in revitalising warmth, calming her nerves a little. Still in intense pain and shaking all over from shock, she began to hobble down the street to the hospital. Somebody there would help her.
* * * * *
"I heard that you've discovered something doctor?" The detective had returned as quickly as he could.
"Yes, we've just had the lab results back."
"Go on."
"Bizarrely, the unknown fluid in the girl's mouth and lungs was fly!"
"Flies?"
"Yes, but not just fly. We pumped her stomach and found a considerable amount of spider matter!"
"What has this girl been through?"
"I don't know, but we did some investigating, and we've managed to track down a retired entomologist. She's agreed to come in and take a look at the girl. Hopefully she'll be able to help."
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