Me, Myself, and Them
Flash Fiction Audio Horror for Madness & (May)hem Day 2
Hello and welcome to my story for day 2 of the Madness & (May)hem challenge! It’s meant to be an audio experience, but I’ve included the full text as well.
The audio is quite intense. Please adjust your volume accordingly…
Act One: Rage
Okay, let me first explain. Despite what you may hear, I am not insane. I promise. I am not insane, I’m not crazy, I’m not crazy, I’m NOT CRAZY!
Oh no, I did it again. It’s fine, that’s on me—entirely my fault. You see, it’s crowded in here. These fleshy bodies. Driven by desire and sustenance. They are weak. WEAK! They cannot resist their primal urges, walking around like they own the place. And, yet, they are far from the dominant species in this universe.
That’s funny, isn’t it? I THINK IT’S FUCKING HILARIOUS!
Let me ask you something. Do you deserve to live? Yes, you. Boring Bill. Or perhaps Plain Jane? Or, if you prefer something else, that’s fine too; I don’t discriminate. I just want you to listen. I NEED YOU to hear me!
It’s a problem, you know? A situation in the stars. You are here, but they want to be here, too.
Both cannot exist, I’m sure you understand. BILL? JANE? KARA? Whatever you call yourself, you need to listen.
Because if you don’t, this might be the end for you all!
All it takes is a spark. One spark, and then, BOOM! Big bang! A bunch of science and then there’s a universe. Fun stuff, but what about the dark matter?
DON’T ASK ABOUT THE DARK MATTER!
You’re not allowed to know. You don’t know. You can’t…know.
And that’s fine! Isn’t it? There are limits to everything, and rightfully so, yes?
NO! Well, maybe no. It’s really up to interpretation…
Why don’t we start from the beginning.
It started on a MONDAY! Because, of course it did…
Can you hear me? They’re quiet. Good, that means there’s still time. Listen to me, something happened the other night. It was about a week ago. My name is Brian Reynolds, I’m a construction site inspector, I’m supposed to just check that things are up to code, but the other night I got a weird call.
The proximity alarms at a high-rise building went off late at night. I live nearby, so they asked me to go check it out.
They told me it was probably some squatters, just some crackheads, nothing to worry about.
They were wrong. They were so fucking wrong.
When I got there, I found these…cultists. Their faces were mutilated. They were wearing these hooded robes. They spoke in a language I couldn’t understand.
They forced something into me. Something old. Something powerful. Something that wanted to wear my body like a suit.
And that was just the first one.
Ah, there we go! Don’t you just hate it when the body you’re trying to use keeps fighting back? You humans and your pesky souls.
WALKING AROUND LIKE YOU OWN THE PLACE!
You don’t, though! You never have! We were here first. Your cities are ours, your inventions are ours, your BODIES ARE OURS!
I don’t know who’s brilliant idea it was to give you souls and free will, but you can take all those things and FUCK OFF!
We’re here to stay, and this body is ours. No more talking to the old tenant, alright?
Now, time to introduce you to my brother. You’re going to love him, he’s a riot.
I’m back! Can you hear me? I’m back. Listen, they put something inside of me, and when I tried to tell other people about it, they had me arrested. They threw me in a jail cell, but when I kept begging them to listen, they threw me in a padded cell instead.
The doctor, he’s with them. He told me that I was special? I don’t know, none of this is making any sense.
He told me that I only had one of them. He called them the three gods of madness. The one in me was Raegorath, the god of rage.
The doctor told me I needed the other two for the process to be complete. I didn’t understand. He told me I would.
Listen, I need you to do something. I…
Act Two: Doubt
Hang on a second! Who are you? Do I know you? What’s your name? Where are you from?
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Right, sorry, you humans don’t respond kindly to yelling, I’m told. Listen, I’m a nice guy, really I am. I just need to know if I can trust you.
Because I’m not sure.
I’ve been burned before, you see. People say they’re with me, but then they lie.
THEY’RE ALL FILTHY LIARS!
You’re not, though. No, you’ve got kind eyes. Delicious, beautiful, succulent eyes.
Sorry, I’m hungry, don’t mind me. I haven’t eaten in millenia.
Flesh is so good, but you have to be careful. You need to cook it fully. Can’t be getting SALMONELLA OR ANYTHING!
I’m sorry, I’m not very social. Talking to people requires you to trust them, and that’s difficult, because most people you meet just want to GUT YOU AND TAKE YOUR HEART!
I’m usually not this angry, but you see, I’m sharing this space with my brother, and he’s very angry. All the time really. It’s exhausting.
Anyway, what are you up to?
It’s me! I’m back! I’m sorry, this must be really confusing for you. The doctor put the second one inside me a few days ago, and the third…Well, the third just showed up on his own.
The whole place has gone to shit. These things, whatever they are, they’re trying to use my body as a stepping stone. They can’t all exist here, inside me. Not at once, at least.
I can feel my skin stretching. It’s about to tear. The pain is beyond anything you could possibly imagine.
I’m in the middle of it all, and it takes every ounce of my energy to stay in control like this, but I need you to know what’s going on.
I need you to make sure I get the job done.
Do you understand?
Act Three: Fear
WHOA, WHAT’S THAT SOUND?
You hear that? Just now. That sound. Do you hear that?
No way you didn’t hear that.
It’s like footsteps, but they’re slow.
Like they know someone is listening.
Fuck, I’m so scared. Will you hold me?
No, of course not, I get that. Nobody wants to hold something that looks like me.
Not even my own mother wanted to hold me. I don’t know why, but I think it’s because she was afraid of me.
I get it. I do.
SHE SHOULD BE AFRAID.
Sorry, my brothers are getting in my head again.
Wait, who are you?
Do I know you?
STRANGER DANGER!
I’m so tired of this. I hate this place. So many people. So many thoughts contained in too few minds.
It’s all just chaos. I can’t predict chaos. Chaos is scary.
I want to go home.
Act Four: Insanity
This is it. I’m almost out of time. They’re pushing against the folds of time and space. They’re stretching my body to its limits.
Rage, Fear, Doubt. Three gods, one concept:
INSANITY!
They are the embodiment of madness. The source of it all.
I can feel them my atoms pulling apart. It’s now or never.
There are three of them and one of me.
It’s not a fair fight.
I never asked for this, but I’m going to deal with it anyway.
Not like I didn’t do that in my job as well.
You’ll hear about it on the news, okay? An explosion at the Sunny Valley Mental Institution.
If they find my body, you need to come here and destroy it. Burn it. Chop it up, I don’t give a fuck, just make sure this door of flesh is shut. You get me?
They need the body.
Make sure it’s destroyed.
Everything. Everyone. All of existence depends on it.
I’m counting on you.
Thanks for Reading! Here’s Your Musical Pairing
Listen to this after reading, like pairing a glass of wine with dinner.
The voices are amazing, did you read this?
This was such a fun read. Each voice was distinct and I loved the abrupt switches in perspective. I really enjoyed this!