A Horrible Accident
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A Horrible Accident
By William W. Kelso
My name? I don't have one now, and I can't remember my old one anymore, so it's not important. This is my story, such as it is. I don't think I deserved what happened to me, but I'll let you be the judge of that. Lord knows I wasn't perfect; I had my fair share of black marks on my life. I don't complain much anymore though; it's really not so bad. Thinking is kind of hard from me now too, it hurts when I do. I do hope it's not forever though, it's been so long and sometimes the horrible despair comes back. I'd just gotten out of the Army after being given a medical discharge. Got run over by a tank, it was interesting experience, but I don't recommend it. It was just a stupid training exercise. Fortunately I was in a pretty deep hole, but it still messed up my back to the point the Army gave me the old heave ho. So I went back to my home town, and between my disability and odd jobs I could do I got by OK. I was pretty much a loner though, so didn't have anyone with me when it happened, but maybe that was good as it could have happened to them too and I wouldn't have wanted that. I know now they couldn't have helped me anyway. But I digress, on with the story.
It was a bullshit job, but strictly for the summer, thank goodness. The best part was sometimes I got to keep some of the junk I found. The company I worked for did a lot of stuff, but its main business was renovating; or tearing down, older houses and buildings. I was part of the cleanup crew that went in first and removed any useable or sellable stuff, and the rest was hauled to the dump. But there were often nice little knick-knacks and stuff the foreman didn't think was worth messing with, and I got to keep those. I did a brisk little side business with a couple of local antique stores as people collect everything. You wouldn't believe what I got for a bunch of old matchbooks once, and any kind of old china or bottles were worth a few bucks. That's why I was glad when we got to clean out old lady Fenster's place.
She was old when I was a little kid, and everyone thought she'd live forever. She was a weird mean old biddy, and no one was particularly upset when she went missing. She just up and disappeared one day, so the bank eventually got the house and boy was it a gold mine. I doubt in any of the furniture in the looming old Victorian house was less than a hundred years old, and there was fine china and other antiques everywhere. Got to hand it to the old broad, she had taste. But there was junk everywhere too, and I mean everywhere. She was a real packrat. We threw out a ton of old newspapers, and some old handwritten books in some weird language no one could read. There was one room that was kind of a mystery. The door was locked from the inside, so we had to force it open. And the only thing in the room was a design; I think it was called a Star of David or something, painted on the floor with globs of melted wax at each point of the star. That and a stand with a book on it and an old black robe with a hood like you see monks and other Holy Joe's wearing. Plus the whole room smelled like burned sulphur or electrical wiring. We just shut the door again holding our noses, and got back to work.
There was a kind of loft; or add-on room, in the attic, and it looked like the old lady had been into collecting herbs and stuff as there were little dried bundles of weeds and junk hanging all over the place, but that crap went right in the garbage bags. But what caught my eye were some really old looking bottle of all different types and colors. I could tell some were really old, hand blown with corks in them, while others were much newer. The foreman said to chuck it all, so I asked if I could have some of the bottles and he didn't have a problem with that. I got a big box of older looking ones and loaded them in the back of the truck, and took them home that evening after work. We had a couple of days off until the next job, so it would give me time to clean out the bottles and get them ready to sell. I could get more if they didn't have gunk in them.
I got up early the next day to get started on cleaning the bottles and take a closer look at some other goodies I'd picked up. Even had a couple of what looked like solid silver doo-dads, pendants or something. I'd pocketed those; they'd been inside the old robe in the room with the diagram on the floor. At what they paid me if I didn't help myself to a few "bonuses" every now and then I'd starve. One was a Star of David looking kind of thing, one of those star shaped symbols, and the other had some weird writing on it. Both were thick and heavy and looked like solid silver, and they were on a nice long silver chain and looked really old. Bet I got hundred bucks for these. I slipped the chain over my head and went to work on cleaning the bottles. It would take awhile as there were so many. I used the deep sink in the washroom as there was quite a bit of crap in the bottles. All sorts of powders, fluids, dried up stuff, and some gooey and nasty gunk. Plus a lot had old handwritten labels in some language I couldn't read, looked Latin or something, and I needed to get those off too. It took me over an hour to dump, scrape, pour, or rinse the stuff out of the bottles. The smell got so bad I had to open a window. It smelled like rotten eggs and farts. I lifted up the final bottle and a great big roach went scurrying across the counter top, but fell into the sink before I could grab something to squish it with. I watched as the thick goo slowly sucked the roach down like quicksand, his little feelers waving frantically as he disappeared. Bet he was saying "Help me! Help me!" or something. Man I HATE those things! And of course the damn sink got clogged; it had several inches of mixed together who-knows-what in it. It bubbled and reeked and I looked at it in disgust, but really had no choice. I put on some rubber dishwashing gloves and stuck my hand down in it to try and unplug the drain, and slowly the stuff started flowing out. It was lumpy and had the consistency of pudding. I had to constantly use my fingers to mash the lumps and help the stuff go down the drain. All of a sudden a felt a burning sensation on my hands and lower arms, and with a curse yanked my hands out of the crude. It had eaten right through the rubber in several places, must have been some acid in one of the bottles, nasty crap! I peeled off the now useless gloves, and quickly grabbed a bar of soap and washed my hands and arms really well, and the burning stopped. Finally all the stuff went down the drain with a loud "glorp!", and I rinsed out the residue with the sprayer. I also poured some Drano down the pipe too, no telling what that stuff would do to the plumbing if I didn't wash it out real good. Then I started sorting the bottles out by size and color. Some were clear, a lot amber to dark brown, green, blue, and various shades of red and purple. A good haul! Well pleased with the lot I put them in a box and went to get some lunch, all that work had made me hungrier then hell.
I warmed up some barbecue from the night before and wolfed it down, but it wasn't enough. So I opened a can of chili and warmed it up and ate it almost hot enough to burn right off the stove, and it still wasn't enough. Damn I was hungry! Next I ate some older fried chicken, two cans of tuna, almost a whole loaf of slightly stale bread, a big can of beans (cold), drank half a dozen cokes, and anything else I could stuff into my mouth over the next hour or more. And finally I sat back and gave a loud belch. I had never eaten so much in my life all at once, and I felt bloated and constipated at the same time. Plus the red marks from the burns on my hands and arms were starting to itch like crazy, and I had what looked like welts now. I knew I'd better put some cream on them or something, but felt too lethargic to bother. I just sat in the chair for awhile in a daze, and then started to feel sick to my stomach. Gee, I wonder why, I thought. All that crap I had eaten was bound to cause problems. I grunted and bent over to clutch my stomach as a really painful cramp hit it. Aw hell, maybe that chicken was bad or something. As another cramp hit me I lurched to my feet and heading for the bathroom. Gonna hurl! I thought.
But I never made it to the bathroom, a really bad cramp hit me and I doubled over and fell to my hands and knees in the middle of the small living room in the center of my rental. And boy did I barf, nasty thick brown stuff with the consistency of peanut butter, it even kind of looked like it. And I puked and puked and also realized I was shitting myself too, with the same brown goo. It poured out of me until I was in the middle of a large puddle of the stuff. God, where is it all coming from? I thought, as another cramp made me heave again to add even more to the puddle, and I felt more run down my legs. Ohhh, I was sicker then hell. And the smell made it even worse, it smelled like rotten eggs and a backed up sewer and made my eyes water. With a moan I heaved again, the horrible stuff spewing from my mouth and nose and rear. Finally it stopped, and weak and exhausted I tried to get up and slipped, and ended up face down in the nasty vomit. Ohhh gross, I thought. I tried to get up again, but the stuff was slippery as well as thick and sticky. I struggled for awhile, but just got myself even more mired in the brown paste. It had gotten thinner, but was even stickier now. It reminded me of one of those mouse traps where the mouse gets stuck to the gooey stuff and dies, but this time I was the mouse! And it was stuck all over my arms, legs, stomach, and even my face. Ewwww! What IS this shit? I managed to lift up one arm and thick strands of the stuff stretched and hung from it, but I couldn't get entirely free, so with a plop I let my arm fall back down. I can NOT believe I'm glued to the floor by puke, I thought. This goes way beyond nasty. I stopped struggling to catch my breath. I felt so weak and sick, and my stomach, though now empty, was gurgling and rumbling and I could feel my guts spasming as I had dry heaves. Oh Jeez, I feel really sick; it had to be food poisoning. Damn it had to be the chicken, it was too old. I must have salmonella or something. I'd heard you could die from that shit, and I certainly felt like it. I gave another moan as more dry heaves rocked my aching guts.
The potion he had unknowingly concocted by accident was starting to take effect, powered by the ancient medallion he wore around his neck. Despite its power it had been of no use to the old Sorceress when she had made a mistake while summoning a demon, and she had paid the price. But she just got where she was going a few years sooner than expected. The demon had been quite delighted to claim his prize sooner than he had anticipated; it was not forgiving to those who made mistakes when treating with him. It had greatly enjoyed raping her as it dragged her down to Hell to be its personal slave. The potion was an extremely powerful one due to the strength and number of rare ingredients, and the curse would take effect almost immediately, and with drastic results. Even without the medallion it would still have worked, the powerful talisman only speeded it up.
"Oh, ohhh God", I moaned in pain and nausea. I was too weak to even dry heave anymore. I just lay in the horrible mess and tried to keep breathing and was close to hyperventilating. My whole body was tingling and every now and then I would writhe in pain and shudder as another cramp or spasm shot through me. It hurt, it hurt so badly. My arms and legs were starting to feel numb and the tingling got worse like they were falling asleep. My whole body felt weird, it felt like my skin was too tight. I tried to push myself up again, but my arms felt limp and flabby, there was no strength in them. Then they started to flop around aimlessly on their own! What the Hell, I must be having an allergic response or something! The goo pulled them to a stop again, and as I watched what looked like black thorns began to push through the skin. It looked like it should hurt, but it didn't. As I watched in puzzlement my skin began to stretch and tear, but again there was no pain or blood, and chunks of gelatinous rubbery skin started to fall off to reveal, brown plastic? Something hard and brown, with black thorns growing from it. And then my hands split open and nubs with what looked like claws on the tips began to push out! I stared in disbelief, and then screamed as the nubs pushed out farther and farther and extra joints appeared in addition to my elbows. The only skin remaining on my horrible new arms were small chunks stuck to the black thorns, and that skin looked like it was dissolving. And now my legs were also cramping and spasming, thrashing aimlessly, and I could feel the skin on them splitting and tearing like wet cardboard as something began to emerge. I heard tearing sounds, and turning my head I could see similar brown appendages tearing their way through my jeans, but there were TWO on each side, I now had four legs! "NO, NO, NO! I screamed. Somebody help me! Please, someone!" But my little house was very isolated and nobody heard my screams of sheer terror. What in the name of God was happening to me?
My "arms" had stopped changing and jutted out from my sides on their strange joints, but they were more like legs now as I had no fingers, noting to really grip with. The hard brown skin with black thorns covering them had four large joints now with some smaller ones on the tips. The main joint was still where my elbow had been, and then there was one where my wrists had been, then as my arms had lengthened two smaller joints had formed as small segments pushed out and formed. And on the end were what looked like five claws or pinchers. I could move then around, but they felt hard and almost mechanical the way they bent. Whimpering in fear I tried to lift myself up again, my hideous new arms and legs scrabbling helplessly as the thick goo refused to release me. Straining I looked over my shoulder and saw my four "legs" looked pretty much the same as my arms except that they were larger, the back pair being the largest. I looked around in a daze of confusion, this couldn't be happening! No, no, please, this is so wrong! There had to be something I could do, but I remained immobile in the puddle of sticky goo, only able to squirm and wiggle a little bit no matter how hard I struggled. Please, I thought, please, someone, anyone, help me!
I could feel the skin on my back starting to crawl and ripple as something underneath pushed free and chunks of skin slid off to fall into the goo. I looked over my shoulder and watched as my shirt stretched and tore to reveal more brown hard skin as my body started to flatten out and grew wider, and as I watched the "skin" suddenly flexed and opened and closed revealing more hard brown skin underneath that also flexed, and then my wings folded. Wings? With wet sounds the remains of my shirt and human skin slid off to join the puddle underneath me and I felt my pants tear even more as my rear began to grow and push off what was left of my pants as my body lengthened. Sobbing I lifted my head as much as I could on an increasingly stiff neck, and painfully twisting my head I could see shiny dark brown wings which were lengthening to cover the multi segmented abdomen that had pushed out from my rear, an abdomen also covered in hard shiny brown skin with what looked like feelers or horns growing out of sides of the blunt end. With a gurgling scream I managed to gather my legs under me and lift my body up some, and the skin on my stomach pulled away to reveal the same brown shiny segmented abdomen my whole body had become, I no longer had a waist, my body was now a long flattened tube with nothing human left about it, and my new limbs now ended on the underside of my body where my chest had been, instead of the sides. My genitals were gone without a trace, but I knew I was still male. And I knew what the hard brown plastic like skin was now; I knew what I was turning into. Despite the utter terror there was no denying it. The skin was chitin, and I was turning into a, a cockroach! "OH DEAR GOD NOOO!" I screamed. I had to get loose, I had to find help, I had to, had to, please nooo, no this! "PLEASE, SOMEBODY HELP ME!!"
The potion paused in its affects as the power in the medallion was temporarily exhausted. The change was nearing completion, but was not over yet. But for now the victim had a little more time to remain partially human before he began his new existence. But after a lengthy pause the medallion regained its power and the change progressed and picked up speed.
I raised my head and looked around desperately. Please, let someone hear me, let someone find me and stop this, this insanity! I kept screaming until my throat started to feel raw, my cries slowly become garbled and wet sounding. I suddenly felt something hard pressing against the back of my neck and head, and turning my head I could see the rounded edge of a heavy plate of chitin growing on my shoulders to cover the base of my wings and protect the back of my head. It forced me to bend my head more forward and stare straight ahead or too the sides, I could no longer look over my shoulder to stare in horror at what I was becoming. My body was still changing, my wings becoming longer and more formed. I tried to scream again, but only a garbled squealing sound came out that faded into a kind of rasping chittering sound. In horror I felt my mouth change as several short hard stalks or tentacles; some longer than the others, pushed through the soggy wet human skin that still clung to what had been my face. They began to grind together and hook inward while I tried to scream and I realized what they were, mandibles! I gave up trying to scream as I realized I no long had any vocal cords with which to do it. The only sounds I could make now were a kind of rasping sound as my mandibles rubbed together. Oh God, please, I begged, tears running from my still human eyes, eyes staring out in sheer terror from a totally alien face. The change in my lower body seemed to have ended, but suddenly I felt my head push forward as my neck hardened and I felt my head began to change shape. Nooo, please God! I screamed in my mind, make it stop!
I felt sudden pressure in my forehead, and as I watched two slender antennae came into view, growing rapidly until they were swiveling back and forth as I tasted and scented the air. It was amazing how sensitive they were, I could even feel the air flowing over them. I tried to shut my eyes, but found I could no longer do that as my eyelids were gone, sliding down my face with the last remnants of human skin to dissolve in the goo as the rest of my humanity had done. Suddenly my eyes blurred, then cleared and I found I was looking not out of two eyes, but four. Then they blurred again and I had six eyes when they cleared, then they blurred yet again and stayed that way for a very long time. When they finally cleared again for good I found my vision was washed out with little color, it was like looking through a giant kaleidoscope with thousands of lenses. At first what I saw made no sense to me, but as I felt new feelings and instincts flood my mind my vision cleared and I could make perfect sense out of the disjointed clash of views, and my peripheral vision was almost 360 now. I felt my mind become that of an insect, but at the same time my human memories and awareness remained intact. No, I thought, waving my antennae desperately, I don't want to be like this! I don't want to live like this! I'm a man, not a bug! No, no, noooooo!!
The change had run its course, the curse was completed. Except for one more minor detail, but the physical form was done. Had the potion been correctly concocted the victim would have lost their human identity entirely, but since that ingredient had been left out the victim remained mentally human and aware of what had happened. Usually the one making the curse was not so cruel. And with the human memory intact the roach would live as long as the original human would have and would remain in excellent health. But while aware the victim also had the mind of a roach as well, with its needs and instincts. And those instincts were undeniable and would be dominant.
The lights too damn bright, it's hurting my eyes! I tried to pull free of the now sweet smelling goo; I wanted to find cover, somewhere dark and safe. I was too exposed and started to panic. Flee! Find safety! Danger! Suddenly I felt myself shudder, and the world around me suddenly began to get larger. No, I realized, I was getting smaller, very rapidly. And at the same time the goo was evaporating, turning to a murky mist that quickly dissipated into the air. Four feet, three feet, two feet, I kept shrinking and getting smaller. I started struggling again, and, yes!, managed to pull my front legs loose. A foot, ten inches, seven inches, three, two inches, and it was done. The last of the goo was gone, and I was free! As quickly as I could I frantically scurried for cover, running back into the kitchen and under the refrigerator. Safe!
It was done; the victim would now live out the rest of a human life span like he was now. There was no cure, no reverse spell, the change was irreversible. The only thing remaining was the heavy silver chain and two medallions that had slipped from around his body as he shrank. Even his clothes had been dissolved and absorbed by the liquid the curse had caused his body to excrete to hold him in place during the change. There was nothing to indicate what had happened to the victim, he had just simply disappeared and would never been seen again, or if he was would not be recognized. And there was no way he could communicate to try and inform anyone as to what had happened.
I moved to the edge of the protective shadow given by what some part of me knew was called a refrigerator. Why had this happened to me? It was horrible, but my new body felt right, like it really was my body. I no longer felt strange. I waved my antennae around and could smell and sense all sorts of things. Dampness, the movement of air, nearby food, and other roaches like me. I turned to find another roach inspecting and sensing me, his own antennae busy. Gently we touched and tapped our antennae together to say "hello". He was smaller than I was, and male, friendly and curious as he didn't know my scent yet. "Welcome" he "said", and turned and skittered off deeper under the refrigerator. Instinctively I followed, and was soon "introducing" myself to the rest of the swarm of roaches that called this place home. Some part of me felt I should be disgusted and revolted by my companions, but another part found it comforting to have others like myself nearby, and that part won. Oh God, I didn't want to be alone like this, even if my only company was other roaches it was far better than nothing. And somehow they seemed to sense there was something different about me, but they accepted me anyway. I was a very large, healthy, male and therefore an asset to the swarm. So they welcomed me, and I joined my new family. And the human part of my mind was amazed at how well we could communicate; not just basic information but even ideas and questions/answers to some extent. "We" were much smarter than I would have ever believed, then any human believed. I was "told" where to find the best food, the best routes to get from one place to another, the best hiding places, etc. There were scent trails leading everywhere, each one labeled as to the places they led to, and what was to be found there. It was also amazing and rather fun to find I could walk up walls and across ceilings with ease, the claws on my legs and the black "thorns" could grip almost anything, and were very strong. I could even fly, though it wasn't very coordinated. But I seldom did that as it could be dangerous.
And after several days I was shocked to find they were actually starting to get worried about the "provider", the great huge animal who dwelt in their home with them and provided them with food. The missed ME, or the human who had been me! And all I'd done before was to crush any of them I'd seen. I felt strangely ashamed of what I'd done now that I could see it from the other side. I wished there was some way I could apologize to my new friends, but that was beyond our simple "language". But I found myself grieving for those simple lives I had ended without a thought.
I also quickly found that because of my excellent health and size I was very "attractive" to the lady roaches. Within an hour of joining the swarm I received my first offer to mate. The female approached me and gently tapped her antennae against mine, her touch and scent told of her interest in me as a mate immediately. I rubbed two of my legs together to "serenade" her and let her know I was very much interested, that she was a lovely and acceptable mate. We ran our antennae down their lengths and across one another's bodies to get better acquainted, then we turned away from one another and backed together, locking ourselves together and we mated for over an hour, out antennae bent backward and gently touching and stroking one another as our bodies quivered in pleasure. My human mind enjoyed it as much as the roach I had become, the pleasure was incredible, who'd have thought? When we pulled away we touched again briefly, then she went to find a safe place to lay her egg case. And a short time later I got another invitation. I found I enjoyed being popular with the ladies very much. And soon many were my regular mates as they found me to be a virile pleasing lover.
And so I live out my life, such as it is. It's not too bad I guess. The main worries are food, but as I can eat just about anything it's not a big problem. I still know I was once human, but it just doesn't seem to matter anymore to what I am now. Why did this happen to me? I'll never know. New tenants moved into the old house and its good times now, they're very sloppy and food is abundant and plentiful. Plus, better yet, they don't seem to mind us if we stay out of sight as much as possible. We see them not quite as Gods, but as beneficial superior beings. We are very fond of our providers.
So my life goes on. My friends and mates grown old and die, and I mourn them as even insects can miss a companion they'd grow used to. It's more of a wondering where he; or she, has gone more than anything, missing their company. Our concept of "death" is very different. But I do wonder how long I'll live, and when I die will my soul be that of a roach (if we have one) or a man? I guess I'll find out eventually. I hope in the end I'll get a break, and that what has happened to me will be enough atonement for any sins I may have committed. And next time you see a roach give it a break, it might be me.
The End
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