The Cursed

by Darkside
June 2002

 

Curse +735 Days The Directors story - Under Pressure

 

"Call for you, Director," Lucy's siren like voice said down the phone.

"Who is it?" I was very busy. The repercussions from that CNN report were still reverberating around Washington.

"The CNN reporter, you asked to call you. I think I should be there with you when you take the call," Lucy asked.

"OK put him through. I think I can handle this thank you Lucy," I stated.

"You'll need someone to take minutes," Lucy countered. Why was she so desperate to be on the call? Still I was her boss, she would have to sit this one out.

"It'll be fine. A cup of coffee would be nice though," I almost smiled. It was good to put Lucy in her place once in a while.

"Yes Director. Just don't forget the terms of our contract" she snapped.

As if I could!

The screen chimed a few times. The CNN reporter was waiting for me to pick up. I counted to ten and then pressed the 'Answer' button. A few moments later the face of an attractive Hispanic looking woman was on screen. "Thank you for calling me," I said.

"Thanks for asking. Now what can I do for you?" The reporter's voice had a slight Spanish accent.

"I wanted you to know that officially my department takes a dim view of the stunt you pulled yesterday. A sensible reporter would have sent someone in first to check it out. Do you realize the amount of favors I had to pull in to get you to broadcast live and with no time delay? If you pull a stunt like this again, I will have to officially revoke your broadcasting rights Do you understand?"

"Yes Director," the woman replied.

"As I said you went against my official orders not to show the state of the reservations." Again I dropped the hint.

The reporters eye lit up as the penny dropped. I could almost think her thinking 'what about unofficially?'

I heard the door open and Lucy walked in, "Your coffee, director." She replied curtly. She hung around for a few moments, waiting to be invited to stay but my lesson in who's boss wasn't over.

"That'll be all Lucy, Thank you." I replied and turned my attention back to

the screen

"Director, am I being officially reprimanded? If you're asking me to hide the truth and censor my reports, that's unconstitutional!" The reporter's face looked annoyed, but the eyes said otherwise. I'd just given the reporter what she wanted. "No, you're not being reprimanded, just reminded that you have certain moral obligations to those both inside and outside of the reservations."

The reporter nodded, "Point taken. I'll bear that mind for next weeks report."

I nodded my approval, "That's all I ask. Thanks for calling."

"Goodbye," the reporter said and the link died.

"Nicely done director," Lucy's voice came from behind me somewhere. So she had crept back in again without me noticing.

"You think he got the hint?" I asked. I knew he had but I wanted to know how much Lucy had seen. I turned to face my stunning brunette assistant.

"Oh yes she got it alright. Officially you disapproved and warned him away. Unofficially he must follow his moral obligations to report the truth. I think the camps will be closed within the next three months if the reporter does her job properly," Lucy gave me her 'beauty queen' smile.

"And then," I sighed, "I'll be out of a job."

"I doubt that. I'm sure something will come up," Lucy gave me a sly and knowing look that sent a shiver down my spine.

"It always does," I replied thoughtfully.

 

 

Curse +740 Days 10:12 Pat's story - Invitation

 

Another rainy day in New York! It's odd how the weather seems to match my mood these days. Just scraping by is how I feel at the moment. But then I guess it's the same as everyone else. Just scraping by. That's what I'll call my autobiography, if anyone would want to read it that is.

I wonder what my wife is up to these days. It's a thought that I think, oh at least a hundred times a day. She told me in no uncertain terms to go and never come back. Still, at least I'm not trapped behind a desk, unable to express how I really feel about things. I guess I'm better off now, or rather I would be if she were with me. It's odd how the lack of 'things' focuses the mind on the more important things in life, love, friends and family. The whole worlds falling apart, day by day.

I was just about to leave when the phone rang, I dashed over and picked it up.

It was Joey.

"Hey Pat, Just calling to say don't bother coming in today," Joey's voice didn't sound depressed or even worried so whatever it was it wasn't bad news.

"What's up?"

"You've just got a better offer. A friend of mine, heard you the other night. He liked you so much he's offered you a spot at his nightclub. You'd better get over to Gate's nightspot as soon as you can. You'll want to practice. I'm told you'll have a full band and everything. Get a pen, here's his number."

I dashed off to the living room to find a pen and pad. A few seconds later I had scrawled the number down, "Thanks Joey, I owe you one."

I could tell Joey was smiling by the tone of his voice on the other end of the phone, "Just remember you still work for me, OK?"

"I'd never work for anyone else, " I said grinning back.

"Cya in a day or so," Joey replied and hung up.

Elated at this news, I quickly dialed the phone number and within a matter of minutes I had arranged a rehearsal for 2pm that afternoon. Now what to do with the rest of the day?

 

 

Curse +735 Days 07:25 Christopher's story - Fugitive

 

I woke up in my car. I'd driven thru most of the night to escape the city and people. I'd manage to park behind a large copse and with the lights off and away from the road I'd be hard to spot. My head hurt like hell and it was all I could do to open my eyes. My limbs ached from being cooped up inside the car and I could feel my old back injury starting to play up again.

I struggled to sit up, sleeping in a car is not conducive to a good nights rest that's for sure. Bleary eyed I glanced down at my legs and gasped in a mixture of shock and horror. I could see that the shape they made inside my pants had changed and become, slender and more feminine looking. I reached for my flies and was about to take off my pants when I head a rat tat on the window of the car.

Oh Shit! I police officer was knocking on the car window. Trying to pull myself together I managed to wind the window down, "Yes officer?" I asked in the most innocent voice I could muster.

"I see you have the plague," he stated in a matter of fact manner.

"No, why would you think that? I just felt something crawl up my pants" Lame excuse I know, but it was the first thing that came into my head.

"Don't lie to me son. I'm here to help"

"I'm not ly...," I started to day.

"Look, we get it all the time. People get the plague and do a runner. This spot is a common stop over for people who think they've gone far enough for the night. Lucky for you I found you and no someone else!"

"How do you mean?" I asked.

The cop reached into his pocket and pulled out his pad of tickets. He lifted a page and pulled out a small piece of card and started to write me a ticket out. I tried to see what he was writing but the angle was all wrong for me to see properly.

"Take it, do exactly what it says and don't stop," the cop said, handing me the ticket and the bit of paper.

"What?" I queried.

"Just read it, and follow it. Now excuse me SIR I need to be going," with that the cop turned and walked off.

I looked at the ticket and found it was just a warning about being illegally parked. But the bit of paper he'd slipped in was a different matter altogether. It gave the address of a house in Atlanta and a single word, "freaks."

Now I know where I'm heading, I guess. Why a cop would be so cloak and dagger about it I had no idea. Clearly he wasn't going to turn me in, otherwise he would have done so there and then.

My attention focused back to my legs. Gingerly I undid my flies, and saw to my great relief that my dick was still there. However as I pulled them down further. I shuddered as I saw my now smooth, hairless legs. No hiding it now, I had the plague! My only chance now seemed to be on the say-so of a mysterious cop and in Atlanta. Doing my pants back up I started the engine and set off.

 

 

Curse +741 Days 17:59 Matthew's Story - Eyam

 

My cameraman, well camerawoman gave me the 3-2-1 signal and it was time for my second broadcast to CNN. The last one had caused quite a stir, and I was determined that this one would do just the same. But in a different way. Anyway, too late for that now. I was on Air.

"Good evening, My name is Matthew Robinson of CNN. I'm standing in Reservation Anderson and it's from here I will be giving weekly reports on life here," So far so good, but my dulcet female voice still sounded a little too nervous for my professional ear.

"Some of you will remember last weeks broadcast and the unfortunate incident regarding the suicide. I'm sorry if that disturbed many of you, but as is these reservations it's a tragic reality," I gestured around at the area I was standing in, "I'm in one of the newer areas of the reservation. As the plague's impact grew, and therefore its number of victims the government allocated more resources and space to looking after those affected. As a result newer internees have access to much better conditions than those who were first affected. Slowly but surely the older areas are being bought up to spec, but its a difficult process as for obvious reasons very, very few actually want to come here to work," There that'll keep the director happy I thought.

I paused for a few moments to let the camera pan around a little. These newer areas were much better, in spite of having the container housing, some inhabited by the rich even had running water. "At a personal level I've become somewhat of a celebrity here since my last report. I met up, or should I say was invited to meet up with one of the most curious people I've seen here," I had debated whether to mention the prophet in my broadcast, and decided I would. She had said no to me filming her, not talking about her.

"The only way I can describe this lady is that of a hermit. I've no idea what she looks like, only that she wore a sack cloth veil. I knew something odd was going on as she had sent a non-human, a centaur to find me. Even in the reservations the non humans are a rare sight. They keep to themselves and never mix with us. I'd only seen them at a distance until then. Anyway, the centaur leads me to a hut in the middle of the old area. I'm not allowed to show you where, because this prophet refused me permission to film her."

Hmm this is getting dull I thought, time to add some human interest, "We spoke about this and that. Mostly how she regarded the current plague as the work of some kind of dark force. Now it's nothing we've not heard loads of times before but she did tell me one story which touched me. It made me think about what we are really doing here.

She told me the story of a place in England, called Eyam. Back in the late 16^th century the black death had come to the village via some cloth that had been bought in London. The village pastor, persuaded the villagers to stay put. To isolate the village from the rest of the world so that people fleeing would not spread the plague to all the surrounding villages. Reluctantly they agreed and a procedure was put in place where money would be disinfected with vinegar. The surrounding villages would put food there, and take the money, thus minimizing contact with the infected people."

I paused, giving it time to sink in, "The tactic of isolation worked. The surrounding villages and towns were saved but Eyam had paid a terrible price. The dead were left for their own families to bury because no one wanted to touch them. Out of a population of 300 men, women and children less than 50 remained alive after the plague had burnt it self out."

"This", I gestured to the surrounding camp ,"is our Eyam."

I decided to cut the broadcast short, to say anything else was pointless, "This is Matthew Robinson of CNN, reporting from Reservation Anderson."

 

 

Curse +741 Days 18:15 The Directors story - Eyam

 

Lucy marched into my office, her face red with anger, glared at the TV, which was now onto another report, picked up the remote and switched it off, "How dare HE do that to us. He'll ruin everything!" she shouted.

"I thought he did rather well. The Eyam story was a nice touch,"

"Now we'll never get them fucking cunting released!" Lucy swore!

I'd not heard Lucy swear for nearly a year. Usually she was so calm and collected. Her fellow staffers had called her an ice maiden ,so much was she always in control. "It's not that bad, he only did as we asked," I trying to placate her.

"I thought you wanted those people out," Lucy gave me one of her icy, assassins stares.

A deadly chill ran down my spine, somehow it felt as though I was seconds away from death. It was that kind of look. "We still have other options," I said.

Lucy calmed down a little "Yes you're right, we always have other options."

Seeing Lucy's rage die down a little, I poured more water on her flames, "I don't think this Eyam tale will set us back that much. People will be more sympathetic towards the camps now, but they fear the plague too much. When it comes down the to crunch people are too selfish to do that much about it."

"You are right, of course," Lucy checked her watch waited a few seconds and said "Something's bound to crop up, it always does," Lucy gave me a disturbingly smug look. Something about it made me think that her outburst had all been staged all along.

I was about to reply when the phone rang. Dutifully Lucy picked the call up.

She listened for a few seconds, said, "It's the president."

"Mr Director, I need you here as soon as you can," the president requested.

His voice sounded shaken and upset.

"What is it Mr President,"

"There's been another car bombing, seems as though it's the same group as before."

"What! It's been months, I thought the feds had cleared it all up," I said. Back, when the plague had first hit a number of car bombs had been detonated in protest at the setting up at what the terrorists had called concentration camps. Thanks to the security measures in place, this terrorist cell was soon caught and bought to justice. That had been nearly 18 months ago.

"We had a coded message minutes before five cars, packed with nail bombs blew up blew up near Bloomingdales in New York. Fuck knows how they managed to get it, but our internal security guys knew NOTHING. They killed at least 40 and injured a hundred or so more. The bastards set the bombs to go off a few seconds after each other so that as people ran away from the first the second blew up right in front of them. They fucking well herded the people into clusters with the other car bombs and blew them up with the nearest car bomb to them! The motherfuckers turned a shopping precinct into a killing zone!" the president swore.

"Are you sure it was the same group? How long ago did it happen?" I glanced across at Lucy who was giving me 'what the hell has gone on' look.

"About 5 minutes ago. CNN and the media are going ape. It was the same fucking lot as before; they demanded the release of 'their people' from the camps and said that this time it was just a wake up call."

"What do you want me to do?" I asked, horrified at the news. That's all we needed!

"Be in my office as soon as you can. I want to visit a camp as soon as you can, so that we cut these fuckers support from under them."

"But," I started. Was the president mad? What if he caught the plague?

"No arguments. Be here or I find someone else!"

"I'm there," I replied and put the phone down.

"Lucy quick, turn the TV on!"

Lucy flipped the remote and the TV sprang into life "This is NBC News bringing you the latest on the car bomb attacks in New York. In case you have just joined us, five cars loaded with high explosive and shrapnel exploded in New York's busiest shopping area, killing several and wounding at least a hundred more. Emergency services are on the scene as we hand over to Sherla Jones who is on the scene now.

"I'd better go, don't want to keep the president waiting. He'll brief me in full. I'll catch the reports on the radio," I said, my voice shaky as I saw images of smoke billowing from a number of cars, body shapes covered with blankets and teams of paramedics trying desperately to save as many people as they could . In the corner of the screen I saw a paramedic gently lift a blue blanket over a woman's still head. The paramedic turned away, and went to try help someone else.

 

 

Curse +743 Days 23:12 Pat's story - The Space

 

I swigged the dregs of the bottle of coke, tossed it into the bin at the far side of the room. We were having a quick 10 minutes break before going back out again. So far the performance was going way better than I expected. In spite of that horrific car bomb a few days back, the turn out was good. A thought popped into my head, a reminder from earlier on in the day. That could have been me, I walk past there everyday! I put down the feelings of guilt and took a deep breath. I was on in 2 minutes.

A quick chat to the band and I took the stage to riotous applause. Back in my element again, I grabbed the mike and said, "I was going to sing this as a tribute to all of those who have friends and family with the plague. It's now more than that, this is my tribute to those who died in the other days car bomb attack and more than that, its how I feel right now," I gave a nod to the band and they started to play.

"On top of the world like a flag on a mountain

Feeling so high you can feel so alone

Unable to breathe at the height that you flew

Staring on clouds with no view of below

On top of a girl like a dream in a hotel

Falling towards something out of control

Unable to miss like the man in the tram

Crashing your car in Amsterdam

 

He did it without knowing, didn't feel a thing

He just wrecked it and kept going

The space around the stars

Is something that you know

A billion miles of darkness

Left you feeling low

The space around the stars

Is something that you know

Everything about you

So perfectly restrained

But everything inside you

Bites you

 

Everybody in the whole of the world

Feels the same inside

Everybody in the whole of the world

 

Everyone is only everyone else

Everybody's got to know

Everybody lives and loves and laughs and cries

And eats and sleeps and grows and dies

Everybody in the whole of the world

 

Is the same this time

Is the same inside

In the whole of the world"

 

-- oo -- oo --

 

"The events after the end of the second of the CNN broadcasts from the camps it seemed as though the world was at a crossroads. At the time, the choices seemed clear -- to release those afflicted or to adopt an 'Eyam' policy and leave the camps in place. Hindsight and history shows that these choices were never as clear cut as they seem. I would go so far as to say that no choice is ever as clear cut as it first seems, the consequences never fully known and people's true motivations never as transparent as we might like to believe."

Excerpt from "The Origins of the Curse' By Prof Richard nee Jane Andrews,

Chair Magic Studies, MIT. ISBN 353245543

-- oo -- oo --

 

 

Curse +742 Days 10:16 Matthew's story - Repercussions

 

I was just putting the finishing touches to my latest set of notes on my thoughts of life here, when I heard a knock at the door.

"Hello, I'm looking for a Matthew Robinson," The voice was female, but had a hissy edge to it. As though the sounds that made up speech had had to be forced out.

"I'm here. Who wants me?" I called out.

"The prophet wants to see you," the 's's were pronounced more than they should be. More like ss rather than a single 's'.

"You'd better come in then," I replied, getting up out of my chair.

"Ok," The door opened and in walked a mixture of cat and lady. The person stood I estimated about 6ft tall, its face was an odd mixture of human and cat. Triangular ears poked thru the top of its/her head and long black human hair tumbled over its shoulders. I couldn't help but stare.

"I don't bother you do I?" the cat creature asked?

"Sorry, its just that I'm, " I felt embarrassed. In spite of the non human nature of it's, no HER looks she was still human inside.

She nodded her head, "not used to non humans," she finished my sentence for me.

"Yeah, sorry. What's your name?" I asked, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"Carolyn. We'd better go. The prophet doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Sure, just a sec," I glanced around the room, picked up my notepad and pen and followed Carolyn out of the room.

We talked about this and that in spite of my original surprise Carolyn was pleasant company. Before she'd caught the plague she'd been married to an up and coming lawyer. Then one day she'd noticed that she was slowly getting taller. She'd known what it was and she'd ran away from all that she loved, her husband, her home, everything! She'd made up some lame excuse about growing apart and had refused all his calls. The last thing she wanted was to infect him, so to save him she'd left him. Then two weeks after leaving him she'd started to grow fur and that was that. Marriage over, life over, humanity gone and dumped in here with the rest of an afflicted mankind.

I recognized the hut we'd visited before. "We're here!" Carolyn announced.

"Thanks," I replied. A thought struck me, "Look, I still have some contacts on the outside. I can help track your husband down if you like. Maybe get a letter to him. So you can explain.."

Carolyn's whiskers twitched, as if she was thinking it over, "I promised myself I wouldn't contact him, its better he thinks I'm gone than like this!" she gestured to her black fur covered body. . I noticed for the first time that the hissing distortion was caused by a set of large pointed teeth in her elongated jaw, well I guess it looked more like a muzzle.

I thought for a few moments, "You obviously still love him, maybe he will too. You're not alone. Everyone who's been affected by the plague is in the same boat. It's up to you to prove that under all that fur there's still a human being. The same as it is with me, to prove that in this female body of mine, there's still a man who loves his family. I guess I'll be with the prophet for a while. Think it over and let me know."

"Ok," Carolyn nodded.

"You show the beginnings of wisdom, " The prophet's voice called out to me from inside.

"I guess that's my cue."

"I guess so," Carolyn said softly.

I turned to go inside, but sensed Carolyn had left several things unsaid, but when I turned around she'd gone.

The inside of the prophet's hut was exactly as I remembered it. It still took me several moments for my eyes to adjust. The prophet was dressed as before, her face covered with sackcloth and rags. She beckoned me to sit down; which I did.

"You're now starting to see. A little and as if thru a frosted pane of glass, but its progress," the prophet sounded pleased.

"Thanks. I did what you wanted. I told them about Eyam."

She nodded, "I know. The enemy has hastened its plans because of it."

"What enemy? The last time we spoke, you didn't know what was causing the plague. Only a darkness," I gestured to indicate the vagueness of our last conversation.

"I had to be sure before I told you. I had to know who's side you were on."

"Did I pass?" Who side was I on? Were there any sides to choose at all? As usual the prophet seemed to have a different agenda to anyone else.

"There is no pass or fail. Only right or wrong, light or dark, life or death."

The prophet replied cryptically.

Trying to keep the sarcasm away I replied, "And you're on the side of life, right?" Here we go again, I thought.

"I'm on the right side if that's what you mean," the prophet replied. Could I detect the slightest glimmering of a smile on her face under all that covering?

I was getting tired of all this, "What'd you bring me here for?"

"Do you know how things work in the spirit?" the prophet asked.

"Ouja Boards?" I quipped.

"Your jokes reveal your ignorance. Let me share something with you, something that I only realized a week ago."

"What's that?" I replied. Why do these conversations always seem like some drug induced vision?

The prophet ignored my doubts "Everything in this world and in the world of the spirit is given a domain, areas of authority. To act outside of those domains it requires permission to do so, whether it's by explicit or implicit means. I guess you could call them boundaries of power."

"Who's permission?" I asked

"That is obvious. The owner of the domain it wishes to act in."

"Such as?"

"When you go to a medium or fortune teller, she asks you if you want to go thru with it. Even if she didn't the fact you went there gives her permission to look into your life. You rule your own mind, so she has to gain your permission to access it."

I could vaguely see where the prophet was going, "So how does this fit in with the plague. I never gave permission for this!" I gestured down at my now female body.

"Correct. If we assume that the plague has a spiritual aspect to it, then it's also logical to assume that since very few people actually wanted to be affected then whatever is causing the plague owns the domain of what man and animal looks like?" The prophet spoke as though I was some sophomore being kept back after class.

"But what of the Geas?" I asked

"The Geas represent our darkest fears, they spring from who we are. Since we allow ourselves to dwell on such fears, we also give permission for them to be made real. Now I'm not saying that everyone who gets affected fears having a nasty gea, but its interesting that people's Geas are getting stronger and more extreme as the plague goes on. When it first started the Geas where mild. Non smokers becoming smokers for example. As fear started to grow, so we gave the darkness more and more permission to use our fears against us."

Now we were getting somewhere. Fascinating stuff! "So you're saying that we're partly responsible for what happens to us?"

The prophet nodded, "Yes I am. More than partly, our fear feeds the darkness, gives it the power it needs to grow."

"So what if we don't give it what it wants, assuming all this is true? Do we kill it?"

"How can you kill what is eternal? No it will be weakened, only able to operate is its domain. Of course not everyone will be able to keep it out. But a few will!" said the prophet in a hopeful tone of voice.

"Is that how the Alphas fit in?" I asked

The prophet studied me carefully ,"Yes, I believe so. Somehow, the Alpha's have been strong enough to resist giving into their greatest fears and so remain immune from the effects of Gea's. They are not strong enough to stop being changed, however."

"You've studied this a lot haven't you?" I queried.

"More than most, less than I should," The prophets replied cryptically.

I decided to get right to the point, "Why did you ask me back?"

"To teach, to learn and to warn."

"Teach? Me? Learn from who and to warn about what?" once again I was nowhere nearer learning anything really and yet part of me knew thought that it had learned something.

The Prophet nodded, "To teach you, to learn from you and to warn you. You are in a privileged position. You have the ear of those who seek power over us. With that position comes great responsibility."

"I see. You mean the news broadcasts?"

"Yes."

So the prophet wanted to use me as a voice for her opinions. Over my dead

body! "If you think you can.." I started

"Oh no, I don't want to use you in the way you are thinking. I only want to teach you to see the alternatives, the seemingly impossible probabilities of gray that lie between black and white."

"Such as?"

"Such as the boundaries of power we talked of earlier."

That was certainly an impossible probability, I thought.

"You ought to go now. Something big is about to happen and you should be there to influence it," With a wave of her hand the prophet dismissed me.

I stood up, adjusted my skirt and left the room with my head spinning. No matter how much I try and be skeptical I always come away feeling that the prophet was inherently right about whatever she was talking about.

I have kinda got used to the long walk back, but not of the sights. The displaced people, the wrecked lives were a scar that would take years to resolve and heal. In spite of my media focus I feel isolated from the outside world. I get told, what I see on TV and via the net.

In my mind I start to formulate the next broadcast. The effects of the plague on normal people's lives would be an interested viewpoint. Of how the entertainment industry has almost shut down, for fear of the stars getting infected and ruining more lives. Of how the birth rate has plummeted, and how technological progress has stalled to little more than what was available pre millennium. So with no new TV, Movies, Music or technological drive mankind is stuck in an eddy, and if your not moving forwards you're in decline.

Everywhere I looked were people, women like me; how odd that still sounds, like me! Trying to make the best of what the plague had dealt them, but to me, today it seemed as though hope was slowly draining away from these people. They were dying an inch at a time.

I thought back to what the prophet had said. If the plague had an other worldly, supernatural basis to it then it was doing a good job of enslaving mankind. How do you fight something that's beyond our realm of experience, beyond what we see as normal and something that the majority of the world doesn't even think exists?

Wearily I walked into my shelter. On the table was a small note, and I picked it up. Written in scruffy cursive handwriting was a single sentence. "Matthew, Call the Camp Director to arrange media coverage for a visit from the president!"

I put the letter down in shock! Only one thing could bring the president here, they had found a cure!

 

 

Curse +741 Days 19:30 The Directors Story - Peanuts

 

I had been ushered into the map room of the White House. The president was already sitting down on one of the Queen Anne chairs and sitting next to him was Geoff Mears, secretary of state for health and human services, Alice Ridge, SECDEF and John Allen, homeland security officer.

I heard the door creak behind me, Lucy walked in and gave the president her usual aloof and her 'I'm above all of this look'.

"Lucy, Director, take a seat. Geoff here has some wonderful news."

I took a seat, wondering what kind of news could change the mind of the president, and make him want to visit a camp.

The president gave the group a broad grin, the first time I'd seen him smile in several months. "I'll cut right to it. We know what causing the plague. As you know thousands of people have been using the spare resources on their PC's to help collate millions of discrete bits of information. Two days ago some guy in Rochester's PC found the answer. Mind you, It wasn't just him, it was the thousands of man years of computing that had gone on around the world that did it. We're only now confident enough to let the results be known, we've had so many hopes raised and then dashed, we've learned to be cautious."

"So the program worked! So what the cause?" I asked excitedly. Inwardly I breathed a sigh of deep relief. Lucy was right, something always comes up. He was right, my hopes had been raised, only to be shattered a few hours later so many times I'd become almost immune to it.

"Geoff?" the president beckoned.

Geoff Stood up, and said "Light off, screen on"

The lights dimmed and the 1755 map of the world charted by Joshua Fry and Peter Jefferson slid back into its protective cover to reveal a large viewscreen.

"This is the cause of all our problems", Geoff said with a note of triumph.

The view on the screen changed to three small peanut shaped blobs. I'd expect to see something more dramatic, a disease which had caused so much pain and suffering ought to at least look vicious. Even the hook shape of Ebola looked the part, but this just looked like some peanuts surrounded by a greenish fluid.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a prion."

"Prion?" Alice asked.

"It's a small proteinaceous infectious particle which resists inactivation by procedures that modify nucleic acids", I added, giving the textbook answer.

"In English," Alice added gruffly.

"It's a protein that carries no Nucleic acid genome, It has no RNA or DNA to speak of, " I added. Of course it all made sense now. A prion was the infectious agent. Most of the efforts to find the plague had gone into bacterial or viral research, but this was neither! Prions could lay dormant for months or years before coming active. That and their tiny size and lack of nucleic acids made them damn near impossible to spot, unless you knew what you were looking for in the first place.

"So it's not a bacteria or virus. Whether or not you can become infected with a disease by just a protein, was open for debate, until now," I added.

Geoff took over, "Several diseases have been identified as being caused by prions, Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease, Gerstmann-traussler-Scheinker syndrome, FFI: Fatal familial Insomnia, Kuru and Alpers Syndrome to name a few, and now this one."

This was it! My sense of relief grew, until I had to keep down my euphoria.

At last my nightmare would soon be over.

"Now we're not sure exactly how it causes the genetic changes, only that it seems to unlock a persons DNA and cause it to revert to a different state. The Geas are caused by its effects on the brain. Prions typically attack the regions of the brain so that fits the profile we've seen so far."

"Unlock how?" John asked.

"Inside our DNA, we carry throwbacks from evolution. Records of how we got here. This Prion causes these throwbacks to come to the fore again and overwrite the existing persons DNA."

"How can you be sure its this?, why do people who get the plague turn into women?" I asked.

"We're as sure as we can be. Every person with the plague has this prion, anyone who is clear doesn't. These things are so damned tricky to find you wouldn't spot it unless you did a very detailed autopsy, even then they exist in tiny quantities. Now we know what to look for, we can develop a test to see if you have it or not. As for the female thing, the natural state of any embryo is female, the reversion process can only result in a female form."

"Any chance of curing the people who already have it?" The president asked hopefully.

"No. It's not alive as such so anti-viral agents and anti-biotics won't work. It also changes the DNA, and as yet we've no way of changing it back. We've had TGen labs working on it for years, but they're no further forward. Once you have it, that's it. We may be able to impede its progress by disrupting the protein itself. A little bit like how we treat Parkinson's disease right now. But you'll still have the Prion in you."

"How's it spread?" I asked. This was killer question. I glanced across at Lucy, she was watching in a detached, almost amused fashion. I knew the cause, but not how it was spread. If we could only stop the infection spreading.

"This is the most exciting bit. It's not infectious! Not in the normal way anyway. It's airborne and can be spread by bodily fluids, like HIV, but can't be spread from person to person like a cold. Now we know what we were looking for we traced its origin to a volcanic eruption in the pacific ocean just over two years ago."

"Volcanic eruption?" Alice asked.

"Nobody paid much attention to it, it only got a few mentions on the news at the time. But apparently this volcano blew up a tiny island in the middle of the pacific. Crucially, it threw tons of matter into the atmosphere. This would then circulate the globe in the wind over a period of weeks. We sure that this eruption either blew the prion out from under the ground, or caused its formation. We sent teams to the remains of the island, and they confirmed the presence of the prion in massive quantities. Now we're not sure where the Prion actually came from in the first place, only that this eruption caused billions of them to be thrown up into the atmosphere."

"So if it's airborne how come we all don't get it?" John asked worriedly.

"Some people are more susceptible than others. The Prion seems to affect people with a certain gene in place. If you have the gene, then you can get the plague. This is why a lot of families were affected, and why we thought it infectious. It can also be transmitted in bodily fluids, like HIV can, which explains the husband/wife infections."

"So let me sum up, so that I get it straight," I could hardly speak, the nightmare was almost over "The plague is spread by an airborne protein, or the exchange of bodily fluids with the protein in. The protein causes the infected persons DNA to regress and then alters the brain chemistry."

Geoff nodded, "That's about it. I've got a thousand page document in medical speak that proves it, beyond argument. It'll be up on the net at the same time as the presidents visit."

Of course! The presidents visit. Since the plague wasn't infectious it would be safe for him to visit. I thought it time to ask the question I'd wanted to ask since the meeting began, "Since it isn't infectious, except by exchange of fluids hadn't we better let the people in the camps out?"

The president smiled, "That is why I'm visiting Reservation Anderson tomorrow. The terms of my executive order, state that the Reservations will remain in place until the cause is known, and can be contained."

"How will you contain it?" John asked.

The president replied, "Every person who has the prion will receive a small bar coded tattoo on their right hand before they will be allowed out. That way everyone will know what they are potentially letting themselves in for if they sleep with them. If they refuse, we keep them in the Reservations."

"So you're singling them out for reprisals!" This was horrible, just like the Jews having to wear armbands in the 1930's.

"How else are we to protect people? We can't rely on people's honesty to own up. This is the only way."

I sighed. We were creating a future problem for ourselves, I knew it. Yet the president was right, the people in the camps must be let out and the uninfected people must be protected. It was the only way.

 

 

Curse +741 Days 16:40 Christopher's story - Test And Trap

 

I was more tired that I had ever been in my life. The pressure and stress of being on the run were taking their toll on me, I was unable to sleep much. Staying in a motel was out of the question as they ask too many questions, so I'd resorted to sleeping in the car or the occasional barn where I could guarantee nobody would suddenly walk in. I went to the address the cop gave me, and was told to come back in three days. That was three days ago and I'm on my way back to see what they have to say. If they turn me away again I'm not sure where I'll go or what I'll do. From the newspaper articles I've managed to read the camp system seems to be on the verge of collapse. There are too many people and not enough resources or people willing to risk themselves to help them.

The only good news is that my changes seemed to have slowed down or stopped. I still inwardly shudder every time I look down at my legs. I know that underneath my faded, tatty jeans are the slender, hairless and smooth legs of a woman, a woman who I'm destined to become. The other change that has been growing in my mind on a daily basis is an underlying desire to get those people out of the camps. 'Normals' have no right to coop us up in there! I don't understand where that feeling comes from, only that it grows almost by the hour. Maybe it's the start of my Gea?

I managed to park the car, and furtively walked down the crowded streets to the apartment block I'd been to a few days before. The elevator was broken, as it had been three days ago and all in all the place still looked a mess. Decayed was the word I was looking for to describe it.

I'm still a little unsteady on my new legs, my centre of gravity still feels odd, and so the walk up six flights of stairs was more tiring that is should have been. It didn't help that a couple of neon tubes had gone wrong, and so flickered a staccato pattern on light in the dimly lit stairways.

Eventually I reached the door and gave a rat a tat on the door. A few seconds later I heard a woman's voice "yes"?

"Hi, it's Christopher. I called three days ago and was told to come back today. I was also told you can help me," I felt a little foolish standing outside shouting thru a door.

The voice said "Wait, " I heard footsteps away from the door, and breathed out. This was getting frustrating.

I sat down, folded my legs, and waited.

It must have been about 10 minutes before the voice called out "We need you to do a job, a test if you like."

"What is it?" I asked suspiciously.

"First of all, drop your pants. We need to be sure you are who we were told you are."

I could see where they were coming from, but felt acutely embarrassed. I'd tried to keep my jeans on as much as possible, as every glance downwards reminded me what I was becoming.

"We own this floor, nobody will come," The voice re-assured.

It was clear, that I either obeyed their request or move on somewhere else.

Since I had nowhere else to go, I undid my jeans and pulled them down.

If anything my legs had become more feminine in shape overnight, and I

noticed to my horror, that my dick had shrunk a little. My hips too had subtly

changed shape and were a little more rounded. I thought my changes had

stopped, and now I realize how wrong I'd been. That was why I'd been

finding hard to walk a long way, I'd still been changing, an inch at a time

Feeling sick and bitter inside I asked, "Happy now?"

"Yes, don't worry. After you've done a small job for us, you'll be safe and among friends."

I quickly pulled my jeans up, glad to hide away what I was becoming. I knew that there was no escape and soon I would have to face it, but this slow agonizing change was killing me. It'd have been much easier on me if it'd been all in one go. Then I could have moved on. It's the waiting that's the worst thing.

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked.

A key to a mailbox slid out from under the door. "Go downstairs and open box number 97. In it you'll find the keys to a blue Chrysler town and country. Drive it to outside of Bloomingdale's, and get the subway back here."

I shrugged, that seems easy enough, "What if I can't find a space?"

"Drive around until you do. It has to be as close to Bloomingdale's as possible, Oh, and don't take too long. You need to be back here by 6."

"What if I'm not?" I asked. Surely this can't be all they want me to do?

"Then the deals off!" was the stern reply.

After another brisk run down the stairs I located the mailbox and withdrew the keys inside. I easily found the Chevvy, jumped inside and started to drive. It felt heavier than I expected but since I'd not driven one before I soon got used to it.

Luckily I found a space right away and right outside of Bloomingdales, must be my lucky day. I locked up, took the keys with me and walked towards the subway. I should make it easily, I still had 40 minutes to make it back.

I reached the apartment with 10 minutes to spare and knocked on the door again "Ok done it," I said breathlessly.

"Wait," The voice replied.

I sighed inwardly, "Not again."

This time I didn't have to wait long, as a few minutes later the door swung open and I walked inside.

The interior of the apartment was a mess, takeout cartons were strewn around the floor, the carpet and the sofa had seen better days. An old Sony CRT TV stood in the corner, it must be a least 15 years old. Decay, there was that word again. The apartment looked as though it had been neglected. What kind of people could help me out, if they didn't have the resources to live or look after themselves properly?

A small woman, with long purple dyed hair stood to my left. Her hair was unkempt and her clothes were obviously too large for her. Her brown eyes, however glimmered with fanaticism, a kind of religious fervor. "Welcome, my name is Alison."

"Christopher" I replied in return.

"Take a seat, we're about to put the TV on. I would suggest you watch it with us."

"Us?" I asked. I could only see Alison in the room.

"The rest of us, are more cautious. They will join us when you pass the second test."

"Second test, what's that?"

"To watch TV"

 

 

Curse +743 Days 23:55 Pat's story - What Kind Of God

 

The greatest gig of my life was going perfectly. I had the audience eating out of my hand. If this is what the stars felt, when they used to perform in front of thousands, then what a life! I'd saved my newest song till last. It could have been written for those being slowly released from the camps, those who had been left behind when they went in, and those still affected by the plague.

"This song is dedicated to those being released from the camps, to those waiting for them when they come home, and to a world asking why."

"And if the bottle's no solution

Why does it feel so warm

And if that girl is no solution

Why did she feel so warm

And if to feel is no solution

Why do I feel

Why do I feel so tired

Why do I feel so broken

Why do I feel so outside

Why do I seem so blind

I'm so sick of feeling

It's ruined my life"

 

I glanced up at the video screens showing hundreds of people queuing up in ragged lines getting tattoo's on their right hand to show they had the plague.

"If living rough is no solution

Why does it ease my mind

If looking back is no solution

Why are we all

Nothing but children

Children inside

 

Why do the Gods

Sit back and watch

So many lost

What kind of mother

Leaves a child in the traffic

Turning tricks in the dark

What kind of God?"

 

The video screens showed images of people running up to wives, husbands and children and giving them a massive hug. All around the world, families were being reunited again.

"I crawled around inside myself

It was a long way down

It was a mine and it was mine

And in the darkness

I saw a perfect mirror

 

Floating in space

When I meet God

I'm going to ask her

What makes her cry

What makes her laugh

Is she just stars and indigo gas

Does she know why

Love has no end

But its dark-angel friend

Tearing women and men

Slowly apart"

 

I thought of Carolyn, we'd been so much in love. So why had she left? Why did I feel so alone?

"Stain

Don't do that

Scream

Don't do that

Fail

Never do that

Never do that

I want to go out

Don't do that

I want an adventure

Just stay..

I want

Just stay in

I want to make love

 

And if the bottle's no solution

Why does it feel so warm

And if looking back is no solution

Why are we all just children inside

And if to feel is no solution

Why does the whole damn world feel so broken

So outside and out-of-sorts

 

A perfect mirror

Floating in space

Waves and numbers

But oh, such beautiful numbers

And oh, such waves.."

 

 

 

Curse +741 Days 18:11 Christopher's story - Gea

 

I'd been sitting down, on the well worn and threadbare sofa for 20 minutes. Alison had switched to NBC News a few minutes before. Nothing newsworthy was going on.

"I'm watching TV, do I pass?" I asked.

"Not yet," Alison checked her Casio, "Just a few more minutes."

"Ok, I've nothing else to do," I shrugged.

A few minutes later the Newscaster was given a sheet of paper, and her face went pale. She composed herself and said "We're getting reports of a series of large explosions just outside Bloomingdales, New York. First reports indicate that as many as eight car bombs went off just outside the busy store." Bloomingdales? Car Bombs? No it couldn't be! I watched intently.

The newscaster continued, "We hand over to Sherla Jones who is on the scene now. Sherla, what is going on?"

A petite blonde lady, was trying to make a news report, but all around her was chaos. Burning cars were everywhere, the camera panned across and I saw the remains a Blue Chevy that looked as though the whole rear of the car had been blown away.

"Just minutes ago multiple car bombs exploded on this crowded sidewalk. It appears as though the explosions were timed so that as people ran away from one, they ran right into the face of another. We can't be sure of the death toll, but it's bound to be tragically high. As you can emergency services are on the scene, and are doing the best to help the injured and shocked. No group has yet claimed responsibility."

I glanced across at Alison, she was studying me intently. "How do you feel?"

She asked quietly.

Inside I was horrified, I had been set up! The car I drove less than an hour ago had been used to kill and maim hundreds of people. I was about to say "You bastards," but instead the words "I feel good."

It was my voice, but not my inner feelings that I had voiced. Somehow some part of my brain had overridden my emotions. What in hell was going on? I sounded like a cold hearted killer!

"How do you really feel?" Alison asked.

I tried to say "What have you done to me?" But all that came out was "They deserved to die."

Alison smiled "I know what's it like. The inner you begs to say what you feel, but some part of you takes over. "

How did she know? All I could do was nod. Inwardly I felt like crying. I'd help kill tens of people and all I could do was tell people how glad I was about it. What is happening to me!!

"Your Gea is starting to make its presence felt," A voice from behind me said.

I turned my head to see a tall, auburn haired woman with blue/grey eyes. She was wearing what looked to be a designer outfit and I could tell by the way she carried herself she was used to the good things in life.

"My Gea?" I exclaimed.

The tall woman glanced at me, up and down. "Yes. Your real test was how you react to what we had planned and your complicity in it. You passed."

This was sick, "I did?" My voice sounded pleased, but inwardly I was screaming.

The woman smiled, "With flying colors. If you had not, you would be dead by now. Either way our purposes would be completed."

"Your purposes?" I wanted desperately too make it sound outraged, but it came out as though I wanted in.

"To force the government to let the people out of the concentration camps they set up to enslave us. If we treat normals the way they treat us, the cursed then they will capitulate. We tried to argue our case, and they refused. Now they will listen."

"How do I join up?" I felt myself saying. Did I detect a glimmer of excitement in me? I immediately felt guilty. This was so frustrating.

"You wait. We have special plans for you."

The feeling of excitement returned, "Special plans?"

"Yes. The leader of our movement told us you would be coming?"

"How'd they know?" I queried. Interesting, the block had lifted as soon as the subject turned away from terrorism. I had actually meant to say that!

The Auburn haired lady shrugged, "I don't ask these things. Only that when I'm told something or someone is coming and they are to do this or that it invariably turns out to be right. I guess one could call it prophesy."

"Why use me now, why not wait?, I gestured down at my legs.

"Because the police will be looking for a man matching your description. In a few days that man will not exist. If you had failed then you would have been killed, and the police would have had their terrorist. Since you passed you'll be free to move about in a few days. For now, you have to stay here or be caught," the woman let the threat hang for a few moments.

So that was it. Either way this organization won. They were right. CCTV would show me parking the car and getting out. They would be looking for me. The thought of killing so many normals and getting away with it, gave me pleasure. They deserved it!

What the fuck was happening to me!

 

 

Curse +742 Days 21:30 Matthew's story - 'Cry Freedom and let slip the dogs

of war'

 

 

What a day it's been! The president and his staff came to visit us inside the camp. They've found out what's causing the plague. They know how its spread and as long as we stick to a few easy rules then we're free to leave.

The cheer that went up when he announced this was deafening. Of course I was covering it for CNN. What a scoop! Of greatest relief to me is the fact I can get out of here and see my family again.

The whole camp's morale is sky high. People who were on the verge of suicide are now laughing and joking with the rest of us. Everyone is drunk on life and giddy with the taste of freedom.

Actually, one person looked really pissed to be let out, and that person is the Prophet. When the director and his assistant walked out of the helicopter she pushed her way thru the crowd and stood in front of them. She pointed a finger had the director's assistant and cried out "Abaddon, Destroyer!"

She was then pounced on by about thirty agents and hustled off back to her house.

The rest of the visit went off without a hitch.

I'd just finished writing my thoughts down in my notebook when I heard a knock at the door, "Yeah?"

"Can I come in?" A voice called. It sounded sad, weary and defeated. It sounded like the prophet!

"Sure," I called out.

In walked the prophet, but not as I had remembered her. Not the apparent master of what was going on, not the sage of wisdom who had promised to teach me what was really going on. She looked older, gaunt and as though her world had collapsed. I couldn't see her face, but you can tell a whole lot from the way people walk and carry themselves.

"I thought we had reached midnight, but alas we are only at twilight," The prophet said wearily as she sat down.

"Why are you here? What happened to you?" I asked, the prophet had always summoned me, never gone to see me herself.

"I am here, for the last time. Abaddon has come, and my time is short!"

"Adaddon? That's what you called the directors assistant isn't it?"

The prophet nodded, "I know now what we are dealing with, and that it is beyond my power to fight it alone. I thought that one person could make a difference, I thought that faith alone would be enough. Today proved otherwise."

"What are we dealing with?" I asked.

"Darkness like the world has never seen before and we are only in the twilight. Night has yet to fall, and when it does the dawn will seem eons away. "

"So who is she, who is this Abaddon?" I asked. The prophet seemed to be rambling more than usual.

"She is Shiva incarnate, Satan on earth, the destroyer of worlds. I can tell you no more than that; because, if I tell you more then you also are a target, and I truthfully don't know all of the details. I only know that evil dwells within her. I can only tell you what I see in my spirit. As yet we see the things of the spirit with such little clarity. We focus on the physical world, as though that is all that matters. But in reality the physical is nothing but an expression of the spiritual. Only when we see both in clarity and as a single united dimension will we fully understand. She is the destroyer of two worlds, the spiritual and the physical."

"I see", I said. Not really understanding at all, "So how do we stop her," Better humor her.

"I thought that we stood a chance to stop it. I thought that by delaying the release of us from the camps, we could delay the fall of night. That we could maintain the status quo long enough for more people to be ready. I now realize that in order for daylight to come, we must endure the darkest and longest night in history. I may as well have been trying to stop the moon rising." The prophet lamented.

What was she saying? That we've not seen the worst of it yet? "Longest night? Look around people are happier than they have ever been. In a day's time we'll be free to go, free to go back to our families, loved ones and homes. The nightmare's over. As you put it, daylight is here!"

The prophet shook her head in sorrow, "You do not understand. The hope people are feeling is only a temporary thing, the last fleeting glimpses of sunlight before we are plunged into night. It will not last."

This got me a little annoyed, who the hell was she to try and dampen down people's hopes; Just because she felt defeated. That was it! Her own personal empire had been taken away from her, which is why she felt so pissed off about it. "Who are you to take people's hopes away? Just because your own little empire has been taken down doesn't mean that everyone has to feel the same as you!"

The prophet stood up to leave, "If that is what you really think then we have wasted our time. When did I ever crave power? People came to me, because they were hurting, they needed answers which I provided them as best I could!"

"You summoned me, like some empress!" I snapped.

"I summoned you, yes. Because you would not have come of your own accord, and because we have so little time left. Others called me Prophet, it is not a title I invented for myself," the prophet stopped and sat down.

"Then why do you answer by that name? Why not tell them your real name?"

"Prophet is what I am, not who I am. My job was to see the signs and portents of our future. My job was to stand in the breach of the city walls, and to prevent the enemy from coming in, no matter the cost. We loosed a terrible foe upon the world, and it broke down the walls of our humanity, But, it must not pass! This far and no further!" I could almost feel her words cut right thru the air. She said them with such belief and authority that it was almost like a different person sat in front of me.

"What city walls?"

"The city walls represent the allotted boundaries of our authority and place in the universe. Do you know the difference between power and authority?"

I shrugged, "They're two sides of the same coin."

The prophet head shook as if I had got a simple question wrong, "If a police officer stands in front of your car and tells you to stop, what do you do?"

"I stop," I replied

"Why? You have more power than he does. Your car is more powerful than he is. If you hit him at speed he'll be killed, and your car will only be damaged. So why don't you run him over?"

"Because if I do that, the full weight of the law will come crashing down on my head."

The prophet nodded, "Even though you have more power, it's the authority of the policeman, or who he has backing him up that causes you stop."

"I guess so. So how's that relate to our situation?"

"We have given the darkness some of our authority, it is more powerful than we are, but unless it has our authority it cannot prevail. In our ignorance we have handed over some of that authority to it and so given it permission to do what it's doing now. If we stand in the authority given to us, as is our birthright then even though its more powerful than we are it must flee. All we need to do is stand firm and declare this far and no further!."

"I see. It all sounds a little too easy," Well I could almost get it.

"It is easy, but to succeed we need to know, really know deep down who we are and what we are meant to become. If you tried to do this now, the darkness would crush you as easily as you stepping on a bug. The key, the real key is to believe, only then can you stand and not be destroyed."

"Believe what?

"That Mankind is special. We were never meant to die, evolution only serves itself. How can the eternal heart of man be subject to death and decay? How can we honestly say we have evolved upwards, when the whole world around has been caught in a downward spiral of continued death, mayhem and destruction?"

I shrugged. He had a point. "Wait a minute! Your job WAS to see?"

The prophet nodded, "I failed, just like those around me failed when the plague first hit. There were nine of us, when the plague first struck the world we recognized it for what it was, a spiritual battle as well as a physical one. We resolved to stop the approaching darkness no matter the cost. The media labeled us 'the intercessors' but we were only doing what we felt it was our place to do."

I wracked my brain, the title seemed familiar but it all seemed so long ago "You were part of that group?" I asked, fishing for more information.

The prophet nodded, "Yes. Remember when it first hit. People went to their churches, mosques and temples in their droves. None of it seemed to work. Go to church or stay away, the results were the same."

I nodded, "Yeah. I remember."

"I know why that was. People went out of fear, not of faith. They were terrified that it might affect them, so they went to pray out of that fear. They expected to be affected so that's what happened to them. Of course as more of the people got affected those who were initially in faith succumbed to fear as more and more of those around them fell. As soon as fear crept in, they were lost. A few managed to stand firm, the intercessors stood firm for over a year."

I gave a click of the fingers, NOW I remembered, "Columbia! You guys were in Columbia!"

The prophet nodded, "The City of Columbia was largely unaffected by the plague for over eight months. We, the intercessors stood in the gap for that city twenty four hour a day, seven days a week. We prevented the darkness from entering that city. We held the battle lines against it, but in the end it overcame us."

That's right! Nobody could understand why the rate of infection in Columbia was a tenth of that of the rest of the country. People flocked to live there, or to seek sanctuary. Then one day half the cities population was changed in one night. "What happened?"

"Pride was our downfall. We thought that we were invincible, we relied on our own abilities, we believed that we were something special and so thru our pride the darkness found a route into the city. Thru our weakness the city fell," the prophets voiced tailed off.

"You can't blame yourself for that. How can you be sure that you were the cause? Why couldn't the Prion just have acted slower in that city, maybe something in the soil or the water slowed its spread of effectiveness?" So this was why the prophet seemed so remote and reclusive. She had retreated into herself because of what she thought was her failure.

"I know because I've seen the face of the darkness. It appeared to us, in our minds the very night the city fell. It was evil, full of every kind pain and torment imaginable. It was as though every evil deed done by man had contributed to that face. It laughed at us and mocked us for our futile efforts. Then one by one every person in the room broke into spasms and died, except me. It spared me so that the memory of our failure could be kept alive, so news of our failure would demoralize other groups that were springing up around the country, and so make them vulnerable to attack once more."

"So you remained unscathed? While everyone else died?" Now it was starting to become clear.

"No. Not quite. I was once a man, like yourself; but the darkness had prepared something special for me. I was one of the few that dared to defy it. I knew something was wrong when I felt the burning sensation in my skin, when I felt bones re-arrange inside me. I knew what I was becoming, but not who."

"Who did you become?" I asked.

The prophet lifted her veil for the first time, underneath was a face of such indescribable beauty it took my breath away. Her blue eyes shone with a radiance that I'd never seen before, her porcelain skin seemed to shine with a light of its own, and her golden hair shimmered as though illuminated on a summers day. I felt myself being drawn into that face. I could have stayed looking at it forever, "You're..." I managed to say.

The prophet covered up her face again and the spell was broken. "The darkness's revenge on me, was to make me more beautiful than anyone I have ever seen or met. Every time I would look in the mirror I would see reflected back the physical representation of the pride that caused our downfall. It knew that people would be attracted to my beauty, like moth to a flame, and so fuel my shame further. It didn't need to give me Geas because in a way the way I look is my curse."

I was unable to get her face out of my mind, no wonder she wore a veil! She was forced to humble herself because if she didn't the whole of the camp would be enraptured in her, not what she had to say. I decided to change the subject, "What else can this 'darkness' as you call it do? The protein that causes it has been identified, its method of transmission discovered. The rate of infection has dropped to pretty much zero over the last month or so?"

"Never underestimate your enemy. I said earlier on that mankind hasn't evolved its way up, if anything it has declined and will fall further into decay until the end comes. Do you really think we will have eliminated prejudice, bigotry, violence and xenophobia when we are let out from here? Mankind hasn't managed to defeat those things over the last few thousand years, so why now? "

"How do you mean?" I asked. The prophet was back on form, that much was certain.

"When we get out of here, do you really expect us to be able to slot back into society, or will people be fearful and resentful of us? They will blame us for that happened to their families and friends, most of them will avoid us, a few of them will strike back in the only way they know how, with violence. We thought we were outcasts here; that's nothing to what it will be like out there. The non humans will fare worst of all. That is why I've been teaching them more than 'normals'. They and we are the future!"

"Future? How?" I asked. I had to agree with the prophet's analysis. Until it became common place and the fear had subsided then it would be a dangerous place out there. But anything was preferable to being in here.

"Ever wonder why bad things happen to good people, why if there is a god, deity, supreme being he, she or it seemingly uncares for the world it created?"

"Sometimes, I've heard lots of points of view on the subject."

"What if mankind was stagnating, what if thru our actions we were slowly driving ourselves towards extinction?"

"Were we?" I queried.

"Look at how we were before the plague came. Our societies were in terminal and moral decline, the new gods of science and knowledge were failing us. We are a morally and spiritually corrupt race. This manifested itself in other ways. Birth rate down, fertility down, miscarriages up, and people living longer. We were an aging population, within a few hundred years every single person born on the planet would need to have been artificially made, because fertility was so low. We were on a downward spiral to extinction both physically and spiritually."

I could see the point the prophet was making, "That's true. So how does this relate to the plague?"

"The darkness's aims are to spread fear, destruction and havoc around the world. It only sees those aims, for that is what it lives for. However it has a greater purpose that it, or its masters cannot see."

"Which is?"

"We had forsaken the things of the spirit for things of the flesh. We had lost our way. To us this life is all we have, so we fill it full of experiences, trinkets and transient things. What the darkness cannot see is that by confounding our new gods of science and knowledge it turns us back towards the way of faith and of the spirit. Also it does not see that by changing so many, even into non human form it is reversing the trend. The people who it changes are more fertile than ever and their genetic structure less prone to defects. It's as though the genes that have been holding us back, dragging us down the route of extinction have been removed. Even though it thinks it is doing evil for evil's sake, it is serving the ultimate purposes of good."

"But they're all women, how does that help?" I glanced down at my breasts, making their usual pert shape under my blouse.

"Because, the strain it puts on our lives drives us towards the faith we abandoned so long ago. In the physical realm we now know that more useful genetic material is passed on by the mother than by the father. If it just affected men, then the advantages would be lost within a few generations."

"So why are you against it, surely it would be better to let it take its course."

"Because it's going too far, we've allowed it to go further than it should have. What should have been restricted to those who wanted it to happen has spread to those who do not. More people are changed who didn't want to be than those who did. I don't profess to know all the details; I just know that we've dodged a bullet on this one. After every darkness there emerges a light so powerful that it makes the dark times seem so small and so fleeting. When people become used to us, when the fear goes, we will bring humanity together as never before. Not by evolution, not by the fittest surviving after extinguishing the weakest; but a society growing by its compassion, from the love of life and not its extinction," again the prophet's voice struck at my very heart. She was right!

"So by our pain, we invoke compassion in those who buried it, because it might have been them!"

The prophet nodded, "Yes. BUT there is a balance. If pushed too far the fear will win and delay the onset of the age of this. That is why I say to the darkness this far and no further. Humanity will be pushed to the limits of what it can endure, but I believe that by the application of real faith, the kind that transcends the mind and unites spirit and soul, combined with compassion for others we will yet prevail."

I couldn't argue with that.

"That reminds me," the prophet said. She reached into a pocket in her robe and pulled out a dull metal bracelet, "I want you to have this," She said handing it to me.

"What is it?"

"It's very old, or so I'm told. Nearly a thousand years old. Supposedly it was made from a sword that defeated a great evil and banished it to the dark abyss. I was given it as a present when I joined the intercessors and now I no longer need it I'm giving it to you."

I was a little taken aback, "Why me. Why not Carolyn, or the centaurs, or anyone else you've been teaching?"

"I'm giving it to you, because you will have the most need of it," the prophet said cryptically.

"You ought to keep it. I can't accept it. Sure it's nice and all, but it looks better on you than it does me!" I couldn't accept such a gift. Nearly a thousand years old, why wasn't it rusty?

"I don't need it where I'm going. I WANT you to have it," The prophet insisted.

"What's it supposed to do? Ward off evil spirits?" I Joked.

"It didn't stop the darkness from changing me, but maybe it made it spare me.

This is yours now, take it!"

Such was the authority in her voice, which did surprise me somewhat I took it and put it on my left wrist, "Thanks," It was just a smooth ring of dull grey metal, with no markings on at all. However there were no signs of wear or rust on it, it was also surprisingly heavy.

"One last thing before I go," the prophet stated.

"Yeah?"

"Remember, the darkness seeks to spread fear in us. Because it's by that fear it gets its permission, its authority from us. Refuse to give into fear and you will prevail. Stand your ground and it will have to flee, it has no choice. It might act like it's the master of the world, but it is not. It only has power if we let it. Don't let go of what I've told you, but hold it close to your heart for when the time comes," the prophet sounded a little sad.

"You make it sound as its goodbye," I said.

"It is. I doubt we'll meet again. Thank your for letting me spend time with you. It's been enlightening," With that the prophet turned and left the room.

I stood up and got myself a glass of water, wondering what on earth it all meant. Maybe it'll become clear one day or maybe it's all a load of hocus pocus; who knows. What was certain was that I had a lot of packing to do.

 

 

Curse +743 Days 15:00 Maki's story - Other side of the fence

 

My lecture had finished early for the day, so instead of spending the time in study I was watching TV. The news that they had found the cause of the plague and that the president was going to Camp Anderson to had broken at midday and I'd been glued to the TV since.

Now as I saw the presidential helicopter touch down in the middle of Camp Anderson I knew things would never be the same again. The president flanked by body guards stepped out of the chopper, his hair buffeted by the spinning rotor blades. Seconds later, another guy got out, and then a much younger woman with long black hair and wearing in a red suit. The commentator told me they were the director of plague control and confinement and his assistant.

Out of the corner of one I saw a figure start to move thru the crowd. For a moment, I thought someone was going to assassinate the president live on TV. In a split second, a tallish woman, dressed in what looked like rags with a veil over her face had squeezed thru a gap in the crowd.

She stood in front of the president, pointed a finger at the director's assistant and shouted something that sounded like "abandon, Destroyer!" She was instantly jumped on by about thirty security goons and carted off out of camera shot.

The president just waved the incident off and was handed a microphone. "Many of you will have heard rumors that you are about to be released from those holding camps. I can confirm that, that rumor is true."

A Massive cheer erupted from the crowd. My heart leapt, it was over.

The president waited until the applause had died down, "Earlier on today we had final confirmation of the cause of the plague that has devastated so much of the world. That has taken so many of you away from your families, and has caused so much suffering."

The president paused, then sensing the time was right said, "The cause has been identified as a special type of protein called a Prion. This Prion causes subtle changes in the brain chemistry, and causes a persons DNA to rewrite itself into a former structure, be it human or not. It is airborne but NOT contagious."

The president paused to let the information sink in, "I repeat it is NOT contagious. Certain people's genetic make up, make them vulnerable to its effects. It is these people that were affected first. The other way the plague can be spread is by the passing of bodily fluids from one person to another, this can be thru semen, vaginal juices or blood. In this respect the same HIV precautions will prevent the spread of the plague."

"I want to stress to you all, that you are not infectious. Your sneezing or touch will not infect anyone else. We anticipate a few more cases from the airborne form and more from the passing of bodily fluids. But there is no longer any need for these camps!"

Another cheer went up.

"However to protect those not infected, one thing is required by you. Your registration bar code will be tattooed on your right hand. This is to protect you as well as those around you. The choice is simple, be registered and go home, or refuse and stay here."

A hush fell on the camp, this was clearly unexpected.

"The registration mark will also tell us, that any blood given you will not cause any rejection problems, and it will allow the medical services to treat you with no danger to themselves. This isn't a decision we took lightly, but we think it a small price to pay for freedom and going back to your loved ones."

The crowd's mood changed a little, they didn't like it; but given the choice it was an acceptable compromise.

I gave another sigh of relief. It was over. Soon travel restrictions would be lifted and I'd be free to go home. I missed home.

 

 

Curse +743 Days 15:30 Christopher's story - Take a Yard

 

"YES!" Alison shouted at the news of the people's release from the camps.

I'd been stuck in here for two days now. Inwardly I was screaming at my complicity in the car bombings, but I had to admit they had, had the desired effect. It was odd coincidence that two days after we resumed our campaign they find a reason to let the people go. It seems as though, in spite of what the media says; terrorism does pay.

I've changed physically too over the past few days. They gave me a drug which sent me to sleep and I just wafted around in a morphine like haze for hours at a time. They said it'd make my transition easier. They were right. My body is now certainly female in shape, my hips grew and I now have a real nice butt and my body now goes in all the right places. If it wasn't for my budding breasts and shrinking dick I'd be a real girl.

"Ya see that Chris? We won!" Alison was enthusing.

My Auburn haired 'boss', Elizabeth gave a broad grin, "It was all worth it.

The sacrifice of so many forced their hand."

I nodded, I brushed my blonde hair away from my eyes. How in hell did you keep it from doing that? "Where do we go from here?" I asked. My voice was still a manly husky sounding tone. It sounded sultry, but to me it was another reminder of who I was, not who I wanted to be.

Elizabeth smiled, "In a few days we go home, then we watch."

"Watch what?" I asked. My dick was starting to itch. Hopefully it'd be replaced by a pussy tonight.

"We watch what happens. Our leader said, we must be ever vigilant. All it takes is a single incident and our hard won freedoms would be lost."

I nodded, We may have won the battle, but the war of acceptance still raged. In some ways it was like my acceptance of what I was becoming. I was sure the drugs were helping me come to terms with things. A part of me hated being drugged, as though my free will was being robbed; but they really helped me see that what I had nearly become, wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

How much of my thinking has been altered by my Gea I'll never know. If my Gea is protecting me from feelings of revulsion and horror and growing in my acceptance of it, and almost a pride of what I am then it is no bad thing.

By the way, Elizabeth said, "Our leader's dropping in about midnight, She's got a special mission for us."

 

 

Curse +743 Days 22:00 The Directors story - Downsized

 

The flight back had left me exhausted. I just wanted to get home to my family and chill out. I'd put my briefcase down in my office and was about to lock up for the night when I saw Lucy walking towards me. She was the last person I wanted see, I was too tired to deal with Lucy at the moment. Lucy however looked as fresh as a daisy, she would wouldn't she!

"Well that was unexpected," she commented.

"What was? Oh the weird woman in rags?"

"We'll have to make sure she doesn't get loose. She could cause all sorts of harm," Lucy said in a menacing tone.

"Guess so," I replied. Lucy was right, we couldn't let the emotionally disturbed loose back on the streets.

"So I guess you'll soon be out of a job?" Lucy commented.

"You too, "I quipped. Quite frankly this was one job I'd be glad to see the back of. All I wanted to do now was rest.

"Oh I'll find something to get up to?" Lucy replied smugly.

"I'm sure you will," I replied coldly. I didn't feel up to this kind of banter right now.

"You look exhausted, you'd better go home. Anyway we're still needed for a while, we've got all those camps to decommission. That'll keep our department busy for a while" Lucy said softly.

"True. That'll take six months for sure. But at least the pressures off now," The relief I felt showed in my voice.

Lucy gave a wry laugh, "For a while anyway."

I was too tired to wonder what that comment meant.

 

 

Curse +743 Days 23:00 Matthew's story - Martyr

 

I had nearly gotten to sleep when I heard banging on my door, "Matthew Wake up. Matthew, you in there?" The voice sounded familiar, that hissing of the consonants was unmistakable.

I gave a yawn, "Carolyn, is that you?"

I swung my legs out of the bed, and adjusted my night dress. It's strange how I still find my breasts feel odd when not wearing a bra. I opened the door and Carolyn stood there. I could see from her face she was worried.

"Matthew, it's the prophet -- she's not answering her door."

"Maybe she's asleep, like I should be." I didn't have time for this.

"No, we were due to have a meeting and she's didn't answer her door. She's never missed a meeting before!"

"Maybe she's out, she dropped in here a few hours ago,"

"No, I know something's wrong. Please come you've got to help," Carolyn sounded panicked.

"What about the other non humans, that centaur for example? They live much closer than I do," I really wanted to get to sleep.

"They won't come. I've tried," Carolyn was almost hysterical.

"Ok, lemmie get dressed," Who needed sleep anyway.

I walked over the small cupboard, that contained my entire wardrobe. The desert air would be cold, so I opted for a pair of jeans, a long sleeved blouse and a jersey. I felt the cold more as a woman than I ever had done as a man. I was aware of Carolyn looking at me get changed, and it made me feel nervous.

Carolyn picked up on this, "I'll look away if you like. It's just that I wish I wasn't like this, " she gestured to her fur covered face.

I turned to her, bra in hand and said "I wish I wasn't like this too!"

"Yeah, guess so."

I hurried to get the remainder of my clothes on and stepped out into the chill night air. I was surprised at how busy the place was, the whole camp had a buzz of expectation about it. People were laughing, packing and saying goodbye to new and old friends. Phone numbers and addresses were being exchanged, if I had to compare it to anything it was like the last day of high school before I went on to college. People promising to 'keep in touch', and be 'friends forever'. It was a little sad, but at long last we would be free.

I didn't have much time to look around as Carolyn sped off, and it was all I could do to keep up. I discovered that I was seriously out of shape, as I was exhausted by the time we reached the prophets hut.

"Hello," I banged on the door loudly.

No answer, the lights were on though and the door was thoroughly locked.

"Hello?" I called out again.

I was about to bang once more, when Carolyn stopped me, "I think I hear something." She said and pressed her triangular catlike ear to the door.

I couldn't hear a thing, except my heart pounding from the run here!.

"It's the prophet, she's inside. I can hear her moaning. She's hurt!" Carolyn gasped.

"Help me bash the door down!" I exclaimed, If the prophet was hurt that would explain why she didn't answer.

"Ok after three," I'd take a few steps back, as had Carolyn."

"One"

I readied myself, and noted Carolyn was doing the same.

"Two."

I shuffled to the right a bit, it wouldn't do to crash into Carolyn on the way in

"One," and we sprinted off together.

"OW" I exclaimed as my shoulder hit solid metal but I then heard a rending of metal as Carolyn's apparent superior strength had ripped the door from its hinges.

We looked up and nearly vomited in horror.

The Prophet had been crucified upside down, on the far wall. She had been

stripped naked and a long, massive gaping wound had been cut from the top

of her neck to her groin and several internal organs had been pinned outwards

to the rest of her body. Blood poured from her hands and feet and her once

beautiful face and hair were matted with black congealed blood. Blood was

drying in a large pool underneath her head

I walked closer, trying my hardest not to throw up, her chest was still moving. She was still alive!

"Mat, " The prophet rasped. How on earth she was still alive was beyond me.

"Carolyn, get help" I called.

"Matthew, its too...." Carolyn said quietly.

"Just get someone," I screamed.

I turned back to the prophet, "its ok, Carolyn's getting help." I tried to look for something that I could use to remove the spikes from her hands and feet but could see nothing. The spikes were a good inch across and had somehow been driven into sheet metal.

"Take," The prophet started to say.

"Shh," I said softly, trying to comfort the dying woman in front of me.

"Authority," The prophet's voice was weak

I moved closer to her, so weak was her voice. Who ever had disemboweled her knew what they were doing. Her stomach and intestines had been pinned neatly to each side, so as to avoid quick blood loss and I could see what looked like her kidneys underneath them. I tried not to throw up, but it was a losing battle.

I barely managed to keep it down, and I turned to look at the prophet's blood covered face once more, "its ok. I'm here."

The prophet's breathing became more erratic and I knew I she was fighting a losing battle for life, "Take Authority back," she rasped. The effort of speaking was now so great her voice was hardly a whisper.

"Ok, Take authority back, I get it. Carolyn will be back soon, " I comforted.

"This far, no further!" Even near death the prophet's voice had a certain

degree of command about it

I nodded, "This far and no further! Ok got that too!"

The prophet managed a smile, even though I could see pain wracking her face. Suddenly she spasmed and coughed up blood and yellowish bile. A wave of sadness swept over me. The prophet was dead.

I stood up and looked at the prophet's naked, mutilated body. Who could have done such a thing? There were no signs of a struggle, and the door and windows had been locked from the inside. How had anyone got in?

Carolyn came running in with the camp medic. I shook my head, "It's too late." I blinked back the tears. Who would do such a thing! The prophet had harmed no one! My hands drifted to the bracelet I wore on my wrist, and my mind leapt back to earlier on today. Did the prophet know something was going to happen?

Carolyn walked over to the prophet's lifeless body and with her hand closed the prophet's eyes. "Who could do such a thing?" I knew Carolyn was upset, but no tears formed in her feline eyes.

"I'll get camp security, they'll want a statement from you two, "the doctor said. Like all of us he was trying to put on a brave face.

I couldn't stand it any more I walked outside and at long last threw up.

 

 

Curse +743 Days 23:59 Christopher's story - Meeting the Boss

 

A sharp Rat-tat on the door caused me to jump out of my near sleep. The clock on the VCR told me it was nearly midnight. That must be the boss.

"I'll get it." Elizabeth called out from the other room, and seconds later she was at the door.

In walked a tall woman, with long silky raven black hair. She was dressed in a sharp red business suit and carried an air of superiority about her. The woman's dark black eyes seemed to bore right into my soul. I couldn't help but feel under her spell, it was as though she had a hold over me, no more than that! She owned me!

"Come in please," Elizabeth said to the woman. Her voice was awed as though she was in the presence of royalty.

"Thank you." The woman's voice was like running water.

Not waiting to be asked, the woman sat down opposite me, and stretched out her impossibly long legs. Beautiful wasn't the only word I would use to describe her, she had an aura of power and of utter confidence, "You must be Christopher. Elizabeth told me all about you.. Well done in those car bombs. As you can see from the news they had just the effect we were looking for!"

Inside me, I felt great joy, more happiness than I've ever felt in my life "My name is Lucy," the woman said quietly.

Suddenly it hit me, she was THAT Lucy, The National Director of plague control and confinement's assistant. Lucy saw the recognition flick across my face. "Yes I'm that Lucy!"

She stood up and sat down next to me, and put a hand on my slender leg, "And you are quite simply the most beautiful creature I ever seen!"

I felt my tiny cock stiffen, was she coming on to me? I could feel an erotic tingling down my back. It was like the best sex I'd ever had, and she had only just touched my leg!

"I have a job for you," She whispered in my ear, her voice sounded so sexy another wave of tingling came over me.

"What is it?" I managed to ask.

By now my tiny dick was fully erect.

"Let me help you with this, " Lucy whispered and cupped her hand over my cock.

Warmth spread throughout my body, and wave upon wave of pleasure crashed over me. I could feel my erect cock starting to shrink. I gave a gasp of pleasure as I felt my vagina form inside me. At last!

I reached down and pushed my hands inside my pants, another I gave another moan of pleasure as my finger touched the warm fleshy folds of my pussy. I pushed inwards again, feeling its moistness and willingness to be penetrated. I opened my legs ready to explore some more.

"Now, now you can play with yourself later," Lucy said, with an air of amusement.

"Now," I breathed.

Lucy ran a finger down my cheek and I felt intense pleasure, it seemed spread outwards from my pussy and thru the rest of my body. I couldn't help but cry out in pleasure, "Later on." She said firmly.

"Later on then," I managed to say.

Lucy stood up and sat on the other chair, "Pleasure later! Business first."

"Ok, " I panted. Inside I felt all pent up and turned on, why had she stopped!

"In 175 days time I want you to fly to the island of Las Palma."

"What's there?" I asked.

Lucy gave me a glare that cut me to my very being, what a cruel mistress she could be!

"A vacation is what's there. You are to fly to La Palma and wait for me to call, is that understood?"

I nodded, "Seems easy enough!" I wanted to ask why she wanted me there, but my Gea shut me up!

"I'll give tickets and a passport to Elizabeth on the way out, "Lucy said softly and stroked my face once more.

Again intense pleasure crashed all over my body, I would do anything for Lucy to touch me again, anything at all..

 

 

Curse +744 Days 01:23 Matthew's story - Suspect

 

"So that's how you found her?" Camp security was giving Carolyn and I a grilling about how we found the prophet.

"Yeah," I said. I was on my last legs, so tired...

"I've heard enough. I don't think we'll ever find the killer, " The camp security chief folded her report book up as if to say case closed.

"Wait a minute, that's no way to conduct an investigation. What if her killer strikes again!" I summoned up the energy to shout at the chief.

"Look, In 24 hours we're all out of here. Nobody cares about anything any more. We'll pass the details onto the police when we do a handover, but I'm not going to be the one to tell thousands of people they can't go home are you? We'd have a riot, and more people would die."

I sighed, whoever did this was going to get away with it, "So that's it!"

"Yep. That's it. If you want my take on it, somebody was pissed off at this prophet for trying to stop them going home. Hell, I was pissed at her too. The killers had their revenge and that will be that, and if it's not the cops will get them. Case closed."

The chief stood up and gestured for us to leave his office.

"So that's it!" Carolyn sounded distressed, I was just as mad as hell!

"Looks like it. I can kinda understand it though. Would you want to be the person who told the entire camp they had to wait to go home?"

"Guess not! In anycase I think I might stay here!" Carolyn said quietly.

"Why? Don't you have a home to go to?"

Carolyn shook her head, "No."

"What about your husband?"

"He wouldn't take me back like this would he?" she gestured to her fur, "Besides, I've no idea where he is at the moment."

A thought struck me, "Let me help you."

"Pardon?"

"I've got contacts, let me help you find him for you. At least you'll know," After the night's horror I had to do something good, something to help someone in need. I needed to feel human again.

Carolyn's whiskers twitched, she was thinking about it, "Ok come back with you and check into a motel."

I was going to invite her home, but figured I'd better wait a while before taking that step. "Ok, but the motel's on me ok?"

"Never look a gift horse in the mouth," Carolyn smiled.

"Deal!" I said, holding out my hand.

Carolyn took it in her soft furred hand and shook it.

I could hardly stay awake, and yet I was wide awake. Within a day or so I'd be home, with my family and away from all this. To say I felt joyful at the thought wouldn't be exactly true. Apprehensive, sad, happy, relieved; all of the above was more like it. Still, I knew that It'd work out just fine. It always did.

 

 

Curse +756 Days 22:45 Pat's story - 21^st Century Love Story

 

So well had my concert gone down, I was now regular performer at 'Gate's Nightspot'. Now in pre-plague times I knew I wouldn't have been up to playing live, as someone better would have come along. But in these days of pre-recorded music, and rock stars unwilling to play live and tour, a live band and performer was something of a rarity. It wasn't as though I was afraid of catching the plague, I was. It was more down to being able to afford to eat, and the catharsis that playing music gave me. It seemed as though every time I picked up a guitar or sang the pain of losing Carolyn went away, or at least diminished it a little. I was just over half way thru my performance and was taking a swig of my water. A gave a deep sigh, how I missed her! Still, there was nothing I could do about it; I had a gig to do.

"Everybody knows we live in a world

Where they give bad names to beautiful things

Everybody knows we live in a world

Where we don't give beautiful things a second glance

Heaven only knows we live in a world

Where what we call beautiful is just something on sale

People laughing behind their hands

As the fragile and the sensitive are given no chance

And the leaves turn from red to brown

To be trodden down

To be trodden down

And the leaves turn from red to brown

Fall to the ground

Fall to the ground

 

We don't have to live in a world

Where we give bad names to beautiful things

We should live in a beautiful world

We should give beautiful a second chance

 

And the leaves fall from red to brown

To be trodden down

Trodden down

And the leaves turn green to red to brown

Fall to the ground

And get kicked around

 

You strong enough to be

Have you the courage to be

Have you the faith to be

You sane enough to be

Honest enough to stay

Don't have to be the same

Don't have to be this way

C'mon and sign your name

 

You wild enough to remain beautiful?

Beautiful

And the leaves turn from red to brown

To be trodden down

Trodden down

And we fall green to red to brown

Fall to the ground

 

But we can turn it around

You strong enough to be

Why don't you stand up and say

Give yourself a break

They'll laugh at you anyway

So why don't you stand up and be

Beautiful

 

Black, white, red, gold, and brown

We're stuck in this world

Nowhere to go

Turnin' around

What are you so afraid of?

Show us what you're made of

Be yourself and be beautiful

Beautiful"

 

The applause died down, and suddenly the crowds parted. A sudden hush descended on the place. It was though everyone in the audience had seen a ghost. The bright lights of the stage dazzled me, so I couldn't see it all in detail. But I did see two figures walk in. My eyes took a second or two to make them out.

One was a Hispanic looking woman, the other was some kind of mixture between cat and woman. The cat-woman towered above her companion, her odd face looked at me intently. The basic shape was that of a woman, but the lower jaw had been stretched out to form a cat shaped muzzle. Two triangular ears poked out of the top of her long black hair, and she was covered in black fur. It was my first real view of a non human, and I will admit to being a little freaked by it. I then realized that everyone else in the room was thinking the same thing.

"Fuck off freaks!" I heard someone call out.

"Yeah, piss off back to your camps where you belong!" Another voice shouted angrily.

This could turn ugly. Ever since people had been released from the camps a couple of weeks ago there had been skirmishes between people who wanted the plague victims to go back to the camps, where they were out of the way and those who had been let out. Plague victims were easy to spot, they all had a bar coded tattoo on their right hand. This made them easy pickings for people who's fear caused them to become violent. Xenophobia was rearing its ugly head once more. I understood where they were coming from. We only had the government's word that they had found the cause of the plague and how it was spread. Only time would tell if they were right or not.

None of which solved the tension building up in the room. The cat-woman turned to leave, but her companion tugged her arm and said something. The cat-woman went to leave once more, but the woman with her shook her head and pointed to a vacated table in a darkened corner of the room. Quietly they made their way over to it and sat down.

Within moments a menacing crowd formed round the table. Something in me just snapped. These were still people, they'd just been in the wrong place at the right time. "HEY!" I shouted.

My voice boomed around the room, I'd forgotten I was wired up!

Every head turned towards me. Hmm nice move Pat!

"Didn't any of you listen to what I was just singing about? Didn't you get it? These PEOPLE here have come in, to listen to some music, have a drink or two and enjoy themselves. Just like you have!"

Murmuring from the crowd. Now their anger was directed at me, as well as them! How to isolate an audience in one easy step!

"Look! Give em a break. They've been in those god awful camps for months or years. That could have been you or me sitting there. Just leave them alone, nobodies forcing you to sit near them, have a drink with them or even speak to them. So, either you shut the fuck up and let me play, or you go home. The choice is yours!"

Silence.

Then, one by one about a third of my audience filed out, glaring both at me and the plague victims in the corner. Nice going Pat! I breathed a sigh of relief. At least it hadn't turned into a bar fight.

I gave a smile, "Now the children have left the room, time for a song for grown ups!"

"A wise man once said

A flower is only

A sexual organ

Beauty is cruelty

And evolution

A wise man once said

that everything could be explained with mathematics

He had denied

His feminine side

Now where is the wisdom in that?

 

I came just as fast as I could

Through the dirty air

Of your neighborhood

Your name on a grain of rice

Hangin' around my neck

And a head like lead

 

This is the 21^st century

I heard everything they said

The Universe demystified

Chemicals for God

This is the 21^st century

I heard everything they said

 

A wise man once wrote

That love is only

An ancient instinct

For reproduction

Natural selection

A wise man once said

That everything could be explained

And its all in the brain

 

We lay on a velvet rug

by the open fire

She blew air on my eyelids

I cried "What's it all about?"

As she kissed my hair

She said "There, there.."

 

"This is the 21^st century

I heard everything you said

The universe demystified

Astronomy instead

This is the 21^st century

Can't you get it through your head

This aint the way it was meant to be

Magic isn't dead

Come to bed

Come to bed

 

And rest your heavy head my love.."

And slowly, from above,

She showed the answer's something that can't be written down

 

This is the 21^st century

Flash to crash and burn

Nobody's gonna give you anything

For nothing in return

There's a man up in a mirrored building

And he just bought the world

 

Would you want

To have kids

Growing up

Into what's left of this?

 

She shook her head,

She said "Can't you see?

The world is you

The world is me."

 

The cat-woman and her partner stayed sitting down for the entire rest of the gig. The waitresses were very wary about serving them and simply left the drinks at the end of the table. They were still sat down after I'd finished packing away.

Oh my god! The woman is coming closer, she wants to speak to me! I was happy to defend them, and defuse the situation but I've never been near anyone who had the plague before. What if the scientists were wrong?

"I want to thank you, "She said in a Spanish accented voice.

"It's ok," I waved away the thanks. I studied her face. It looked vaguely familiar.

"You took a big risk coming here. I hope you enjoyed it?" I asked. Smalltalk wasn't my forte. Who was she?

"I'm starting to learn that. It's odd I never expected so much open hostility towards us!" the woman said quietly.

Now I know who she is! "You look a lot like that CNN reporter!"

"Guilty as charged. Yeah I'm Matthew Robinson. Don't worry I'm not here to do a review!" The woman gave a wry smile.

"So why are you here? Who's the 'woman' with you?" I asked glancing at the cat-woman staring intently at me from across the room.

"She's a friend of mine. We met in the camps. She's got nowhere else to go, so she's staying with me for until she can find her feet again. Come over I'll introduce you." Matthew nodded in the cat-woman's direction.

What was CNN's main reporter from the camps doing here? Sure as hell it wasn't some R&R? Even so I guess reporters need some time out. I walked over to the table and sat down.

I studied the cat-woman's face. Now I looked closer, I saw that she had a complete set of whiskers that seemed to twitch every few seconds. Her eyes were a green color and had a feline look about them. As I had noted when I first saw her, her face had a sculptured shape about it, if it hadn't had a catlike muzzle, ears and fur one might have called it beautiful, "Hmm Hi" I said.

If feline eyes could look sad it they did so. Matthew sat down next to her and I detected him giving her a nudge as if to say "go on."

The cat-woman's whiskers twitched, "Hello Pat it's me!"

How did she, it know my name. It took a few seconds to sink in and my blood ran cold, "Carolyn?"

The cat-woman nodded slowly, "Yeah. Pat I'm so sorry! I had to.."

"Leave me? Why? You fucked me over. I've only now started to get things back together again," the pain of the last few months came flooding back.

Carolyn's cat face gave me a glare, "I've have been a little busy recently, what with changing species n all," she said bitterly.

"I'm sorry for what happened," In spite of my self pity and anger, its clear Carolyn has had a tough time of it. In spite of the pain of her leaving I loved her, used to love her..

"I'll leave you to it. Carolyn I'll be outside, I need a cigarette, " Matthew said softly.

Carolyn nodded. The fact that this creature, sitting opposite used to be my wife, was having a hard time sinking in.

"Why did you go? You said it was because you needed some space, that we'd grown apart?"

Carolyn's whiskers twitched a little, and her green catlike eyes dropped. "I lied. I'm sorry Pat. I had to.. drive you away?"

"Why? Because you had the plague?" It was now starting to become clear.

Carolyn nodded, "I woke up one day and found that I was an inch taller than I should have been. I knew what it meant right away. The Plague had already affected Geoff and Alex, and so the law firm was about to close because of it. Then I had it. I didn't want to put you thru it, to inflict it on you. I loved you too much to see your life, your very being be torn apart like it had Geoff and Alex's. Pat, please believe me, I did it to protect you!"

I could see where she was coming from. The plague devastated people, it robbed them of their identities, plunged their families into despair as they sought a way to resolve the changes that it forced t upon them. She knew how terrified I was of catching it after my law partners had got it, "Why didn't you tell me this. I would've understood?"

"Would you? Pat, the whole world was going crazy. Still is! You might have been willing to sacrifice everything, but I wasn't. Pat, I saw what went on in those camps. It wasn't like some kind of luxury camping site. People died there everyday! I was shielded a little from it, because the 'non humans' stuck together. We were outcasts even inside there. But, by sticking together we shared everything. We always had people to lean on, to help us thru the hard times. Pat, you've no idea what it was like in there!"

"I saw Matthew's reports. It looked horrible!" The images came flooding back. Of the poverty, the anguish and sheer hopelessness.

Carolyn shook her head slowly, "Matthew's reports showed nothing. His first report came closest, but after that he was asked to tone it down."

"Yeah, I remember that Eyam story. So the government hushed it up?" I asked. If they lied to us about camp conditions, did they lie to us about the Prion?

"They did ask him to tone it down a little. But the main pressure came from the 'prophet'" Carolyn said thoughtfully.

"Who's that?" I asked. Prophet? Never heard of him.

"Did you see the broadcast when the president visited the camp? The prophet was the woman who pointed at the directors assistant and cried 'destroyer'. The prophet was the woman who gave us hope, where there was none. Even though we no longer looked human, she showed us that we were still human," Carolyn looked sad, "I miss her!"

"What happened to her?" I asked.

"She was killed the day we were due to be let out," Carolyn's face dropped, "Somebody crucified her upside down, and disemboweled her while she was still alive. Matthew and I found her just before she died. It, it was horrible!"

"I'm sorry. Who would do such a thing?"

"No idea. She was respected by everyone."

"Why did you come tonight?" I asked. As sad as this prophet's death sounded. I wanted to get back to the point.

"To see you," Carolyn stated.

"Why?" I demanded

"Because," Carolyn paused for a few moments, as if deciding what to say next, "Because I still love you."

I was dreading her saying that. Now what was I supposed to do? If I turned her away I would be denying how I used to feel about her, and still feel in a small way. She would also be on the streets, relying on the good will of friends to give her a home. If I took her back in, could I face living with someone who looked like she did? It seems so small minded and bigoted to think that way, but its how I feel. Half an hour ago I would've given anything to have her back, but now?

"Tell me what you are thinking?" She asked, no almost pleaded.

"This, this is too much, too fast! If we were to get back together it could never be as man and wife," I almost recoiled at the thought of stroking her fur. Women weren't supposed to have fur and look like a cat. Even if I could get past that hurdle, she could still pass on the plague if we had sex.

"I know what I look like! You think its easy being this FREAK!" Carolyn snapped.

"I'm, I'm sorry. I should be able to look beyond what you look like, and in time I'm sure I will but right now, I'd be lying if I said that it didn't bother me."

Carolyn stood up, her green feline eyes looked at me with such sadness. "Then that's it then. I thought you still loved me! When the crowd were about to turn on us, you called us PEOPLE! That's what I am, underneath all this fur I am a PERSON. I can't believe you're such a hypocrite. So," she gestured to her face, "this is the face of a person as long as that person isn't your wife! Is that it?" She turned away and went to leave.

I knew I'd hurt her badly, I grabbed her arm, her fur felt silky smooth, just like that of a well groomed cat, "Carolyn, I don't know what to feel. This is all too quick, too sudden. I need some time to think about it, get used to it, work out what I really feel. Of course you're a person, but, but" The sound of a siren outside broke my concentration.

"I understand, "Carolyn's triangular ears twitched as the siren got closer and seemed to stay outside, "Something's up!" she said.

Ignoring the siren, I replied "I know this is hard on you. All I'm asking is for a little time."

"OK, look meet me by the Madison street Garden sign at 2pm a week today.

We'll talk then," Carolyn offered.

I nodded, I was too tired to talk about it more. Besides, I had some more clearing up to do.

I watched Carolyn walk, no slink away. Now she turned away from me I could see a large bulge in the rear of her pants. That must be where she kept her tail. Oh my God what is going on? I was torn in two Carolyn the person I had fallen in love with wanted me back. But Carolyn the woman I had fallen in love with was gone forever.

I walked back to the stage, and started to clear away the last of my gear. A minute or two later Carolyn came running back inside, her ears pressed flat against her head, "Pat, please come quickly. Matthew's been hurt!"

 

 

Curse +756 Days 22:50 Matthew's story - 'Jacked'

 

"You sure you want to do this," I asked Carolyn as we rounded the corner to Gate's nightspot."

Carolyn nodded, "I have to know if he still loves me. I have to know if I have to face this alone." She gestured to her furry body.

"Carolyn, we're never alone!" I replied, taking her arm in comfort.

Carolyn gave a wry smile, "That's something the prophet might have said."

I glanced at the metal bangle the Prophet had urged I take, "Yeah guess so."

We walked up to the doorman, who glared at us, especially Carolyn. "Sorry

we don't do your sort!" he said gruffly

Over the past week or this kind of bigotry and hostility towards the plague victims had gotten worse. Most people accepted it and looked upon us as curiosities. That was until we moved into their neighborhoods. Then the 'we don't want your type' mentality set in. People were getting attacked, just because they happened to have a single protein inside them different to everyone else, or in Carolyn's case only looked half human.

"Look! My money is as good as anyone's, and besides," I fished inside my purse and got my CNN reporters ID out and a twenty dollar bill, "This says let us in or this place will be national news!"

The muscle studied my CNN ID, took the twenty bucks and gestured for us to go in, "If there's any trouble you two are out and I'll call the cops!"

"Fine," Carolyn muttered under her breath.

We walked into the dimly lit nightclub. The lead singer, who Carolyn had told me was Pat was just finishing a ballad of some description. As soon as someone noticed Carolyn a hush fell over the room. People quickly got out of the way , partly in fear and by the looks of disgust on their faces, partly in horror too.

"This is too much," Lamented Carolyn. Fuck knows what she felt like. If it was bad enough losing your humanity, having it semaphored in a room of a few hundred people must have been awful.

I could sense the hostility in the room, give me a war zone anytime. "There's a spare table over there," I whispered to Carolyn.

"I can't do this, Matthew, "Carolyn turned to leave.

I grabbed her arm, "Do you love him or not?"

"Yes. But thesse people hate me. What if he thinkss the ssame way?" Carolyn whispered, when she got upset her hissing mispronunciation got worse.

I took her arm again, "You came to find that out! You can't move on unless you know for sure! Look, lets' go to that table over there," I pointed to the free table again. Carolyn sighed, and we walked over and sat down.

Suddenly we were surrounded by a group of men and women. They were looking at us. A few held their bottles of bud, as though they were about to break them and glass us.

All of a sudden we heard Pat's voice shout "HEY!"

The word echoed around the room, and was then followed by Pat saying "Didn't any of you listen to what I was just singing about? Didn't you get it? These PEOPLE here have come in, to listen to some music, have a drink or two and enjoy themselves. Just like you have."

Go Pat! I thought.

Pat was saying "Look! Give em a break. They've been in those god awful camps for months or years. That could have been you or me sitting there. Just leave them alone, nobodies forcing you to sit near them, have a drink with them or even speak to them. So, either you shut the fuck up and let me play, or you go home. The choice is yours!"

The people surrounding the table go the message. A lot of them walked out of the club in disgust. Good riddance!

I could see Carolyn's eyes light up with hope.

We sat down, ordered a few drinks and listened to the rest of the concert. I had to hand it to Pat, he wasn't bad.

When the concert was over I walked over and thanked Pat. He seemed pleasant enough, although a little wary of me. Understandable really, after all we were the people who had nearly caused a fight and made him lose of a lot of his audience.

We walked over to the table and sat down. His face dropped in surprise and what looked like horror when Carolyn revealed who she was. The discussion was getting heated and I had no desire to play piggy in the middle, and I my Gea told me I needed cigarette, now!

I brushed past the doorman who glared at me and hung around outside. I'd been hanging around for what seemed like ages when a group of around four men and two women came up to me, the men were dressed in blue denim and scruffy looking T-Shirts. The women were to put it blankly dressed like sluts. Each of them wore a tight halter top, tight leather skirt and fishnets.

"You got a light?" A rough looking blonde asked.

"Yeah sure," I rummaged inside my purse and pulled out my lighter.

Suddenly I was grabbed from behind and a hand covered my mouth. I tried to scream, but it was muffled by the hand over my face.

"Check her palm," A man's voice from behind me said menacingly.

I tried to resist. They were going to see if I had the plague or not! But they were too strong.

"She's got it," one of the woman proclaimed, on seeing the tattoo on my hand.

Pain rippled thru my body as my arms were pinned behind my back. If had been a man I might have been able to fight back, but they were too many and too strong. I heard a rip and one of the women had torn the sleeve off of my blouse. The other woman pulled out a syringe, "Hold still," The man's voice from behind me said.

I screamed out as the woman plunged the syringe into my arm and let the blood flow into it. I was about to call out again when blinding pain smashed thru my head and it all went black.

(continued)

 

 

 

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