It has been a few minutes since I’ve heard my manager call my name on the radio, informing me of suspicious activity towards sector eleven near the southwest part of the cow barns. It was just a few minutes walk from the security post where I was currently stationed along with my fellow security guards: Matt and Sharon.
"What activity? Can you describe it to me?" I responded into the radio, staring at the monitors that were linked to where the cow barns were, scanning for anything out of the ordinary.
"It's suspicious activity, what more information do you need? Get up off your fat ass and go down there!" the manager responded impatiently, causing me to growl and none-to-gently shut my radio off.
"Asshole" I mumbled, standing up from my seat.
"What's up his ass?" Sharon asked, looking up from her iPhone.
"High rank of authority, that's what" I replied, rolling my eyes as I began to pack up.
"Seriously, just last month the guy was kissing ass while shoveling cow shit-- now he thinks he's the president of the god damn world just because he was promoted to manager" Matt spoke bitterly in reference to the asshole that chewed me out just recently over the radio.
"I know right?" I sighed, shaking my head.
"You want one of us to come with?" Sharon asked, preparing to rise from her seat as well.
"No don't worry about it-- we work at a corporate farm run by moneybags who probably haven't even had a hard days work, let alone know what actual hard work really is" I replied, giving her a dismissive wave.
"You sure? It's dark out there, and there have been reports of bobcats and coyotes" Matt replied.
"Don't worry, I'm fine. If anything happens, I'll just use my stub baton, or this bad boy" I pulled out a small Taurus 44. with a grin before holstering it on my hip.
"Oh right, forgot you earned the right to wield a gun, your eighteenth birthday wasn't too long ago!" Sharon replied, looking up at me with a smile.
"Yup, exactly!" I smirked, straightening my posture with a proud pose, resting my balled fists on my hips while puffing up my chest.
Sharon giggles while Matt rolled his eyes and returned his attention to the monitors.
"You'll probably never get to use the damn thing, there isn't much action as a farm security guard outside of dealing with animal rights activists" Matt declared, causing my chest to deflate a bit as I gave a nod.
"Right, besides, the company only provides crappy quality weapons-- this thing was probably built in somebodies basement and the company just bought it and gave it a new paint-job" I chuckled, causing Matt and Sharon to snicker as well and nod in agreement.
"Rowan!" I heard the manager bark through Matt's radio, since I had turned mine off he decided to scream at me through Matt's device.
"I better get going before Mr. Cowboy gets his ass-less chaps in a knot" I sighed, before Matt and Sharon waved me off as I made my way towards sector eleven.
Seriously, the things that power does to people is just fucking mind boggling. I remember when that jackass manager was still just a guy who shoveled shit, I guess if you kiss enough ass in business you'll get a promotion. I'm respectable to my employers, but to a certain degree; I won't let people walk all over me. I would always approach things diplomatically at first, but if there's no reasoning with them then I'll tell them where to shove it before I throw down my apron and walk out.
That's partly the reason I never stick with a job for too long. You can thank my mother for that.
Anyways, moving on.
I switched on my large metallic flashlight that weighed about four fucking pounds, and aligned the direction of the light with the movement of my eyes, carefully scoping out my surroundings as I approached the south end of the cow barns. I could immediately sense a strong tension in the air, something that completely through me off considering tense shit never hit the fan since I started working here about four months ago.
I ceased my advance towards the second cow barn when a strong metallic scent filled my nostrils. I recognized the scent, it was blood. I drew my gun and quickly checked the cylinder to assure myself that the Taurus was loaded before pulling back the hammer and clicking the cylinder back into the gun. I narrowed my eyes, holding my flashlight in one hand while I kept my gun raised with the other.
I turned my radio back on with one of my fingers before quickly wrapping it back around the grip of the gun.
"Matt, Sharon, this is Rowan" I started, the stench of blood and death becoming stronger as I advanced towards the backside of the second cow barn.
"What is it?" Matt answered, his voice a bit distorted by radio static.
"I smell a strong scent of blood, I need you to trigger the silent alarm on my word" I spoke into the radio as I bend my knees a bit, treading more lightly so that way whatever spilled the blood I smell wouldn't sense my presence.
"Shit Rowan! Get back to the security outpost!" Sharon called out over the radio, just as I heard some shuffling and the sound of teeth tearing into flesh fade into my eardrums.
"Shut up, I hear something" I whispered quietly into the radio, turning the volume down as I approached the source of the noise, readying my gun.
"Rowan, don't do anything stupid!" I heard Sharon speak through the radio, the volume was turned down pretty low but I could still hear Matt talking with the police over the phone while I could only assume the two fellow security guards watched me from the cameras.
As I emerged around the corner, I saw that the large barn doors had been torn off their hinges and shattered into splinters on the dried dirt ground. There were splatters of blood here and there, which grew larger and more fresh the further I advance through the broken door frame, which had several claw marks, signs of forced entry by some sort of feral creature.
I glanced on both sides of me, and every single cow I saw was huddled into the corner of their stalls, shrinking themselves as small as possible. I recognized some of these cows too; before I was a security guard I was in charge of feeding animals, washing them, and making sure they were still breathing. Something had scared them, traumatized them... But what?
And then I saw it... Or rather, him...
Crouched over the corpse of a mauled cow that was dragged out of its annihilated stall, was a man: buck ass naked; covered in dirt, feces, blood, and open wounds; and was completely unshaven-- he looked like a god damn cave man!
His eyes were void of all sentience; and instead was filled with primal animalistic instincts that one would see in the eyes of a wounded hungry animal. The man looked completely starved, you could play music off of his ribs that stuck out like a two anorexics at a McDonald convention. He was bruised and scarred all over, almost as if he suffered all kinds of unfathomable torture. Despite all the gruesome features that this man had, the one that stuck out the most was the branding scar that was on his right hip-- it was of three apples aligned in a triangular fashion.
I stared at the man for a few moments before the horror of what he was doing soon hit me like a ton of bricks.
He was eating the bovine corpse beneath him like a rabid wolf, ripping chunks of meat off the bone with his unusually sharp fingernails and jagged teeth. Despite the fact that he looked more bony than a runway model, his eyes were filled with spiteful rage, as if satisfying the instinct of hunger wasn't his only goal for consuming this cow in such a gruesome manner; he was eating the bovine corpse out of pure hatred.
I gagged, throwing up in my mouth a bit from the gory sight. I swallowed what fear or hesitance I had and shined my flashlight directly at the back of the rabid man's head, catching a better glimpse of his disheveled hair that was matted with the same grime that caked his flesh. The second my light shined over his feral form, he peeled his face from the gaping hole in the carcass, and his mindless gaze slowly locked with my cautious stare.
"Who are you!?" I demanded with a voice of authority, gripping my gun more firmly as I stare at him.
He didn't respond, he just bared his teeth slightly, covering his eyes from the light of my device shining at his face.
"I said, who the fuck are you!?" I barked once more, making sure my voice sounded more dominant, giving it that gruff edge-- kinda like an angry Paul Wight.
He hissed... He fucking hissed at me! His feral eyes scanned me over, either sizing me up or trying to assess who I was.
I narrowed my eyes, sweat beading down my face now. I didn't show a single hint of fear, despite the fact that I was horrified at the scene before me. I kept the best poker face I could manage. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty scared. I mean, I am a pretty big guy, but most of my body mass is just for bark and not bite. I'm not a violent person, I really don't want to hurt anybody-- I just want to do my job so I can put food on the table.
The man slowly rose to his feet, staring at me with his wild glare, clenching his bloody fists while blood, flesh, and other bits of meat clung to his unkempt beard that could put Duck Dynasty to shame.
He looked at me.
And I looked at him.
And he looked at me.
And I looked at him.
...Okay seriously this awkward silence is only adding to my discomfort!
Suddenly, the most strangest thing happened...
He fucking smiled at me... And god damn it was probably to most happiest smile I have ever seen.
"It's... You" he mumbled.
So he wasn't feral after all, I mulled, perking a brow.
"What? Me? What the fuck are you talking about!?" I replied, trailing the light of my device around his face.
"A human! You're a human! A talking one!" He exclaimed, seeming to be overjoyed.
I stared at him blankly for a moment, before slowly lowering my gun, keeping the flashlight shined in his general direction.
"Uh, of course I am-- What the fuck kinda shrooms have you been eating?" I retorted, giving him an incredulous stare.
"You don't understand how long it has been since I was able to see and talk with another normal human being!" he exclaimed, shaking with joy.
I'm a normal human being, you look like the offspring of Charles Manson and a Sasquatch!
"What do you mean?" I asked, starting to get a bit confused by all his bantering.
"I was trapped, lost on a different planet! They caged me, they tortured me! They did so many things to me!" he responded a bit too enthusiastically-- and not in the good way.
"What? Who trapped you?" I asked, ignoring the part where he mentioned another planet-- this guy is obviously crazy, but somebody must have pushed him to these boundaries.
"The ponies! The evil ponies!" he shouted.
...
I inwardly sighed, before pulling out my radio.
"Matt, Sharon-- I need you to get an ambulance as well as police" I spoke into the radio.
"Already ahead of you on the police part" Matt spoke through the radio.
"What do you need an ambulance for?" Sharon asked.
"We got a guy out here, out of his fucking mind, he needs medical and psychiatric attention" I responded.
"Are those other normal humans too!?" the ape-man asked, his eyes wide with happiness.
"Yeah, you're on Earth-- it's filled with normal talking people" I replied, giving him a confused look.
"I'm on Earth!? I'm really back on Earth!?" He exclaimed, before... I swear to god... He did a fucking happy dance.
"I made it! I finally fucking made it after so many years!" he cried, tears pouring hysterically down his face.
"Hey man, uh... Just chill out, okay? There's going to be police and paramedics here soon so all you need to do is just stay calm and don't do anything crazy okay?" I spoke, trying to retain a calm and orderly voice.
"I don't care if I go to prison, or end up in a mental institution! I'm too happy to care! I'm finally back on Earth! I'm safe!" he laughed.
Okay, this guy is seriously creeping me the fuck out-- the fact that he's covered in bovine blood doesn't make it any better.
Only a few moments had passed when I felt the wind began to pick up, and the smell of rain began to fill my nostrils along with the scent of blood. I glanced around, that tense feeling shifting into something else entirely... I don't know what, I can't put my finger on it exactly. The other guy must be feeling it to, because his crazed joy died out quickly and was replaced by fear.
"No, no they couldn't have possibly followed me!" the man croaked, his eyes widening.
"What do you mean? Who followed you?" I asked, my nervous edge only swelling in proportion.
"The elements! They're coming after me!" he screamed, a look of pure terror filling his features as a thunder storm began to boom in the distance.
"It's just a storm, chill out, we can go inside the security booth and--" I was cut off by him letting out another scream.
"NO! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! THEY HOLD THE POWER OF GODS! THEY'LL KILL ME!" he shrieked, tears burning in his eyes as he shook like an autumn leaf.
What the fuck is wrong with this guy? First he's a feral fucking animal killing livestock, then he's an overjoyed maniac who acts like he hasn't seen an intelligent human in years, now he's freaking out over something about elements? I really wish that the police would get here sooner.
Suddenly, I heard a crash of lightning strike just outside the barn door that the man had broken down barehanded, where a large oval shaped mirror-esque portal like thing form with a liquid ripple that seemed to appear from thin air. I gawked at the sight of it, my eyes widening.
"No! I can't go back! I just can't!" he quickly turns around and takes off running as fast as his scrawny legs could carry him.
"Wait! Get back he--" before I could finish, a sudden burst of lavender aura emerged from the portal and quickly lassoed around my waist, pinning my arms to my side.
From the sudden events that took place, I accidentally pulled the trigger and shot myself in the foot, the bullet piercing through my steel-toed boots and plunged into my flesh. I let out a cry of pain before the lasso made from some strange lavender aura began to reel me towards the portal.
"NO!" I screamed, both in pain and in fear. Whatever the fuck was happening, something tells me I was going to end up like that crazy fucker who just took off like Speedy Gonzales. I don't want to wind up looking like that!
Just then, I saw flashing red and blue lights followed by the sight of Matt and Sharon running my direction with horrified and awed looks on their faces. They stopped once they were about ten feet from me, as well as a group of police officers who all shared the same befuddled expression that Matt and Sharon had.
I screamed for help, and they immediately ran over and grabbed a hold of me-- seven people all together; Matt, Sharon, and the police officers tried their best to pull me out of the abnormal aura that surrounded me like living rope. I struggled as much as they struggled to get me loose, which only made whatever was on the other side of that portal become more aggressive and pull harder.
Their efforts proved fruitless once another lavender aura ruptured through the portal and slapped the others away from me. I let out a cry of despair as the lavender aura appendage wrapped around me squeezed me even tighter and dragged me quickly through the portal. I could hear incoherent shouts from Sharon and Matt as the police held them back to keep them from getting sucked into the portal like me.
"ROWAN!" I heard Sharon scream as she reached her arm through the portal, trying to grab my hand but failed, missing me by mere inches.
I cried out her name as well, fear swelling up in my chest as I saw the portal begin to close. My heart stopped beating in my chest once I saw the portal shut close at a rapid rate, severing the outstretched arm that Sharon was using in the attempt to rescue me. I threw up in my mouth, gagging on my own vomit before forcibly swallowing it back down to avoid messing all over myself.
I kept a tight grip on my gun, which was still held tightly in my hand despite all that has happened so far. I had the feeling that I was going to need it... More than I could imagine.
Darkness filled my vision as I slowly began to lose consciousness. Before I could pass out completely, I tried to hide my gun as best I could by shoving it in its holster and hiding the gun and its holster beneath the long baggy shirt I wore underneath my security uniform. I usually kept it tucked in to look more professional, but seeing as I might have the risk of getting my gun confiscated from me by whatever's dragging me through this portal, I tried my best to hide it before I could...
Black out... Darkness consumed me, and everything became quiet.
I had no idea of how much time I spent counting sheep, but judging by the sensation of prickly stubble hair on my once clean-shaven face, it had been a while. It seemed that I had stripped of most of my clothes, and was covered with a quilt made from various cloth materials, giving it that mix-matched pattern quilts usually have. I noticed that it was daytime now, judging by the golden rays of the sun peering through the windows of the bedroom with a cross shadow centered in the midst of the sun's light.
I sat up slowly, and soon realized that I was on a couch, inside what looked like a very small cottage of some sort. Everything seemed so... Different, like I was somehow transported to a late nineteenth century English cottage. There was no sign of technology anywhere, and judging by the grandma-esque type furnishings that filled the room.
One of the first few things I noticed when I awoke was that my foot was covered in bandages, and the pain that had been sparkling throughout my foot had ceased dramatically, leaving only a throbbing numbness. I groaned a bit from the uncomfortable lack of sensation in my wounded foot, slowly pulling myself to an upright position, leaning against the back part of the couch while I glanced around, taking in my surroundings.
The events that had unfolded were very fuzzy, but I can still make out the important things: crazy hairy man, purple tentacles, and... Oh god. I remembered Sharon's arm getting severed up to her elbow from the portal closing. I gagged again, covering my mouth, closing my eyes tightly.
Then it hit me. Where the fuck am I?
I slowly rose to my feet, wincing at the numb sting I felt in my foot. This house was small, looking like it was originally built for somebody around four feet tall, but was resized multiple times to accommodate larger inhabitants and or guests-- including me. I mumbled incoherently, quietly whispering my thoughts aloud to myself.
Thousands of thoughts ran through my head about what happened as my memories slowly came flooding back to me. Panic, fear, dread; they all were running wild inside my head. My whole entire body froze once I heard movement shuffle around upstairs. I remained perfectly still while the clopping of... Hoofsteps...
...A fucking pony trotted down the steps and into my line of sight. I stared at her blankly for the longest time, some of my long black hair fell over my face as me and this cream colored... Winged... Pony... Stared at each other for the longest time.
And then it spoke.
"U-Um, hello... My name is Fluttershy" it spoke, her voice soft and quiet.
To Be Continued...
