The Coming of The Beast

It intruded the stunning scenery of a shoreline by moonlight in such a way that it could come straight out of a movie by Charlie Kaufman. The first to notice what emerged from the wicked depths of the ocean, was a young couple taking a selfie while facing the quay lit with festive lights and candles. On the screen of the young lady’s phone they saw a strange figure who waddled out of the dark with seaweeds covering its head and shoulders. They turned around to make sure it wasn’t just an illusion. She dropped her phone and pulled her boyfriend in front of her as a living shield. A terrible stench of rotting fish filled her nostrils while she prepared to scream out her lungs. It stepped forward foot by foot with its head down and its arms by its sides like branches of a weeping willow. But the monstrosity lost its terrifying spell immediately when a wave threw it off balance and made him eat the sand. The male part of the young couple shambled towards the collapsed thing and startled upon seeing the molluscs and starfish glued to its skin. White chalk surrounding the scallops formed small, rock hard reliefs resembling mountain tops in the Alps. The man shivered when he imagined cracking the calcified formations and tearing the skin with it like a Band-Aid.

“Are you okay?”, he said. Of course it wasn’t and neither was he.

The figure gurgled in response and a liquid which must be seawater, considering the small crustaceans that came along with it, streamed out of its mouth. But a more horrific realization dawned upon him after closer inspection of The Beast… He looked over his shoulder and saw his girl in the wind, alone and frightened. She wouldn’t be able to sleep when he’d let it further fill her imagination with terrors beyond description. The only way to resolve this was to make this someone else’s problem.

“Call 911, it’s human”, he said.

The emergency services arrived quickly and after examining the young couple for emotional trauma and taking their statements, the couple was send home and the washed up man was carried to the hospital. There they brought him into the operating room and tried to remove the molluscs and starfish which were scattered around his body, but with no avail. The wonder of the doctors present that night would remain subject of conversation in the hospital for weeks, even months on end. Apparently, these sea creatures kept the man alive, for removing them or even touching them with too much force caused the man to convulse terribly. The doctors decided to let the man rest for the night, but in a 37° chamber, hoping the molluscs and starfish would come off by themselves or at least lessened their irremissible adhesion. That night, an awful moaning was heard from the chamber. Complaints from patients next-door made the already strange night even more hectic. Because everything was better than entering that godforsaken chamber, the nurses relocated the patients either to other already occupied rooms or in the corridors on a different level where the moaning was less hearable. The patients weren’t the only ones having trouble sleeping. Also the doctors who tried to treat the stranger counted the hours that night…

The following morning, the nurses walked with a wide bow around the room of the stranger. None but one spoke when the doctors, who treated the patient, asked them how his status was or if there occurred any notable events that night.

“He stopped moaning after 3AM but the stench since then has only grown worse”, said the nurse. “If you can’t fix him, kick him out because he interferes with the welfare of my other patients.”

The doctors shuffled in their place, not quite knowing where to look or where to put their hands.

“Wake up! Fix him or fire him. I don’t care but do it now.”

The wobbling tail of the nurse was the only thing they were able to respond to but none did. They knew it was inevitable to go back in there but all had hoped it wouldn’t be so soon. Every step they took towards the door made them regret more they woke up that morning. But duty calls. The first doctor, the newbie, knocked on the door and opened the door straight away. The smell, and the heath worsening it, slammed in his face like a basketball. The other doctors, unprepared for the sudden halt of the newbie bumped into him and they all stumbled in the hospital room like a bunch of dimwits. The patient still lay exactly the same way as they left him the previous night. Under the bed however there was a small puddle with a greenish shade, which kept on growing as the bed sheets dripped drop by drop. One doctor saw this as an opportunity to leave the room and call a janitor but his co-worker wouldn’t have it and pulled him back into the dreary hospital room. The newbie, who was clearly the bravest one, greeted the man and examined his molluscs and starfish. To his surprise they almost fell off when touched. For the first time since the stranger was brought in, he moved voluntarily. He turned his head towards the young doctor and said: “One of your colleagues will break their solemn vow. When he does, bury me facing the stars.”

The young doctor stared at the face covered with puss and other filth and shook his head.

“What did he say?”, asked the man who tried to escape.

“He’s raving.”

The escapist handed him a syringe of Diazepam. “Put him under.”

The young doctor shrieked and the syringe fell on the floor, mixing its content with the green puddle under the bed.

“You little snot, where is your professionalism?”, said the escapist. He grabbed another syringe, shoved the other doctors aside and ejected its intents without paying too much attention. The doctors hastened outside leaving the newbie and escapist behind.

“Leave”, said the escapist.

The words of the stranger still bounced in the young doctor’s head and a strange excitement took hold of him.

“No.”

“What ‘no’?”

“I know what you’re planning. It’s not going to happen”, the newbie said.

“This isn’t some crime fiction bullshit, scum. Get out.”

“You’re not going to kill him. He needs our care. Besides, you weren’t even allowed to put him under.”

The escapist opened his mouth to say something but instead grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed it in the newbie’s neck. He fell on the floor and felt the blood and life flow out of his body. The last thing he saw was the green puddle under the hospital bed impatient to touch his growing red puddle.

When he opened his eyes again, all was black. He tried to lick his lips but couldn’t get past his teeth. And when he tried to sit up straight he bumped his head hard. It didn’t take long after that to realise where he was. He had seen enough cheesy horror movies, especially those Kill Bill Volumes. He remembered how Uma Thurman as the vendetta punched her way out by putting her fingers against the roof of the chest and subsequently smashing as hard as she could. This wouldn’t work…

“I guess I’m dead now if I weren’t already”, he said.

After 20 minutes with intervals of desperate crying, sobbing and laughing, he suddenly became aware of a strange sound. It made him think of a broom brushing a wooden floor but that didn’t seem right. It was more like a kind of scratching. Or gnawing. If he didn’t already feel completely crazy, this sound which became louder and louder certainly finished the job. But suddenly he felt splinters dropping on his forehead. Surprised he opened his eyes and could see glimpses of light shine through the roof of the chest. More splinters of wood and dust fell upon his head. The pieces became larger and larger but then something with a completely different texture and weight fell on his face, making him blind again. He turned his head aside and a thin, white light speckled with shiny crumbs revealed what had fallen from above. It was a starfish.

After he rose from the grave, he marvelled at the stars with the starfish in his hand. How God had forsaken him… but The Beast had saved him. The Beast and his fallen angels.