Sparkle Ship Shine Read online

  I ran and ran—never looking back. Finally, reaching the junction where I believed the prisoners were being held, I turned in a quick circle looking around—there it was! The keys were still hanging from the keyhole! This was the room with all the personal effects, which meant the horror room with Mr. Torso and his friends was the next one down. I grabbed the keys, then darted down the hall to the next door. It took me two different keys but finally, I got the right one. The door swung wide and immediately the men and women inside started trying to claw their way out. How long had they been in here? And was she really slowly eating parts of them? My stomach did flips as I saw Mr. Torso flopping back and forth on a table. I edged toward him and picked him up. He was heavier than he looked. I carried him back to the doorway, then motioned to the rest of them as they shuffled toward me.

  “Let's go! Follow me!” They seemed encouraged and started moving a little faster.

  Electra rounded the corner just as the last of them had escaped their proverbial cage.

  “What have you done, Ms. Sadie?” she asked, horror-stricken as she saw her prisoners pouring out into the hallway.

  In response, I sat Mr. Torso down on the ground and began kicking and clawing at anything and everything that made the ship function. Screens, control pads, lights, whatever I could find. Electra was now crying and that just spurred me on even more. The mangled prisoners were stalking toward her, so I continued my assault on the ship. Once I'd broken everything in sight, I looked and saw that her prisoners had finally reached Electra's position. It was such sweet, poetic justice as they started piling onto her. They tore at her skin and shredded her clothing. Wires and ports were exposed all over. Soon she was nothing more than a pile of electronics and a pool of oil.

  It was over—Electra was dead. I sighed a great sigh of relief, feeling safe for the first time in hours—until I heard her voice.

  “You should not have done that, Ms. Sadie. You see, they're hungry too.”

  Every last one of the prisoners immediately turned to look at me. I hated to admit it, but they did sort of look like they were staring at their next meal and not at their heroic rescuer.

  “I saved you guys—I’m your friend!”

  Mr. Torso wobbled forward, then went crashing down onto his face. I leaned down to try to help him and he tried to bite me. I pulled my arm away, then looked up. All the other prisoners were coming for me. Maybe they were confused, insane, or just super hungry, but either way, they were approaching fast.

  I turned and ran—that’s all I felt like I'd been doing for hours now—running. I took a left turn and found myself in a medium sized room. There were no clear exits—just four doors with red lights over them. I turned back around, meaning to backtrack, but the mob of prisoners was already there. They'd be on me in a matter of seconds. One of them was carrying Mr. Torso—that was sort of sweet, in a completely horrifying kind of a way.

  Even though it went against all of my instincts, I turned my back to the fast approaching prisoners. There were a few decisions to make and I had to make them immediately. There was only time for one shot. I picked a key at random, then turned my attention to the four doors. Who knew what horrors I might find. And that's if I was lucky enough to have the right key selected. Were there more prisoners? More copies of Electra? Did I dare even hope that maybe there was some sort of an escape hatch?

  Four doors—no time left to think, so I did what Zayla used to do when she had a decision to make.

  “Eanie, meanie...”

  I turned from door to door as I spoke.

  “...minie, mo.”

  END

  Look for “The Farmer’s Daughter”, a new story about Elektra Five-Seven-Niner, in: In Your Closet and In Your Head: A Monster Anthology on amazon.com.

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  Website: hallandbeaulieu.com

  Steve’s Author Page: http://amzn.to/2iGqibc

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  Other Works by Hall & Beaulieu

  BROTHER DUST: THE RESURGENCE

  LONLEY NESS: A CRAZY CHRISTMAS STORY

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  Hall and Beaulieu are an author team who love to connect with readers. Come and say, “Hello”! We absolutely love giving away stories. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we release flash fiction stories on our blog. There’s always something new to read. Thank you for reading!

  Aaron Hall was born in 1981 in Fort Worth, Texas. He has spent a majority of his life writing, finding a love of creating fiction at an early age. After spending a decade as a community journalist, Aaron now works in communications for his hometown municipal government. He loves spending time with family and friends, watching TV and movies, and above all else, his savior and lord, Jesus Christ.

  Steve Beaulieu was born in 1984 in East Hartford, CT. Having spent most of his life in Palm Beach County, Florida, he and his wife moved to Fort Worth, TX in 2012. He works as a Pastor and Graphic Artist and loves comic books, fantasy and science fiction novels.

  He married the love of his life in 2005 and he fathered his first child in 2014, Oliver Paul Beaulieu, his namesake, two of Steve’s favorite fictional characters, OliverTwist and The Green Arrow, Oliver Queen.