Diabolic Fiction

CHANNEL 245: HyberNation

"Ok, bring up camera three. I want to see the kid right in front of the cave."
– Camera three, on.
"When did the professor say these guys would be coming out?"
– Any time now.
"They'd better hurry... we're live in five."

Randall was only two years old... two years, nine months, 12 days, 14 hours, 22 minutes and nine seconds to be exact. Everything seemed to be a green blur and something was waving to him. He felt a strange sensation on his rosy cheeks that seemed to intensify in unison with the waving green. Randall felt the rough dirt beneath his legs. He tried to stand but couldn't. He thought about crying out but didn't. He looked wide-eyed at the gaping, dark hole in front of him, and the things that moved inside.

"Give me camera one. I want a nice, tight shot of his face. Give me those eyes, those cheeks."
– I see something moving on camera two.
"Not yet. I want a crossfade from one to two. Slowly. Are we ready?"
– We have the signal to go-live.
"Ok, cue titles. Aaaaaaaaaannnnd... start intro. Stay on the kid, I want that to be the first thing they see before we start the fade."

There was something in the hole. Randall could smell it. An awaking of scent... of something wet, like his furry friend that always licked his face and sprayed water on him.

"Hold on camera two until they appear."
– Holding camera two.

The things were getting closer to Randall. They started to focus... much bigger than his friend. And there were three of them, hunched over at first. Now they seemed to grow larger, blocking out the sun above.

"Ok, camera four. A nice medium shot from behind the kid. Get the professor in here, I want to know exactly what they're going to do."

The smell was thick in his nostrils. He squinted his eyes and wiped his arm across his nose. The dark forms were circling him now.

"Ok, I need camera five for the top shot. I want them circling on the outer edge of the screen with the kid right in the center."
– Prof's here.
"What's happening, doc?"
– They appear to checking the situation out. Circling, like sharks.
"Getting ready to eat, doc?"
– Well, not necessarily, though, they were in hibernation for quite a while. A food source is probably their first priority.
"Go to camera one."

Randall was getting scared. As the things moved closer it got darker. The first tear appeared at the bottom of his eyelid. His face was scrunched up, ready to cry.

"Get a close-up on that tear. Jesus this is gold."

The first wail was feeble and filled with tears, but the next climbed louder until a steady moan caused the shadowy forms to move back.

"What's the crying going to do to them?"
– Well, it could scare them off, but I think they won't mind it too much. Randall is so small, I doubt they’d be frightened by him.

One of the dark forms moved closer, breaking from the circle. It leaned in and sniffed the air. It could smell the fear. He moved back and grunted. Then, all at once, they moved toward Randall and crowded around him, smothering the boy.

"Oh shit, they're eating him. Damn, I can't see what they're doing."
– And you want to?
"It's what people have paid to see."
– They could be tearing him apart, devouring his body and you want to make sure you have a clear shot?
"Well, doc, it doesn't look like we're going to get that clear shot."

Randall felt smothered and was reminded of the time the dark form he called da-da wrapped him in darkness and dropped him in water. He was then lifted out by someone and taken to a place where it was always brightly white. He felt his body leave the ground and warmth wrap around him.

"Holy shit. They're picking him up. I want mobile three on their asses. If you lose them you lose your life."
– Mobile 3, on the move.

Randall again felt a cool sensation on his face as he was flying. He could see the waving green moving past him and the heavy smell of the warm wrap became comforting. He then heard one of them growl and pick something up... something shiny.

"Jesus, it's got mobile three. You're too close you moron!"
– Mobile three, down.
"Give me mobile one, now, and put McReady on it. And keep back. There's a 1200X zoom on that thing for christ'sake!

Randall saw he was being carried closer to the dark hole. It was looming larger and he watched it engulf his world.

"They're going back into the cave. What have we got in there?"
– Nothing.
"Why the fuck not?"
– The dampness or something. The tech guy said it wasn't possible. I think he was afraid of them.
"Give me a break. What do I pay that shmuck for? I assumed we'd have a camera in there. We have cameras that can go to the bottom of the ocean for christ'sake. I want that guy fired and off this shoot, now!"
– We still have the mic-chip in the kid. We can at least hear what's going on.
"Right, give me audio on the kid and try to sneak mobile one in there."

He felt he was being lowered and then the hard ground was again at his back. He felt something sharp poke him in the stomach and he began to cry. There was more grunting and then a harder poke.

"He's crying again. I need to put you on the air, doc. Get downstairs and into the booth with Mary. You'll describe what is going on as we listen to the audio."

There was more grunting now. The forms seemed to be fighting with each other.

"Well, we've lost video on Randall for a moment, but we have in the studio Professor Robert Sprinkle from the Wildlife Institute of Hemisphere One. Professor Sprinkle, what is happening to Randall in that cave?"
– Oh, I would assume they are wondering what it is. They know it is alive and probably know it is a child. My bet is they’re just sniffing, maybe licking him.

Randall felt something poke his stomach and it reminded him of the time his da-da laid something hot on him. It burned and he couldn’t seem to stop crying.

"So, they're inspecting him?"
– I guess you could say that.
“Maybe cuddling him, accepting him as one of their own?”
– Well, we’ll have to wait and see, but it is not out of the realm of possibility.

He felt something wet running down his side. The dark form was burying its nose in his stomach.

"Uh, I believe the crying has stopped. Any ideas, professor?"
– Well, Randall is probably comfortable there now. He realizes they mean him no harm and is probably sleeping.
"Ok, well, I believe we now have some video from the cave. There they are and this is their home I would guess."
– That is correct, Mary.
"And they seem to be huddled around Randall, attending to him, maybe feeding him?"
– Well, I wouldn't think they were feeding him, just cuddling perhaps.
"They’re moving away now and we can see Randall he's...*

“Camera one, now! Gold… fucking gold!”