A Machine Called Earth

Hector had always heard stories from people who wake up in strange places. Usually they wake up in someone else's bed, or some place that they don’t remember going. And almost always, they wake up with a splitting headache. Hector never much respected people who told such stories. He always thought he was above that sort of foolish behavior. But now it looks as though he now has his own story that follows a similar structure.

Waking up after being unconscious, is a strange feeling. Your five senses kind of turn on one at a time. The first thing that kicks in, is your sense of touch, or more like, the perception of pain. The first thing Hector felt, was the splitting pain from the back of his head, which quickly throbbed throughout his whole head.

Next was his perception of sound. Hector heard the sound of men talking. It was a distant sound which was soft and muffled by the ringing of his ears. While he was still in that state. Somewhere between consciousness and unconsciousness, he also began to smell things. Good things. Hector could smell the most amazing foods, and at that moment, he finally came to. When Hector opened my eyes, he saw a table full of food. Before him was an almost endless arrangement of foods. It was a feast fit for royalty. ‘But why was I amongst such a thing?’

Just then, Hector heard a voice saying, “Look, our guest is waking. The feast may begin.”

Another voice said, “Finally! It’s about time, I’m starving.”

Hector was still very much disorientated at this time, and his vision was still blurry. However he began to hear the sound of cutlery clanging against crockery as the people in the room began to eat. Hector focused his vision in the direction of the sounds, and saw them. The three men. ‘I wonder what they wanted with me.’ And Hector was curious as to why they hadn't killed him already. After all, he was trespassing.

But the cravings of the body is not something to pass off lightly. Hector had not eaten for a few days, and exhaustion had overcome him. Throughout the last couple of days, He’d been thrown into one situation after another, and he’d barely had time to catch his breath, yet alone eat. Hector was starving. His pupils dilated and his mouth began salivating at the assortment of fine cuisines and their fantastical aromas.

At this time Hector had lost all other thoughts. His rational mind had switched off, and all the questions he had, all became secondary. He reached my hand out to the nearest platter of succulent pork, and shoved it in his mouth. Suddenly there was an explosions of chemicals in his mind, and Hector was overcome with joy and delight.

Mouthful after mouthful, Hector ate and ate. Hector must have looked like a criminal on death row, stuffing themselves on their last meal. He was so consumed with his meal that at first, he didn’t even realize that his left hand was chained to the chair.

When he was satisfied, and stopped eating, Hector looked up from his plate, and after realizing he was being held captive, he looked around the table. There was a man on either side of him, and one opposite, on the far end of the table.

The two men on Hector’s sides were dressed in fine, high-priced suits with noble, high-toned top hats. The man at the far end of the table, opposite Hector. Well, I’ll get to him later.

Firstly, the man on Hector’s left. Apart from his fine suit, with its black jacket, with extravagant golden cufflinks, its burgundy vest and crimson bow-tie, he was horrifying. Underneath his large, gaudy top-hat, was the face of a monster! He had beast-like fur growing all over his proud, smug face, and he had the black, soulless eyes of a deer. He had bony, skeletal hands, covered in fur, and tipped with long black claws.

Now, the man on the right of Hector. He was wearing a similar suit to the other man, gaudy and vulgar. However he was completely different. This man’s face was covered in bandages. Only showing, was his left eye and mouth. The skin surrounding his eye and mouth, seemed to be pale and dry, as if it were rotting or something. His eye seemed to be quite bloodshot and dry. As

Hector’s eyes looked down, he noticed that this man was missing his right leg, which was replaced with a mechanical one. It was shiny and made from what looked to be tubes of brass and copper. His left hand was also missing from his wrist down, which was also covered in bandages.

Hector was stunned at the sight of these two men. They were like nothing Hector had ever seen before. But Hector went pale when he examined the man at the far end of the table. This man was severely mutated. He had a massive, bubbly deformity that protruded from his left shoulder. And the rest of his body was inhumanly scrawny and seemingly fragile. He also seemed to be wearing some sort of gas-mask, it was connected by a hose, to a canister, which was too far to read the label. Now this next part, Hector couldn’t quite explain, or believe his eyes, but he was surrounded by some sort of dark light that fluttered and flickered around him. The sight of this man, chilled Hector’s blood, and filled him with fear. More so than he had ever felt before.

Hector looked back at the other two men, and with a chuckle, they both smirked with cruel smiles, as they saw him pale with fear. They were still eating, as their feast had just begun, however, after witnessing these horrifyingly disgusting men, Hector had most certainly lost his appetite. In fact, he was on the verge of throwing up the contents of his stomach.

“What’s the matter boy, not hungry anymore?” Said the beastly man, as he stuffed a turkey leg into his mouth, tossing the bone onto the floor behind him.

With a smirk, the other man (The one with the bandages), concurred, “Yeah, this is just our first course. Surely you can’t stop now. Or are you saving yourself for dessert?”

Hector remained silent, as he was sick with fear. He was confused, disorientated and he had no idea what they wanted with him.

The man who was on the right of Hector, he reached down the table, were he picked up Hector’s pistol, which was sitting along with his sword and belt. Obviously they had removed all the weapons that Hector was carrying. He picked it up and observed it.

“Now this, is a weapon.” Said the man, with a raised eyebrow. “Pity it let you down. You know, you pointed this straight at me, and pulled the trigger. You tried to kill me. Now, I went to the liberty of reloading it, perhaps I should return the gesture.”

Although Hector’s heart-rate spiked with those words, part of him knew he wasn’t going to kill him. Well at least not right now. ‘I would assume that they’d want to know what I was doing, and how I got here. But perhaps they already know.’ Hector thought.

Hector’s clothes were still slightly damp. Meaning he wouldn’t have been unconscious for more than a few hours. His damp clothes, along with being in this vast, cold room, miles underground, caused Hector to begin shivering. It was quite noticeable, and the man on Hector’s left rang a small, yet lavish bell. As it let out a chillingly eerie ring that echoed through the large room, a person approached the table, no doubt called by the bell.

As the person approached, the man who rang the bell ordered. “Go fetch this man a coat, and bring some of that wine, the stuff that really warms you up inside.”

Barely moments later, the man, Hector assumed to be a servant, returned with a coat, and a bottle of the wine the man called for. The servant put the coat around Hector’s shoulders and filled his glass with the wine. As Hector drank, the wine burned all the way down into his belly. In a good way. It was satisfying and heartwarming.

Hector was now thoroughly confused. ‘One minute I’m being threatened, the next I’m being treated nicely. What did these people want with me?’ Before the servant left, the man who rang the bell, said to him. “We are done, bring out dessert.”

Quickly many more servants came out and cleared the table of the first course, and began bringing out dessert. They were all wearing masks. These were similar masks to what you may see at a masquerade party. As Hector observed them, it looked as though they were not cursed, and Hector assumed that they wore the masks, as to not upset the cursed men sitting with him.

Hector also thought that perhaps these were the stolen people from Hope’s home town, Maplestone. But Hector was just speculating.

They brought out an assortment of many cakes and slices, but eating was not on his mind at this time, and neither was it for these men. It was time for business.

The beastly man then looked at Hector, and said. “You know, we don’t really get too many guests around here.” And with a more serious tone, he asked, “And what be the reason of your, dropping in?”

Hector was afraid to answer. He was here to stop them, and put an end to the curses that have been plaguing the land. ‘But how would they react if I told them that bluntly. But then again, they probably already knew, that I was here to kill them.’ Hector thought.

Hector began to think that he’d gone too deep into this mess. He was in way over his head, and he was basically about to face his death. Well that’s the gut feeling he was sensing. Hector had nothing else to say but the truth. He needed to know what they were thinking.

In a stammering and nervous tone, Hector said. “I’m here to stop you.”

“Your here to stop us? Stop us from what, exactly?” Said the man in the bandages. The beastly man then began to laugh at Hector’s answer. But the other man’s question seemed to invoke thoughts that they were not aware they were doing anything wrong.

“The curse. Everyone have been turning into beasts. Don’t you know what you’ve done?” Hector snapped. However instantly he wished he had held his tongue.

“Don’t you yell at me boy!” Shouted the beastly man. He then went to grab the gun that the man in the bandages was still holding. But quickly the bandaged man pull his hand back and snapped.

“How many times do I have to tell you Arnold! Don’t snatch.”

“Just give it to me!” Insisted the beastly man.

“Oh you want it? Take it!”

Just then the bandaged man aimed the gun across the table, and fired at the beastly man. Suddenly a massive flare flew from the barrel, followed by a large plume of smoke. The man flew from his chair, and slammed to the ground, almost in slow motion. Dead. On the impact of the shot, blood splatted across the table. It splatted all over the food, not to mention splattering on Hector as well.

Hector felt the warm droplets, as they sprayed on his face and began to drip down his cheek.

Hector began to panic. ‘If the man with the bandages shot his friend so easily, what would he do to me?’ Hector looked down at the beastly man as he just lay on the floor, lifeless. Blood was still gushing out the side of his neck. Hector then looked back to the man in the bandages, as he looked at Hector, still holding the gun, which was still smoking from its barrel.

He was looking at Hector with a look that said, ‘you’re next’. But at that moment, it changed. Hector heard whispers. Whispers that were eerie and soft, and it seemed that they were talking to him, however Hector couldn’t make out what it was saying. Hector saw in his eye, that these mysterious whispers had changed his mind. Hector turned to the other man at the far end of the table, and he could have sworn that the voices were coming from him, but he couldn’t see any signs of movement around his throat, and his mouth was covered by a gas mask that was feeding him some sort of gas.

Just then, the man with the bandages, stood up, and walked to the side. He pulled a leaver to some contraption. The gears clicked into motion. Then suddenly Hector’s chair fell backwards into the floor. Into darkness.