Lockdown

Before you go into lockdown with somebody, make sure they’re human

Photo by Bill Adler

Andy was living his fantasy. Boy meets girl. Shy boy meets girl. Shy boy meets a bewitchingly beautiful girl he’s never seen before at the neighborhood pub, who goes home with him and stays the night.

This boy, who hasn’t had a date in twelve flips of the calendar, is trapped with this girl in his apartment because the next day New York declares a lockdown due to a raging pandemic. Shelter in place. Nobody’s allowed to leave their homes unless deemed an essential person.

As a division manager for a candy company, Andy is not essential. He isn't sure if Lilith is essential because she never tells him where she works. But she makes no mention of having to go out during the lockdown, which pleases Andy without measure. As does everything about her.

Andy glances at the bedside clock, its red numerals aglow like fireplace embers: 2:12 a.m. He reaches for Lilith's breast, but instead of warm skin, finds a hirsute pelt whose bristles pierce his skin like porcupine quills on tissue paper.

He screams and leaps out of bed.

Lilith—or what had been Lilith—howls. The beast tosses the blanket aside and sits up, its head almost touching the ceiling. It is twice Lilith’s size, with thick, muscular arms. At the end of those arms are expansive, brown claws, and on the tips of those paws, sharp red nails jut out, like stalagmites covered in blood.

Yellow eyes focus on Andy, while Andy focuses on the creature's mouth, which contains two rows of daggered, white fangs.

“Andy, love, you are mine.” Steaming spittle flies from its mouth.

The creature’s bellows create fissures in the bedroom walls.

“I will devour you," it says, beckoning Andy with its paw. "Come here, love, and I will make your death fast and painless. I'm hungry.” The creature pats its belly.

Andy dashes to the door, then out into the hallway. He runs down four flights, taking the stairs two at a time. His lungs ache, and his heart beats to terror’s tempo.

Andy wraps his hand around the building's front door handle, but before he yanks it open, a panicked thought burns his brain.

The pandemic. The lockdown.

Given a choice between the certainty of being eaten alive and an unseen germ that may or may not infect him, Andy decides to run like hell.

He considers his nakedness for a moment. This is the least of my problems.

Broken glass stabs his bare feet. Andy bites his lip to keep silent, not knowing if the monster can track him by sound. He runs into the unlit alley behind his apartment building, guided by the beams of the full moon.

What is it? What is that thing that Lilith turned into?

The stink of swampy soil rises around him. Though the ground is concrete, twigs snap and leaves crush underfoot. Insects chitter, and in the distance, an owl hoots. With each step, the alley narrows, forcing Andy to slow from a jog to a tentative walk.

Where is it?

He glances back but sees nothing. His feet bleed from their myriad cuts. Andy wants to take a moment to wipe away the blood and wants even more to soak them in a warm bath, but he does the only thing he can, which is press forward. Can it track the scent of my blood?

The deeper Andy goes, the narrower the alley becomes. Only faint speckles of moonlight still penetrate between the walls. With each step, the dank walls close in even more.

The monster’s howl rings through the alley.

Andy crookes his neck. He thinks he sees a fang reflect the moonlight but isn’t sure. But he is sure that he shouldn’t waste time looking. Away is the only safe direction, and he needs to concentrate if he is going to survive the night.

He twists sideways to maneuver through the shrinking passageway, his flesh rubbed raw by the rough walls. Ahead, the faint amber of artificial light offers hope. He sucks in his belly and squeezes toward the light.

After a few more steps, the passageway abruptly widens, releasing Andy. He tumbles. This is going to hurt.

But it doesn’t hurt because he lands on his bedroom's carpet.

The room smells of decay.

He elbows himself up and turns toward the snarling. The creature arches over Andy, inspecting his bloody body with its wet snout and poking his skin with its sharp nails. The Lilith-monster bares its fangs and licks its lips.

Its hot breath scorches Andy’s skin.

“That was fun, wasn’t it, Andy? But now the game is over.” The creature opens its mouth impossibly wide and severs Andy’s head with a single bite to his neck.

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If you ask a story what it wants most, the answer is, “to be read.” I’m grateful to everyone who has subscribed to my newsletter and hope many more will. Subscriptions are free, and readers inspire me to write.

If you enjoyed Lockdown, I think you’ll also like my story, Mr. Gold’s Cold.