Khalida Shamsuddeen, “Death Creeper”

Artwork by Khalida Shumsuddeen

DEATH CREEPER

Khalida Shumsuddeen

“I think we should go take Hellhound to the dog park, babe,” Loki said to her husband Pele. Pele agreed and said, “That sounds great. I had to go pick up some things from around there anyway. “ So they put their dog on a leash and went for a walk. As soon as they walked out the door, the whole city smelled like shit. They all gagged, even Hellhound. That was the first red flag. But they still managed to go on about their day and continued to do what they were going to do in the first place. On their way to the mall, they saw a sign on the wall that said, Do you want five hundred dollars today just for taking a blood test? Well, if you do . . . call this number @ 347-555-1295 and I will tell you the address. So they took down the number, called them, and GPS the location. They were so hungry because they hadn’t eaten in days. Loki had recently been fired from her job. Pele never had a job. Loki was Pele’s meal ticket. So they figured that the five hundred dollars each person would help. As they were walking down the street to the address they smelt the stinky, nasty, over-the-top disgusting smell again. But they continued walking. Five minutes later they arrived at the location that was given. And they were greeted by this enormous, fat, no teeth, long neck, big nose, old creepy man named Mr. Jabber. He had shown this ID, so they thought he was a real doctor, but little did they know, he was a fake doctor. So they managed to walk in because where they live, all they saw was nasty-looking people walking and living there, so they were used to it. It was a norm for everybody. Mr. Jabber told Pele and Loki to sit down on this weird chair. He had two of the same chair. The man had offered all of them some water. They only trusted him and agreed to drink it because it was 100 degrees outside, and they were very dry. So

they took the water and guzzled it down like it was their last sip of water, even Hellhound. Then they asked, “What do we have to do to get the five hundred dollars?” “All you have to do is a little blood test,” Mr. Jabber replied. So they agreed and as Mr. Jabber was pulling out the needles they dozed off. And little did they know, Mr. Jabber put something in their drink that makes people doze off without even knowing. They should have never agreed to drink the water because the needle was a gigantic 5-inch needle. All three needles were like that. They were already filled with this thick, nasty, smelly, black liquid that I would never put in my body. So he continues the job by injecting the stinky liquid into Pele, Loki, and Hellhound. He left the room as he waited thirty minutes before the liquid kicked in. Thirty minutes later . . . They all woke up looking like monsters. And all they smelled and craved was blood and brains. Loki was 10 feet tall. So was Pele and Hellhound, and they all had very long tongues that could wrap around people’s throats and kill them. Loki and Pele became very hairy to a point it looked very scary and nasty. They all started arguing with Mr. Jabber. They asked, “How do we go back to normal and why are we craving brains?” Mr. Jabber said, “You will have to eat somebody to turn back, and after y’all do that, even Hellhound, y’all will receive five hundred dollars, including Hellhound.” So they have no choice but to do what they have to do to get that money and go back to normal. As soon as they went outside they smelled blood and started to crave blood. When they were walking down the block to find people, everybody was screaming and hollering because of their looks. So Loki got really upset and ran up to the crowd and wrapped her tongue around this white lady’s throat, and dragged her face and body on the floor until the lady was right by Loki’s feet. Loki looked down, and Loki started feasting on

her face and body. Hellhound and Pele wanted to join but Loki gave them a mean look that made them back away. By the time Loki was finished, there was blood and organs on the floor. That lady had no face. All she was left with was her facial bones. That lady’s intestines and blood were all over the place. Loki left her skinless. And Loki did not care. They continued walking like nothing happened. They went to the park, and that’s when the feasting for Pele and Hellhound began. As soon as they walked into that park, all the little kids started running to their moms but the kids were too late. Hellhound grabbed a little girl and Pele grabbed the mother. Hellhound grabbed the little girl by her neck and dragged her neck on the floor and sucked her eyeballs out of her skull and ripped her skin off her face. While Hellhound was feasting her up, Pele grabbed the mother by her head and slammed her head on the floor. Her brain flew out of her head and rolled down the street. But Pele grabbed the brain with his tongue. And ate it. Then within five minutes, they turned back into humans and the Hellhound turned back into his normal dog self. They all started throwing up green and yellow clumpy stuff, and then, the blood and organs they ate five minutes ago. Then they ran back to Mr. Jabber’s lab. They jumped the doctor and beat him up so bad to the point you couldn’t see his face anymore. And after all that, they still didn’t get the five hundred dollars.

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