We Were Wrong
All of the stories we used to tell, all of the movies we used to watch told us to watch out for the darkness. Don’t go gentle into the good night. Death was succumbing to darkness. Every imaginable monster was heralded by the setting of the sun, the coming of darkness.
The darkness was mysterious. Dependent as we are upon sight, darkness was an enemy. Who could tell what awaited us in shadow, what traps were set, whose dripping fangs were set inches from our unguarded throats. In darkness, our eyes played tricks, our ears strained to compensate–picking up every mundane sound and turning it into a threat that approached on quiet cat feet to take us unawares.
Light was always the refuge. Got a vampire problem? Wait for sunlight! Poltergeists running wild? Direct them to the light! Rage-infected monkeys gotcha down, run toward some light!
Light was the answer–until September 30, 2006. I will never forget that date. That’s when the parasites took over.
There had been reports of this condition, but no one in the scientific community believed it existed, much less had a inkling of what it might do. Sufferers claimed that insects of some sort lived in their skin, causing itching. Scratching produced wounds from which red or blue fibers may protrude. When they sweat, a black foul smelling substance exuded from their pores. Yeah, sounds crazy, right?
That’s what everyone thought. Eventually reports of this phenomena faded, another “mysterious” illness invented by insane persons with a need for attention disappeared.
That’s what we thought.
It was waiting, hiding in broad daylight. Spreading through the sweat. Sure, sleeping with someone might spread it, if the sex were vigorous enough to produce sweat. But even a kiss, a hug, a handshake could spread it. Pets weren’t even safe.
Then, these parasites, they altered the personalities of the hosts. All of the infected suddenly became athletic sunbathers. Nighttime creatures roam the days–bats fly with bird flocks, nightcrawlers lie drying in the sun. That’s when the reports started again–but this time from people that witnessed the black substance. By the time anyone thought to investigate it was really much too late.
Eventually, the mutation started. All of the infected have a purple cast now. The red and blue fibers have grown in the place of normal body hair, for humans and animals alike. Their stench is everywhere. The smell of the sweat is awful, but combined with the smell of the festering open wounds caused by the scratching…
Apparently the DNA of these creatures has been altered also. It is no longer unusual to see human-like forms rutting in the streets with four-legged creatures like dogs in heat. Nor is it unusual to see mythical creatures, half-once-human, half-once-other-species roaming the streets. Most defy description. I guess the parasites, realizing survivors had gone into hiding, found this new way to propagate the species.
Most plants are black now. The fibers growing within them have destroyed the once beautiful green that covered our world. What few plants remain uninfected now serve as food for those few humans left.
If they see us, they charge. The infection spreads faster now, and they secrete on demand. Hordes converge on a single person, pinning him, leaking the black substance on him. He scratches uncontrollably within seconds; within minutes, he is one of them.
The cities were burned to create light at night. For a while they commanded both day and night, until the fuel source ran out. Now, there are no shelters for us against the sun.
Survivors seek shelter in caves and underground now. We hunt plant life at night. Any uninfected animal life has long ago been eaten. How long we have left is unknown as we devour the last of the uninfected food sources. Light has become our enemy now and without light, we can’t grow more.
We always believed we should fear the darkness. We were wrong.