Lab

Chapter 1

The night was dark from the storm clouds blocking the natural light, and the pouring rain made it harder to see anything but a few feet ahead. Eric was running home after his shift at the bar. Trying to avoid getting completely soaked, he dodged from shelter to shelter, curses floating to the listener's keen ears. "Goddammit!" he muttered, "The one day I decide to get some exercise and this shit happens."

He planned his route carefully, sulking under the upper parapets and hiding in alleyways. He ducked in one such alleyway, only to hear an ear-splitting caterwauling. "What the hell," he muttered to himself, searching for his next safe spot, but his basic American white chick instincts kicked in. He hesitated, glancing back out to sheets of rain, before turning back to check where the otherworldly screeching was coming from.

Creeping down the alley, he felt an uneasy feeling overcome him. The noise had stopped suddenly and now it felt like a foreboding presence was looming right behind him. Eric paused, cautiously peering around the dim-lit backstreet. "Hello?" he called.

A loud clatter of noise from behind him startled him forward. "What! Who's there?" he spun around, scanning the environment. Nothing was there. Nothing important at least. Turning back around, he continued down the alleyway; his heart was pounding in his chest, "This is how I die. This is how I die. This is how-"

The alleyway was fairly free of clutter. There was only a filthy dumpster pushed uncaringly to the left side against the brick building; a stack of unopened and wet boxes next to a loading dock being dripped on by the leaky, old gutter; a pile of greasy, slimy-looking, grey rags tossed as if someone unfortunate enough to be homeless had been sleeping there.

The sound started again but this time it was slightly muffled as if the thing created such a racket had been stuffed full of cloth. Eric tilted his head, staring at the pile of clothes, but the sound suddenly went quiet again as if something or someone had noticed him. Gulping down the fear (and bile) that rose in his throat, Eric pressed forward towards the rags.

He approached the raggedy pieces of cloth with extreme care as his breath seemed to hang in the water-heavy air. Eric reached behind to his back pocket, bringing out his phone. Turning on the flashlight, he saw a slip of pink before blinking as the artificially-bright light in the once dim light blinded his widened pupils. Not wanting to touch the rags for fear of whatever might be hiding in them, he swept the back corners of the alleyway with his light before turning back to the rags. Eric took a moment to gaze around, calming his shaky hands and peered around for a poking stick but to no avail.

Eric reverted his attention to the oily mound. As the white light glared down on the pile, something seemed to not appreciate the brilliant light. There was a slight quiver of movement before it settled back down. Eric's curiosity now piped, he stretched out his phone and poked the bundle. Again the quiver of movement, but this movement now had momentum as well.

A vividly colored gel lept out at Eric, causing him to drop his phone and fall back into the stack of boxes. The slime had murderous intent as it swarmed over the brunette's face, covering his mouth and nose. Eric flailed around, trying and failing to move himself or the slime creature. Struggling more didn't help: the substance slithered further down his throat causing his gag reflex to trigger.

Gagging, Eric tried to regain breath as the purple darkness of unconsciousness inched over his peripheral vision and wrapped almost completely around the fearful cocoa eyes. Eric, running out of oxygen, thought, 'I'm going to die to a gay Venom," before he closed his eyes and went limp -- seeming to show submission to the alien creature.

The creature paused as the other fell closer to the cool embrace of death. It slid back up and away from the brunette's face, letting the man take a breath of life. Eric broke into a coughing fit as precious air rushed into his lungs.

Breathing deeply, Eric cracked one eye open, trying not to provoke the gel into attacking again. The slime creature was perched on his heaving chest, writhing angrily. Eric closed his eyes again before beginning to laugh. The creature seemed to be incredibly confused, swaying back and forth as it bounced up and down the shaking diaphragm.

Eric, feeling relief as the adrenaline high subsided, cackled, "A gay Venom! Really? That's my last thought before death?" The slime wriggled closer to Eric's neck causing his breath to hitch in fear -- laughing disappearing like pizza at a party. Instead of pizza though, a tight knot of terror wound in Eric's stomach. However, the 'gay venom' seemed to be disinterested in striking again as it also began to shake.

Puzzled, Eric sat up allowing the 'gay venom' to fall. For fear of antagonizing the creature, Eric caught it in his hands. The slime rolled side-to-side -- it almost looked like it was laughing to Eric. The man paused, confused at the human-like motions of the slime. The 'gay venom' was still squirming around but was now curling into a blob on Eric's hands.

"You kinda look like a pet right now," he commented. Raising his other hand, Eric slowly moved his free hand to pet the strange creature. The slime flinched but allowed Eric to continue. After only a few seconds, the 'gay venom' completely melted - literally - in the man's hands as the repetitive motion and the heat caused the blob to relax. Eric laughed at the flattened blob, "You kinda look like a lizard sunning itself." The blob bobbed up-and-down at this in a weird alien nod.

Eric watched curiously as the blob flattened out further before its exotic coloring began to swirl. The yellow, pink, and blue created pretty, mesmerizing patterns. Shaking himself out of the daze that the movement put him in, Eric glared at the small slime, "You're not trying to hypnotize me before you eat me or something?"

A confused air seemed to flow around the slime. Eric's eyes narrowed, surprised and suspicious at how human the slime seemed to be, "Alright there. I'm just goin' to set you down right here and I'll leav-"

The slime launched itself at Eric's face, causing Eric to yelp, "What the fuck!" He ducked, attempting to dodge the projectile slime but that wasn't where it was aiming. The slime reached its destination and slipped down the collar of Eric's button-up shirt.

"Wha-" Eric screeched, absolutely hating the slippery feeling of the slime underneath his shirt. He grabbed at where the slime was, but it slithered away. "You little shi-"

"You ok there mate?"

Eric started at the voice. He quickly faced the direction of the voice, noticing a man in a work uniform. The man looked awkward and somewhat worried. "Yeah!" Eric's voice cracked as the slime slipped deeper into his shirt, "I'm fine."

The man slowly walked closer, "You sure? I can help you go back from where you came from."

Eric realized that the man thought he was crazy. "Nope. My cat just ran away and I was trying to chase it down."

"Oh," the man said, still looking at Eric worriedly.

Smiling awkwardly, Eric stepped around the guy, "I'll let you get back to work now." He quickly left the alleyway, his brain screaming from the embarrassment. "I'm never gonna forget this," Eric muttered before he felt squirming around his collarbones, "And I guess you're coming with me." He stared down at the sliver of blue showing, then he grimaced, "Pretty sure this is a health risk."