Bats And Viruses
by Lily Alex

This is an excerpt from the novel Lost on Earth (Romantic thriller)

 The philtre

 She loved her boyfriend selflessly. She even asked him to marry her, but all times he made out that he was joking.

 ****

 "Just one spoon!" the magician said her with a smile. "And he will be your mate forever!"

 *****

 She brought the philtre home, and added that to the soup. Her boyfriend started eating it, and the girl felt unlimited terror for a second.

 "What's the matter?" he got surprised. "Is something wrong?"

 She squeezed out a laugh. And he finished the soup.

 He got up and went to the window. Suddenly the girl saw his legs become shorter, and shorter.

"What the heck...?" he started. His voice broke to a squeak.

 The girl screeched with horror: a bat was writhing on the floor instead of her boyfriend. Sobbing hysterically, she put it into a box, and rushed to the magician.

*****

 Bill Hamelin gave him money, took the cage and looked inside. Two small bats stared at Bill with despair.

 "Don't worry, guys!" he laughed. "I started to practice in the Middle Ages! You're not the first! And you won't be the last!" And he put them into the common cage with the others.

 Diana

 How many ways she tried to lose weight! These pills were her last hope. And they really had worked on her friend Liana; she lost 10 pounds.

 "They are illegal," Liana warned. "It's some culture of viruses. They'll totally change you. But if you eat even a bit of any high protein food, during next two months, you're gonna die. Remember that!"

 *****

 She honestly tried! But Diana had to stay with a class after school for a few hours longer, and the teacher ordered pizzas.

 Diana took away all cheese and pepperoni, however, she felt awfully hungry. The smells of roasted sausage and melted mozzarella made her crazy. She bit off a tiny piece of pepperoni and swallowed it. Nothing happened, and that wonderful spicy taste caused Diana to forget about prudence. She ate the entire portion.

 Feeling happy and satisfied, Diana continued her work. But suddenly like a bomb burst in her belly, the girl fell into an abyss of suffering.

 *****

 Diana came back from a coma three years later. The doctors ablated her stomach and almost all intestines. Her mother died with a heart attack after two years of hopeless waiting. And when the girl got all this information, she wished death upon herself.

*

She had a strange dream. Someone invisible showed her the body of a beautiful slender girl.

 "I'm the Son of the Devil." the voice explained. "This girl was my slave. She committed a big mistake, and she has been punished. She was a stripper. You can have her body and her job. Do you want it? But your soul will belong to us, and if you're not an obedient girl, you'll get the same punishment, as she had."

 Diana woke up and saw an unknown man.

 "Just a dream." she thought. "A wonderful sweet dream."

 "It was no dream!" smirking, Damien Thorn gazed at her. "Would you agree to my offer?"

 Of course she did!

 And now Diana was a star among Thorn's servants, and tried to not recall the past.

 Fish

The water in the lake was cold. Only she dared to swim. Her boyfriend Edward stayed sitting on the beach and watched her with a smile.

 Suddenly something like a needle pricked her left foot. Surprised, the girl wanted to check what had happened, but she sensed pain again and again, and she felt like dozens of nails were piercing her entire body. The girl screeched with horror.

 "What the hell..." The cameraman looked to where the sound came from.

"Camera!" Valerie Conrad, the reporter, realized she had found her luck. "Arthur, dear, do it!"

 Arthur Delmart was a professional. He had already prepared his camera, and now he was recording the girl writhing in agony in the lake.

 Edward sprang up. He rushed to his girlfriend. Fortunately, she was not far away. He reached her and gasped seeing a lot of blood around her wriggling body.

 Something pricked his arm. He looked and was shocked. It was just a small, very small fish. A lot of them inhabit most lakes and rivers. He saw other fish. And they started to bite him too. And he screamed and grabbed his girlfriend, and dragged her to the shore. The pain was awful, and how he got to the beach and fell onto the sand, Edward did not even remember.

 "...We don't yet know what had happened here," the excited voice of the reporter sounded above him. "Please, follow our reports..."

It was the last that he heard.

 *****

 After the press conference, in the car, Damien Thorn kept silent for a while, and Bill Hamelin stared at him with concern.

 "Okay," Damien started. "We've fended them off. But I don't want to take any risk! First of all, destroy that stupid girl in the hospital. By the way, how did they track us?"

 "The current," Hamelin mumbled with effort. "Mr. Thorn, sir, these viruses are not stable, they will be gone in a couple of days..."

"I don't want to wait 'a few days'! The samples should be taken away immediately..."

Suddenly the news report on the TV took his attention.

 "...Thorn's industries, like an octopus, enmesh the whole world. That awful tragedy has to wake our sleepy minds. It's happened once before, will we make the same mistake again? Well, let's be objective. The investigation should discover who is responsible for that incident. Maybe the sewerage from Ethier's plant caused it! Who knows? Til next time! I'm Valerie Conrad, good night! If it’s at all possible."

 "And kill that damn reporter!" Angry, Damien pointed at the TV screen.

 "Yes, Mr. Thorn!" scared to death, Hamelin replied at once.

 The bat

 It was 2:46 a.m. Ronald Bennett, the police officer, was sitting on the chair next to the door of the ward. That girl was an important witness, so she was under police protection.

 A deep stillness descended on the hospital. Ronald was drowsy, and barely stayed in control.

 Suddenly the alarm sounded in the corridor.

"Code Blue, Code Blue!" Bennett heard. He sprang up and grabbed his gun. He saw running staff and rushed after them into the ward.

 They unsuccessfully tried to revive the girl.

 "What happened here?!" the doctor whispered to the assistant. "She was stable when I left. What do you mean her lines were disconnected?"

 They glanced at Ronald with suspicion.

 "Nobody came inside!" shocked, Bennett mumbled and looked around the ward.

 And he saw it. A small bat flew around the air vent. He shot, and everybody screamed with fear.

The animal pushed itself into the vent. Ronald shot again, but it was too late, the bat was gone.

 "Are you crazy or what?!" the mad doctor shouted at the policeman.

 "Is a bat able to disconnected her?" Bennett asked instead.

 "Are you serious?" the doctor shrugged his shoulders. "Do you want to say a bat did it? Why don't you say a vampire? It would sound more dramatic!"

 *****

 His chief repeated the phrases word-by-word.

 "Am I fired?" Bennett asked dismally.

 "Sure you are!" the chief sighed and added with an official voice. "And don't leave the city."

 *****

 Gloomy, he packed his stuff. His ex-colleagues glanced at him from time to time, and he felt vexation. Ronald understood, nobody would believe him, but he did not have a good imagination, and he was not able to make up something more realistic to explain what had happened.

 Suddenly some man came next to his desk. "Ronald Bennett?" he asked. Ronald nodded, and the man snatched out a gun. It was a stupid act. Bennett was a professional. He grabbed the gun at once, and his ex-colleagues took that stranger at the point of their guns. But an idea came to Ronald. He pushed the man to the next room and closed the door behind them.

 "Who are you?" Bennett asked. The man looked at him with hate.

 "Murderer," he frowned. "You corrupt murderer!"

 Ronald snorted: "I wish I was!"

 The stranger stared at him.

 "I’ve been framed!" Bennett shook his head, and continued sadly: "Honest."

 Suddenly the attacker wept, and Ronald noticed that guy was very young. He was about 18, and Bennett felt pity.

 In the zoo

 When Diana was fat, she and her mother spent almost all their free time together, they were the best of friends to each other. They often visited this zoo, because they both loved animals, but had no opportunity to have them.

 Now she was here alone. Slowly, Diana walked past the cages. She quietly whispered, talking to herself, and tried to imagine she was with her mother again.

 *****

 That girl followed him all day long. She was not a professional tracker, and Ronald Bennett noticed her first thing in the morning. But the former policeman did not mind. His conscience was clear, and all that he wanted was to clean up his name and get back the job that he loved.

 He went to the zoo, found a pavilion with bats, and had a long talk with the guy who was taking care of them.

 Now Ronald Bennett was taken aback. He never imagined how many kinds of bats existed. The "bat-guy" loved his wards and told Ronald a lot of facts, and totally confused Bennett.

 Glum, he stood by the cage and looked at the bats. A tall, slender girl was next to him. It was another girl, not his tracker. She leered at him with interest.

 "You know," she started shyly. "If you handle a bat, you should take it with its head down. Because it's the natural position for bats."

 "Thanks," Ronald sighed. "Very important fact! Do you know, a bat is able to tear a tube out of a trachea?"

 "Yeah, or to drop a plate with a culture, eh?"

 They heard, turned back and saw a tubby man.

 "And bats can't type, can they?" he continued.

 "Look, pal, it's very serious!" Ronald got interested. "Would you come with me? We've gotta talk!"

 "Can I come too?" Diana's lips trembled, she asked it suddenly even for herself. The men stared at her, and she became confused.

 "Go to a some bar," Bennett replied sternly. "We have business to attend to, no time for whores now."

 Diana gasped.

 "Why not?" the fat man grinned. "It depends on the price."

 Diana kept silent. Suddenly another girl came closer to them. It was the girl who followed Bennett.

 "Males!" she snorted. "Why did you offend her? Maybe she's just a dancer, or something."

 "Something, for sure," the ex-policeman frowned. "I've seen too many girls like her! Look, I'm a professional! I can recognize an occupation!" He addressed the new girl: "You're a reporter, aren't you?"

 "Yes," she smiled.

 "You," Ronald turned toward the tubby man. "You're some scientist, correct?"

 He slightly bowed. Everybody looked at Diana, and she wept.

 "Okay," Bennett shrugged his shoulders. "No matter! Here is my address. Let's go. I think, we should get to know each other."

 "I'm with a cameraman," the reporter warned. Ronald sighed, and waved his hand.

 Cooperation

 They were sitting around the table in the living room of Bennett's apartment.

 "My name is Edward," the youth started. "I lost my girlfriend." he said with pain in his voice. "The fish injured her... And she died in the hospital."

 "I had a task to protect her," Ronald continued resolutely. "And I honestly tried to do that! A bat disconnected her. I know, it sounds stupid..."

 "No, it's not!" the fat man retorted. "I worked with these fish! Yes, they were normal. But in their intestines I found very some interesting viruses! These fish almost had no fat in their bodies. Sure, they were awfully hungry! Probably that provoked such unusual behavior."

 "Viruses?" Diana gasped. "In the intestines?! Four years ago..." she held her tongue.

 "Of course, if Thorn's plant polluted the water!" the reporter shouted angrily. "But they got away with everything! Sorry, I'm Valerie Conrad. This is my friend and helper Arthur Delmart. So, what about the bat?"

 "I saw a bat in the lab." the scientist sighed. "And someone erased the program and all information about these viruses, and even about the fish."

 They were still talking and only Diana kept silent. She knew more about the subject than all of them did. But they could not even imagine, against who they tried to fight. She decided to just wait until the talk finished.

 Diana observed the stern face of Ronald Bennett. He impressed her as nobody before. But he ignored her, and Diana did not see a way to change his opinion. The others had already left and Diana was the last one. Ronald kept silent. But Diana could not force herself to get up and leave. Suddenly she wept.

 "I don't wanna go back," she explained.

 "Oh, quit it!" Bennett frowned. "You're not a slave! I bet, you chose this way yourself!"

 "You're right, but you're wrong at the same time!" Diana screamed. "You're a cop, aren't you? You should know, some organizations allow their members to leave only after death!"

 "Have you ever heard about witness protection program?"

 "Look who's talking!" Diana stopped crying. "You were protecting that witness! And how successfully?! As I know it, she's dead now, eh?"

 "I told you how it happened!" Bennett became angry. "It was not a usual bat!"

 "I know..." Diana sighed, got up, and keeping silent she left the apartment.

 The plant

 Valerie Conrad went to the shore of the lake, and she thought for a while. The reporter had already tried to get into Thorn's plant, but the security did not allow her entry, and now Valerie decided to go to Ethier's plant.

 In the contrast of the military like discipline on Thorn's plant, here was much easier to move around. Security guards were chatting, and nobody asked her about any pass when she entered the building.

 The staff inside were also careless. She asked about the station for sewerage disposal, and the people showed her the way without any questions.

 *****

 Valerie gazed at the devices; she did not understand this information, so she wanted to write it down and ask some competent person later.

 But she heard footsteps. The reporter quickly looked around and hid nearby, in a niche. It was some laboratory worker, and he checked the devices. Valerie decided to wait.

 Suddenly she saw something moving under the ceiling. It was a bat. The animal was tearing some piping. Valerie could not resist herself, and she made a picture.

 The flash of her camera got the attention of the worker, and the bat also.

 "Hey!" the worker called to the girl. "What are you doing here?"

 "The bat!" Valerie stretched her arm to the ceiling. The animal screeched, and attacked the reporter. Not expecting that, Valerie dropped the camera. The bat shot upwards, and disappeared into the darkness. The reporter cursed and ran away.

 But she had taken just a few steps, when she heard a scream. She looked back.

 The piping sprang a leak. An awful disgusting smell made Valerie dizzy, yet that was not the worst thing. The stream became thicker and the worker shriek with pain when the liquid enveloped him.

He tried to escape, but that chemical dissolved his feet, and he collapsed and fell silent.

 Only now a shocked Valerie realized the wave of that liquid getting close.

 And she ran. She ran fast like never before, however, never before had she felt such horror. She did not look back, the smell made her sick, and Valerie fell in panic, remembering the death of the worker.

 But suddenly she saw a light at the end of the corridor, and the hope to survive gave the girl new strength, and she increased the speed of her run.

 Outside she rushed up some steps, took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air, and looked down.

 The fetid stream flowed down into the lake, making foam, and Valerie saw dead fish come to the surface of the poisoned water. The reporter understood everything. Of course, this plant would be closed. With this action, Thorn swept aside suspicions against him, and terminated evidence and the competitor at once. Yet Conrad still had no proof and had no idea, how she could get some.

 The attempts

 Valerie went to the coffee shop, took a coffee, two doughnuts and a newspaper to read while the coffee cooled down.

 She browsed through the paper and did not see a bat noiselessly fly above her cup, and drop some pill into the coffee.

 Valerie put the newspaper on the table, and then saw it. The animal hid behind a chink under the ceiling, but the reporter already noticed it, and immediately lost her appetite, recalling her visit to Ethier's plant.

 She poured the coffee from the cup to a take-out container and put her doughnuts into a paper bag, and left the shop. Near the exit she saw a homeless man. It was his usual place for begging.

The reporter smiled, and gave the bag and coffee to him, then got into her car.

 *****

 The next morning Conrad again went to that coffee shop, and was surprised to see it closed. She rang the bell. She rang for a long time. Valerie was a regular client, she and the owner of this place were friends, and Conrad was worried about her.

 Finally the owner neared the door, and opened it. Valerie came inside.

 The lights were turned off, but it was summer, and inside was not dark. Conrad saw a few people, all her well-known pals. The owner looked really upset, and close to tears.

 "What's wrong?" Valerie asked with concern.

 "Do you remember that pauper who lived near my shop?" the owner sighed. "Yesterday he died. The medics said, he got poisoned with coffee. From my shop. They closed my shop for inspection, and today the Health Commission is coming here to check around and see if they can find out how it happened."

 Deadly horror struck Conrad. She recalled the bat, her coffee, and the bag that she gave to that poor man. But she understood nobody would believe this story.

 Suddenly a loud grinding sounded outside. Everybody looked through the shop window. A truck lying on its side moved directly at the shop, broke the glass and blocked the front door. A lot of boxes fell inside. Valerie did not have time to see the contents before it caught fire, and everybody screamed with terror.

 The owner, and her husband grabbed fire extinguishers, others rushed to the back door, however, the corridor was blocked with boxes of napkins and paper towels. Conrad was amazed, she knew how the owner was careful and that this way was always clear. But not today, and now Valerie understood why.

 Among those people only Conrad was athletic enough. One man helped her to get into the ventilation. She climbed up, crawled towards the light. She kicked the fan blocking the air-vent.

The fan did not move. She heard the screaming, the heat became intolerable, Valerie felt like a turkey in an oven. She kicked and kicked, and finally that damn fan fell outside, and the reporter rushed out.

 She landed and ran to the back door. She grabbed the door-knob, it was hot, but shocked Valerie did not notice that. She threw the door wide open.

 A hot wave of scorching air knocked her down. She got up, and gazed at the flame. She realized that no one alive could survive such a fire. But suddenly a bat fell from the air vent. The animal was burnt and could not fly.

 Screaming with hate, the reporter grabbed the bat, and threw it into the flames.

 A wild howl sounded inside. A man rushed out, and ran towards Valerie. All his body was enveloped with fire. The reporter squealed and raced away as if it was a mad dog chasing her.

 The next building was a bank. Conrad burst inside, and the guard opened his mouth, to see her and the man following her. The guard blocked the entry doors, but the man, burning like a torch was already inside. He had dashed between the locked doors. The perplexed guard pushed button after the button, however, Valerie only kept her eyes on her pursuer.

 The man collapsed and finally lied still, and Conrad took a deep breath. She understood she was doomed, Thorn would not let her go. But she wanted to at least warn her partners.

 Valerie dared not to drive her own car. She was sure a bomb was inside. She rented a car and drove to the meeting.

 Love

 Once a week they had a meeting to coordinate their search, and Valerie told her friends about the attempts to kill her. It cost the lives of a lot of people, and the shocked partners listened to the reporter with worry and anger.

 "That's it!" Bennett pounded the table. "He's a murderer, and I swear, I'll die, but I'll make him stop!"

 "No, Ronald!" Diana gasped with horror. "You just can't imagine, how powerful Mrs. Thorn is! I don't want you to die!"

 "I just can't understand, why you're worrying so much about that?" Bennett shouted at her. "Do you want sex with me so much? Don't you have enough clients?"

 "Exactly!" Diana screamed with tears in her voice. "You just don't understand!" Sobbing, she ran away.

 The friends exchanged glances.

 "Oh, Ronald!" Valerie shook her head. "How could you?! Don't you see, that poor girl really loves you?!"

 Bennett did not reply. He felt guilty, and decided to be more gentle with Diana, if she ever came back.

 The murder

 When Bennett called her about a meeting, Diana could not believe her ears. His voice sounded with apologetic intonation, and the girl forgave his mistreatment at once.

 "Could you come a little bit earlier, than the others?" he asked her. "I would like to talk to you personally." He was afraid she would misunderstand that phrase, and he emphasized. "We'll meet outside. Do you know the bench, next to my building? Let's meet there, okay?"

 *****

 Valerie saw Ronald and Diana sitting side-by-side on the bench, and she smiled. The reporter opened the window, and wanted to call her friends, but suddenly a bat flew into the car and scratched her face.

 Forgetting everything, Valerie swung her arms. The car turned sharply, and crashed into a pump at a gas station. The neighboring buildings shook from explosion.

 Ronald and Diana ran towards the fire.

 "Look!" Bennett shouted. Diana gasped. They saw a bat fly away.

 "Murderer..." Diana wanted to confide to him. But Thorn had just showed his Power again, and the girl felt hopeless horror.

Arthur Delmart

 Valerie's death shocked the cameraman more than he expected. They were not lovers, they were just good friends and partners. And now Arthur could not understand why he felt such grief.

 *****

 He spied on all delivery trucks which served the Thorn's mansion. And he chose one driver. That guy, Joe was his name, looked naive. Delmart became his pal, and twice in a week they would meet at a local bar.

 All that Delmart needed was information, and an opportunity to get into the any of the Thorn's buildings. Yet while Valerie was alive he did not risk doing that because he knew his brave partner would then go with him, and it was deadly dangerous. Now, he decided to act.

 At their next meeting he drugged Joe and drove him to a motel. Delmart tied the driver and took his uniform-jacket and his name tag.

 *****

 Maybe if he delivered that stuff to the main building the security would pay more attention, but building B was a technical building and was guarded with much less effort.

 Lucky for Delmart, the guard escorting him was new. He was worried and conscientiously checked his notes.

 "Unload here!" he pointed to a place near the driveway. Arthur started his work, but suddenly Bill Hamelin came from the building and ordered the goods brought inside the laboratory. He made Arthur's task even easier, and an excited Delmart did not feel the heaviness of these boxes. He saw a cage in the laboratory, he saw bats inside, and he quickly checked the way to reach that place.

The easiest way was through the ventilation system.

 When the guard showed him where to park the truck and left Arthur checked his camera, went to building B, walked around, saw the air vent, and climbed up.

 *****

He had just started to tape the cage when he heard a squeak. He looked back and saw a bat. And it started to scratch and bite his leg. He tried to kick it, but suddenly another bat attacked him from the front. He struggled, but the small animals were agile and persisted, and he felt despair. Swinging his arms and legs like a madman, Arthur lost all his care. He broke through the ventilation and fell down. He hit himself against a corner of the cage and lost consciousness.

 *****

 When he opened his eyes he found himself lying on his back on some table. His legs and arms were cuffed to its edges. Bill Hamelin stood near him and the cameraman saw Thorn sitting in a chair.

 "Mmmmm." Damien shook his head. "How touching! The noble knight came to avenge his beautiful Lady, eh?"

 Delmart did not reply. He was never a good speaker. But he made an effort and asked: "Why are your bats so smart?"

 Bill Hamelin glanced at his Master, and Thorn nodded. Bill grinned, and turned the light off. He went to his projector.

 "Have you ever thought, why there are stories about people who turned into bats? Not to owls, for example, eh? First of all, bats are mammals. Here is the skeleton of a bat. And here's a human skeleton. They look pretty similar, eh?" Bill typed on his computer. Some bones on the pictures became longer, some shorter. Arthur felt how his hair stood on end.

 "You will sense it yourself!" Bill laughed. "A few drops, and you turn into a bat in about twenty-four hours!"

 "I strongly recommend you come to this place after it happens," Damien snored. "It's the only way to become human again."

 The lights were turned on. Thorn's guards came to Arthur, and poured some liquid in his mouth. After they forced him to drink a few bottles of beer. Then they dragged him out of the territory, threw him outside, and closed the gates.

 Distracted with anger Delmart flung himself at the fence, he grabbed the bars, he shouted and damned Thorn and all his people. The guards laughed. The dogs barked and tried to bite him. He recalled that he did not have much time, and he ran.

 *****

 "I know, it sounds fantastic," he stared at the doctor with hope. "Please, do a test! Do something! Stop that process! I don't want to turn into a bat!" and he wept.

 "Don't worry! I believe you," the doctor replied calmly. He came close, checked him out, and gave him an injection. Suddenly, the orderlies entered the ward. They grabbed the cameraman, and quickly tied him before he understood that was going on.

 "Sorry, friend," said the doctor. "You went to the wrong hospital. This is the Poison Control Center not a mental institution."

 *****

 The ambulance was stuck in a traffic jam. They turned on the siren and a car started to make way. EMTs looked at their ward with indifference. Not for the first time had they delivered an insane person. Nothing unusual. They were quietly talking with each other when they heard a strange sound. It was a plaintive squeak.

 The paramedics noticed that the patient had disappeared. They gasped and started to look over the straitjacket. One EMT saw a bat, cursed, caught it, and threw it out of the vehicle, and paramedics continued their search inside the car.

 The bat shot upwards. Arthur Delmart was still thinking as human, and that was the worst part. He flew to Bennett's apartment. He hoped, his friends somehow would help him.

 *****

 Ronald Bennett was with Diana, they were walking along his building and talking. Diana had not felt happy for a long time. And now it was a sense of coming back to life. Her beloved Ronald was next to her, he listened to her, asked and replied, and the girl was beaming like a sun.

 Suddenly she saw a bat flying directly towards them. Diana gasped, but Ronald was a professional. He grabbed his gun, and killed the bat instantly. He dumped the dead animal into the first trash can.

 "They thought, they could get me so easy!" he addressed Diana.

 "Oh, Ronald!" the girl smiled with admiration. "You're the best!"

 *****

A few days later, they read that the body of Arthur Delmart was found in the city dump. He was killed by shot to his head. But his friends and partners could not even imagine how that had happened.

©2000 by Lily Alex

This novel is for sale, however you can read e-version for free at the site: http://www.crosswinds.net/~book4you/text.html
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