The Little Girl

Alexander Atreides. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, he had a simple upbringing. He joined the Marines after high school to raise money to attend college. After the military, he attended college at Georgia Tech, and received a bachelor’s degree in computer science. After graduating college, he went on to marry his high school love, Linda. Alexander and Linda moved into a small house in the suburbs south of Atlanta, settled down, and had a baby girl, Alexis.
Alexander currently lives alone, in a small apartment building on the lower-east side of Atlanta. His daughter and wife both deceased. It has been one year since it all happened……….

Alex awoke one Monday morning, just the same as he did the previous Monday morning. He kissed his wife on the cheek, slowly pulled on some clothes, and stumbled downstairs to attain some coffee from the machine. Alex loved technology. He had programmed his coffee machine to have a fresh pot brewed at exactly 6:15 each weekday morning.
As he poured himself a cup of the dark life-sustaining substance, Alex couldn’t help but notice the foul smell emanating from the small garbage pail in the corner of his kitchen. He ignored it, deducing that last night’s leftovers were ripening faster than usual. Alex sat down at his kitchen table, coffee cup in hand, and casually thumbed through the copy of “People” lying in the middle of it. Alex came to a very odd page in the middle of the magazine, the top corner of the page had been ripped out, and a strange connect the dots type picture in the shape of a rectangle with a single dot in the middle of it, took up the rest of the page. Alex simply shrugged, thinking it a new slang ad targeting youth, and closed the magazine.
Alex knocked back a few more swigs of his coffee before the smell of the garbage finally overwhelmed his curiosity. He stood from his chair, walked over to the garbage container, and flipped the lid back, exposing the smell’s source. Alex stumbled back, his stomach gurgling, his mouth souring, as the light hit what was the source of the smell. His three-year-old Persian, half-decayed, lay resting on the top of last night’s ripening dinner leftovers.
Alex leapt forward, shutting the lid, and again stumbled backwards, falling into another chair by his kitchen table. His head tumbled over itself, pondering how his cat, which was completely healthy last night, could end up in that garbage, at least half of it anyway. Alex’s mind’s thoughts were cut short, as his three-year-old daughter stumbled into the kitchen, a bloodstained teddy bear in tow. Alex looked down at his daughter, and then to the stuffed animal, and his mind staggered again.
“Hi daddy,” murmured a frowning Alexis. “Something bad happened to Benson. Princess was being mean to him, and she even tried to eat him daddy! Bad, bad kitty!”
Alexis looked down at her bear. “She won’t be able to hurt you anymore will she, Benson?”
Alex regained his bearings, and as calmly as he could, asked Alexis some questions. “Hey sweetie, what happened to Princess?” Alex asked Alexis.
“She is sleeping.”
“Sweetie, why is she sleeping?”
“Because she tried to hurt Benson.”
“Who made Princess sleep?”
“I did daddy.”
Yet another bullet to the brain. Alex couldn’t begin to fathom what his daughter had just told him.
“Sweetie, you stay right there, I’m going to go talk to your mommy,” stammered a shaking Alex. “Everything’s gotta be a dream, it’s gotta be.”
“Oh, mommy is sleeping too,” squealed a now giggling Alexis. “Benson told me she don’t like him. Why don’t mommy like Benson, daddy?”
“Mm… mommy… mommy is… sleeping?” asked Alex. “Mommy is sleeping. Like Princess?!”
“Yes daddy, what’s the matter? Why are you shaking daddy? You don’t like Benson either?”
“Give me that god damned bear!” screamed a violent Alex. “I’ll show Benson who doesn’t like him!”
“No!” screamed Alexis, her voice now extremely deep and gruff. “This fucking bear means nothing! You’re the next one to sleep!”
Alexis lunged at Alex, her eyes glowing a dark red, as she swung her teddy bear at Alex’s face. Alex caught Alexis in the air, and threw her backwards. She landed in the entry-way to the living room with a loud crack. Alexis started crying, her voice again that of a small girl, and curled into a ball. Alex rushed over to her.
“Alexis!” stammered Alex. “Daddy didn’t mean it sweetheart, I had a bad vision, that’s all dear. Please be ok.”
“Oh,” replied Alexis, again in a deep, gruff voice. “I’m ok, but you won’t be!”
Alexis turned over, grasping at something on the back of her teddy bear. Alex fell backwards, gasping at his little girl, who had just brandished a small knife from inside the stuffing of the teddy bear. Alex’s gasp was short-lived, however, as Alexis dove forward again, the small blade leading her charge. Alex leaned backwards, and caught Alexis’s arm at the wrist, the tip of the blade nearly touching his stomach. He flipped her wrist around, and then down, forcing the knife to the ground, and also a child’s scream, as tears rolled down her face. Alex quickly let go of Alexis’s wrist, and fell to his knees, sobbing. The childish sobbing of Alexis caused Alex to look up, a look of confusion was on Alexis’s face as she grasped her wrist.
“What’s going on daddy?” cried Alexis. “Why are you hurting me daddy?”
Alex tried to stammer out an answer, but the words just wouldn’t come out. He could only look down at his hands, the hands that nearly broke the wrist of his little girl.
“Bad move!” screamed Alexis, her voice again deep, her eyes again a deep, glowing red. “Just die quick, you sonuva bitch! The others did!”
Alex looked up, only in time to see the small knife plunge into his shoulder. Alex fell grasping the hilt of the blade. He looked up to his daughter, who was suddenly not his daughter anymore. All that remained of his little girl was half of her original face, the rest, decomposed, just like Princess.
“You die now!” screamed the monster that now took the place of his daughter. “I will soon walk as you!”
The monstrosity leaned down, to grab at the knife. Alex quickly sat up, grabbed its arm, and spun it around.
“Whatever of you is still alive in there Alexis, daddy’s sorry!” Alex screamed, as he wrapped a forearm around the thing’s neck.
Alex grasped, and brought his arm back across, bringing the monster’s head with it. The monster jerked violently, then fell still, it’s neck, snapped. Alex let go of the thing, and again fell back, crying. A loud knocking rang out form Alex’s front door. Alex looked up, helplessly, at the door.
“No more!” screamed Alex. “No more! Let me wake up! For the love of God, let me wake up!”
The door shattered inward, a man, dressed fully in black, walked into the living room.
“It seems I have come to late,” stated the man, grimly. “Sleep well my friend, you will know the answers to all soon enough.”
The man raised a small pistol, and fired. A small dart flew out of the chamber, and lodged itself in Alex’s neck. He tried to gurgle a response as he fell to the ground, but there was only darkness.