After writing the first six chapters in the story of Slamdance the Warrior Boomer, I decided to try something a little different. This is a horror piece. It's been floating around in my brain for a while, and it's born of my dissatisfaction over the treatment of a certain movie creature in recent sequels. See if you can guess which one it is - I'm not sure how obvious I'm going to make it.

If you want to know what this creature is, wait until the end. You can skip ahead, but A) it's much scarier when your imagination starts filling in the blanks, and B) it's fun to guess...

"I'm not going to open that door!"

"Come on, man! We have to get out of here now!"

"Yeah, that shuttle won't wait forever."

The room is small, maybe six feet by five. It got cramped ages ago. Me, McTarrant and Foley have been inside it for maybe six hours.

"Johnson, please. Just open the door. I don't want to be stuck here until the next shuttle comes."

"It could be on the other side of the complex by now!"

"Shut up, Foley! Do you want to bring it back?"

We're whispering. Hoarse, parched throats gasping at each other across a space measurable in inches.

The walls were white once. Now they're a grimy grey. They're pressing in on us. There are no windows.

"I know it's out there, it's waiting, and I am not opening the door."

"What - it's waiting? For us? Bull! It could come in here and kill all three of us while we argue!"

"He's right, Johnson. It could have done us hours ago."

The power is gone. The only light we have is a small electric lamp. It sits amidst us, thowing ghoulish shadows everywhere.

"Please, guys, it's too damned risky. Let's just wait a little longer."

"What for? Our only way off this rock is leaving in a few minutes! We get out of this room now, we can get out of here!"

There is a distant rumbling noise. I know what it is, what it represents, how it will fade and disappear soon. I want to go to it. I want to go to it so much it aches inside me.

"Why are we even standing here talking about it?"

"It's not safe. I am not opening the door."

The door is electrically powered. It can't be forced open. I have the key.

"Open the door."

"Open the door, Johnson."

"Open. The. Door."

These men are my friends. I knew them before we came here. The light casts unnatural shadows on their faces. Their eyes glitter. Their skin shines with sweat. They lean forward toward me, over me. I wonder how I must look to them.

"No."

"What?"

"No."

I can't explain it to them. How can I? They'll think me mad, or they'll risk it anyway. I can't let them leave...

"I must be hearing things. What did you say?"

"I am not opeing that door. That's final."

I'm lying on my back. My jaw hurts. I can feel hands on me, holding me down, roughly searching me. I kick, throw my fists.

"AGH!"

"- you-"

The key is in Foley's hand. I turn over and around and watch him as he rushes to the door, McTarrant behind him. He puts it into the lock, and the door opens, and Foley steps out, and it must have been waiting for him, all that time, we sat there and whispered, and it was just outside the door waiting for Foley or McTarrant or me, and he goes straight to it, it's right there outside the door, there's nowhere else he can go, and I can see it reach for him, it's embracing him like some long lost blind idiot lover, the light is bad and he's in front of it, but I can see it, and the door is closing, there's no scream, no blood, just the door closing and then it's gone and Foley's gone and McTaggart's just standing there, looking at the door, he's not moving, and he and I both know Foley had the key in his hand.

"We can't leave."

"It's over. We can't get out of this room."

"Do you think..."

"What?"

"Do you think it'll come for us?"

"I don't know..."

"It'll come for us, won't it?"

"I don't know... Maybe for me..."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't think it'll come for you, McTarrant..."

"What the he... Oh..."

"I'll be the only one it wants."

"Oh. Augh. Uh. Oh."

"You're already dead, you know."

"Unh. Auuuugh, it hurts."

"On the other hand, it might just leave me here with you."

"AUGH! AAAAAAAA! Oh, PLEASE!"

"Nothing like fresh food for a newborn..."

So What Is It?