SpaceHorrors: "Misunderstood"

DeathBringers were created to kill. They only kill now because of that creation.

     “Earth isn’t the only planet in the universe that has classic horror villains that are misunderstood. Almost every Planet has them. Especially the heavily populated Planets. Are they like ours here on Earth? Yes and no. There are a lot of similarities to ours, but they aren’t called the same as ours,” SpaceFaction stopped to think about what he wanted to say next.

     “Do you know what the biggest horror villain that is misunderstood? It isn’t one from Earth. It’s one that will end up on every planet, spaceship, space station, etc. that has a population on it. That’s right, I’m talking about DeathBringers. The Novel and the Movie Introduction introducing the television series will explain what you are about to read,” SpaceFaction started smiling.

SpaceHorrors:
“Misunderstood”

     His eyes could move from side to side and up and down to show wonder, shock, and fear, but he couldn’t move his head or the rest of his body. He was frozen where he stood. Not literally frozen, but for what was about to happen to him he was frozen.

     A DeathBringer was about to kill him. He could see him in front of him or to his side slightly. So, when he placed his hand slightly in front of his chest, he could see it barely. This victim could see the clear cylinder enter his chest. A slight jerking reaction probably meant he could feel it enter his back too.

     Almost instantly an always-changing colored liquid started coming out of his body. A few seconds later the screaming started. It didn’t last too long, though. Within a minute or two the screaming stopped because the colored liquid was coming out of his mouth, nose, ears, etc.

     Only the screaming didn’t stop. It was still coming, but it was coming from some Young Ones watching this victim being killed by a DeathBringer. The Young Ones ranged in age from about ten to sixteen, and most of the screaming was coming from the younger ones.

##

     Sitting in seats, fifteen seats per row, sat about three hundred Young Ones. In front of them stood a large monitor showing the killing of an adult. Suddenly, that image disappeared. Now that monitor was white. Manthun walked in front of the Young Ones and faced them.

     “What you just saw was a DeathBringer killing an adult.” Manthun slowly looked around at the Young Ones in that large room. “Any questions or comments about what you have been watching.”

     A female Young One about thirteen stood up. She tapped the inside of her right ear so she could be heard by Manthun and everyone else there. “Why are you showing us this? Isn’t there some kind of a rule, law, or ordinance that is supposed to prevent you from showing us something like this?”

     “DeathBringers are misunderstood. Yes, they kill adults, but it’s not their fault that they do it. They have no choice. Not to survive like most of us adults still believe. DeathBringers don’t feed on adults. They kill us because they have to do it.”

     “There are rules, laws, and ordinances to stop us from telling you this. We have chosen not to follow them.”

##

     Manthun entered that large room with the last of the Young Ones. As they took their seats, he walked up to stand in front of them. “Okay, now that we are done eating for today let’s get back to what we were talking about.”

     “About fourteen thousand years two planets were at war with each other. It has been so long ago most of the universe doesn’t remember the names of these planets or where they were in the universe.”

     “All we know is that they had been at war for several hundred years, and both planets were almost destroyed. Someone had to do something. One of the planets did do something. They created duplicates of the other planet. Those duplicates were supposed to kill their leaders.”

     Manthun started pacing up and down the rows of Young Ones. “Something went wrong. Not only did they kill the leaders, but they killed every adult on it. Then they killed every adult on the planet that created them.”

     “After killing every adult on these planets, they ventured out to kill every adult in the universe. Not because they wanted to do it, but because they were created to kill them.”

##

     “For about two thousand years, that is what they did.” Manthun continued after a few minutes. “They killed adults. Then suddenly they disappeared. No One knows why. Now they are back, and they are killing again.”

     Manthun stopped pacing and slowly looked around that room at the Young Ones. “That’s why I’m talking to you about them. Maybe the rest of Jessum doesn’t want to tell their Young Ones about DeathBringers, but here in our part of Jessum, we do. Especially, now that our DeathBringer Watchers say one is heading toward us right now.”

     “We don’t know why they are coming here, but there is a very good chance you will see them. Of course, us adults will try to prevent you from seeing anything, but we want you to be read if we can’t do it.”

     Just then the large monitor behind Manthun came back on to show a Jessum running through a wooded area. He kept glancing behind him at the DeathBringer following him. “Are you about to show us another killing?” A male Young One around fourteen asked after standing up.

     “I’m not doing this. I don’t know who is or why.”

##

     The newest victim of a DeathBringer stopped to look at him. At first, he didn’t see him. When he did, he backed into a tree and froze. Physically, he hadn’t been frozen yet, but personally he was. He couldn’t move. All he could do was stare at that DeathBringer.

     Slowly, that DeathBringer walked up to him. When he got there, he placed a palm on his chest. That froze him. Then he moved him away from his tree to start killing him. That DeathBringer placed a palm slightly away from his chest and his back. A thin clear cylinder came out of his palms to connect to his victim.

     Almost instantly the killing began. It started with the always-changing colored liquid coming through those cylinders. Then the screaming began. The screaming only lasted a few minutes before the liquid started coming out of his mouth, nose, ears, etc.

     For the next twenty minutes, that’s all those Young Ones saw. Then suddenly it was over. The only thing left was for the dust and dirt in the form of that victim to appear around him. A few seconds later that form became a dust and dirt mound.

####

     Just then that large monitor became a white monitor again. “Do any of you know why that victim became a victim of that DeathBringer?”

     Several Young Ones stood up, but most sat back down. Only a female around eleven remained. “It’s because he froze before the DeathBringer could freeze him.”

     “No, that isn’t the reason. The reason why he became a victim was because he was alone. If he had been with other Jessums he wouldn’t have been a victim.”

     “DeathBringers don’t like to kill groups of adults. Of course, they can do it, but they don’t like doing it. Most DeathBringers prefer only to kill individuals.”

     Slowly, Manthun looked around at the Young Ones there. “Do you have any other questions or comments about what we just saw?”

     As the female around eleven sat down, a male about sixteen stood up. “What happens after they become a mound?”

     “That’s a very good question. It all depends on where it happens. If it’s outdoors and there is wind, it blows away, but if there isn’t any wind then it gets absorbed into the ground. As for if it happens indoors, it just remains a mound of dirt and dust.”

##

     “Does anyone else have any questions or comments about DeathBringers?” Slowly, Manthun looked all around him. Several Young Ones stood up. He pointed at a male around twelve or thirteen.

     The other Young Ones sat back down. “I do. I’m happy that I’m not a victim, but I’m wondering why DeathBringers don’t kill Young Ones.”

     “Another good question. The answer is we don’t know why they don’t kill Young Ones too. A lot of us think it’s because they were created to kill Leaders and Fighters who were adults. When they started killing everyone in the universe, they only went after adults because that is what they have been created to do.”

     “That’s somewhat good to hear,” the same male said. “I just turned thirteen. That means I still have twenty-one years before I become an adult.”

     Manthun dropped his head slightly. “Unfortunately, it does mean you could be a victim too. It doesn’t matter how young you are, if you’re an adult, they can kill you.”

     “I think that’s enough learning for today. We will continue talking about DeathBringers tomorrow.” All the Young Ones got up and started leaving.

##

     “Okay, everyone let’s get started.” Almost instantly all the chattering among the Young Ones stopped. Now they faced Manthun standing in front of them.

     Manthun slowly looked at the Young Ones there. “When we were last here, we were talking about DeathBringers. Let’s continue doing that.”

     “Any more questions and comments about DeathBringers?” almost all the Young Ones stood up. Manthun pointed at a female around sixteen.

     “We know a lot more about DeathBringers than you think we know. Maybe not how they kill exactly, but we do know a lot. What we don’t know is why they were created to kill. We have been hearing things that they were created not to kill but to become Insiders to help the creators win that war. Is that true, and if so, what went wrong?”

     Manthun didn’t say anything at first. Probably because he didn’t know what to say. “From what little we know about what happened back then, they were created to be Insiders, but one of the creators wanted them to do more than be an Insider. They wanted them to kill them too. Why they wanted to kill the rest of the universe, we don’t know.”

##

     Before Manthun could ask ‘if there were any more questions or comments’ several Young Ones stood up. Manthun pointed to a male about ten. “Is there a way to stop a DeathBringer from killing someone?”

     “There is, and it has been done numerous times, but in the end, it was a life worse than death. Because their insides were nothing but liquid now, they were in almost constant pain. Killing them was the only way to stop that pain from happening.”

     “Think we have time for one more question before we take some time to relax a little. I know I need it.”

     Manthun pointed to a female Young One about twelve after several stood up. The others sat back down. “Is there anyone who knows what really happened with the creation of these DeathBringers?”

     “Supposedly, there is one individual who knows it all. They just haven’t decided to tell everyone about it yet.”

     Just then the entrance slid open and a DeathBringer walked into that room. Quickly, a lot of the Young Ones got up and ran to surround Manthun. Manthun was a little short for a normal adult on Jessum. So, those Young Ones could easily protect him from that DeathBringer.

##

     “Don’t worry, I’m not here to kill anyone. If I were you would not be able to stop me. I may not choose to kill Young Ones, but I can push them out of my way.”

     Quite a few of the Young Ones made comments about that DeathBringer being able to speak. They came out in several different ways, but they were all saying the same thing: ‘DeathBringers can talk!’

     “Yes, we can speak. We don’t do it most of the time, and before you ask me how I know your language, I don’t. I’m speaking my language, but you are hearing your language coming out of my mouth. No, I don’t know how we do that.”

     The next group of questions and comments were: ‘If you’re not here to kill Manthun, then why are you here.’

     “I’m here to thank him. DeathBringers as the universe likes to call us are the most misunderstood killers in the universe. I heard you were telling your Young Ones about it, and I wanted to come and thank you for doing it.”

     “I know most adults don’t think their Young Ones should know about us, but I agree with you. They should know what we do isn’t our fault.”

Word Count = 1,988