Creepy Crawlies

Beneath Her Skin

The homecoming was everything Jim had hoped for. As Lisa stepped off the plane, worn but glowing, he wrapped her in an embrace. Six months apart felt like six years, yet she looked more radiant than the day she had left. Her skin was bronzed, her auburn hair sleek and shiny. The only noticeable change was lurking somewhere behind her hazel eyes—a shadow he couldn’t place.

“I missed you so much” she murmured into his shoulder.

That night, as moonlight filtered into their bedroom, he studied her face on the pillow beside him. The same cute sprinkling of freckles, the same full lips. So why did something feel off? Tracing his finger down her arm, he shivered at the strange texture...almost slippery. She was already asleep. He nestled closer, breathing in her warmth, and gradually drifted off.

The next evening after dinner, Jim headed upstairs while Lisa tidied up. Passing the spare room, he paused. Was that a soft scuttling noise? He carefully turned the knob and peered inside. Only the usual furniture stared back. Yet when he glanced at the closet door, a thin crack of light glowed from within. Heart quickening, he crept toward it. Another scuttle sent him hurtling back into the hall, gasping.

“Everything okay, hun?” Lisa called up.

“Y-yes. Thought I heard something, that’s all.” Jim chuckled anxiously.

Over the next days, suspicion grew. He noticed how voracious Lisa’s appetite had become. Insatiable, even. The hazel hue of her eyes seemed to darken. And the temperature of her body, once furnace-hot, now felt chilled—her skin clammy as he held her at night.

He began working longer hours, finding excuses not to come home until she was asleep. Until one night, arriving past midnight, he couldn’t resist inspecting the spare room again. With bated breath, he swung open the door. His heart seized in terror.

There in the moonlight sat Lisa on the edge of the bed—slowly peeling the skin from her face. Only instead of muscle and sinew below, there was a grotesque brown exoskeleton, bulbous eyes gleaming. Rickety antennae twitched. Delicately, almost sensually, the creature unwound the fleshy mask from its head. It dropped the Lisa face to the floor with a sickly splat.

Jim stumbled back in horror. The thing’s antennae pricked. With an ungodly screech, it swiveled towards him, sightless obsidian orbs gaping hungrily. It began unfolding itself from the naked body, antennae probing the air. Wings buzzed to life from beneath the shoulder blades. It's body, now free from its human guide, began to contract and twist, it's body growing in size, turning into a giant fly. Jim turned and fled downstairs.

He dove into the darkness just as a heavy thud shook the floor above. The thud became thunderous footsteps, the stairwell creaking violently. Slamming across the den, Jim cranked opened the front door—only to find it coated in a thick, ropy glue. He strained to pull it loose, panic rising. The scuttling grew deafeningly loud overhead. Then...silence.

His blood turned to ice as a harsh buzzing filled his ears. Heart lurching, he wheeled around to see the winged beast hovering at the top of the stairs. It hissed, gnashing hungry pincers. Then it spied its gelatinous secretions sealing the exit and emitted an ear-splitting shriek of victory.

As the monstrosity dove at him, Jim glimpsed a bulge in its gullet—a pulsating egg sac. Revulsion choked him. It intended to implant him with its vile spawn. He’d be devoured from inside out!

Adrenaline firing through every cell, Jim lunged past the creature into the kitchen. It impacted the banister with a crunch before letting loose an unearthly wail. Jim seized the heavy iron skillet off the stove. As the blistering shriek hounded him, he dropped low behind the kitchen island, chest heaving, gripping the skillet before him.

The furious buzzing grew deafening once more. Then the beast erupted up from behind the counter, piercing mouth agape, wings ablaze. Jim swung with all his might, metal clanging against exoskeleton. The creature smashed sideways into the lower cabinets. Jim staggered up, wielding the skillet overhead as the vile thing righted itself, oozing yellow pus from its carapace.

With a deranged bellow, Jim brought the skillet down again and again while the monster thrashed and gurgled. Ichor spewed across the tile. At last the fiend gave a bubbling death rattle before falling still, Its maw frozen agape, hellish eyes glazed. 

Sobbing for breath, Jim slowly registered what lay oozing before him. The swollen egg sac had burst. Curled larvae spilled out beside the fractured exoskeleton. Bile scorched his throat. The creature had already used Lisa, hollowed her out...worn her very skin! Retching uncontrollably, he fled the revolting scene.

He spent the night huddled on the porch, skillet clutched in bloodless knuckles. The first copper light of dawn finally allowed him to inch inside. The slithering piles of larvae were motionless. Bending gingerly, he scraped them into a trash bag along with the collapsed husk. As he straightened, his reflection in the chrome toaster stopped him cold.

How many more were out there, wearing trusting faces, nestled in the beds of the innocent?