Storymania - The Trouble With Carla by Darcy K Metz

The Trouble With Carla
Darcy K Metz

"Hey Carla, babe, how's about another rye and coke with a double piece of you," remarks Chris sitting at the bar as Carla prepares drinks on the other side. "You ought to come home with me tonight instead of the unemployed trash you're usually with."

"Oh I see, you mean employed lumberjack trash like yourself," answers Carla in her thick Australian accent as she stares into the jug filling up with foamy slop draft.

"I told you before, I got skills, I drive skidders, making real coin," replies Chris with a grin on his wide stubble encrusted face.

"Right. That's why you drive that imitation monster truck. Anyway, it's not like you don't get enough young tail around here. What do you want a 39 year old for anyway."

"Well, you know I'm headin' back up the Nass valley tomorrow for a couple weeks work. Hookin' up with you'll do me lotsa good, keep the ugly guys up there from startin' to look pretty." Chris laughs as he says this. He wins a slight grin from Carla as she walks around the bar to approach him. "All right, I'm off at midnight, I'll meet you at your place. Don't get to wasted on me," she instructs as she stands beside him with a tray full of various drinks.

Chris looks at her with a mixed expression of surprise and achievement. He then adds, "D'ya know where my place is?"

"I'll follow Big Foot home," Carla remarks as if stating the obvious.

"Follow what home?" Chris asks with a complete look of puzzlement.

"Your ugly fucking truck you idiot." Carla answers with a shake of her head as she walks away from him to serve her customers.

"Oh ya, cause of the big tires. Good fuckin' truck though!" Chris says to her with a slightly raised voice with the intent of her hearing him.

After midnight Carla follows Chris home. Amazingly his driving appeared that of a sober person. They wasted no time in getting down to the business they had come for, not even a word was exchanged. After about thirty minutes into it, Carla goes into a frenzy. Chris's huge frame practically covers Carla's 1.70 meters, 65 Kg's. He is thrusting into her quite hard, he doesn't feel much through the alcohol that has numbed his senses some. Sweat completely covers the both of them, the air is filled with both the stink and the fluid sounds of sex. Carla's medium length curly brown hair sticks all over her face as sweat drips from Chris' curly hair onto her forehead.

"Come on! Faster.....harder!" Carla grunts, moving her body equally as hard towards Chris'. Suddenly her whole body stiffens and she digs her nails deep into his thick back, pulling hard across, tearing the skin quite deeply, immediately drawing blood. At the exact same time she lifts her head and bites hard onto the front of his shoulder, again drawing blood. The taste in her mouth adds to ecstasy and makes her even wilder. But before she can do anything else, Chris is just as quick to react. He grabs her wrists and easily forces them down by her head and holds them there with one hand. With his free hand he grabs her forehead and pries her away.

"Crazy fucking bitch! What the fucks wrong with you!" yells out Chris as he gets up off of her. Carla jumps up at him and hits him hard in the throat. Chris retaliates by punching her hard in the chest, severely winding her, she hits the floor hard with a yelp of pain. "Get your clothes on and get the fuck out you stupid whore, before I really hurt you." Chris grabs a pair of sweat pants from the floor and puts them on as Carla is on all fours on the floor trying to get in a good breath. Her mind begins to clear and she leave his place after a few minutes.

II

The next day Carla sleeps late and notices that it hurts some when she breathes. It was definitely a harder night than she anticipated: she can feel that as she walks to work. Before she begins her shift, she notices an odd looking couple, a man and a woman she has never seen in here before. The man is quite an impressive specimen, he looks to be well over six feet tall, he has very broad shoulders and a large neck. He has no hair on the top of his head and very little brown hair around that. He has a handsome, thick brown beard on his nearly square face. His eyes are rather deep set and he look barely thirty years old. His female companion looks Hispanic; she has beautiful straight, long dark hair which perfectly complements her bronze skin.

The man is talking quietly to the woman who appears to be surveying her surroundings. Then she says something to the large man and points slightly with her chin in Carla's direction. The man also turns his attention towards Carla then motions for her to approach them. "I don't start for another 45 minutes," Carla says blankly as she approaches the couple at the table.

"That is quite all right, we already have been served," says the bearded man in a very pleasant demeanor, "I thought that we might have a chat is all."

"Really. And why should I care what you have to say?" asks Carla in a somewhat annoyed voice.

"Because we have something important to discuss with you," replies the Hispanic woman.

"I don't even fucking know you people, never ever seen you here. How the hell can you have anything important to say?" Carla says with a slightly louder voice, getting somewhat angry.

"Carla, there is no need to get upset or cause a scene," smiles the man with the beard.

"Fuck you. I'll get upset if I fucking feel like it. Shit, who are you anyway?" asks Carla growing more impatient.

"Please join us," again the man with the beard remains calm and pleasant as he pulls the extra chair out for her. "Oh how courteous of you!" Carla says in a mocking tone with a real sour expression.

"Please stop acting like a fool and sit down with us." The words ring loud in Carla's head. She is stunned, she knows the words are not her own thoughts, they don't even come from her. She stairs in disbelief at the woman. The strange woman's eyebrows raise as she stares back at Carla. Carla sits down with them, her eyes threatening and fixed on the woman. The man sitting with the woman begins to speak as Carla stares down the woman.

"Please hear me out. My name is Conrad Michaels and this is my wife Irene Spinoza. We have come up from Seattle to see you. Since we don't need anyone to overhear us, you're going to hear the important information that we have for you the same way Irene just told you to sit down. We need you remain calm, and listen carefully to what we have to say before you react," instructs Conrad Michaels.

"Okay, I'm listening," responds Carla as she looks towards Conrad.

"We have come to know a lot about you recently. We know all about your past and why you really left Australia a year and a half ago. You are a very dangerous woman even though that is through no fault of your own." Conrad says, then he looks towards Irene.

Irene continues the conversation directly into Carla's mind: "We know about the deaths of your entire family and how you who killed them. Somehow you were transformed into a very strong and violent being and that you black out when in this state. A short time after that you remembered what you had done through dreams and flashbacks. Then you moved here to Terrace, B.C. to live with your sister Melanie."

Carla stares at them with trepidation. "How can you know this?" Carla asks without regard to if they are finished speaking or not. "We were just getting to that," replies Conrad. "There is a man who knows everything about you and why you are like this. He also has information about Irene and myself that we are eager to learn, but he won't inform us until he has everyone together."

"What the hell do you mean by everyone?" asks Carla, still staring deep into Irene's eyes. Irene responds again with her mind: "Metahumans. Humans with extraordinary characteristics unlike normal humans. You Carla dear are one of us. We were contacted by two others like us who convinced us of the truth. They were originally contacted by the man who contacted us to find you." Irene's eyes go from a confident state and gloss over with deep fear and sorrow. Carla can almost feel the fear seep into her mind from Irene's thoughts: "We need each other. We can help each other Carla. People may want to harm us or even kill us because of what we are. Please believe us. The very fact that you can hear me in your head should be enough to convince you."

Carla glances away from Irene, looks into her purse and fumbles taking a cigarette out. She lights the slightly trembling cigarette and takes a deep puff, and tries to exhale all the fear and shock that has filled her body along with the smoke. "You expect me to believe this shit. How do I know I'm not losin' it." She knows that these strange people are telling the truth, but it is not the truth she wants to hear.

"You aren't crazy Carla. I know its a lot to grasp and you're afraid, but it is the truth." This time Irene speaks directly to her. It is unmistakably the same voice that Carla heard in her head. "Fuck you lady! I grasp it fully well. And I ain't afraid of you or this ass hole." Carla yells loudly drawing attention of others in the bar in their direction. She throws over the table and runs out of the bar much too fast for a woman of nearly forty who has been smoking for twenty years. Irene's drink spills all over her as Conrad and her get up.

They definitely were unprepared for this. The man who sent them to find Carla warned them that she may be dangerous and now they fear that he was right. "Now what do we do? If we go after her she'll get more upset and surely change," Irene says to her husband. "I dread it's already too late for that, she won't be the same when we find her next," remarks Conrad as he takes out his cellular telephone from his pocket, "We'll need some help on this one."

III

It is a fairly cold mid October day in the Northwest British Columbia. It has been raining for four days straight, varying from downpour to light drizzle, but never letting up. It is already quite dark in the early evening and Carla is sitting under a huge red cedar tree not very far off of a deactivated logging road near the base of Claque Mountain. Carla has always had a love for the large sitka spruce and red cedar trees in this region of the province. Since she left Australia, this is the only place where she begins to feel almost happy and content, emptying her mind and absorbing all of the scents and sounds of the ancient forest. Today she struggles though, trying to prevent the pain and fear that is welling up inside from overwhelming her. Carla is shivering from being cold and wet since she is not well dressed for the cold, relentless rain: wearing only a thick wool sweater and denim jeans. She huddles against the centuries old red cedar, holding her knees to her chest trying to preserve both her body heat and her sanity. Her mind races through shattered images and senses that she's tried desperately to forget.

Carla sits atop her husband lying on their bed, her body burns with intense sexual energy. She feels him inside of her as she thrashes her hips around, maximizing the pleasure. Her mouth hangs open as she throws her head back, moaning deeply. Between heartbeats, Carla thrusts her hand at her husbands throat, tears it wide open, forcing her hand deep inside his neck. He makes a short choking noise as blood spits from his mouth; she feels the hard, warm vertebrae in her hand and crushes it.

Sitting under the red cedar, Carla begins crying uncontrollably, her tears indistinguishable from the rain water dripping from her soaked hair. She runs one hand through her wet, bark strewn hair and starts rocking back and forth as she cries.

Carla's teenage daughter lies asleep in her bed. Carla pounces onto the and punches the girl hard in the forehead caving in her skull, killing her instantly. Carla grabs the dead girl's right arm and tears it from the body, blood splatters on the sheets and onto the carpet. Then she bites off the hand, the taste of blood and the texture of flesh and metacarpals burn fresh in her mouth.

Carla dashes into her twelve year old son's room and blasts the air with a most hideous inhuman shriek. As her son jumps up, she is quick to pounce on him, snapping his neck in a fast twist. She violently claws at his soft belly, tearing through the flesh and muscle, and rips out his stomach organ. She bites into it, blood smears on her face, acidic fluids empty down her chin onto her naked chest. She hisses and tosses the stomach across the room, it splats leaving a bloody imprint on the wall. Carla disembowels the boy in a violent, chaotic action; blood and bits of flesh coat her arms past her elbows, smeared all over the front of her naked body.

"No!, Ahhh!" Carla screams at the top of her lungs, she continues into a very throaty, animalistic grunting and groaning. Her body goes from cold and shivering to burning and sweating in an instant. Screaming and breathing hard, Carla gets up on her knees and claws at her wool sweater, tearing it and pulling it off, tears away at her bra, snapping it and throwing it aside. All colour leaves her skin and she looks as white as milk. She tears away at the laces on her boots and removes them along with the socks. Falling forwards with her hands at the waist of her jeans, her chest and face hit the forest floor, bits of old leaves, needles and mud cling to her wet body. In a throaty frenzy she unbuttons her jeans and pulls them down. With difficulty, she gets the soaked denim to just above her knees when she suddenly freezes in place.

Carla emits a light whimper as her transformation begins to takes place. Her face is pressed one side to the muddy ground and she stares off blankly into the dark distance. Black completely fills her eyes, her skin takes on a white-green glow. She shudders up on all fours, some of the hair on her head falls off, more of it falls off as she wipes mud from her face. As she stands up she trips with a high shriek she tears away the denim with barely any effort and tears off her remaining underwear. The rain has picked up, she walks into an opening in the woods staring up at the dark cloudy sky. The water beads and runs off of her body like water on wax paper. After a few moments standing there, her entire body is washed clean, and all of her hair has fallen off. Every last bit of body hair has left her body, she stands there completely bald and glowing. Carla then runs off into the dark distance with the speed and grace of a cougar.

The next morning it is still raining and Carla is still in the glowing state. She has not slept and feels hungry. She finds herself in an clear-cut site of about ten years old. About 400 meters away she spots a white Kermode bear. The bear is a subspecies of brown bear that is distinct to the region. It is an average adult of about 200 kilograms, foraging for food to add to its fat stores before it goes off to its winter sleep.

Without hesitation, Carla runs at the bear. Startled, the bear lets out a grunt and begins a slow retreat and then stops, it lets out a quick verbal warning. Before the bear can do anything else, Carla jumps at it from the top of an old, rotting log. She wraps her arms around its thick neck, the bear easily shakes her light mass free from its body. The bear is quick to get on top of Carla, its large front paws press down on her shoulders, some of its thick three inch claws are digging into her skin. Blood begins running down her glowing white-green skin. The bear lets out a deep roar as it opens its mouth exposing its large canines; drool drops from its moth onto Carla's face. Her pure black eyes stare into the bear's small brown ones. The bear closes in on Carla's neck with its open mouth. She quickly lets out a wild shriek and bites the nose completely off the bear's face. The bear howls in agony as bright red blood begins do run pour down its face, dousing Carla's face and neck with a shower of blood. The bear is quick to get off of her and turns to run away. Carla spits the nose out of her mouth, and grabs the fleeing bear by the rear foot. She pulls with a very sudden jerking motion and dislocates the animals hind hip joint. She does the same to the other rear leg as it tries to clamber forward. With a howl of pain the animal desperately tries to crawl away. Carla grab's both of the animal's hind legs and with a violent twist, flips it onto its back. In one fast motion, Carla impales the animal with her right arm into its soft underbelly. She roots around its inside and finds its panic ridden heart, and ends its suffering.

Back in the community of Terrace, Irene and Conrad are talking with Melanie McMurray, Carla's sister, at her home. "No, Carla hasn't been home since she left for work two days ago," says Melanie in her Australian accent as she is sitting in her living room. "It's not like her to just not call at all," concern fills her face and the tone of her voice.

"We must find her before she hurts herself or someone else The state that she is in should eventually pass, hopefully she won't be lost," replies Conrad with an equal expression of concern. He and Irene have told Melanie everything that they know about Carla. Melanie doesn't really believe all of their outrageous story, but she does believe that her older sister is in danger. Just as they continue discussing events, they hear a slight crash and some noise in the backyard. Immediately the three of them exit the house and look out into the yard from the porch. They see what just barely resembles Carla peeking from behind a pine tree near the back of the yard.

"What the hell is that! That can't be her!" exclaims Melanie feverishly as she points at the glowing figure across her yard. Conrad walks down the porch and slowly across the wet lawn as rain begins to pelt at him. "Carla, it is me Conrad. I am here to help you. I don't want to hurt you, please come forward."

As he walks out across the lawn, he stops half way. He looks back at Irene and Melanie, then looks towards Carla who is coming out from behind the pine tree. She stands there looking non-threatening, her completely bald and naked body is still glowing, she is completely clean except for some pine needles clinging to her breasts and abdomen. "That is good Carla. Just remain calm, and you will be all right. You won't stay like this." persuades Conrad in a soft, encouraging tone of voice.

"Carla! I can't believe this," yells Melanie at her, "you killed them? What happened to you? Why? The children were so," she pauses as Irene quickly grabs hold of Melanie's mind. At the same time a horrible look fills Carla's face, and she leaps at Conrad. Conrad braces himself, and Carla hits him with a sold punch just of to the right of his chest, the thump is accompanied by the sound of four ribs breaking. The ribs break at both ends of where the punch landed, causing a flail chest wound. Conrad goes down instantly, grabbing at his wound; it instantly causes him breathing difficulties. "Conrad!" Irene yells as she runs towards them but stops when Carla stands up and shrieks at her.

"Carla. Please don't hurt him anymore, he is all that I've got. I need him. Stop and let us help you please." Carla shrieks even louder at being spoken to in her mind. She turns on Conrad and hits him repeatedly in the face, breaking his nose and sending blood all over her chest and Conrad's face. He is quickly unconscious. Irene runs at them, Carla turns to her and meets her with a swipe of the hard, sharp nails on her hands. She slashes open Irene's right thigh in four places, exposing the underlying muscle. Carla's other hand tears through Irene's jacket and clothes, just barely cutting her in two places in the abdomen. Irene falls quickly to the ground, losing mental control over Melanie. Irene grasps her seriously wounded and quickly bleeding thigh. Melanie sees this and shouts at Carla "Carla, dammit! Stop this. You are not a killer!" Carla glares at her sister, something breaks in her mind, she almost remembers who Melanie is. Frightened by this, Carla sprints off into the woods that border the property.

Two days after the encounter, Conrad is recovering faster than expected at Mills Memorial Hospital. Irene required 126 stitches to her right thigh and 15 to her abdomen. She has been released and can get around on crutches. The doctors find that they are both healing significantly faster than normal people should.

Irene will stay at Melanie's home along with the two others who arrived at the Terrace-Kitimat airport earlier in the day. They are the two metahumans that Conrad called just as Carla disappeared: Joyce Dickinson and their new associate Steven Rasmussen. They converge at Melanie's home and discuss exactly what has happened and all that they know. They have gotten a hold of a shotgun that they will use on Carla if need be.

There have been reports on the local news about numerous people reporting seeing a ghost in and around the coastal town of Kitimat about 50 Km from Terrace. Joyce, Steven, Melanie and Irene will drive there later in the night looking for Carla. This time they will stop her and bring her back, no matter what the cost. They will depend on the abilities of Steve Rasmussen who is probably equal in strength and quickness than Carla, if not more.

That evening they arrive at the logging facility that is right on the salt water a few kilometers from Kitimat. This place is called a booming grounds. Here, tugboats pull any large number of logs attached by choker cables in what are called booms. They are then arranged and sorted on the water and taken to dry land with heavy machinery. Out on the water there are various booms floating on the water. Piles of loges and debris can be found near the water. This is where Carla was seen during the day by the workers walking the logs.

It is about 2:30 am and it is raining very hard at the booming grounds. The cold air is filled with the mixed smells of wet cedar, salt water and the faint sulfurous smell from the pulp and paper mill across the water. The four people break up and start searching the dark. Before long, Melanie spots her sister. Carla lays in a fetal position between some machinery that is under a shelter. Carla's body still glows, but with less intensity. She actually looks dirty and possibly wounded. Not too far off Steven notices what Melanie has found, and he turns to start towards them.

Melanie quietly crouches down by her sister, and touches her shoulder, her skin is rather warm and she has a badly infected wound on the top of her shoulder. As she is touching her, Carla's eyes open to the deep tar colour. Melanie notices and steps back. Carla looks at her with an expression that almost resembles recognition. Steven approaches Melanie from behind and Carla sees him. She instantly reverts to her savage state and strikes Melanie in the left knee. Melanie's knee makes a loud snap and she falls to the ground in agony screaming. Carla then grabs Melanie's wounded leg and bites down on her shin. Carla bites right through the clothing and right through the tibia bone, a piece of the bone lodges in Carla's mouth. Blood oozes fast from the bitten out depression in Melanie's leg. Carla swallows the mouthful of tissue and bone in her mouth, and before she can go for a second bite Steven throws himself at Carla.

Steven wrestles Carla to the ground and gets on top of her pinning down her shoulders. Carla shrieks out at him and manages to get one hand free. She grabs his elbow trying to twist it but is only able to dislodge him. With her newly freed arm she slugs Steven in the face knocking him off of her. Steven is up on his feet just as fast as Carla. The two combatants watch each other waiting for the next move. Carla leaps at Steven before he can blink, but he manages to grab her by a hip and a shoulder and toss her a good ten meters into the water. Carla desperately grabs a hold and climbs atop one of the log booms. Just as she realizes her perspective, Steven drives a pike pole through Carla's foot, driving the pole well into the log. Carla howls loudly a terrible scream of agony. Steven pulls the pike pole from her foot and quickly strikes Carla across the side of the head with a blunt side. The pole is bent slightly and Carla falls on the wet, barkless log, all her limbs hanging over the sides. She tries to raise her head slightly and Steven stomps her head hard into the log. Carla does not move. Steven grabs her by the hands and drags her to the shore.

Steven is quick to make sure Carla remains harmless. He wraps her naked glowing body in a wool blanket and places her on a log. He applies a makeshift dressing to the hole in her foot. Steven then grabs a number of steel choker cables and wraps them securely around Carla and the log she is laying on. She is wound so good that only her head has freedom of movement. Irene has taken Melanie to the town for medical attention. Joyce and Steven stand on opposite sides near Carla's head. Carla is at the height of their chests.

Joyce places her hand on Carla's still glowing cheek. Carla's deep black eyes open, she looks from side to side but doesn't panic. "Carla, come back now. It is time to stop this. Your sister Melanie is badly hurt. You hurt her but she forgives you. She needs you." Joyce's voice resonates through Carla's mind. It begins to soothe her. Carla gets a flashback of herself attacking her sister. Then she sees herself nearly killing Conrad and maiming Irene. She sees the rare Kermode bear that she mutilated and ate. And what was it all for? Carla's mind is coming back to her. She needs to be forgiven. She wants to be forgiven.

Carla's deep black eyes begin to fade, giving way to white, then to brown and finally to the normal eyes of Carla McMurray. Her skin loses its glow just as fast, but she remains a rather sickly white colour: hypothermia is setting in. Carla realizes now what has transpired and she begins to weep. "Why am I like this? Please help me."

"That is why my friends came here to do, and we are here to do the same," Joyce continues, "we know someone who wants to help you. He can tell you why you are what you are. All you have to do Carla is trust us and come with us. We will become a new family to you. There are not many like us, and I fear that we need one another."

"I'll go with you Joyce. But Mel has to come with me, she's the only real family I have left. I need her." Carla sobs as Steven is loosening the cables that have her bound. "Fine. When she is fit for travel we will all leave together." Joyce strokes Carla's bald head and adds, "And then we will all find out why we all have become what we are."