A True Tale of Supernatural Terror: Cicada Nexus ("Rated" PG13)

I've seen Halloween/ghost-type stories here, so I thought readers might welcome a fact-adventure about a cursed domicile.

I have a BA in English, so I'll write it at top-notch-quality.
(It has 5 parts, approx. 2,600 words)

Any encouragements/objections?

Maybe ATS can collect October's best "true terror tales" in the newsletter?!

[edit on 4-10-2007 by tocs100]

Is a resounding "Yes, Please!" considered encouragement?

I would love a good story - fact based makes it all the scarier, and if you are learned in the ways of writing, all the better for us!

Looking forward to reading it!

reply to post by tocs100


Let's hope that 'top-notch' doesn't include misspelling domicile.

I mean why use a big word whose spelling you are unsure, when you can just say house?

^ lol, yeah my computer crashed right when I went to spell-check. And as you'll see from the story, the house isn't "haunted" in the typical ghostly sense: the truth is far more physical and sinister.....

[color=lime]
_________CICADA NEXUS_________

The events and characters in this story are all true, with the exception of the deadliness of the creatures, the condensing of certain events, and the character and worldview of Toti.
--------------PART I---------------

"Hhheeellllllpppp!"
My little nephew's cry from the backyard brought my mom and I running to his wading-pool. His chin was clenched to his chest, a look of utter horror on his tiny face. From beneath his chin protruded first one, then two black, thorny legs. Aarruunntt! His blue eyes widened more than one would have thought
possible.
"Lift your chin, Mikey!!!" my mom screamed, "Let it crawl away!"
We finally coerced him to lift his chin, wet with hysterical slobber--and then the horrid, black and green bug darted into my mom's hair.
"Aaagghhh, get away, get away!" she cried.
Aarruunntt! It flew up high, to an odd-looking tree we'd never noticed before. Above the tree circled many of the bugs, too far away for one to hear their signature buzz.
"The nature-spirits are uneasy" floated a voice from our neighbor's yard. The Japanese woman was an odd sort, wearing an elaborate kimono, as she meticulously arranged her bizarre collection of plastic butterflies, windmills, frogs, and gnomes.
"I know: I speak to the kami through these avatars. Your untended garden makes for sore eyes. Perhaps if you too had some avatars, your house woud be at peace...."
She faded into the brush.
"Weirdo," my mom mumbled, as we returned indoors.

[color=lime]
-------------PART 2-------------

At work the next day, I was telling some friends about the episode, managing a few laughs, when I noticed Toti, an old Mexican woman, appeared to have something to add. But she refrained from joining-in....

The bugs began to attack in earnest, especially anyone with blonde hair, like my mom. And they were only at our house.
The mail began arriving farther down the driveway, as even the mailman feared attack. I managed to videotape the way they'd stalk any passersby: A kid shot by on his bicycle, and sure as rain, a giant, black bug would launch from the tree and angrily orbit his head, chasing him for half a block before returning to its nest.
We took to bringing umbrellas with us as we ran for the car door, hoping the nasty things were only in-season for a month at most.
Then the dive-bombs into the screen doors began.
Aarruunntt...THUD....Aarruunntt...THUD, they'd repeatedly ram into the screen. But not just any part of the screen: they aimed, with an insidious intellect, towards one spot where the screen-material had
rotted away.
"They're tying to squeeze through the hole!" my mom yelled, over-excitable when it came to insects, and the hysteria spread to my five-year-old nephew, who hid behind his castle of Lego-blocks. She ran to the hole with masking-tape, frantic. Our eight Persian cats clustered along the doorsill, territorial instincts in full-force.
Reaching towards the screen with a piece of tape, a black blur shot through the hole, onto the kitchen floor.
"Aaaahhh!!!" my mom and Mikey howled, running into the den. "Squish it Scott!" they screamed in fright, their voices very clear through the thin, den-door.
It was hard to get the right swiping-angle with the fly-swatter, as all eight cats quickly encircled the bug, not quite brave enough to risk clawing the strange invader. Aarruunntt... click...it was stuck on its back, and couldn't get its wings operating.
Blue Boy swiped at it--but didn't make the kill--as it leaped to the cat's neck. Blue Boy yowled in distress, bitten or stung. I knocked the critter off his neck, then quickly squished it.
The next morning Blue Boy was found dead, already stiff from rigormortis: the venom had acted diabolically fast.
"I'm calling the landlord right now, and I'm getting him to chop-down that tree!" my mom sobbed, worried about our safety too.

(3-5 NEXT)


[edit on 4-10-2007 by tocs100]

So we've got a cursed California domicile, but it's not a "haunted house.":shk:

The supernatural forces so far include mention of kami, Japanese nature-spirits, and the mysterious Mexican woman, Toti.

Anyone want to venture a guess at the cause of the murderous insect-nest, the Cicada Nexus? Does the story remind you of any other stories or movies you'd like to comment on?

I'm really hoping for 20-30 replies before I post the next installment.

you know if i didn't hear the rest of that story i would really be ticked off.

its great, come on people post, i can't wait until i hear the end.



Roswell.

Well its got some serious creep factor. I've never been able to get scared by a story so I can't truly say if this one is scary or not. I'm curious as to how it ends though. Thanks for coming by BI's site and advertising.

Please continue if you have the time or inclination.

Originally posted by tocs100
The supernatural forces so far include mention of kami, Japanese nature-spirits, and the mysterious Mexican woman, Toti.

Anyone want to venture a guess at the cause of the murderous insect-nest, the Cicada Nexus? Does the story remind you of any other stories or movies you'd like to comment on?

Thanks for all the kudos so far!

I'll likely have the whole thing up by Halloween, so everyone gets their creeps-fix.

But part 3 reveals a lot of the plot, setting up a frantic rush to the end, so now is the time to make those plot predictions....



[edit on 9-10-2007 by tocs100]

And now a montage of mood-photos:

1. "The tree"

2. "The cicada's" (pronounced "chichada's")



[edit on 10-10-2007 by tocs100]

3. "Cicada in hand"





[edit on 10-10-2007 by tocs100]

4. "Japanese neighbor lady"



[edit on 10-10-2007 by tocs100]

5. "Uncluttered part of Zen/kami garden"

6. "kami avatar #1"

7. "kami avatar #2"

8. "kami avatar #3"

9. "Cat sentinels"

10. "Blue Boy"

(Speaking of cats, here are the felines that live in my backyard here in Utah. I live at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains, and the forest begins 50 ft. from my bedroom window!)

Gold lynx


Gray (Canadian) lynx


Wasatch Mountains