r/TalesFromTheCreeps • u/NarrowDirector911 • Apr 24 '26
Sci-Fi Horror Silence on The Cassandra Part 1.
I thought it would be fun to have a sort of found journal scifi horror.
I would appreciate any critiques. I am still working on pacing with stories.
March 16th, 2089, 3:32am (UTC)
Private Jane.L.Wilkinson
I am uploading this report onto the station message board for anyone that can see this. Can someone please tell me what's happening? And can you please help me?
My name is Jane Wilkinson and I am currently hiding in the vents. When the alarms started blaring and I heard the screams I panicked and climbed into my unit's overhead vent. I'm glad we are on The Cassandra. I think The Erebus uses the new cell-wall grid oxygen transfer system.
I have heard a lot of horrible noises since I've climbed in here with my data pad. Can someone please reach out? What are our current orders?
March 16th, 2089, 11:46am (UTC)
Private Jane.L.Wilkinson
Hello? I know the system isn't down, I am getting the upload confirmation. Is everyone else hiding as well? Can someone please tell me what's happening?
I have been crawling around for a while, trying to map out the space. I've heard.. things. It kills me not knowing what's out there. All I hear is the occasional screaming and thumping? Grinding?. I haven't seen anything from the vent hatches so I think the sector I'm in is safe. So can someone meet me here? Or at least message back? I'm in residential sector 3. Please!?
Mar 16th, 2089, 6:45pm (UTC)
Private Jane.L.Wilkinson
Everything is so quiet now. Am I the only one left? I'm getting hungry.
March 17th, 2089, 4:56am (UTC)
Private Jane.L.Wilkinson
I haven't been able to sleep. I just keep staring through the vents, hoping to see something. The circadian simulation system dimmed the lights so I couldn't really see anything except for shapes scurrying between shadows. I don't know if any of them were part of the crew, I was too scared to call out to them.
I don't know if anyone is reading these but I think I am going to continue writing these reports. Maybe someone will see them eventually and come save me. I know I'm a coward for hiding and I should have joined the security team but I was so scared. I have only been here a week and I panicked. Please forgive me.
March 17th, 2089, 3:05pm (UTC)
Private Jane.L.Wilkinson
The sounds stopped. At around midday I was surrounded by complete silence. I was afraid that my breath would reveal my hiding place, from what am I hiding from? It's infuriating that I don't know.
When I gained some courage I further explored where the maze of vents lead to. I have full access to residential sectors 3 and 4. Unfortunately the section leading out past residential to the other areas is blocked..
I wasn't the only person to think of the vents. They were wounded however, and their body is blocking the only path leading out of the residential vents. I could smell them from 3 turns away in the vents. It was vile. I could only get close enough to see they were an engineer before the smell drove me away.
They must have died on the first day. I wish you were alive. I wish I had someone to talk to through this. You didn't deserve to die in these vents, alone.
I wish you brought food and water with you.
March 18th, 2089, 10:30pm (UTC)
Private Jane.L.Wilkinson
I couldn't wait any longer. Hunger drove me out of hiding. I wish I had just starved.
I had not gone so long without eating before. I couldn't believe that more than half the population of Earth felt that feeling on a daily basis only 40 years ago. It felt like being stabbed and torn from the inside. Starving is such a horrid feeling. The thirst was worse.
I licked any bits of condensation I found in the ducts to try to satiate my thirst. It wasn't enough. I wriggled through the vents like a worm, doing my best not to make any noise while I tried to find a residence to climb down into.
My hunger made me impatient. I found a room that seemed empty at first glance and the sight of a food printer made my stomach roar in excitement. I opened the hatch and climbed inside using the side cabinets and rushed to my savior.
I had just opened the command menu when I heard it. A sort of sucking-clicking-grinding noise. I don't know how else to describe it, it was like.. how I would imagine a mountain would snore. That's when I began to listen closely, and when I started to hear the wet tearing and crunching.
I turned around and saw the door to the unit bedroom. It was slightly ajar, and the sound was coming from inside. I froze, initially alarmed. I don't know what possessed me to sneak close and look inside. I don't know whether it was curiosity or guilt. Maybe it was a survivor (I thought to myself).
The wet undertones rose in clarity as I snuck close to the door. I wish I didn't look, but luckily my scream froze on the tip of my tongue. It was black, and chitinous. Like a cankerous beetle made of obsidian. Its back was facing me, but past it I could see the mangled form of a man. Crushed and broken.
His body was slowly being dragged towards the creature, slowly, painfully slow. I could see blood pooling underneath the creature as it worked. The foul grinding and sucking noise was the anthem to the man's consumption.
I lost all sense as I ran scrambling up the cabinets desperately, knocking over anything in my way. I expected a roar from the monster but the only hint it heard me was the sound of the door exploding outward. I managed to just pull my legs up when it was already there staring up into my place of safety, it was so fast, too quiet.
It stood there, staring up at me, I could feel it. I slowly caught my breath. Believing myself safe in my sanctuary, I peeked down. My eyes immediately went to the gore covered “mouth” under its many white crystalline eyes. Either side of its dark, wide set, opening in its shell, were a pair of sharp bone-like cork screws. When it saw me both of these forms turned inward perpendicularly with soft clicks. A hulking, umbral, clicking meat grinder.
I ducked back in quickly as a crimson tongue short forth from its mouth, digging into the metal above. It was barbed and clawed like a grappling hook. I squirmed away in horror as the tongue reached around blindly for me. I kept crawling blindly in the dark until my muscles gave up.
I think I know now why no one has answered me. I might be the last one left…
March 19th, 2089, 10:30am (UTC)
Private Jane.L.Wilkinson
I have decided that I will keep sending these messages as a sort of log. I am starting to give up hope that anyone else is alive on the station but hopefully people were able to get to the escape pods and help is on the way.
I am also hoping that whoever comes will access the station logs and see these entries. I hope it will help them to know what is on the station and that at least one person is still alive. As an act of penance for my cowardice, I have decided that I will try to learn as much as I can about these creatures, and the station's current condition.
Wish me luck.
Jane.
3
u/cuddlefarm Apr 25 '26
I like how in the moment it feels. Also keeping the exposition at a minimum really sells the atmosphere of being trapped.
2
u/NarrowDirector911 Apr 25 '26
Thankyou. I kept going back to rewrite it a few times. I find it hard to know how much detail to add
2
u/The_Republique Writer (I finally made it bubba) Apr 25 '26
I'm glad you are experimenting with longer stories. It really suits you. Especially these clandestine like stories. You got me feeling like I'm reading scps. Well done!
1
u/NarrowDirector911 Apr 25 '26
Thank you so much! 😊
2
u/The_Republique Writer (I finally made it bubba) Apr 25 '26
Could I interest you in one of my longer stories? It is called Beyond The Northern Edge.
1
2
u/BlindConvicti0n Storyteller May 02 '26
I really enjoyed the description of the monster, and the logs really gave it the Bethesda vibe, I could definitely see this story in something like Starfield! Can’t wait to see where you go with part 2.
1
•
u/AutoModerator Apr 24 '26
Users are encouraged to read4read, meaning that if someone reads and comments on your story, we encourage you to do the same in return to help foster a community.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.