Connie was determined to make it there by midnight.
It was eleven-thirty already and they had at least fifty more kilometers to go. Nellie wasn’t so sure that they were going to get there on time, but she was trying to be supportive of her friend.
Julie wasn’t.
She was pretty certain that unless she drove twice the legal limit for the next twenty-five minutes, there was simply no way they would get there in time.
Not that that was a big deal. The three friends had spent the night in their car before…it’s just that catching the last ferry across the channel tonight would get them half way to their destination. And that meant more time for sight-seeing when they got there.
But as a very tired-looking Connie manoeuvred the car through the English countryside and its drastically winding roads, neither friend was sure it was a done-deal.
“Are you sure you’re okay to drive,” Nellie asked again, “It’s not a big deal you know. I can take over”
“No-no” Connie shook her head, “I’m fine” Connie had already consumed a third can of red-bull, and besides, everyone knew that Nellie was a horrible driver.
No, it was up to Connie to get them there. It had been her idea to make the late ferry and save on a third night’s hotel room. It had been her idea to take the back-roads, off the motorway, to avoid the weekend rush. And so, it was her responsibility to get them there.
“Let her be Nell,” Julie shook her head. She knew that once Connie had an idea in her head, there would be no changing it.
Nellie sighed and made certain her belt was tight. These winding roads were barely passable for a horse and buggy, let alone a full-sized auto. She counted the empty cans of red-bull on the floor and shook her head. They had just purchased them a few hours ago when they stopped for petrol. Surely consuming that much red-bull in such a short time wasn’t good for you.
The car hit a pot-hole and tugged to the left. The two passengers screamed and grabbed hold of something.
“Oh stop it you two!” Connie lamented, “You’ve got nothing to be afraid of. We’ve got plenty of time. We’ll be there straight away, you’ll see”
But what Connie didn’t see was the sharp turn in the road ahead. And by the time she realized her error, the small Vauxhall was careening over the edge of the embankment, before plunging into the darkness below.
-*-
Nellie was the first to awaken.
She blinked her eyes and looked around the chamber. Where were they?
She recalled the drive. She recalled the corner, and recalled the car plunging downward…but she didn’t recall getting here. She figured they had died…and this was heaven.
But as she started to come to, she had second thoughts.
The three of them were standing in a brightly lit white chamber, devoid of windows or doors. They had been stripped of their clothes and fitted with what could only be described as dark grey rubberized thigh-high boots, and strange black bodysuits that covered their bodies from their hips up to their necks in slick black rubber. Their hair had also been pulled up into a high pony tail with a black rubber band.
Oh-my-god?, she thought to herself, we aren’t in heaven, we’re in hell.
Connie was the second to awaken. She looked at her new reality…covered partially in black rubber, feet and legs encased in grey rubber boots with at least a thirteen centimetre heel. She looked down at her groin and discovered a thick cord which connected her front to Nellie’s rear. She turned around and saw that her rear was connected to a still-slumbering Julie’s front.
She saw that Nellie was awake, “Where the hell are we?” she asked.
“We’re in hell,” Nellie replied, “We must have died…and this is our afterlife.”
Connie rolled her eyes, “We’re not in hell. There’s no such thing. We didn’t die…but we certainly aren’t where we started,” she looked around the room, taking a step forward.
“Hey!” she heard a voice from behind her. She turned to see that Julie had awakened…but did not react favourably to Connie’s pulling on the tube that connected them.
“Don’t’ worry girls,” Connie said, “We’ll get out of this…” she looked around again…”we just have to find a way out”
The three of them scanned the white glossy walls of the chamber, but could see nothing. The light seemed to radiate from certain spots in the walls, the structure itself was seamless.
“Shit,” Connie sighed, shaking her head.
“Shit indeed,” Julie said, “I told you, you should have let Nellie drive for a bit”
“Oh shut it,” Connie replied, “You’re the one that said she’s a terrible driver and you’d rather take a taxi in Sheffield than go driving with Nellie here”
“Hey!” Nellie whined, “I’m not a bad driver!”
“Are too!” Julie retorted, “Remember the Fiesta you ruined in Soho?”
While the three of continued to argue, they were unaware of the three large sachets that had appeared on the floor next to them. The objects, apparently made of the same material as the boots, grew to be almost knee-high…and as round as a potato sack. A thick tendril, similar to the cord that connected the three friends protruded from the tops of the sachets and began to wrap around the left boots of the trio.
Julie was the first to notice, “Oh bollocks,” she muttered as she reached down to try and grab the cordon as it entwined her leg.
“What is it?” Connie asked, then got her answer when she felt the cord tighten its grip on her leg, “Dammit! We’ve got to get out of here!”
She tried to move forward but the tendril’s grip prevented her from moving very far.
Her two counterparts were having a similar experience.
Nellie responded by screaming, “Helllllllp!! Helllllp!!”
“Stop it!” Connie finally said, “No-one can hear you. We’re alone in here, in case you didn’t notice”
Suddenly the tendril connected to the bodysuit. Each of the three girls felt the suit began to constrict. At the same time a new rubber covering began to form from behind the girls backs, pushing their arms flush with their torsos.
“Oh no….” Connie remarked. It was the last intelligible thing she would say, as another plastic sheet enveloped her head, sealing it inside the same material as the rest of her body. She started to panic, but an overwhelming calm quickly came over her.
On the outside, her arms were bent under her breasts at the elbow and jutted out in front of her. Her breasts then began to expand…and not just a little, they quickly were growing quite large, supported by her outstretched hands. On her head, and she guessed (correctly) that the other two were the same; the black rubber had covered her hair, ponytail and all and was now beginning to constrict. Meanwhile, her arms and hands, also covered, were starting to do the same.
Her hands and limbs began to meld against the bottom of her swelling breasts, and shrinking torso. Her nipples started to elongate into long tendrils of their own. Connie, and the other three girl’s waists had shrunk to less than ten-percent of their original size and were now as thin as their ankles.
Through the partially opaque black rubber that now covered her face, Connie watched Nellie’s high ponytail change completely…transforming from bound strands of hair into another tendril, as her skull took an oblong shape…almost like an egg.
Whatever it was they were becoming was not human…and not expected.
Soon the trio appeared limbless, all traces of their arms having vanished from their forms. Their massively inflated breasts sported long cord-like tendrils that matched the tendrils that hung from their tear-drop shaped heads, where their pony-tails had once been. Their heads were now smooth and black, and devoid of external features like ears, and noses, and mouths. Their breasts were a similar tear-drop shape. Overall, the three of them had transformed from pretty human girls into three smooth black teardrops, with protruding black tendrils, mounted unceremoniously atop a pair of stunning booted legs.
Still cordoned together the trio began to march towards an opening that had formed in the wall, their heels clicking on the metallic floor, their individual consciousness’s fading as their minds were absorbed into the collective. Nellie would become item 354, Connie 355, and Julie finally became item 356.
Each item was branded with the alien code that represented their new identity, and then scanned, before being placed into storage, with the other three-hundred-and-fifty-three former humans that the ship had harvested and transitioned to fulfill a new purpose.
Items 354, 355 and 356 were fastened into their pods, their tendrils inserted into the waiting receptacles in the wall. A cordon was inserted into their rears and the trip to their new home, and their new purposes began.