It was a fine day in the suburbs of Chicago, chilly-yes, but nonetheless there was a twinkle in the frost that coated each perfectly landscaped yard.

The metallic blue van which read “V3RMiN KiLL@“ on the side mosied its way down each street until it found the one house with the forest green shutters nestled in the lone cul-de-sac.

The call came in around 9:30 in the morning and Vee, the company’s phone operator quickly dispatched Tom. Tom Brass. Head Exterminator.

“Ya suuuuure about that, Vee? Slime on the walls? Sounds like a plumba issue.” Was his response to the customer’s complaint.

“Eh, don’t knock me for doing my job, Brass. The lady saiiiiiid,” she enunciated hard and continued, “ there was slime on the walls and she swore she saw something scurry across the floor. Last time I checked plumbers don’t deal with scurrying critters.” Her raspy smoker voice cackled. Her mission was to get under everyone’s skin as if she was a scurrying critter herself.

Tom chopped it up to a quick job and ended up at the customer’s house anyways.

He sat in the driveway for some time before heading to the front door. His beef burrito beckoned his name and you can’t deal with a wack job customer on an empty stomach.

As he took his last bite he noticed a face peering through the curtains of a large palladian window, eyes as wide as a dog who just got his nuts snipped off he thought. He gave a quick wave and stuck up his pointer finger as if saying just one more minute. Before he could step out of the musty van, a woman appeared at the driver side window. Her hair was tossed into a poor attempt of a slicked back bun and those same big eyes were planted on her face.

Dark circles hung below them like gravestones sat atop two sunken in cheekbones.

Her knuckles tapped violently at the glass. Her muffled words trying to enter the van.

Tom opened the door and stepped onto the driveway.

“Heyya, I’m Tom. Heard you have an issue in your basement and I’m-“ the lady cut him off and threw up a hand.

“This way, this way. Please, I haven’t slept in weeks. It’s so LOUD.” She said frantically, walking back to the house at a steady pace. She looked back multiple times at Tom, needing reassurance that he hadn’t run off.

“Ohhh kayyy.” He muttered under his breath and grabbed his bag out of the back of the van. Not even knowing what was in store for him.

The entrance to the home was as normal as a house could get nowadays. Shoes neatly arranged on a rustic white shelf. A ficus nestled in a corner by the door, passing off as real despite the dust it collected. Even family photos hung in a zig zag line on the far left wall. All seemed fine until the smell hit Tom’s nose.



He had been in the business for over twenty years, he has seen and smelled it all. Rat carcasses perfuming a whole attic, feces of every rodent you could imagine, even a skunk or two has sprayed him over the years. But nothing topped this smell. 



It was a smell like no other. A mix of ammonia and burning flesh with hints of…pumpkin? Cantaloupe? Something sweet. He couldn’t put a finger on it.



Respectfully he threw his hand over his nose and trailed far behind the lady, hoping not to offend her.



“It smells, I know. You don’t have to hide behind me. It’s the slimeeee…” she hissed at him, not out of rudeness but out of pure sleep deprivation. She pointed a stiff finger towards a hallway and gave out a harsh sigh. “The door on your right. Light switch hangs right above.”



“I usually ask the customer to show me the problem area. Don’t like tryna figure out the problem without any clues.” Tom hastily remarks. An aggravation building up.



Her eyes became nothing but fine lines on her face and she squeezed out a single tear. “I..I can’t. I’m petrified.” Of slime? Or whatever the hell it was? Tom shook his head slightly and walked towards the basement. 



Upon opening the door the stench increased by a million, Tom’s nose hairs were practically screaming. He pulled the cord to the light and steadily crept down the stairs. It was cold and moisture filled the air around him, his uniform already began to dampen and stick to his skin. Fumbling through his bag for a flashlight to help see through the still-dimmed basement a loud scratching noise came from the farthest corner of the room. The darkest corner of the room at that. It sounded too large to be a mouse, too large to be a raccoon even. Goosebumps began to rise on his arms and up his neck.



Finally finding his flashlight, he quickly turned it on and shone the light into the direction of the noise. A single deep gasp came from his throat and he knew his eyes grown just as wide as the lady upstairs.



The substance on the walls was a thick, cottage cheese like texture. It was a brownish red color with cloudy lumps protruding every which way. He took a few hesitant steps forwards and inspected each section of it. It was spread from the floor all the way to the ceiling and covered the entire section of wall. The fear caught in Tom’s throat completely distracted him from the smell as soon as he noticed the lumps were actually….



Moving. As if something was trying to wriggle free.



His eyes were glued to the sight of the alien-esque goop and before he could even think of how to conquer this abnormality, a fleshy hand much bigger than a human’s grabbed his shoulder. A singular talon-like claw digging deep into his collarbone. A silent whimper escaped his mouth but was drowned out by a hungry snarl. Tom didn’t have much time to react when the lumpy slime before him stretched out of the wall, a carnivorous mouth of needle sharp teeth resembling a snake and a bear all in one, swallowed his head whole.