The Risky Enticement

Laila's family had only been gone for a few hours and she was already tired. She never worked so hard before. She prepared the food for the animals in their farm, she bathed the goats, collected all the eggs from the chicken coop, collected the bundles of hays in put them in the cowshed. Then She was out in the pasture and checking on the cows, when she noticed one of them behaving strangely. Not very much strangely though. Hopping the fence , she walked in. that cow was gazing like other cows but it was tossing its head very often, like there was any fly bothering it.

Its been 15 years since Xenocides attacked on the planet earth. Their intention was to eliminate maximum number of human and occupy the earth's land for their own population. Fortunately it didn't happen likewise. All the countries united and fought together against the alien invasion. Though human won but they had to pay a huge price for it. Almost 80% of the human population got extinct while fighting the aliens. Their technology was not that advanced but they came in large number. Woman and children were evacuated in the underground chambers, still many of them died in the bombardment. It took 5 years to win the war and eliminate every single alien species from the earth. They were safe but still there were many places that caught under alien contamination. Few alien species hide themselves as they found the earth's atmosphere very healthy and productive. Few species likes bugs and worms were still there somewhere hidden but they were not harmful so they never caught any serious attention.

However so the rest of the humans started farming, cultivating. Due to mass extinction of human, earth was healing its atmosphere very quick. The green fields were everywhere, miles after miles.

Laila was the youngest sister. She had two elder siblings, Fiana & Jack. Fiana was getting married that's why her parents and two elder siblings went to the other city for some preparation. They will be back in a week or so. So its only Laila who had to take care of their farm till then.

However, Laila strode through the tufts of grass. She walked close but didn't find any fly there. it seemed to have calmed back down, but she walked up to it anyways. It raised its head to look at her with its large brown eyes, then went back to grazing. All of the farm's two hundred cows knew Laila. She talked to it softly, then stroked its head. She found something odd, got Puzzled, she stepped to its side and pushed through the shaggier hair between its ears.

She gasped. Between its ears, there was something glued to the top of its head with a rubbery substance, It looked pale green sphere about the size of an egg.

“Lykan wasps” she murmured to herself.

she stepped back from it. Lykan wasps, one of the nonnative fauna that had been able to survive with the earth's atmosphere and life. Lykan wasps were large, wasp-like creatures that sometimes nested in human buildings. In the worse scenario, they laid eggs on farm animals which if not removed would hatch in a few days and burrow into the animal. Rather than killing it, though, the Lykan wasp larvae would root into the brain of whatever animal it had been laid on. Once that happened, the animal would hang around the hive, serving as a food source for the primary type of larvae, which would later form cocoons and become actual wasps. The larvae in the animal's brain would never come out. Infected animals would actually attempt to defend the hive of the wasp that infected them.

Luckily, the wasps were easy enough to deal with. Although the glue that bound the egg to the wasp's victim was tenacious, and the rubbery egg hard to destroy, it was not that much difficult to remove. If the egg was removed before hatching, no harm would done. Find and destroy the nest, and that was all. Since the eggs took almost a week to hatch, farmers who kept their eyes open usually didn't have any problems. Those who doesn't check their stocks carefully, they has to kill the infected animal to prevent its spreading. Usually the larvae takes control over its host's brain and manipulate it for their own purpose. The purpose is only breeding and food. Generally they try to infect large animals who has enough flesh to feed the whole hive. It may sound dangerous but if prevention was taken at the right time, it makes no harm. The new government published many books and documentary videos that provides information about the discovered foreign living creatures that have been living on the earth. It's for the awareness.

Laila stared at the egg very carefully. It was greenish, opaque, and looked a bit like a soap bubble because of the rubbery glue attaching it to the cow's head. The cow was behaving like it didn't notice. Laila reached towards the egg, hesitated, then squeezed the egg gently, it bent only slightly, like it was made of hard rubber.

She should remove it. Lead the cow to the barn, shave its head and pry off the egg.

But, Some part of Laila, nearer her belly than her brain, wanted to see what the egg would do. It actually would take over the cow, make the cow feed and defend the wasp's hive. Enslave it to bugs.

Somehow it gave her a dangerous thrill to think about it happening.

“No, that was stupid. And dangerous. Papa(Laila's father) would be so angry if one of the cows had to be killed.” She thought in her mind. anyway she had plenty of time to remove it. She knew the egg took almost a week to hatch.

Probably this egg had only been laid within the last day or two. It would become almost see-through as it ripened, compared to the greenish opaque color it was now. She needed to find the hive. Then she'd come back and remove the egg.

Next Moring she woke up and doing her morning chores she moved out to find the hive. It took a couple of hours. She checked the trees all around the meadow, the surrounding, and all the sheds and outbuildings. It had to be somewhere.

Lykan wasps made big, open nests, which they adhered to the celling or roof top , like a cylindrical tower. Since the wasps themselves grew to be as large as a farm cat, the nest had to be somewhere it could grow. And it had to be somewhere near to the cows. Lykan wasps only went after large animals.

As she searched, Laila was getting more and more excited. Lykan wasps! Not very much dangerous, not really, unless... unless they got you, somehow, in a place where you couldn't get the egg off for days.

Of course no human had been infected actually. A few had eggs laid on them while they were in sleep but they removed it before hatching. Nobody ever had it hatching and burrowing in their brain.

Only cows had been victimized. They didn't have hands, couldn't complain about this thing that had been laid on their heads. Probably forgot about it. Until it hatched, and took control over them.

God, what would a human host do? Would they just go feral, hang around the hive and let the larvae suck their blood? Or would they still think like a human? And if so, would they try to get help? Or would they truly be a slave, protecting their new species to the best of their ability?

several unexpected thoughts was buzzing inside her head giving her excitements.

She checked almost every places except the chicken sheds and the burns. The chicken shed and burn was attached to each other. It was a three storied building with substantial floor. She each floors very carefully. Chickens were packed idly around the floor. Lykan wasps don't target the birds as they have enough brain or enough meat.

she looked up at the celling. It had be in the hayloft, dry and protected. She took a ladder and set it to climb up but she paused for a moment. She needed an axe to destroy the nest if it was there. She looked around , of course there was no axe around. Well she should just find the nest first. She climbed up very carefully.

No buzzing sound, so if the nest was up here, the wasp wasn't home. The loft was half full of last year's hay. Laila stepped off the ladder and walked around the bales, was breathing short in anticipation.

There it was. New, just like she had suspected, hanging from the low ceiling where the roof came down towards the wall. A thick cord of chewed brittlewood was stuck to the ceiling of the loft, and beneath it the cylindrical hive was just getting started. The top row of hexagonal cells was finished, and the next row was halfway around. No wasps in sight.

Laila walked a little closer. Little greenish white eggs were visible at the rear of the cells. They were the same as the egg that had been fastened to the cow outside . She knelt down by a hay bale, looking at the little round things and wondered about those eggs. For some reason, she didn't want to get too close. She was nervous ,a bit scared and excited as well.

The she realized there was a buzzing sound behind her.

She froze. It had been out somewhere, just the one wasp. Of course it was just one. it had to be. People had been actively exterminating them for years now. She wondered where it had survived, and how it had come to their farm. She didn't move. She was still over nearer the hay bales than the hive. It probably wouldn't bother her if she didn't move.

Unfortunately it didn't happen what she thought. The buzzing got louder. It might be returning to its hive and didn't notice Laila at all. But, it landed on her back. Laila swallowed her panic. Lykan wasps had stingers long as human thumb, although their venom wasn't particularly dangerous.

Laila's pulse raced as it walked forward on her back. If she held still, maybe it wouldn't sting her. Then she realized of course it would sting her. She was a big animal with a big brain and so much of flesh.

It stung her, low on her back, right through her shirt. It hurt like hell, but she managed to not cry out. Tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She could feel the venom pump into her. Suddenly her back went numb. She could feel the stinger, now, but it didn't hurt any more. It was just stuck in her. There was a strange sensation as more venom was squeezed into her, then the stinger slid out. Her back was now entirely numb, and her elbows were beginning to shake uncontrollably. Slowly, she slumped down onto her face, arms sliding to either side. Her knees remained under her, but she couldn't feel them anymore. She could feel the wasp, though. Its weight shifted on her back, and she realized it was turning around.

Then there was a damp sensation at the back of her neck. Her eyes had gone blurry, and her face was pressed into the dirty wood of the hayloft, but in her mind she saw the pale white ovipositor slide out of the wasp's rear.

It pushed along her neck and into her hair. Laila's vision darkened and stretched away. Dimly, she felt wetness spurt onto the back of her head.

Then she passed out.

To Be Continued...