Hearts of Darkness - Plague of the Void Seeds

Pre-altered source image - jordygoovaerts-750531

Post 1 of....who knows?

The two scientists, one, a burly old man with bright eyes and a mane of unkempt hair, the other, a sincere yet beautiful young woman, are intently studying data from the telescopic array outside. As one, they look up, eyes flickering feverishly. Both have a sickly sheen of sweat blossoming over their pale skin.

Anna - "This can't be happening."
Gary - "I....we need more eyes on this."
Anna - "How is it possible for that many stars....what....to go out?"
Gary - "So vast. It's thousands of light years wide."
Anna - "At the current growth rate, it'll reach the edge of our galaxy within fifty years."
Gary - "I wonder how many of the anomalies might be explained by this?"
Anna - "We should report our findings immediately."
Gary - "Right. I'll wake everyone up."

---

Thirty years later

---

A small group of teenage boys and girls are sitting around a campfire in a picturesque glade on the outskirts of a large wood. Their animated faces are blushed red by the firelight as they laugh and tell ghost stories. It's about eleven o'clock at night, the moon and stars bright in a clear summer sky. The beautiful conditions only serve to highlight a large brooding area that is totally devoid of stars and starlight. A menacing blackness, stretching towards the horizon.

Suddenly, there are a series of thunderous cracks, trees being snapped like twigs, accompanied by a low roar. The children leap to their feet, startled and very frightened. Before they can even begin to flee, two figures burst out of the undergrowth. They are travelling at an awesome speed, their blurred forms very difficult to make out. Before any of the children can even scream, each of them has a needle-like object inserted into their necks and a dark liquid injected into their bodies.

Almost immediately, they fall to the ground in agony, writhing and thrashing around. The two figures come to a standstill among the fallen. They stand six feet high with four shimmering compound eyes, set within delicate blue features. Their backs and long limbs are covered with a glistening layer of gently swaying feather-like appendages. They are completely alien.....