A Study on the Laws of Coincidence

Coincidence was, William mused, a very funny thing. Then again, given what he knew now, could he really call the events leading up to where he was now coincidence, or was it some kind of fucked up universal destiny or something of the sort?

Was it coincidence or destiny that he and Anna had decided to skip classes that day, opting instead for a long weekend camping while binging 80's horror films?

Was it coincidence or fate that he had stepped into that specific spot when stepping away from their campsite to take a leak?

Was it coincidence or predetermined that he would get stung by that specific scorpion?

And, was it coincidence or the work of some higher power that he and Anna were watching 'Alien' at the time?

William chuckled and shook his head, he supposed none of that really mattered anymore, not with the way things looked like they were going at least. The few and frantic social media updates from people he knew at school had all pointed to something crazy going down, with words like monster, orgy and **** being thrown about frequently.

He and Anna had pondered at the strange and seemingly unbelievable snatches of videos coming from the campus, but ultimately put it down to a strange prank on the entire school and left it at that; they could look more into it later, Freddy Krueger had been calling.

Now, they had a better idea of what had happened, though, not by much.

"Babe, can you pause it real quick, nature's calling."

With an exaggerated sigh but a good natured smile, Ripley's flight from the Xenomorph was put on hold. Giving Anna a quick kiss on the cheek, he ambled away from their tent and into the moonlit desert. Judging himself to be just about far enough away, William looked up to take in the grandeur of the view of the vast expanse of stars and moon that being this far away from civilization afforded him. Distracted as he was, William didn't see the slight depression in the sand that he was walking right into.

William was rudely pulled from his admiration of the stars by a sharp pain in his foot. Giving a cry, he yanked it up to see a small scorpion dangling by its tail from the sole of his bare foot. Repressing the urge to scream, he cursed instead and flicked his foot to dislodge his unwelcome traveler. Feeling an intense heat beginning to travel through him, he swore again and hobbled back towards camp, annoyed at himself for not taking the time to put on shoes before leaving.

Preoccupied as he was, he didn't see the scorpion melt into a black sludge, before being absorbed by the desert sands, its viral payload delivered.

The events that transpired next were hazy to William's mind, he could see glimpses of actions, feel brief spikes of emotions and hear quick snippets of conversations; sometimes different, sometimes the same, but he could never put the whole picture together. He knew intellectually that he should be able to understand what happened after he began making his way back to the tent, even knew that he had, in random bursts, seen, felt and heard everything that happened, yet he could not. It was as if comprehension of the events themselves eluded him, like being told 1+1=2, knowing 1+1=2, and yet only ever able to make 1+1=3. It was as if, for that time, he had a mindset so alien as to make comprehension impossible.

When he next came to, William knew immediately that things had changed dramatically; even with his eyes closed, he was hyper aware of his surroundings. The sounds of the pocket mouse scurrying to its burrow to escape the watchful eyes of the hawks swirling above on thermal drafts. The slight moisture in the air that had yet to be burned away by the sun he could tell was midway through rising from the heat on his face. And most of all, he could smell the combined pheromones emanating from his mate's sex, detailing her appreciation of his claiming the night before.

At that last thought, William's eyes shot open, suddenly clear-headed. Looking around, his new and improved eyesight and predator's mind instantly catalogued several things. Their campsite had been destroyed, the tent shredded, the DVD player and discs far beyond any hope of repair, and their bags and their contents seemed to litter the sands in every direction.

William blinked, rubbed his eyes, then blinked again, "What the fuck happened here?" he muttered to himself.

A contented moan from behind him brought his attention back to what had roused him in the first place. Looking back, he was unable to hold back the scream this time. "What the FUCK?!" he shouted, scrambling away from the creature slumbering next to him, though he wasn't able to resist appreciating the womanly curves, or the way the black carapace-like shell almost glowed in the dawn light.

Rapidly looking around, this time with a purpose, he called out for Anna.

"Anna! Anna, where are you?!"

A grumble emanated from the creature, before it opened its eyes, "Will? What are you yelling for, I'm right here..." it trailed off, in a voice that was definitely Anna's before noticing the state of their campsite.

"What the hell happened to our camp?!" She asked, then turned back to William when he failed to respond, only to find him staring at her in confused horror.

"Will, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Hearing her voice seemed to snap him out of his reverie, and he quickly shook his head before rubbing his eyes and peering at her again, "What?" she asked, indignantly, "have I got something on my face? Will, what the fuck happened here?"

He shook his head again before answering, "I don't know, I woke up and it was like this, but, Anna, I... I don't know how to say this, when I... when I saw you first, you weren't you."

Anna blinked, "Huh? I wasn't me, what, like I was someone else?"

Waving his hands in front of him as if to ward off the false statement, William shook his head. "No, no, like, you were something else, a... a monster."

Mystified, Anna could only look at him in askance. "What, like a dragon or a troll or something?"

Shaking his head again, William tried to explain further, "No, nothing like that, you were about the same size, but you had a black, like, shell, and a massive crown thing on your head, and... really nice tits and ass," she snickered, "And..." he trailed off, his face a strange mix horror, realization and arousal, "And a tail; a spiked, boney looking tail."

Knowing now exactly where he was going with this, but still very confused, Anna asked, "So, I was a small, sexy Xenomorph Queen? Will, that's just dumb. I mean, you almost had me, but then you had to go with 'Alien'? Now I know you're just having me on..." She trailed off as he just looked at her, shaking his head with a serious expression.

"I'm not lying, and you weren't a Queen," He said, deadly serious. At her raised eyebrow, he took a deep breath before continuing,

"You were an Empress."