PROLOGUE<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In her dreams, the man has no face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The dark, dirty room shifts and vibrates as if an earthquake is trying to open the ground under them.\u00a0 Only the man is clear and unmoving.\u00a0 Black lines and diagrams stand out on his body, centering around his navel and running to his feet, hands and head.\u00a0 Where his face should be is a blank expanse of skin, slightly bulging as if covering his real face.\u00a0 The man stands on the bare ground and thick, black smoke curls around his toes to waft lazily in the air.\u00a0 Even in her dream, the smell makes her gag.\u00a0 The earth around his feet is blackened.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His hands… she can’t look at them.\u00a0 Her dream self keeps pulling her eyes to his hands but she can’t see them, won’t see them.\u00a0 Her stomach twists into knots at the thought of it and she falls to her knees, head nearly touching the shifting ground.\u00a0 But still, her eyes are drawn to his hands.\u00a0 She’s crying and feels the tears steam from her face, as if a great fire is washing over her.\u00a0 She doesn’t want to see his hands.\u00a0 Please, she tries to say, Please don’t make me see them.\u00a0 But she can’t stop and finally, she looks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They look like hands and, for a moment, she’s relieved.\u00a0 They’re just hands, she tells herself.\u00a0 The fingernails are longer than a person would keep them but they’re just hands.\u00a0 With black, sharp fingernails.\u00a0 As soon as she notices the fingernails, she feels them inside her stomach, twisting and pulling.\u00a0 She tries to beat at the hands but only feels her unmarked stomach.\u00a0 The pain is incredible as she feels him pull thick, ropy intestines from her.\u00a0 She prays she will black out but she doesn’t.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She’s on her back now, eyes closed and hands clutching her chest.\u00a0 Oh god, she thinks, he’s taken my heart.\u00a0 Her hands scrabble over her sweaty chest, trying to find the hole he’s made those hands.\u00a0 Her heartbeat hammers loudly in her ears.\u00a0 She blindly reaches out, trying to take it back but it’s gone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now he’s reaching in again – reaching into the empty shell of her body and filling her with pain and heat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She tries to remember her childhood prayers but nothing comes to mind.\u00a0 Please, she repeats to herself.\u00a0 Please, please, please, please…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 1<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth Mori woke in a cold sweat in an unfamiliar bed.\u00a0 In the moments following her dream, nothing made sense and everything was terrifying.\u00a0 She thought someone was holding her down until she realized she had twisted her hands into the sheets while she thrashed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Slowly she remembered she was in a hotel room on a business trip.\u00a0 Her eyes adjusted to the darkness and shapes that moments ago appeared to be hunched over men turned into her clothes hanging on the back of a chair and other common objects.\u00a0 She breathed deeply in and out to calm herself – the dream was already fading and all that remained was the face, or, where the face should have been.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth swung her legs over the bed to stand.\u00a0 All of the pillows were on the floor next to her and she stared at them while trying to make the burning sensation in the back of her throat go away.\u00a0 Rather than get better, it felt like the burning was creeping down her throat to her stomach.\u00a0 Outside, a lone car revved its engine and sped away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She made her way to the bathroom sink and stood over it, waiting to see what her body would do.\u00a0 She stared at the faucet for the longest time before she finally started dry heaving – once, twice and then a third time.\u00a0 On the fourth time she spit up what felt like phlegm – it hit the side of the sink with a loud splat and stuck.\u00a0 It wasn’t green or yellow like she expected.\u00a0 Rather, it was dark red and thick – almost black in the light.\u00a0 The sight of it turned her stomach and she broke out in a coughing fit before another reddish-black blob came out.\u00a0 Thankfully, she felt better.\u00a0 A little weak but at least it didn’t feel like someone was scratching her throat with a burning piece of coal.\u00a0 When the water from the faucet couldn’t dislodge (or even move) the phlegm, she used a wad a cheap hotel tissue paper to clean them up.\u00a0 They felt hard and fleshy under the tissues and she almost threw up in the toilet after flushing them away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She grabbed the least lumpy pillow from the floor and crawled back into bed, tossing and turning.\u00a0 She hated hotel beds.\u00a0 Never in her life had she found a hotel bed she could be comfortable in.\u00a0 Most of the pillows were larger than she was.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The red light from the alarm clock told her it was nearly 1 am.\u00a0 Slept felt like an impossibility but her eyes ached from the lack of it.\u00a0 She lay in her hard bed, smelling the faint chemical smells used to clean the sheets and stared at the ceiling.\u00a0 Occasionally a car would drive past and once she thought she heard some woman yelling outside.\u00a0 The heater clicked on and off again several times, the humming sound annoying her rather than lulling her to sleep.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
California, she thought.\u00a0 Everyone talks about how beautiful and warm California is but they forget to tell you that not all parts are equal.\u00a0 There were times she feared for her safety on the cab ride from the airport to the hotel.\u00a0 They would pass a nice section of the city and then the next block over were women standing out wearing barely anything and what she could only assume were drug dealers peddling their disgusting product.\u00a0 Men leered at her at stoplights and told her what they’d do to her and how she would like it, their teeth glittering gold in the too-bright sun.\u00a0 She had to fight the urge to get up and wash her hands just from the memory of it.\u00a0 Animals, she told herself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She tried to remember exactly why she was here but it was hazy.\u00a0 She was supposed to meet a man about something… an investment.\u00a0 No, that wasn’t right.\u00a0 She was supposed to meet an investor about managing some funds for her company.\u00a0 It was ridiculous, she was a sales person and this was grunt work – not something she should be assigned to do.\u00a0 It was always like that.\u00a0 She worked her ass off, made the sales and watched the men around her get fatter and richer and have more titles added to their names.\u00a0 She never received the recognition she deserved.\u00a0 Except… didn’t she ask for this assignment?\u00a0 Didn’t she suggest it?\u00a0 No, that couldn’t be.\u00a0 Why would she?\u00a0 It was the middle of December and she should be planning a trip to her parents house to spend time with them over the holidays like she always did.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her head hurt and she could still see the face from her dream. The shadowed, pebbled texture from the ceiling kept forming the same featureless face wherever she looked.\u00a0 She closed her eyes and tried counting backwards from one hundred.\u00a0 Around number seventy-three she heard a rustling.\u00a0 She paused to listen but started over again from the beginning when it didn’t repeat.\u00a0 At eighty-five the noise was louder and her heart skipped a beat.\u00a0 It sounded like old dry leaves rubbing against each other.\u00a0 She waited even longer and then slowly started over yet again.\u00a0 This time, before she reached ninety she heard a single word as if spoken from someone dying of thirst in the desert.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Unclean.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She jerked upright in bed and pulled the covers up to her neck.\u00a0 “Who’s there?” She called out, her voice shrill and too loud sounding to her own ears.\u00a0 The sound seemed to come from the desk near the windows. She waited and watched but there was nobody there and no space for anyone to hide.\u00a0 Was this someone’s idea of a sick joke?\u00a0 Hiding a speaker somewhere and harassing her?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She stood again and walked to the desk.\u00a0 The streetlight close to the hotel gave her just enough light to look around and in her desk but she found nothing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The voice came suddenly, loud and strong behind her.\u00a0 “Tainted!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth shrieked and turned, stumbling into the desk chair and knocking it over.\u00a0 The voice had seemed to be right at her shoulder, clear and distinct.\u00a0 Her heart was trying to climb out of her chest.\u00a0 There was no way that voice came from a speaker of any kind, she thought.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She reached for the window blinds but stopped short, watching her small hand tremble.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It’s just a window, she told herself.\u00a0 There’s nothing there.\u00a0 I’m on the third floor and there’s no balcony or ledge.\u00a0 There can’t be anyone there.\u00a0 I’ll open the shades, get a nice view of the parking lot and then go back to bed.\u00a0 This is stupid.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It took her three tries to make herself grab the strings to open the blinds.\u00a0 There was no ghostly apparition hovering in front of the window.\u00a0 No Spiderman, no crazy window cleaner or other pervert.\u00a0 Just a half-full parking lot, part of the Interstate and a street lamp.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And then, she looked up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The moon was huge and nearly full and it was the brightest thing she’d ever seen.\u00a0 It made her want to cry.\u00a0 It was too pure, too beautiful.\u00a0 She immediately looked away and couldn’t find a reason why.\u00a0 She felt ashamed.\u00a0 Dirty.\u00a0 She knelt and hid her face between her knees, curled into a ball like she did when she was a child.\u00a0 She was crying now – sobbing into the thin carpet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Diseased.” Came the whisper.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Noooooo.” she sobbed, between breaths.\u00a0 “No, no, no.\u00a0 I… I’m… not.”\u00a0 She couldn’t catch her breath properly.\u00a0 Her left hand felt like someone had driven an iron spike through the middle of it. \u00a0She clutched it to her chest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Corrupted.\u00a0 Tainted.\u00a0 Diseased!\u00a0 UNCLEAN!”\u00a0 The words came, one after another repeated louder and faster until she couldn’t understand them individually anymore.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“NOOOOOO!”\u00a0 She shouted.\u00a0 “Stop it!\u00a0 I’m…. I’m sorry!\u00a0 Oh god!\u00a0 I’m sorry!”\u00a0 Her hand felt like it was on fire now and her whole body was shaking.\u00a0 She felt sick.\u00a0 She wanted to find a hole and hide as far away as she could but the voice wasn’t stopping.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She reached out with her left hand, blindly gripping the leg of the desk.\u00a0 A spasm caused her to clench her fist and the solid wood creaked under her grip.\u00a0 She was covered in sweat, could even feel it under her small breasts but she was still too hot.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She twisted her head up to look at the window.\u00a0 “Stop.”\u00a0 She gasped.\u00a0 “I didn’t…”\u00a0 Her whole body suddenly jerked in pain as she caught a glimpse of the moon.\u00a0 “I’m sorry.” She whispered.\u00a0 It was impossible to think straight any more and the desk seemed to be falling.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This was no deranged person talking to her – no stalker trying to scare her.\u00a0 She knew.\u00a0 The beautiful silvery moon was looking down and her and talking to her.\u00a0 The voice whispered again, nearly devoid of any emotion or feelings but one – hatred.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Outcast.” It told her, as the pain knifed into her belly and she blacked out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 2<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Shoes.\u00a0 Cute shoes.\u00a0 Ugly shoes.\u00a0 Comfortable shoes.”\u00a0 She ticked each off with a finger.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Bicycling.”\u00a0 She said. “That’ll never happen.\u00a0 Maybe a treadmill if it was big enough.\u00a0 And how retarded would that look?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The van hit a sudden bump and caused her to shift around a little bit.\u00a0 The man driving the truck immediately called out to her, “I’m so sorry!\u00a0 I couldn’t avoid it without hitting the car in the other lane and I would’ve done that but we wouldn’t have been able to get awa…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“It’s fine!”\u00a0 She yelled back to him.\u00a0 “I’m fine.\u00a0 Jesus.\u00a0 I’m not made of porcelain.\u00a0 Just… just keep driving.\u00a0 And if you hit anyone just to keep me from getting knocked around I will come up there and break your teeth!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The voice hesitated a moment before answering.\u00a0 “It would be only what I deserved if I did.\u00a0 You have every ri…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria gnashed her teeth, almost biting her tongue in the process.\u00a0 “Just. Shut. Up. And. Drive.”\u00a0 She closed her eyes and breathed in.\u00a0 “Jesus fucking Christ.” She said, under her breath.\u00a0 She lay in a makeshift bed of sorts in the back of the cargo van.\u00a0 She was fine when it was just an empty space but Rob, or whatever he is now, started crying when she told him she didn\u2019t need a bed or anything else.\u00a0 Eventually she agreed just to have him shut up.\u00a0 She had to admit it was a little more comfortable but she wasn’t about to tell him that or he’d insist on a water bed or something worse.\u00a0 At least the portable heaters kept her warm.\u00a0 She couldn’t seem to stay as warm after the transformation and the January weather was wearing her down.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She stared at the back of the van doors for a while.\u00a0 Two more days of driving before they reached Rob’s home near Altadena.\u00a0 She thought she could handle two more days of this without going insane from boredom.\u00a0 Whether Rob survived or not was another matter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She continued her little road trip game.\u00a0 “Driving a car or anything else.\u00a0 Couldn’t even get in the front without dangling out of it.”\u00a0 She closed her eyes and leaned back.\u00a0 “I suppose I could have Rob make me a huge hamster wheel.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The white snake next to her moved and then settled again, its tongue flicking slowly in and out.\u00a0 She watched it for a moment and then stared at the back of the van again.\u00a0 “Swimming.\u00a0 Wait, wait.\u00a0 Am I the swimming kind of snake?”\u00a0 She flicked the end of her tail slightly.\u00a0 “How the hell do I tell?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The snakes on her head shifted around.\u00a0 One of them started to speak in its gravelly old woman voice, “Sssoo…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“What did I fucking tell you?\u00a0 When I want to talk to you, I’ll fucking tell you I want to talk to you.\u00a0 Don’t think I’ve forgiven you for that man in the garage.\u00a0 Go back to sleep!”\u00a0 They all moved slightly as they settled down again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her hands were clenching and unclenching in anger, the claws scratching against the bottom of her hands.\u00a0 If she wanted to, she could easily draw blood on her palms.\u00a0 She was grinding her teeth and could feel the sharper incisors working against her other teeth.\u00a0 She felt like part of what happened should be her fault but she never asked for this, never knew what could happen.\u00a0 They did it, not her.\u00a0 She closed her eyes again and let out the breath she was holding, trying to relax her muscles as she did.\u00a0 She needed to watch her temper and language.\u00a0 Before this happened she was polite and considerate.\u00a0 She had no problems being blunt if she had to but now the cussing seemed to roll off of her tongue.\u00a0 She rolled her shoulders and felt the cool skin of her hair-snakes rub against her naked flesh.\u00a0 Who could blame her after this, really?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But she needed to talk to them, needed answers from them if they had some to give.\u00a0 She’d rather eat her arm if she had to talk to them with their odd broken way of talking.\u00a0 It was impossible to understand them for more than a word or two.\u00a0 Although… she remembered this one time during her dreams she felt a presence that was familiar.\u00a0 She had the same dream every night with the fire and the shapes but the presence – almost a figure she could make out – was new.\u00a0 She suspected it was them or their representation.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Rob!” She yelled out.\u00a0 “I’m going to try and catch some sleep.\u00a0 Don’t wake me up unless it’s important!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rob called back to her.\u00a0 “Yes, mist…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“What is that Rob?\u00a0 I don’t think I heard you right because I sure as hell know you weren’t about to call me ‘mistress’.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Yes, m… Vi… Victoria.”\u00a0 He answered.\u00a0 “Shall I sing to you to help you fall asleep?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria blinked several times as she digested this.\u00a0 “Sing?\u00a0 Sing to me?\u00a0 Am I twelve?\u00a0 Are you my mother?\u00a0 Rob, can you even carry a tune?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“No, m… Victoria.\u00a0 But if I put my heart int…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Stop.\u00a0 Rob, stop right there before I hurt you.\u00a0 I’m going to close my eyes and go to sleep and you’re going to stay up there, driving!, with your eyes on the road and your mouth closed.\u00a0 Except for breathing or whatever else you need to use it for.\u00a0 Jesus.\u00a0 I don’t really have to tell you what to do with your mouth, do I?”\u00a0 Part of her was still worried that he’d take her too literally and kill himself one day.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She settled her upper body against the pile of arranged piles and tried to relax.\u00a0 Her lower body felt a little awkward but it was nearly impossible to try and make it better.\u00a0 If she focused on moving her tail too much, it didn’t work and the tail would flail around like it was having a seizure.\u00a0 The trick was to not think about it too much and imagine what she was trying to do rather than forcing the tail to do what she wanted.\u00a0 That was fine for larger movements but more fine movements were still hard for her – like coiling her tail properly.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her snakes fanned out behind her on a pillow, rubbing against and over each other. She’d come to recognize that as their way of saying hello and comforting each other all rolled into one.\u00a0 She still couldn’t understand how they worked.\u00a0 They talked the same and all of them knew exactly what they were all going to say but they were still individual… things.\u00a0 Creatures.\u00a0 Whatever.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria slowed her breathing and closed her eyes.\u00a0 She let her arms rest to her sides and took slow, deliberate breaths.\u00a0 Eventually, the rocking of the van and sound of the tires on the road helped her to fall asleep.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As ever, she sat in front of a huge fire, surrounded by blackness.\u00a0 The fire was fueled by an immense amount of coals, still visible even through the flames.\u00a0 She never felt in danger of being burned by the fire, even if she was close to it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Around her, vague shapes formed in the dark – what looked like indistinct tentacles or faces or claws.\u00a0 Primordial imagery. \u00a0She shivered and focused on the fire.\u00a0 Here she was human and sat with her legs tucked under her.\u00a0 She was naked but not bothered by it.\u00a0 If there was one thing the transformation taught her is that nakedness is not something to cry over.\u00a0 Suddenly losing your legs to a freakish tail and snakes for hair?\u00a0 Yes, that was something to cry about.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I know you’re there.”\u00a0 She called out.\u00a0 “I’ve felt you before.\u00a0 Come out and sit by the fire with me.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A figure stepped around the fire before Victoria and she felt her own surprise.\u00a0 It was a young woman not that much different looking from herself.\u00a0 Perhaps she was slightly older but not by much.\u00a0 She had an olive skin complexion and reddish-brown hair.\u00a0 Her breasts were smaller but her hips looked wider.\u00a0 She approached Victoria cautiously.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Are you the snakes?”\u00a0 Victoria asked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“We are.” The woman answered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 3<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The other woman sat in front of Victoria, her movements fluid and graceful.\u00a0 She folded her legs on front of her and clasped her hands in her lap, watching Victoria with a serene expression.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“What do I call you?”\u00a0 Victoria asked.\u00a0 She was disappointed.\u00a0 She didn’t know what she expected but a part of her wanted someone or something she could be angry with.\u00a0 Someone she could despise at first glance.\u00a0 This woman reminded her of her mother too much.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman made a small motion with her chin.\u00a0 “We have no name.\u00a0 Call us what you will.\u00a0 We’re simply pleased that you’re speaking with us.\u00a0 That man…” She paused and looked down at her hands.\u00a0 “It was a mistake and his life is no more.\u00a0 We are old and practiced but you are part of us.\u00a0 Your emotions, your desires, your dreams – all of it affects us as well.\u00a0 We were not prepared.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria’s could feel her lips compressed into a thin line.\u00a0 “That man is dead because of you.\u00a0 Don’t try to put the blame on me!\u00a0 Look at what I am now!\u00a0 I didn’t ask for any of this.\u00a0 You’re lucky I didn’t try killing myself or have a psychotic break.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“You couldn’t…” The woman stopped.\u00a0 “We didn’t do this to you.\u00a0 Whatever else you believe, you must believe that.\u00a0 You are unique in this world.\u00a0 The last of us died thousands of years ago and we’ve been dreaming since then.\u00a0 Only suddenly we were called back and found ourselves in the physical world again.\u00a0 Much has changed and we do not know why we’ve returned.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Only one of me?\u00a0 Unique?\u00a0 Is that supposed to make me feel any better?”\u00a0 Victoria’s laugh was short and bitter.\u00a0 She choked back the sudden ache in her throat.\u00a0 “I’m alone.”\u00a0 She hid her face from the other woman, biting her bottom lip.\u00a0 She refused to let this creature see her cry.\u00a0 It took several minutes before she could face the woman again.\u00a0 She looked around the fire and darkness.\u00a0 “What is this place?\u00a0 Is this where you lived?\u00a0 Where you dreamed?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“It is.\u00a0 Although it was not always like this.\u00a0 When we first came here it was beautiful and green with many growing things.\u00a0 Many years later we noticed small shadows where there were none before.\u00a0 They became more and worse and we feared for ourselves.\u00a0 Our powers here are small and we used what we had to hide.\u00a0 It was almost not enough but one day, this… pyre appeared.\u00a0 All of the shadows burned, leaving nothing but charred dead earth.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria looked around her.\u00a0 A monstrous worm-like shadow struck out at both of them but dissolved when it neared the fire.\u00a0 “The shadows are still here.\u00a0 I don’t think it worked.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“They returned.\u00a0 Slowly.\u00a0 As far as we know, this area is the only safe haven.\u00a0 Or perhaps the shadows follow us and only this part is tainted.”\u00a0 The woman frowned.\u00a0 “The fire is neither as large nor as bright as it used to be.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“So what is this place?\u00a0 Is this all I get for dreams now?\u00a0 No crazy dreams of flying or skeletons chasing me in a hand cart while I roll down a hill of dead bodies?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman’s left eyebrow arched slightly.\u00a0 “A hill of dead bodies?\u00a0 I should think this was preferable to that kind of nonsense.\u00a0 We don’t know what or where this is.\u00a0 Perhaps it is the afterlife or…\u00a0 Yes, I know.\u00a0 Yes, I’ll tell her.\u00a0 One of us believes this is the shared subconsciousness of all the living and dead creatures.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“This?\u00a0 Seriously?\u00a0 And you think my skeleton dream was fucked up?\u00a0 So what’re the shadows supposed to represent?\u00a0 Mankind’s hope for a better future?\u00a0 Or never ending optimism?\u00a0 Bullshit.”\u00a0 Victoria gestured at a shadowy face full of fangs and hatred hovering 10 feet away.\u00a0 “Give me flying unicorn puppies any day over that.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“The one… the one has reasons for the belief.\u00a0 We can see into the past and future.\u00a0 For a small amount of time.\u00a0 It whispers to us.\u00a0 The past is clear but the future… If this is our home and we live in the subconscious of all living creatures then perhaps we read their intentions and create a tapestry of a possible future.\u00a0 Sometimes what we see doesn’t happen but often, it does.\u00a0 The future is open but if we hear the whispering of what someone intends – is that not the future?\u00a0 At least for that one person?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria thought this over.\u00a0 It made some sense on a certain level.\u00a0 “Knowing what a guy wants to do after he gets out of bed is not the same thing as seeing the future.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“You are correct.\u00a0 But if you know what everyone in his city plans to do as well, you start to build your pattern.\u00a0 An… an educated guess, you would call it.\u00a0 Useless for any long amount of time but superior for shorter times.\u00a0 And there are ways to see farther.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This got Victoria’s interest.\u00a0 “How much farther?\u00a0 Could you see what my life will be like?\u00a0 How I will die?\u00a0 What ways are you talking about?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Blood and death.\u00a0 Blood magic is always stronger and death the strongest.\u00a0 It solidifies the pact and brings the favors of more powerful things.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Death, Victoria thought.\u00a0 I want none of that.\u00a0 “What powerful things?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman thought for a moment.\u00a0 “We cannot remember our birth.\u00a0 As time passes, we forget the past but we have lived for a very, very long time.\u00a0 We have our own magic but we are part of you and you are the vessel that contains our strength.\u00a0 We are an elemental force.\u00a0 In the same way, there are things that live outside of the natural order and we have a pact with them.\u00a0 We can attract the attention of more powerful beings with a strong sacrifice.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria thought back to her cross necklace and her upbringing.\u00a0 “Like God?\u00a0 Are you talking about God?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman shook her head.\u00a0 “No, not like you think.\u00a0 There are… wait.\u00a0 You must wake up, girl.\u00a0 And when you do, remember.\u00a0 Stop the vehicle.\u00a0 You must remember.\u00a0 Stop the vehicle.\u00a0 Wake up now.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Wait!\u00a0 But I don’t…!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The fire consumed her in a roar of fury.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 4<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria woke to the heaviness of her new body in the back of the van.\u00a0 She blinked away her sleepiness as her snakes woke with her, hissing and sliding against each other.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Sssssss… girl…. ssstoooop…. girl… ssssssstop…. vehicle…. sssstooooop…” They frantically whispered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Rob… Rob!\u00a0 Stop the van!\u00a0 Stop the…!”\u00a0 The WHOMP sound lifted the van from the ground and rattled her teeth.\u00a0 Beside her, the large white snake rose and hissed, baring its fangs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Mistress!\u00a0 Are you okay?!\u00a0 Mistress!”\u00a0 Rob had unbuckled his seat and was turning around to reach for Victoria.\u00a0 Because of this, he didn’t see what Victoria could when she looked forward.\u00a0 A large, brown spherical shape was sitting in the middle of a smoking black crater, thirty feet in front of them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her snakes stood still on her head, watching.\u00a0 A car less than fifty feet in front of the thing was turned completely around, it’s front wheel buckled under the car.\u00a0 The driver, a young man with short brown hair and a three day growth of a beard, got out of his car and leaned against his door for a moment.\u00a0 She could see him clearly with her new eyesight.\u00a0 The man turned to the thing in the road and took a shaky step toward it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria heard the start of a “Sssssssssssssss…” coming from her snakes, the sound getting steadily louder.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The man took three more steps before stopping.\u00a0 The thing was moving.\u00a0 Unrolling itself like a gigantic pill bug.\u00a0 Only, pill bugs didn’t have arms or legs.\u00a0 Its face was hideous, a flat wide nose above a mouth with jagged, wrecked teeth.\u00a0 She could see a yellow flickering glow behind those teeth.\u00a0 Its eyes were wide and oval shaped, pupils a bright red color.\u00a0 Its skin was a dark, earthy brown but its back was a light shade of brown and covered in segmented plates.\u00a0 It was holding a three tined stick in its right hand – almost like a trident except the haft was barely long enough for its hand.\u00a0 In its left hand it held a short rod of some kind.\u00a0 It wore a simple loin cloth and the only marking she could see on it was a nine pointed star painted in black on its chest.\u00a0 It was well over ten feet tall of pure muscle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It turned to face the man.\u00a0 The man’s eyes were wide and, as she watched, he wet himself.\u00a0 His mouth was working but he wasn’t trying to talk.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“What… what is that thing?”\u00a0 Victoria asked.\u00a0 Rob was beside her, trying to get her attention to ask if she was all right.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Suddenly there came a loud rumbling noise as if two huge rocks were rubbing and breaking against each other.\u00a0 The thing was talking.\u00a0 It looked back at Rob’s van and then turned to face the nameless man again.\u00a0 With a single shake of his right hand, the haft of his trident lengthened, slamming into the ground with a loud crack.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The rumbling breaking noise came again and the man went to his knees in terror.\u00a0 The creature reached back his right hand and flung the trident horizontally at the man.\u00a0 It speared him in the chest, driving him straight back against his car.\u00a0 Victoria could hear the screech of metal as the trident embedded into the car’s engine block.\u00a0 The man hung limply back against his car.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Slowly, the creature walked to the man’s car and put his foot on the man’s face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rob finally turned to the front and saw the creature for the first time.\u00a0 “M… m…. mistress…. what is that thing?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With a yank of his right hand, the thing pulled his trident free.\u00a0 The man’s body fell limply to the ground when the monster took his foot off of him.\u00a0 It turned to face the van and smiled.\u00a0 A line of molten drool dripped from the side of its mouth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria was stunned.\u00a0 “What… what…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Sssssssssss…\u00a0 Trassssssk…” Her snakes told her.\u00a0 “Girl… run… run… girl… go… mussssst… go…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Time slowed for Victoria.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Run?\u00a0 She told herself.\u00a0 That thing just threw that stick thing through a freakin’ car!\u00a0 It could throw it again before Rob could even get to the driver’s seat.\u00a0 And even if Rob got there first, we’d have to turn around and try to drive away and this is a stupid ass cargo van.\u00a0 It could walk to us before we got anywhere.\u00a0 Okay, think.\u00a0 Think.\u00a0 It’s here for me.\u00a0 It has to be.\u00a0 There’s only me and Rob and this poor woman.\u00a0 Snake.\u00a0 Whatever.\u00a0 It has to be here for me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Trask started walking towards the van, slowly as if in no hurry.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Rob.”\u00a0 Victoria said.\u00a0 “Rob!\u00a0 Listen to me.\u00a0 I’m going to get out and distract it.\u00a0 I want you to… No!\u00a0 Listen!\u00a0 I want you to turn the van around and head back to the last exit.\u00a0 Find the nearest town.\u00a0 I’ll come back for you.\u00a0 Go!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For once, her body listened to her and her tail uncoiled properly under her.\u00a0 She pushed her way to the doors and opened them, sliding out onto the road.\u00a0 Thankfully, there was nobody on the road behind them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“M… Victoria!\u00a0 No!\u00a0 Come back!\u00a0 I can… I can… we can make it!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria slammed the doors shut and turned to face the abomination in front of her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Sssssstupid… girl… sssssstupid… girl… diiieeee… you’ll… ssstupid… diieeee… Trassssssssk…”\u00a0 One of the snakes beat at her forehead and she swatted it away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Either be useful or shut the hell up.”\u00a0 She told them.\u00a0 She could hear the van’s engine starting back up and the gears shifting into reverse.\u00a0 At least he does follow orders, she thought.\u00a0 In front of her, the Trask slammed the rod in its left hand into the dirt beside the road.\u00a0 It took another step toward her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Okay.\u00a0 Okay, we have this.\u00a0 Just… just turn it to stone.\u00a0 Like that guy.\u00a0 However you did it.\u00a0 Do it again.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Ssssssssssss… usssssselessssssss… work…. won’t…. ussssselessssssss… work…” The told her, swarming in fear.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Just fucking do it!” She screamed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Sssssssssssssss….!”\u00a0 The snakes roared at her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She felt the familiar pulse as the creature raised its massive forearm in front of its eyes.\u00a0 She waited nervously for something to happen.\u00a0 And waited.\u00a0 Finally, the creature lowered his arm and looked at the stick planted into the ground.\u00a0 Victoria followed his eyes.\u00a0 It looked like a bamboo stick – segmented and green mixed with a shade of brown.\u00a0 Except for the top segment.\u00a0 The top segment was a dark gray.\u00a0 The color of stone.\u00a0 As she watched, the top part cracked and fell, shattering on the asphalt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Trask roared with laughter and beat his hands against his chest.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Why… why didn’t that work?”\u00a0 Victoria asked.\u00a0 She felt like a cold hand was gripping her spine and twisting.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Enchanted… sssspelled… absssorbsssss… sssssssso…. enchanted… tired… work… ssssspelled… won’t… work…\u00a0 tired… sssssoon… dead… ssssoon…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Again.\u00a0 Hit him again.\u00a0 Just… just hit him again.\u00a0 Hey!\u00a0 Wake up and hit him again!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her snakes rallied and stood at attention.\u00a0 The Trask raised his left arm over his eyes.\u00a0 The pulse fired again and, again, nothing happened to the monster in front of her.\u00a0 The snakes fell limply to her shoulders, spent of their energy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria yelled in frustration and gathered her strength to throw herself at this creature.\u00a0 Just before she leapt, the cargo van swept past her, its engine roaring.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Trask lowered its left arm again, a smile firmly in place.\u00a0 The smile faltered when it noticed the cargo van just a few feet away.\u00a0 It jerked its right arm to try and raise the trident before the cargo van slammed into the right side of its body.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria found herself wondering if the situation would ever make its way into a math book – if nearly three tons of metal, plastic and rubber going over sixty miles per hour hit some crazy ass monster, plot the ascent, descent and distance…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She watched the front of the van crumple as it fell onto its side and slid on the ground next to the road, shattering the planted pole.\u00a0 The Trask spun and fell several feet away, blood spraying the air.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now, she told herself.\u00a0 It has to be now.\u00a0 She ran for it – her brain translating the motion into something her tail could use.\u00a0 She was on the creature in seconds.\u00a0 The last few feet of her tail wrapped around the thick wrist of his right hand and she jerked, thrilling in the sound of bones breaking.\u00a0 She couldn’t knee him in the balls but she reached down and grabbed his crotch, pulling up with her claws.\u00a0 The thing howled as something tore and she felt hot liquid on her hand.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She did not notice the huge fist of his left hand until it was a few inches from her face.\u00a0 The next thing she knew she was on her side and she could taste blood in her mouth.\u00a0 Her tongue flicked out several times touching her nose and her chin and tasting the air.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Task was on its feet, reaching for his trident with his left hand.\u00a0 Blood and something else was dripping down its leg.\u00a0 She temporarily saw three of him and worried it could copy itself until she blinked and saw just one of him again.\u00a0 She coiled herself and launched at him, her arms held to her sides and her claws out.\u00a0 The monster pivoted on his foot and struck at her torso.\u00a0 She felt the tip of the trident dig into one of her scales before she was thrown to the side.\u00a0 Without thinking, her tail lashed at and struck against him.\u00a0 She heard the thing grunt and fall to its knees.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria landed ungracefully in the dirt, sliding several feet before catching herself.\u00a0 Without thought, her tail whipped around and brought her to an upright position, bunching itself for another leap.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the Trask expected this and she screamed as the trident sunk into the thick muscles of her stomach.\u00a0 Her snakes hissed in pain.\u00a0 She heard the rumbling laughter coming from the monster.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Waves of pain ran up her spine and twisted her stomach into knots.\u00a0 Bright red blood was flowing down the black scales of her tail.\u00a0 The Trask was walking her way at an easy pace. \u00a0Every time she moved even slightly she felt hot lances of pain shoot throughout her body.\u00a0 Victoria grabbed the shaft closest to the head of the weapon.\u00a0 The pain was incredible and she almost blacked out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I can do this, she thought.\u00a0 I can do this.\u00a0 I have to do this.\u00a0 If I don’t, I’m dead.\u00a0 And then he’ll probably eat me.\u00a0 Do I want to end up as some monster’s shit?\u00a0 No, I don’t.\u00a0 I can do this.\u00a0 I can do this.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Taking a deep breath and letting it out, Victoria began hyperventilating.\u00a0 Her forearms and biceps bulged as she tensed.\u00a0 In one quick pull, the trident came out, showering her with blood and torn flesh.\u00a0 She was pretty sure she caught a glimpse of her intestines as well.\u00a0 She had intended to break the weapon in half but the pain made her forget and she vomited instead.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When she pulled her head up, he was there.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His fist caught her full in the face this time and she heard something break before a flare of pain branched up her face and behind her eyes.\u00a0 She staggered, her hand clutching her nose.\u00a0 She was having trouble with her vision and all she could taste was blood – her blood.\u00a0 And then he was on her again, his hand shot out flat to jab into the same place the trident punctured.\u00a0 Victoria screamed as a burst of white stars on black flooded her eyesight.\u00a0 Again and again the creature stabbed her with his hands until she thought she would pass out from the pain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Fugging ENOUGH!”\u00a0 Victoria screamed, blood running down her face.\u00a0 Argh, she thought.\u00a0 I can’t even cuss properly!\u00a0 Fuck this thing!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her tail wrapped around the creature, covering it from neck to legs.\u00a0 The Trask’s arm was out for another jab but was caught in her grasp.\u00a0 He was glaring at her so she spit her blood in his face.\u00a0 Where the blood landed, it began slowly steaming on his face and eating the skin.\u00a0 His mouth twitched as if to yell but he held it back.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Great, she thought.\u00a0 Just fucking great.\u00a0 I’m like the queen mother alien from the fucking Aliens movies.\u00a0 How will I ever convince a guy to let me go down on him now?\u00a0 The absurdity of the thought made her laugh as she swayed from the pain.\u00a0 She thought she could hear a small ‘crick’ noise and hoped it was her nose fixing itself.\u00a0 What would people think of her if her nose was crooked?\u00a0 She thought.\u00a0 Oh wait, they would run screaming in terror because she was a fucking snake woman.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She squeezed.\u00a0 She pictured herself wrapping her legs around him and watched the coils of her tail rub against each other as they tightened.\u00a0 She couldn’t feel them very well but she felt the pressure building and the muscles tightening.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her nose still really hurt and she felt her tongue flick out to touch the tip of it.\u00a0 She’d learned that trying to stop her tongue from doing its own thing was like trying to stop her heart from beating – impossible.\u00a0 The only thing good bit of news was it didn’t do it while she was talking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hey, so, does this hurt?”\u00a0 She asked the creature.\u00a0 “Because my stomach still hurts.\u00a0 And it feels like my face is on fire.\u00a0 So I was just hoping you felt some of this.\u00a0 Although\u2026 I can talk now so maybe my nose is on the mend.\u00a0 Still fucking hurts, though.”\u00a0 The creature was making a low quiet rumble in the back of its throat but she couldn’t tell if it was in pain or not.\u00a0 Smoke curled from the corner of its mouth.\u00a0 As she tightened her grip she heard a small crack and the creature’s grumbling paused for a moment.\u00a0 She smiled.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Oh, good.\u00a0 I think I heard something break.”\u00a0 She could feel it starting to struggle a bit and it felt like it was moving its right arm again.\u00a0 Damn.\u00a0 Her own stomach and nose were still bleeding.\u00a0 How did it rate faster healing than her?\u00a0 Now it was reaching the left hand around to grip her tail.\u00a0 It caught one of her scales with its fingers and worked two fingernails under the edge of it before she grabbed the arm with both hands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“No fucking way, monster.\u00a0 Let me see that.”\u00a0 The Trask’s arm was too thick for her to get a full grip on but she held on tight and made a sudden jerking movement with her hip.\u00a0 “Fuck!” She yelled.\u00a0 Her stomach was bleeding worse now and she felt like she tore the same muscles fresh again.\u00a0 When she dropped the creature’s arm it hung loose against her so at least she had that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The rumbling noise from the creature was louder now and it was trying to jerk itself in her grip.\u00a0 She was about to laugh at it until she started flailing around with it.\u00a0 Oh, yeah, physics.\u00a0 She thought.\u00a0 Now where…?\u00a0 Oh, there we go.\u00a0 Victoria dragged the creature behind her as she made her way to a large rock away from the road.\u00a0 The thing’s movements made it difficult to take a straight path but not impossible.\u00a0 On one hand she was pleased she was getting better at moving but on the other hand she was slithering.\u00a0 Not walking.\u00a0 Not crawling.\u00a0 Slithering.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It took a few moments to find a way to grip the rock properly.\u00a0 Thankfully, her claws could actually chip the rock and she was able to make a strong grip.\u00a0 Now her tail was thrashing side to side wildly.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria hugged the rock tightly and winced at the rough surface against her large nipples.\u00a0 Maybe she should start wearing a shirt again.\u00a0 She turned to look back at the creature.\u00a0 This is going to really hurt, she told herself.\u00a0 If you pass out, you lose.\u00a0 It will kill you.\u00a0 And then Rob, if he’s not dead already.\u00a0 Or maybe it won’t kill you and it’ll torture you instead.\u00a0 There’s a lot of you to cut up before it gets to your really important bits.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She turned back to the rock and closed her eyes.\u00a0 The large muscles in her shoulders and arms bulged.\u00a0 “Here we go.”\u00a0 She whispered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It took her five tries to figure out the proper movement.\u00a0 On the sixth try, her tail arched high above her head and slammed down against the earth with a noise like a bag of rocks crashing against the ground.\u00a0 She almost passed out.\u00a0 Her grip temporarily loosened on the rock and her head spun from the pain in her stomach and the lesser pain in her tail.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Again.”\u00a0 She said.\u00a0 Her tail flipped the other way and slammed again, sending a huge plume of dirt, dust and rocks flying.\u00a0 The pain was slightly more tolerable but she vomited up on the rock and her arm.\u00a0 She realized at this point that blood and vomit did not taste well together.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“And again.”\u00a0 She whispered.\u00a0 Her breathing was coming fast and ragged.\u00a0 She tightened her tail around the Trask and slammed him again and again, back and forth against the hard ground.\u00a0 She lost count of how many times she did this but her blood and puke covered the rock and when she opened her eyes she could barely see.\u00a0 There were long, deep gouges in the rock where her claws slowly lost their purchase.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She paused and took stock while her vision returned.\u00a0 Her face felt much better but just thinking of her stomach made her want to hurl.\u00a0 On the bright side, the thing wasn’t moving anymore.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Oh, what’s the matter, big guy?\u00a0 Where’d your hand go?\u00a0 Oh, there it is, in that cactus.\u00a0 How’d it get there, you think?”\u00a0 She was panting but still alive.\u00a0 She concentrated on trying to bring the thing closer to her body and eventually, her tail worked it out and the massive knot containing the creature stood before her.\u00a0 She was disappointed to see it still breathing but happy to see that one eye was gone and several teeth were missing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But not dead.\u00a0 How the hell would she kill it?\u00a0 She dared not let it go – she didn’t know anything about it’s abilities except it healed fast.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She pulled one of her snakes around.\u00a0 “Hey!\u00a0 Are you guys still sleeping?”\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 Great.\u00a0 Wait, she thought.\u00a0 What was it they said again?\u00a0 Something… I was their vessel?\u00a0 Are they the ones doing the magic shit or am I?\u00a0 It can’t hurt to try, yeah?\u00a0 In the old movies it was the eyes that did, right?\u00a0 Okay…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She stared at the creatures face and then tried widening her eyes.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 Then she tried the same thing with her hand on its face.\u00a0 Still nothing.\u00a0 She clawed his other eye out in spite.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hey, wait.\u00a0 Do I even need to do anything like that?”\u00a0 She grabbed his head and twisted hard, hearing it snap.\u00a0 “Hah!\u00a0 Killed you, fu…”\u00a0 It was still breathing.\u00a0 “Fucking…\u00a0 All right.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria took a breath and looked around.\u00a0 Oddly enough, there was still nobody else on the road.\u00a0 She stared at the Trask.\u00a0 “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.\u00a0 Change to stone… ummm… you must!”\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 “Goddammit!\u00a0 If you tell anyone about that one…\u00a0 Why am I even threatening you?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She tried grabbing the creature and pulling its head off but even straining she couldn’t do it.\u00a0 She tried all the childish magical incantations she could remember and nothing worked.\u00a0 She yelled, she screamed, she pleaded.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 Then she watched in disbelief as its head reattached itself properly.\u00a0 Both eyes were whole again so she pulled them back out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“What fucking pact?\u00a0 You lazy bastards.”\u00a0 Victoria closed her eyes and breathed deeply.\u00a0 “Things.\u00a0 Whatever you things are.\u00a0 I was told we have a deal.\u00a0 I don’t know what it is but I need you to keep your end of it.\u00a0 I need this to work.\u00a0 This thing wants to kill me and I don’t want it to kill me.\u00a0 It’s simple.\u00a0 Help me out here.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She opened her eyes again.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 She frowned and almost started yelling except something moved at the corner of her eye.\u00a0 When she turned to look for it, it was gone.\u00a0 There again, at the corner of the other, something else small and moving.\u00a0 She turned again but nothing was there.\u00a0 She closed her eyes again.\u00a0 “All right.\u00a0 Hah hah.\u00a0 You’ve had your fun.\u00a0 Now I’m going to open my eyes in a few seconds.\u00a0 When I do, I expect to see something.\u00a0 Ready?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She opened her eyes and they were there.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Small motes of light, everywhere.\u00a0 Floating lazily, shooting from one place to another, doing spirals around each other or just hovering in place.\u00a0 Little things of every color imaginable – brown, green, blue, grey, red… she couldn’t keep track of them.\u00a0 Quite a few danced around her body but none of them touched the creature she was holding. \u00a0Ones that got too close turned black and fizzled away.\u00a0 The world was full of shining lights.\u00a0 They danced away as she tried to grab one or two.\u00a0 She felt little tugs on her body as if tiny little hands were pulling gently on her skin.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I… Okay, I wasn’t expecting that.\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 No, really, thank you.\u00a0 Now the hard part.\u00a0 The next hard part.\u00a0 What do I do?\u00a0 I want to turn this thing to stone and my little helpers are useless.\u00a0 I…”\u00a0 She remembered the words.\u00a0 There was always a sacrifice.\u00a0 She grimaced and placed her hand on the creature.\u00a0 “Okay.\u00a0 Listen to me.\u00a0 Take what you need – just the bare minimum – and turn this fucking thing into stone.\u00a0 I… give myself to you.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At first there was nothing.\u00a0 Then, she felt her snakes stir.\u00a0 They made no sound but they rose up and arrayed themselves, facing the monster.\u00a0 Here and there gray and brown lights streamed toward her.\u00a0 A few at first and then more and more in a rush.\u00a0 They hovered in a huge makeshift ball of brown and gray.\u00a0 She stared at them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Do it.”\u00a0 She said.\u00a0 She felt the pulse from her snakes and immediately wanted to sleep.\u00a0 She was suddenly so tired.\u00a0 Her head swayed but she kept herself up.\u00a0 The little lights streamed to the Trask.\u00a0 Haha!\u00a0 She thought.\u00a0 I did it!\u00a0 Score one for human…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Just at the last moment the lights diverted and flowed behind the creature.\u00a0 She cursed and turned to watch them.\u00a0 The broken stick was on its side close to the road.\u00a0 The little lights flooded it and Victoria watched one of the last two segments turn to stone.\u00a0 She wanted to cry in frustration.\u00a0 Now she noticed a thin light brown line between the creature and the stick.\u00a0 Little pockets of light traveled back and forth across the line.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She broke the thing’s neck again and dropped him.\u00a0 When he didn’t move, she went to the stick and picked it up.\u00a0 The line moved with the stick and stayed attached to the monster.\u00a0 When she tried breaking it, she could only break off the stone apart – the wooden part wouldn’t even bend.\u00a0 Small sparks of light popped around the edge of the wood.\u00a0 They were smaller than the creatures floating around her and flashed brilliantly before vanishing again.\u00a0 She thought for a moment or two, winding and unwinding her tail to work the muscles out from holding the monster for so long.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The problem is, she thought, I think I can only do this once more before passing out.\u00a0 If I do it again, the stick takes the hit and I pass out.\u00a0 Then the monster kills me.\u00a0 I can’t break the stick, so…\u00a0 I wonder…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria brought the strange stick back over to the creature and stared at it.\u00a0 It was drooling again and one of its eyes was healed.\u00a0 She rubbed her side to feel the punctures and sore muscles.\u00a0 She looked at the stick, then at the creature again.\u00a0 At least she was prettier than it was.\u00a0 As she watched, it drew itself slowly into a ball.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Damned if I do…”\u00a0 She jammed the stick in the empty eye socket. The creature jerked reflexively but made no other move.\u00a0 Victoria moved back, rearing up on her tail.\u00a0 “Okay, little ones.\u00a0 I’m going to do that again.\u00a0 I’d appreciate it if you can leave me enough to stay awake.”\u00a0 She tried willing the gray and black lights to come forward.\u00a0 Again, she felt her snakes lift from her shoulders to glare at the monster on the ground.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hey, thing.\u00a0 I hope you’re awake now.\u00a0 I hope you feel this.\u00a0 Well, shit.\u00a0 Actually I just hope it works.\u00a0 If it does then, good bye.\u00a0 I hope there’s a hell for things like you.”\u00a0 The snakes were dancing on her head, weaving a pattern.\u00a0 Gray and brown lights were gathering again, faster than last time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hey, look at me.\u00a0 Maybe…” The pulse from the snakes dropped her to the ground.\u00a0 “Fuuuuuuuuuuu…” she coughed.\u00a0 Her body felt like it weighed tons.\u00a0 She could barely lift her head to look at the Trask.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The lights were flooding the stick.\u00a0 She held her breath as she watched.\u00a0 The monster’s other eye twitched over to look at the lights and she was she sure heard it rumbling again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Work.\u00a0 Work, damn you.”\u00a0 She whispered as her sweat and blood mixed with the dirt under her face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The last piece of the stick turned gray and she almost lost hope until she saw the eye socket darken.\u00a0 And then the nose.\u00a0 It’s mouth opened to scream or curse or do something but then froze, a rasping gasp escaping concrete gray lips.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria smiled and started laughing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 5<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth woke naked on her hotel floor.\u00a0 Sunlight filtered through the window next to her.\u00a0 Her head was pounding and her tongue felt thick in her mouth.\u00a0 She choked and spit a thick wad of blood on the carpet next to her.\u00a0 She felt so cold.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Something was shrieking in her brain. She tried to cover her ears but it only helped a little bit.\u00a0 Nothing made sense to her.\u00a0 She rolled to her back and stared at the ceiling, trying to care about the noise.\u00a0 She could feel the nipples on her small breasts hardening in the cool air.\u00a0 She wanted to roll into the sun but she was tired, so tired.\u00a0 Her eyes closed and she slept again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Voices woke her a short time later.\u00a0 Voices far too loud and some repetitive squeaky noise that sent shivers down her spine.\u00a0 She sat up and winced at the feeling in her stomach.\u00a0\u00a0 She stared stupidly at the thick wiry black hair covering her pussy and her small, pointed breasts.\u00a0 Something was important about this but she couldn’t understand what.\u00a0 She blinked and sat, staring.\u00a0 The voices were laughing.\u00a0 Loud.\u00a0 Too loud.\u00a0 Clanking, rubbing, metal grinding against metal or plastic until she couldn’t take any more.\u00a0 Her head was killing her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She stood and walked to the noise.\u00a0 She had to do something to make it stop.\u00a0 She swayed and bumped into the overturned desk, catching herself on its edge.\u00a0 The door to her room was slightly open.\u00a0 She focused on it.\u00a0 Wait, she thought.\u00a0 Where am I?\u00a0 This isn’t home.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Realization hit her suddenly.\u00a0 She was in a hotel room.\u00a0 Her door was open.\u00a0 She was naked.\u00a0 Gasping, she rushed to her door just as it was being pushed open further.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“House cleaning!”\u00a0 A female voice called out.\u00a0 Elizabeth wanted to scream at the person.\u00a0 It sounded like the woman was standing at her shoulder with their mouth at her ear, yelling as loudly as she could.\u00a0 “Excuse me.\u00a0 House cleaning!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth got her hand on the door before it could be pushed open more.\u00a0 The voice on the other side gasped and the door stopped moving.\u00a0 “Ai! You scared me.” The voice told her through the crack.\u00a0 “Do you need your room cleaned?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“NO!”\u00a0 Elizabeth yelled and grimaced at the sound.\u00a0 “No, I’m… I’m fine.\u00a0 I don’t… The room is fine.”\u00a0 She peeked around the corner to look at the woman.\u00a0 “I just accidentally left the door open.\u00a0 Thank you, I’m fine.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The other woman, an older Mexican lady in a crisp white outfit, took a step back and raised a hand to her neck.\u00a0 “Mother of God!\u00a0 Please, are you okay?”\u00a0 Her eyes were wide and white.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I’m fine, thank you.\u00a0 Just… just go.\u00a0 I’ll leave a tip the next time.\u00a0 Tomorrow.\u00a0 Thank you.”\u00a0 Elizabeth slammed the door shut and almost cried as the sound drilled into her ears.\u00a0 She latched the door and leaned against it with her eyes closed until she heard the woman leaving.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When she opened her eyes again she saw the trail of blood leading to the door.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She didn’t understand at first.\u00a0 Of course there couldn’t be any blood here.\u00a0 Of course it’s not blood, she told herself.\u00a0 She looked at herself again.\u00a0 She was covered in blood.\u00a0 Panicking, she ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror.\u00a0 From head to toe she was nearly completely covered in blood.\u00a0 Her face was a terrible mask of red.\u00a0 No wonder the woman was terrified.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Oh god.\u00a0 She’s going to tell someone.”\u00a0 Elizabeth said.\u00a0 Her voice trembled and sounded odd in her ears.\u00a0 She rushed back out and realized the room was in shambles.\u00a0 The bed was broken into pieces with the blanket, pillow and sheets shredded.\u00a0 The chairs and desk were wrecked with deep grooves cut into the top of the desk.\u00a0 On the floor next to the desk was a puddle of blood in the vague shape of a human \u2013 much larger than she was but still human shaped.\u00a0 She walked to it unsteadily.\u00a0 A smaller spot of red was nearby and she knelt to look at it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There was a very small white rod shaped thing and… and… She knelt closer, feeling waves of nausea nearly overpower her.\u00a0 There was a whole fingernail in the small pile of blood.\u00a0 She quickly checked her own fingers but she had all of her fingernails.\u00a0 It wasn’t hers.\u00a0 The other thing… she touched it carefully.\u00a0 The other thing was a piece of bone.\u00a0 Her stomach heaved and she vomited again, covering the small pile of blood and part of the larger pile.\u00a0 She turned away from what came up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She held her stomach and leaned against the wall.\u00a0 “I have to get out of her.\u00a0 They’ll come.\u00a0 They’ll come for me.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She suddenly heard laughter and some woman’s squeal of delight.\u00a0 A man’s voice.\u00a0 “Do…know… do to you…”\u00a0 It was twisted and broken but she heard parts.\u00a0 She couldn’t tell where it came from.\u00a0 From somewhere else came the squawk of a radio with a voice she couldn’t hear.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“FUCK YOU!”\u00a0 She screamed.\u00a0 “My life!\u00a0 Fuck you!”\u00a0 The clothes she wore to bed were in tatters on the floor around the desk.\u00a0 She found her suitcase under a piece of the bed and dug through frantically, putting on whatever she could find.\u00a0 She zipped up the suitcase and ran for the door, almost opening it before she remembered her face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She dropped the suitcase and ran to the bathroom, scrubbing and washing until the sink water was a light pink rather than dark red.\u00a0 She had things between her teeth so she brushed with plain water to get rid of them.\u00a0 She ran out again and only barely remembered to grab her purse before leaving.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She heard two more radios and distinctly heard her room number among the chatter.\u00a0 It took two grabs to open the door.\u00a0 She ran into the hallway and stopped.\u00a0 There was a uniformed security guard at the far end of hallway holding a radio to his ear.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth could hear the radio as if it was next to her own ear.\u00a0 “… advise caution.\u00a0 Occupant is described as behaving erratically and may be violent.\u00a0 Repeat…”\u00a0 There was an odd whine to the pitch of the voice on the radio.\u00a0 Elizabeth stopped, staring at the man.\u00a0 The guard stopped as well, staring at her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Ms… Ms. Mori?”\u00a0 He asked.\u00a0 “We’d like to have a word with…\u00a0 Wait!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth ran, pulling her suitcase behind her.\u00a0 She turned the corner for the stairs and her suitcase caught on the railing.\u00a0 She cursed and tugged but was still moving and almost fell down the stairs.\u00a0 She could hear the security guard running.\u00a0 She could actually hear his breathing and some other noise as well.\u00a0 She smelled sour sweat and putrid breath mints and knew it wasn’t her.\u00a0 She screamed wordlessly and left the suitcase, bounding down the stairs.\u00a0 Her purse slammed against her side over and over.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Stop!\u00a0 We just want to talk!\u00a0 Ms. Mori!\u00a0 Elizabeth!\u00a0 Stop!”\u00a0 The security guard called.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She ran on, skipping steps as fast as she dared.\u00a0 Reaching the bottom, she slammed the security door open and almost fell when the security alarm went off.\u00a0 She shielded her eyes against the sudden bright light and ran on, stumbling through a bush and out onto the sidewalk.\u00a0 The air outside smelled like chemicals and death.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She ran, the impact of her bare feet on the rough sidewalk sending small jolts of pain up her legs.\u00a0 People yelled out as she pushed them aside.\u00a0 One man cursed her.\u00a0 She picked random streets and alleys until she thought she lost the guard.\u00a0 He wouldn’t leave the hotel, she told herself.\u00a0 He wouldn’t.\u00a0 He’s a hotel security guard, not a cop.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her stomach ached from the running.\u00a0 She leaned against the wall of the alley, unsure of where she was.\u00a0 Sounds assaulted her but her mind was reeling from what happened so she didn’t pay attention to them.\u00a0 A sharp pain on her foot caused her to look down.\u00a0 Her foot was bleeding into a puddle of black, oily water.\u00a0 She reached down and picked a large piece of glass out of the bottom of her foot.\u00a0 She wanted to scream again but tried to calm herself down.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“They have a copy of my license at the hotel.\u00a0 They know who I am.\u00a0 I need… I need…”\u00a0 She took a deep shuddering breath.\u00a0 “I need to get some different clothes and shoes and get cleaned up.\u00a0 Susan.\u00a0 Susan lives near here.\u00a0 She can help me.”\u00a0 She dug through her purse until she found her cell phone.\u00a0 Miraculously, she still had half a charge on it.\u00a0 She quickly dialed her friend’s number and prayed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Five rings later, a voice greeted her.\u00a0 She hissed at how loud the volume was and held the phone away from her ear.\u00a0 “Susan?\u00a0 Susan, hi!\u00a0 It’s Elizabeth.\u00a0 Yes, Lizzy.\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Hi!\u00a0 No, I’m fine.\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Look, I’m actually in town and… That’s right.\u00a0 No, just last night.\u00a0 For work.\u00a0 Listen, could I stay with you tonight?\u00a0 We could… we could catch up?\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 Oh, thank you.\u00a0 No, I’ll catch a taxi.\u00a0 I have your address in my phone.\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 I’ll… I’ll see you soon.\u00a0 Good bye!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth cried in relief.\u00a0 She leaned against the wall and held her stomach, sobbing at what had become of her life.\u00a0 When she was better, she wiped her eyes and looked around the alley.\u00a0 She spotted a dirty rag around a pipe and pulled it off to tie around her foot.\u00a0 It didn’t seem to hurt unless she touched it.\u00a0 A quick look on the map program of her phone told her where the nearest cheap shoe store was.\u00a0 She peeked around the corner of the alley and slowly made her way there, thankfully just a few blocks away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Slowly she became aware of the voices around her.\u00a0 She could hear people more easily than before.\u00a0 Conversations just two blocks away were clear.\u00a0 Further away she could hear bits and pieces as if whispered.\u00a0 Something was odd about the voices but she could still hear them.\u00a0 A police siren roared nearby and her heart almost stopped.\u00a0 She forced herself to keep walking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The clerk in the shoe store frowned at her when she entered but Elizabeth ignored her.\u00a0 “I… I lost my shoes and hurt my foot.\u00a0 I just… I just need to pick up a new pair.\u00a0 I have money.\u00a0 I’m not… I’m not a homeless person.\u00a0 I have money.”\u00a0 Her face flushed in shame.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A memory of her parents came to her while she walked to the women’s section.\u00a0 “Don’t embarrass us and don’t embarrass yourself.\u00a0 Don’t stand out.\u00a0 Don’t attract attention.\u00a0 Don’t bother making friends.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It had been her first day at her new high school – the third one so far.\u00a0 Her father had to move a lot for his job.\u00a0 At the last school, a girl she thought was her friend loaned her a skirt to wear at school.\u00a0 It was very short but her friend swore it would make her pretty – make the boys be interested in her.\u00a0 She believed her and wore it, wondering why later she heard other kids laughing.\u00a0 It wasn’t until a teacher pulled her aside and told her the skirt was showing off her panties that she understood.\u00a0 Her “friend” had been laughing with everyone else.\u00a0 She was called into the principal’s office and her parents had to pick her up.\u00a0 They moved soon after that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Boys had never looked at her twice because she was so skinny and short.\u00a0 The one time she’d let a boy touch her, he’d bitten her lip trying to kiss her and laughed when he put his hand up her shirt.\u00a0 She ran from him but he told everyone that he’d fucked her and that she took it up the ass – begged to be fucked in the ass because her pussy was too loose.\u00a0 No girl talked to her after that and all the boys grinned at her and grabbed their crotches.\u00a0 She thought about killing herself but her family moved again a few weeks later.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Since then she’d kept to herself.\u00a0 She never really trusted anyone and never really made friends.\u00a0 She sat in the back, did her homework and never spoke to anyone.\u00a0 She did well enough in school and graduated from the local college with honors but nobody remembered her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Don’t embarrass yourself.\u00a0 Don’t attract attention.\u00a0 Be quiet and good.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The clerk stood at the end of the aisle watching her as she looked for shoes.\u00a0 Elizabeth stole a glance at her and then bent back to the shoes.\u00a0 She found a pair of running shoes that looked reasonable and she grabbed a pair of white ankle socks to go with them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She doesn’t have to look at me like that, she thought.\u00a0 I have money.\u00a0 I told her that.\u00a0 I told her I have money.\u00a0 Why does she have to glare at me?\u00a0 I didn’t do anything to her.\u00a0 I’m not a crazy… I’m not a crazy person.\u00a0 I don’t know what happened but it wasn’t me.\u00a0 I’ll figure this out.\u00a0 It wasn’t… Why is she staring at me?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She walked to the counter and put the shoes and socks in front of the clerk.\u00a0 The clerk said nothing but scanned both items.\u00a0 Her eyes are suspicious, Elizabeth thought.\u00a0 She thinks something is wrong.\u00a0 Does she know about me?\u00a0 No, she couldn’t or she’d call the police.\u00a0 Stop looking at me like that.\u00a0 Stop… stop doing that.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Thirty-two fify-three.” The cashier told her.\u00a0 The words rang loudly and wrong in Elizabeth’s ears.\u00a0 Full of scorn.\u00a0 Full of hate and pity.\u00a0 She glared at the cashier and then looked down.\u00a0 She doesn’t have the right, she told herself.\u00a0 She can’t judge me.\u00a0 She dug through her purse to find her wallet and handed the girl her debit card.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Thank you.”\u00a0 The girl said, disgust loud in her voice.\u00a0 She rang the purchase and gave the receipt and card back to Elizabeth.\u00a0 “Have a nice day.”\u00a0 She said.\u00a0 The sarcasm dripped from her voice.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I… You know what?\u00a0 Fuck you.\u00a0 FUCK YOU!”\u00a0 Elizabeth reached out and slapped the girl hard across the face.\u00a0 “I’m fucking sick and tired of you people.\u00a0 You don’t fucking know me.\u00a0 You don’t know anything about me!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The girl touched her face and looked at her hand.\u00a0 Her eyes were wide and scared.\u00a0 “I don’t… I’m sorry… I…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Fucking sorry!\u00a0 You’re *sorry*!”\u00a0 She slapped the girl again, putting her weight behind it.\u00a0 Blood trickled from the girl’s mouth and she started crying.\u00a0 “Every single fucking one of you ruined my fucking life and you dare to look at me like I’m some fucking degenerate?!”\u00a0 She spit in the woman’s eyes and turned away.\u00a0 She held the plastic store bag in one hand and was gripping her purse with the other.\u00a0 She slammed the door with her shoulder and walked out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A block away she stopped.\u00a0 She just slapped that woman.\u00a0 She just… Oh my god, she thought.\u00a0 What have I done?\u00a0 She sat at a bench nearby and stared at the road.\u00a0 This isn’t me, she told herself.\u00a0 What is… what’s wrong with me?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Minutes passed before she collected herself.\u00a0 When she pulled the rag off of her foot, it was soaked in blood.\u00a0 The bleeding from her foot had slowed to a trickle but the wound was still open and tender.\u00a0 She took the socks and shoes out of the box and gingerly put the socks on.\u00a0 The shoes were harder to put on and didn’t fit quite right.\u00a0 Their tightness hurt her feet and made her cut foot throb in pain.\u00a0 She threw the box, bag and rag away in the bin next to her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She looked at herself.\u00a0 I look more normal, at least.\u00a0 Thank god I have a long sleeve shirt and pants to cover me.\u00a0 I need a shower and something to eat and I’ll feel almost human again.\u00a0 A man walked by and laughed.\u00a0 She glanced up, baring her teeth in a snarl.\u00a0 Was he fucking laughing at me?!\u00a0 The man was walking with a woman but Elizabeth could swear he leered at her as he passed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was past noon and she hadn’t eaten yet.\u00a0 Perhaps that’s why she’s acting like this, she thought.\u00a0 Low blood sugar or something.\u00a0 There was a hot dog vendor down the street so she walked over and ordered a hot dog with a cup of coffee.\u00a0 She listened to people talking as she waited.\u00a0 Everyone sounded false.\u00a0 She heard hidden threats, condescension and boredom in everyone she listened to.\u00a0 Men’s voices sounded guttural and angry, woman’s voices waspish.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Finally her food was ready.\u00a0 Her stomach growled – she hadn’t realized just how hungry she was.\u00a0 She stood aside to eat but sniffing at the food turned her stomach.\u00a0 It smelled wrong.\u00a0 Old.\u00a0 Dead.\u00a0 Like something left out for dogs.\u00a0 She glanced at the man and then back to her food.\u00a0 Maybe she was just feeling sick and stressed from everything else.\u00a0 She took a bite of the hot dog and nearly retched.\u00a0 It tasted like a hot dog but with a hint of some diseased flesh and blood.\u00a0 She spit out the food and threw everything at the vendor.\u00a0 He screamed when the coffee hit his face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“You trying to kill me?!\u00a0 Poison me with this shit?!\u00a0 You think just because of who I am you can feed me this dog shit?!”\u00a0 The man was on his side, clutching his face and still screaming.\u00a0 People were starting to gather around and look.\u00a0 She could smell them – the stench of them.\u00a0 She’d had enough.\u00a0 Turning, she hailed the first cab she could find and gave him the address of her friend.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She just needed a hot shower and a change of clothes.\u00a0 Then she’d feel more human.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 6<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elijah rolled over in bed, his thickly muscled arm smacking hard against Cole’s naked back.\u00a0 Cole growled in response, turning his head to look at Elijah.\u00a0 “I swear to god, if you’re awake…” A loud snore was his response.\u00a0 Cole snorted.\u00a0 “Figures.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sleep wouldn’t come to him again, not with an hour before the alarm went off to wake them up.\u00a0 He sighed and sat up.\u00a0 Elijah’s arm rolled off and lay across Cole’s side of the bed.\u00a0 Elijah snorted before resuming his snore.\u00a0 Cole grinned at him and tousled his hair.\u00a0 “I don’t know how you freakin’ do it.\u00a0 A bomb could go off and you’d probably wonder where everyone was.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole stood, his massive 6’8″ frame filling their small bedroom.\u00a0 He worked his shoulder and neck muscles in circles in the vain hopes the knots would come undone.\u00a0 He tried talking to Elijah about hogging the bed but it never worked.\u00a0 Elijah apologized and tried to do better but as soon as he was asleep it took everything Cole had to stay on the bed.\u00a0 It wouldn’t be so bad if it was cuddling but the bastard was all elbows and knees when he was asleep.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He padded quietly to their shower and let it build up to a thick steam.\u00a0 He braced himself against the wall and let the scalding water run over his body.\u00a0 It was nearly punishing but so relaxing.\u00a0 He stood a long time turning this way and that until he could feel himself loosen up.\u00a0 He worked the shampoo through his dark brown hair as the water ran over the muscles of his back.\u00a0 He scrubbed soap through his thick chest hair and worked down to his crotch, cleaning his dick.\u00a0 It rose to impressive attention but he ignored it and worked down his legs, finishing with his toes.\u00a0 A few more minutes with the hot water and he was entirely clean.\u00a0 It took effort to turn off the water.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Finishing in the bathroom, he made his way to the kitchen and started breakfast.\u00a0 Scrambled eggs with ham.\u00a0 The timer on the coffee machine clicked on and started brewing.\u00a0 He wrinkled his nose in disgust.\u00a0 One day he planned on “accidentally” breaking that machine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He smiled when he heard the sheets rustling in the bedroom.\u00a0 Elijah walked in and rubbed Cole’s back.\u00a0 “Mornin'”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole turned to look at him.\u00a0 6’3″ with blond hair and blue eyes and built like an Olympic athlete.\u00a0 Women swooned over him and he’s all mine, he thought.\u00a0 He glanced down.\u00a0 “I think you need to take a piss, Elijah.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elijah’s smile was lazy on his tired face.\u00a0 “Oh, that’s not because of that.”\u00a0 His hand moved down to Cole’s stomach.\u00a0 “We still have time before work, you know.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole shrugged him off and laughed.\u00a0 “Get off me and go take a shower.\u00a0 You need to eat something and get ready.\u00a0 You know how slow you are in the morning.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elijah laced his fingers and stretched all the way up on his toes, showing off his physique.\u00a0 “Who cares?\u00a0 There’s time.\u00a0 Come back to bed.\u00a0 The food will still be here.”\u00a0 He grabbed Cole’s hand and pulled it to his own dick.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“And I say if you want that to still work tonight you need to get your ass into the shower get ready for work.\u00a0 You think this apartment’s cheap?”\u00a0 Cole pulled him into an embrace with his other hand and kissed him, first on the lips and then with a quick bit of tongue.\u00a0 Too much and he would find his way back to the bed.\u00a0 Elijah rumbled deep in his throat before turning around.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole drank his orange juice while Elijah downed two cups of coffee and talked animatedly about his new clients.\u00a0 Elijah was a fitness instructor at a large gym downtown and loved all of the people he worked with.\u00a0 He was proud of every single one of their accomplishments.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Krista lost 2 pounds so far this week.\u00a0 She whined about not having ice cream but I told her I’d give her a kiss if she lost weight.\u00a0 You should’ve seen the look on her face.”\u00a0 He laughed loud and long.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole shook his head.\u00a0 “And you did, didn’t you?\u00a0 Cheating on me already?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hah.\u00a0 Whatever works.\u00a0 I told Linda I’d treat her to lunch tomorrow if she lost weight and she’s trying hard enough.\u00a0 Some people just need a push.”\u00a0 He smiled.\u00a0 “Or something other than a push.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Speaking of lunch, are we still on for lunch today?”\u00a0 Cole asked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Of course.\u00a0 1:30 should work fine.\u00a0 I just have three clients this morning.\u00a0 Sandy, Krista and John.\u00a0 They should all be pretty easy.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Good.” Cole glanced at his cell phone.\u00a0 “Hell, I have to head out before I miss the bus.”\u00a0 He stood and Elijah stood with him.\u00a0 “Be good at work today, try not to miss your bus again and I’ll see you for lunch.”\u00a0 He kissed Elijah, longer this time, their tongues exploring each other.\u00a0 Cole pulled back and nipped Elijah on the neck.\u00a0 “See you later, love.”\u00a0 Elijah just grinned back happily.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The morning went fairly quickly.\u00a0 Cole was working on the design for a new building downtown.\u00a0 He lost himself in the process – checking code for the proper parts and making sure everything fit where the client wanted it.\u00a0 Thankfully there was no rush so he got to enjoy the project.\u00a0 Having his drafting table near a large east-facing window helped as well.\u00a0 Although more often than not he wanted to stretch out in front of it and take a nap.\u00a0 He loved the California sun.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When lunch time rolled around he pushed back from his desk and rubbed his eyes.\u00a0 He rolled his shoulders and wondered for the millionth time how, with everything else, he could get muscle cramps.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hey, looking good, Cole.\u00a0 Still on track?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole looked around.\u00a0 “Hey, boss.\u00a0 Yeah, maybe even a little early.\u00a0 I’ve got a few calls into the city to double-check some things but everything seems fine so far.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Great.\u00a0 You headed off?\u00a0 Enjoy your lunch, okay?”\u00a0 His boss was an older gentleman.\u00a0 He seemed to revel in the “favorite grandfather” look – balding, gray fringe of hair, slightly rounded around the middle, rectangle glasses and a tweed jacket.\u00a0 The jacket even had elbow pads.\u00a0 And that calm smile.\u00a0 The good news is, it was genuine.\u00a0 He was honestly a good guy.\u00a0 And sharp for his age.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Will do.\u00a0 See you later.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elijah was late as usual but Cole enjoyed the time alone.\u00a0 He loved to people watch and had a soft spot for little kids.\u00a0 A little girl smiled shyly at him from her stroller and he smiled back.\u00a0 He made the napkin ring dance between his fingers and delighted in the way her eyes lit up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He almost dropped the ring when Elijah came up behind him.\u00a0 Elijah just clapped his shoulder and sat down.\u00a0 “You’ll make a great father some day.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole glanced back at the stroller.\u00a0 “Yeah.\u00a0 Some day.\u00a0 Let’s eat, huh?\u00a0 Did Krista get her kiss?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lunch was slow and wonderful – both men sat out in the sun while others scooted their tables into the shade.\u00a0 Elijah had two tuna fish sandwiches while Cole contented himself with a large hamburger.\u00a0 Both asked for salads instead of fries.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They were enjoying their coffee (Elijah) and tea (Cole) when they both stopped in mid-conversation.\u00a0 Cole slowly turned his head and took in a big sniff.\u00a0 Elijah took a deep breath and gagged on it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“What – ?”\u00a0 Elijah started but Cole was already on his feet, a $20 bill on the table to pay for the food.\u00a0 “Hey wait…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole was walking east.\u00a0 There was a smell in the air.\u00a0 Something rotten but familiar.\u00a0 His powerful legs carried him quickly down one street and then the other as he tried to find the source of the smell.\u00a0 Elijah followed behind and thankfully kept his questions to himself.\u00a0 Just as he was about to turn a corner the smell slammed into him and he held back.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“… fucking degenerate?!”\u00a0 His ears twitched.\u00a0 Two blocks away he could see an irate young Asian woman at the counter of a shoe store.\u00a0 He heard the cashier crying quietly.\u00a0 The Asian woman stormed out and Cole waited a minute before following discretely.\u00a0 She was the smell.\u00a0 She looked human but she smelled… wrong.\u00a0 She should be dead, he thought.\u00a0 But there was another smell beneath that.\u00a0 Small but there.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elijah whispered to Cole.\u00a0 “Hey, she…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole stopped him.\u00a0 “Yeah, I know.\u00a0 She smells like us.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 7<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The taxi ride took forever and she swore the taxi driver was checking her out the entire time.\u00a0 She paid him but left no tip.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I think you undressing me with your eyes was tip enough, pig.”\u00a0 She told him as she got out.\u00a0 The man look bewildered but how else could he look, she thought?\u00a0 She caught him in the act.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her friend’s house was small but well kept and in a nice part of town.\u00a0 Her husband was often traveling for work and she stayed home to take care of things.\u00a0 No kids so all of their money went into retirement and toys.\u00a0 The black Mercedes sitting in the driveway was recently washed and flawless.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She heard Susan coming from a back room after she rang the doorbell.\u00a0 This hearing… she couldn’t tell if she was imagining things or if she really could hear better.\u00a0 Susan was a little older than Elizabeth at 35 years old but she looked younger.\u00a0 She was all smiles and hugs but they seemed false to Elizabeth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Don’t bother making friends.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Girl, don’t they have a shower in that hotel?\u00a0 You smell like you just got off the plane.”\u00a0 Susan stepped back and wrinkled her nose.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth looked down at her feet.\u00a0 The one foot was still throbbing painfully.\u00a0 “Yeah, that’s… that’s one of the reasons why I’m visiting.\u00a0 Their hot water heater was broken. I was… I was hoping I could use your shower and maybe borrow a change of clothes?\u00a0 Mine, uh, mine are lost somewhere in Minnesota.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Tsk.\u00a0 Those airlines.\u00a0 I never trust them.\u00a0 Come on in and use my shower.\u00a0 Take all the time you need.\u00a0 I’ll look around my clothes for something older.\u00a0 When I was skinnier.\u00a0 I swear you never gain weight and here I am eating salads and bloating up.\u00a0 I’ll show you where the bathroom is.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth sat in the bath tub hugging her knees while the hot water soaked into her.\u00a0 She felt so cold.\u00a0 Eventually she scrubbed her body to get the dried blood off of her.\u00a0 It came off easier than she expected.\u00a0 When she got to her stomach she noticed clotted blood in her thick pubic hair.\u00a0 She thought about cleaning it off but grabbed Susan’s razor instead.\u00a0 Carefully she shaved the hair off, piling it on the floor beside the tub as she did.\u00a0 She pulled her pussy lips to the side and took her time getting every little hair.\u00a0 When she was done she set the razor aside and looked at herself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her pussy filled her with shame.\u00a0 Single at 33 years old and still a virgin.\u00a0 She poked her breasts and leaned back to let the water drill into her nipples.\u00a0 They stiffened under the attention and she shook from the feeling.\u00a0 Her hand crept down to her wetness and placed a finger on her opening.\u00a0 She traced the finger up and down her lips, enjoying the feeling.\u00a0 Occasionally she’d dip the finger inside and jerk a little.\u00a0 Up and down, she moved her hand.\u00a0 She leaned back against the tub and put a finger all the way inside, letting the heel of her hand rest against her clit.\u00a0 She twisted her legs with the feeling of it.\u00a0 In and out, letting the pressure build slowly inside her.\u00a0 In and out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Unclean.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her hand stopped.\u00a0 Did she imagine that?\u00a0 What was that?\u00a0 She waited but heard nothing else.\u00a0 She started rubbing herself again but the feeling was gone and she wasn’t into it.\u00a0 Unclean?\u00a0 What did that mean?\u00a0 Why did that make her scared?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her foot had scabbed over and looked like it was doing better.\u00a0 She washed it gently and then turned the water off.\u00a0 Digging around in the cabinets she found a bunch of different bandages with antibacterial goop – the largest bandage covered the wound perfectly.\u00a0 She heard Susan coming again and a minute later her voice sounded through the door.\u00a0 “I found an old skirt and top that will fit you.\u00a0 I’ll leave them by the door.\u00a0 And some panties, too. I hope you don’t mind black.\u00a0 I don’t have an extra bra, though.\u00a0 And I think my shoes still fit you?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yeah, sure you don’t have a bra.\u00a0 Elizabeth thought.\u00a0 You mean you don’t have any that will fit me because my tits are too small.\u00a0 Bitch.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She cracked open the door and picked up the clothes.\u00a0 They were too cute for her but she didn’t care.\u00a0 At least they were something.\u00a0 The skirt was shorter than she liked and she ground her teeth at that but let it go.\u00a0 The shoes were flats that were a little loose but at least they didn’t hurt her feet.\u00a0 Once out of the bathroom she asked if she could lay down for a while – she was exhausted from the stress of the day and wanted to catch some sleep.\u00a0 Susan agreed easily and told her she’d be out in the garden but that her house was Elizabeth’s house while she was there.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth was asleep in minutes.\u00a0 Her dreams were the same.\u00a0 The faceless man.\u00a0 The pain.\u00a0 Everything the same.\u00a0 She woke up with a shout.\u00a0 Outside the sun was setting and the clock near the bed told her it was just after 4:30 pm.\u00a0 She felt like she hadn’t slept at all.\u00a0 She could hear Susan outside.\u00a0 It sounded like she was working with the garden shears.\u00a0 The metal on metal sound hurt her ears and made her teeth ache.\u00a0 But now Susan was done and coming back inside.\u00a0 Elizabeth waited until Susan cleaned herself up before stepping out of the room.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They passed pleasantries while Susan made a supper of baked tuna and asparagus.\u00a0 The smelled turned Elizabeth’s stomach even though she hadn’t eaten properly since the day before.\u00a0 The tuna smelled like it’d been sitting out in the sun.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They’d known each other for about 10 years – they’d met out of college after working at the same temp agency.\u00a0 Susan took it upon herself to befriend the quiet girl and dragged her along everywhere she went.\u00a0 They talked about all of the trips they’d had together and Susan gossiped about her husband and their friends.\u00a0 Elizabeth made the appropriate noises when she could.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When dinner was served, Elizabeth took her time trying the first bite.\u00a0 She was starving but the smell of rotten fish was overpowering.\u00a0 She saw Susan tuck into her own food and eventually tried a bite.\u00a0 She gagged but held it in.\u00a0 When Susan wasn’t looking she spit out the piece into her napkin.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
That fucking whore!\u00a0 She thought.\u00a0 I knew she was being too nice!\u00a0 She gave me the rotten piece on purpose and kept the better one!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Oh, honey.\u00a0 You’re barely eating anything.\u00a0 Are you feeling okay?\u00a0 Is it too salty?”\u00a0 Susan was trying to look concerned but Elizabeth could tell she was making fun of her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Gosh.\u00a0 I think the stress of the trip and losing my luggage is getting to me.\u00a0 I guess I’m not hungry.\u00a0 With my figure I don’t have to eat that much.”\u00a0 She smiled at Susan, showing her teeth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I… I guess that’s true.”\u00a0 Susan said.\u00a0 She looked down at her food and put her fork down, only half-way done with her tuna.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
What’s the matter, you fat bitch?\u00a0 Worried about your weight?\u00a0 I hope you choke on a fucking bone and die.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Susan brightened up again.\u00a0 “Speaking of food, remember our trip to the Philippines two months ago?\u00a0 Now that was some interesting cuisine.\u00a0 Especially that bar at the end.\u00a0 Who was it that ordered the appetizers?\u00a0 We didn’t even know what we were ordering but we still…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Susan\u2019s voice faded out as Elizabeth focused inward.\u00a0 Something about that tickled the back of her brain.\u00a0 That bar, she thought.\u00a0 Something about that bar.\u00a0 She felt herself break out in goose bumps.\u00a0 What was it?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her revelry was suddenly broken by the phone ringing.\u00a0 Susan excused herself and answered it.\u00a0 “Hello?\u00a0 Oh, Janice. I’ve got… what’s that?\u00a0 You need it now?\u00a0 But I’m… Oh, you have guests over?\u00a0 I guess it can’t be helped then.\u00a0 I’ll be over in a few minutes.\u00a0 Okay, you too.\u00a0 Bye.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Susan turned back to Elizabeth.\u00a0 “I’m so sorry, hun.\u00a0 I have to step out for a few moments.\u00a0 I borrowed Janice’s video camera and she needs it back.\u00a0 I’ll just be fifteen minutes or so.\u00a0 I’ll be right back.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth barely noticed her leaving.\u00a0 What the hell was it?\u00a0 The bar… something… not the bar but something… She stood from the table and paced the kitchen.\u00a0 There were four of them there and Susan took her along because she thought she would have fun if she were out with her friends.\u00a0 They were drunk and loud.\u00a0 Elizabeth was complaining about her work and dealing with the men there while the other women were complaining about the men in their lives.\u00a0 But… what?\u00a0 Nothing happened.\u00a0 They went back to their hotel rooms and then left the next day.\u00a0 So what was bothering her?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She stopped at the kitchen sink and leaned against it, thinking furiously.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Diseased.” \u00a0Came a voice at her shoulder.\u00a0 She spun wildly, yelling out.\u00a0 Nobody was there.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Unclean.”\u00a0 She turned again.\u00a0 “Who’s there?!”\u00a0 She yelled.\u00a0 A rasping noise floated in the air and she trembled.\u00a0 Slowly, she raised her eyes to the window above the sink.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Oh, god.\u00a0 She thought.\u00a0 The moon.\u00a0 It’s burning my eyes.\u00a0 I can’t… I can’t…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Outcast.” The voice whispered to her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She sunk to her knees, covering her face.\u00a0 Tears rolled down her cheeks.\u00a0 Her stomach cramped as if her period was coming on.\u00a0 That can’t be, she thought.\u00a0 I haven’t had my period since that trip.\u00a0 The cramping made her curl into a ball.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Tainted one.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She crawled slowly to the other room.\u00a0 I can’t bear it, she told herself.\u00a0 I can’t look at it.\u00a0 I don’t want it to look at me.\u00a0 I can’t…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When she was in the study she felt her stomach loosen slowly.\u00a0 She tried to catch her breath over and over.\u00a0 She wanted to cry again.\u00a0 Something was wrong.\u00a0 The bar.\u00a0 The trip.\u00a0 Something.\u00a0 She could hear whispering around her.\u00a0 A hundred voices whispering to her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She pulled herself up on the large desk dominating the room.\u00a0 The charred wood in the fireplace behind the desk took her breath away.\u00a0 The dream.\u00a0 The bar.\u00a0 The man with no face.\u00a0 She remembered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 8<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On their last trip, on the way back to the hotel from the bar, she stopped beside a small run-down building.\u00a0 An old man sat outside on a stool, smoking a cigarette with stained hands.\u00a0 He watched her stop while he took a drag from his cigarette.\u00a0 Something about him bothered Elizabeth but she couldn’t figure it out and she was too drunk to think hard enough.\u00a0 Her friends took no notice and kept walking.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The old man blew out a cloud of blue smoke toward Elizabeth.\u00a0 “Help you?”\u00a0 He asked her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“No.\u00a0 No, I doubt it.”\u00a0 She told him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He tilted his head slightly and blew another puff of smoke.\u00a0 Slowly, he stood and walked toward the door of his building.\u00a0 He turned to her and motioned.\u00a0 “Come.”\u00a0 He said.\u00a0 He was even shorter than she was.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth swayed for a second and placed her hand on the wall next to her.\u00a0 The old man left the door open for her and she could see a flickering flame inside.\u00a0 She turned to look for her friends but they were already gone.\u00a0 She turned unsteadily back to the old building and took a step.\u00a0 Shrugging, she walked inside and closed the door.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The old man sat at a plain wooden table.\u00a0 There were shelves around him with jars of different shapes and sizes.\u00a0 The flickering light made it look like some of the jars had living, moving things in them.\u00a0 In front of the old man was a small saucer full of a thick copper liquid.\u00a0 He was slowly stirring the liquid with the index finger of his right hand.\u00a0 There were no other places to sit and the floor was made of packed dirt.\u00a0 The old man stared at her and she hugged her chest, shivering.\u00a0 The open fire in the corner of the room was not warming her up.\u00a0 The smoke was thick and only a small hole in the roof helped to lessen it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She found she was more sober than she’d like but couldn’t understand why she was in here.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Because I told you come.”\u00a0 The man said.\u00a0 She blinked stupidly at him.\u00a0 Did she talk out loud?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The man stood and walked around the table to stand in front of her.\u00a0 She took a step back and stopped.\u00a0 She was 5’4″ but he was at least three inches shorter than her.\u00a0 A single drop of that thick liquid dripped from his finger to the ground, congealing in the dirt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He slapped her with his left hand.\u00a0 It was so sudden and unexpected that she opened her mouth in shock.\u00a0 Automatically her hands went to her face but he grabbed her left hand and pulled her down hard.\u00a0 He was small but so strong.\u00a0 She fell to her knees in front of him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“You mine.”\u00a0 He told her as he drove the sharp point of his right index fingernail through her left hand, pining her to the ground.\u00a0 Elizabeth screamed and beat at this small man but couldn’t move him.\u00a0 Her left hand and arm were on fire.\u00a0 She convulsed with the pain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With his left hand the man reached behind and grabbed her short, black hair pulling her head up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Pretty little stupid bitch.” \u00a0He told her.\u00a0 “You make yourself mine.”\u00a0 She couldn’t breathe.\u00a0 She tried and tried again but she couldn’t breathe.\u00a0 Now her chest was on fire.\u00a0 She looked down with her eyes and saw the veins of her left hand turning black and tracing up her arm.\u00a0 She couldn’t even feel the left side of her body any more.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A thin “Eeeeeeeeee…” sound escaped her lips before the man slammed her face into the ground.\u00a0 He pushed her onto her back with his left hand while keeping her pinned with his right.\u00a0 She tasted dirt, blood and death in her mouth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Now I make new.”\u00a0 He told her in his strange accent.\u00a0 She couldn’t move her body.\u00a0 She couldn’t feel anything except the pain in her face.\u00a0 Her vision blurred.\u00a0 One look and the man had no face.\u00a0 Another look and he was covered in tattoos.\u00a0 A third and he was the old man again.\u00a0 The man took his left hand and she saw how sharp the nails were – like no normal fingernails.\u00a0 He placed his index finger near her neck and drew it down.\u00a0 Her clothes separated easily down the middle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was in pain and ashamed of her nakedness but he wasn’t interested in her that way.\u00a0 He took his left hand again to just below her neck.\u00a0 This time, he pushed into her skin.\u00a0 Blood welled around the fingernail, thick and red.\u00a0 She wanted to scream but her mouth wouldn’t work.\u00a0 She could move her eyes and she watched as he dragged that finger down her chest to her cunt.\u00a0 The flesh separated like paper, blood pouring out of the cut.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The last thing she remembered before passing out was his hand going into her chest and a sudden bright flare of pain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 9<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
No.\u00a0 No, no, no, no. She told herself, over and over.\u00a0 This can’t…<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her left hand was twitching.\u00a0 She stared at it.\u00a0 At the small hole in the middle of her hand.\u00a0 The hole that wasn’t there before.\u00a0 She grabbed the edge of the desk and cried out.\u00a0 The veins in her left hand were turning black.\u00a0 Her body shook and a wave of heat passed over her.\u00a0 Hot, so hot.\u00a0 After feeling too cold all day she suddenly felt like she was standing at the edge of a furnace.\u00a0 She wanted to rip her clothes off but she dared not let go of the desk.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sweat beaded on her forehead.\u00a0 Two drops ran down and found their way into her eye.\u00a0 She blinked and cursed as it stung.\u00a0 The hair on her arms were standing at attention.\u00a0 She watched the sweat well up from hands and arms, making little rivers as they rolled down and dripped on the desk and carpet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her chest was on fire and she heard a roaring in her ears.\u00a0 The white blouse turned damp and heavy on her small frame, her sweat soaking it until drops leaked from the fabric any time she moved.\u00a0 Her chest heaved and she heard the whine of fabric stretching.\u00a0 She couldn’t breathe.\u00a0 Couldn’t breathe.\u00a0 She reached for the top button of the blouse and fumbled, pulling down.\u00a0 It was so tight against her.\u00a0 The button pinged and shot across the desk.\u00a0 She still couldn’t breathe.\u00a0 The next button came off more readily and the three after it.\u00a0 She threw the blouse off of her and heard it splat against the wall, sweat flinging against furniture and books.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her breasts were straining the bra and digging into her chest.\u00a0 The tops of her breasts were half out of the bra and at least three times their normal size.\u00a0 She was barely an A cup before but now she was a C cup and growing.\u00a0 Her nipples poked out above the bra and were the size of a dime.\u00a0 Her aureole were darkening to nearly black and growing larger as her breasts grew.\u00a0 Trying to reach behind herself to unhook the bra was pointless – she didn’t have the motor control she needed to do it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With a shuddering moan she grabbed the front of the bra and pulled.\u00a0 And pulled again.\u00a0 And pulled a third time, finally breaking the fabric in half.\u00a0 Her breasts flopped out of the broken bra and she let out a deep breath.\u00a0 Now she was D cup and the nipples were the size of a nickel.\u00a0 Sweat from beneath her breasts trailed down her hardening stomach.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A line of thick, clear drool ran from the corner of her mouth to the desk.\u00a0 She coughed a barking sound and felt her jaw break.\u00a0 Now blood and drool was running from the corner of her mouth to her chest.\u00a0 She tried screaming but her tongue didn’t work right.\u00a0 She lost vision in her left eye and then her right eye as a line of fire traced its way from her mouth up to the top of her nose.\u00a0 When her eyesight returned she could see her nose pushing out from her face as it flattened.\u00a0 Her jaw lengthened, cracking and splintering as it did.\u00a0 She felt the curious sensation of her teeth scratching against the bottom of her tongue.\u00a0 As her mouth pushed out, it enveloped her lengthening tongue, pulling it into her new mouth.\u00a0 The last two inches hung at the corner of her mouth and she panted like a dog with the effort and pain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As her jaw moved, her ears shifted.\u00a0 Everything was drowned out in a sudden high-pitched whining noise before the world went silent.\u00a0 All she could hear was her heartbeat and ragged breathing, as if at the bottom of a deep, empty lake.\u00a0 She felt an itch start deep inside her ears and growled when it turned into the feeling of an ice pick being shoved deep into her brain.\u00a0 She slammed her ear on the desk and rubbed, over and over, from one ear to the other.\u00a0 She tried working her new jaw to alleviate the pain but nothing helped.\u00a0 The bones in her ear canal broke and moved closer to the top of her head.\u00a0 Cartilage reformed the ear into a rounder, hooded shape.\u00a0 She ground her teeth against the feeling but her hearing suddenly returned after heard a loud popping sound.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her breasts were now double-d cups and still growing.\u00a0 She could feel them against her as she leaned over the desk.\u00a0 Her new large nipples were erect and hard and she found herself rubbing them against rough areas on the desk, gasping at the feelings in her pussy and legs.\u00a0 The pleasure mixed with pain and she found herself growing wet.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth dragged her left hand down the desk to rub herself but stopped when she saw it.\u00a0 Fine black hairs dotted the top of her hand and thick black claws had replaced her index and pinky finger, cutting lines down the wood of the desk.\u00a0 The two fingers were thicker, larger.\u00a0 As she watched, the fingernails from the other fingers slid off.\u00a0 The hand jumped and spasmed uncontrollably, black veins standing out.\u00a0 With a pop, her thumb shortened but thickened, looking odd against her small hand.\u00a0 From the tip of the thumb, a jet black point pushed through the empty flesh where her fingernail used to be.\u00a0 It pushed out further and further until finally, a new thick claw was in place.\u00a0 Her other fingers followed shortly after, massive sausage fingers on her tiny hands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
An acrid scent filled her new nose and she watched thin streams of smoke curl around her fingers where the claws touched the wood of the desk.\u00a0 She tried to snatch her hand away but her claws flexed and cut deeper into the desk.\u00a0 Small crackling noises preceded her hand growing larger, fitting the fingers.\u00a0 Black hairs were growing slowly from the tips of her fingers up to her shoulder.\u00a0 She felt like an army of ants or spiders were digging into her flesh.\u00a0 She jerked her arm over and over and came away with a chunk of the desk, still attached to her claws.\u00a0 The hair was growing thicker, hiding her flesh behind a pure black carpet of fur.\u00a0 She slammed her hand down and heard the desk crack, the small piece of wood in her hand splitting apart.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“FUCK!” She screamed.\u00a0 “Fuck fuck fuck fuck!”\u00a0 Beneath the thick hair her arm was growing.\u00a0 Hairs rippled as her forearm muscles thickened.\u00a0 She leaned back into the desk as fire burned along her left side.\u00a0 Her bicep bulged and she jerked her arm without thinking, turning the heavy oak desk ninety degrees with ease.\u00a0 In seconds, the fur of the arm was matted with sweat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her face slammed into the desk as her back spasmed.\u00a0 Again and again she was jerked back and forth until her cheek was numb.\u00a0 The fire from her arm had moved into her back.\u00a0 Skin split and healed, briefly showing her spine as the muscles along her back grew at an explosive rate.\u00a0 She almost blacked out from the agony of it.\u00a0 She roared, loud and long and almost bit her tongue off when a new spasm wracked her body.\u00a0 Ridges of muscle lined her back, slick with sweat.\u00a0 The borrowed skirt was straining against her hips.\u00a0 A smattering of color turned into small black and orange hairs growing along the new skin.\u00a0 She wanted to turn over and rub her back over and over against the edge of the desk but couldn’t control herself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With a loud crack, her pelvis struck the desk hard.\u00a0 She closed her eyes and set her forehead against the desk, wishing the pain to be over.\u00a0 Glad to have at least this small control of her body, she rubbed her muzzle against the desk over and over, savoring the feeling.\u00a0 Another crack and she stopped moving, focusing and thinking of something, anything other than the small of her back.\u00a0 She felt like someone was slamming her back with a hammer and then pulling the skin with tongs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A bulge formed in the back of the skirt.\u00a0 Slowly, the bulge moved down, caught in her wet panties.\u00a0 She felt it move against her ass, alien flesh against flesh.\u00a0 It was burning hot and slick against her.\u00a0 As it moved, it found the leg hole in her panties and slid out, slowly growing.\u00a0 Her panties tightened, digging into her sopping wet pussy.\u00a0 She shuddered and moaned as the thin material was pulled in-between her pussy lips.\u00a0 The tail was growing fatter and she felt the edge of the panties cutting into the new flesh.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Ohhhrrrr goooooorrrrr…”\u00a0 She moaned through clenched teeth.\u00a0 She ached to rub herself, to plunge her thick new fingers in and out of her cunt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The rounded tip of the tail emerged from the hem of the skirt, twitching slightly side to side.\u00a0 Muscles expanded on the new appendage and the panties finally tore, causing her leg to jump as it rasped against her.\u00a0 The short growth of tail sprang up, lifting the back of her skirt as it whipped around.\u00a0 She could feel it.\u00a0 She could feel the tugging on her back and spine as it moved.\u00a0 The way it felt against her ass excited her – slick, wet flesh against her.\u00a0 She thought of all the dicks she’d never had.\u00a0 Had images of them pounding into her from behind.\u00a0 Her short tail flexed down and against her, rubbing between her ass cheeks, just shy of her pussy.\u00a0 She whimpered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The tail continued growing and rubbed her as it did.\u00a0 She almost forgot the pain of it is as the thick skin bulged into her pussy. \u00a0Her body jerked.\u00a0 She could feel the small hairs growing on it – feel how different it felt against her hot, wet pussy as they grew.\u00a0 Orange and black bands of fur grew along the tail.\u00a0 As the it lengthened, new skin showed between the fur only to be quickly covered by the growing hair.\u00a0 She felt it sliding against her and wanted it deep inside.\u00a0 Instead, it coiled along her trembling leg, wrapping itself against her.\u00a0 The fur grew thick and long on it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She almost reached a hand to her clit before her knees slammed into the desk.\u00a0 She felt one of her shoes break apart – heard the small snaps as the threads popped at the sides.\u00a0 Her left foot was out of the shoe and growing, lengthening from heel to toes, the arches of her feet cracking.\u00a0 As the foot grew, the big toe pulled away and up the side of her foot.\u00a0 She was pushed forward on the desk as she went up to her toes.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The front of the right shoe tore apart as black needle-like talons separated the thin fabric.\u00a0 The claws of her foot dug into the carpet and through the floor.\u00a0 Her foot expanded, popping seems along the side of the shoe.\u00a0 As the big toe of her right foot was pulled up, the top of the shoe ripped into pieces around her foot.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth noticed her right hand growing and popping as the fingers grew and claws popped out of the fingertips.\u00a0 She tried to focus but her ass distracted her.\u00a0 She felt something shift and suddenly her thick tail plunged deeper into her now larger pussy.\u00a0 Her ass was growing – clenching and unclenching as it grew.\u00a0 She jerked on the desk.\u00a0 The skirt popped, free at last, and fell to the floor to join her wet panties.\u00a0 Where she had no ass before she now had a large, rounded full ass.\u00a0 The base of her tail nestled against the top of her ass checks.\u00a0 Trails of thick pussy juice slid down her legs and caught in the fur of her tail, still wrapped around her left leg.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The moan coming from her throat was husky.\u00a0 Her long tongue licked her muzzle.\u00a0 Pain was fading and being replaced with pleasure.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And hunger.\u00a0 Before she’d been starving and now, with all of the changes she felt like there was a cavernous hole where he stomach used to be.\u00a0 Her tits, now sized F, flattened against the desk.\u00a0 She felt her face itch and crossed her eyes to watch white, orange and black hairs sprout on her muzzle.\u00a0 Thick white hairs pushed through the skin around her nose and mouth, growing longer and longer until they were at least five inches from her face.\u00a0 The orange and black hair continued to grow down her neck, between her breasts and down to the cunt – alternating black and orange.\u00a0 Through the burning smell of the wood she smelled her own scent – a musky odor that smelled of sex, sweat and grave dirt.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Fur fanned out along her back and covered her skin, meeting the hair growing up from her tail.\u00a0 Dark black fur grew along her wet pussy and out into a tuft, longer than the fur of her stomach.\u00a0 Her legs vibrated and twitched, hair growing down to her feet.\u00a0 She was massive – over seven feet tall and wider than any football linebacker.\u00a0 Except for her legs – her legs were still the small legs she had before except for the bands of fur covering them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The pain was almost completely gone from her body until she felt her legs vibrating.\u00a0 She heard multiple cracking and popping noises and suddenly had to hold onto the desk as her legs went numb.\u00a0 Bones in her legs broke, lengthened, broke again and reformed.\u00a0 Muscles tore over and over, breaking the skin of her leg as it did her back.\u00a0 New fur quickly grew in place as her thighs grew in thickness and her calf muscles bulged.\u00a0 Her tail unwrapped itself from her leg and moved behind her, lifting slightly in the air.\u00a0 Sweat and pussy juice dripped off of it to the floor.\u00a0 She could feel it to the tip of its length.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth stood – seven feet, ten inches of muscle and death.\u00a0 Her left hand, arm and shoulder were a pure black fur.\u00a0 The tuft of fur around her cunt was a slightly light black but the rest of her body was banded in orange and black.\u00a0 She moved her arms in circles, flexing and unflexing her hand.\u00a0 Her thumbs were shorter than they should be and there was thick black padding on the bottoms of her hands.\u00a0 Her tail moved behind her as she shifted her balance on her feet, standing on her long toes.\u00a0 Her black tipped ears swiveled independently, tracking sounds she wasn’t paying attention to as she stared at her new body.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She made a circuit of her mouth with tongue and found only jagged sharp teeth.\u00a0 Her gums were black and the tip of her flat nose was an outline of pink.\u00a0 Her pale gold eyes shone out of a massively wide face covered in orange and black patterns.\u00a0 A slightly thicker ruff of fur covered her neck and the tops of her shoulders.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her breasts and nipples were covered in a thick fur.\u00a0 She explored them briefly with her hands, tweaking her nipples.\u00a0 Her right hand dipped down and inside her pussy.\u00a0 It took a moment to find her lips with her new body and hands but she was wet and larger, her fat finger slipped inside easily.\u00a0 She growled in pleasure and then pain as she cut herself inside.\u00a0 She pulled her finger out to stare at the slick wet liquid and dark red blood.\u00a0 Her ears flattened against her head as she sniffed and then licked her hand clean.\u00a0 The taste of the blood was intoxicating and reminded her how hungry she was.\u00a0 Her stomach was suddenly wracked with pain and she made the barking cough sound again, growling as she spit a large wad of black and red blood on the carpet.\u00a0 Her tailed lashed behind her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She doubled over in pain, thudding to the floor.\u00a0 Her hands rubbed her huge, rock hard stomach over and over as she clenched her teeth in agony.\u00a0 She had to eat.\u00a0 Soon.\u00a0 Food smells came from the kitchen and she forced herself to stand.\u00a0 Food.\u00a0 Susan would have food.\u00a0 She could eat.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A few steps carried her to the kitchen.\u00a0 Her tuna was still on its plate.\u00a0 She leaned over, not bothering with hands and took the large piece directly in her mouth.\u00a0 She chewed a few times before spitting it out.\u00a0 If anything, it tasted even more vile now than it did before.\u00a0 She roared with anger.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The hum of a well tuned engine turned her head and she smiled, showing her teeth.\u00a0 Susan.\u00a0 The brakes squeaked slightly as the car stopped.\u00a0 A car door opened and then slammed shut.\u00a0 Elizabeth padded over to the door and stood, hands at her sides.\u00a0 She closed her eyes and breathed in through her nose.\u00a0 Through the stench of chemical and rotting food she smelled blood.\u00a0 Flesh.\u00a0 Drool formed at the side of her mouth.\u00a0 Food.\u00a0 She was so hungry.\u00a0 The back of her jaw itched from the smell of the woman walking to her death.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Susan stopped outside the door for a moment before opening it.\u00a0 She had no time to scream before Elizabeth’s massive hand grabbed her by the neck and forced her to the ground, crushing the vertebra in her neck.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 10<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole and Elijah were a mile away before they smelled the woman again.\u00a0 Cole heard the her give an address to the taxi driver and they’d followed by bus and foot since then, stopping at the entrance of the gated community to talk over what they would do.\u00a0 Several wrong buses and Elijah’s stomach made them later than he would like but they were here now.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Neither of them could hear anyone nearby so they found a bench across from the small community to sit and discuss their options.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“We need to talk to her.\u00a0 What if this is her first time?”\u00a0 Elijah asked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“It’s… I don’t think so.\u00a0 And there’s something wrong with her.\u00a0 She actually scares me a little.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“It has to be her first time.\u00a0 Did you see how small she was?\u00a0 You remember what I was like before you found me?\u00a0 If she’d changed before she wouldn’t be so small.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole had to admit that made sense.\u00a0 But still… something was different about her.\u00a0 Everything about her went against the little he knew about their kind.\u00a0 If she had changed before she wouldn’t have been so small.\u00a0 She was too old for it to be hereditary and her first change.\u00a0 Nothing made sense about this strange woman.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole turned his large, muscular hands over and over while he thought things through.\u00a0 The moon was full but even without it, he could see so clearly. \u00a0He remembered his first time changing and how confused and angry he’d been the whole day.\u00a0 Even twenty years later he could remember the sense of power that came with it – the feeling of immortality and strength.\u00a0 And loneliness.\u00a0 His father had left years before when Cole told his parents he was gay.\u00a0 His mother took a while to understand but stayed with him.\u00a0 Careful inquiries led him to believe his mother wasn’t like him and after the change he could smell how human she was anyway.\u00a0 He had called his father years later and after being hung up on many times he’d finally had time to get the words out – “I’m not human.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His father hadn’t hung up that time.\u00a0 Not immediately.\u00a0 Minutes passed before he answered.\u00a0 “I didn’t know if… I…” and then he hung up.\u00a0 It was a long time before he answered Cole’s phone calls after that but at least Cole knew he wasn’t the only one.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Now, in the past year, he’d actually had a breakthrough of sorts with his father.\u00a0 Perhaps a couple decades of thinking things through or maybe some life experiences had softened him.\u00a0 His father actually called him once or twice a month.\u00a0 They were short phone calls but he was decent and actually sounded like he cared.\u00a0 Cole enjoyed the calls more than he wished to admit – it took a long time to forgive his father.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He thought about calling his father now and asking about this woman but put the thought aside.\u00a0 He needed to do this on his own.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman’s scent grew suddenly stronger and different.\u00a0 “She’s changing.”\u00a0 Cole said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A moment later Elijah caught the smell as well.\u00a0 “We need to help her.\u00a0 She’s alone out there.”\u00a0 He stood but Cole put his hand on Elijah’s arm as a black car passed by and stopped at the gates of the community.\u00a0 The gates opened slowly and the car drove through.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Maybe… maybe that other smell isn’t bad.\u00a0 Maybe she’s hurt in some way.\u00a0 Cole, we have to help her.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole ground his teeth.\u00a0 “We don’t know anything about her.\u00a0 What if she’s dangerous?\u00a0 What if…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“What if she hurts someone and people find out about it?” Elijah asked, his voice rough.\u00a0 “You want to let her die?\u00a0 Or… or worse?\u00a0 Come on, man.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elijah’s right, he thought.\u00a0 I’ve always been too cautious.\u00a0 Maybe it’s not as bad as I think.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole stood and gripped Elijah’s shoulder.\u00a0 “Okay.\u00a0 Okay, but let me do the talking.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The wall around the gate was protected by simple dull spikes along the top.\u00a0 Both of them pulled themselves easily over to the other side, landing quietly on the grass.\u00a0 A few dogs barked in the distance and they could hear adults calling for the kids to come to supper and a group of older kids playing basketball.\u00a0 It took a moment to get their bearings and figure out the direction of the smell but then both men set off walking at a normal pace.\u00a0 Better to blend in if they walked casually.\u00a0 Elijah was still in his workout gear from the gym but Cole was dressed for business casual.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They passed a couple of kids tossing a baseball back and forth and two parents with their toddler trailing behind.\u00a0 Cole watched them pass.\u00a0 Elijah put his hand on Cole’s neck and rubbed gently.\u00a0 Cole bumped back against him and they walked on.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They passed the second house before they smelled the sharp scent of human blood.\u00a0 A lot of human blood.\u00a0 Elijah looked at Cole before sprinting off.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Elijah, wait!” \u00a0Cole yelled.\u00a0 “God dammit!”\u00a0 Cole shrugged off his work shoes and socks and ran after Elijah.\u00a0 He was bigger and faster but too far behind.\u00a0 He could feel his feet change shape to dig into the ground.\u00a0 His hands flexed and hair stood at attention around his body.\u00a0 A quiet growl started deep in his throat to escape past teeth sharper than they were a moment ago.\u00a0 His ears flexed and turned, listening for trouble.\u00a0 He wanted to fall to all fours but he kept upright and prayed he made it there before anything bad happened.\u00a0 A tugging on his spine warned him his clothes maybe not survive the trip.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He could see Elijah ahead of him – a blur of speed.\u00a0 The smell of blood was much stronger and he could hear bones breaking.\u00a0 The house with the black car, he thought.\u00a0 The one that passed us earlier.\u00a0 I smell death and it’s not human.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elijah was almost inside when Cole’s pants burst at the legs, his calf muscles bulging and flowing with orange and black.\u00a0 He would normally revel in the change but his heart was going crazy.\u00a0 Elijah was almost there.\u00a0 Danger!\u00a0 He reached his hands to the concrete of the road, feeling his claws dig into the rough surface and the padding on his hands rubbing against the ground.\u00a0 He pulled himself along and the burst of speed from his change doubled his speed.\u00a0 He watched Elijah slam into the open door.\u00a0 He was just twenty feet away.\u00a0 Almost there.\u00a0 Almost there…\u00a0 Fur was flowing from his chest to his neck and face and down his back.\u00a0 His pants completely split and the buttons on the front of his shirt popped off.\u00a0 The tattered clothes streamed behind him as he ran.\u00a0 He was growling loud and clear now, thankful nobody was nearby to see him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The growl turned into a roar as he watched Elijah fly back through the door, blood spraying the night air.\u00a0 He was changing too, but too late.\u00a0 The frame of the door splintered and the door itself broke at the top hinge.\u00a0 Cole had time to notice large claw marks down Cole’s chest seconds before he was through the entryway.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The house was a bloody mess. \u00a0The entryway was carpeted in blood and the broken remains of a human woman lay in front of him.\u00a0 The tigress was crouched a few feet away.\u00a0 Her massive body was black and orange and bloody red.\u00a0 Thicky ropy flesh hung from her teeth as she growled at Cole.\u00a0 He leaped for her, arms wide.\u00a0 He felt his tail finish its growth and whip around behind him when he turned himself in the middle of a jump.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His shoulder slammed into her face and he was vaguely satisfied to hear a loud crunching sound.\u00a0 He had never fought another of his kind but other instincts took over.\u00a0 Her arms closed around his body as they rolled into the house, breaking everything in their path.\u00a0 His mouth fought for her neck but her arms closed around his body and squeezed.\u00a0 She was so strong.\u00a0 Maybe as strong as he was.\u00a0 His breath left him in a rush.\u00a0 Her hold was awkward since his arms were under hers and free.\u00a0 He put his knee in her gut hard and twisted, pulling himself out.\u00a0 He tried a stabbing motion for her throat but she grabbed him and threw him to the side.\u00a0 A glass cabinet shattered beneath him and he felt a million little cuts before his body kicked into to reject the foreign pieces and heal him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her nose was still bleeding.\u00a0 Something about this bothered him but he couldn’t place it and didn’t have the time to spare.\u00a0 She stood, ready to tackle him but he was faster and more experienced with his body.\u00a0 He twisted and dived, claws out for her stomach.\u00a0 Unfortunately, the wall collapsed under his feet and he missed, falling short of her.\u00a0 She reached for him but he was already rolling, trying to find purchase.\u00a0 He made it up just as she tackled him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was as tall as he was.\u00a0 Cole only had Elijah and himself as reference but from them he knew that when changed, they were taller than they were as humans but still proportionate.\u00a0 This woman should be at least a foot shorter or more than him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Time slowed.\u00a0 He watched her black furred left hand come around to slash his face.\u00a0 He started to bring his arm up.\u00a0 His lips were pulled back in a roar.\u00a0 The flat of her hand brushed his whiskers.\u00a0 His arm was almost up.\u00a0 Her bloody left hand smashed into his cheek just as he got his own arm up.\u00a0 He pushed her away before he could claw him but he could taste blood in his mouth and his jaw burned. \u00a0Her right hand was coming around.\u00a0 He ducked, putting his left hand behind her right ass cheek and his right hand against her side, just under her large furry breasts.\u00a0 He pulled and pushed and she went down, arms flailing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
His mouth was at her stomach, biting through flesh before he felt her elbow strike the top of his head.\u00a0 He bit again, tearing her stomach but the elbow came down harder and his vision swam.\u00a0 She hit him again and pulled at one of his arms, loosening his grip.\u00a0 Two of his teeth were loose and he thought one might be cracked.\u00a0 He also couldn’t think straight and the vision in his left eye was blurry.\u00a0 He tried to bite again but she was gone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He blinked several times until his vision was back.\u00a0 His gums itched as his teeth realigned and healed.\u00a0 There was a large hole where a window used to be.\u00a0 The tigress was gone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole turned to the door.\u00a0 He heard concerned voices nearby getting closer.\u00a0 A siren sounded in the distance.\u00a0 He stumbled over the dead body to find Elijah on the steps in front of the house.\u00a0 His chest was bleeding through his shirt.\u00a0 Still bleeding, Cole thought.\u00a0 He should be healed by now.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He became aware of the taste in his mouth and almost vomited.\u00a0 Rank.\u00a0 Disgusting.\u00a0 It was the female’s blood.\u00a0 The tigress.\u00a0 He spit several times and then scooped up Elijah, putting him over his shoulder.\u00a0 He felt as light as a feather but there was a heat coming from his stomach and blood dripped from his wound.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole turned and ran into the night.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 11<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth slammed through the wall, breaking through wooden studs, glass and drywall in her haste to escape.\u00a0 Her nose was still bleeding and she had to check her stomach to make sure it was still there.\u00a0 She loped through the nearby trees with one arm around her middle.\u00a0 So much pain.\u00a0 The fight was confusing to her.\u00a0 Everything was confusing.\u00a0 Too many sounds.\u00a0 Too many smells.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was so hungry.\u00a0 She licked her lips and growled at the sweet taste of blood on her tongue.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The stand of trees was small and soon she was at the wall surrounding the community.\u00a0 She pulled herself over gingerly, careful of her stomach.\u00a0 She stumbled at the top and fell.\u00a0 Her tail swung wildly and she landed on her side, almost blacking out from the pain in her stomach.\u00a0 She rolled to her back and stared.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The moon stared back.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Diseased.”\u00a0 It told her.\u00a0 “Cesspool.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She hid her face in the grass and groaned, the sound coming out as a low growl. Her face felt better and one of the holes in her stomach had closed but she couldn’t move.\u00a0 She dared not look at the moon.\u00a0 Slowly, she turned onto her stomach, her huge breasts temporarily confusing her.\u00a0 She crawled, willing the moon to go away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Unclean.”\u00a0 It whispered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She passed out twice while making her way back to the city.\u00a0 When she woke the second time she was near a park.\u00a0 A homeless man sat near a tree, drinking from a bottle in a bag.\u00a0 Her tail lashed quietly behind her as she hunkered to her hands and feet.\u00a0 She watched and listened but heard nobody else.\u00a0 A quick swipe nearly severed his head and then she feasted, intoxicated with the warm flesh and blood.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Three more homeless people died that night, with only bones and pieces of flesh and clothes to mark where they lived.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When the sun rose, Elizabeth woke naked in a pool of dirty water under an overpass.\u00a0 Her whole body ached from her toes to her head.\u00a0 When she sat up, her head swam and she threw up.\u00a0 She closed her eyes against the sight of what come out of her stomach.\u00a0 The ground was saturated in blood.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She huddled on the gravel, drawing her thin legs up to her chin.\u00a0 It was so cold.\u00a0 The nipples of her small breasts stood thin and hard on her chest.\u00a0 Memories of the night were unclear but pieces of it came back to her.\u00a0 She closed her eyes and sobbed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Susan.\u00a0 Oh my god, Susan.”\u00a0 She whispered between gasps.\u00a0 “Everything… Everything I had is gone… I… Oh god…”\u00a0 She tried throwing up again but nothing came out.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth crawled through filth to make her way back to the street.\u00a0 It was early morning and only a few cars drove by.\u00a0 She hid herself in the wet grass.\u00a0 There was a Target store across the street from her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“No money.” She laughed.\u00a0 “Not anything.”\u00a0 She wanted to cry again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the corner of the empty parking lot she saw a large metal donation container.\u00a0 She bit her lip and slowly made her way to it, hiding her nakedness.\u00a0 The opening at the top of the container was too small for her to fit through.\u00a0 She carefully walked around the thing until she spied a large door on the side – locked with a rounded metal lock.\u00a0 She almost broke down crying again.\u00a0 Her teeth were chattering and her body was covered in goose bumps.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She searched the grass around the parking lot until she found a large rock.\u00a0 It took over ten strikes before her tiny arms could break the lock.\u00a0 Her fingers and the palms of her hands were bloody by the time she was finished.\u00a0 The inside of the container smelled horrible but she found some clothes and a few pairs of shoes.\u00a0 Nothing fit her right.\u00a0 The clothes and shoes were too big but she made the clothes work, tying the pants with strips of cloth and by wearing two shirts.\u00a0 None of the shoes would stay on her feet.\u00a0 She refused to wear any of the panties.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She sat on a curb, unthinking, just staring at her knees.\u00a0 Her stomach rumbled but she ignored it.\u00a0 She could hear people far away.\u00a0 Talking, laughing.\u00a0 The laughter sounded too high, too fake.\u00a0 The voices sounded full of sarcasm and spite.\u00a0 Colors seemed off.\u00a0 The grass next to her looked like it was mixed with blue or maybe light brown.\u00a0 The sun was too pale.\u00a0 She could see a bird high in the sky and see it clearly but it looked washed out.\u00a0 Its cry was pinched and too loud.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She gripped her fingers, unsure of what to do.\u00a0 She needed to eat but everything smelled badly.\u00a0 Pollution, the stench of people and filth and trash – everything filled her nose and turned her stomach.\u00a0 Thinking of food made her think of Susan again.\u00a0 Her stomach turned but she also felt herself salivate a little.\u00a0 It horrified her.\u00a0 Throughout everything her mind kept turning to the man she was supposed to meet.\u00a0 The investor.\u00a0 She had no idea why she cared or why it mattered any more but her mind kept turning to this man she’d never met.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The first day, she tried to steal food from a farmer’s market but got caught.\u00a0 By the second night, she prayed to change again so she could give herself to the beast and feed but nothing happened.\u00a0 She hadn’t changed since the night with Susan.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It took three days before she could keep down the scraps she found in dumpsters.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 12<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elijah\u2019s chest wound took a week to heal.\u00a0 Cole took the week off and stayed with him constantly, trying to feed him.\u00a0 He dribbled water down Elijah\u2019s throat when he could and put glucose tablets under his tongue to dissolve.\u00a0 Sometimes he would get him to take a few swallows of broth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The bleeding didn’t stop until the second day and Elijah lost twenty pounds.\u00a0 Elijah didn’t wake until the morning of the seventh day.\u00a0 Cole wasn’t religious but he came close to praying.\u00a0 He’d never seen a wound take this long for them to heal.\u00a0 Almost everything they dealt with took seconds for their bodies to fix.\u00a0 They never got the cold or flu anymore.\u00a0 Nothing should hurt him like this.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Elijah\u2019s chest healed, it left a scar.\u00a0 Four ragged claw marks diagonally across the chest, between his nipples.\u00a0 Nothing ever left a scar on them.\u00a0 Ever.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cole wanted to be up.\u00a0 He wanted to be tracking this bitch to pay her back in kind.\u00a0 Seeing her in person made it that much more clear.\u00a0 She wasn’t like them at all.\u00a0 She looked like them but she wasn’t.\u00a0 During sex Elijah and Cole scratched each other and sometimes it got rough but healing from that was almost instant.\u00a0 This was completely different.\u00a0 Whatever she was, it wasn\u2019t natural.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Elijah woke up, Cole bought over ten pounds of steak and hamburger meat.\u00a0 Elijah ate most of it.\u00a0 They stayed awake through most of the night talking about what happened and about other random things.\u00a0 Cole’s father called one of the nights Elijah was asleep so Cole told him about it.\u00a0 His father had actually made some hints about visiting some time.\u00a0 That bit of news got Elijah to smile for the first smile since he woke up.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When they were both finally tired, they cuddled in bed.\u00a0 Elijah complained that Cole was trying to kill him by crushing him to death but Cole was too emotional to joke back.\u00a0 He never thought they could die.\u00a0 Until this day, he never considered it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Cole found Elijah working at a construction site.\u00a0 Cole was taking a lunch break and a sudden smell in the air brought him two blocks over to Elijah.\u00a0 He was just a scrawny twenty-two year old kid wearing a dirty wife-beater and eating a bologna sandwich on his own break.\u00a0 It was nearly impossible to resist the urge to jump him right then and there but Cole held back and waited.\u00a0 He waited until the kid was done with work and waiting at the bus stop before he approached.\u00a0 They barely made it to the next alley before fucking each other’s brains out.\u00a0 The change took the kid hard but Cole helped him through it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Afterwards, Cole had been terrified that the kid was straight but hormones from the change forced him into it.\u00a0 Elijah set him straight the next morning – he’d known he was gay since middle school.\u00a0 He’d moved to the area a month ago and hadn’t really started looking for a relationship yet – finding a job was more important.\u00a0 Nothing had worked out so he was working construction until he could find something better.\u00a0 Going from a scrawny kid to Superman gave him the idea for being a fitness trainer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was hard not to fall in love with a handsome, overly optimistic young guy and Cole didn’t resist.\u00a0 Finding someone like him had been the most amazing thing in his life.\u00a0 He didn’t even mind the fourteen year age gap.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The thought of all of that disappearing tore Cole apart.\u00a0 When he wasn’t burning with rage he was crying quietly at the side of their bed while Elijah was sick.\u00a0 The ground around his chair was littered with broken things.\u00a0 He couldn’t seem to keep his hands still but anything he held would get crushed or broken.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On the eighth day, Elijah had already gained back nine pounds but the scar remained.\u00a0 Cole thanked whatever it was that made them the way they were – whatever healed them so quickly was finally working on Elijah again.\u00a0 And if Eljiah’s laugh didn’t come quite so easily now, it would in time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elijah wanted to go back to work but Cole refused so they spent the day out walking in the fresh air.\u00a0 They walked for hours, sometimes quietly, sometimes holding hands but always close.\u00a0 Cole spent a lot of the time smelling for the tigress.\u00a0 He would never forget her.\u00a0 It would be Sunday the next day and he would spend the whole day looking for her now that Elijah was better.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He would never stop.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 13<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria approached the van apprehensively.\u00a0 She could taste Rob’s scent in the air but it was mixed with too many smells and her hearing, while better than before, wasn’t good enough to make out any sounds he might be making.\u00a0 Her snakes were sluggish and non-responsive still.\u00a0 When she stopped paying attention, the small motes of light faded away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sunlight warmed her naked flesh.\u00a0 Her stomach wound was better and the muscles had already stopped throbbing.\u00a0 She looked back to the creature but now he just looked like a strangely shaped rock.\u00a0 No doubt years from now people will pass by and think they see the shape of a face or arm in the large rock by the road.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When she turned the corner in front of the van she saw Rob.\u00a0 He was hanging sideways in his seat, his hands hanging down towards the passenger seat.\u00a0 The airbag had deployed but somehow he had a gash on his forehead.\u00a0 There was also a line of blood on the right side of his face.\u00a0 She stopped to stare, holding the corner of the bumper.\u00a0 There.\u00a0 His chest was raising and falling.\u00a0 She breathed out and was annoyed when her tongue flicked out several times.\u00a0 When she took her hand from the bumper, a chunk came with her.\u00a0 She hadn’t realized she’d been gripping so hard.\u00a0 Her talons made neat little holes in the useless plastic.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The door handle came off in her hands when she tried to open his door.\u00a0 She tsked at herself and reached in to unlock and open the door.\u00a0 When it wouldn’t stay open she ripped it off the hinges and tossed it aside.\u00a0 Rob stirred fitfully.\u00a0 She reached her thick right arm around his waist and easily held him in place while unbuckling him with her left hand<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Bonus points for being a freak, she thought.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She pulled Rob out of the van carefully and laid him in the shade.\u00a0 Her white snake was on the bottom of the van, still curled up.\u00a0 There were two large gashes on her but she came readily when called.\u00a0 Victoria laid her out next to Rob and then lowered herself down to lie with him.\u00a0 She pulled him close to her large, heavy breasts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Stupid, Rob. I told you to go.\u00a0 The one time you don’t listen to me…”\u00a0 He stirred again and she placed her hand on his chest.\u00a0 She closed her eyes briefly and opened them again to watch the multicolored lights dance in the air.\u00a0 “I don’t know which one of you can do it but please, heal this man if you can.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Pink, blue and clear lights swirled in the air.\u00a0 Slowly, they settled on Rob’s chest and face as if caressing him.\u00a0 Some of them latched onto her hand and she swore she could feel them pulling on her.\u00a0 “Please.” She said again.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One by one they sunk into Rob.\u00a0 He gave a little twitch each time.\u00a0 And, each time, she felt a little more tired.\u00a0 Until, with the last one, she fell asleep.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She woke to the sound of Rob’s voice.\u00a0 “No, I already called the state troopers.\u00a0 They said it would take a while to get someone out here.\u00a0 So now I’m just calling to tell you about the accident.\u00a0 Yes, sir.\u00a0 Like I told them, there was a man in the road with his car.\u00a0 As I was slowing down, a pickup coming the other way swerved into to and I swerved to get out of the way.\u00a0 The wheels buckled and the van slid.\u00a0 I hit the other truck on the side and that flipped me.\u00a0 I don’t remember anything after that.\u00a0 Yes, I need a replacement.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Of course not.\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 South bound just outside of Yreka.\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 Yes, you too.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rob pocketed his phone and turned to Victoria.\u00a0 “Mis… Victoria.\u00a0 Thank god.\u00a0 I was so worried about you!\u00a0 I already called the police and the van rental company but I’ll need to hide you too until it\u2019s clear.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria sat up slowly.\u00a0 She still felt worn out but nothing hurt – she was just tired.\u00a0 “Thanks, Rob.\u00a0 I was wondering how we’d get out of this one.\u00a0 And… thank you for not listening to me back there.\u00a0 It saved me.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rob blushed and looked down.\u00a0 “No, I should’ve listened to you.\u00a0 I just… I would die if something happened to you.”\u00a0 When he looked back up there were tears in his eyes.\u00a0 Victoria wished they were real tears – real tears for worrying about her own safety and not because of what the snakes did to him.\u00a0 Her heart hurt at the thought.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She patted Rob on the shoulder and brought her forehead against his.\u00a0 He sighed happily but when he tried to kiss her, she pulled back.\u00a0 “No, Rob.\u00a0 Not… No.\u00a0 Not until you’re back to normal.”\u00a0 She didn’t add that when he was, he would find her disgusting.\u00a0 She pointed away from the road.\u00a0 “I’ll be a ways that way, probably behind a rock or something.\u00a0 If you can, sweep up our trail so the cops don’t wonder more than they have to, okay?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria found a large rock a good distance away from the wreckage.\u00a0 She took the trident and her white snake with her.\u00a0 She watched the police come out a fire truck, two ambulances and two tow trucks.\u00a0 A crew of people measured skid patterns and checked the bumper of the van as well as the car near the dead man.\u00a0 A representative from the rental company came out to talk to Rob and the police.\u00a0 Eventually, they loaded the dead man into an ambulance and took him away.\u00a0 The man’s car went next and eventually Rob’s van was towed as well.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The rental representative gave Rob a ride.\u00a0 Victoria’s stomach tightened to watch him go but she had to trust him to take care of things.\u00a0 The sun set before she spotted another van coming back.\u00a0 She came to meet him half-way after he parked and they slowly made her way to the van.\u00a0 He’d found the time to buy two king sized mattress and fit it in the back of the van with creative cutting and rearranging.\u00a0 And a ton of pillows.\u00a0 He also somehow mounted a heater to the ceiling of the van.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rob watched her anxiously from the side.\u00a0 “It’s a memory foam mattress!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She swallowed her sigh.\u00a0 “Th… thank you, Rob.\u00a0 That’s just what I needed.\u00a0 This will really make the trip great.\u00a0 I… I really appreciate it.”\u00a0 She lowered herself to hug him.\u00a0 He was positively beaming when she broke the embrace.\u00a0 Victoria cringed before pulling herself into the back.\u00a0 The van creaked noisily under her weight.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Two or three more days, she told herself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 14<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was easy to lose time on the streets, she found.\u00a0 Nearly a month had gone by since the night at the hotel.\u00a0 Nearly a month of living in filth.\u00a0 She changed her clothes when she could find new ones and learned which places had the best left-over food.\u00a0 It helped when she thought of the food as leftovers rather than trash – she could pretend she was just eating her own leftovers and not someone else\u2019s food.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nothing tasted right.\u00a0 She’d hoped it was temporary but every single time she ate something, she wanted to gag.\u00a0 Everything smelled rotten – from the food she was eating to people passing by.\u00a0 She liked to think she smelled the people dying.\u00a0 Sometimes she would sit in her pile of clothes and watch people all day, inventing ways they would die.\u00a0 Small children would drown in a pool.\u00a0 Little babies would die from being shaken hard by their hateful parents.\u00a0 Adults… there were so many ways for them to die and she imagined them all.\u00a0 Plane wrecks, car wrecks, electrocution from downed wires, falling off of high buildings because of broken railings, breaking their necks falling down stairs… But her favorite was thinking of them mauled and eaten.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sometimes she thought she imagined the night at Susan’s house.\u00a0 Perhaps she was sick and the whole thing was a strange nightmare or something similar and she had just had a mental breakdown.\u00a0 However, the police were looking for her.\u00a0 She caught the news from radios and televisions when she could get close enough.\u00a0 Her friend had died horribly and police had no idea what happened.\u00a0 They knew there had been a terrible struggle based on the state of the house and reports from neighbors but all they found was part of Susan’s body and Elizabeth’s purse.\u00a0 Usually at that point they would bring up hotel security footage showing Elizabeth running from the hotel.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was the “Person of Interest” in the case and Susan’s husband was offering a $50,000 reward if someone brought her in.\u00a0 She always smiled when she heard that.\u00a0 Nobody would know her now.\u00a0 Even though she\u2019d been thin before, she had lost so much weight.\u00a0 One of her teeth had fallen out two days ago, rotten and black. \u00a0It barely even hurt.\u00a0 Her previously thick, lustrous black hair was dull and straw-like.\u00a0 She looked like a completely different person.\u00a0 Harmless.\u00a0 People pitied her when they bothered to look at her.\u00a0 Those people\u2026 she imagined pulling off their legs with her strong, muscular arms and eating the bloody, soft pink flesh raw.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
At night she hid herself under bridges or anything else that could cover her.\u00a0 She didn’t look at the sky anymore; the moon was there.\u00a0 She frowned for a moment.\u00a0 That cold bitch, she thought.\u00a0 It did this to me.\u00a0 It made me like this.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As always her mind turned to the man she was supposed to meet.\u00a0 When she closed her eyes she could see his business card clearly.\u00a0 She repeated his name and address like a litany.\u00a0 Robert Poole 2330 Paradise LaneAltadena, California.\u00a0 Robert.\u00a0 Poole.\u00a0 2330 Paradise Lane.\u00a0 Altadena.\u00a0 California.\u00a0 Robertpooletwothreethreeohparadiselanealtadenacalifornia.\u00a0 Over and over while rocking back and forth.\u00a0 She was close.\u00a0 Tomorrow she’d be there.\u00a0 Tomorrow or the next day.\u00a0 She had to talk to him about investments for her company.\u00a0 They would be so pleased.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She hacked and spit.\u00a0 Her lungs hurt and two more of her teeth felt loose.\u00a0 Her tongue liked to rub them back and forth.\u00a0 Back and forth.\u00a0 Wobble, wobble.\u00a0 Back and forth.\u00a0 Wobble, wobble.\u00a0 She laughed quietly to herself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The other one.\u00a0 She remembered him.\u00a0 Oh yes, she did.\u00a0 The huge orange and black blur that hurt her that night.\u00a0 She would find him, too.\u00a0 Talk to him.\u00a0 Oh yes, she’d talk to him.\u00a0 Her hand rubbed her stomach when she remembered.\u00a0 She’d talk to him real good.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sometimes she thought someone was following her but she had to be mistaken.\u00a0 Nobody knew her.\u00a0 Yet… yet, she thought she saw the same face here and there throughout the day.\u00a0 She would see the face and then it would slip away from her.\u00a0 An hour or two later, it would happen again.\u00a0 She moved to a different street when she saw that face.\u00a0 She didn’t want to see it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She found an empty overpass to sleep in when the sun was fat and red on the horizon.\u00a0 She preferred to be alone.\u00a0 Sometimes she watched other homeless people around a fire and envied them but she wasn’t like them.\u00a0 She wasn’t trash like them.\u00a0 She was a huntress.\u00a0 She killed.\u00a0 She ate.\u00a0 She didn’t need them.\u00a0 Didn’t need them.\u00a0 Not at all.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Tomorrow.\u00a0 Tomorrow she would find the man.\u00a0 Tomorrow.\u00a0 She huddled under her rags and wondered if she would sleep that night.\u00a0 It was becoming harder and harder to sleep.\u00a0 The moon was watching her.\u00a0 Waiting for a sign of weakness.\u00a0 How could she sleep?\u00a0 Tears streamed down her face.\u00a0 How could she sleep?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was daydreaming when she felt it.\u00a0 Her breath caught.\u00a0 She dared not hope in case she was disappointed.\u00a0 No, there it was again.\u00a0 Her hand.\u00a0 Her left hand hurt.\u00a0 It was shaking.\u00a0 On fire.\u00a0 Slowly, she unfolded herself and pulled her sleeve back.\u00a0 The veins of her left hand stood out, black in the deep red shades of twilight.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her smile was wide and with too many teeth for her mouth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 15<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She had to admit it was worth the wait.\u00a0 Rob’s sprawling ranch was nearly 6000 square feet for the house alone, all on a single level.\u00a0 The house was on an acre of land, set back against the foot of the mountains.\u00a0 Rob gave her the grand tour, telling her it’d been in their family for three generations.\u00a0 He still owned some of the orange groves that first paid for the land.\u00a0 He told her he could quit his work and live very well off of his own savings and inheritance for the rest of his life.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He talked about expanding the house for her and adding whatever she wanted but she had nothing to add.\u00a0 There were four huge bedrooms, three massive bathrooms, a living room, a den, a family room, a library and a large sun room.\u00a0 The floors were smooth, cool tile and hardwood.\u00a0 The ceilings were nearly twenty feet up and skylights dotted the house.\u00a0 She recognized the style of the house as Spanish Colonial from her real estate work.\u00a0 It was quite beautiful.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rob closed the curtains as he walked through the house, telling her he was worried about her safety even though they were on a private road.\u00a0 Sunlight still filtered in but made her shape vague enough to pass for human.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When Rob tried to insist she take the master bedroom, she refused and picked the guest room.\u00a0 Rob had a delivery company at the house within hours to deliver eight king sized mattresses – memory foam again.\u00a0 Victoria had to admit she’d come to love the stupid things.\u00a0 They layered four on top of each other in the corner of the bedroom so she could spread herself out.\u00a0 She let her tail settle and just laid her upper body down to sink into the mattress.\u00a0 Pure heaven.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rob gave her his credit card information and told her to order whatever she wanted for the room.\u00a0 He practically begged her to make the room hers.\u00a0 Although he had an office with a large, multiple monitor computer setup, it was for his work and she refused to use it.\u00a0 Instead, he built her a nearly identical setup in the library.\u00a0 He was more than happy to show her how to use everything.\u00a0 She wasn’t a complete ludite but most of her computer ability ran to Microsoft Office.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She balked at the websites he showed her for ordering things – a dresser for over $1000 was crazy in her book.\u00a0 It took some questioning before he showed her the Craigslist website for their area.\u00a0 She was amazed at the prices.\u00a0 Some people were even giving away beautiful antique furniture for free.\u00a0 Rob went out several times over the next few days to pick up things for her – a dresser, standing mirror, some simple paintings and plants to liven up the room.\u00a0 He was disappointed she didn’t buy brand new expensive furniture but he didn’t say no.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She even bought a few shirts and bras online.\u00a0 It took some guesswork to find sizes that fit her large but eventually she had a closet full of comfortable clothing.\u00a0 She felt nervous wearing clothes again but when Rob told her she looked beautiful in a dark green silk shirt, she blushed.\u00a0 It felt good.\u00a0 Almost normal.\u00a0 She even bought a funny t-shirt to wear.\u00a0 It had the severed bloody head of medusa wearing sunglasses and the caption read, “Rock On!”\u00a0 She giggled when she saw it.\u00a0 The bras were more difficult.\u00a0 According to most companies, she was an E cup now.\u00a0 Finding good, comfortable bras in that size wasn’t easy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was talking to her snakes again.\u00a0 They were impressed by what she’d done on the road.\u00a0 It was the first time they could remember their host learning magic of any kind without their guidance and their only criticism was that she gave too much away in the bargain.\u00a0 Her memories were theirs as well so they could see what she’d done.\u00a0 Apparently, the little creatures were just as eager to do their jobs as she was for them to do it.\u00a0 But if not watched, they were slow and greedy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“So then, how does it work?”\u00a0 She asked one night.\u00a0 She was dreaming again – sitting by the fire with the strange woman.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“These creatures exist, everywhere, always.\u00a0 We give them a piece of our self for their work.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Can I shoot fireballs?\u00a0 Or fly?\u00a0 Please tell me I can fly with them.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman shook her head.\u00a0 “No.\u00a0 There are different kinds of magic but we are elemental.\u00a0 Transformative.\u00a0 Earth is our base.\u00a0 Minerals.\u00a0 We heal because man is from the earth.\u00a0 We turn things to stone for the same reason.\u00a0 We can also move the earth to a small degree.\u00a0 You don’t even have to speak the words.\u00a0 Imagine the result and it will happen.\u00a0 In time you will learn minimum the creatures require.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“And the hypnotism?\u00a0 Reading the future?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Gifts unique to us.\u00a0 We’ve always had them.\u00a0 We live here.\u00a0 If this realm is the subconsciousness of man then perhaps we alter it in some way.\u00a0 We’ve never considered it deeply.\u00a0 It’s always been.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria tilted her head.\u00a0 “Perhaps we should take time to figure it out.\u00a0 What else are you missing because you didn’t wonder about what you could do?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The woman shrugged.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The days passed.\u00a0 Victoria practiced using her new body.\u00a0 From simple movements to moving sections of her tail by themselves.\u00a0 By the fourth day, with a small bit of concentration she could make her tail move in a small wave from the tip to below her hip.\u00a0 She only destroyed one wall during the whole process.\u00a0 When she was just learning to coil her tail, she misinterpreted a movement and her tail whipped out with a loud crack, breaking through the wall.\u00a0 Rob cheerfully told her he was thinking of moving the wall back a little anyway.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nearly two weeks later she was settling into a routine and thinking of hobbies.\u00a0 She’d never tried anything in school – preferring to focus on basic studies and spending time with friends and family.\u00a0 Rob brought several different things for her to try – paints and canvas, modeling clay and even wood blocks and carving knives.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Painting was fun but holding the brush in her hands was awkward and she didn’t have the eye for that kind of work anyway.\u00a0 The clay proved much easier to work with.\u00a0 Here she could use her claws for fine detail work and her strong hands seemed tireless in shaping and reshaping.\u00a0\u00a0 She spent most of the day with the clay.\u00a0 Rob would stop by every so often to watch while he worked around the house.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She loved the way her muscles worked as she took a lump of the clay to work with.\u00a0 She rolled, kneaded and squashed the clay as she shaped it.\u00a0 Large muscles in her shoulders and back tensed and relaxed over and over as she lost herself in what she was doing.\u00a0 Occasionally, she would feel one of her snakes peek around to look before settling back into place.\u00a0 She came to enjoy their presence in a small way.\u00a0 They weren’t so bad when they weren’t bothering her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Eventually, a tree took shape in her clay.\u00a0 She sat back, her fingers covered in dark gray with bits of clay stuck to her nose.\u00a0 Her tongue flicked out, as if to watch.\u00a0 She leaned in carefully to scratch a knothole near the bottom of the tree.\u00a0 Looking at it again, a thought struck her.\u00a0 She listened to the quiet house and heard Rob typing at his keyboards in the other room.\u00a0 She grinned and leaned in again to scratch “V & R” next to the knothole.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was washing her hands carefuly with a rag when he snakes stirred.\u00a0 “Ssssssss… watching… ussssssss… waiting… sssssssssomeone… watching… hurt… angry… watching…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She paused.\u00a0 “Here?\u00a0 At the house?\u00a0 Where?\u00a0 Who’s watching us?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Rather than answer, the snakes turned to the window.\u00a0 She followed and pulled back an edge of the curtains.\u00a0 Her cat eyes narrowed, searching the landscape.\u00a0 Nothing.\u00a0 Her tongue stuck out and tasted the air, over and over.\u00a0 Still nothing.\u00a0 Wait, there.\u00a0 Something moved.\u00a0 Victoria stopped and watched, barely breathing.\u00a0 Near a bush was a flat, black shape.\u00a0 Her tongue flicked again and the faint smell of blood was in the air.\u00a0 The shape moved and was suddenly gone.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria watched a moment longer and then turned to find Rob.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 16<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Elizabeth studied the house closely.\u00a0 The sage brush next to her swayed in the wind, scratching at her cheap clothes.\u00a0 She barely felt the mid-day sun.\u00a0 She rarely felt anything other than coldness these days.\u00a0 One of the curtains twitched aside, nearly startling her.\u00a0 An outline of a face appeared.\u00a0 She saw slit eyes and a forked tongue but she didn’t trust her eyes very much lately.\u00a0 Everything was twisted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There was a pain at the back of her throat that she couldn’t stop from turning into a hacking cough.\u00a0 Her mouth filled with thick, congealed blood.\u00a0 She held the wad in her mouth rather than spit it out.\u00a0 Finally, she couldn’t hold it in anymore.\u00a0 She was starting to gag on the taste of rancid blood and meat.\u00a0 She slowly backed away and rolled down the small hill.\u00a0 At the bottom, she spit the thing out of her mouth.\u00a0 It was pure black.\u00a0 She shuddered.\u00a0 One little white thing was moving in the blackness of the lump.\u00a0 She told herself it couldn’t be a maggot, that it was probably from the ground and not her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She made her way to the mountains nearby.\u00a0 She felt better than she had in a long time.\u00a0 Stronger.\u00a0 She remembered everything from the night before.\u00a0 The beast had come back for her.\u00a0 Finally.\u00a0 She was magnificent. She lived.\u00a0 She was strong, fast, unstoppable.\u00a0 She killed and killed and didn’t even bother eating everything.\u00a0 She started with homeless people but soon found herself picking off single men and women as she made her way to the man’s house.\u00a0 She was drawn here.\u00a0 She didn’t even notice she was in Altadena until her fifth kill.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She sighed happily.\u00a0 She could still remember the feeling of warm blood on her muzzle.\u00a0 The taste.\u00a0 The glorious taste.\u00a0 Her stomach rumbled from the memory.\u00a0 She’d eaten nothing else since waking.\u00a0 She had all of her teeth again and her hair was even better.\u00a0 She was strong again.\u00a0 Weak and small but stronger than before.\u00a0 The thing she spit out was… was probably just flesh from the diseased humans she feasted on.\u00a0 Even her stomach knew to reject the bad parts.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But now here she was.\u00a0 She found the man.\u00a0 Her company would be so pleased. \u00a0So happy.\u00a0 She’d… they’d… What would they do?\u00a0 She couldn’t remember any of them.\u00a0 What did she do?\u00a0 What was her company?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 No, she told herself.\u00a0 They would be pleased.\u00a0 She did well.\u00a0 She found him.\u00a0 By herself.\u00a0 But she couldn’t meet him like this.\u00a0 Not weak like this.\u00a0 She had to be his equal.\u00a0 She had to show him her strength.\u00a0 She would never be his equal like this.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was finding a comfortable spot to wait when she heard a voice behind her.\u00a0 “Woman.”\u00a0 The voice creaked.\u00a0 Elizabeth froze. \u00a0After an eternity, she turned her head.\u00a0 He was there.\u00a0 The man with no face.\u00a0 Her eyes immediately went down.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Oh god, no.\u00a0 No.\u00a0 He wasn’t real, was he?<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“You find.\u00a0 You kill.\u00a0 You kill this man.\u00a0 You kill pet.”\u00a0 She could see his legs crossed in front of him but she dared not look at his face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I… I found him.\u00a0 For my… for my company.\u00a0 I found him.\u00a0 Are… are you pleased?”\u00a0 She asked.\u00a0 Her voice was shaking and she hated herself for it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The man laughed at her.\u00a0 “Stupid, stupid woman.\u00a0 So stupid.\u00a0 Did I make stupid?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Already stupid.\u00a0 I make strong.\u00a0 Fast.\u00a0 Not stupid.”\u00a0 Elizabeth started crying.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I think, can’t kill them.\u00a0 Not yourself.\u00a0 No. Can’t kill them now.\u00a0 Weak.\u00a0 Stupid.\u00a0 Even good maker like me can’t make castle with shit.”\u00a0 He slapped her casually and stood.\u00a0 “Stay.\u00a0 Stay here.\u00a0 Tonight, you kill.\u00a0 Or die.\u00a0 Don’t care.\u00a0 I make others.\u00a0 Better.”\u00a0 His legs were blurry through her tears as he walked away.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 17<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her snakes were frantic.\u00a0 “Hole… sssssssee… can’t… hole… can’t… ssssssssssee…\u00a0 dissssssrupted…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She paced in her room, following her own tail with her arms crossed beneath her breasts.\u00a0 She’d told Rob what she could.\u00a0 He had a rifle for scaring off coyotes or anything else but she made him promise to stay in the house.\u00a0 Her tail made a rough “shhh shhhh shhh shhh” sound on the floor as she paced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Nothing would happen during the daytime.\u00a0 Nobody does that.\u00a0 It has to be at night.\u00a0 Besides, I’m not going out at daytime.\u00a0 If they’re going to attack during the day then I’ll just do what I can here.\u00a0 When the sun starts to set, I’ll go out and see what I can.”\u00a0 Her snakes wove a pattern in the air while she talked.\u00a0 “Can’t you guys see anything?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Sssssomething… block… ssssssstrong… block… ussssssss… ssssssssomething… blocking… ussssssss…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Great, okay.\u00a0 You mentioned before there was ways to make a strong pact.\u00a0 Is there anything we can do there?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Blood… Blood… Innocccccent… Death… Blood… Sssssssacrificcccceeeee…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria frowned.\u00a0 “No, I won’t.\u00a0 That’s out.\u00a0 I’d rather die than kill someone innocent.\u00a0 And I guess that’s just what I’ll do.\u00a0 Come nightfall, I’ll go out.\u00a0 Whatever it is, I’ll face it.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She found Rob loading his rifle.\u00a0 He blushed at her when she coughed.\u00a0 “You know, Rob,\u00a0\u00a0 for a man that’s been mind wiped and hypnotized, you don’t follow directions very well.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“I… I just… I can’t…”\u00a0 He stuttered.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“No.\u00a0 Here’s what you’re going to do.\u00a0 You’re going to go into town the next few days.\u00a0 I have the cell phone you bought me.\u00a0 I will call you when it’s safe to come back.\u00a0 If you don’t hear from me tomorrow one way or the other then don’t come back.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“But…!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She stared at him, this poor man that’s been abused and still loved her.\u00a0 Little lights flickered around the room – floating, dancing lights.\u00a0 She crooned to him, her voice sweet and husky at the same time while her snakes danced around her.\u00a0 “Robert Frank Poole, son of Scott Alaric Poole, hear me.”\u00a0 Clear lights caressed Rob’s face.\u00a0 “You will obey me in this.\u00a0 Go away from here.\u00a0 Wait to hear from me but never return if I die.\u00a0 Go now, Robert Frank Poole.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The lights faded and, without a word, Rob left.\u00a0 She whispered to him as he did.\u00a0 “I’m sorry.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She spent the rest of the day meditating.\u00a0 Sometimes she would watch the motes dance around her and sometimes she would close her eyes and rest.\u00a0 At 5 pm the sun was nearly gone.\u00a0 She watched it from the window, her eyes narrowed against its pale brightness.\u00a0 She stripped out of her shirt and bra – no sense wasting them.\u00a0 They won’t help with whatever happens.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She stopped at the north entrance to the house, facing the mountain in the distance.\u00a0 “Let’s see what we can see…” She told herself.\u00a0 She set out slowly, listening to things around her.\u00a0 Birds and small animals but nothing else.\u00a0 Her tongue flicked out and she tasted that blood scent in the air.\u00a0 North.\u00a0 The mountain.\u00a0 Of course.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She was thirty feet from the house before she heard the growling.\u00a0 She whipped around, tail at the ready and her claws out. \u00a0Her snakes writhed on her head.\u00a0 The little lights cast eerie shadows in the twilight around the two shapes behind her.\u00a0 She didn’t know what to expect but certainly not this.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They were… tigers but they were standing upright.\u00a0 Human.\u00a0 Tigers.\u00a0 Male.\u00a0 What do they call werewolf tigers?\u00a0 Is there a thing for that?\u00a0 They were growling at her, long thick tails lashing back and forth behind them.\u00a0 One was taller than the other and more muscular but they were both huge.\u00a0 The smaller one had four dark slashes of fur across his chest.\u00a0 They were not the smell from earlier.\u00a0 My, she thought.\u00a0 Their teeth are amazing.\u00a0 Her eyes dipped to their crotches but saw nothing other than a thick furry bulge.\u00a0 Damn.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She held up her hands.\u00a0 “Hi.\u00a0 Hi there.\u00a0 I… uhh… Yeah, I don’t know what to say.\u00a0 This is my house, though.\u00a0 I’m not a bad guy.”\u00a0 They growled louder.\u00a0 “No, seriously.\u00a0 Oh, shit.\u00a0 Yeah, I look bad but not all snakes are bad.\u00a0 Just… just misunderstood.\u00a0 Circle of life, you know?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her snakes were hissing loud in her ears.\u00a0 “Kill… kill… kill… kill…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Shut the hell up!” She whispered fiercely.\u00a0 “Oh.\u00a0 No, no, no.\u00a0 Not you guys.\u00a0 Look, there’s something out here.\u00a0 Something bad.\u00a0 If its you guys, then I’ll see what I can do against two huge tiger men.\u00a0 If not…\u00a0 I smelled something earlier.\u00a0 Blood.\u00a0 Something bad.\u00a0 I’m looking for that and its not you guys.\u00a0 Are you part of it?”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The larger tiger looked at the smaller one.\u00a0 They stopped growling.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t help but admire them.\u00a0 The larger one was huge.\u00a0 Reared up, she was taller than him but only barely.\u00a0 Even through the fur she could make out each muscle in their body.\u00a0 Her eyes kept being drawn to their crotches.\u00a0 What did that look like, she wondered.\u00a0 She felt herself getting wet.\u00a0 Dammit.\u00a0 The smaller one glanced at her and almost grinned, large sharp teeth behind thick black lips.\u00a0 The tall one tapped the smaller one on the chest, right on the dark slashes of fur.\u00a0 He made the universal neck slicing motion with his claw.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Right.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 I…”\u00a0 And then her sense went wild.\u00a0 She heard a woman’s scream coming from the base of the mountain.\u00a0 Horrible bone cracking noises followed.\u00a0 The two tigers leaped past her towards the noise.\u00a0 It was incredible to see them move and she wondered if she was that fast.\u00a0 She followed behind them but let them lead.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Halfway to the rocky hills at the foot at the mountain, one of the hills moved.\u00a0 She stopped but the other two kept running, streaking for the smell of blood.\u00a0 She watched in awe as the hill broke apart, pieces of it forming rough arms and legs.\u00a0 It stood in the rough approximation of a human but without a head of any kind.\u00a0 The sound of it moving sent shivers down her spine.\u00a0 It took three shambling steps forward, smaller pieces of rock raining down around it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“God damn.”\u00a0 She whispered.\u00a0 “What is that thing?\u00a0 Thirty feet tall?\u00a0 Forty?\u00a0 More?”\u00a0 She watched it take two more steps.\u00a0 “Fuck!\u00a0 Those guys!”\u00a0 The two tigers were near the monstrosity when it brought its massive fist down on the taller one.\u00a0 The tiger twisted at the last possible moment but the rock first crashed down on his lower body.\u00a0 She heard a sickening crunch and a roar of pain.\u00a0 The tiger’s lower body looked like bags of meat as he dragged himself away with his hands.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The rock giant’s other arm was in motion.\u00a0 “Shit, shit, shit, shit!\u00a0 Stop!”\u00a0 Victoria yelled.\u00a0 Small lights blazed around the landscape.\u00a0 She called to them, praying they were fast enough.\u00a0 Brown and green lights dove for the giant’s arm, completely surrounding it and then suddenly pulling away.\u00a0 As they did, the arm disintegrated, raining rocks of various sizes around the hurt tiger.\u00a0 The giant stood and tilted before correcting itself.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria felt out of breath but she ran.\u00a0 Slithered.\u00a0 And she was fast.\u00a0 The giant’s leg was raised, coming down for the tiger but she was already there, scooping him into her arms.\u00a0 He roared at her but she kept moving.\u00a0 The thump of the foot behind her lifted her entire body in the air.\u00a0 So, she could fly, she thought.\u00a0 She pulled back her torso, aiming her tail for the impact.\u00a0 When she did land, she felt the stress on her bones all the way to her neck.\u00a0 She almost dropped the tiger in her arms but laid him down gently instead.\u00a0 One of his legs seemed fine already.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She turned to face the creature.\u00a0 “Rock, huh?\u00a0 Bad idea, guy.”\u00a0 She closed her eyes and clapped her hands together, rubbing them briskly.\u00a0 She watched him, concentrating on its torso.\u00a0 Breathing deeply in and out she willed herself to feel the ground beneath her, to feel the rocks and dirt.\u00a0 “Now.\u00a0 Come apart.”\u00a0 She whispered.\u00a0 This time a tornado of brown and green lights surrounded the creature.\u00a0 Her body ached.\u00a0 “Gentle, little guys.\u00a0 You don’t need that much.\u00a0 He’s made of you.\u00a0 Go easy.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
With a sound like two massive boulders grinding against each other, the giant’s chest evaporated.\u00a0 A huge dust cloud floated away from it, covering everything.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Haaaaah… haaaah…. haaaahahahaa!”\u00a0 Victoria yelled.\u00a0 As the legs and arm crashed down around them, the taller tiger was up and moving.\u00a0 With the giant gone she could hear a roaring yell.\u00a0 The smaller tiger was facing off against another tiger.\u00a0 Female, she noticed.\u00a0 And big.\u00a0 The female’s left arm was entirely black and as she slashed, trails of gray smoke followed her claws.\u00a0 She followed the large male tiger.\u00a0 That female was the bloody smell. Her scent was rancid.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“What’s wrong with her?” She asked.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Already… sssssss… dead… disssseased… already… dead… curssssssed…\u00a0 Wait… wait… wait…”\u00a0 Her snakes told her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She heard rumbling from a smaller hill behind her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria stopped.\u00a0 Her snakes were moving – all of them searching.\u00a0 One stopped and hissed loudly.\u00a0 The other turned in the same direction.\u00a0 “There… there… there…\u00a0 Far… too… too… far…”\u00a0 She turned to look.\u00a0 Sitting on a small boulder, one hundred feet away from her was a small figure.\u00a0 A bald man, she thought.\u00a0 Too far to stone, then?\u00a0 He was wearing rough, simple clothing with a belt of small pouches.\u00a0 As she watched, he turned to look at her.\u00a0 He grinned and his mouth was full of black, rotting teeth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria grinned back.\u00a0 The world was awash in a sea of lights and the creature was sitting on a rock.\u00a0 She waved to the little thing cheerfully, smiling her best smile.\u00a0 Its grin faded away to a look of confusion.\u00a0 The air around him began to shimmer.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the smaller hill starting to stand, another giant made of rock.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria stopped waving and made a fist with the same hand.\u00a0 The rock beneath the small figure liquefied instantly, dropping him into it.\u00a0 Her fist opened and it was a rock again.\u00a0 Differently shaped but still a rock.\u00a0 The rock giant behind her made a sound that vibrated the bones in her body before collapsing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Yessssss… yessssssssss… good… yesssssss…” Her snakes sang, rubbing against her face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She turned to the tigers again.\u00a0 The smaller male was down and struggling to move.\u00a0 His chest was open, steaming in the cold air.\u00a0 The female had blood running down her left arm and a cut in her right side.\u00a0 The tall male’s left arm was at his side, dangling.\u00a0 She ran to him.\u00a0 When she thought she was close enough she called the lights down and felt the pulse from her snakes.\u00a0 The female stumbled, coughing grey dust before dodging a swipe from the male.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The male turned to her and roared, anger plain on its wide white, orange and black face.\u00a0 “Fine.\u00a0 Fine.\u00a0 Go ahead.\u00a0 Die, moron.”\u00a0 She turned to help the fallen tiger but the other two blocked her path.\u00a0 As she watched, the male’s left arm twitched back to life and came up to slice the female’s face.\u00a0 The female pulled back, snapping her jaws at him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“If you could just… get… get out of the way!”\u00a0 She told them, trying to find a way around to the tiger on the ground.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The female lunged at the male, mouth open with teeth flashing.\u00a0 The male stopped and raised his arms wide.\u00a0 “Noooo!” Victoria yelled.\u00a0 She watched the female sink her teeth into the fur of the male’s stomach.\u00a0 He roared and fell with her, grabbing her claws away from rending his flesh.\u00a0 She buried her muzzle in him instead.\u00a0 Muscles stood out on the male’s neck, back and arms.\u00a0 His biceps bulged and vibrated.\u00a0 He was roaring so loud.\u00a0 He locked his legs around the female and tightened them.\u00a0 A crack sounded the end of the female’s left arm.\u00a0 Another crack and her right arm fell, almost separated from her shoulder.\u00a0 The female pulled her bloody muzzle back to scream – an almost human scream.\u00a0 Something slick and white hung from her mouth.\u00a0 Victoria was afraid to know what it was.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The male wrapped his arms around the female’s neck as she roared, snapping her jaws shut with the pressure.\u00a0 Victoria watched the female’s feet scrabble against the ground, sending clouds of dirt and rocks everywhere.\u00a0 Muffled sounds came from her muzzle.\u00a0 The tall mall grunted, twisting in a sudden motion and the female’s body went limp.\u00a0 His jaws were almost immediately at her throat, biting and tearing.\u00a0 Victoria turned away.\u00a0 When the terrible chewing noise passed, she looked back to find the female’s head laying several feet from the bottom.\u00a0 There was no blood coming from the neck.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The tall male, his face painted nearly black with blood was staggering to the other tiger.\u00a0 Wet, wriggly tubes hung from his stomach as he curled his right arm around himself. \u00a0He knelt by the other tiger.\u00a0 Victoria moved to help with what she could.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was worse than she thought.\u00a0 There was a literal hole in his chest and half of the tiger’s heart was gone.\u00a0 The other half was ringed with blackened tissue.\u00a0 She watched the heart try to beat as the blackness ate away at the living tissue.\u00a0 Blood dribbled from his mouth and his chest slowly rose and fell.\u00a0 The larger tiger laid his head against the other one.\u00a0 The smaller tiger slowly reached a trembling hand up to lay against the larger tiger’s muzzle.\u00a0 The larger one nuzzled the hand and sobbed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria called the lights down to him, willing them to repair the damage.\u00a0 She watched them stream into the chest and get swallowed by the blackness.\u00a0 She tried and tried until she could barely hold herself up.\u00a0 Finally, his heart stopped beating and his hand fell away.\u00a0 The larger tiger leaned back and roared, loud and long.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria bent over and gently laid a hand on the smaller tiger’s face.\u00a0 She said a small prayer for his soul, willing him to whatever paradise awaited him.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her snakes turned over and over.\u00a0 “Ssssssss… blood… sssssss…. sssssacrificccccce…. blood… yesssssss…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria fainted.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
CHAPTER 18<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She wasn’t next to the fire as she expected to be – she was standing in a town.\u00a0 An ancient town, filled with villagers in rough, unfamiliar clothing.\u00a0 Families were going about their business while small children played.\u00a0 Nobody noticed her or paid attention to her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
As she watched, a line of people marched down the center of the street.\u00a0 Perhaps twenty adults, men and women, walked in a line.\u00a0 Their eyes were grim and determined.\u00a0 In the middle of the line was a young girl with dark black hair.\u00a0 Her head was bowed and her eyes were closed.\u00a0 Her feet dragged on the rough ground as she was dragged unconscious, her thin white shift cleaning to her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Hey!\u00a0 What the fuck do you people think you’re…!”\u00a0 Nobody heard her.\u00a0 Nobody turned to look at her.\u00a0 She took a step and found herself in the trees, still behind the odd procession of people.\u00a0 She looked around to find the town behind her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“What?”\u00a0 She took another step and she was out of the trees, standing before a large mountain.\u00a0 The group of people were there too and they split apart, ten people going left around the mountain and ten people going right.\u00a0 One adult male held the child.\u00a0 He carried a crude pack with sticks and ropes tied behind him.\u00a0 As she watched, he walked up the mountain.\u00a0 She followed the man and after a single step, found herself at the top of the mountain.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The man plunged a wooden stick in the dirt.\u00a0 The girl was on her side, still out.\u00a0 She was surrounded by five wooden stakes.\u00a0 Slowly, the man took his rope.\u00a0 He tied one end to a stick and wrapped the other end around the girl’s neck.\u00a0 He was not gentle.\u00a0 Another rope tied a stake to the girl’s arm.\u00a0 By the time he was done, her neck, arms and legs were tied to stakes.\u00a0 He sat on the ground next to her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Victoria looked around.\u00a0 She could see more mountains to the north and a huge amount of water to the west.\u00a0 Around the base of the peak they were on were the twenty other adults.\u00a0 Her eyes strained to see them but they each stood by a large fire and that helped to pick them out.\u00a0 She thought she could see some villagers coming out of the trees to see what was happening.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The man started to speak.\u00a0 She had no idea what language he was speaking but it was vaguely familiar.\u00a0 When he stopped talking, the girl opened her eyes.\u00a0 Victoria’s breath hissed out.\u00a0 The girl’s eyes were pure black.\u00a0 No pupil. \u00a0No white.\u00a0 Pure, dark black.\u00a0 The girl was angry but didn’t struggle.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The man nodded and raised his hands.\u00a0 Clouds gathered above them.\u00a0 Lightning flashed.\u00a0 The man began chanting in a different language.\u00a0 Victoria could feel the ground rumbling beneath her.\u00a0 Other faint voices joined in the chanting.\u00a0 Sudden fierce rain and wind lashed against her.\u00a0 Lightning struck again and again until she felt she would go blind from the light.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The chanting reached a crescendo and then suddenly stopped.\u00a0 The world held its breath.\u00a0 Nothing moved.\u00a0 The man lowered his hands slowly into his lap.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The ground beneath her erupted and she was consumed in a hell of roaring red flames.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
When she could see again, she was in a different place.\u00a0 Modern.\u00a0 The streets were narrow and filled with cars.\u00a0 People laughed and spoke to each other.\u00a0 She thought the language was Italian.\u00a0 Mothers gossiped and old men smoke pipes while watching everyone else.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her eyes were drawn to the end of the street.\u00a0 A young girl wearing a dirty gray shift walked barefoot towards her.\u00a0 Her pure black eyes looked neither left nor right.\u00a0 People looked away at her approach, not even aware they were doing it.\u00a0 The girl walked slowly, determined.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She stopped in front of Victoria and looked up, as if seeing her.\u00a0 Victoria thought she could drown in those eyes.\u00a0 She felt trapped by them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The girl knelt and pulled her shift over her head, exposing her lean naked body.\u00a0 She went to her hands and knees.\u00a0 Thin red lines ripped down the skin of each shoulder blade.\u00a0 Beneath the skin was not the white of bone or pink of flesh.\u00a0 It was black.\u00a0 Leather black skin stretched out of the cuts, growing larger and larger.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Wings, Victoria thought.\u00a0 Black wings tipped with a single black talon.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The girl’s head pulled back and she shrieked, unnaturally loud.\u00a0 Her teeth were daggers.\u00a0 Thick, black spit dripped from them and fell to the earth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The ground trembled beneath her.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
EPILOGUE<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“… no… no… no… no… no… no… coming… no… coming… sssshe’ssssssss… coming…” Her snakes were writhing around her face.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The large male tiger was watching her carefully.\u00a0 She couldn’t read the expression on his strange face.\u00a0 She had time to notice that his stomach looked much better.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Who…”\u00a0 She felt so thirsty.\u00a0 “What…”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Future… passsssst… passssst… future…”\u00a0 Her snakes were wild.\u00a0 She tried to push them off of her face but they wouldn’t stop moving.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Who?\u00a0 Who goddammit?\u00a0 What the fuck was that?!”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Her snakes froze and she heard a single voice coming from her own mouth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“Shiva.\u00a0 Death.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PROLOGUE In her dreams, the man has no face. The dark, dirty room shifts and vibrates as if an earthquake is trying to open the ground under them.\u00a0 Only the man is clear and unmoving.\u00a0 Black lines and Continue reading Unchained [The Change Universe # 2]<\/span>