Before she could move—before she saw it move—Barbara was on her back. Pinned on her back. Pain crunched between her shoulders; at the base of her hips. She groaned.
And nails—claws—scrabbling at the floor, her hair, her—
“Ah!” She grabbed a handful of the creature’s hair, pulled back its head, but fire blazed across her belly: a spreading gash of red blooming across the front of her shirt, lurid under the electric lights. And the groan twisted in her chest, became panting, a whimper, a sob—“Val. No. Val, no. Don’t. Don’t do this, pl—d—d—”
She pushed, pushed, but the creature was made from bone, from rock. Knees bruising her thighs, fist clenched around her arm. Immovable. Impossible strength—a raw and supernatural power, like… like Diana. Except, not. Not at all. Cold, a cold, cold strength. Clinical. Malevolent.
NO, it whispered. Not Val at all. Something else. Something else. And that thing, thing, looked down at her and lifted a red nail to its mouth.
Barbara felt the lurching response in her own chest, a sweeping wave, as if of nausea—as if her heart was being dragged through her ribs. She opened her mouth again; a shallow, shuddering cry. But she couldn’t… move, she couldn’t do anything. Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes; she couldn’t even turn her head.
The covers stirred on the bed. A low, sleepy voice. “Barbara?”
It was the moment of distraction she needed. She pushed the gun against the creature’s chest. For a second, she looked it in the eye.
“Don’t, Val. Don’t make me do this.”
She could feel her stomach, slippery with blood. Could feel how it coated that creature’s body as it slid against her, its head hanging over her like a guillotine. Could feel the sense bleeding out of her head.
“I’ll do it. I will. I’ll…”
Her vision fogged. She pressed the gun closer against that spindly breastbone.
“Don’t you realise we care about you?” Blood flecked her lips as she craned her head up, up, towards that ghastly face. “Whatever you are, whatever you think you are, we… I…”
Almost accidentally, her lips touched that cold mouth. Her finger trembled on the trigger.
The air in the small room was thick with emotions that were nauseatingly .... HUMAN. The pleading, the crying, the begging — it filled the space with a uniquely human stink that made the monster gag and churched the ichor in its stomach. This woman, in what was surely her final moments, squirming in a pool of her own blood - was asking for … mercy. She was trying to appeal to someone who … did … not … e x i s t.
“ NO — “ was a horrible thing, that word. Raw and bleeding as it fell from gruesome lips. It dripped down the curve of its gore coated chin as a refusal to all that this woman, half formed in the electric blue darkness, was begging for. The monster hummed with the power of that word — two letters, one syllable, it vibrated against dry lips as the woman twisted against its body, as fingers tangled hopelessly in dirty ropes of hair. Wounds wept as fangs caught the cold light of the screens and a pulse caught the beat of a machine suddenly whirring back to life. The creature laughed as human tears fell and black coated talons lifted into the air, casting long, horrible shadows against the fabric that covered the windows, the image warping as the air suddenly shifted in the room, as a great, golden breath filled lungs, as words whispered from between parted lips —
It’s attention snapped like a dry bone, brittle and disoriented eyes strained upwards towards the bed, towards that voice, that heart beat, that opportunity for REDEMPTION —
But then there was that other thing - that other problem squirming between the hold of its thighs in a widening pool of her own blood. She THREATENED in a language that was the mewling cries of a creature stuck in a trap.
Dark eyes dropped at the cool touch of metal, almost impressed at the threat made real. It pushed itself closer to the muzzle of the weapon, to the kiss of metal that was warmer than its own skin. Motion coiled in arms and legs as one taloned hand pressed itself into the floor and its entire body hunched lower, pushing its body closer to the weapon, more tightly against the warm, blood covered body of the prey that was still speaking, still pleading to a dead woman. The creature’s entire being was vibrating as it prepared to move, to leap towards promise of what was to come, ready dive into the semi - darkness of the room, to find victory, when — lips touched and --- the jarring connection, however brief was ... soft and warm and —— FAMILIAR.
The gasp that fell from between gore covered lips was almost - HUMAN. The monster collapsed against the other woman as locked elbows quivered and the grip of stone like thighs went weak, its control wavering for a split second - just long enough for another word to form, white hot and desperate, it strained again unused vocal chords as they clenched against the mutiny — “ Barbara —— ” dark sclera cleared then if only for a moment in the semi - darkness to a blur of white and the desperate gleam of aubergine — she made eye contact, she saw the terror, the blood - the mistakes made that she had made and cried out in one strangled, stifling sob --
And as quickly as it had come, that moment of clarity, that window out into the carnage of her reality --- it was GONE. Val or whatever was left of her, was replaced by a howling face and a blur of white limbs and blood darkened hands, all disgust and rage.
As it attempted to regain control of its body, the creature tangled itself as in its prey. It was a panicked, an animal caught in a TRAP of its own making, as it tried to free itself -- the monster slipped in the combination of blood and floor polish - the motion almost ... pitifully ... human. Jaws snapped in frustration as talons ripped into flesh and fabric, leaving long gashes in the tiled floor as it refocused its dark eyes towards the bed --- on the body that laid there - only half aware of what was happening.
The creature stumbled over its prey as it tried to control its arms and legs, forcing down that last strangled cry of that insurgent other, murderous purpose focusing its flailing attempts to stand, to FINISH what it had come here to do. Barely finding its feet, the monster cried out as another word cut through its consciousness -- a reminder. ‘ Failure ’ muttered in that low, familiar tone ran through its bones and collided against the tender insides of its mind, the monster cried out painfully as it launched itself from the floor --- sprang towards the bed ----- ‘ failure ... must be ... punished ---- ’
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