Dead and Horny Ch. 11

Once inside the space, Tick Tock Folded the morsel into a tiny ball and then tucked it away in a sub-space where the protein could be digested. This resulted in a high-pressure spray of blood and tissue that soaked the room.

Cries of alarm became shrieks of terror as the mimic tore its way through the remaining morsels, spraying blood and gore everywhere. In between muzzle flashes, the mimic changed shapes, and the universe fought to define it, but Tick Tock was determined to protect the Dana-human. It owed its life to her, and would ensure that she regained her spark once again, even if it had to exhaust itself to do so.

Once out in the hallway, it made sure to devour the morsels before they could don their magic glasses, green things that would allow them to see in a different wavelength of light. By the time it Folded its last morsel, it slumped to the floor exhausted. Though its mind could stretch a single moment into an eternity, its body still required the passage of actual time to digest what it had consumed. It would save just a little bit of energy in case Dana-human needed it. Once Folded back into the shape of a backpack in the middle of the blood-soaked hallway, Tick Tock waited for her.

The mimic wouldn't have to wait long. After all, time was relative.

As soon as Lily reached the upstairs landing, she grabbed one of the nearby mercenaries and used him as a shield, holding him up with her tail as she moved toward the men closest to her. The bullets that tore through her were painful, and she wondered if they had been tipped with silver or even blessed. The men held back to avoid shooting their comrade, and she took advantage of the moment by leaning around the gasping man.

"Don't stop shooting on his account. I intend to kill all of you." Realizing that her voice was muffled and they might not hear her, she reached a clawed hand around the man's throat and tore it open, hoping they would get the point.

The hallway erupted in quiet gunfire once more, and she threw the dead man and danced about the room, slashing and ripping. Her body became hot as hellfire surrounded her, summoned by her anger, and she tore her way through the men, pausing on occasion to sting a couple and knock them out.

Someone threw a flash bang, and she snatched it up and bit into it. It exploded in her face, and she laughed maniacally, spreading her wings wide to cast an eerie shadow. The lights suddenly went out, but Lily had no trouble seeing in the dark.

"To Hell with all of you!" She tore her way through them, dodging gunfire and whipping her tail about to sting them. If given the chance, she would come back and eat every last one of them, but time was of the essence. She forced her way through a pair of men blocking the doorway and kicked one hard enough that his head snapped sideways on his body. The other drew a pistol, which she snatched out of his hands while stabbing him with her tail.

"Oh, why didn't I think of this?" She picked up the man and the pistol and moved back into the hallway. While using him as her meatshield, she picked off two of the others with the pistol, then plucked another flashbang from the man's belt and tossed it into a trio of mercs at the top of the stairs. They ran out of the blast radius so she threw her meatshield after them, smashing into them, knocking one of them to the ground. Pistol empty, Lily scooped up a nearby assault rifle and strode purposefully forward.

She fired several rounds at the retreating men, knocking down one. The other fled across the main hall and ducked through one of the side rooms on the main floor. Expecting to find herself under attack again, she stopped and picked up an extra gun. If a group of men stormed out, she could put a few down from a distance.

Other than the groans of the dying, there were no sounds to be heard in the main lobby. She paused just long enough to put a bullet in the head of a merc who was trying to aim his pistol at her. It seemed a shame to ruin so many perfectly good meals, but she was on a time crunch.

The lights flickered back on up above, and she frowned. So much for the advantage of night vision. She walked down a few steps, keeping her senses alert for another ambush. She took a few more tentative steps down the stairs and waited.

Several moments passed.

Suddenly, the door of a side room burst open. Tristan stormed out, bare-ass naked except for the pendant around his neck. His skin was a deep red, and from her vantage point on the stairs, she could see the open door to a sauna on the far wall of the room.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me!" he roared, and Lily opened fire. She didn't know if guns would even work on him, and was disappointed to see many of the rounds bounce off his flesh. However, a couple did pierce his skin, but the rounds were still visible, meaning they only just broke the skin.

"Where the fuck is everybody?" he demanded, then turned around, spying one of his men hiding behind a pillar. "Get out here, you coward, or I'll eat your whole goddamn family!"

The remaining merc fled.

Feeling smug, Lily hopped over the railing and tossed her guns to the side. "Looks like your friends are gone. You've got quite the mess to clean up."

"I'm about to make an even bigger one." His features rippled, and his jaw stretched wide. "What makes you think that you'll be able to handle me now?"

"Because she has help." Cyrus staggered out of the hallway, his feet and arms covered in blood. In one hand was a wand, but he held a silver dagger in the other. The dagger was humming with holy energy, and Lily took a step away from it out of instinct.

"I'm surprised to see you. But no matter." Tristan popped his knuckles and tilted his head back and forth. The Dragon Seed swung from side to side, glowing with a sickly aura. "Let's dance."

Cyrus charged forward, then brought up his wand in defense when Tristan sent out a blast of dragon's fire. The summoned shield of light looked as if it was melting, and Lily jumped into the flames, her wings spread wide behind her.

"You'd better have a plan," she yelled over the roar of the flames.

"This!" He held up the dagger. It had silver and pearl inlays throughout the handle, and she recognized the holy script engraved in the blade. "It was for you, but it's time to improvise."

"Where's Dana?"

Cyrus shook his head and pulled something new out of his pocket. "Move!"

Lily leapt to the side as Cyrus threw something into the flames. A gelatinous mass appeared in mid-air and exploded, coating the walls in flaming goo. Tristan coughed, and Lily saw that some of the gunk had hit him in the face. Wasting no time, she ran toward him and leapt into the air, tilting her body backward so that her tail could swing about.

In midair, the stinger of her tail became a spiked club that swung up into Tristan's exposed scrotum. The impact caused Lily to lose her balance mid-air and crash to the ground. When she rolled over, she saw that Tristan's face was now a deep purple as he clutched at his testicles.

Cyrus ran in with the dagger and planted it in Tristan's chest. The dagger didn't seem to do anything but further piss off the dragon, who let out a roar that shook the windows.

Tristan grabbed Cyrus by the shoulders and lifted him into the air before slamming him into the ground. Once free of the mage, he hunched over and clutched his nuts some more.

"Gonna...fucking...kill you," he muttered through deep breaths, then ripped the dagger out.

"I'd like to see you—" Lily let out a gasp when the dagger struck her in the chest. Tristan had moved so quickly that she hadn't even seen him throw it. Her body went numb as she fell to the floor, pinned in place by the artifact planted in her bosom. Pain radiated through her body as a beam of light came through the ceiling, pinning her in place with holy magic. In the distance, she could hear a choir of angelic voices singing, and she realized that she couldn't flee. Whatever this object was, it had pinned her onto this plane of existence, filling her with dread.

Tristan let out a wet cough and started moving toward her with murder in his eyes.

Dana was in her garage, an angle grinder held tight in her hands as she used it to trim her motorcycle's fender back into a smooth line. Sparks danced along the fender's edge, illuminating the dark corners of the room.

"What'cha workin' on, Sparks?" Alex stepped out of the shadows, her bare feet silent on the concrete.

"Just fixing up the bike." Dana turned her head while taking off her safety glasses. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"That's a laugh." Alex pulled up a nearby chair and spun it around to sit on it backward. "You're the only dead girl here."

"I'm not dead, though, I'm..." Dana coughed, and something small and shiny fell out of her mouth and landed on the floor. She bent over and picked it up to inspect it. It was a bullet, covered in her blood. There was a sudden pressure in her head, just behind her eyes, and the room became blurry.

"Relax, Sparks, you're gonna make it. Just close your eyes for a second."

Dana obeyed, then let out a groan as the pressure intensified some more. "What's happening?" she asked.

"The human brain is a complicated thing, and it takes time to rebuild. That's the funny thing about your situation. You may be dead, but your body still fights so hard to live."

"That's because...I...want to live."

"I want you to live, too, Sparks. But you know it's never gonna be the way it used to be, right?" She could feel Alex's hand on hers, squeezing tightly. "You're not the same person you were when you were alive, and that's okay. This new person is pretty cool, too."

"Alex, what are you—" the pain vanished, and Dana blew a chunk of metal out of her left nostril, which pinged off the floor. When she opened her eyes, she was in the utility room of the Black Palace, but Alex still stood before her. A gnawing pain filled her belly, and she groaned when she stood. Why did she hurt so bad? Why was the room so smoky?

"Looks like you're out of fuel, Sparks." Alex walked across the utility room and passed through the wall.

"No, wait." Dana stumbled toward the door and fell. She caught herself at the last second, her hands now slick with moisture. Puzzled, she looked at her hand and saw that it was blood.

It smelled rich and aromatic, like the finest bowl of tomato soup, with just a hint of something in the background. Was it blue cheese? She sniffed again, her eyes rolling back in pleasure as her stomach growled.

"No," she whispered, then wiped the blood on the wall. The air was rich with its smell, and it wasn't until she stepped out in the hall and slipped in it that she realized that it was everywhere. Was this part of the hallucination?

"Why do you resist it?" asked Alex. She was kneeling over something on the ground that looked like a piece of skin. "The hunger, I mean."

"I don't want...to..." Dana was distracted by the smell of food, her own hunger, and the fact that the hallway was also covered in photographs of the two of them. Their entire relationship was laid out before her, and she tried to grab at the one closest to her, but slipped in blood again. Why was there so much blood?

"You don't want to what? Become a monster?" Alex stood over Dana now, only she was standing on the wall. "It's all a matter of perspective, isn't it?"

"Fuck perspective," Dana muttered, recalling an old conversation with Alex. The two of them had gotten into an argument one night after being called a pair of dykes. Dana had wanted to tear the guy apart, but Alex had told her to let it go. "You will always be the villain in somebody else's story, right? No matter how pure our love is."

"So, you do remember." Alex smiled. This caused warmth to bloom deep inside Dana's chest, even though it was muted. "So how is this any different?"

"It's blood, it's..." her thoughts weren't fitting together anymore, and she gagged.

"It's your brain trying to rebuild itself." Alex vanished and was now further down the hall. "You can fight it, or you can give in."

"But...I'm not a monster..." Dana sat against the wall, taking shallow breaths through her mouth. The air itself tasted good, and she closed her eyes in an attempt to shut it out.

"It isn't the act, Sparks. It's the intent. You aren't the girl you used to be, but you'll always be the one I love. You need to stop pretending that you're still a regular human. You're a badass, you know that? A badass fucking zombie who needs to eat to survive, and that's okay. So go ahead, taste it."

Dana opened her eyes and lifted her hands. The blood was cooling, but still warm. When she placed a finger in her mouth, she sighed in satisfaction when it touched her tongue.

"That's right, baby girl." Alex's voice was slightly more distant. "Get yourself a snack, then get your pretty ass up those stairs and help your friend."

Dana eagerly licked the blood off her hands, finally allowing the hunger to take her over. Falling to the ground, she ran her tongue across the cold marble, then scooped up the bit of flesh and stuffed it in. It tasted like freshly seared steak, causing her to moan in satisfaction.

The photographs were gone now, but she didn't care. She crawled down the hall, licking her hands and scooping up chunks of meat. Her vision sharpened, and she felt a sharp pain in her temple as the bone started growing back.

Growing back? She touched the spot where the bullet had exited and discovered that there was a hole there, but it was getting smaller. That wasn't how her regeneration had worked before. Was it because she was eating flesh?

Down the hallway, she found Tick Tock in the middle of a clean spot. There was a pair of prints in the blood that she assumed were Cyrus's, and when she picked up the mimic, she heard yelling from up above. She picked up another hunk of meat and chewed it, relishing at the delicious warmth that spread through her body.

She wanted more.

Stumbling up the stairs, she paused on the landing to cough out a fragment of bone, then laughed. The laughter turned to tears, and then to a growl. Her emotions were being shuffled about in her brain as synapsis reconnected, and old memories bubbled to the surface to pop before her eyes. Her eighth birthday, where she punched the neighbor boy for blowing out her candles. The middle school dance where she did the electric slide to the wrong song. The moment when she first held hands with Alex and felt her stomach drop as if she was on a roller coaster.

Lurching up the stairs, she heard Lily scream, followed by the sound of singing. Who the fuck was singing? Shaking her head, she felt her sinuses clear, then her ears popped. She stumbled forward down the hall and saw the main room. The odor of dead bodies was in the air here, and she saw Cyrus on the ground, unconscious and covered in blood.

Lily was also on the ground, but her body hovered a foot off the floor. A spotlight from somewhere above was shining on her, and there was a shining dagger with a crucifix handle sticking out of her chest. Tristan was moving toward her, smoke curling up out of his nostrils.

Around his neck, the Dragon Seed glistened in the light just above a rather ragged wound that was smoking as well.

Tristan was saying something to Lily now, his tone condescending. It was so hard to concentrate on the words, because the dragon man smelled like the finest smoked brisket in the world, and she was fucking starving!

She sprinted across the room on bare feet, licking her lips and opening her mouth wide. When she landed on Tristan's back, she bit down into the tough flesh of his neck and growled, trying hard to break the skin and take just a piece of him with her.

"What the fuck?" Tristan tried to grab at her over his shoulder, but she twisted sideways and stuck her hand in Tick Tock to pull out the sword. The slight difference in the handle revealed that it was Tasia's and now hers, but it would do. She didn't bother extending it, preferring the short form. It bounced harmlessly off his skin, and she scrambled across his back as he bent over. It was so easy to hold on to him, especially because he had thin ridges that would perhaps become wings someday.

"Stupid cunt!" Tristan hollered, then grabbed her hand and crushed it, clearly expecting her to let go. She bit his ear instead, and almost laughed when a piece of it came off in her mouth. When she swallowed it, she felt a brief surge of energy go through her, as if she had slammed an energy drink.

Tristan howled in alarm, and twisted about. She saw the open wound in his chest and dug her fingers in, eager to get them wet with his blood. Retracting her wet fingers, she got just a taste of something that reminded her of barbecue sauce when he bent over violently, causing her to flip onto the ground.

"How are you still alive?" he asked, his features alarmed, and she couldn't help but notice that the Dragon Seed was dangling just over her face. Distracted as she was by the bloody wound on his chest, the Seed had its own peculiar odor, like the finest cheese in the world, maybe a smoked gouda. God, she was so hungry!

She twisted the knife in her hand and used it to cut the chain holding the pendant. As if in slow motion, the Dragon Seed fell toward her. Tristan's eyes widened in panic as the magical artifact left his possession, and Dana opened her mouth wide.

When the pendant struck the back of her throat, she swallowed it.

"No!" Tristan picked her up and threw her across the room hard enough that she felt several of her bones break, but it was nothing compared to the heat flooding her body. It was as if she had consumed the sun, and it was now fighting to burn its way free of her. Her bones shifted and popped as her regeneration went into overdrive, and she let out a moan of pure ecstasy.

"Give it back!" Tristan cried. Standing over her, he picked her up with one hand and jammed his other into her gut. Desperate to take the Seed back, he dug through her belly with sharp claws.

Dana was suddenly filled with rage at the audacity of this thing touching her body.

Clamping down on his wrist with her hand, she pulled him out of her. The veins in Tristan's forehead bulged as he was overpowered, and surprise was written across his features. Smoke poured from her skin as the wound sealed itself shut, and she headbutted him in the face hard enough that she felt something crack. This time, it wasn't part of her that had broken.

"Fuck!" Tristan's nose sprayed blood, but he didn't dare let go of her. He tackled her to the ground and she grabbed at his throat, desperate to choke him. "You're a strong little cunt, but are you fireproof?"

His mouth stretched wide, and she could smell the heat forming inside his body as he readied a fiery blast. Her body might be able to heal the damage, but she would likely become hideously scarred, if not deformed by the act. Improvising on the spot, she took the dagger in her hand and shoved it inside of his mouth, making sure to flick her wrist on the way in.

The dagger unfolded itself, pausing briefly when the blade pressed against the roof of Tristan's mouth. Grunting in surprise, Tristan stood and stumbled about for a couple of seconds before the blade expanded to its full height, piercing through the top of his head and spraying the room with blood and brains. Dancing about like a macabre unicorn, he tipped over backward as flames shot out of his mouth and also through the hole in his skull. He now looked like a Roman Candle that had been tipped over, and dragonfire belched across the room, causing the furniture and walls to ignite.

"Dana!" Lily cried out to her from across the room. "Get this thing out of me!"