Love, Parasitic - Pt. 04

'I'm not going to say anything,' she said. 'You have successfully bought my silence.'

'Right,' I said, unsure.

She caught that I wasn't convinced, and sat at the end of the bed. 'Look, Ellie. You made a big show-and-dance about 'implicating' me so I wouldn't say anything, but... frankly, I wouldn't have anyway. But, last night... I dunno. You showed me that whatever that thing inside you is, you can use it for whatever you want. Just... be smart with it, yeah? And Vi - she's a catch. Don't fuck it up.'

I nodded, and Renee finished dressing before heading out.

'See y'all again soon!' she shouted, the door slamming behind her.

Not long afterwards, Vi was kissing me goodbye and telling me to rest in a sunbeam. She called me a cat, and then left me there in her bed, feeling a little weird.

Maybe it was just the Flesh - maybe it did need to sunbathe.

I summoned, letting it rest on my chest as the sunlight pulled in, thin and cool but present all the same. Within an hour, I felt refreshed. Calmer, more together.

It was remarkable, actually, how easily the Flesh being sun-soaked shifted my mood.

~0~0~0~

'There's a van outside,' I told Vi. She was on her lunch break, and I didn't want her to come home, but I thought it best she knew what I was looking at.

'Right outside?' There was a hint of worry in her voice, and there was something about it that reminded me of Renee, earlier the same morning. People kept worrying about me.

Maybe they were right to.

'No,' I said, as I looked out the window. 'It's across the square. Black van, though, like the ones on the news.' I watched the vehicle, stalwart and unmoving, across the way. 'It hasn't moved since I spotted it. First saw it at about eleven. What is it now, two?'

'Ten past two, yeah.'

'So - three hours. No movement. What do you think they're doing?'

'Could be anything, Ellie.'

'Yes, but it could be- oh, shit, they're coming out.'

'What?'

'Someone's coming out!'

Through the curtains, I could see them. Two men, wearing army-like clothes, but a dark grey instead of camouflage. The emerged from the back of the van, one of them holding a thick, heavy-looking duffel, and together they moved quickly to the house directly opposite.

'They're going into a house,' I said, my voice a little small. I saw, above the door, a window, small and square.

In the corner of the window, a baseball-sized hole.

My stomach dropped.

'There's another... Flesh.'

'What?'

'Their window's smashed - it's small, we missed it. But it's there. They're going in now.'

'Ellie, you need to get away from the window-'

'They've just gone in,' I said. 'Kicked the door in.'

'Ellie-'

'It's gone quiet. I can't- I can't see-'

'Ellie, just stay low. Stay low, and quiet, okay?'

I nodded, even though Vi couldn't see me. I stayed silent, able to hear nothing but her breath down the line. I stayed quiet, and watchful, until I saw activity.

'I see something,' I whispered.

'Ellie, are you okay?'

I watched the two men leave the room, a low conversation between them. They walked back to the van, not at all in a rush.

'They didn't get it,' I said. 'They didn't - they didn't get it.'

'You can tell?'

'I can tell. They're annoyed. Moving slowly. No urgency, you know?'

'Right.' Vi gave a shuddering breath. 'Okay - I have to get back, but... let me know if anything else comes up, yeah?'

'Yeah, of course.'

'Ellie - take care of yourself, yeah?'

'Yeah.'

Vi hung up, and I watched the two men get into the van. Five minutes later, it sped off. I sat, doing nothing, for ages, before something else happened.

The van came back.

Or, rather, it lapped the square, driving around without stopping. It moved slowly, and I could tell it was trying to see something. They weren't gone - not really. Which meant...

Which meant that they really thought something was in there.

As I watched, I saw something rustling in the bushes. It shifted, for a moment, before emerging from the green; a fat tabby cat. It was adorable, and fluffy, and completely ignored by the surveillance van, which drove on.

An idea began to form.

'Right,' I said, pulling the curtain fully shut. 'You can make a fifteen-foot long tentacle cock, and I know you can make horns and wings and all the rest of it. You can make me larger, and create hair and keratin and all the rest from seemingly nowhere - but this is new. Let's take it slow.'

I got down onto all fours, and began to practise.

~0~0~0~

We made such a good team, me and the Flesh. She was obedient, and able to figure out ways to fulfil what I wanted, even if I didn't give completely specific instructions. She was clever, and intuitive. So, even when I began to shift my body into something that wasn't entirely human, it took a moment. She had to invent new ways for my inside to be, to shift muscles and hair and all the rest. What I'd done before had always used the human body - my human body - as the template. Adding things, augmenting things. That was easy. So, we started there.

I augmented my hands and feet into paws. My face, I stretched and turned my mouth into a maw. Fur everywhere, next.

Then, when I resembled something like a werewolf from one of Vi's smutty pictures, me and the Flesh focused on size. We shrank, condensing and coalescing my body down, down, down, until I was barely a foot long. My ankles moved differently, and from my coccyx grew a tail that we covered in fuzz.

Within an hour of developing my plan, I had managed to turn myself into a fairly believable little black cat. I was even cute.

So, I used my tail - stretching it long and using its prehensile dexterity - to pop open the balcony door. I slipped out, kicking it shut behind me, and together, me and the Flesh snuck down into the courtyard.

The square was a slow roundabout, with parking spaces all around it that vaguely aligned with the houses and flats all around. In the centre was an attempt at a park, with a few bushes, trees, and covered in grass that had been kicked up by the local kids using it for football. I used them as cover, going from car to bush to wall to tree, moving across the space with a speed and elegance it was hard to imagine having as a person.

I rather liked this body, even.

Before long, I was at the front door of the house the van guys had busted into. They hadn't bothered to shut it behind them, and the lock was smashed, so I just... walked in. An innocent little cat. Nothing to see here.

Immediately, things became clear. This place was... abandoned, at best. It resembled the other houses in layout only, with wallpaper peeling off the walls and the floorboards exposed and, in some places, rotting. It smelled dank, and judging by the black mould in the corner of the walls, there was a damp problem. Furniture was scarce, and there was nothing to suggest anyone had lived here in months, if not years.

If a Flesh crashed here, I wasn't sure it would have survived. Something told me that the fact that it had joined with me meant it needed to, in order to survive.

Something was pushing me to head upstairs, and I followed the instinct. It wasn't clear if the instinct was cat or Flesh - did I have cat instincts? - but it didn't matter. Once I was at the landing, it became clear why I'd been pulled up here.

There were dead rats everywhere. Maybe twenty of them, strewn across the place. The van guys probably just thought it was a sickness thing, or they were mangy, but something told me otherwise.

The flesh had used them. Or, more accurately, used them up. I could just tell. Like the feeling you get when you're being watched.

Speaking of-

'MRROWW!' I yelled, my little cat voice box only managing so much, as I had the fright of my life. A rat, with a hideous tumour on its face and face, launched itself at me.

Only, I knew it wasn't a tumour.

It landed on me, and I felt it attach to me, grabbing on. I knew my Flesh could listen to me, understand me at least at an instinctive level, so I tried to give it something to understand.

You're okay, I thought, channelling the thoughts towards this poor, scared creature. You're okay - I can help you. Come with me, it's okay.

The rat dropped away, and scurried off into the dark, as the tumour sat on my back. I didn't know if it was possible for me to 'host' two at a time, but it felt... wrong. It was draining me, sucking something from me. I wondered how long it had gone without anything more complex than a rat, and if that was causing it. Or, if it's communication with my Flesh was causing me some fatigue.

Or, alarmingly, if Vi was right. If this thing was draining me, the same way my Flesh might be. It was just more noticeable now there were two of them.

Fuck.

Either way, I had to get out. It was getting late, and Vi would be home soon. How was I supposed to explain this? I streaked out of the house, down the stairwell, and bad before the doorway, until-

A shadow shifted. Behind the door, a form.

I froze. A kitten in headlights. The door smacked open, and there they were. Why were they back? One had a gun-like apparatus, one with a crackling stun-gun.

Play. It. Cool.

'Cat's new,' one of them said. 'Check it. It might have grafted on.'

'Like the rats?' one asked, being cautious.

'Uh-huh,' the other said. 'Grab it.'

He lunged, and I bolted. They took chase as I sped out into the clearing, outside. A loud CRACK went through the air, and I wondered if I'd just been shot at. Kept running, and ducking, and turning, and panting, until I was almost at my own block of fats, and-

Don't go home - they can't know who you are.

I turned, going towards the bin stall. Massive mistake - it was a dead end, concrete walls with one exit, like a converted garage.

They appeared at the mouth of it, as I hid between the bins.

'Stay here - I'll get it.'

I heard the crack of footsteps on gravel as he came closer, and felt something... odd. Behind me, the tumour-like mass began to... split. Divide. It became two, smaller masses, just as the man saw us. One of the masses clung to me, going flat, as the other fell to the ground.

I ran, not looking back, deciding to do a full loop of the building before going home, underneath cars and between buildings, pushing into places I couldn't be chased. Soon, I was home-free, and watched the front entrance for about ten minutes. In that time, the van left, and I could see the two guys in the front seats arguing as they drove away, clearly pissed off. If they caught their target, why were they angry?

Vi got home, and I slinked in behind her.

'Oh, hello cutie,' she said, not able to see the tumour-like mass that was currently hugging my belly. 'Who's buddy are you?' I followed her to our flat, and she paused outside. 'You can't come in, you know. Even though you are cute. Maybe you're hungry? You hungry?'

I waited until she opened the door, and pounced inside. Once we were in, and I was able to turn into the living room. In there, I sat on the sofa and watched Vi come in. She was looking around, a look on her face.

'Ellie?'

At her command, I transformed - back into myself. It took a few seconds, my body re-generating it's human shape, recreating my own face, my form - everything I knew as me. Also, because I had been a cat, I was naked.

'What the fuck,' Vi said, staring at me.

'I learned how to be a cat,' I said.

'You can... you can do that?'

'I can,' I said. 'But, that's not the best thing.'

'What's the best thing?' she asked.

'I saved it.'

'Saved what?'

'The Flesh - from across the road. They were looking for it, so I went in, as a cat. And saved it.'

'You... you what?!'

I turned myself into a cat,' I said, 'which, you know, took effort. Then, I snuck in there, and found it - it was starving, and scared. I helped it, and we were about to get out when those guys returned. It almost had us, trapped in the bin stall, when it... I don't even know. Divided? Split into two? The piece it left behind on the floor, they grabbed - thinking that was it, you know? And I ran, and waited for you. But, when they left, they were arguing, and I think that's because the piece that the Flesh left on the floor wasn't real. I don't think it can survive being on its own like that for long, so it probably... died. But I have the rest of it - the real bit. Here.'

I held it out, and Vi stepped back.

'Is that... it? That's what it looks like?'

I looked down at the poor, thick thing in my hand. It looked like a shrunken sea cucumber, brown and wet, not the ink-red of the one I'd merged with.

'It's not been looked after,' I said.

'Okay,' Vi said, guarded. She stayed on the other side of the room. 'What do you want me to do about that?'

I looked at her, and waited for the idea to come to her. Maybe it already had, and she was just denying it.

'You're not serious,' she said eventually. I stood, naked and tired, body aching from the scale of my transformations today.

'You can join me,' I said. 'You've seen what I can do, Vi. What it's given me.'

'We don't know-'

'We do,' I said. 'We know that all it's done is help me. Given us so much. All it has asked for is sunlight, and shelter. It's a friend, and I know that this one could do the same to you.'

She looked at it, the fear in her eyes sleeping away, little by little. 'I'm scared, El.'

'Its okay,' I said, closing the gap between us. 'It's all going to be fine. It might make you a little sick - remember how I threw up that morning after I was hit?'

'Yeah,' she said. 'O-okay.'

'And then, after that, it... went inside me.'

'Okay.'

'Only, it couldn't meld with me, then. So, it had to actually, you know, push inside me.' I was right on her now, holding the slug-like Flesh in my hand, so close to her shoulder. She swallowed a gulp. 'And, I didn't know what was happening, but I have to tell you - it felt so fucking good.'

'El, I don't... you need to tell me right now if this is you.'

I paused, not sure what she was asking me. 'Vi-'

'This thing has changed you,' she said. 'Not just bad. At first it was on you - now it's you. It lets you change what you are.'

'I have complete control,' I told her. 'I have never, for a moment, felt like I wasn't in control of the Flesh, Violet. It's... a passenger. One that, yes, lets me do these strange, impossible things. But it only does what I ask, how I ask. It's an extension of me, Vi. I'm more myself than I ever have been.'

She watched me, listening. Thinking.

Then, after a soft sigh, her eyes locked on mine, she put out her hand, and clasped her palm over the new Flesh in my hand.

'Ohh,' she hummed, as it connected with her flesh. She lifted her hand, and it stuck to her, moving up her wrist quickly. 'It's... warm.'

'Yeah,' I said, with a nod.

'It already looks better,' she said, holding her arm up, as the brown-ish slug-creature softened, lightening into a deep red. 'Healthier.'

'I think it likes you,' I said, smiling.

Vi smiled as well, and before taking a shuddering breath. 'Okay - when will it, you know. Go in.'

'When you tell it to,' I said. 'I think, for me, that first time, it was because I told it to hide - so it hid. Before you do that, though, see if it listens to you.'

Vi nodded, stepping away. She held her other hand out, and I watched as she commanded it. 'Go to my other hand,' she said.

The Flesh travelled up her arm, across her collarbones, and down her other hand, to the palm of her left hand.

'Back,' she said. It went back, and Vi laughed a little bit. 'Wow.' She held it up, looking at it closely. 'Hi, you strange little thing.'

'That's adorable,' I said.

'Okay,' Vi said. 'Uhh - hide?'

I watched as the Flesh slipped up her arm, into her sleeve. It shifted under her work top, and Vi watched down her body as the little lump moved across her, down her belly, and pushing into her black work jeans.

'Oh, fuck,' she muttered as it pushed into her waistband, and I watched the lump of fabric circle her thigh, then come back up, towards her crotch.

'Hahh,' Vi groaned. The lump was gone. 'It's - it's in,' she said.

'Okay,' I said, taking her hands. 'From what I experienced, it might take a day to, you know, get used to you. Get settled in. Then, it'll be able to move through you, shifting and shaping as you ask. Then-'

'It'll be able to shift and shape me, right?' Vi asked.

I nodded, cupping her cheek. 'Welcome to the club.'

'I'm gonna fuck you so hard with my horsecock in a few days,' she said, moving in. 'You've been lucky for a while now - your Flesh gave you a good reason to be the top for a change. Now? I'm gonna ruin you.'

I swallowed, the change in tone taking me by surprise. 'Fuck.'

Vi nodded. 'Yup, I think I will. But first - I need a shower.'

She walked away, leaving me with a tense knot in my chest and a wetness in my panties, heading into the bathroom.

'Oh, fuck,' I muttered as the door locked behind her. 'I hope she likes it.'

~0~0~0~

'Are you sure this is, you know, needed?' Vi asked.

'Definitely. Transforming, shapeshifting, whatever, it takes energy. If it can't get that energy from sunlight, it'll take it from you, I reckon.'

'You reckon?'

'I reckon.'

'Well, the sun's pretty much set, Ellie,' Vi said, sitting up and looking over at me. God, she looked so beautiful naked - I still couldn't get over it. 'Not sure how much good sunbathing is doing us anymore.'

'You're pretty,' I said.

Vi sighed, hiding a smile. 'Thank you, sweetie. Shall we get dressed?'

I turned towards her, and sat up enough to kiss her neck. 'Never.' I pecked her collar. 'How do you feel? Any nausea?'

'No,' she said. 'I actually feel good. Strangely. You said I was going to vomit or something?'

'Maybe, for me, it was just a shock? Like, I had no idea what was happening.' I trailed my hand across her bare thigh, and watched as she considered me. 'Or - you're just better at this than me.'

'Says the girl who can turn into a cat.'

'Not just a cat,' I said with a shrug. 'I'm pretty sure I could manage something more... monstrous. I've seen your little collection of freaky fetishes, remember?'

'Oh yeah?' Vi asked, leaning down and pushing me flat onto my back. Before us, the window that looked out over the carpark was half-open, the last glints of sunlight glimmering over Vi's bare back as she looked down at me. Her hair caught the light like a blue halo. 'How freaky would you be willing to get?'

I bit my lip. The way she was looking at me... I couldn't resist it.

'Well, let's do a checklist, shall we?' I asked. 'Because I've done my research, now. I know the terms. We've done futanari, we've done demon-girl, we've done hucow. We've done horsecock and - as of last night - tentacles going all the way through.'

'Fuck,' Vi said. 'You know - it's one thing to google those things and have some fantasies online. It's... something else to have them listed off at you like that. All those lewd words falling from your pretty mouth.'