Sweet Venom Ch. 05

The minutes ached on, one by one. Oxyi's hands clutched around her shotgun, her eyes remained fixed on the streets. Aside from the occasional order barking out into the night,the city was filled only with the groaning of the horde. The more they poured down the street, the more of them she recognised. There was absolutely no doubt any-more.

These were the missing people.

She felt tears well up in the corners of her eyes, she couldn't explain what had happened to them or why they were acting this way, but despite her fear and confusion. Oxyi remained absolutely determined to try and fix this.

The night droned on in this fashion, the creatures weren't bothered about checking the buildings apparently, more focused on scanning the streets instead. They walked up and down the road, sometimes standing idly, other times walking with great haste towards something... she was watching their movements, the way they walked and stood, jerking around like puppets on strings. Oxyi continued to watch through her window with caution, ensuring she was in the shadow at all times and as much of her was concealed as possible, the odd one would cast a glance up towards the windows, but nothing more. It seemed she was safe. Trapped, but safe.

After another hour or so of watching the monochrome shamblers, something rather alarming caught her eye; a familiar figure was stalking her way up the far street - the giant purple alien that had attempted to ambush Diego! She was creeping up the junction that connected to Oxyi's street, holding a rifle up high and dressed in an armoured corset. She seemed rather alone too, with no monochrome figures anywhere near her, she stalked further into the city slowly, watching all around her. She currently had her back to Oxyi and was walking away from her flat, heading further into the city's deserted innards.

"That bitch... she's back..." Oxyi whispered under her breath, subconsciously feeling for her shotgun as she eyed the alien up, a fresh wave of anxiety and hatred pulsing through her. Her heart raced as the night before flashed through her mind, the alien's capturing her friend, and then further back, to the people who had gone missing, who had lost their lives because of this creature stalking the night, her breathe hissed through her teeth as she glared at the back of the alien's head, as its dreadlocks bounced effortlessly around its shoulders...

The alien froze in its tracks. In the stillness, Oxyi's blood suddenly ran cold. The alien slowly turned, back towards Oxyi's street. A wave of panic overcame her, and quickly ducked back below the window, heart pounding in her ears. Something was wrong, something had changed.

After what felt like an eternity, Oxyi swallowed hard and slowly went to peek over the window again, despite every cell and organ in her body screaming at her to do otherwise. We have to know, Oxyi, we have to look, there's no way it saw you... She tried desperately to reassure herself she was safe here, that no one had even come close to spotting her. She needed to watch what this alien bitch was doing, if she was in danger, she needed to know, besides, no one could see her up here anyway, right...?

She mustered up the last ounce of courage she had left, regained semi-control over her shaking limbs,and for just a moment, peeked out of the corner of the window, then quickly slammed her head back against the wall. No, again, we were too fast, we need to look again, a little longer this time. She had to be sure of the impossible blur she'd just seen. She had to know. Again, Oxyi raised her head.

Her blood ran cold, adrenaline coursing through her veins and her knees almost collapsed below her where she crouched.

The alien was staring right at her, with cold, unblinking, focused eyes. Oxyi stared right back, eyes frozen in place. There was no doubt this time; she knew.

Panic threatened to overcome Oxyi's body as every ounce of her being at once tried to crumple to the floor. No, he was brave, he saved you so that you could do this! We can't let Diego down now! With arms like lead Oxyi fumbled desperately for her weapons, twisting on the balls of her feet, losing her balance and landing hard on her elbow. This was it, she'd been spotted. She grabbed her shotgun, and forced herself onto her knees, back up to the windowsill, and thrust the nose of the gun outside... only to find that the alien, had vanished.

For several seconds, there was silence. The only sound in the entire city was that of Oxyi's breathing. Then, in the distance, erupted a loud rumble that spread its way through the streets below, and into the darkness beyond.

*

For Diego and Plasia, the last hour or so had been spent in an idle chatter and pleasant motion. Plasia had really opened up to him in very little time, talking softly about what she liked to do and her favourite things, she seemed incredibly relaxed but hadn't quite fallen asleep. Diego did still have faith in his plan, however, even if it was a little underhanded for him. It was too important that he make progress, and find his way out of this prison. Without warning however, as thoughts of escape filled Diego's mind, the conversation took a darker turn.

"- and I used to do a lot of painting too... but I don't get the chance to do that here..."

"Oh? Why not?"

The alien yawned wide for a few seconds as Diego's fingers danced over her forehead and cheeks, working warmth and tenderness into her soft, sapphire skin.

"Well, I'm either hiding from Moltezz o-or blacking out because of... Leech."

"Blacking out? What do you mean?" Diego's fingers pressed a little tighter as concern took over his curiosity.

"I-I become a different person around her... She brings something awful out of me. I-I can't really explain it very well, and I don't always remember too much... but the other me is... scary... dangerous." Plasia suddenly seemed uncomfortable talking about this, and moved the topic forward quickly. "Seeth is nice to me though... She lets me stay with her when she's doing stuff... Only she's not let me in very much recently... I think she just wanted time alone with you..."

It dawned on him that Plasia may well have suffered greatly as a result of him being with Seeth. That was a punch to the gut he hadn't expected to receive in this place.

"B-But I can see why Seeth wanted to be alone with you!" Plasia continued quickly. "You're lovely! No one talks to me really... you're the first person to ask me about me, even Seeth never has."

"Plasia... How... How bad are things for you here? Why do you hide from Moltezz? Aren't you... all the same? Don't you work together?"

"No. I'm not like them. Moltezz just rapes me whenever she wants." The matter-of-fact tone to Plasia's words stung at Diego's core."I can't fight back very well... She's much stronger than me so I can't do anything... afterwards she locks me up in one of her cages and uses me as an example to the Marks in her dungeon... punishes me for disobedience, and... stuff."

"She rapes you?!"

"Y-Yeah? That's just what happens here... M-Maybe I shouldn't be talking about this..."

"Plasia." Diego stopped massaging her and pressed his fingers to his forehead, processing the words he just heard. "Please, I need to know what happens in this place. I saw these people, the Slaves you have here, they looked strange and weren't acting right, my friend recognised even one of them. What are they?" Plasia went to respond; her eyes flickered open and she paused as she gazed straight into Diego's eyes. He was leaning over her, eyes staring intently into hers.. No matter how hard she tried, words just would not form in her mouth, seemingly awe-struck by his amethystine eyes looking into her soul.

"Be honest with me Plasia, because if things are how I think they are... then I want to help you get out of here. We can work together and put things right. But I need you to be honest with me..." He was almost pleading, pleading that she would trust him.

Her eyes turned glassy. She reached up to him with a wobbly hand and he grasped it tightly with both of his own.

"Y-You mean that? You'd help me?" It was heartbreaking to hear the hurt and doubt in her voice, as if she believed it was impossible at this point.

"Yes. The reason I came here in the first place was to help, and despite everything that's happened, that's still what I want to do. But you have to help me too, Plasia; Seeth's been keeping me in the dark, keeping me... distracted, and I need to know what's going on. Please, Plasia?"

Plasia stared up at Diego with her large, unblinking eyes, then sighed softly.

"T-Those grey people you've seen... Leech and Moltezz call them our Slaves, t-they're the missing people. They've been infected with the same corruption that me, Seeth, Moltezz and Leech have..."

"Corruption? What sort of corruption?"

"I - we don't really know... It's bad though. It's spread through intercourse and a-as far as I know... it can't be cured. And anyone who's been corrupted can spread it."

"So... A-Are you telling me that all of those people, the townspeople, those Slaves... they were..."

"Raped? Sometimes yes. Some came willingly." Plasia whispered, and hung her head solemnly, too nervous to return his gaze.

Diego's mind was racing, but he desperately tried to stay calm.

"So the... the folks here were all kidnapped and raped or whatever... corrupting them into Slaves, you said?"

"Y-Yeah. My kind, we can control the Slaves directly, we can see through their eyes, tell them what to do..."

"Just you four?"

"Y-Yeah... uhm... well actually... I think the Nodes can too..."

"Okay... What does that mean...?"

"S-So I heard Moltezz talking to Seeth about it once... So when you get corrupted, if you're not immune, there's two p-possibilities. You either become a Slave or a Node. S-Slaves are like... they're dead on the inside, there's no-nothing to them. T-They just do what they're ordered to and like... sleep, eat and have sex, day in, day out. W-Whoever they once were, is gone. Nodes are like... more intelligent... they're not the same as us, they-they're still under our control, but they're able to hold conversations and think and stuff... but they're still obsessed with spreading the corruption... like the Slaves and... us."

"My god... this... this is worse than I ever thought it could be..." There were too many thoughts to process but one shuddered to the front of his mind too fast to stop. "W-Wait, I've been having sex with Seeth! Does that mean I'm going to be corrupted?!"

"No." Plasia shook her head quite firmly. "Y-You're a Mark, and Leech says Marks are immune to the corruption, s-so they make perfect sex toys for u-us. She has some Marks locked up in her quarters, and Moltezz has loads, th-they just fuck them whenever they want..."

There was a palpable sense of relief that washed through Diego, but this was still horrifying to hear. His skin glistened with nervous sweat as he tried to figure out what best to do. He wasn't sure if he should ask the next question, but he needed to know..

"H-Have you corrupted anyone Plasia?"

"Me? N-Never..."

"Thank the ethers..."

"N-Not sure about my other side though... I think she has. I can't tell... I don't think I want to know." She covered her face with her arms, the thought rocking her to her core. He threw his arms around her, hugging her close to reassure her.

They shared in a gut wrenching realisation that twisted them both up awfully. Their eyes met again, it was obvious that Plasia was no monster, at least this side of her anyway.

"Listen, I - We need to get out of here. You said your 'other' side only comes out around Leech, right?"

She nodded firmly again, her chest rising up and down rapidly as she fought back the tears welling up.

"Then we need to stay away from her and get you out of here. We'll put this right. Do you know how much involvement Seeth has had with this corruption stuff?"

As he spoke, he quickly jumped off the bed, thinking best how to get out; this couldn't wait any further, not Now that he knew what exactly was happening. His sudden decisiveness caught Plasia off guard, and she stared at him cautiously, but then, she felt a bubbling excitement rise within her... finally, she'd found someone who cared, someone was going to do something... and she wanted to be part of this.

"I don't know... she's always seemed so cold and stoic until you turned up... I think she just stuck to using Marks rather than corrupting others..."

"That's good! I knew I sensed something good about her... just like you." He smiled at her and she returned it as much as she could, sitting up on the bed. "Here's the plan, we're getting out of here now. I'm going to grab supplies from around the room, see if I can find some clothes and anything we can use as a weapon and we're leaving, right now. I won't let you suffer down here anymore Plasia." He spoke firmly and with confidence, he meant every word. And he did exactly as he said, nipping around Seeth's quarters to find anything of use.

"I'll get the door!" For the first time since meeting her, Plasia had a spring in her step and something other than complete despair in her eyes and voice. She leapt up from the bed, ensuring her robes were fitted properly and quickly made her way across the room to the heavy door to Seeth's chambers, which was firmly locked on their side.

She flipped the latches open and tugged at the door. It began to creak open, the sound of rusted hinges echoing around the chamber, pulling it open just a crack...

... And just like that, Plasia changed.

Diego had his head buried within a drawer, pulling some spare clothes out and chucking them onto the floor, so deep in thought that he did not even process when the room was suddenly plunged into silence.

"Plas! You need any clothes or anything? Looks like Seeth has some that would fit you!"

She didn't reply.

"Plasia?" He pulled back from the drawer and glanced around at her. She was standing in the middle of the room, back towards him, just staring out through the gap in the door.

"YOU WANT TO ESCAPE, LIZARD?! NO-NO-NO! YOU'LL BE MY PLAY-FUCK-BOY FOREVER!" Plasia spun to face him taking a primal, aggressive stance. Her beautiful orb-like sapphire eyes were now cat-like slits that bore through him. Thick drips of gooey blue saliva seeped from her maw as her whip-like tongue flicked and hissed about her lips.

"Plasia?" Diego couldn't quite hide the slight quiver in his voice, as he stared in shock at the change that had overcome his friend. "What's, what's happened to you? Is this... what you meant... the other you?"

"BE-MINE-BE-MINE-BE-MINE! YOU WILL JOIN US, YOUR BODY WILL BE MY PLAYGROUND, PRETTY MAN!"

"Oh shi-"

"Oh shit indeed!" As if from nowhere, a huge green hand slapped around Diego's neck and hauled him up into the air, effortlessly. Before him stood the imposing form of Leech, pushing him up against the wall and slowly pushing her face towards his. "Trying to escape, lizard? Trying to manipulate my Plasia into partaking in your schemes? And how Seeth had so hoped that she'd managed to convince you to stay." She laughed, staring deep into his eyes.

"Plasia's... no-ot... yours..." Diego's words choked and spluttered out of his throat, around the tightening grip of Leech's fingers.

"You're coming with me, lizard. For Seeth's sake, I will break you."