The Value of a Good Man

All characters are over eighteen years of age.

The girl ran through the woods.

She ran without looking, her heart pounding and her dress torn. The day was scorching and yet the girl had a core of ice in her stomach; heavy and cold and dreadful. She ran without looking where she was going, only luck saving her from injury from the countless roots and dips that the woods presented.

She did, from time to time, turn and look back. There was no pursuer, no signs of and danger and yet after those backward glances the girl always ran just a little bit faster.

The girl jumped over a dried creak and scrabbled up over the other side, her hands gripping the long-dried mud. Only when she was on the other side of the creek did she pause.

Her lungs ached, breath coming out in sharp, pained grasps. She clutched her hand, feeling the ache of her limbs follow close behind the receding wash of adrenaline. She leant against a tree, feeling the roughness of the bark against her sweat-soaked back. She closed her eyes and muttered,

"He's gone too far. He's gone to far. Momma ain't gonna put up with it."

She reached down and touched her dress. Already patched and old and faded, it was now torn down the front. Her chest- plump and pale and firm with youth- was exposed to anyone that might be watching. She groaned and reached for a bobby pin, doing her best to button up the ripped dress. She reached down to rub her wrist, seeing purple marks begin to form.

"T'hell with this," she said. "T'hell. Ah'm not going back."

She turned and stumbled towards the house.

***

The house was old and decayed but the girl wasn't particularly concerned. She'd just come from a house that wasn't old and decayed and it wasn't anything like safe. So she stepped through the threshold without much in the way of hesitation.

She walked through the old, empty rooms, rubbing her wrist. She tried the pump next to the house, getting some water; this, she drank, before splashing more over her face and chest. Sighing, she retreated back into the cool house and sat down in one of the bare corners.

After a while, she began to quietly cry.

Some time later the girl got up, wiping her nose, and sighed. She looked around. "Old Dodger's place. Huh. Ah wonder if ah can stay here forever." She got up and wandered the house afresh. "I could live here." She gave a short, little laugh. "Ah could live in this shitty, empty dump."

There was a sudden sound; a shuffling noise that sounded almost like a slithering. She started and then said, "Hello?"

Nothing. She repeated, "Hello? Ah don't meant to bother you! Ah just want somewhere to stay." She gripped her ripped dress closer to her chest. "Please?"

The slithering sound suddenly started up again. The girl paused. It didn't sound like a person. It sounded like a beast. These parts of the woods didn't have much in the way of big nasties- no bears, no cougars, or the like- but that didn't mean that her imagination wasn't able to supply her with all sorts of ideas. She paused, swallowing, before coming to a decision.

"Get ahold of yourself, Abbey- It ain't nothing," she muttered. "And you ain't staying here, cowering over nothing. Yup. I'm gonna go check."

Abbey walked up a set of ancient rickety stairs, wincing at the creaking. She reached the second landing and stopped. There was...something...coating the walls and floors. It was black and glossy and clung to the walls like the world's worst case of mould. It was concentrated near the attic stairs, smoothing out the straight lines of the house into something rounded and organic and alien. A scent- faint and pungent and strangely pleasant- hung in the air.

"Wasps? Damn biggest wasp nest Ah'd ever seen. And the weirdest." She paused the attic entrance, wavering.

There was a sound outside and she moved to a nearby window. A figure appeared at the far bank of the dried up creek; a massive man, heavy belly over heavier muscles. He took off his hat and looked around, clearly searching for something.

Abbey's hands flew to her mouth and she darted down along the strange corridor before flying up the attic stairway, her bare feet nearly slipping on the glossy floor. She stumbled up into the attic and looked around.

The black resin covered everything. Abbey saw strange flowers blooming here and there, their petals as dark as the walls. There were root-like vines underfoot, snaking along the floor before seamlessly merging with the walls. In one corner there was a pile of...a pile of something.

Abby crept over to the pile and began to sort through. There were scraps of clothing, piles of typed paper, a rugged looking laptop and then...

There was a sound behind her. She turned.

Something moved out of the far corner of the attic. Her breath stopped and her eyes went wide. A low moan escaped her lips.

It seemed to unfold itself from some dark corner of the room, expanding even as it slithered over to her. It swelled in size until it was as large as a bear. It looked like nothing more than some strange and unearthly octopus; a central mass surrounded by a wreath of writhing tentacles. Three eyes, dark and alien, stared at her. Its skin was dark grey with a strange haze, like an oil-slick over stormy water. It slithered over to her in a smooth motion. The pungent scent from before filled the air.

She opened her mouth to scream and nothing came out. She willed herself to move but her muscles froze. She tried to think, to speak, to do anything, to make sense of what she was seeing.

Instead the world suddenly spun, darkness crowding out the edges of her vision, and then she was falling, falling to the floor-

***

Abby woke a little while later.

She lay on an alien floor, surrounded by snaking dark vines. Groaning, she picked herself up and looked around.

The thing was in the far corner of the room, its tentacles moving in slow, undulating patterns. Its eyes bore into her own. She shrieked and stumbled to her feet.

Eventually she muttered, "What- what are you?"

The thing slithered closer, the tentacles reaching out. She screamed again and then darted away from it, pressing her back against the unnatural wall. It moved- in that slow, damnably patient movement- until loomed over her, crowding her into the corner. This close she could see the way its body glistened; the way the tentacles seemed to shiver and slide.

Abbey pushed away from the wall, her breaths coming in deep, desperate gasps. She moved forward, uncertain as to why. Its scent seemed to fill her mind, merging with the fear and the shock to make her mind fuzzy.

One of its tentacles reached down to touch her ankle-

Abbey screamed, a high and piercing sound. She kicked away the tentacle, and the creature seemed to shrink away from her, tentacles spasming and shifting. She ran past it, jumping over the vines, and leapt for the stairs.

She managed to tumble down the stairwell without breaking her bones or her stride, slamming down onto the attic floor. She ran through the old house, sobbing, and reached the doorway. She fled the house without second glance.

***

It was three days before the girl crossed the creek again.

Abbey's dress had been patched and she moved at a slower pace than before. A kitchen-knife had been stuffed into her belt and she carried a torch in one of her hands.

She approached the house and paused. Behind her the sun shone down on the house's overgrown front yard. Crawdads sung their songs; bees buzzed lazily across the field. She turned back into the silent, still and darkened house. She stepped inside.

"Um. Hello?" She drew the kitchen knife out of her belt and slowly advanced into the house. "Um. Mister monster? Are you still here?"

There was a slithering from upstairs and she visibly gulped. She began to climb the stairs, switching the torch on. She reached the second story and paused.

"Ah'm coming up," she said. She shone the torch over the glossy black mass. Had it spread a little? She shivered as she walked to the attic steps. "Please don't eat me."

She took the steps one slow step at a time, knife held in her hands. She reached the top and peered through.

The creature stood in the centre of the room, it's tentacles slowly moving in their endless patterns. Its three eyes stared into her own. She approached it, the knife at the ready. "Are you gonna eat me?"

The creature slowly raised one of its tentacles. It made a slow waggling motion from side to side.

"Does...does that meant no?"

The tentacle slowly moved up and down in the same gentle motion.

"That means yes, right?"

The tentacle's motions increased slightly.

"Um...okay. Ah guess that's...that's good." She lowered the knife slightly. "Um, what...what are you?"

There was a pause and then the tentacles slowly extended. One stabbed at a bare patch of floor, where the faint outline of a runic chalk circle could be found. Another coiled around a pile of deranged scribblings that spoke of a depraved ritual. The last slithered over a section of wall where the words I SHALL SUMMON A GLORIOUS GOD OF UNBOUND FERTILITY were written in dried blood.

"Um," said Abby. "So you'all... an alien from outer space?"

Abbey had no idea what a tentacle monster's full body shrug would look like and thus misinterpreted it's vague wobbling of tentacles as an affirmative. She nodded. "Ah suppose you're waiting for your flying saucer, is all." She looked around. "Why'd you do all this stuff to the house?"

The creature seemed to pause and then gave another shrug. "Um...I guess you're wondering what ah came back here. To be honest...I dunno. I guess ah felt strange after we met. Couldn't stop thinking about you. And, um... ah guess I just..." She smoothed out her skirt. "You could've eaten me or something. Felt bad about running out."

One of the creature's tentacles moved forward. She shied away as it gently reached out to touch her wrist. She looked down as the thing touched a swell of ugly purple bruises that ran up her arm.

"Oh, that? That's, well..." She looked away. "That's my daddy. Ah mean, my stepdaddy. Bob. He and Momma hitched up back last year. He's..." She looked at the floor. "Momma says that we gotta have a man in the house, even if he's a bit...mean."

The creature's three eyes seemed to linger on the stitched up tear in her dress. She looked up at him. "It's not that bad. Ah just got to make sure that ah'm not in the house when he drinks. He sometimes forgets... ah'm sorry. Ah don't meant to go on and on about this stuff."

One of the tentacles gently reached up to touch her face. She shivered suddenly, unconsciously licking her lips. The scent seemed to swell in the room, and she wiped away the slick oily liquid that the monster had left on her cheek. "Truth be told...that's what ah'm doing here now." She blinked rapidly and then brought her wet fingers to her lips. "See, Bob was reaching for the hooch. So Ah came here instead of..." she licked her lips slowly, her pupils dilating in the dark, "instead of sticking around and looking out for Mom. Maybe if I was there I could..." She looked at the floor again. "Funny thing, mister monster. Ah feel safer here than ah do at home. Ain't that just a joke? Ah barely know you and yet..."

The monster's tentacles gently reached across to touch her cheek again. She let out a long, breathy moan. "Ah feel good here," she sighed, nipples tenting her dress. "So good. Mmmm. Just like ah can relax." She smiled at the creature. Her skin was flushed as she breathed in the creature's wonderful scent in slow, steady breaths. "So relaxed."

With slow, cautious movements the creature slowly surrounded her with its tentacles. They gently coiled around her arm; she jerked it away, giggling, and it withdrew. More tentatively touched her ankles and then slid up her calves. Yet more toucher her waist and caressed her face.

Abby moaned as one of the tentacles slid further up her legs, higher and higher, until it brushed against her sodden panties-

"No!" She suddenly jerked away, yelping. The creature froze and then uncoiled itself away from her, tentacles withdrawing. Abby turned and ran back down the stairs. She paused and turned halfway, hesitating. She took step back up towards the beast, her breath coming out in laboured gasps, her hand clutching the hem of her dress.

"Sorry," she said. "Ah just- ah just can't. No."

And then she ran down the stairs and out into the daylight.

***

Days passed. The creature sat in the attic. The black bloom spread down inside the dark, quiet places of the house. It spent hours staring out the window in the direction of the dried-up creek.

On the night of the seventh day since the girl had first arrived at its home, it spied movement.

Abby walked through the woods in her dress. She was limping, one arm clasped tight against her side. She walked without looking where she was going, nearly tumbling down into the creek as she stumbled along. The creature heard her enter the house and climb the stairs. It moved to the centre of the room. It waited as it heard footsteps on the attic stairwell.

Abby limped up the stairs. There were tear-stains down her cheeks as she faced the creature. She carried neither torch nor knife. She murmured, "What did you do?"

The creature was silent. Abbey continued, "Ah can't stop thinking about you. Can't stop wanting...ah ain't ever felt like that with anyone. Ah can't sleep, can't think properly- my body's all hot. She ran her hand down her dress, where her nipples stood out like bullets.

The creature tentatively touched her ankle and she flinched. More tentacles moved; they touched the bruises on her legs, her face, her side. "Yeah. Bob got angry. Got nasty. He wants..." she chuckled. "Same thing you do, I guess. Want to hear something sad?" She leaned against the doorframe. "Ah'd rather it be you than him. How messed up is that? I just..."

One of the tentacles touched her cheek again. She sighed and leant into it. "If Ah...if I give you what you...I just want a good man, you know? Not like Bob. Momma says you need a man, but I just want someone kind." She licked her lips. "Promise me that you'll be kind, mister. Promise me that you won't be a monster like Bob."

The creature paused. One of its tentacles slithered up until it was in front of her face. Then it slowly moved up and down.

Abby stared at the tentacle. She stared at the creature. She swallowed.

"...Okay then."

She reached down and touched the tentacle in a strange handshake. It coiled around her hand and arm for a moment. Then it slowly unwound itself.

The creature seemed to suddenly swell, small pores opening up all along its body. Abby's eyes fluttered as the monster's scent came in a powerful, pungent wave. A low moan escaped her lips and she sagged against the wall. When she looked up at the monster her eyes were dilated and half-lidded. "Oh."

One of its tentacles reached up to press against her chin. Another pressed against her mouth; she blinked and then parted her lips. The very tip of the tentacle slithered past and played gently with her tongue. Abby giggles were muffled as she gently suckled on the tentacle tip, her tongue wrestling in a strange parody of a French kiss. The taste of it's fluids hit her brain in a sudden burst of intense pleasure and the giggles turned into a long, slow moan. Another tentacle wrapped around her head, drawing her in like a lover's arms.

Even as Abby shuddered and sucked, more tentacles moved to caress her body. Their progress was slow and gentle, avoiding the dark, ugly patches of her bruised flesh. They twined around her arms and her legs, their oily fluids slowly seeping into her skin. Abby's skin flushed with heat as she stumbled eagerly forward into the creature's embrace.

The tentacles moved to slide her dress up, moving past her knees and exposing her pale thighs. A moment later they passed her hips, revealing pink panties already stained with moisture. Abby's arms were raised as her dress was eased off her body and carefully placed onto the floor. So enraptured with the tentacle monster's 'kiss' as she was, she gave no complaint or even sign that she noticed. A moment later her panties were eased off her body, joining the dress on the vine-laden floor.

The creature took a moment to stare at the young woman's body, even as its tentacles continued to gently slither over her flesh. Abby was young and strong and fertile; her breasts were full and her hips were wide. Her blonde hair was draped over her head as she eagerly licked and sucked. Her body glowed with life and fertility; her mind awash with pleasure.

She was strong. She was fertile. She was eager. She was ready.

And so was it.

There was a sucking sound as something slid out of its centre mass; huge and long and potent, the dark grey flesh dripping with lubricants and aphrodisiacs. Its tentacles moved to cup Abby's breasts, gently squeezing and massaging her pale orbs. Two tentacle-tips slowly rubbed against her nipples and her muffled moans grew in volume as her body twitched. More tentacles rubbed against her ass, her back, her upper thighs.

A single tentacle moved with languid grace up to slither between her legs. She suddenly writhed as it began to carefully rub back and forth, the gleaming dark grey flesh parting her hot, soaked lower lips. Abby twisted around the point of friction, her breasts heaving as she gasped as sighed around the tentacle in her mouth; the creature gently but firmly bound her, coils gripping her tight and holding her in place. The tentacle between her legs began to saw back and forth into a slow, gently rhythm and Abby's body flexed and tensed in response; girl and monster pulsing together if they were one body.

The tentacle pressed up, the skin rubbing against her little nub, soaking it with it's fluids and being soaked in return by her desire; pressing, rubbing, rubbing...

Abby screamed, her body shaking and convulsing, her mind lost in glorious pleasure while tentacles slithered over her flesh. Her muscles convulsed as though electrocuted; her brain overloaded with pure, unadulterated joy. She tore her throat raw with screams.

The creature waited until her screams died down and she slumped against her bonds. It peered at the nubile teen it had converted into a willing lover; waited until her mind came back and she was able to form something like a coherent thought.

Then it slowly slid her down and onto it's phallus.

Abby screamed again as the alien length plunged into her virgin pussy; screamed as the creature's aphrodisiacs stained her inner walls. Her eyes stared sightlessly at the ceiling and her mouth opened, releasing mindless grunts as she began to rut her against its immovable length. A tentacle slithered deep into her mouth and she reflexively suckled it, tongue lapping at its delicious juices. Another teased the rosebud of her ass; her only response to the slow, tentative anal intrusion was the slightest increase in her mindless moans and grunts.

Sweat poured off the blonde girl's body as she was bounced atop the creature's massive cock, their collective juices trickling down to pool on the alien floor. The air was full of the stink of the monster's musk and the scent of Abby's arousal; the sounds of her grunts, the slap of flesh and the slither of tentacles echoed throughout the house.

The creature began to thrust into her harder as its tentacles began to writhe into a frenzy of activity. All of a sudden it let out a strange, wailing shriek like the buzzing of a thousand insects. Its phallus exploded with a viscous black liquid, pouring down Abby's pussy and filling her fertile womb. She shuddered and went limp, her eyes fluttering shut.

The monster chittered in contentment and slowly drew her close. It pressed her buxom body against its own grey flesh as its dark seed gently trickled from between her legs. She sighed in contentment as her sore body moved from dazed half-consciousness to sleep.