#monster reader insert

 It was a name you had waited to see on the billboards and now they were finally touring, albeit in the small bars and clubs around the country. It was an elusive name still, the band only being a couple of years old, and having cycled through three female vocalists already, it had been tough going to start with. You were just excited to finally see them, live, and in the flesh. Music videos had only held you on so long and now it was finally happening. You were finally going to see the whole band in person. It consisted of a female vocalist, Hannah’s girlfriend, Lily, who was a Nymph, blue skinned and lithe like an ethereal gymnast. The drummer known as Glutton was a larger Orc from the northern regions, grey skinned and made for the cold with thick skin and more hair than you could ever hope to have. The bassist was a giant insectoid pray mantis, named as Hex, her eyes the scariest thing you had ever seen, bright red and piercing as her arms flexed and worked like a magician. The lead guitarist was an Oni, and was named as such, red skinned and often glowing with furious flames. He was known for playing bare foot as he slammed furious riffs. And finally, the vocalist, Sulphur, played rhythm guitar. He was a demon of unknown origins, found in the northern ice fields, his perfect black hide marred with tears of white, his face painted with a great white cross and his eyes bleeding white tears down his cheeks and a head of black hair that was looped in pinned strands around the tough, black horns on either side of his head. He played guitar with two of his four arms and sang with the microphone in the other. The strangest part of the whole ensemble was the demon’s inability to speak. He had no mouth until it was time to sing, when a great monstrous maw opened to speak unholy words.

 The melanistic demon was nowhere to be seen currently, as the rest of the band rushed around in the pitch black of the stage preparing things for the start of the show. They had the guitar racks just off to the left where you could see the supporting acts chatting with Hex, her arms flexing and the sharp dagger like arms under her chest itching to snap forwards as one of the other male guitarists came close. You only snickered and turned around to look for your friend again in the crowd. Hannah was running late from her shift, but she was on her way, hopefully in time for the gig to actually start. You rested your head in your palm and set yourself up for waiting a little while.

 Not long later, Hannah appeared besides you with a drink, grinning like a fool as she waved to Lily, who was peaking at you from behind the curtain. The Nymph blew her a kiss and giggled as Hannah’s kissing face before she disappeared again. You rolled your eyes and took the drink from her with a squint.

“I expect a double for standing here and keeping your space.” You told her as you looked back at the stage. You smelt the jasmine scent of Flix all over her already, “And stop flirting with Flix! He’s a nasty little creature and Lily’s cousin!”

“I hardly flirted with him, come on!” She mimed a duck at you, “He’s the one all over me because he knows it annoys Lily so much! It’s not me trying, it’s him just giving me the doubles.” She pouted and played with her hair innocently.

“Sure.” You droned as you took a long drink and coughed, “Make that a triple””

Hannah laughed at your face before she leaned over the barrier and peered at the stage squinting at the guitars on the stands.

 “What are you looking for?” You asked after another sip of your drink which was far too strong.

Hannah grumbled, “I thought Sulphur might have the flying V guitar, but I can’t see it anywhere. All I can see is that ugly purple warlock.”

“What’s wrong with the warlock?” You asked, “I think it’s a cool shape!”

“It just looks silly when he puts it up on his leg!” She complained grumpily, ever the guitar nerd as she leaned over the barrier in a slump, “The flying V looks so much better for the Aeons Call solo!”

“Only you could be upset about that of all things. You’re here to see your girlfriend kick ass and you’re whining about Sulphur’s guitar!” You teased with a laugh before she pouted and stuck her tongue out.

Hannah pointed at the second guitar rack, “At least Oni brought his flaming V!”

You only laughed at her but quietened as the lights dimmed and the stage flood lights flashed on and off, signalling the real start of the show.

 The supporting acts were good, and you enjoyed the second one, which was a three-person trio performing a lot of classical pieces of music in their songs. But at last, it was finally time for you to see Aeonic Slumber. It was a moment you’d waited for since you’d first found them on a strange little underground website, back when Sulphur was the only real member with Oni. You held your breath as the beginning acoustic to Cathedral Spire hummed through the speakers, and you gasped softly as Oni was revealed on stage, red fingers plucking away before the rest of the band appeared with flashes of deep purple and blue into a lightning flash of white. They were revealed, instruments in hand and Sulphur took over the acoustic melody with his electric guitar strumming in time to let Oni swap before the real start of the song. You watched the demons second pair of hands work the guitar before he reached for the microphone. You could feel your heart in your throat as you watched and the bass and drums started lowly in the background, thrumming in time with your own beat. The staccato rose before you watched as Sulphur’s face morphed, his whole black eyes opening a little wider as his cheeks split and unsealed, revealing a ragged maw that split his lower face in two, full of jagged, horrible looking teeth. The cheeks unfolded to give him lips and a great long tongue unfurled, hanging from his black lips before he took in a great breath from the slits in his face and howled into the microphone. Your heart thumped stuttered and jumped as you watched the act, the demon leaning back as his hand continued to play and he howled again down the microphone.

 “Holy ghost!” The crowd roared with him, but you forgot to shout the words as you watched the demon with his purple warlock stomp, once, twice and leaned over the microphone stand, “I drown the demons, in my heart, and reveal to you the burned flesh.” It was like a spell, and you couldn’t look away as Oni span into your vision, fingers already itching for the solo part. The acoustics forgotten the guitars chugged away with riffs that woke even the tired lighting man up at the back of the crowd. You watched in wonder as Oni hopped onto a box in front of the stage, his legs crouched low and his mouth open, his tongue wagging between his upper and lower sets of tusks as he flew into a vicious solo, tearing down the neck of the guitar before he span to play with Sulphur, the two of them matching the melody perfect before the demon returned to the general chords and turned back to the microphone.

 The mouth that opened again was monstrous. All teeth and spit. A maw of a beast, but you couldn’t look away as his tongue dipped between the split and wagged, curling in on itself as he howled and pointed upwards to the sky. It was unearthly. The noise shook your rib cage and you clutched at the barrier tighter as the music swelled into something unholy and unsettling. The miasma of song curled around your heart and tightened, and you couldn’t look away from Sulphur as he continued the song. The lyrics fell on your deaf ears as you purely watched him move and his eyes wander over the room.

“RECITE. LEARN. BIND.” He sang as his eyes landed on you in the crowd, his blackened hand stretching out to point at you, “She, the unholy apostle, the Queen of demons and bearer of antichristian nature.” Sulphur purred as his second set of hands took the microphone and held it to his mouth. He sauntered over and peered down into the crowd, at you, singing at you as he begged for the birth of the end and stroked his claws over his guitar and thighs.

“Succulent splendour, ghost, her petals fruiting the fire of the pits.”

Your face burned with embarrassment, but you could not look away as Sulphur begged for your attention, curling his fingers, and strumming before Oni demanded his own solo. Sulphur purred a growl and stood to the side, watching you as the other demon chugged into a set of heavy chords, punctuated by tinkering keyboard and the occasional grumble from himself.

 As the solo finished the stage went quiet except for a soft strumming of chords and a melodic humming from Lily on the keyboard. Her fingers gracefully danced over the keys in a synthetic organ noise before it all grew quiet, and the song faded to pure silence. The stage lights dimmed, and Sulphur disappeared in the pitch black, his inky skin melting with the shadows. A single light opened by the microphone stand and you watched his hand curl in the light before his face appeared and he grinned, opening his mouth wide as he screamed the final words like the ending to an unholy prayer. His claws opened as he bent backwards on himself, howling like a true creature from hell before the guitars kicked back in and the drums slammed to signal the end of the first song. You stood, breathless, as the lights went black and the audience behind you screamed. The barrier against your skin and your white-knuckle grasp didn’t ground you at all. The rush hit your head and then you joined in with the cheering, bouncing as they appeared on stage again, draped in black netting which bellowed in the smoke. Sulphur’s claws dipped from under the silken material to stroke the microphone before he sang the gentle beginning to Omen, with Lily’s hauntingly beautiful voice behind him.

 The silks billowed over the stage as the band members remained still, playing like statues through the song, their hands grazing against items on stage, stroking them like lovers as the Omen was sung in the background. You peered up at Oni, standing like a netted Adonis as he shook his head and slammed his foot, itching for the movement he usually had on stage. There was something utterly enthralling about the band, and you all stood, bursting to move but too respectful to break the spell of utter infatuation Sulphur and Lily had woven over the club. You looked back to see even Flix peering at the stage. A dark-haired man clicked in front of him and snarled back at the stage. It was hypnotic technique you realised as the guitars droned into nothing, and the crash of thunder played over the sound system.

 The rest of the gig passed with intense energy, and you found yourself exhausted and panting by the end, desperate for a drink of water. Hannah followed you with an equally as dazed look, her mouth open, panting much the same as you as you were handed two bottles of water and smiled at by one of the security guards. You both collapsed against a wall near the side of the stage and drank before laughing, clutching at your stomachs as you held one another up. Neither of you had experienced a performance quite like it. You held the cold bottle to your head as Hannah peered around for Lily, chewing her lip to try as she tried to find her girlfriend in the crowd of people. A lot of the concert goers had filtered out after the gig but quite a few remained, drinking, laughing, and buying merchandise. You sat, exhausted, against the wall, sipping water like a dying man as dehydration thumped behind your eyes. There were a few minutes of quiet before the band appeared from backstage, cleaned up and freshened from sweating on stage under the burning lights. Your mouth opened as you watched them filter into the fans and start being spoken to.

 Sulphur was last out from behind the curtains of backstage, pulling them back with one set of hands as the others stretched above his head, working out the knots and soreness from his muscles. He was dressed lightly in a very loose tank top which exposed the sides of his chest where the muscles contorted under his black skin. He still had the tight leathers bottoms on from the show and you dared to sneak a peak at his backside as he strode past. The demon paused a few steps away from you both before he sniffed, the slits that were his nose, opening and closing. His eyes shifted before they landed on the two of you sat against the wall and he raised a hand to wave gently before he pointed at you and curled a finger, beckoning you up off the floor and towards him.

 The spit in your mouth dried instantly at the summons. Hannah was no help as she leaned back against the wall and waved you upwards with a gesture of her water bottle. The demon didn’t move towards you, but instead he leaned back against the railing, a pair of arms snaking around the back to hold him upright. Sulphur watched the crowd for a minute before he looked back at you expectantly, waiting for you to get the gall to move from the floor. You took a deep breath, cursed, and then got to your feet, wobbling slightly from being stood up for so long at the gig, pressed against the barrier with the commotion of the mosh pit in the back. You hobbled for a minute before your legs straightened out and you managed to walk towards the demon perched at the side of the venue. Your legs protested, with nerves and the pain in your muscles, but you managed to make it over to Sulphur without completely collapsing onto him like a fool.

 You peered up at the imposing male with fascination in your eyes and his eyes squinted before he nodded his head in greeting. It was then you realised his mouth was gone and his face was once again a flat aspect of jaw and cheek muscle. The maw full of haunting teeth was gone.

“Hi...” You said lamely before you panicked and smiled, “That was an awesome show! I’ve been a fan for a long time and finally getting to see you guys live was like a dream...”

Sulphur nodded his head again, his long , pointed horns swaying as he tried to pull his hands up quick enough to tell you to slow down. He raised his hands and held them out quietly, the black palms face up. You stopped your tirade and looked at his hands with a flushed face.

“You want me to hold your hands?” You asked, confused by the action.

Sulphur nodded brightly but slowly, his black eyes creased at the edges with amusement. You trusted him, and placed your hands in his own, surprised by the warmth that bled into your palms as the demon closed him fingers around yours and held tight. There was something like a wave that washed over your head and you jolted before a little whine sounded and there was sudden clarity and a voice speaking.

 “Can you hear me?” A gentle voice, like honeysuckle dripping with morning dew, graced your ears, or so you thought. Sulphur’s eyes crinkled again at the edges with amusement as you jumped and looked around before looking at him intently.

“I can hear you.” You told him quietly, out loud.

The demon nodded his head and tapped the slits of his nose, “This is our little secret, okay?”

You nodded in response and he let out a small rumble from his chest, squeezing your hands soothingly as he tilted his head forwards, the horns on his head dipping low.

“I’m glad you enjoyed the show.” Sulphur murmured quietly inside your head as he linked his fingers carefully with your own, “I know you’re a big fan, I remember your comments on the page after we released a small EP, just me and Kag- Oni.” he corrected himself.

“You remember my comments?!” You squeaked before looking around. Thankfully no one had overhead you.

Sulphur laughed in your head, his laugh a soft, otherworldly noise, like a deep church bell in the depths of a fog which had closed around your mind.

“I remember a lot of things.” He told your, “Like even the fall of Rome. The burning mess of Pompeii and wars I’ve since lost track of.”

You squinted at him, “You’re fucking with me.”

The demon laughed again and shrugged his shoulders, “Maybe. But you have to admit, you believed it just for a moment.” He squeezed his finger and thumb together.

 “I never thought a demon who sings in a black metal band would have a sense of humour.” You joked as you let the male hold your hands a little tighter.

Sulphur’s grip tightened cheekily around your fingers, pinching the ends with his claws before he squinted in amusement again, “I play guitar as well. I’m not just a one trick pony.” he said before he leaned down and looked you in the eyes, the white tear markings down his eyes appearing very bold when they were close to you. One even had a small dot of black in the bottom of the little droplet shape. He caught you staring, but didn’t comment as Hex leaned over the railing, spying you both with her glittering red eyes.

She cocked her hips as her mandibles moved to reveal sharp teeth, “Wooing your little groupies again, are you?” She slurred with a hissing laugh, “They never learn they’re going to get their hearts broken.” The mantis fluttered her eye lashes at you, “I can show you a better time, darling. I can eat you out, if you catch my drift.”

Sulphur frowned and pushed her head with one clawed hand, breaking the connection between the both of you, enjoying the hiss he got in return. You jolted back a little with the sudden snap of silence in your own head and you swayed a little back on your heels as the fog over your eyes cleared and you watched the scene unfold.

 With a glance behind you, you saw Hannah and Lily and knew that going back to her was not really an option, not as her girlfriend hiked her leg up and closed the distance between their lips. Suddenly, you felt a little out of your depth, and Sulphur seemed to notice, as he took your hand again and pointed his thumb back towards the bar.

“We’re gonna grab drinks, do you want one?” He asked quietly.

You nodded, “Please, that would be great.”

It was easy to follow him up the stairs as the gentle fog settled over your mind again and drowned out your thoughts, dulling the general hum of the bar to near silence. It was completely tranquil, for some reason, and you enjoyed the feeling of his hand in your own  and the heat that radiated from his palm.

Sulphur walked you up the stairs and plonked you in a chair next to Glutton, not too far from the bar. The large orc peered down at you with his pierced eyebrows, snorting once before he took his second drink and plonked it in front of you.

“You’ll need it, trust me.” His thick Russian accent lacing every word, “Sulphur’s little ability, it fucks with your head.”

You sniffed the drink and almost coughed before you caught yourself and necked it.

Glutton chuckled at your effort, “You will feel better!” and smacked you over the back with one large hand, his icy blue eyes crinkled at the edges with amusement. You admired the thick, dark brown hair he had woven down his back before giving him the thumbs up.

Sulphur returned a few moments later with a drink for you both.

Hex had her own drink in hand, and she hissed as Oni walked over and pinched at her backside, “Kageyama, I will eat your face in your sleep.”

“You know I’d love it.” Oni purred as he kissed her cheek and spun around the back of her, placing his own drink on the table. Sulphur shook his head at the two of them as he placed your drink down and offered you the straw.

 It was just a mixer and spirit, but you were thankful for the normal strength of liquor as you took a sip. Sulphur cracked his neck before he chugged a tankard with Glutton and then pulled a second out from his right. Glutton laughed as the two clicked their mugs together and you smiled at the rag tag group before you sipped your own drink.

“Who is this then, Sulphur?” Oni asked from where he was resting on Hex’s shoulder. Her second, snapping arms whipped around his back to hold him there, the spines dragging at his clothes.

Sulphur held up his hands as he shrugged before he snatched your hand again, making you suck in a deep breath.

His voice trilled in the back of your mind, “Tell them that you’re a fan.”

“Really? The mortal plays translator?” Oni scoffed, “You’re boring as sin, Sulphur.” Hex made sure to dig the spines of her body deeper, making the other demon groan. If it was pain or arousal, you couldn’t tell.

“I’m just a fan. I caught Sulphur after the show, and we were talking.” You played with the straw in your drink, “I’ve been a fan since you released the first EP so…I guess I just got carried away talking is all. This is honestly a little…”

 Hex took that moment to laugh at you, “Sulphur doesn’t let just anyone link with him like that, human. It’s a connection both ways, even if he hasn’t told you that. He knew what drink you wanted because he’s already been poking around your brain, don’t let him fool you.” She grinned wickedly, “He’s still an old demon, all he wants is to feed of emotions and energy.”

“What…”

“Come on.” Oni groaned as he dragged her away from the table, his back curling with flames as he took away Hex.

Glutton pinched the bridge of his nose, “I am truly sorry about them, they are…disgusting sometimes.” He told you as he took another long drink and shrugged off his vest, revealing the giant swirling tattoos covering his chest, back and arms. He was built to intimidate, unlike his demon counterpart. Sulphur was angular, lithe muscle in a giant frame. He was tall but he didn’t appear too threatening with his pointed horns sticking out the sides of his head and his tear smeared, black skin.

“Its okay.” You told the orc before you took a long drink and smiled.

Sulphur pressed his hand to the back of yours, “They’re just horny after shows. Ignore them.” He chuckled in your mind before Glutton flicked at his fingers from where they clutched your own.

Glutton scoffed at the two of you, “If you would like to get a room, that would be appreciated.” He joked, “Stop touching like an old married couple.”

 Sulphur wagged his finger in front of the orc, swaying it sassily before Glutton snatched at it and threatened to eat it. He let go of the demon after a snap of his blunt teeth and tusks before he took hold of is drink and slipped off the bar stool.

“Try not to eat ‘em alive.” Glutton droned as he left to find someone more entertaining for the night, or what was left of it. You suddenly felt out of place, perched next to Sulphur on top of the bar stools. His feet touched the floor, even on top of the giant stools and you became aware of his hand holding your own after a few moments. His clawed fingers stroked the back of your hand, heating the area with trails of liquid lava before he nodded down at you and raised your clasped hands.

“You don’t need to panic.” Sulphur soothed, “You’re not being weird… and I hope you don’t find this weird either?” he gestured to your hands.

“You’re fine!” You told him in a rush, “I just feel a bit out of place and then…Well Hex didn’t exactly have good things to say about you.”

Sulphur scoffed, “She never has anything nice to say about me. That’s just how she is.”

“But is she right? I mean, about you just…” You posed the question awkwardly.

 Sulphur’s black eyes crinkled at the edges before he sniffed, the small slits of his nose opening and closing. The muscles in his cheeks tugged, as though he would have been smiling if his mouth was present.

“It’s a curse.” He told you, “Not a pleasant one, but it was a bargain I made a long time ago, and now, well I don’t have a mouth so trying to get enough energy to stay, well, sentient, its hard work. I took up singing a long time ago and this pact means that’s the only way I can have a mouth to make a noise. So here I am, singing and swinging my little hips on stage to try and get a meal. That’s something that pisses Hex off, but I can’t survive on my own resources. It’s a sad back story to our music, I suppose.” He confessed quietly in your head as his fingers stroked the back of your hand.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” You replied as you drank a few more sips of your beverage.

Sulphur flapped his hand, “Its not for you to apologise for. But truly, I am glad you see the music for what it is. It may be how I eat, but I still pour all of my…well, my soul into the music.”

“You were going to say heart, weren’t you?” You joked as you pressed your other hand to his chest where his heart should have sat, “Too bad demons only have soul flames there. But it does make you nice and warm.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Sulphur teased back as he chugged his own drink.

 You sat still for a moment enjoying the peace over your head before you felt the alcohol blur your thoughts. You looked at your own drink then frowned. You hadn’t drunk enough to be even tipsy. You worked it out as you watched Sulphur crack open another bottle with his teeth and chug another drink.

“Hey…Hey, Sulphur. I think that’s making me…” You swayed lightly before the demon caught you, his pointed ears flicking curiously as his black claws pinched your cheeks to get a better look at you.

“I…” He rushed to carefully ease you back upright before linking your hands again, “I never thought the connection would run that deep…”

“Why am I feeling like this?” You asked as your brain burned and rolled inside your skull.

Sulphur’s warm fingers stroked over your forehead, “I think the connection runs deeper than I thought. Things that I do and feel, you might be able to also feel, on a base level. I just drank barely enough to make me tipsy but for you, a human, that’s more than enough to inebriate you.” he tutted as he reached for the bottle and hissed at the percentage of alcohol, “Fuck. They’re gonna kill me.”

 “How do we… fix this?” You asked before you were scooped off your feet by the demon who ducked his head low and scarpered towards the door. Flix, the bartender, whistled at the two of you before you could make it to the door, and you watched in horror as he flicked his fingers and the door snapped shut.

“You know the rules, Sulphur.” He droned with a flutter of his gossamer wings, “You don’t take any humans home, especially looking like that.” The fae’s pretty, purple fingernails flicked at your prone form in his arms.

Sulphur’s ears perked as the Fae clicked his fingers, and you floated out of his arms.

“This is not helping the… Oh god.” You cursed as you covered your mouth, floating high in the air over the demon. Sulphur’s eyes widened helplessly as he floundered with his hands, trying to latch on to someone. He dashed for Flix and grazed his fingers along the fae’s cheek before he could move. Flix cried out, flinching with the blast of a voice in his head, his eyes fluttering closed as he clutched at his head in pain. Sulphur panicked again, but recoiled as Weldrick stormed through the back door, his nose flaring and his eyes wild with anger.

 “What the fuck is going on here!” He yelled as he grabbed Flix under his arm and snatched you from the air, placing the two of you over his giant shoulders as he loomed over Sulphur.

Sulphur took hold of the minotaur’s hand with a rumble, and you felt the snap and crackle of a connection between the two of them. It burned in the back of your eyes like a migraine as Sulphur shouted down through the connection. You covered your ears, snatching your hands away from Weldrick’s back as the minotaur jolted back but caught himself. His horns swayed as the voice rung in his ears.

“There’s a reason, I promise!” Sulphur screeched.

“He’s right.” You groaned from the minotaur’s shoulder, “We, we were just talking through this connection, and now I think there’s some back lash…and… Oh god please just let me down!” You begged as your stomach heaved.

Weldrick snorted as he placed both you and Flix on the floor, “A connection? What sort of stupid shit is that?”

 A deep, unearthly voice rang out from across the bar. A vampire sat at the far end, leaned on the shined wood as he waited for a blood pint to heat in the microwave. His nails tapped along the bar, but his eyes were hidden by small black sunglasses. His hair cascaded in a wave down his back, but it was painfully obvious he was ancient, despite the lack of wrinkles on his face.

“It’s a curse.” He droned as the microwave beeped and a human bartender handed him his drink. He smiled at them before chugging the meal.

“Cal, don’t start this.” Weldrick grumbled as he squeezed at his furry ears and massaged his head from the sudden screeching.

Cal, the vampire, and who you knew to be the owner, hissed lightly after his meal before he stood up, looming and dark, brooding as he took three large strides as stood, nose to nose, with Sulphur.

“It’s a curse. He can’t speak unless he’s singing, but the connection.” Cal stroked the ridge of his eyebrows, “The connection is like a bond that links him and others for an extended period of time, but usually only those who are…” He reached up and pinched Sulphur’s cheeks with two fingers, holding him tight, “But to make one of this level so carelessly.” The vampire tutted.

Sulphur scowled at the vampire and tugged his head backwards, jerking it out of Cal’s grasp before he took hold of your hand.

 Your stomach rolled again as Sulphur’s hand met your own, but you listened to his thoughts, bewildered by the panic in his head as you used his arm to keep yourself upright.

“You’ve forced a literal psychic bond on a human you barely know.” Cal sneered as he walked back to the bar, “And you’ll not be able to be away from them. The feelings will tear you apart and before you know it, you’ll be in love, like a little dog with a leash on. Poetic, isn’t it? For a demon to be bound by a contract.”

Sulphur’s pointed, heart shaped tail whipped before he took a step towards the vampire. Cal was undeterred as he walked away, slouched, and nonchalant.

“Growl all you want, demon, but you got yourself into this mess, so I suggest you undo it.” He droned before he slunk up the stairs to the balcony and into the door marked as private.

Sulphur searched for your hand after the commotion, and you let him hold your fingers tight. He knelt a little to look you in the eyes, his fingers tracing your cheeks before he whispered in your head.

 “Fuck, me…”

“Fuck me?” You questioned with a laugh before you wheezed and groaned with another wave of nausea.

“Not…Come on. You need to get home.” He told you as he eased you up and held you by his side, supporting you enough to let you walk.

“I live…” You started but the demon only pushed his hot finger to your lips.

“I know. The bond…” He told you as he helped you into the cool night air, not without some looks from the other patrons.

“Oh, I forgot…” You said as he helped you down the street. You sighed and leaned into the heat of the demon. Sulphur perked at your weight against his side before he dared to wrap his hand around your back, soothingly rubbing circles against the base of your spine.

“Let’s get you back, okay…” Sulphur whispered, “I’m sorry this happened…”

You took a deep breath, “We’ll figure this out, promise.”

And as their comforting scent caught your nostrils, you found yourself resting your forehead on their chest and sobbing inconsolably. “I’m so sorry,” you hiccupped. “I’m -”

“It’s quite alright, I assure you,” came their patient answer. They were taller than you by about a foot, and there was a solid, ageless kind of strength to them that you found yourself clinging to with a desperation of which you hadn’t known you were capable.  

Eventually they pulled out a handkerchief, seemingly from nowhere, and handed it to you.  

“Thanks,” you snuffled, wiping your eyes and blowing your nose. “God, I feel so stupid.”

“What happened?”

“Oh, just a harmless April Fool’s joke, you know? I apparently didn’t get the memo that it’s also ‘stand your first date up for shits and giggles’ day…”

A soft growl reverberated from the stranger’s throat, and you glanced up to see that their yellow eyes were glowing softly in the dark, and that their pretty lips had pulled back to reveal elongated canines.  

“What?” you asked, voice sharp with bitterness. “Never heard of a good trick?”

“I am a trickster spirit,” they said darkly, and you felt a tingle of fear in your gut. “I delight in japes and jokes, but this is just cruel. There is no humour here. There is no lesson learned.”

“Oh, I learned my lesson alright,” you said, taking a step back.  

Concern furrowed the trickster’s brows and they fixed their glowing gaze on your face. “Will you let me try to right the wrong that was done to you?”

“What?” you asked. “At first I thought you were a tiefling. You’re really a trickster spirit then? What do you plan on doing?”

They nodded. “You can call me Grey, though that is not my True Name. I am frequently mistaken for a tiefling. I think it’s my lovely horns, or perhaps my flawless skin,” they said, brushing the backs of their fingers against their own, chiselled cheek and fluttering their long eyelashes melodramatically.  

The ostentatious absurdity of the gesture made you smile, and when they saw it, their own face split into a kind grin.  

“That’s better,” they said. “Come,” and they nodded across the street to an ice cream parlour that was open late. “I have the cure for almost anything.”

Playfully, they took your hand and you allowed them to lead you across the road. Grey opened the door to the cheerful, pastel coloured ice cream parlour and let you pass inside first. No harm in this, at least, surely?

“Anything you want, it’s on me,” they said. “My treat.”

“Why?” you asked, rooted to the spot just inside the door.  

“Because I like you, and I don’t like to see good souls hurting.”

With a watery smile of thanks, you turned your attention to the amazing array of different sorbets, frozen yoghurts and ice creams before you. You picked your three favourite, and waited while Grey chose four and paid the satyr behind the counter with a friendly smile before joining you at a table in the window.  

“I still don’t understand why you’re doing this,” you said. “If you’re a trickster spirit, then why are you so upset at what they did? I mean, it was a pretty good prank - lure someone to a bar that’s not even there, and see if they’re stupid enough to turn up…”

Again, Grey growled, spoon tapping on the rim of their bowl of colourful flavours. “There was a time when the whole purpose of a trickster spirit was to teach bad people a lesson. It would begin with a few tricks to get their attention - curdling the milk as it hit the pail, turning their wine to vinegar, rotting the eggs in their store, that kind of thing - and if they didn’t heed the warning and change their ways, then we’d step it up. Hurting good people to get a laugh out of it is just cruel.” Their eyes shone, glistening, and they took your hand suddenly across the table and clasped their warm fingers around yours. “You did not deserve that, and I want to make it right.”

“You’re very sweet. Almost too good to be true, you know?” you said.  

Grey’s slim shoulders sagged. “I understand. Perhaps I shouldn’t have told you what I am, but…” They shrugged. “You just looked so miserable. I wanted to make the pain go away.”

“How can I believe someone who says things like that?” you whispered, ice cream untouched before you.  

Grey sighed, lips pressing into a hard, thin, dark line, shapely brows furrowing as they stared at the table between you. They seemed to be debating something. Finally, they broke the silence, and their voice was different. Gone was the confidence and playfulness, and instead it was soft, crackling, afraid. “I swear,” they began hesitantly, “I swear on my True Name, Locke, that no harm will come to you from me, nor will I allow others to hurt you.”

“Locke,” you whispered. “That’s… That’s your…”

“My True Name,” they said. “Only three others alive know it, and now you do.”

“But you don’t know me!” you gasped.  

Locke shrugged and grinned. “I know a good soul when I see one. Trust me. I know I’m safe with you, as you’re safe with me.”

“My very own guardian spirit,” you said rather wistfully. “I always used to dream of that as a child.”

“Sorry I’m late then,” they grinned.  

Breathing out all the tension from your chest, you shook your head slightly in disbelief, raising your first spoonful of ice cream to your mouth. “This is perfect,” you added with a smile.  

Locke grinned back and reached for your hand across the table. When you did not pull back, they squeezed your hand before letting go.  

You ate the rest of your impromptu dessert in quiet conversation with Locke. They asked about your life, and when you had very rapidly exhausted anything of any interest, Locke allowed you to question them about their life.  

“What… What pronouns do you use?” you asked nervously, which elicited a laugh.  

“I don’t,” they grinned. “I mean, I tend to get called whatever by whomever, and I don’t really mind. I can change my physical form to whatever I like, so I don’t really feel attached to one gender or another.”

“Oh. So you don’t actually look like this.”

They smiled. “Of course I do. I look like whatever I look like,” they grinned.  

“Riddles,” you snickered.  

“Maybe,” they fired back. “But you want to know a secret?”

“What will it cost me?” you asked playfully.  

Locke’s answering smile made your stomach flip over. “Nothing at all,” they said.

“Go on then.”

“You caught me on a day when I picked the form that’s truest to my heart. This is probably the closest to what I actually look like.”

The next words just tumbled out of your mouth before you could stop them. “You’re very beautiful.”

It was almost as if they had short-circuited for just a moment, but it happened so swiftly, and they recovered in a heartbeat, that you weren’t sure you had even seen anything at all of note. They smiled, and blinked a couple of times. “Thank you,” they said, voice a little croaky again. “Honestly, I don’t normally let people see me at all - especially if I’m causing mischief. I didn’t notice you until I felt your pain hit me like a bloody freight train, and then I looked up and there you were, shining like a beacon.” They sighed. “You’re a bit better now though, aren’t you?”

You nodded. “Thanks to you.”

They eyed your empty bowl. “Would you like me to walk you home?”

“Maybe halfway?” you asked, not quite sure about letting a trickster spirit know where you lived, even if they had been perfectly well behaved. Even if they had gifted you with their True Name.  

If Locke’s smile was tinged with sadness, they tried to hide it from you.  

They held out their hand and helped you to your feet, and then turned to wave goodnight to the lonely satyr behind the counter, who grinned back and wished you both a pleasant night.

Locke walked beside you, their dark-skinned hands tucked into their jacket pockets, and their head down turned, staring at the pavement in front of you. A late-night dog walker approached on the same side of the road as you, and as the gentle Labrador snuffed the air and caught sight of Locke, she began to growl and bark, yanking her leash, snarling and baring her teeth.  

Locke reeled backwards, stately composure evaporating, drawing their hands out of their pockets. They pressed their lithe body up against the garden wall on their left and let them pass, a hurt and slightly frightened expression on their face while the dog’s owner tried to apologise and drag the animal away.

“Dogs hate me,” they sighed when you were alone again. “All dogs do, and they usually hate all of us. Cats don’t though. Cats love me,” they added with a wry grin.  

You saw through the mask of loneliness then as if Locke had held up a mirror to your own.  

Overcome with the desire to shelter them too, you reached out and took their hand. Their fingers trembled beneath your touch. “Come back with me,” you said.  

Locke’s tapering, expressive ears swivelled back slightly into the sweetest expression you’d ever seen on anyone. “You sure?”  

“I’m sure. Come on. Let’s not both be lonely on this shitty day…”

************************

There will be a part two, and it will be nsfw, and it'll probably just be for Patreons only...

___________________________

“Thank you!” You chirped before you heaved your bags with one hand, huffing at the energy that burned through your muscles, thanks to your helper. Ollmoch purred from within his own realm as you heaved the bags upwards with minimal effort and exited the store. You walked at a brisque pace away from the crowds before you reprimanded him.

“You can’t do that every time! I’m not incapable of looking after myself.” You hissed at the demon.

A phantom hand ghosted over each side of your neck, holding the skin in the two massive palms before the demon laughed, “No but you are my vessel. I can do what I like.” He stated before two other hands ghosted over your back and teased at your backside.

With a snort you clicked the hilt of the sword down correctly and smirked as he hissed and his hand disappeared, his connection with the human world severed with the fastening of the sword’s leather strap.

“Keep your hands to yourself, big guy.” You told the demon as you heaved your bags again, with a bit more effort this time, and headed along the canal back towards your home.

“Stop!” Ollmoch shouted at the entrance to the apartment complex, the blade growing warm by your side, pressing closer to your thigh, “JUMP!” he demanded and you did as you were told, dropping your shopping bags in favour of dodging the door as it slammed backwards into the hallway.

“What the fuck!” You cringed, winded, spit flying from your mouth as a creature slammed one massive arm into your stomach, sending you flying backwards towards the stair well. You banged into the metal hand railings with a cry before you managed to get a hold on your sword. The creature padded closer, a creature like a fish with a dog’s body, its whisker covered face opening to reveal a mouth full of sharp teeth, bog water and rotten flesh.

“Please, master. Let me play a little. You might die you know? This is a powerful familiar.” Ollmoch begged from the other realm as you heaved yourself to your feet with the sword, “I would love nothing more than to tear it open before you and then peel it’s master’s skin free to adorn your bedroom.”

With your moment’s hesitation, you were sent flying again, with a great slosh of vomit water from the monster. It stunk, and it burned at your new suit for work. You cried again and span quick enough this time to pull the strap off the blade and slide the sword free. The metal sang as it arced through the air in front of you. You held it steady as you looked at the beast in the eyes, breathing as deeply as you could before you spoke his name.

“Ollmoch, keeper of the realm gates!”

You held the blade steady as a great mass of purple energy ripped from the handle and burned over the surface, the runes over the sword glowing with ominous energy before a portal opened beneath your feet. You didn’t fall as the great demon laughed manically, his head and three pairs of horns bursting through the portal, ripping your bottoms as he wheeled himself upright, grabbing you with one set of hands, stroking at your soft skin, before his eyes rolled and fixed themselves on the creature in front of you both.

The chitinous plates of Ollmoch’s body were cold with the energy from the rift and you shivered against his chest as one hand cupped you to his hard pectoral. The spines on his back grew as he gritted his teeth and bared them for the creature.

“Now, now, what do we have here?” Ollmoch purred as he loomed over the familiar, “A beast attacking my master? We can’t have that.” He whispered before one claw shot forwards and the familiar was snatched between two small portals. They snapped around either end of the beast, holding it tight as Ollmoch walked closer, his steps thunderous as he approached its maw and tore open its mouth to look inside. You dared to snatch at the nails inside, tearing them away with the paper talismans from its mouth. It howled at you before Ollmoch took the papers in his other set of hands and clicked with his free hand. You leaned back as the portals snapped around the beast, tearing through its flesh, carving it open before they closed completely and consumed each half of the monster.

You let out a sigh of relief as Ollmoch’s golden eyes looked at the talismans, squinting at the runes before his second set of eyes rolled and caught sight of your staring.

“Are you impressed, master?” Ollmoch purred as he held you closer, rubbing his hard, pointed chin against your hair, humming happily before he rolled the talismans into a ball and placed them into his mouth, chewing the paper like sweet wrappers before he cringed and stuck out his tongue, where the flesh was burning and spat them away.

“Trappings.” He huffed with scorn, holding you close as he opened your apartment door and plonked you inside.

“Thank you.” You said as you clutched his sword close, “What are we going to do? Wait!” You rushed back to the door as Ollmoch drew open a portal next to your home, “You can’t just leave me here and…”

The demon ducked suddenly, grinning with a drooling mouth before he laughed, “Why, master? Will you miss me? Will you reward me if I bring you that pathetic sorcerer’s head?!”

“For goodness’ sake…” You lamented as the demon’s hands ghosted over your body again.

“Oh, how I long to worship you, my master, like a ruler on a throne of gold!” Ollmoch babbled as he petted at your warm skin.

“I’ll give you something.” You told him as you climbed his side and placed your feet firmly in the ridges of his chitin armour, “But only if we get this over before Orc Battles comes on the television!” You told him.

 You descended the ladder slowly, watching the Other prance around the body, heaving and gurgling with fresh blood and spit dripping down his chest. You sighed and carefully undid the gag and reigns, watching as Ji-woon screeched at the lingering infected, teeth clicking and snapping, before he dug his fingers into the man’s hips and dug his way to the bones he wanted to lick clean. You shimmied back up to the perch to get the gun and bullets, sitting in the little chair with a sigh as you tried to ignore the slick eating noises beneath you. The Other needed to eat just as much as you did. Humans were the best food source for him to be able to protect you, but it didn’t make you feel any less guilty. Even if this man deserved what he was getting for trying to have you torn apart by zombies after you let him have water. You closed your eyes and clutched the rifle as you listened to the Other swat at infected and command them away. With one eye open you dared to look at the Other as he wrenched the femur from the man’s flesh and cracked the middle of it open, peering into the bloody, gooey mess inside of the hard cortical shell. With a gurgle, he pressed his lips to the end and swallowed the syrupy contents gladly. Your stomach churned and you looked away, fighting the retching that threatened to tighten your throat.

 So you sat in the hunters perch quietly, looking through the man’s back pack for anything useful aside from his rifle and bullets. He had a cleaning kit in his bag for the gun and you leafed through the things with a mild amount of confusion. You knew some things but others were beyond you. Hopefully you could learn. You shook the bag again and watched as a small journal fell out along with some old cereal bars and a compass. You pocketed the food at lightning speed before opening the notebook. The first three pages were illegible scrawl beyond the first sentence.

‘I deserve to die for killing him.’

It was repeated over and over again before the dates started to appear and the scrawl became messy writing. Most of it was mild observations about the days he had lived since killing his son. He was infected was written in a lot of the explanation but it didn’t seem to make him feel any better.

 ‘I wish we had let him die of the leukaemia so I didn’t have to put a bullet in his head and then my wife.’

 The reality of everything settled heavily in your stomach as you closed the man’s notebook. You only opened it again to tear out the pages about his gun maintenance. The diagrams were crude but would serve you well later on. You shoved the pages into your bag after folding them tightly. The rest of the journal you put away in his bag before you swallowed your tears and moved to the ladder. Ji-woon was finished with his meal, his belly slightly rounded and very little left of the man beyond pieces of grizzle and empty bones. His head was untouched and you felt bile burn your throat before you took it and a small trowel from your bag. The Other watched wordlessly as you dug a shallow grave for the man’s remains, burying them with his backpack before you dusted the blood away with plenty of dirt and a dip of your hands into the algae ridden fountain. Still, the Other followed you quietly, waiting for you to replace the gag and reigns like you usually did after he’d eaten.

 You sat on the edge of the fountain and sobbed softly. A gurgle drew your attention away from your feet and you peered at the Other crouched by your knees, his sticky hands patting your knees in some semblance of a comforting gesture. If he was human, maybe it would have said that it was going to be okay, but the cold hands only reminded you that you had condemned a man to death for the sake of maybe finding out some truths. It made you feel sick again and you reached for the Other’s hands before realising that the sticky hands were coated in blood and other bodily fluids. You tried not to cringe as Ji-woon reached upwards, his sticky fingers stroking over your cheek, moving along the flesh in a downwards motion towards your chin. His cold fingers tilted your chin upwards so you had to look at his bruised face. His black vein infested cheeks twitched before his lips parted and he smiled wide, exposing his pointed, clot covered teeth.

“Smile.” The Other gurgled as he watched you snort at his ridiculous looking face. It was silly. A mutated superhuman bleeding from his nose, smiling at you like it was some comfort. To a sick part of your brain, it was. Ji-woon wasn’t just one of the Others, he was something more than that. Part of him was still human or fighting to remember how to be.

 “I’ll try.” You whimpered as the Other reached and tugged at your cheeks, pulling the flesh taut before he let it go and patted them awkwardly, his cold fingers twitching against your warm flesh. With a heave and a shuddering sob, you finally found the strength in your knees to stand up. Ji-woon tilted his head to peer up at you, grinding his teeth and drooling as the black veins over his bruised skin receded back up his neck and into his eyes. His chest bowed outwards with a heavy breath, as though he was about to scream, but Ji-woon simply let out a long, shuddering sigh as he pulled his hands away from your skin and reached for the reigns in your hands. Gently, he tugged them free, and reached backwards to fasten the gag and attach the reigns back in place. Drool dripped through the gag, despite him just eating, but you carefully looked at his arm. The bullet wound was long gone, leaving only a dark bruise behind, and his arm was back in perfect working order. He flexed the muscles and twisted his fingers as he listened to the surroundings, his black eyes quivering back and forth, focusing on a million different things at once. He waited, patiently, like a well-trained hound, as you shouldered your backpack again and brushed off the dirt from your bottoms.

 The Other watched quietly as you headed over and grabbed at the leather reigns, tugging them gently before you started back along the path towards where the blackberries were growing.

“I guess we can go and get what we came here for now…” You whispered as Ji-woon followed behind you, gurgling quietly as you both kept a watchful eye out for any lingering infected. The blackberries you wanted grew along the bramble infested outskirts of the former city park, growing up the old iron fences. There was a lot. You pulled out a box from your backpack and smiled at Ji-woon as you plucked on of the berries free and chewed the sweet flesh. It tasted amazing in comparison to the bland, plain food items you could get your hands on normally. So, for a minute, you chewed as many as you could fit into your mouth, giggling as juice dripped over your chin before you pilled at many as you could into the container. With some gelatine you could make jams. You filled the container to the brim before pulling a few more off the brambles for yourself. Ji-woon watched from the edge of the bramble patch, his black eyes following the rivulets of juice as they dripped over your neck.

 “Can you eat human food?” You wondered out loud to the Other.

Ji-woon tilted his head as he moved through the brambles, the thorns catching his skin. The cuts healed as fast as they opened and you swallowed your mouthful as he took hold of your fingers, gurgling behind the gag as he looked at the stained pinky coloured juice over your skin.

“Can you?” You asked again.

Ji-woon rolled his shoulders and shook his head violently, as though he was trying to dislodge the gag and you scowled, remembering that he was probably eyeing up your hand as a food source. You snatched your hand away and clipped the box shut, leaving Ji-woon in the brambles as you scampered back to your bag. The Other gurgled and followed on your heels again.

“I don’t know why I asked. You only want to eat me anyway. After we find out what happened to you, you’ll just eat me and leave the outside of my bones for the crows.”

The Other stopped, holding you in place by refusing to walk on the reigns, his black eyes looking you up and down before he surged forwards and caught you by the arm.

 Ji-woon forgot his own strength, clasping his hand tight enough around your bicep to bruise.

“What?” You asked with a small quiver to your voice, “You can’t even talk to tell me I’m wrong! You’ll devour me just like that man as soon as you get the chance, with or without knowing you were once human!” You screeched, tugging away from his grasp.

Ji-woon’s hairless eyebrows dipped again as he grabbed you by the shoulders this time. He dragged the fingers of one hand down the side of his cheek, tugging at the leather straps of the gag before you dared to reach up and undo it for him. The buckle jingled as you let the gag and reigns fall away, dripping in bloodied spit. The Other clicked his jaw sharply, his teeth snapping together with a harsh grind.

“Look after…until…human.” The Other gurgled before he touched the space over the top of your heart, “F-F-Find.” He chirped before opening his mouth and leaning over in order for you to muzzle him like a dog again. He chewed against the gag as you replaced it, fingers shaking as you struggled to keep yourself together.

“Until we find about what happened. I know buddy.” You whispered before Ji-woon pressed his cold fingers to your chest again and reached upwards, dragging you towards him by the shoulder. He grumbled, spit dripping from his mouth before he blinked more bloody tears down his cheeks and clasped you tightly in a hug.

 The flood gates opened again, and you sobbed into the Other’s shoulder, wailing like a child as you clutched his torn shirt and grasped at his powerful shoulders. Fat tears streaked your cheeks as you sobbed into the bloodied material, listening to the rattling breaths of Ji-woon as he chewed against the gag and gently petted your back and hair, running his fingers over your scalp softly before he cupped the base of your back and squeezed again. The touch was comforting in the loneliest way. You hadn’t been held like this since the whole event started, and now you relished the cold arms around your body as you sniffled and hiccupped into Ji-woon’s embrace.

“Protect.” He promised against the gag with a hiss of spit, and you nodded, not saying a word as you let his cold fingers soothe the worries from your spine.

“One day you might not be able to…” You whispered under your breath before you pulled away from him and smiled gently, “Come on then. Let’s go home, huh?”

Ji-woon nodded slowly, his hands twitching by his sides as he watched you turn away from him, dragging the length of reign behind you. With a click and a gurgle, he followed in your footsteps, his head tilting towards the sides, listening for danger.

 The park was not far from the local hospital and you shuddered as you looked up at the building, the windows smashed and rotten, sun bleached skeletons hanging from the windows and laid on the tarmac. When everything had broken out, it was the first place in chaos, and you pitied the doctors who had been turned into meals for the Others and infected on that day. You remembered the bodies hanging from the window rotting that first year, dripping stinking flesh down onto the tarmac where starving infected licked the surface clean. Even the thought now made your stomach churn. You walked past quickly, with Ji-woon mimicking your speed, following close behind you.

“They used to claim that this place was where the first of your kind came from.” You told the Other, “It was the original test subject who got loose in the hospital and started the whole event on a mass scale. There was some top-secret research place attached apparently.” You spat on the tarmac, “I hope they were all eaten for making this mess.”

 The Other's eyes wandered from the tarmac, looking around at the empty bones before his eyes fixed on the bodies hanging from the windows and I’m the suicide nets between the two large hospital towers. They had died being torn apart and the zombies that had eaten them were long rotten, hanging through the nets in strewn piles of limbs and jelly. Ji-woon peered at the buildings individually before he planted his feet and stopped in his tracks.

“No way. Not today, mister.” You cursed at him as he tugged on the reigns, “We can’t go in there. It’s full of infected!”

Ji-woon reared back again and took hold of the reigns and gag, tugging it insistently, pushing himself closer so you had to look into his eyes. His mouth dripped with spit and blood as he loomed over you, his shoulders twitching. His eyes begged you even if he could not say the words. He wanted to go in there, with or without you.

Your hands shook as you looked at the building and you sighed, reaching for his gag, “One quick look. That’s it!” You insisted as Ji-woon babbled to himself and took your hand in his own, dragging you to the barricaded front doors.

 The doors had been piled with rubbish bins, wooden benches, and heavy dumpsters, preventing a hoard of most of the patients from escaping. You didn’t doubt that most of them had probably rotted away in the hallways, but you had seen even the slimiest rotten bodies still crawl. Ji-woon clicked before he heaved the dumpsters away, black veins crawling up his arms as he pulled. They swam up to his fingers where he clenched his hands and howled, tearing away the two dumpsters and letting them clatter down the steps to the building. In response to the groans both inside and outside, the Other hissed sharply, demanding no help as he dug at the planks boarding the automatic doors shut. The electricity was long gone so once the planks were gone, Ji-woon had to heave the doors open himself. You only watched as he did so and cringed, gagging as the smell from inside the hospital was released. It burned your nose it was so foul. The smell of hundreds of rotting bodies rushed out, and you reached for your scarf to cover your nose before pausing and rummaging in your bag for the filter mask you had. It would be better for cutting out any spores from rotting bodies as well. You found it quickly and pulled it over your head with a grumble before you dared to follow Ji-woon into the festering hospital.  

  The hallways by the doors were littered with bones. Corpses were laid over the remains of others, and you could only assume those were the remains of the infected who had eventually faded from existence too as their brains leaked from their ears and their bodies gave in. Ji-woon lifted a bone to his nose under the reigns, the black strap over his nose wiggling as he sniffed at it and dropped it to the floor again like a used toy. He rummaged through the bodies before tugging at the reigns and gag again. You had forgotten to remove them the first time, and so you carefully pulled them free, letting his mouth free. The Other gurgled, cracking his neck and jaw in his hands before he flexed his fingers and arms in a wave, clenching the muscles tight as the black veins spread over his bruised skin. The muscles twitched as his eyes blinked before they rolled backwards and be bent over backwards to look at you, clicking in a long groan from the back of his throat. His mouth opened in a giant, spit dripping grin, before he snapped back over and rushed forwards, disappearing down the hallways. With a gasp, you rushed after him, listening to the screeching of infected as Ji-woon smashed them against the concrete walls. You had to run quick, following the blood trails down the linoleum floors. With a screech you slipped in the guts of one infected and went flying, tumbling to your knees as you slid through the mess on the floor, staining your hands and knees. The fabric of your combat bottoms was stained a brown tinged red.

 As you fought against the tangle of intestines, you heard the buck fire of a shotgun. The snap of pellets against the wall was followed by the blood curdling scream of Ji-woon. It came from the stairs. You rushed to catch up with him as infected lumbered up from the floors and piled towards the doorway as well. They had no interest in you, covered in zombie blood and guts, and so they cajoled you along in their group as they crawled and hobbled into the opening of the stairs.

“Fuck!” Someone cursed from the stairway as the zombies started to pile together, climbing the stairs slowly. It gave Ji-woon an opportunity to heal enough to launch himself at one of them, screaming as blood dripped from his mouth and eyes. His fingers met the woman’s eye sockets and he pressed her against the wall before shoving his thumbs in as far as they would go. She screamed, her legs kicking out at the Other, and you tried not to watch as Ji-woon leaned over to lick the blood and juice from her cheeks, purring happily as his blackened tongue swiped at the snack. He twisted his thumbs with a violent jerk and pulled out the ruined mess of her eyeballs before popping them into his mouth with a happy purr. The shotgun fired again, and you cried out as Ji-woon’s ear and half of his neck was sent flying against the window behind him.

 The Other screeched, flying backwards into the wall before the only sound he could make was a pathetic whistling noise. The small hoard he had summoned were quick to slow and the remaining survivors seemed to deal with them quickly, smashing open their skulls before they grabbed you out of the mess, kicking and screaming. Ji-woon gurgled, blood bubbling in his open trachea before it flopped back and the cartilage started to heal, his hands flying out to grab at your bottoms as a male and a young girl dragged you in front of the man with the shotgun. They didn’t dare go near the healing Other but they were quick to drag their friend’s corpse away from him to delay his recovery. Ji-woon gargled violently and slammed his fist into the concrete in an attempt to grab at the foot before it slid away from him. He missed and swooned before thudding against the first step, his nose cracking and bleeding, broken, from the impact. The survivors only then dared to tie him up, grappling his arms and legs, hog tying them behind his back before they dragged him up the stairs away from you. You didn’t shout for him, you looked at the floor as you were put before their leader and the gas mask was torn from your face.

 “Now what is someone, alone, doing with an Other on a leash, hm?” He asked as he cocked the shotgun, “You know what they do…so why have you got one as a pet? Couldn’t bare to kill your lover? Pretty fucked up to let it loose on people.”

You didn’t reply, just looked at the floor. You couldn’t afford to tell these people anything.

“Fine. Be that way. We’ll see what the Doctor has to say about an Other listening to a human.” He dismissed you and turned, the shotgun perched on his shoulder. They were all dressed similarly, in old, tattered looking military clothing, and you made sure to make yourself a bit of a dead weight as two of them grabbed hold of you and heaved you to your feet. You followed willingly enough as they chatted quietly among themselves, heading up six floors before they dragged you into the floor and relocked and barricaded the doors behind them. You caught sight of Ji-woon only briefly before they carted him into an examination room, their hands full of heavy dog chains and cuffs. Fear churned in your guts as they dragged you into the side room to the examination room and sat you in a chair. They were quick to cuff you to it, ensuring that you wouldn’t be able to escape, and you felt your eyes and throat burn with tears as you looked through the glass and saw Ji-woon, naked, delirious, unhealed and chained to a hospital bed.

 You whispered his name but said nothing else as the Other’s blood dripped down the hospital bed and his neck sealed itself back shut. Still, he was loopy, delirious and upset, throwing his head left and right in an attempt to clear imaginary fog from in front of his eyes. As you watched the Other come around, the door opened quietly behind you, revealing a man in a lab coat, the sleeves rolled up his aging arms revealing puckered scars. The man was tall and thin, almost gaunt, as though his work consumed all of his waking hours. His greying hair was tied back at the back of his neck and a cigarette was perched between his lips. Dark brown eyes looked you over twice, head to toe, before he removed the cigarette from between his lips and blew a great cloud of smoke out over towards you.

“I’ve never heard of an Other listening to a human, never mind a human that takes their pet out to snack on other survivors.” he drawled as he puffed on his cigarette and looked you up and down again.

 “He doesn’t listen to me.” You whispered, “He just uses me.”

“A likely story. My entire group heard you shouting for it. It has a name, which I never thought the Others could remember. Whatever this little thing the two of you have, it’s something I’m interested in looking at.” he confessed as he looked over at the large machinery Ji-woon was being pushed inside, “But first I need him to heal that brain of his fully.”

“What do you really want out of this?” You asked, looking the Doctor in hi dark eyes. You were shocked by the lack of depth. They were cold and uncaring.

The Doctor laughed at you as he reached into his pocket and slammed down a notebook on the table in front of you before he followed it up with a bulging folder. The front was labelled with a ‘top secret’ stamp, but he opened the folder and flicked to a blue coloured tab.

“Does this answer your question?”

 You leaned forwards as best as you could, straining against the ties around your arms to get a good look at the images and writing. There was an image of Ji-woon, not unlike the image on his teacher ID, and then there was a more gruesome one of him pinned to a table, his eyes peeled open with needles piercing the pupil, back into the optic nerve.

“Your little pet was one of the originals.” The Doctor droned from behind you, “He was kept here after his first escape and then escaped again before causing all of the problems. The outbreak in the city was all his fault. This hospital was the breeding ground, and he was the catalyst.”

It was like you had swallowed a heavy rock. Your stomach clenched as you realised just why the zombies had listened to Ji-woon's call. He was their master. Most of the infected in the city were his doing. Even the Others might be his doing. You felt sick. You reached quietly as the Doctor only laughed and stubbed his cigarette out in a full ashtray.

 “Did you think he was innocent? It’s one of the Others now. He’s killed more people than any of them combined.” The Doctor gloated before he leaned over the controls in the corner of the room, looking at the heart monitor they had attached to Ji-woon. The beep was quiet and there were long pauses between them.

“Even the fact his heart works is a miracle.” The Doctor continued, “All because of some little human he couldn’t bring himself to kill.”

“If he’s the original, what do you want with him?” You asked meekly as the Other stirred in the other room. The MRI whirled to life, the magnets letting out a high pitch whine as they span.

“To study him. He might be the cure to the this, and I want my people to be able to live with the knowledge that if they put a foot wrong, they won’t be turned into monsters.” The Doctor droned as he turned to the small control panel and flicked a switch. The magnets hummed and you leaned towards the glass as Ji-woon stirred, his black eyes opening as his wounds finally closed.

 The magnets span and the MRI scanner hummed to life. You held your breath, watching the Other thrash against the dog chains. His shoulder clicked back into place only to be popped back out of its socket as he dragged at his chains, pulling them taught as the scanner started. He was quickly snapped back into place as the outside pully system went tight, keeping his head back and his shoulders pressed to the bed. You gasped as the scan started and Ji-woon let out a horrific howl. It went on for an age, the magnets spinning as his lungs roared until he couldn’t anymore, and he spat blood, whining as his eyes rolled and more blood dripped from his eyes and nose. The chains only went slack when he fell back against the bed, his mouth open as spit dripped from his mouth, mixing with the blood he had splashed all over the bedding from his thrashing. The Doctor tutted at the images and started another, initiating another round of howling from Ji-woon, his arms bulging as black veins swam down his face and shoulders then invaded his arms. The chains were drawn tight again, and you cringed at the unholy howl that left the Other as they scanned his brain again. The third scan had Ji-woon pass out, his nose pouring blood as his eyes rolled back and his teeth chattered in his mouth.

 The Doctor looked at the scans, ignoring his creature in the other room and you in favour of focusing in on one area of Ji-woon’s brain. The brain stem was enlarged at the back, with a strange looking organ attached beneath the main area. It almost looked like a tumour. You wondered if he had once been a patient, given the experimental therapy to help with a disease of some sort.

“Amazing.” The Doctor commented, “So not only has his brain enlarged but there’s a whole new area.”

“It looks like a tumour to me.” You commented bitterly.

“That’s precisely what it is. A tumour growth turned into a new centre of control. The brain stem controls all basic functions down to breathing, but this centre seems to be responsible for the Other’s abilities. Like the ungodly strength and speed, you’ve seen him have. This is the reason.” He sparked his cigarette again and hummed, “Its sad I’ve got to cut it out of him.”

 Your blood ran cold, “You’re going to do what?”

“A live brain surgery. We can’t kill an Other but removing the organ in his brain might do the trick.” The Doctor snorted, “It isn’t human anymore. Why do you think it is? That thing would eat you if I threw you into there right now.” A smile curled his lips upwards at the thought, “In fact, let’s see what he does, hm? A little live experiment never hurt anyone.” he took hold of the back of the wooden chair and tipped you backwards before dragging you to the door, laughing and wheezing as he puffed on the cigarette. His people looked on in confusion before he demanded for the door to the scanning room to be opened.

“Please don’t do this!” You begged as fear churned your guts and hammered at your heart.

“I thought you trusted your little pet?” The Doctor mocked as he slid you inside the room, your back to the thick glass viewing window, “Let’s see how much he repays you!”

You tugged against the bindings to no avail as the door slammed closed behind you and the Doctor’s wheezing laughter bounced down the corridor.

 The room was silent as Ji-woon’s mouth dripped spit and blood back against the hospital bed, his eyes closed and wiggling behind his eyelids. He was alive. His chest moved rhythmically up and down, breathing wheezily as he recovered from the MRI. What it had actually done to the Other, you didn’t know. He was dazed and sleepy, tossing his head with occasional twitches as the veins in his arms pulsed with a black light. It was something you had never seen him do before, and it worried you as you looked at the tied rope and cuffs which bound you to the wooden chair.

“Ji-woon?” You whispered softly as the Other twitched violently against the bed, his shoulders bending as his back and hips bucked forwards.

The Other gurgled again as his head rolled towards you, his ears twitching as black veins burned under his skin. His bruised face was covered with them like lines of tattoos, and they were quickly spreading down his chest. His arms were already covered, and you watched them pulse as Ji-woon tugged on the chains lightly. They were slack. Like a chain reaction, his arms bulged, and his eyes shot open as blood dripped down over his cheeks, painting him like a horror as he let out a screech and pulled the chains as taut as they could go.

 There was a commotion outside before a gravelly laugh sounded and the chains holding Ji-woon dragged against the holes, completely slack. The metal slammed against the MRI scanner as Ji-woon tore himself free and flew towards you. His mouth opened wide, exposing the black insides of his cheeks and his slick black tongue. The Other launched himself at your chair, sending you both flying back against the viewing wall. His mouth dripped spit over your shoulder before his tongue dipped out of his mouth to taste your hot skin. He purred at the taste, gurgling just like the first night you met him. Hungry. Feral. Insane.

“Ji-woon, please, it’s me.” You begged softly as his teeth pressed against your skin. He’d already torn your sleeve away and it laid down at the bottom of your wrist.

The Other gurgled before black goo dripped from his mouth and he heaved over your back, letting the spit, blood and black bile dripped over your shirt.

“J-J-Ji...woon...” He gurgled before he screeched again.

 You flinched, moving to cover your ears, and Ji-woon wrenched himself backwards, clutching his head as he let out a shriek and another howl. You watched in horror from the floor as his back rippled and cracked, the veins spreading like a web over his shoulders and down to the base of his spine. The muscles contorted in painful spirals before he let out a piercing human shout and spasmed violently. He clutched at his hair, fingers tearing scratches into the shaved sides as he tore at the pain.

“Stop it! You’re hurting yourself!” You shouted at him. Ji-woon only flinched away from the noise and collapsed, holding his head against the floor as his back bowed and a great black appendage tore from his shoulder blade. The mucus covered limb spread itself before the pointed tip slammed down against the linoleum, tearing a giant hole, revealing the solid concrete underneath. Another shriek left the Other as he slammed his feet against the floor and scrambled to hold onto something as another black, pointed, mucus covered limb burst from his skin, tearing a wound in his back. It was followed by four more in quick succession, and you tried not to cry as they slammed close to your face.

 Ji-woon clicked like a possessed child, groaning as the limbs lifted him like a spider and slammed against the sides of the room. His face was almost completely black, and you shuddered as chitin plates moved underneath his bruised skin and burst from underneath covering his face like a grotesque, insect like helmet. The slit along the middle left room for his eyes, but there was no recognition as the black limbs clicked along the walls and grabbed you by the rope that tied you to the chair, lifting you close to the Other’s face. The plates shifted and revealed his mouth, open, hungry, and filled with black pointed teeth. They snapped near your face before the Other sniffed you. He reared back slightly with a gurgle and flinched as the MRI whirled to life. A great, wet laugh sounded as the plates of his helmet shifted and clasped over his ears, protecting him from the noise as his black tongue licked at your hot skin, tasting the sweat that drenched you.

 His teeth tore open your shoulder a moment later.

 Agony laced your veins as you looked down as where the Other was suckling on the gouge. He pulled back and you watched your blood drip from his mouth. A great purr sounded as he hoisted you high with one limb dripping blood over the chair and his body as you felt the area burn with unimaginable heat. It would take you an hour to die and then three more to turn. If you were lucky, you wouldn’t wake up as an infected, but as one of the Others. At least then it wouldn’t be such torture living inside your own head. You’d remember nothing, or at least you hoped. You hung from the appendage as Ji-woon peered up at you, licking his fingers as he held you aloft, admiring the bite mark on your shoulder. The Other purred at the taste of your blood until the door slammed open. The helmet pieces snapped back into place, covering his face as the appendages whirled and slammed into the door frame. A shotgun kicked and the pellets sprayed against the hardened tentacles as Ji-woon’s arms grew again, the veins pulsing before his arms turned black completely. Thorns shot out of the skin as he howled and lowered himself, walking on four limbs as the others deflected the gun shots. You were hoisted high above the carnage, woozily swinging back and forth as you bled and the pain around the bite mark seared down to your fingers. As Ji-woon advanced on the people, you felt tears drip from your eyes, down onto his wild hair. He ignored the salty tears as he tore open a woman by her throat, the trachea held fast between his jaws. His maw opened again to tear more meat from her arms, the monstrous tentacles whipping around and piercing the other humans, leaving them with gaping holes, bleeding against the linoleum.

 “Ji-woon. Please.” You wheeze above him as he jumped on another person, tearing open their stomachs before he popped the rib cage open and crunched the bones in his mouth. The tentacles thrashed harder growing as the thorns on his arms became tough scales and his helmet moulded to the back of his head, holding his hair high over his head in a crazy spikey updo. You wept softly as he lowered you down to his eyes, black orbs shining inside the helmet before he opened his jaws, the plates parting, now part of his face, to reveal his black mouth, full of blood clots and bone shards. He clicked before reaching out a cold hand and running it up your thigh. He stopped above your knee and then smiled. Blood dripped from between his pointed teeth and ran down his chin, and he whipped his head back and forth like a dog. His hand came away from your thigh to touch the bite mark. He licked away the blood on his fingers before he touched his cool fingertips to your chest, pressing hard over your heart before he pressed them to his own chest.

“We can’t be together like this!” You sobbed, “I wanted to help you, not become one of your thrall.”

Ji-woon’s eyes blinked away blood, and it dripped over the plates over his face, “Together.” He promised you as he held you away from danger again.

 The Doctor appeared in the hall, and you watched in horror as Ji-woon slammed one sharp tentacle through the man’s stomach, pinning him to the wall with a slam and a great splash of blood. Ji-woon followed his appendage, growling as he met the man against the wall, cracking his black fingers as the ends shifted into points. With a snarl he slammed his hand through the man’s chest, enjoying the blood with a feral madness. He wailed again, the black covering his skin spreading, the plates and scales growing as he let the man fall to the floor. Spit slicked his chin at the thought of the marrow, but with a bite, he was upset. Ji-woon spat the blood and meat after the Doctor’s cries of pain.

“Stupid thing. I’ve been dying from the cancer for three years. My body will only make you ill.” He laughed as he reached into his pocket, pulling free a syringe, “But you might want this.”

You didn’t catch sight of it before a tentacle snatched it from the Doctor. Ji-woon inspected the liquid before the Doctor laughed and snatched something from his lab coat. He slumped forwards, slamming the syringe into Ji-woon’s leg. The serum seemed to have no effect, and Ji-woon swatted him away with a smash of a tentacle, sending him sprawling down the hall, his head twisted grotesquely.

 You sobbed above the Other as your arms burned in agony and your chest went viciously tight. You coughed, tasting blood in your mouth as you were lowered again. Ji-woon twitched violently as he presented you with the vial. You read the side and sniffled again. A lethal injection. The poison had already been ejected from Ji-woon’s body, and the clear fluid leaked down his bare leg before it too was covered with insect like plates.

“Please.” You begged softly.

The Other eyed you, his eyes twitching left and right, before he placed you on the floor and held the needle and syringe in front of your eyes. With one violent movement, he crushed it, and let the millilitres of drug drip from his clawed fingers.

“Together.” he stuttered again as he linked his fingers and took hold of the back of the chair, tugging you along behind him as he lumbered along the hospital corridors, groaning the word ‘together’ repeatedly like a ghost.

 When you woke again, you were laid in your small apartment. You wheezed as you looked up at the ceiling, feeling your limbs burn as you dragged them against the floor, attempting to touch your head. A cold hand grasped yours as you blinked away the red in your eyes. An armour clad Other peered at you with warm black eyes. Blood leaked from his eyes and mouth, between the creases of the plates of the helmet covering his face.

“Ji…woon.” You wheezed as your chest burned. Agony seared at every nerve as you shivered and coughed blood over his armoured thighs. A tentacle swept over your thighs, tucking you back against the mattress before it dragged your blankets over you.

“Together.” Ji-woon wheezed at you with a purr before his sharp teeth snapped and he gave you another bite on your hip. He said it again and bit your arm. The pain was already intense. You didn’t really register the bites as you raised your other hand and touched his head.

“So much for finding yourself, hm? I s-should have known… that you were a monster all along.” You heaved at him as you dragged your hand over his hair and cupped his cheek, “You’re still Ji-woon at least.” You whispered as your chest burned and you gasped and hiccupped violently.

 Ji-woon’s arms went slack as the tentacles around him waved gently. His mouth parted, dripping your own and his blood over the mattress as he leaned over your body.

“Together…Ji-woon a-a-a…” The Other gurgled as he reached for your body and touched your skin. You were cold. Freezing cold. Dead. It was as though it all came rushing back, and the Other wailed as he clutched at your body, looking for the veins that should be weaving over your neck and arms. Nothing moved under your skin. You were not going to turn into one like him. He howled, his tentacles thrashing, lashing blood and mucus over the walls as he desperately touched your face and pressed against your throat. He clicked, softly, louder and then screeched near your ears, calling for an Other who wasn’t there. Violently, he shook your body, crying for you as he cried black and red tears over your body. There was nothing. The Other wailed, throwing himself on top of your corpse as he heard his thrall thunder through the hall.

 Dead.

 He cried over your body again before he tore open his arms, spreading his blood over your lips before he took his teeth to your neck, spitting and bleeding into your mouth and the wounds to try and get you to wake back up. Your chest compressed with a breath before your eyes opened, red rimmed and burning with an orange glint around the pupils. You were not an Other. A gurgle sounded from your throat, and Ji-woon reached to cradle your head as you slumped into him. His blood dripped over the both of you as he stroked your hair like a doll, combing his fingers through the mess. Your eyes drooped shut again and your chest stilled before your body convulsed against him. Ji-woon knew what it was, and you were close to being with him, forever, if only he could get you to eat. He reached for his own leg and gouged his nails against the flesh. It hurt, but he continued, peeling open his calf underneath the plating. Blood and gore stuck under his fingernails as he plucked free a piece of muscle, fat and skin, dangling it in front of your mouth. Your eyes shot open, the veins in your eyes pulsing with black as your lips wrapped around the treat. Ji-woon let you have it, purring as you chewed and swallowed. It was then that he chirped and slid his nail under the back of your skull, straight into your spinal column.

 The papers had raved about the new viral technique to removing cells, DNA and disease from humans. Rat, dog, rabbit and pig research had all gone well, showing promising signs for the virus vector to be used in all walks of life. Chimps had suffered few effects. One in every hundred had suffered mania effects, easily glazed over and removed from the public eye before the method was patented properly and set to human subjects. It was then that the issues started. Isolated manic episodes, bleeding from the nose and eyes, total loss of motor function before the body was paralysed and the blood vessels collapsed. It killed people. Five participants were killed. It killed their cancerous tumours but then it killed everything else. There was something different after that. Then the bodies started digging their way out of graves. It was covered up. Again, and again, bodies went missing in the night until one of them was gone. The cases carried on after that, bleeding eyed screaming creatures running through hospitals, cold and dead, but moving completely from memory. Then there had been the Others. The Others had evolved. Humans whose DNA had fully incorporated with the virus. They were stronger, immortal and just as dead as the rest, except they were not stupid. They didn’t run after heat and blood; they hid and took what food they wanted. They could think.

 Since the days of the beginning of the end, the Others had taken territory, carving it up for themselves as they saw fit, each with their own group of mindless brain rots. You’d done well to avoid them. They preferred it when it was cooler now as the summer sun rotted their flesh faster than it could heal itself. The heat was, for once, your friend. It didn’t solve the issue of your boiling apartment, but air conditioning was a dream you had in the night now. You’d rather the heat than the memories of the last snow, perfectly preserving hibernating zombies under the ice in the wilderness while the city zombies roamed without the risk of rotting and collapsing in heaps of half broken bones and stringy flesh. The Others roamed wild in the winter, tearing people apart while it was cool before disappearing into the subways in the heat of spring and summer. Hopefully it meant you could search for a few more supplies on the next run. You needed some plant pots and seeds if you wanted to survive, and hopefully some more drinking water.

 As you finished the can of peaches, you looked outside at the bright sunshine and grabbed for your bag by the couch. It was heavy with supplies, and you rummaged around for the small sandwich bags with pens for if you did manage to find seeds. You shoved the supplies together, along with a bottle of water and a few cereal bars before you grabbed the bush axe you had found, wrapped tightly with cord so you could hold it tightly and not send it flying. Failing that you had a bat and a small knife. You shouldered the backpack and mentally wrote a list as you headed to the door, pulling away your carefully made barricade. There was a small trap you had, and you set the bear trap across the threshold, covered by a sheet. The final touch was the swinging chair you set on the latch before you closed the door and locked it. The hallway was clear, you’d made sure to barricade each end, and you sighed softly before heading to the stairs and locking the doors behind you again, setting the boards back up against the door before you quietly headed towards the exit and out into the streets, into the blistering summer heat and rubble.

 The streets were dead. Silent except for the rustling of rotting plastic flying across the abandoned roads. The infected were down below, their shuffling and groans emanating from the sewers below. The rest were dozing in cool shade, swaying back and forth, their eyes gone and the skin of their faces gaunt. The Others didn’t look like that, or so you had been told before the rest of the survivors disappeared. The Others were covered in burst vessels, bruised and pale, cold. Their noses bled and their eyes did too, but they were black eyed and vicious, their voices replaced with snarls and clicks. They were terrifying. You’d been lucky enough to avoid them so far. You took a deep breath of dusty air before tugging at the scarf over your head and peering through the mucky glass window of the hardware store. Inside was dusty and grubby, the shelves mostly empty at the entrance from the looting when it all started. Otherwise, it seemed empty. You hoped you were right as you headed towards the back fire exits and tried the handle bars.

 The two around the side clicked but jingled with the sound of chains. They opened a couple of inches before the chains went taught and kept it from opening any further. You sighed and left them, closing the doors again before you carried on around the back of the building and found the employee entrance and exit. You took a breath and opened the door carefully. It swung open to reveal a dark warehouse. The cages of stock were mostly untouched. You grinned in victory before you turned on your pump power torch. It lit up the interior to reveal the cages of soil, wood and other items like watering cans and pots. Plastic pots, seeds and some planting soil. You needed those things, and a water purifier. If you were lucky, people had bunkered down here and you would be able to find some unopened water bottles. It was a long shot, but it was something you desperately needed besides food resources. You took a step inside and listened before grabbing a few bricks from outside and propping the door open, unaware of a pair of black eyes watching you.

 The warehouse was devoid of infected, and you were thankful as you searched the aisles of cages and bins for what you wanted. Light, deep plastic pots and a small bag of soil. You needed to be able to carry your things home. You found a few plastic planters quickly and then set about finding seeds, coming through several tote boxes of packets before you grabbed vegetables and fruits of various kinds. They were barely in date, but hopefully something would grow. You shoved the seeds away and picked up your planters and a small watering can, smiling at the little elephant nose on it before fastening it to your bag. Shouldering a small bag of soil, you then quickly did a search for water bottles. To your delight there was a pack of 2L bottles. It was too much to carry but you took a couple in your bag and stashed the rest behind a brick pile outside to collect later. Making sure it was well hidden, you kicked the bricks away from the door and shouldered your bag and grabbed the pots once again before moving as quietly as you could back around to the front of the hardware store. It was still quiet, but the sun was hanging low in the sky, indicating that it was close to being dark. The dark brought cold, and that let the infected walk around without their limbs dropping from their bodies.

 You reached your tower block before the night truly set in, dragging the soil up the stairs as you barricaded the doors between you and the exit. You reached your own floor and set the barricades against the door before you sighed quietly and reached for your own door. You unlocked it and carefully inched it open far enough to take the chair snare trap off the handle, lowering it before you leaned down and looped it back on the door. The bear trap was still set, and you inched around it before setting down the day’s findings in the middle of the living area. Your stomach gurgled with hunger, and you grabbed the box of protein and cereal bars you had pilfered, along with the survival food pouches. They were rich in carbohydrates and protein, so they would be good when you were very low on food. You stashed everything away before chewing on a protein fruit bar happily. You looked at the seed packets and smiled as the clouds moved over and thunder rumbled in the distance. It meant rain. You looked through the packets as you chewed and happily started to pick veggies to get growing before the rain rolled over. They needed to be out on the small balcony to get watered by the incoming bad weather.

 The night was filled with the crash of lightning and the rumble of thunder, which covered the groans of the zombies wandering around below, rotting and stinking of the sewers. Still, you got a little sleep between the storms, sleeping lightly in the corner of the room, tucked underneath your little fortified area. The bed you’d used to make barricades and weapons if all else was lost. You woke with a start as the handle to your room jiggled up and down. The infected didn’t have such capacity. You rushed out of the small blanket and pillows to grab for your axe, strapping o your stolen police vest before you headed to the little entry way. Your bear trap and chair trap were still set. With a deep breath, you stood ready by the door as the lock opened with a clunk and the handle went down again. The door opened quickly, and you gasped at the creature stood in the doorway, heaving blood from its mouth before it leaned back, and fresh blood dripped from its black eyes. It was once a human, but it was now one of The Others. It clicked and stepped back to dodge the knife strapped chair, slamming the wood down from its pulley in the ceiling with one great slap of its hand. Black eyes looked forwards, and it clicked again, blood dripping from the corner of its mouth as it dashed forwards. Clumsily, its foot slid over the bear trap, and the trap snapped shut tightly around its ankle.

 The Other howled a great series of violent clicks, tugging its leg before it fell to its knees and pulled at the metal, heaving the two rows of sharp teeth apart with shaking arms. You acted then, yelling as you slammed the axe down towards its head. He caught the handle, letting the bear trap snap back shut around his ankle as he fended you off, clicking and gurgling.

“What the fuck?” You gasped as you tugged your axe away violently and went to strike again, aiming for the temple. Again, the Other caught your swing, clicking in upset as the bear trap tore its flesh open to the bone, exposing the black stained tissue underneath its skin. An all too human face looked up at you as it pushed your axe away again, black eyes bleeding red. The Other was dark haired, the black tangled mess falling to just under his chin, though his eyebrows were sparse. The same seemed to have befallen his eyelashes, and you looked at the pale, almost alien face as you panicked. It was once a man. Slowly, it reached for the bear trap again.

“NO!” You shouted, and to your surprise, the Other looked at you, its bruised fingers releasing the mechanism for a second time as it gurgled more blood and licked its teeth and eyed the bare flesh exposed from your sleep wear.

 The Others still craved flesh and blood. They still needed human cells to survive. Their own bodies were lacking in the vital building blocks of life. Stem cells. The had been seen licking the marrow from bones and pulling open children regularly in search of such treats. Those, it was thought, were the key to their regeneration. The Other looked at your legs and you hopped back a step, as though to hide the long bones full of marrow from his sight.

“Why…” You struggled to find your voice, “Why haven’t you killed me already?”

The Other looked at you, his head tilted far to the left, as though he was listening to you. The creature reached towards you and pointed then curled his fingers back towards himself and gurgled shortly before he reached back to his ankle again and tried to winch open the bear trap. His arms went tight as he heaved the metal teeth apart, slamming either side down onto the laminate. He was free. You took another step back and gripped the axe tighter as the Other got to his feet, his shattered bones clicking back together before the wound closed and his bruised, pale skin recovered the black flesh inside.

 The Other clicked again, his head tilting left and right, fingers twitching and eyes rolling. He was looking at you, watching you breathe and move as he moved left and right on his legs. In moments, he was healed, but he still stood by the bear trap and watched. Blood dripped from his nose, weaving a trail over the cupids bow of his lips before it dripped over his sickly purple lips and into his mouth. His tongue dipped out to lick it away. His lips pealed backwards in a smile as he clicked and gurgled again. In a flash, he had moved towards you, his hands slamming either side of your head, pinning you against the wall. His teeth flashed by your skin, blackened and sharp, his mouth filled with clots of his own blood. Another gurgle came from his throat as he sniffed the left and right side of your neck with blood dripping from his nose. A drop landed on your chest, rolling over the skin and into your shirt as the Other clicked again, reaching for you with a grubby and bruised, blood-stained hand. The cold hand wrapped around your throat in a quiet threat, and the Other continued to look you up and down, fingers dragging against the warmth of your flesh.

 They like warm flesh enough to come out in the sunlight.

 “Are you going to cut me open and peel out my bones?” You asked as you looked at the door, avoiding the snarling face in front of you. Black eyes wiggled back and forth for a moment before the Other opened its mouth, the sharpened teeth flashing over your shoulder before it took an unsteady step backwards, ear tilted towards the windows. It was dark, and thunder clapped in the distance again before the sound of rain filled the apartment once more.

The Other shook his head slowly as his head twisted back, his back bending backwards as he slumped and peered out at the rain. He dragged his ruined foot behind him as he went to the window and looked down at the wet streets below, his black eyes watching the infected below wade through the water and rubbish. Another long, low click sounded from his throat before he turned his dark eyes on you again, blinking slowly before he picked up his leg and looked at the torn fabric of his jeans. The wound had healed, leaving a faint trace of dark red, almost black blood on his bruised skin. His arm moved, but this time it was to wipe the blood from his nose away on his sleeve. His arm came away streaked with fresh blood, but he still peered outside, looking at the meandering bodies outside in the rain.

 “What are you looking at?” You asked from against the wall as the Other twitched by the window and clicked again. His black eyes moved from the glass to your face and then back again before he reached into his pocket. His dead fingers wiggled around for a while before he pulled out a long lanyard and presented the card to you. There was a dark-haired man on the picture, his hair slicked back, the sides shaved with a pair of glasses sat on his nose.

“Ji-woon.” You read carefully from where you were, “Is that who you were?”

The Other looked at you, studying your face before he raised a fist to his shoulder and nodded it with his head. You looked at the lanyard carefully, noticing the faded and stained academy logo. The badge confirmed it. He was a teacher before everything. Once he was human. Once he was a teacher. Now he was one of the Others.

“Why haven’t you killed me yet?” You asked again, “You want to eat my bone marrow, right?”

The Other looked at you again, blood dripping from his eyes and spit clinging to the side of his mouth. He opened his mouth, gurgled again, clicked his tongue and then moved back towards you. His black eyes caught the light of a lightning bolt and you reached for your axe with a small yelp.

 The axe was thrown from your grasp before you could get a grip on it. The Other clicking as he dragged you by the wrists onto the floor. The axe clattered away, and you flinched as his fingers found the straps of the tactical vest, plucking them away violently before he dragged the material and plating away, leaving you exposed in just your pyjamas. Wiggling, you tried to free yourself from his grasp to no avail. Blood from his eyes dripped down the sides of his nose and onto the material of your shirt, staining it a deep, dark red. You closed your eyes as he let out another series of low clicks and drew closer to your shoulder. If he didn’t eat you, you would turn, just like the rest. A bite from an Other would make you one of his thrall or another like him. Another one of the Others.

“Kill me then. Just don’t let me turn. I want to die.” You whispered as you closed your eyes tight. The Other clicked again, a slow series of articulates noises that disappeared into a whine, not unlike a dog.

 Then the arms caging you to the floor slipped downwards. His nails dragged away curls of wood as the Other let his hands travel, his fingers ghosting over your skin again in a meandering pattern downwards. You flinched as he pinched the flesh around your middle, tugging hard before they continued down your stomach and over your legs. He shifted backwards in order to look at your legs. His black eyes rolled over the flesh as spit, mixed with blood, leaked from the corners of his mouth. The slobber dripped over your calves, but you didn’t dare move as his cold fingertips traced under the arch of your foot and then grabbed hold of your ankle. He held it in a bruising grip, his fingers wrapped tightly around the flesh, strangling the blood flow. It hurt and you let out a cry as he twisted it around, tugging the joint awkwardly.

“Please.” You sniffled on the floor as he dragged you back towards him. You wiggled only to have his hand slam on your middle, winding you before he pressed you back to the floor again.

He opened his mouth, wheezed, coughed and then gurgled, “P-Please.”

 Your eyes shot open as the Other released your ankle with a frown, his hairless eyebrows furrowed over his eyes. His lips quivered again, dipping up and down before he swallowed and shook, blood spraying from his nose. The droplets landed over your floor and streaked up the Other’s cheeks in wild, spider web patterns. Stumbling, he dragged himself upwards and touched his own lips.

“P-Please.” he gurgled again, a deranged smile spreading across his face.

“Don’t mock me.” You wept at him, wiping your face as you struggled for your axe, your fingers slipping around the handle as he leaped on you again. A smiling face covered in blood loomed over you before he gurgled, clicked and growled, holding his throat before angrily thumping at his Adams apple. The Other wheezed and coughed blood over your chest before he reached into his pocket again, teeth clicking, and pulled out the lanyard to show you. You shook your head before he tapped the photo on the plastic then tapped his own blood covered cheek.

 You laid there in confusion, looking up at the drooling monster before you found your voice.

“That’s you before this. Ji-woon. You were a teacher.” You declared quietly, whispering into the thunderstorm.

The Other turned the card back to himself and touched the photo and then his own hair, his cold fingers tangling in the matted mess that hung around his cheeks. It was nothing like the slicked back, side shaven style he once wore, and he seemed to realise that as he tugged at the hair and pulled away a small clump. He wasn’t alive anymore. He was only alive thanks to his constant need to eat the flesh of the living. His victims stem cells and other living tissue was why he was a walking corpse beyond the others. An agonised cry left his lips, and the Other clutched at his own hair as he slumped over you, his teeth clicking dangerously close to your shoulder.

“You’re not him anymore.” You whispered again, reaching up with shaking hands. You sniffled as you reached and carefully took hold of his face, feeling the piercing coldness of his skin. Blood stuck to your palms as the Other raised it head enough to look from side to side, his black eyes quivering back and forth as he looked at your hands cupping his face.

“So, if you’re in there, Ji-woon, I’d rather you end me quickly...r-rather than play with me like a cat.” You sobbed.

 The Other let the card of his lanyard clatter to the floor, the dirty fabric of the lanyard laid over wooden floor. There was another deafening crash of lightning and rumble of thunder as the Other stumbled backwards, his legs wobbling as his teeth clicked and ground together rhythmically. Click. Grind. Click. Grind. It was unsettling. You crawled backwards towards your weapon, only to pause as the room was lit up with lightning again, and you saw tears mingle with the blood leaking from his nose. Pink droplets dripped from his chin. The Other looked at you on the floor, then back to the windows, before he let out an unholy scream. With a cry, you covered your ears as the Other called for his thrall with tears the colour of blood dripping down his cheeks and neck. He shook his head and curled in on himself before howling again, another upsetting, glass shaking as he wailed over the sound of the storm. You reached for the axe again, crying as your ears rang with the noise of the Other’s screams. With a scream of your own, you launched yourself at him with the axe held high. Black eyes flashed before he caught you with open arms, grappling you around the middle in a hug. The axe jolted against his shoulder, falling from your grasp as you fell into his grasp.

 The Other quivered again you, his jaw grinding before he rested his nose against your neck. He was icily cold, and he wheezed cold breaths over your neck, his lips sticky against your skin. He didn’t bite you. His lips parted to let him wheeze again and he dragged his nose over the skin before he sobbed, more tears dripping down his nose. The Other pulled away, his black eyes wide and wet with more unshed tears.

“I’ve…never seen an Other cry…” You confessed as he hugged you tighter. The thunder of footsteps sounded out on the stairs as the hoard smashed themselves against the barricades leading up to your hide away, “Fuck…”

The Other kept a tight grip on you before he too heard the hoard. His eyes roved your face before he pushed you towards the window and fumbled with the clasps. He opened the window and you peered at the rain, and then at his face. He said nothing but you knew what he wanted. The fire escape. You ducked out of the window and perched yourself in the rain, underneath the stairs to try and shield yourself as the thrall of the Other slammed themselves against your defences. The Other closed the window and entered your room again, standing in the middle of the room, his eyes wide as his creatures swarmed inside, moaning and groping at the walls, floors and him. A few paused by the window before bumping into something else and leaving. None of them cared about the Other. They couldn’t smell the warm flesh of the living, so they filtered away, down the corridors and stairs, falling and smashing things as they went.

 As the noises died down, you peered through the metal stairs and looked at the rushing water below. The zombies slowly filtered out of the building, back into the cooler moist air. You sighed as you looked at them, but shivered, sniffling in the rain and cold. A moment later, the window rattled, and the Other peered out into the rain, his black eyes haunting as they shone in the light of the lightning. With a click, he held out his hand, and you watched him reach to scoop his hair from his eyes. It was a human gesture. It made him seem human. Then the lightning flashed and lit up the blood covering his face, neck and arms. His fingernails were dirty with dried blood and mud, but he helped you into the window and clicked again softly, as though it was a noise of comfort. It unsettled you, holding his freezing cold hand as you shivered inside of the apartment. The door was closed, barricade replaced, and the chair pinned back in place at the door. He was still bleeding, and he blinked his eyes, sending two drops of blood down the stained red lines either side of his nose. With a deep breath, you grabbed a tissue from your little den and reached up to wipe the red streaks away from his face. The Other flinched at your warm touch, but let out a wheeze, letting you wipe his face free from blood and gunk.

 You pulled away with a small gasp at the sight of his pale, bruised skin. The blood vessels around his eyes ran in spidery black patterns before they disappeared under the pale, thin bruised skin of his face. He looked dead. Deathly pale and gaunt. His face had lost a lot of the colour and life it once had, though he appeared no more tired than he used to. The large eye bags seemed to be a constant factor. You reached for his ID card on the floor and carefully handed it to him. The Other held open his hand and took it from your grasp, gurgling at the picture of himself, or who he used to be, with interest. You let him hold it and watched at he wiped at his nose with the tissue you had accidentally give him alongside it. In a mockery of what you did, he slid the tissue over his nose and cheeks before he gurgled and smile with blood clot covered teeth. He wasn’t human. You repeated that as he passed you the sticky tissue back. It was covered in blood and clots.

 “Are you still in there Ji-woon?” You asked the Other quietly.

The Other shook his head as he raised the card again. It span in his grasp, giving you flashes of the image of his human face, “P-Please.” he wheezed at you, “...Help.”

“That is you. You can’t become him anymore.” You said carefully, softening the blow with a dab of the tissue under his eyes. He caught your wrist with a scowl, his unnatural eyes wiggling in their sockets, rolling left and right as he opened his mouth to expose his black dyed mouth full of clots.

“P... Please.” he wheezed again.

“I can...make you look like him but you’re not human anymore.” You tried to tug your wrist free to no avail.

 “Look.” The Other held up the ID card and tapped it again before he let you go and looked at the red marks on your arm mournfully, “J-Ji...woon.”

“The fact you can even speak amazes me.” You confessed as you looked at the bruises and blood covering him. His clothes were dirty, matted and torn, exposing his arms which had been unnaturally made larger. He was a predator of muscle and smarts now, who desperately wanted to be human again, “I can help, so long as you can keep those zombies away from me, okay?”

The Other nodded, drooling as he pointed to his ears and mouth.

“Those wails, yes. You can control them and keep them away while I help you. That and you’re big enough to just tear them open...I saw an Other do that once.”

The Other blinked owlishly but nodded once before you rummaged for a bottle of water and pointed to the bathroom, “First let’s clean you up, huh?”

He only nodded and followed at your heels like a drooling, blood covered dog.

 You managed to get a small basin to fill with water and then awkwardly got the Other to strip his clothes off. They were full of holes and disgusting. The neck was covered with blood and stiff with mud and blood. You bagged them and tied it closed as the Other stood, swaying on his dark bruise coloured feet. His mouth was dripping with drool again as he turned and looked at the water bowl in your hands.

“Come on. Sit in the tub.” You asked gently as you guided his cold body into the bath. He sat quietly, gurgling on his own blood as you fetch a towel and a small flannel. You dipped the flannel into the water and lathered it with soap before pressing it to his face. His black eyes quivered before he closed them peacefully and let you wipe the grime from his skin. Each swipe revealed more skin like cracked porcelain underneath the blood. The bruising spread from black coloured veins in his face and you were careful to clean around his nose and mouth before setting to the rest of him. It was even more embarrassing to get a zombie to clean his own privates, but something in him remembered and you left him to it before returning to try and scrub his hair.

 Most of his hair was dead, the ends snapped and fraying in clumps. So, it was with a heavy heart that you washed it and let it soak with conditioner before snipping away most of the ends. It was shorter, in a wild mane over the top of his head and the shaved sides, but he seemed happy as he peered at himself in your small mirror. You tried to tame it backwards, but the shorter pieces of hair pinged out at awkward angles. He didn’t seem to care as he wiped at his own face, clicking happily at himself in the reflection in the grubby water. He was like a child almost. Entertained by bottles, colours and smells, despite the irony blood leaking from his nose again. He wiped it away with a tissue, wet hands dampening the balled-up paper before he peered over the side of the tub and watched you pull free a few sets of clothes.

“Here. You can’t wear those rags…even though I know you don’t get cold.” The Other stood and looked at the clothing before his hands reached for a khaki green fleece. He rubbed the soft material and happily pulled it over his head before he dressed his bottom half as well.

 When he was finished and dressed you let him walk out of the bathroom. He was still bleeding from his eyes and nose but the cleanly appearance gave him an almost human look. The Other clicked and touched the top of his hair, feeling the strands before he looked at you with wide black eyes. In a sudden burst of speed, he was in your face, his teeth clacking together in front of your nose. Snap. Grind. Snap. Grind. Snap. He clicked his teeth rapidly in front of your face, drool stringing between his teeth and lips and dribbling out the corners of his mouth.

“You’re still one of them, huh?” You told him as he gurgled and coughed, fingers dancing by his sides as he twisted his head and twitched violently hard, teeth gnashing in his mouth, “You still want to eat me...”

There wasn’t a fix to his own nature. You watched him retch and fight himself before you moved through to your bedroom and rummaged through the boxes for something to use. You smiled when you found the ball gag. It was a simple thing, made of tough leather and a supple ball attached to simple metal rings. It fastened with a belt loop style fastening. It would be hard for him to chew through at least.

 The Other looked at you curiously as you returned with the gag hanging from your fingers. Something in his face twisted, as though he maybe recognised the item, but you watched his fingers twitch again and knew it was the right choice.

“I know what you might think, but this is purely to stop you eating me, okay?” You told him as you opened the fastening and presented the ball to his lips. The Other cocked his head, blinked, and then opened his mouth to accept the ball. You watched him chew the ball like a horse does a bridle before he then settled and let you fasten the back closed tightly. He sniffed, drops of blood dripping from his nose as he ground his teeth into the gag, his mouth parted and the clicks he made gurgled and muffled. It would also stop him from turning on you and summoning a hoard of infected to tear you open. It was a double protective measure. The Other shifted and touched the cool leather wrapped around the back of his head. He could easily undo it if he wanted to, but he let his hands drop and plonked himself down by your door, peering back at you as he pointed to your little bed and tent.

“Don’t eat me in my sleep.” You joked. The Other rolled his eyes as you climbed into your layers of blankets and cushions. He didn’t look at you, but stared at the door, cross legged and clicking softly to himself around the gag in his mouth.

 The next morning you woke up to the light in your eyes, and a clicking sound from by the window. As you opened your eyes you were greeted with a curious gurgle from the Other. His black eyes blinked bloody tears down his cheeks before he tilted his head and ground his teeth against the gag in his mouth. Blood painted the sides of his mouth and drool had dried in the corners of his mouth where the o-rings sat.

“Good morning to you too.” You groaned as the Other clicked in front of you and wiggled his jaw from side to side, his eyes looking over you. The exposed flesh had his mouth watering again, and you quickly hid the skin under a blanket before crawling past him and heading to the bathroom. The creature’s hungry eyes followed your legs, and the Other prowled across the wood after you, like a small dog, his gaze fixed on the exposed skin of your calves and ankles.

“M-M-Morn…ing-g.” The Other babbled around the gag in his mouth as his fingers inched along the wood, chasing after your feet. You stopped as his hand wrapped around your ankle. The cold fingers pressed into your flesh, testing the give before you dragged yourself free and slammed the door in his face. The Other grunted as his nose was smashed against the wooden door.

 When you came back out later, dressed and clean, the Other was perched by the door again, sat on the balls of his feet, perched in a crouch as he looked at the handle. The knob was twitching. You took a deep breath and carefully reached for your axe, holding the handle tightly in your grasp. The handle twitched again before the door thumped and the latch unhooked. The Other watched the door creak open. A rotten hand curled around the wooden door, and you crept forwards a step before the Other clicked and launched himself at the arm. It took you a moment to realise that his mouth was full of the gag, but it was too late. The Other grappled the infected by the neck, throwing it against the column outside of the door before his arms bulged and he slammed its head backwards, once, twice, thrice, and painted the dirty white concrete with blood, bone and brains. The blood sprayed up the concrete as he continued hammering the creatures head backwards. The initial crack became a wet thud which dissolved into a slick noise of blood and flesh as the Other dug his hands into the cranium and dragged it open, scooping his bruised fingers into the goop. His teeth gnashed on the gag, and you covered your mouth as he pulled at his own cheeks, splitting the skin so he could stick his gore covered fingers into his mouth. He gurgled happily as he scooped the brain into his mouth, followed by the sickening crunch of the zombie’s femur under his foot. He twisted the legs free at the knee and punched his way through to the bone.

 Rotten marrow dripped over his fingers, and he groaned sadly, tossing away the bleeding leg in favour of finishing the obliterated head. He struggled with the eyeballs, and you watched, gipping, as he weaved one behind his gag, through the tear at the corner of his lips, and popped it between his teeth.

“What the fuck…” You gasped behind the Other.

The Other’s eyes snapped to you, and he gurgled happily, covered in blood again, as he chewed his meal contently. As you watched him eat, you made your way back into your apartment, shaking as you uncovered a set of reigns. He was still eating as you came back and weaved them around his head and attached the ends to the O-rings of the gag. With a tilt of his head, he peered back over his shoulder and looked you in the eyes, his bloodied fingers stroking the leather up and down before you gave the back of the reigns a gentle tug.

 The Other gave a grunt and a small cry, his black hair flying out of place as he tugged at the reigns, back towards his meal. His hands stretched towards the flesh, grabbing for the brains just out of reach.

“We made a deal.” You whispered as you hauled him backwards, “You want to be a human, Ji-woon, right?!”

The Other froze, his fingers pressed into the mess on the floor by the zombie’s head. They danced in the blood for a moment before he looked up at you, his eyes manic and his hairless brows furrowed.

“J-Ji…woooon.” He gurgled before he slumped backwards and grabbed at your trouser leg, his cold fingers burying themselves in the fabric. The Other gave a small wail, burying his head in your thigh as he stroked your legs and shuddered against you.

You reached down carefully and petted his hair, “Humans don’t eat…that. But we need you to live and… I know you’re not human, but we need to think about how this is going to work, okay?”

He didn’t acknowledge you, but leaned his head into your petting, pushing his choppy hair into your grasp as he clutched at you like a child.

“You left me and forgot about me.” Frisk growled from the shadows, the black smoke of its body dripping between the cracks in the plaster, leaving trails of blood behind in the wall, “No matter how much noise I made, no matter how many things I moved, how much I cried, you didn’t care. You couldn’t even look at me!” It howled as its face contorted and twisted, the vaguely humanoid figure lengthening and twisting with claws, eyes and teeth. A gnashing mouth opened in its face, stomach and hands as it slinked up to you, smoke sliding back into the shadows as the mouths in its hands opened and licked at the skin exposed from the contorted wall. The mouths dribbled spit over your body as Frisk pressed closer, sucking heat from your body like a blanket of fresh snow. Two eyes rolled up its arms and into its face, fixing you with a white eyed stare as you tensed against the plaster and bit your lip, trying not to cry.

“Now you can’t look away, can you?” Frisk asked with a mouth full of venom, spit dripping from the corners of its maw as it pressed closer to your face, ensuring your vision was full of only its visage.

“Why?” You asked quietly, trying not to cry as you looked at the blood dripping from its claws, face red with anger and embarrassment as the creature’s claws trailed a slick path up your body.

“What do you mean why?!” Frisk fumed as its claws flashed in front of your eyes, threatening to take your eyes, “You know why, flower.” It purred, stroking your cheeks with bloodied claws, “You left me. I’ve waited, fumed and howled waiting for you to come back and remember me. So when your parents said you were finally coming back for a visit, I knew this was my only chance.” Frisk told you as the wall bubbled and shook, releasing you from your brick prison before dropping you into it’s waiting arms, “Now, its just you and me.” Frisk purred against your neck, a black, freezing tongue rolling against your skin, “Just us, forever.”

You tried to fight the tears as you realised what they had done, “You’ve…”

 As you finished checking on the cows, the heavens opened, and you rushed for your small porch, sprinting under the cover as the rain came lashing down, soaking your shirt and bottoms through. The cotton clung to you as you shuddered by the door, watching the grey clouds blur with falling water over the top of the mountain in the distance. It was colder now, and you opened your door to stoke the fire and dry your clothes. You grumpily tugged your wet clothing off and hung it in front of the fire before you rekindled the embers and wrapped yourself tightly in a heavy blanket of white wool. The rain thundered on the roof, and you warmed your toes before pulling on a small pair of moccasins and peering through the glass in your windows. The animals were huddled together out of the rain as it gave the grass and small crop garden you had a good soak. It was miserable. You perched yourself on the small table and watched the weather with a hum.

“And I had so much to do today too.” You lamented quietly.

 The rain was white noise after a while, and the clouds rolled over head, still full of rain when you peered back up at the sky. You jumped as a great screech sounded overhead, inhuman, furious and in pain. It sounded again with the thunderous boom of a weapon, and you jumped from the window at the flash of gun powder in the far distance, over the mountain top. Your home shook with another screeching wail as the flashes stopped and the clouds rolled again, the wind howling through the unsealed stone cracks in your cottage. There was another boom of thunder as the cries of the creature paused for a moment. You prayed they hadn’t just shot at a dragon. Dragons were harder than steel plating and bullets or canons did very little damage to their interlinked scales. Fury would follow an injured dragon, but there was no hiss and boom of burning flames. Another ear-piercing screech followed down the mountainside, as a great black figure soared into the clouds and disappeared overhead. It’s shadow hung over the top of the hill as it zipped down through the valley before it screeched again and plunged from the sky, spinning in a mass of glorious golden brown and tawny feathers before it plummeted into the muddy cow field in a mass of feathers, dirt and blood.

 The cows mooed violently before trotting out to investigate the lump, the younger females hanging back under the wooden shelter. You watched the feathers float from the sky, shellshocked, before you rushed for your damp clothing and pulled it all back on. You threw on your hooded cloak and rushed out into the rain and wind. The cows called as you rushed to the fence and thumped at their flanks harshly, batting their tongues away from the creature’s wounds. It hissed, feathers brushing upwards as you dared to touch its giant body. It was huge, easily over twelve feet long, the long tail feathers crumpled under its cut legs. It had a great talon missing from one of it’s feet, and blood thrummed from the wound. You rushed to its head.

“Oh, my Sun…” You cursed as you looked at the burning orange eyes that peaked out from the great, fluffy crown of feathers. A beak opened as it hissed again, another, weak scream of upset. A threat, you realised as it’s feet moved and talons slashed at the floor.

“Don’t!” You pushed it’s shoulder as the orange bled to black and it turned onto its other side, flopping over in its attempts to push itself back onto its feet.

 “You’re killing yourself!” You screamed at it as it flexed its wings and black blood spewed from its mouth. You gasped at the cavern in its side, bleeding black tar and red blood over its beautiful, soft feathers. It screeched again, madness taking over as it thrashed to get itself upright and managed, shaking on its swollen, bleeding foot. The wound to its torso was heavily bleeding, and blood poured with the stress and movement, revealing the two-inch diameter iron ball wedged in between its ribs.

“Stop!” You screeched again, putting your hands on its wings before two hard arms extended out of the feathery chest. The clawed hands snatched at you, lifting you high to its bleeding black eyes as you gasped. With a small scream, the creature reared its head back and paused as you covered its eyes, small hands encompassing its blackened gaze. Its wings sagged as it’s beak opened to let tar leak from its gullet.

 “You’re going to die if you don’t let me get that bullet out of you!” You shouted up at it, clinging to its face, “Let me help you, please.”

The bird-like creature sagged, its wounded feet giving in as it paused to retch blood up once more and placed you back on the floor with a croak. The croak bubbled with tar and blood as its feathers shifted and it looked up at your little cottage. The wind shifted and blew violently, soaking the both of you with more, icy rain.

“I will not fit.” It whispered deeply, as though its voice was being carried to your ears on the wind itself.

“You can…talk…” You commented, stunned for a moment as it opened its mouth, “There’s a barn to the back. I used to keep the horse in there, but its empty now.” You reasoned as you opened the gate and coaxed the bleeding beast through the rungs. It cried out as its claws got stuck in the cattle grating, the wound from the missing toe tearing and bleeding over the wooden slats. The creature followed, feathers dripping from its body in a bloody trail as it struggled behind you, croaking and wheezing as you heaved open the doors to the horse barn and opened the door to a stall.

 The creature flopped into the stall, its burning eyes dripping with tar as it wheezed, wings ruffling as it struggled to keep the gapping wound in its chest off the stone floor. You rushed to kick over a great barrel of sawdust to mop up the blood before disappearing back into the howling wind and rain to grab what little medical supplies you had. A crow squawked by your window as you rushed into the front door, his beady eye following you before it hopped into the house and cawed again, louder. Cursing, you grabbed your old sheets and shoved them into the large cooking pot with the rest of the water from the well. The fire was roaring, and they would soon be clean enough to wrap the wounds. The poultices were a little old, but they smelt fresh and clean, of mint and lavender, and you grabbed the jars and your needles and some fine thread. It would be a botch job at best, but it was all you could do for the creature. You also made sure to grab something for the pain, grabbing a bottle of dragon fire whiskey as you grappled the cooking pot of boiling sheets and shouldered the other supplies. The crow followed you out of the house again and cawed, but you paid it no mind, even as more small birds flocked with it under your porch and in the fields.

 The creature was wheezing against the floor, barely breathing, when you returned, and you cursed as its eye opened, devoid of any honey colour, just filled with black. Its eyes rolled and closed.

“Try and stay awake. Please. I need you awake to stop the bleeding.” You scrubbed your hands and hung the sheets to dry as you looked at his chest again, eyeing the iron ball wedged under his bottom rib, mashed in with broken feathers and splinters of stone. With a shaky hand, you took hold of your small set of forceps, usually used to help cows calf, and soaked them in the boiling water before you dared to ease them under the plumage and grip the bullet. The creature screamed but didn’t lash out, and so, you committed, heaving the bullet down, and out of its chest with a rush of tar like goo and blood. It croaked against the stone and you reached for the fresh water and salt to rinse the sharp pieces of feather and stone away before you plucked the broken feathers around the wound away and eyed the wound for any other artifacts. It was clean. You jumped as one of the creature’s leather skinned arms appeared from out of the feathers of its chest and reached for the large bottle of whiskey you had brought. It hissed and pulled the cork free with its beak before pouring the strong alcohol into its gullet, grumbling, and croaking after with the burn.

 “That much will knock you out good.” You promised as you stroked its feathery chest and pulled out your needle, sterilising it in the boiling water before you threaded it, knotted the end, and got to work, suturing the wound closed where you could, as tightly as you dared. The bird creatures’ skin was dark underneath its feathers, leathery to the touch and tanned. You closed the final part of the wound and tried not to slip too much as you knotted the end with blood slick fingers. The tar was gone, no longer leaking from its eyes and mouth. Quietly, you listened to it breathe, wheezing softly against the floor. You took hold of the mint poultice and applied a layer with honey over the wound to soothe the raw, sore skin. Wings shuffled as you reached to tear apart your sheets into large strips to wrap the wound. It cried as you returned and eased its chest up enough to reach around, duck under its arms and wrap the whole thing tightly. You pinned it before letting it rest as you cleaned and wrapped its foot, wondering if the toe would need cauterizing as you left it be, snoozing in an alcohol induced sleep. You made sure to pile hay around him for the night before you closed the doors tightly and looked at your cottage.

 The crow from before cawed again from your small porch, fluttering about the floor before it landed by your window and watched you as you hauled your supplies back inside.

“What’s brought you here?” You asked, “I don’t have any seeds for you!” You shouted as it followed you into the house and settled itself over the top of your fire, seated in a small handkerchief on your mantle place.

“Fine. Make yourself at home then.” You scoffed as you looked over at your cooking pot and poured the water out of the window. You were drenched through to the bone and you shuddered as you stoked the fire again and stripped off your clothing. You hung it by the fire and sniffled as you dried off and then wrapped yourself back in your large blanket, content to snuggle into your large armchair and warm your toes by the flames. It was soothing to hear the rain slow to a patter against your roof and the soft cawing of the crow nestled in front of you. Your eyes drooped as you snuggled into the blanket and forgot about the creature laid in your barn.

 A great squawk in your ear woke you up, and you jumped awake violently before the crow stomped over your lap and jumped up and down on the arm of your chair. You looked at it in confusion before pushing the blanket away and shuddering. It was cold. Using the blanket as a shawl, you stoked the fire again, throwing some more kindling and then logs into the embers to get it going as the crow fluttered into your kitchen and snapped at the crumbs on the side. You huffed and pulled out a small bag of sunflower seeds before you put a small handful in a bowl and watched the crow go to town.

“You’re a weird little thing.” You commented before going to get dressed in the small room you had to the left side of the cottage, leaving the crow to eat and hop around, so long as it didn’t decide that your floor was a good place to poop.

 The crow was still on the countertop when you returned, watching you through one, beady black eye, as you walked towards it. It flapped in protest as you stood in front of it but didn’t squawk or fly away. It stared back at you, its head turned and tilted up to see you properly.

“Are you here for the creature?” You asked, no louder than a whisper.

In response, the crow flapped again and gave one short, loud honk.

“Hm. I don’t think I trust you just yet.” You scolded gently before you offered your hand to the crow. The corvid pecked a finger before stepping onto your hand and skipping up your arm, hopping as it went along your sleeve, its beak holding itself up when it slipped against the cotton.

“Come on then. Let’s go and see how our house guest…well, our barn guest, is doing.” You tapped the crow’s beak and headed towards the door. You both looked up at the morning sun and smiled, thankful for the sunshine. The crow flapped again and spread its wings to soak in the rays before you turned to head around the back of the cottage where the barn was.

 The rain had washed away most of the blood, leaving clumps of muddy feathers around the rocks and fence posts as the evidence that the creature had passed through. You stepped over a puddle and heaved open the barn door. A great rumbling croak sounded as you stepped inside, leaving the door open a little to let the morning air in. The creature’s feathers dragged against the piles of hay and the stone floor, as it struggled to raise its head. When it managed to get high enough, one, burning orange eye peered over the top of the stall, eyeing you as you approached the wooden gate.

“Good morning.” You uttered as it flopped back against the floor with a sad, long croak. The crow on your shoulder squawked again before fluttering down to the great beast and moving from the bottom of its tail feathers to its hooked beak. It opened one giant eye and huffed before looking at you again and opening its mouth.

“Sustenance.” Its great voice rumbled before closing its eyes again, struggling to swallow as the crow pecked gently at the loose feathers on its face, pulling them free before it tapped its beak against the other and flew up to the side of the stall.

 “Food?” You asked, “Well, I have some but certainly not enough to feed you. You’re giant, if you don’t mind me saying and I don’t know if I could feed you.” You confessed, holding the top of the gate as the creature hissed lowly and dragged its great claws along the floor.

“I will hunt.” It rasped.

“NO!” You grabbed it’s shoulder, gently pulling it back down, “You’ll open all of my hard work. You, sit there. And you,” you pointed to the crow, “you’re coming with me.”

The crow nodded and fluttered out of the barn. Before you could turn to follow, the giant bird-creature rustled its feathers and its leathery, clawed hand appeared, holding your waist to keep you in place.

 “Thank…you.” It hissed, “I am… Qene.”

It’s name was hissed, a long pronunciation of E’s which made you wonder just of what race is was. If it was a fae, it would not have told you it’s true name, lest you bind it in contracts. You introduced yourself quietly and it nodded, slowly, exhausted still.

“I am…God of the Valley. Wind, weather and bird.” Qene rasped, “He who…controls the mountains.”

“A…God?” You whispered as the creature let go of your waist, “A god in my barn and…”

Qene huffed and collapsed again in his hay bedding.

“I’ve got questions but let me feed you first. What do you eat?” You asked.

Qene raised his beak from the hay to speak, his voice like a small thunderous rumble, “Meat. I hunt…deer and elk. Anything to then give back to the…” His eyes closed slowly, the orange disappearing behind his eyelid before he fell back asleep.

“I guess a chicken might have to do…or maybe I can get a deer from Thriskar.” You pondered as you followed the crow out of the barn and went for your bag and a bow.

 Thriskar scoffed at your request, “A deer? A whole one?” The orc sniffed before he carried on skinning the buck he had strung up outside his small home, “What the fuck do you need a whole…” he smirked then, suddenly, as though he had been told the funniest joke, “Do you have company over? Wanting to impress?”

With a snort, you were quick to flip your middle finger up at the orc, “Yeah, fuck you. I need it for pickling and smoking. I want to not live off my cows again this winter.”

“Well, you’re in luck then.” Thriskar commented, rolling his eyes as he wiped the blood from his hands and pointed to the young buck hanging in his shop, “I caught that yesterday. Should be drained enough for smoking now if you want it.”

 “How much?” You asked, sceptically.

Thriskar grinned as he tapped the counter in his shop, perching himself, leaned over the counter, before he tapped his lips, “A kiss and four bronze, or seven bronze if you’re feeling less generous.”

“You’re the worst.” You commented as you handed him the seven bronze coins, “I should be able to carry it before you offer that too.”

“Here.” Thriskar laughed as he pulled the creature’s pelt out and tied the deer in a sling like fashion around your back, “You should get it back now.”

“Thank you.”

“Yeah, don’t make a habit of it okay? I won’t give you the skin for free in future!” he warned as he saw you out of the door and down the path back towards home.

 The crow squawked overhead, and you saw Thriskar look up and shake his head before the crow landed on your shoulder.

“Well done. Now he really will think I’m a witch or something.” You scolded the crow as it hopped from your right shoulder, over to your left.

“You don’t need me for that. He likes you enough to want a kiss, doesn’t he? Does that affection not prove anything?” The crow squawked.

You felt your back go cold, “How…can you…”

“Talk?” It asked, “I am…omnipresent within my children.”

“Qene?” You asked as the crow eyed you.

“Yes…” It rasped tiredly, “I wanted to ensure you would be safe.”

“I’ll be fine! There’s nothing but pesky fae and annoying goblins, and they know not to mess with me. I like salt, iron and flowers too much.” You smiled. The crow’s head turned again before it let out another squawk and shook its wings and head violently, as though it had been released from some kind of spell.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine that was lots of fun, huh?” You asked as you stroked the crow’s head and carried on along the path.

 Home was a great greeting of farm animals. The chorus was loud and upset, as they had expected their food early in the morning and now it was almost midday. You heaved the deer off your back and onto the porch. The cows crowded the gate as you went to retrieve a hay bale with a pitchfork. There was a lot to tend to before you could give your guest the food he needed. The cows were happy for their filled hay and you were quick to give the sheep and chickens their food before you dragged the deer away from your little crow friend, and towards the large barn on your back. You opened the door and peered inside. Once again, Qene lifted his head, just high enough to see over the top of the stable door, his burning orange gaze looking directly at you.

“I’m back.” You smiled, “And I got you this!”

“Meat?” Qene droned over the top of the stable, “Deer…. No innards.”

“We don’t tend to eat the insides…the intestines are for sausages though.” You told him as you opened the door and laid the deer over the stone floor.

“Sausages?” Qene rasped, his head tilted as his feather’s rustled, and he pulled himself along the floor, his beak opening.

 Spit dripped from his beak as his tongue extended, pointed and tanned like his skin. He licked at his beak before he took a great chunk out of the hind of the deer.

“Thank you.” Qene rumbled as he threw his head back and swallowed the chunk of deer, “This…will help.”

“You’re welcome.” You smiled as you reached to pluck one of his feathers from the floor, looking at the now dull brown colour. When it had been attached to his face, it was shiny, golden and beautiful.

Qene ripped more from the deer and noticed you spinning the crushed feather by its quill, “They do not live once they are detached…True power flows through them, but they cannot be removed with it forcefully.”

“What kind of power?” You asked as you sat by the stable door, “I’ve…Well, I guess you are a God.”

Qene scoffed, “It is why I took a bullet to the chest.”

“They’re after your feathers?”

“Yes. Fools that they are.” Qene snorted again over the carcass, “Even if they have no value when they are forcibly plucked.”

 You decided not to press the issue, and simply sat as Qene ate, intrigued by the way he plucked at the meat, tearing it all from the bones before smashing open the bones for the marrow inside, his tongue licking at the blood and goo before the bones were then crushed and eaten.

“We really should change your bandages.” You offered as the God finished crunching the brains inside the skull.

“There is no need.” Qene grumbled as he swallowed the last pieces of his meal, “This will be enough for me to heal fully.” His eye turned on you again, “And soon I will be out of your hair.”

“What do you mean you’re almost healed?” You scoffed, “Let me see.”

Qene chuffed and opened his bandages with a swipe of his claws, “See for yourself.”

You shuffled through the hay and looked at the exposed wound below his ribcage. Except, now it was no longer a gaping wound, it was a healing wound, scabbed over where you had stitched it, the flesh filling the line quickly, and moving by the second.

 “How is that happening?” You asked in fascination, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“I am the God of this valley. God of the Iron Lake valley. I am not…held by your mortal deigns.” Qene rasped, his voice growing in strength like a thunderstorm now that he had eaten, “But I would…like some more of that Dragon Fire Whiskey, if you have anymore?”

You looked at his feet and noticed his toe had not grown back, but was quickly snapped from your revere as you smiled and laughed, “More whiskey? Its only just past midday but sure. I’ll go and get the rest of the bottle for you, since you’re a God and all that.” You turned to stand and opened the stall, “Does it even have an effect on you?”

The God huffed and opened his beak in something that looked like a smile, his claws tucked under his head and his wings blanketed over his body, “Not greatly, but it is strong, so I can feel the effects for a moment.”

“So, when you chugged it for the pain…”

“It did not help for a long time.” Qene confirmed, “But I am grateful for your help. Without you, I would have gone mad and destroyed much of this place in my agony.”

“Well, you’re welcome. It’s the least I could do after what other humans did to you. Now, let me get you that whiskey.”

 Qene’s feather’s rustled in the valley winds, and he raised his head as he stepped out of the barn, his claws dragging on the floor before he spread his wings and let the wind run through his feathers. A few final dead ones fluttered away on the wind, browning as they disappeared up the hills.

“It feels like an eon since I felt the wind.” Qene rumbled as he flapped his wings and stood tall to look over the fields and up to the mountain, “I will now no longer burden you.”

“I…I’m glad you’re well, but…” You looked at the mountain again, “Won’t they be waiting for you?”

“Waiting for me?” Qene rumbled, his head tilted to peer down at you, “They may be, but my home is my own…”

“Why not stay here?” You asked as the small crow cawed and landed on your shoulder, “They won’t look for you here.”

“And why would you want this?” he asked as he dipped his head, “I am not of your kind, nor am I a welcome guest. I fell into your home.”

“But you are also a welcome one now.” You smiled at him, “I don’t mind you being here. You even helped me get those hay bales out of the barn.”

Qene’s eyes looked to the mountain with longing, “My home…”

“You can go and see…but if you want to come back then…”

 Qene lowered his beak to your head, pressing the top to the top of your skull before he looked you in the eyes and licked at your cheek, “Silly human. I…” he rumbled, “I will see my home, but I will return…for visits or for…If my home is not inhabitable.”

You reached up to his face and carefully stroked along Qene’s feathered neck, the golden feathers soft and pretty, “Come back when you want.” You smiled, “Maybe you can replace the whiskey you drank, huh?”

Qene laughed, his beak open and eyes closed, “Perhaps…Or maybe I can bring you something better?”

“Something better?” You asked.

The God nodded his head, “I will bring you a feather, if I return, and weave it into your hair.”

“To what end? What does that mean?” You stroked his neck.

“That you are chosen by me, by the valley god…” he confessed, “That you will be my priestess.”

You laughed softly, “I don’t know about being a religious figure but…”

“You will be mine?” Qene rumbled, his wings flexing.

“Maybe I will, Qene.” You promised before the God flexed his wings and pounded them three times, lifting from the field and into the air.

 The crow on your shoulder rubbed its head under your chin, “I will be here. My eyes see everything.”

“I know, Qene. Good luck.” You whispered to the crow before the shadow in the clouds disappeared back towards the mountain.

 Weeks past with warm weather and pleasant breezes. The mountain was silent, looming in the distance over the valley, and you tended to your animals and small vegetable patch. Thriskar came for some milk and eggs, looking at the sudden brightness to your animals and farm.

“It is like a God has touched this place!” He commented over a cold glass of milk one day, crunching carrot sticks between his teeth as he looked at the farm. His comment made you wonder just where Qene was. Since he had left the farm had been brighter, fuller of life, but quiet and Qene had not spoken through your crow companion for a long time. You were beginning to think something had happened, and often you went to bed after leaving a bottle of whiskey on the porch. This night, you did the same, placing the bottle out on the porch with a small candle in a holder, before heading to bed.

 The next morning you opened the door and stood over a single, golden feather. The feather glowed in the early morning light, bright and brilliant, burning with power. The whiskey was uncorked, and the candle blown out. You rushed for both items, grabbing the feather, and clutching it close before you rounded the corner and thundered into the barn. Qene’s orange eye slowly peered over the top of the stall.

“Hello, little bird.” Qene rumbled before he pushed open the gate, “It has been a while.”

“Qene!” You rushed to the bird creature and hugged him around the neck.

Qene raised his neck and hung you before he gripped you around the waist and smiled, clucking softly with a purr before he placed you back on the floor, “I have missed you. My home is gone, destroyed and trapped. I…I searched for somewhere, but I have ended up back at your doorstep.”

“So…You’re here to stay?” You asked gently.

He nodded his head, “If I am welcome. I will make a home here and…I would like to know more about you.”

 You looked up at the eagle face. His eyes were covered by golden and brown feathers, and you reached up to push them away, staring at the orange eyes of the God.

“You were always welcome.” You cooed before kissing the top of his beak.

“Thank you, little bird.” Qene cooed back as his leathery skin rubbed against your own, “The whiskey was a treat.” he chuckled.