My body shut down. Heart stopped. Lungs froze. Muscles locked. I faked my own death so hard, even my soul raised a white flag.
And it worked. The atmosphere relaxed, confused. I crept forward, very, very slowly — pretending to be nothing but a ghost with errands.
Victory, baby.
Behind you! - Both voices
I ducked just as some core-like projectile shot past. The monster came thundering after me like a meat train. Fine.
I ran. Not stiletto-clacking sass — no, sprint mode engaged. My legs went full Olympic, speed-racer frenzy. And then…
Boom.
Straight into a beam of lonely, glorious light. Another streetlamp. Another checkpoint.
Boom!
The beast slammed into the invisible barrier of light with a sickening thud
and bounced off like a very determined, very gross volleyball. But, not wanting to leave me in peace, it settled into a lovely little pattern of circling me and drooling suggestively.
Finally, with a moment of calm, I took a good look at the damn thing.
Its whole body looked like someone had rage-crocheted it out of spare human parts. Arms, legs, heads, faces — all stitched together into one freakish meat-suit. Hands poked from its belly, eyes blinked randomly, and torsos writhed beneath its skin like they were trying to escape.
Six massive arms jutted from its shoulders and sides, all wrapped in pulsating, purple-blue veins like cursed Christmas garlands. Its legs split at
the ankles into two bare feet each, toenails long and nasty.
And the head. Flattened like someone sat on a snowball. Pure white. No hair. Eyes bulging out like rotten grapes trying to quit their job.
It looked like a melting snowman that had seen things.
And I didn't want to be racist or anything, but damn — this thing was ugly. I left it to Antwan to say what we were all thinking.
This .. revolting. - He offered with a full-body shiver.
Bits of the monster kept falling off. Literally. Limbs and heads just detached themselves and flopped to the ground, crawling away like guilty secrets. The worst was a bald man's head that slithered out of its stomach, leapt up, latched onto the barrier with its tongue — and started winking at me.
Flirting.
So, do we fight or…?
Valid question, - said -Do you want another fight? Honestly? Not Even for me — and my PTSD bingo card is full — this was pushing limits. Then we wait. Maybe it gets -
I'mma go make tea, - Julia muttered, barely hiding her - I need peppermint to forget this... thing.
Antwan took over, voice crackling privately in my ear.
-Ali, try throwing something. Classic movie move. Might work.
I silently scooped up a handful of pebbles and flung them in all directions. Nothing. The beast just kept staring. Tongue sliding across its lipless gums.
We had a standoff. Me and Mr. Human-Buffet.
I considered just beheading it outright. If the head was the control center, maybe I could one-shot the whole Frankenstein mess.
But then… I heard it.
A roar. But not from the beast. From everywhere.
Like a thousand mouths speaking over one another — laughing, coughing, whispering, yelling. The ground shook. The air rattled.
The meat beast responded with a pained snarl, joined by its dozens of hitchhiking heads.
Every face on its body joined in. Some screamed. Some sobbed. One sneezed.
My hair literally stood on end.
Then — silence. Apparently, the noise pissed it off too, because it turned and slithered away. Back to whatever pit it called home.
-I'm back! What'd I miss? - Julia asked, cups clinking in the background. Antwan slurped audibly.
Just more of that crowd-chant noise. Remember?
What is that? Won't know unless I keep
Then march on, Commander,- Antwan said, full military Okey-
I gave the area one last paranoid sweep. Nothing too cursed in sight. And then I stepped past the barrier…
…Straight into a concert.
Suddenly, my vision snapped into HD. I could see everything — a hundred steps ahead, two hundred. Farther.
And there they were: people. A sea of them.
Human silhouettes packed shoulder-to-shoulder, all facing a distant stage. On it, a wild mashup of instruments played: electric guitars, violins, harps… and a freaking bassoon.
The music shouldn't have worked — but it did. Ethereal. Haunting. Almost beautiful. But I didn't come here for a cultural experience.
I moved through the crowd. Pushing deeper.
Even with better sight, the world beyond the crowd was still cloaked in fog. So I had no choice but to keep weaving between the bodies. Close. Tight.
Silent.
And then…