After confirming that the kid was still alive, he noticed that the mass of flesh had more eyes than he had initially counted.
Jake crouched down in front of the kid.
"Hey."
The kid opened his eyes halfway. They were pale, unfocused, and it was obvious he had been in that situation for way too long.
"Help…"
He tried to say.
"Yeah, yeah. First things first."
Jake pulled out his notebook.
"Do you usually practice bondage often?"
The kid blinked.
"You know…"
Jake continued.
"Because there are people who pay for stuff like this, minus the eyes, but the basic concept…"
"Help."
The kid managed to say.
"Relax, we're not there yet…"
Jake started examining the creature with greater focus.
"How long have you been like this?"
"Please… please…"
"Days? Hours? Did you use lube?"
Jake touched one of the extensions of the mass that was holding the kid's arms. The surface gave slightly under his finger like muscle without bone.
"Does it have sensitivity? Do you feel it when it touches you or only when…?"
"Help me."
The kid repeated, with all the strength he had left.
Jake stood up.
"Alright."
He grabbed the kid's arms with both hands and pulled, but the mass pulled back in the opposite direction. This made the kid scream in pain, so Jake decided to drop the idea.
'Alright.'
Jake looked at the katana and then at the kid, calculating the approximate point around his waist.
"Take a deep breath."
Jake said.
"What?"
The kid tried to focus his gaze.
"What are you gonna…?"
The katana came out of its sheath in one clean, continuous motion.
The cut was horizontal, precise, and exactly at the height Jake had calculated.
The kid screamed as the mass of flesh began to tremble, letting out a sound that made it clear it wasn't happy about the separation, but Jake was already carrying the upper half of the body toward the stairs.
What was left of the kid weighed less than Jake had expected, but it started losing blood at a frightening speed.
Behind them, the mass began to expand, spreading toward the walls and the ceiling, filling the basement with its pink, pulsating volume covered in eyes, all of them now turning toward Jake.
Seeing that, Jake rushed up the stairs at full speed, but halfway up the kid complained.
"My… intestines…"
Jake looked at the stairs and noticed that the young man's organs were scattered across the steps, so he went back and picked them up.
"Back inside."
He pressed them in so the kid could take them all.
When he reached the first floor, he heard how the weight of that thing was making the wood of the first steps give way.
He crossed the first floor among the skeletons of rusted machines.
The mass entered through the stairwell behind him, too big for the space, but expanding anyway, displacing metal and concrete.
"I'm dying."
The kid said.
"Don't talk."
Jake replied.
"You'll lose more blood."
The kid looked down, noticing that the blood was hitting the floor with a steady, constant sound.
"Anyway, I'm already…"
"I told you not to talk."
Jake reached the main door and slammed through it with his shoulder, stepping out into the afternoon light with the upper half of a kid under his arm and a growing mass of flesh that was starting to deform the factory's façade from the inside.
The car was twenty meters away.
The mass burst out through the wall like water through a break, ignoring the building's structure, simply occupying the space where the bricks used to be. The eyes searched for Jake.
They reached the car, opening the passenger door first. Then he settled the kid into the seat with more care than the situation seemed to suggest. The kid tried to say something.
"That… thing…"
He coughed up blood, looking through the windshield at the mass that was approaching.
"The thing…"
The kid tried again.
"I'm on it."
Jake said as he fastened the seatbelt.
"It's coming…"
The kid tried once more.
"Road safety first."
Jake closed the passenger door without realizing that part of the rescued kid's intestines had been left hanging outside. He walked around the car, got in on the driver's side, started the engine, and accelerated toward the exit of the property.
Before he could leave, the old lady was standing in the middle of the exit with one hand raised and an expression of absolute authority.
"Stop!"
The old lady said.
"If you leave the premises you'll be cursed with…!"
The old lady flew through the air after Jake ran her over.
He looked in the rearview mirror and saw how the mass of flesh stopped at the edge of the property.
'Confined to the place. Nice work, Jake.'
He looked at the kid.
"Perfect extraction, what do you think, Gojo cosplay?"
The kid was looking at him with an expression that mixed shock and indignation.
"You ran over an old lady."
The kid said.
"She was in the way."
"She was an elderly woman."
"She was cursing."
The kid opened his mouth to scold him, but then closed it. After a few seconds of silence, he looked at what was left of his body.
"I'm dying."
He repeated.
"We're almost there."
Jake said as he swerved around cars.
When they arrived at the destination, Jake parked recklessly in front of the hospital and, when he opened the car door, the kid's body fell onto the floor.
"Oops… I forgot this car has a faulty seatbelt."
The emergency room at Central Hospital was relatively quiet until Jake walked in carrying the kid.
"I brought you guys some work."
The intern was the first to see him.
"What the…?"
"Yeah, I know, he's a little banged up, but it's nothing a good dose of painkillers can't fix."
The intern just stared at him.
"How is he still alive?"
"No fucking clue."
A fifty-year-old doctor with the face of someone who had seen it all approached, and as soon as he saw the patient, he swallowed hard.
"What happened to him?"
He asked, his voice shaking.
"I cut him in half."
Jake said, and silence followed.
"You… cut him?"
"To get something that was stuck to his back off him. The other half stayed back there."
The doctor looked at the kid and the kid looked back at him.
"Hi."
The kid said.
The intern in the hallway backed away toward the bathrooms.
"We need a gurney."
The doctor said with determination.
"Now."
Jake placed the kid on the gurney, then straightened up, wiped his hands on his pants, and watched as the medical team surrounded the kid.
The kid turned his head and looked at him from the gurney as they wheeled him away. Jake pulled out his phone and called his boss.
"I found something at the ritual site."
He said when she answered.
"I'm at the hospital right now."
"Why are you at the hospital?"
"For several reasons."
Jake said.
"I'll explain later."