John came to in a dark fleshy room like the one he woke up in. The water was gone and he was seemingly alone.
Then he heard someone’s muffled breathing, as if they were trying to stay quiet.
“Is someone there?”
The lack of a response was concerning and he backed up to the wall as his eyes flickered vainly around the space.
“Look, I don’t know who you are, but I know you’re there. I’m not going to hurt you…unless you try to hurt me.”
Still not receiving a response John angled himself further away from the muffled breathing. He bumped into a rounded corner and cringed at the fleshy soft surface of the wall.
For several moments he sat there wondering who was in the room with him and why they were trying to be silent. A disturbing part of his mind wondered if it was indeed a person or if the walls were somehow breathing.
Eerie imaginations that he was in the belly of the fleshy creature filled his mind and he wondered if the breathing he heard was the thing’s lungs operating outside of whatever organ he was residing in.
That particular thought struck a chord as he became uncomfortably aware of the fleshy room he was surrounded by. What if he was inside some monstrous creature? Could that pile of flesh be a strange form of digestion for the beast? Was it an anomaly stuck in the belly of this monstrosity with them and it too was trying to survive?
The questions and horrible images passed through his mind so rapidly it startled him when a thin layer of water flowed into the room. It seeped under the walls and along the floor, carrying chunks of that strange algae that began glowing as it moved.
Soon the room was lit well enough that he could see a woman in the far corner. She was wearing a stained nightshirt and shorts as if she’d just gotten out of bed after someone threw a bowl of soup on her. Her eyes were wide with horror with her hands clamped firmly over her mouth as she struggled to silence her rapid breathing. John was alarmed to see her arms and wrists were covered in bruises.
He was so startled by her sudden appearance that it took him several moments to find the words to speak.
“Are you alright?”
The woman flinched when he spoke and wrenched her eyes shut. John didn’t know what to do so he stayed put and waited quietly.
After a moment she tentatively opened her eyes and seemed surprised that he hadn’t moved.
“My name is John.”
Her terror filled eyes darted between his.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
Receiving no other response than fear John looked at her arms.
“Did someone do that to you?”
She whimpered and wrenched her eyes shut again.
“Right, of course. Stupid question. I’m sorry.”
This time her eyes remained closed and she started shaking.
“Like I said, my name is John. I’m a little new here and if I’m being honest I’m…afraid.”
She continued shaking and John silently cursed to himself. The poor woman had obviously been attacked and was likely frightened of both him and this accursed place they were in. He was wanting to help calm her down and reassure her, but he had no idea what he could say.
He briefly wondered if there was anything that he could say to calm her down. When the temptation to give up and ignore her settled in he started talking again.
“I like honey butter on vanilla ice cream.”
The woman stopped shaking and her eyes opened slowly.
“It’s true,” John said awkwardly, wondering why on earth his brain felt the need to talk about this, “it’s a treat my wife and I enjoyed together. I’m not sure if I like it because it’s legitimately good or I like seeing people’s reaction when I say that.”
Finally, some of the woman’s horror gave way to mild confusion so he kept going.
“I’m also not sure if my wife genuinely liked it. I could definitely see her pretending to get a reaction out of people, that or she pretended because she knew I liked it.”
He smiled as an image of his wife eating a bowl of ice cream on their couch entered his mind.
“She was funny that way.”
Glancing up at the woman he could see she was still on edge, but the worst of her panic seemed to be fading a little.
“The funny thing is I don’t like honey butter on anything else. Many people like it on scones, toast, and stuff, but I can’t stand it on anything else. I don’t know if the extra sweet from the ice cream makes it worth it or if the vanilla combines with it somehow, but it’s the only way I can eat the stuff.”
Taking a chance he briefly met her gaze before intentionally flicking his eyes to the wall next to her.
“Have you ever had it before?”
The woman had tensed up when he locked eyes with her but looking away seemed to help. She didn’t respond so he kept talking, feeling like an idiot rambling about honey butter but glad she was settling down.
“It’s been a while since I’ve had any. Don’t really like my chances of getting any here.”
He glanced at her again and felt awkward when she didn’t react to the joke. Licking his lips he looked at the wall and shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know why I brought that up I just thought you might be interested. I’m not exactly sure what else to talk about, it’s not like there’s anything interesting here to discuss.”
Again the lack of response to his jokes made him feel more awkward. He was glad she wasn’t shaking, but he was starting to feel really uncomfortable rambling.
Drawing a blank as to what he could talk about he looked around the room and failed to find any inspiration. Noticing the algae he pointed at it.
“I’ve been wondering what this is. I’ve heard of something similar that glows in the ocean. I think it’s algae….could be bacteria now that I think about it. Although that stuff glows blue.”
Reaching down he tried cupping some in his hand and immediately regretted it. The substance clung to his hand like melted frosting and refused to let go.
“Ok, that’s not what I was expecting.”
He tried swishing the affected hand in the water but the stuff wouldn’t come off. Looking at himself he chose a spot on his jeans and wiped it. Some of it came off, but not all of it.
“Just lick it off.”
John glanced up and the woman flinched.
“Lick it off?”
She seemed to grow more nervous as he held eye contact with her so he shifted his eyes back to his hand.
“Yeah,” she mumbled after a moment, “just lick it off.”
“That uh…sounds…are you messing with me?”
He saw a flicker of a smile in the corner of her mouth.
“No…it’s the best way to get it off.”
“I’m not sure what it even is. I’m not sure I want to put it in my mouth.”
“It’s the only way.”
Grimacing John looked down at the yellowish goop clinging to his hand. It reminded him of the fat that sits in the bottom of the pan after a turkey or roast beef had been cooked in the oven.
Taking a breath he brought it close to his mouth and flicked his tongue at the stuff. Immediately he started gagging as the salty and sour substance hit his tastebuds.
“I think I’m going to hurl.”
Taking several slow deep breaths he shook his head willing the bile rising in his throat to go back down.
“You know what,” he said with a cough, “I think I’m going to keep it. It’s fine where it is.”
“It probably wont come off.”
“That’s fine. It’s a part of me now,” he swallowed deeply as his eyes watered, “I’ll call it Steve.”
He closed his eyes and mentally face palmed as he realized what he just said.
The woman let out a small laugh that could have easily been mistaken for a sniff. Looking over John saw she was no longer as skittish and a faint spark was in her eyes that wasn’t there before.
“Promise you’ll forget what I just said?”
She nodded slightly and John sighed leaning against the wall.
“So what’s there to eat around here?”
“You already have it on your hand.”
John looked at the gunk and nearly triggered his gag reflex remembering the taste.
“Great…”
#
The woman didn’t say anything for several minutes. John didn’t feel like rambling and was actually starting to get used to the silence. He normally wasn’t a talkative person, but the woman made him feel uncomfortable and he felt a need to fill the silence around her.
It wasn’t that he was afraid of her or anything, he just didn’t know what to do. Even now the woman was nervous. At one point she had fidgeted and John briefly saw more bruises around her neck in addition to those on her arms and wrists.
It didn’t take a genius to realize what happened to her and it both angered and pained him to think that it happened. It was because of this he was feeling strange. Part of him wanted to comfort her, part of him figured she wanted to be left alone, and another part wondered if he should be taking her mind off things.
More than anything he wanted her to feel safe around him. He didn’t know how long they’d be stuck together and neither of them would feel safe once the walls started going up. There wasn’t much he could do for her but letting her know she was ok and could relax seemed like the least he could do.
Trying to convey that without sounding like a creep was another story entirely.
“What’s your name?”
John turned his head to the woman. She flinched when he made eye contact so he stared at the wall next to her.
“John.”
“Can I…ask you a favor?”
“Sure.”
“Could you turn around and cover your ears?”
John frowned.
“Why?”
The woman fidgeted a moment and he thought he saw one of her eyes twitching.
“Never mind, forget I said anything.”
“Can I ask you a question?”
When she didn’t respond he went ahead and asked.
“Are you going to hurt me if I do?”
This time she met his gaze and a look of understanding crossed her features.
“No, not at all. I just…I.”
She closed her eyes and John saw her cheeks flush red.
“I’d rather not say.”
John wasn’t a hundred percent sure what she needed to do, but he had a few guesses and all of them required much more privacy than what the current room was offering.
Without saying anything he nodded and turned around with a slight splash to face the corner of the wall. He hesitated for a brief moment wondering if she would attack him before planting his hands firmly over his ears.
There was a brief murmur as if she said something and John thought it best to keep his ears covered. He sat that way for a few moments hearing only occasional muffled sounds before he jumped when a hand touched his shoulder.
“Sorry,” she said with a small gasp when he turned quickly, “I’m…thank you.”
“No problem,” he said as she made her way back to her corner with a quick scurry.
It took a tremendous amount of willpower not to look around the room or sniff the air. He silently gritted his teeth and remembered why he didn’t like swimming in public pools.
“Thanks…John.”
“No problem…,” he trailed off and raised an eyebrow at her.
“Kiara.”
“No problem Kiara.”
When she didn’t say anything further he decided to capitalize on the icebreaker.
“Kiara’s an interesting name. Is it short for…”
Again, he mentally facepalmed himself as his brain tried to find a name that Kiara would be short for. Thankfully she smiled a little and bailed him out.
“My mom really liked Japanese culture.”
“Was she Japanese?”
“No, she wished she was. She would spend hours everyday rewatching classic animes.”
“Those are cartoons right?”
The woman frowned and met his gaze briefly.
“Don’t ever let my mother hear you say that…but yes, basically.”
John smiled.
“My father was like that with Zane Grey. He’d read just about everything that man ever wrote dozens of times over, but according to him he doesn’t like reading fiction.”
Kiara smiled briefly before her eyes drifted to the floor. In moments the warm spark that was in her eyes faded to cold embers and John felt his own spirits dropping with hers.
A loud thud sounded in the distance and the woman gasped before scrambling upright. John quickly rose as well. Before he could ask what was wrong there was a familiar suctioning sound and the walls started rising around them.
Kiara started hyperventilating, her eyes darting around the room.
“It’s too soon! What’s happening?”
Her shouting was echoed by others in various states of panic. As the walls receded into the fleshy ceiling above John could see the crowd beginning to form in the center of the chamber.
Kiara rushed over and John followed quickly. The room they had been in was on the outskirts and to his horror it meant he and Kiara would be some of the last to arrive, which meant they’d be on the edge.
Kiara molded into the crowd as best as she could, begging and pleading as loudly as she could to be heard over the commotion. John forced himself in and found the crowd was unyielding. The more he tried to push to the center the more resistance he received from those inside.
One man shoved back hard and he nearly lost his footing. Two individuals happened to be behind him and they quickly pushed back enabling him to catch his feet.
“Stay on the edge rat,” shouted the man who shoved him.
The man was several inches taller and broader than John was. He face was bloody and his arms were covered in scratches.
Avoiding the hellish looking man John glanced around and saw someone who might have been Tara near the center. He quickly realized that Kiara had disappeared and he wondered if she found a way through or was scrambling around the outside of the circle like some others were.
A woman near him suddenly screamed and fell back as she was shoved by those in the crowd. John snagged her arm as she fell and quickly righted her. She was an overweight woman and leaned into him heavily.
“My ankle hurts,” she hissed when John tried to get her standing.
“Is it broken?”
“I don’t know,” she whimpered, “maybe?”
The woman suddenly began sobbing and buried her face in John’s chest. John’s eyes widened in alarm and he wondered what to do.
“Kill me!”
“It’s just your ankle,” muttered John wanting to soothe the frightened woman and also regain his personal space.
“Hey rat.”
John glanced at the bloodied man.
“Keep her close, she might be a good distraction for the thing,” he said with a grin, “might even be done eating after gagging her down.”
The woman exploded off of John’s chest and launched herself at the man. Her arms flailed and her fists managed to connect a few times as she sobbed and cursed at him.
The bloodied man took a second to register the attack. After one of her fists struck him on the chin he growled and lashed out with a backhand. The woman dropped like a stone and fell away from the edge of the circle.
For a brief moment John considered leaving her there. He had two people between him and the outside of the circle which provided him with some protection. If he broke free to help her he’d be exposed on the edge and probably wouldn’t get his spot back.
Growling to himself he broke free and knelt next to her. In the corner of his eye he saw the crowd quickly fill the space he vacated.
The woman was still conscious, but she was sobbing silently to herself with her eyes closed.
“You need to stand up.”
“What’s the point,” she bellowed, “it’s only a matter of time before we’re all eaten. There’s no escape from here.”
“Well you’ll definitely be eaten if you keep laying here.”
“At least it’ll be over with.”
Frowning John glanced in fright at the end of the room where the opening was. It was currently closed and everyone had their eyes on it. He vowed to try and get her up as long as it was closed, but if it opened and she still wouldn’t move he would have no choice but to leave her.
He felt wrong for that plan but dying to save someone who didn’t want to be saved seemed like a bad alternative.
“Listen to me,” John shouted as the crowd wailed, sobbed, and laughed, “if you come with me to the circle I can help you. But if you don’t come now I’m going to leave you here, alone.”
The woman’s eyes flashed open and she stared at him incredulously. John could see a glimmer of something approaching madness in her eyes.
“You would?”
“I’m not going to die because you don’t care.”
“Don’t leave me.”
She grabbed onto his arm and John grit his teeth angrily, resisting the urge to tear himself free from this strange woman.
“Then get up.”
Something must have shown in his eyes because she nodded and started getting up. Once she was standing John quickly pulled her to the circle.
“Stay tight against the group. Don’t try to fight your way in.”
“Why?”
“Because we’ll kill you,” chuckled the bloodied man watching the exchange in amusement.
He nudged John roughly and tapped his own head.
“I think she’s thicker up here, if that’s even possible.”
The woman bristled and John quickly pulled away so he was between the two of them. She gave some more glares at the laughing man before turning to John.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet,” grumbled John.
“Seriously I don’t know if I would have had the streng-.”
“Be quiet,” hissed John as he turned his eyes to the end of the chamber.
He saw the wounded look on her face before she pulled in her breath and turned away from him to face the crowd. Whatever guilt John felt was being overwhelmed by his annoyance at the obnoxious woman. That and the bloodied man chuckling behind him was threatening to draw out John’s darker side.
His hands trembled and his heart thudded as he imagined turning around and gouging the man’s eyes out. He closed his eyes and shuddered as imaginary blood flowed across his fingers as the man screamed in his mind.
It would feel good to release some of that pent up energy now. Breaking the monitor before had helped, but he wanted to do some real damage. Make one of the sources of his stress suffer and go away.
John was in the process of turning to do just that when there was a loud thud in the distance and water flowed through the chamber. As the murky water splashed against his feet it drew him out of his daydreams and he closed his eyes tightly.
There was another thud in the distance and the chamber descended into utter silence. Opening his eyes he looked around to see that the collective crowd was all but holding their breath as they watched the far side.
Another thud followed and the majority of the crowd let out a sigh of relief. This was quickly followed with emotional laughter, sobbing, and everyone dispersing from the center.
Looking around John could see others like him still hovering in the center of the chamber wondering what was going on.
“Looks like we all live another day rat.”
The man gave John a fierce pat on the back before walking away. John watched him for a moment and was disturbed to see him surveying the crowd like a lion seeking out prey.
“I hate that-.”
John’s eyebrows rose at the startlingly long and detailed string of adjectives the woman used to describe the man.
“-mouth breather.”
“I’m not a fan of his either.”
“Well I’m certainly not.”
She turned to him and John was uneasy by the warm glow that suddenly entered her eyes.
“I really do appreciate your help.”
“Don’t mention it,” he said uneasily.
“My name is Nilly.”
“John.”
“I like that.”
John’s insides curdled a bit at the sudden sweetness in her voice.
Looking around he saw a familiar group forming on the left side of the chamber. Breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of Tara and Atim he started towards them.
“Where are you going?”
“Talk to some friends I made and find out what’s going on.”
“Don’t leave me.”
He tensed up as she snaked an arm around his and started walking with his arm locked in hers. John had the impression she was either completely oblivious of his discomfort or she was simply choosing to ignore it.
The way she smiled back at him and gave a slight tug told him it was likely the later.
Author’s Note:
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