talien
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Love's Lonely Children: Part 5 – The Hammonds Return
Blade swung the flashlight beam over Colin’s hunched form. He was moaning, hands over his head, body heaving. Blade wasn’t sure if he was throwing up or sobbing.
Archive and Guppy had their weapons trained on Colin.
“Guys,” came Hammer’s voice. “You’d better take a look at this.”
Blade took his eyes off Colin for only a moment.
The images came through in reverse order. The thing that he saw in the Cistron didn’t make any sense. It was too blurry for him to make out details.
“What is this?” asked Archive.
“I think that’s…Colin,” said Hammer.
Another picture came through, this one of a book. “Beyond a gulf in the subterranean night a passage leads to a wall of massive bricks, and beyond the wall rises Y’golonac…”
Blade tucked the Cistron into a pocket and drew a bead on Colin with his compound bow. “Put your hands up where I can see them.”
Colin’s moaning changed from one voice to the gibbering of two, shrieking and wheezing. His headless form swung around, palms spread wide, each punctuated by a screaming, fanged mouth.
“Ahh!” shouted Guppy. He fired his laser pistol at the thing, just as Blade released his arrow and Archive fired his pistol.
The body shuddered, still quivering as rolls of fat from within it pulsed outwards, absorbing the attacks. It took a shuddering step towards them.
Archive began chanting a prayer, but the thing backhanded him. The agent went flying, unconscious in the desert sand.
“Our weapons have no effect!” shouted Guppy, taking a step back.
Blade dropped his bow and drew his two hatchets. Swinging them expertly in front of him, he parried a swipe of the fanged hand.
“Hammer!” shouted Guppy into his Cistron, running for cover behind the overturned sedan. “Hammer, we need backup!”
“What?” Hammer shouted back. “What the hell is going on?”
Guppy looked at the pictures Hammer sent over, desperate to find something that would help. The empty container flashed on the screen.
The syringes! One of the syringes was missing in the picture Hammer had taken. The Hammonds had surely used it to drug their victim. But the amount would easily kill a person, so there had to be more.
“Where is it,” panted Guppy, clawing his way into the sedan. “Where is it?!”
He popped the glove box. The heroin-filled syringe rolled out and fell to the roof of the car. Guppy reached for it…
A meaty paw snatched hold of his wrist. Edith, her grip so strong that he lost feeling in his hand, shrieked in his face.
Screaming back at her, Guppy turned his pistol on the woman’s hand. Fingers sizzled off and her angry shrieks turned to wails of pain.
Syringe in hand, Guppy stood up just in time to see the thing grab hold of Blade’s torso with its mouth-hands. Blade screamed as the fangs bit deep, blood streaming down his waist.
“Hey!” shouted Guppy. “Over here!”
The thing was massive. Had it grown in the few seconds since Guppy last looked at it? The human-like mouths hissed. It tossed Blade aside like a rag doll.
Now, overshadowed by the thing’s bulk, Guppy could see its true form. Its hands, dripping blood from two mouths that had no right to be there, reached for him. Guppy stepped into its embrace…
And plunged the remaining contents of the syringe into its blubbery fat.
The hand-mouths went from sucking and slobbering to a horrible chorus of keening. The shuddering body stumbled, taking a step back, a step forward.
The torso exploded, splattering Guppy with lumps of gelatinous, stinking flesh, black blood, and loops of glistening organs. Guppy fell back, screaming, alone with his nightmares in the lonely stretch of highway.
Blade swung the flashlight beam over Colin’s hunched form. He was moaning, hands over his head, body heaving. Blade wasn’t sure if he was throwing up or sobbing.
Archive and Guppy had their weapons trained on Colin.
“Guys,” came Hammer’s voice. “You’d better take a look at this.”
Blade took his eyes off Colin for only a moment.
The images came through in reverse order. The thing that he saw in the Cistron didn’t make any sense. It was too blurry for him to make out details.
“What is this?” asked Archive.
“I think that’s…Colin,” said Hammer.
Another picture came through, this one of a book. “Beyond a gulf in the subterranean night a passage leads to a wall of massive bricks, and beyond the wall rises Y’golonac…”
Blade tucked the Cistron into a pocket and drew a bead on Colin with his compound bow. “Put your hands up where I can see them.”
Colin’s moaning changed from one voice to the gibbering of two, shrieking and wheezing. His headless form swung around, palms spread wide, each punctuated by a screaming, fanged mouth.
“Ahh!” shouted Guppy. He fired his laser pistol at the thing, just as Blade released his arrow and Archive fired his pistol.
The body shuddered, still quivering as rolls of fat from within it pulsed outwards, absorbing the attacks. It took a shuddering step towards them.
Archive began chanting a prayer, but the thing backhanded him. The agent went flying, unconscious in the desert sand.
“Our weapons have no effect!” shouted Guppy, taking a step back.
Blade dropped his bow and drew his two hatchets. Swinging them expertly in front of him, he parried a swipe of the fanged hand.
“Hammer!” shouted Guppy into his Cistron, running for cover behind the overturned sedan. “Hammer, we need backup!”
“What?” Hammer shouted back. “What the hell is going on?”
Guppy looked at the pictures Hammer sent over, desperate to find something that would help. The empty container flashed on the screen.
The syringes! One of the syringes was missing in the picture Hammer had taken. The Hammonds had surely used it to drug their victim. But the amount would easily kill a person, so there had to be more.
“Where is it,” panted Guppy, clawing his way into the sedan. “Where is it?!”
He popped the glove box. The heroin-filled syringe rolled out and fell to the roof of the car. Guppy reached for it…
A meaty paw snatched hold of his wrist. Edith, her grip so strong that he lost feeling in his hand, shrieked in his face.
Screaming back at her, Guppy turned his pistol on the woman’s hand. Fingers sizzled off and her angry shrieks turned to wails of pain.
Syringe in hand, Guppy stood up just in time to see the thing grab hold of Blade’s torso with its mouth-hands. Blade screamed as the fangs bit deep, blood streaming down his waist.
“Hey!” shouted Guppy. “Over here!”
The thing was massive. Had it grown in the few seconds since Guppy last looked at it? The human-like mouths hissed. It tossed Blade aside like a rag doll.
Now, overshadowed by the thing’s bulk, Guppy could see its true form. Its hands, dripping blood from two mouths that had no right to be there, reached for him. Guppy stepped into its embrace…
And plunged the remaining contents of the syringe into its blubbery fat.
The hand-mouths went from sucking and slobbering to a horrible chorus of keening. The shuddering body stumbled, taking a step back, a step forward.
The torso exploded, splattering Guppy with lumps of gelatinous, stinking flesh, black blood, and loops of glistening organs. Guppy fell back, screaming, alone with his nightmares in the lonely stretch of highway.