novelraw Chapter 447: Feed On Us
Chapter 447: Feed On Us
Sera leapt back.
The cords coming out of the parasite hit the floorboards where she had been standing. The barbs dug in and stuck, anchoring for another launch. Pieces of blood and flesh splattered with each movement. The parasite retracted, then snapped forward again... this time even faster.
It was aiming for her legs.
Her hand flexed again. She shifted her balance and moved in an unhurried step that took her out of range without effort. The tendrils missed and scraped along the floor, stripping thin curls from the wood.
The laughing host body gave one more twitch and went still.
But the parasite did not stop.
It kept striking at her, over and over. Each impact sounded wet and hollow. It left streaks of sludge behind where it smeared across the boards. Its hooked ends grasped at nothing, desperate to anchor in flesh.
She let it try.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
On the fourth, she stepped in instead of away.
She let the main mass snap toward her and caught it with both hands just behind the barbed tips.
The thing flexed and writhed, stronger than its thin shape suggested. It tried to coil around her wrists. The barbs scraped against her skin, but her body did not give.
Her creature laughed inside her, low and pleased. You thought you could burrow into our body. You thought you could rewrite us. Now you will understand what happens when you fuck around.
Sera squeezed hard, causing the parasite to convulse.
The pulsing along its length faltered. The small, pale pits cinched closed, then opened again in frantic repetition. It tried to writhe out of her grip. Fluid squirted from small ruptures along its surface.
Something above her shifted.
She looked up to see what it could possibly be and saw a loft filled with hay and large white bags full of grain.
Grain rustled, boards creaked, and a rope twisted on its hook.
Sera scoffed once before she turned her attention back to the task at hand. She held the parasite in her hands and slowly pulled her hands apart. The cords stretched. The inner tissue strained, thinned, and then tore. The sound was wet and fibrous.
The mass split into two pieces. Both pieces twitched separately on the floor.
The smaller portion tried to slither toward a shadow. Aerenyx stepped on it with his boot and ground his heel down until the twitching stopped.
The larger portion curled in on itself and shivered.
Her creature watched it cool. Good. That one is done... but there are more.
A sound rolled from the loft above them.
Not laughter. Not screaming.
A low, continuous mutter. Multiple voices, overlapping, all damaged. Bits of words broke through.
"Hungry... hungry... hungry..."
"Stop... no... stop..."
"More... more... more..."
The voices were all wrong. They bent around themselves, repeating fragments, colliding. Some were raw. Some were ragged. Some were flat and toneless, as if the original owners had already given up.
Lachlan looked up. "We’ve got more," he said.
Sera lifted her head.
Shapes moved along the loft edge. Hands gripped the railing. Fingers bent around old wood. Knees locked, then unlocked. Bodies stood... hunched and shaking.
One.
Two.
Four.
Seven.
Their shoulders hit the low rafters. Some were still in torn clothing. Some had bare flesh marked with bruises and old restraint lines. Their faces carried the same sealed, empty sockets. Their chests bulged and crawled under the skin in the same way.
Her creature’s hunger sharpened to a blade. This is better. This is real. Enough to work with. Enough to break.
One of the loft creatures leaned too far over the rail.
Something peeled away from its chest under the skin. Another parasite writhed there, looking for a way out.
It did not want to wait. Instead, it pushed.
The host’s ribs snapped open and the parasite splashed free and hit the edge of the loft. It clung there for a second, then tossed itself down into the barn below.
The rest followed.
They did not jump in unison, but close enough that the air seemed to churn with the weight of their fall. Some landed on their feet. Some landed on their knees. One cracked a leg and crawled forward anyway, the bone showing through the body’s calf.
Parasites tore their way out of chests and shoulders and throats. Some burst early. Some stayed inside, reinforcing the bodies, hardening joints, redirecting strength.
The first wave of them lurched toward her.
Sera smiled.
"I want the first ones," she said.
She stepped forward.
Her creature poured through her muscles, fast and eager. Yes. Take the front. Let them see what real teeth feel like. It’s been a while since we’ve been able to properly play.
The nearest host swung an arm at her.
The limb moved too fast, the angle wrong. She ducked under it and drove her knee up into its ribcage. Bone cracked under the blow. The parasite inside shifted to try to absorb the impact.
She grabbed the broken rib through the skin and ripped it away.
The host collapsed. The parasite writhed in its chest. She shoved her hand through the new opening, closed her fingers around the main mass, and tore it free.
The thing screamed.
Her creature drank in the sound. Better. That one smelled like fear.
Another rushed her left side. Its mouth stretched open, jaw unhinging beyond what a normal human could manage. Rows of cracked teeth gnashed in the air. Strings of saliva hung from its tongue.
She slammed her palm under its chin and snapped its head upward. The force drove the parasite inside its neck up through the tissue. A lump bulged along its throat and popped out under the jaw, tearing skin as it went. She caught it before it fell, crushed it, and dropped the remains.
The others kept coming.
They did not act as a group. They moved in chaotic lines. Some went for her. Some veered toward the barn door. One turned toward the outer wall and clawed at it with frantic, repetitive motions, as if some remaining human instinct was trying to escape.
Then one turned toward the open doorway where the homesteaders stood.
Sera felt the shift.
She saw the host’s head turn, shoulders lock, body pivot. The parasite in its chest pulsed harder. It had made a new choice.
Her creature hissed. No. They do not feed away from us. They feed here. On us or not at all.
She started to move, but another parasite-host combination barreled into her from the right. Its arm slammed into her ribs. The force shoved her two steps back. She did not fall, but the angle blocked her path to the door.