She found a demonic smile staring back.

It swallowed her whole.

Chapter 14

Blackened Fingertips and Broken Bones

"S-Sans? What are you doing?" Wicca's voice was small.

Abrupt, harsh laughter pierced her ears, "Look doll face, I dunno why you think I know you," Sans whipped his hand and the chain flew at her, grazing her on the cheek. She tentatively touched a finger to the cut and watched her blood spill over.

"But let's get something straight here, love." The skeleton grinned and flexed his arm. The chain once again flew from his grip and narrowly missed Wicca.

"You are mine."

Sans erupted in a flame of red and the witch could feel a low rumble in the ground. Tips of white started to force their way through the cold, hard ground. The witch's eyes grew wide as she realized what they were: abnormally large bones. As they pushed their way up, Sans whipped his chain again and it wound its way around Wicca's wrist.

The harsh bite of the metal snapped her into focus. She yanked her arm back and felt a deep satisfaction as the Sans that wasn't Sans stumbled backward.

"How about this," The girl growled, "You clearly are not the person I know and lovingly hate with all my heart. Let me the fuck go and you won't get hurt, I pinky promise."

The skeleton laughed and responded by tugging at the chain, sending the girl sprawling in the snow.

The bones were starting to form a tight cage around Wicca. She wearily eyed their advancement. That would have to be dealt with, but first she needed to get off her leash.

With one quick motion Wicca snapped her cards into her hand (wincing through the pain of her blackened finger tips) and flicked one as hard as she could. The Queen of Spades sailed through the air and sliced clean through the chain he was holding. She was tempted to laugh at his bewildered expression, but she had more pressing concerns. Wicca whirled around and ungracefully shoved her way through the rapidly decreasing gap between the protruding bones. She managed to just barely pop out before they crushed her.

Panting from the excursion, the witch turned tail and ran. Could she have completely crushed the wacked-out skeleton? Pfft, of course! Was she going to try? Hell to the no. She wasn't quite sure where she was exactly, but she knew with unwavering certainty that she wasn't where she belonged… and not in the way that she was used to; here the very air felt like it was attacking her.

Wicca got surprisingly far before he caught up to her. One second he wasn't there, and the next he just-blinked-into existence. He managed to do…whatever the hell he just did so fast Wicca ran straight into him. He caught the cut chain that dangled from her wrist and drew her in close.

The static he emitted was toxic. The buzz made her go dizzy from contact. She struggled to keep her mind straight when all she wanted to do was let it in. Last time that happened though, things didn't end well. (i.e. what was happening right now. Yeah, this sucked.)

A long, red tongue snaked its way out of his mouth and pressed up against Wicca's laceration, catching the blood that dribbled out.

Wicca pushed herself away and lightly touched her cheek in absolute bafflement.

"Did-did you just? Did you just lick me?" The witch let out a burst of giggles.

The skeleton stared.

"You can't j-just lick someone!" Wicca grabbed her stomach and weezed, the shock of such a bizarre action rendering her incapacitated with laughter.

"You totally-I can't believe-"

The skeleton began to shuffle, uncomfortable.

"You even sucked my blood! T-this isn't some Twilight shit-I could totally have aids AND YOU LICKED ME!"

Wicca couldn't contain herself and let out a howling cackle, "Oh my god! Look, sorry, I shouldn't be laughing-" she tried and failed at reining herself in, "But dude! You just l-l-icked me! You d-d-don't just lick-k someone!"

Tears started to stream out of her eyes and she grabbed the skeleton to keep herself upright.

"I can't, I'm so sorry but I really can't." The girl chortled, "You licked me man, you licked me. WHOOO!" Wicca fanned herself, "Okay, I'm better now. Where were we?"

The witch couldn't keep a straight face and giggled while the skeleton blushed a deep red.

"Oh, I remember now."

Wicca quickly sliced the skeleton with a Jack. The card cut into his bone and stuck there. The witch took the opportunity to kick the skeleton in the chest, dazing him more than actually hurting him.

Before she could strategically retreat (or run away, again), he snapped his fingers and a bone appeared out of nothing. It barreled straight through Wicca with a sickening crunch. A spray of blood spurt out of her mouth on impact and she grunted in surprise. She looked down to find it protruding from her lower torso, a deep red had already started to lubricate her exposed abdomen. She looked up to find him smirking, a sliver of red smoking from his fingertips.

She tried to grab the bone and bit back a scream instead. Her hands shook in reaction to the static that permeated the bone. The energy painfully crashed against her. The bones in her own hands vibrates violently, throbbing with the flow of power. She managed to lightly touch the foreign object with her fingers and this time she couldn't hold back her cry of anguish.

The second she touched it, the bones in her hands felt as if they were shattering over and over again. The tips of her fingers, which were already blackened from before, began to burn. Even the skeleton took a couple steps back when he saw what was happening to her. Her bones began to crack loudly, splintering and fragmenting. Only when she took her hands off did it stop, and then slowly began to heal. Piece by piece, the fractures mended: phalange, metacarpal, carpal, all stitched together painfully. It was just as tortuous as when they broke, if not more so.

Wicca whimpered in agony as the last of her bones snapped into place. The skeleton made a quick gesture and the femur in her side vanished. The girl collapsed onto the snow, already turning it blood red.

She barely registered him lifting her up and the smell of ozone. One minute they were in a white field of ice cold, the next they were by a fire. She could feel the sharpness of a needle digging into her skin, but it quickly fell away to a dull nothingness. She was dimly aware that he was sewing her gaping wound, and she would have laughed if she'd have the strength to. Instead, she met his eye.

"Didn't figure you the type to save my life." She slurred.

"Love, after I fix you up, you'll wish you died out there."

"What?"

"If I wanted you before, then I need you now. What happened back there…" The Sans that wasn't Sans licked his lips seductively, "That makes you priceless, baby doll."