Boxed In
Interlewd 1

Kneeling on the pavement, Sophia Hess -Shadow Stalker- looked carefully at the marks on the ground. Something with small cloven feet had walked through the nearby puddle, leaving a trail of wet footprints that lead towards an alley.

Sophia doubted they had come from anything human, but it was hard to tell these days.

Getting up, she checked her crossbow and slowly crept to the alley entrance. She'd learned to be careful long before the city went to shit.

Pressing her back against the wall, she took care not to drag her cloak across the brickwork as she peered around the corner.

Nothing. Just an empty alley, with an overturned dumpster.

Huffing in frustration, she straightened up and walked around the corner for a better look and found herself standing in a bright sunny meadow.

Long, luscious grass swayed in the gentle breeze, brushing against her legs and filling the clean air with the scent of flowers. Small birds circled overhead in a clear blue sky with no end in sight.

Immediately, Sophia stepped back and felt the comforting feeling of stone beneath her feet.

'This fucking city!' She cursed to herself, moving further back. Looking around for a vantage point, she jumped into the air, shifting into her shadow state. When she was like this, gravity lost its effect on her and her momentum carried high into the air.

She held her shadow state for as long as she could, only a few brief seconds before her body snapped back to normal but it was enough for her to grab a broken fire escape. Pulling herself up, she added to her momentum as she shifted again, continuing on to the rooftop where she could get a better look around.

Back in her normal form, she leaned over the edge of the roof and glared down at the alley. From the above, the alley was filled with long grass that was swaying in a breeze she couldn't feel, bright sun shining down on it. Trying to think about how it did that when the alley should have been in shadows made her head hurt.

She had heard about these things from others in the safe zones. Areas of the city that opened out into whole other worlds, or where random crap bled into the city.

The first time a survivor had told her about them, she'd written them off as drunken ramblings or the effects of some random power. But the rumours had only increased, with groups of people actively seeking them out, hoping to use them to escape the city.

Now that she had seen one for herself, she could certainly see the appeal, but she wasn't stupid enough to actually want to live in one. Rumour was, people who went into them for too long didn't come back and those few that did return were different. Not in a 'sexy monster' kinda way, but more 'village of the damned, thousand-yard stare' kind of way.

One guy had even told her that these holes were growing, slowly covering more and more of the city but Sophia thought they were full of shit. She'd been running around the city since the lockdown began and unlike those pussys in the PRT, she wasn't just sticking to the 'safe' areas, but this was the first time seeing one of these holes. If they were spreading, she should have seen them before now.

Humming to herself, she considered what to do. The tracks she had been following had clearly come from, and returned to, the grass, but there was no way she was going to follow them into some stupid-ass portal.

Looking over the rooftops, she rolled her shoulders, feeling the weight of her bag and mentally tallying her supplies. There was a safe zone nearby that she had visited before. She could probably head there and warn them about this. If these 'zones' were growing and they didn't know it was here, then the info should be good for some supplies. If not, she could see if they had any interesting work going.

These days, people were less chicken-shit about dealing with trouble-makers.

She was still debating with herself when the grass below her moved and a deer emerged. It was hornless and maybe half a meter tall, but its coat looked glossy and healthy. Sophia held her breath as it sniffed the air, moving cautiously out of the alley and sniffing at some trash.

She'd never really left the city, not outside a couple of camping trips when she was younger and she knew very little about hunting animals, but even she knew a free meal when she saw one.

As quietly as she could, Sophia leaned forward, raising her crossbow for a better shot.

Thankfully the deer was more interested in digging through the trash than the slight noise she made. Loading a bolt, one of her few remaining good ones, she took aim and did her best to ignore the stab of guilt as a small childish part of her couldn't help but think of an old cartoon movie she'd seen once.

Below, the deer moved, raising its head to look around and for one heart-stopping moment, she feared it would bolt. Her finger moved first, tugging against the trigger even as the deer turned to look.

There was the dull, meaty thud of impact and the deer slumped to the ground, the bolt buried in the side of its head.

Sophia almost cheered, but she knew she had to move fast. The smell of blood would bring the monsters out. Dropping down, it was only as she reached the animal that she noticed the problem.

"... how the fuck am I gonna carry this?"

##

Huffing, Sophia grit her teeth and forced herself forward. Behind her, the deer carcass laid on a flattened cardboard box that she was dragging across the floor.

It was slow going, but it was easier than carrying the damn thing.

The guards at the safe zone stared as she approached, but she refused to look weak.

"Know anyone who can deal with this?" she asked, trying not to sound too out of breath.

The answer, as it turned out, was no, they didn't and Sophia had to stand just inside the gates for nearly twenty minutes before a broad woman with rocks on her skin came to the gate.

A slim man, maybe pushing fifty and with skin like old leather followed close behind her. His name was Lewis and he was, more or less, running the place.

Sophia had dealt with him before when she'd first split from the PRT and was looking for work. If he'd been surprised by a member of the Wards running around solo, he hadn't said anything. He'd just given her a job and some food for her trouble when she'd finished.

"You said you found it near here?" he asked, rubbing the stubble on his chin as the woman gave the animal an experimental lift.

"Yeah," Sophia waved a hand roughly in the direction she'd come. "It walked outta one of those weird holes a few blocks over. Is it worth much?"

Lewis chuckled, "very much so. I think we can use pretty much everything. Come on, let's get this over to Carl and we'll talk payment."

##

As she walked out of camp the next morning, Sophia shifted the bag on her shoulder in an effort to get comfortable.

Lewis had given her several tins of food and even some of the deer meat - dried and wrapped in paper. Someone had even carved a small, but sharp, dagger out of one of the bones.

Sophia wasn't too sure how to feel about that. On one hand, she wasn't sure it would really hold up to much use, but on the other, it was pretty badass to have something made from an animal she'd killed.

Leaping up to the rooftops, she found herself at a bit of a loose end.

The camp hadn't had much work going and the last woman who tried to steal from them had already been dealt with. All Sophia really had was a rumour about people disappearing up north.

Lifting the black hockey mask she wore, Sophia took a bite out of a strip of dried meat, marvelling at the flavour. The jerky they used to sell in the shops tasted nothing like this.

She could either check out the rumours or just go scavenging for supplies. 'Or' She thought to herself as she savoured the taste of the jerky, 'I could head south and pick a fight with some empire goons'.

In the past, she wouldn't have hesitated. With the PRT breathing down her neck, she would take any opportunity she could to have a little fun, but things were different now. She'd been living on the streets for months, ever since she ignored the PRTs recall order and bolted.

Living alone was hard, it had forced her to reevaluate her priorities. What point was there in picking fights with random bangers when there were literally monsters roaming the streets and food was a constant worry?

Leaning against a railing, Sophia stared out into the mists. It was clearer today, she could almost see the monster in the ocean.

Ever since she'd left the Wards, she'd been shot at, stabbed and nearly set on fire to list just a few of her near death experiences. Every day had become a struggle for survival with no one but herself to rely on.

How fucked up was it that she'd never been happier?

The anger, the constant itch under her skin that drove her to fight, to compete and prove she was better than everyone was now, for the first time in years, quiet and she could finally hear herself think.

She didn't need to prove shit to anyone. She was surviving out here and that's all she needed.

'...or maybe I'm going soft.' Chuckling to herself, Sophia pulled her mask back on and turned to the north. Even if people disappearing was only a rumour, she could still search the area for food.

##

Walking roughly due north for a few hours, Sophia felt the hairs on her neck rise. She'd lucked out about an hour ago, running into a group of scavengers that had been only too happy to tell her about a building that had been covered in flowers and that people who went too close didn't come back.

Approaching the address they had given her, Sophia had to admit, they weren't lying.

In the middle of an abandoned block sat a building that was covered in flowers. From the looks of things, the building was an apartment built on top of a row of shops. Vines had grown out of the windows, running down the walls. Butterflies, of all things, were dotted across the lengths of large, brightly coloured flowers, fluttering from one flower to the next.

"Yeah," Sophia muttered to herself, "that doesn't scream 'trap' or anything."

Moving back down the street, she found an out-of-the-way place to stash her bag. She didn't want to risk losing it, but the weight would only slow her down if it came to a fight.
'Okay,' she thought to herself as she eyed the building in the distance. 'Obviously a plant monster. Which means they're probably on the ground floor…'

Using the rooftops and her power, she moved quickly towards the building but she could only get so close before she had to cross the street. Sprinting hard and jumping at the last moment, her body turned to shadow and floated silently across the road, passing through an open window as she snapped back to normal.

Tucking her body in tight, she hit the ground with a quiet thump as she rolled to a stop.

'And the crowd goes wild!' She thought to herself with a smirk as she stood up and moved almost soundlessly through the upper floors of the building.

Vines covered the floors, ceilings and walls, their bright flowers standing out in the gloom. Scuff marks and damaged paint could occasionally be seen through the vines, showing where furniture had been pushed roughly aside. Yet there was a clear path through the middle of the room and Sophia couldn't help but notice what looked like a bed in one corner.

So, either the monster was mobile enough to move around the building, or there was more than one person here.

Leaving the room, Sophia took care not to touch the vines or flowers as she passed. They filled the air with a sickeningly sweet smell, like the god-awful perfume Madison had covered herself with that time. Sophia knew it wouldn't be long before it gave her a headache, but she forced herself to ignore it for now.

The stairwell was filled with plants, vines twisting their way up the building and spreading out into the other floors. Looking down, the ground floor below was covered in a thick carpet of flowers.

Shrugging to herself, Sophia jumped the railing, using her power to slow her fall rather than risk breaking her neck on the stairs. The moment her feet touched the ground, what she had assumed to be flowers sprung to life as millions of butterflies took flight, filling the air with fine dust.

Cursing herself, Sophia sprinted for the nearest door, trying to hold her breath even as her skin started to feel warm. Not bothering to slow down, Sophia reached for her power, turning to shadow, passing through the thin wooden door without stopping. Sliding to a stop, she snapped back to normal, gulping down the clean -relatively anyway- air.

That dust had gotten everywhere and a gentle tingle was spreading across her body, her nipples hardening as her skin flushed.

Cursing herself, Sophia ignored the heat that pooled low in her stomach. She'd deal with it later when she had half an hour and maybe a warm bath in a camp. Until then, she was going to make someone very, very sorry.

Taking a deep breath, she drew herself up and took stock of the massive room around her. it had likely been several rooms once, but someone had combined them by knocking down walls. They had also covered the ground in a thick layer of soil with grass over it.

Hanging from the ceiling was a dark-skinned man, roughly Sophia's age, if she were to guess. He was naked from the waist up, his arms and legs bound and pulled away from his body with vines. Wisps of what appeared to be black smoke rose gently from his body.

"Oh, it's you," Sophia muttered, just loud enough for the boy -Grue- to hear.

Jerking in his restraints, he looked up at her and groaned.

"Fuck me..."

Adding a little sway to her hips, Sophia stalked towards him. The words 'do not laugh, do not laugh' repeating in her mind like a mantra.

"Oh, this is too good. How the fuck did you end up here?"

He glared at her, sparing only a quick glance over his shoulder. The movement made the muscles under his skin flex and Sophia licked her lips. She had to admit, Grue was jacked if nothing else.

A few feet behind Grue was a large tree-like growth with a wide opening at its base that led downwards. It was too dark to see inside, but Sophia suspected it went under the building and that the plant bitch was down there.

"Do we really have to do this now?" Grue hissed.

"Why not? You got somewhere to be?" stepping forward, she poked at his abs, admiring how they moved and twitched. A scar stood out on his stomach. It was healed, but still fresh enough that she had a good idea what caused it.

"Good work on the stitching, friend of yours do it?"

"We knew a doctor," pulling against the vines, Grue leaned forward. "Now will you cut me down?"

His skin was shining with sweat, the vines leaving red marks where they pressed against his flesh.

"Y'know," she said, eyeing the marks, "I was never into the whole leather and ropes thing, but I think I'm starting to see the appeal."

"For fuck - Look, the crazy bitch is still around, if you're not going kill me, cut me down! Please!"

Sophia hesitated, she'd heard that tone before. Usually, from people who were desperate, like 'hanging on to the edge of a building' desperate. It sounded wrong coming from someone like Grue, a guy who -in her limited interactions- had always sounded professional and calm.

Her amusement faded and she quietly drew a hunting knife from its holster on her lower back.

"Fine, but you owe me. Deal?"

"Wait!" he hissed, looking back over his shoulder.

Pausing, Sophia glared at him.

"She's connected to the plants, you cut them, she'll come after you. Be ready."

Rolling her eyes, Sophia pressed her knife against the vine holding his arm up, the sharp edge cutting into the soft flesh of the plant. Deep in the hole behind him, something screamed in pain.

The plants around Sophia's feet recoiled as vines dropped from the ceiling. One grabbed Grue by the throat while another lashed out at her like a whip.

Turning to smoke, Sophia let the attack pass harmlessly through her and hacked again at the vine on Grue's arm. It split apart in a spray of white sap and Sophia shoved her knife into Grue's now freed hand as more vines lashed out at her.

Behind Grue, a creature emerged from the hole.

Her skin and hair were mottled green, with vines wrapping around her body. From just past her hips, her legs had become a tangled mess of roots that went deep into the hole.

"No! You can't take him!" the woman screamed, her purple eyes were wide, the pupils little more than pinpricks. "I won't let you have him!"

The vines on her arms extended out, lashing at Sophia like whips that passed harmlessly through her shadow form.

Pulling another knife from her boot, Sophia threw it across the room. The plant woman tried to dodge, but her movements were slow and the knife slammed into her shoulder.

"No! You can't have him!" the plant-bitch screamed, clutching at her shoulder as sap-like blood seeped from the wound. Dragging herself forward, her vines chased Sophia like snakes, the impacts carving grooves in the dirt and beheading flowers.

Sophia continued to move backwards, dodging around the vines when she could and letting them pass through her when needed. The woman clearly wasn't a fighter, she was just lashing out blindly and screaming like a wild animal.

Pulling a crossbow, Sophia leapt into the air as roots burst from the ground beneath her, her shadow state carrying her a safe distance so she could line up a shot.

"Oh fuck you!" Grue suddenly shouted, jumping up behind the woman and driving his knife deep into her back. Smoke rolled off his body, filling the room with darkness as she fell to the floor.

Sophia grit her teeth as the cloud washed over her and she lost all sense of direction. If Grue abandoned her here, she was going to kill him.

Before she could say anything, the darkness parted revealing Grue standing behind her and a clear path to the door.

"Come on!" he shouted. "That won't stop her for long!"

Shooting a glare in the rough direction of the plant bitch, Sophia considered ignoring him and going back to finish the bitch off, but common sense won out and she ran after him.

"Don't touch the plants!" Grue called as a swarm of butterflies descended on them. "That's how she finds you!"

He led her across the ground floor, his power coating the walls and ceiling ahead of him in an effort to throw the bitch off. When they reached the front door he threw himself against it, shoulder first, and crashed his way outside.

The sunlight seemed almost painfully bright after the twilight of the building, stinging Sophia's eyes and making it hard to see, but she didn't dare slow down until they were nearly a block away from the building.

"In here!" Grue hissed, ducking inside an abandoned shopfront before stopping to gasp for air. "Is- Is she following us?"

Looking over her shoulder, Sophia glared back the way they came, straining her senses for any signs of movement.

"No, I don't think she can actually move that far from the building, bitch had roots," Sophia doubted she could even get out the front door. "How did she even catch you anyway? I thought you Undersiders were 'escape artists.'"

Grue bristled at scorn in her voice, his cheeks darkening with temper.

"She caught me when I was looking through the building."

"Let me guess," Sophia grunted, pulling her shoulders back. The warmth on her skin had returned with a vengeance and the heat between her legs was driving her mad. She wanted this conversation over with so she could get back to her life, but her pride wouldn't let her walk away without getting a few last hits in.

"She flashed her big green tits in your face and you were so busy staring she tied you up? Or did you go in there looking for 'a good time'?"

'He wouldn't be the first one', she thought to herself. When people had first started changing, it had taken maybe an hour before the first pictures showed up online. No one knew why they ended up looking like monster-themed porn stars, but the men certainly hadn't complained.

'Not until they started eating people anyway.'

"Oh fuck you, you stuck up bitch!" Grue growled, stepping forward and glaring down at her. "I went there looking for… someone. I found a couple of people tied up and was helping them when she grabbed me!"

His face split into a nasty grin, "but at least I'm not the psycho-cunt on the PRT's leash-"

Sophia saw red, her fist was a blur as she lunged for him, but Grue was clearly ready for it. Deflecting the punch with his arm, he tried to grab her shirt and she burst into shadow.

Dropping to the ground, she reformed with a sweep of her legs that he had to jump to avoid.

Her skin was on fire, blood pounding in her ears and her heart racing as they danced across the room. Grue was bigger than her, stronger with greater reach with obvious training, but she was faster and her power let her move around him with almost comical ease until a burst of his darkness washed over her.

She grit her teeth at the sensation. Her power didn't work right in Grue's darkness and she was forced into a half state that left her feeling sluggish and struggling to breathe. A fist passed through her body and she hissed at the pain. Twisting with the blow, she let her body snap back to normal.

She'd barely had a chance to catch her breath before his arms wrapped around her waist, his body pressing flush against hers.

Snarling, she threw her head back, she wouldn't be beaten like this. She felt something crunch under the impact and pain blossomed in the back of her skull. The arms around her went slack enough that she could spin around, tackling Grue to the ground before he could slip away into his darkness.

Grue twisted under her as he tried to get on top. Unable to see, she wrapped her legs around him, using his momentum to keep them rolling while she punched wildly for where his head should be.

Eventually, they slammed into a wall with enough force to stun them both and something grabbed her arms before she could recover.

With a grunt, Grue lifted his darkness, allowing her to finally see what was going on.

She was still sitting on him, her legs straddling Grue's waist while he held her hands tightly. At some point, her mask and hood had been knocked loose, exposing her face, but she didn't care. Identities didn't mean much anymore anyway.

Breathing hard, she followed how the sweat trailed across his skin, sliding down valleys of his muscular build.

She could have escaped, she could simply activate her power and pull her hands free. But she could also feel him pressing against her crotch.

Without thinking, she leaned forward, smashing her lips against his and the fight was on again.

He groaned beneath her as their tongues battled, his hands tightened their grip on her arms, pulling her flush against him. Releasing his mouth, she sank her teeth into the muscle of his neck, just hard enough to draw blood.

Releasing her arms, Grue retaliated, one hand grabbing the front of her costume, squeezing her breast roughly while the other reached for her hair. She moaned as he pulled her away from him and lifted her top enough to expose her breasts.

Grunting in frustration, she sat back, grinding her hips against the erection she could feel in his pants while throwing her cloak off. His hips bucked, making her gasp as she pulled her shirt free and she fell forwards, plastering herself across his chest.

Large calloused hands roamed across her torso, thick fingers tracing the lines of her abs.

"Fuck," Grue muttered, wrapping his hands around her waist. He twisted, rolling them over so she was under him. He broke away from their kissing, seizing one of her nipples in his mouth and biting it until she hissed.

Putting her arms around him she pulled herself forward, thrusting her chest deeper into his face and raking her short nails down his back, trailing angry red lines in their wake.

"What," she gasped, rolling her hips, "are you fucking waiting for?"

In response, Grue slid down her body until he could reach the hem of her pants. Pulling at the zipper, he forced them down her thighs roughly, scraping her back on the cold floor with each jerk. One hand grabbed her underwear and pulled, tearing them free and exposing her wet pussy.

Releasing her, Grue stood up while he pulled his own pants down.

"Are you sur-?" he started to ask, but she cut him off with a harsh 'yes!'.

Sophia wasn't some dainty virgin, she'd fooled around a couple of times in the past, enough to know what she liked. Grue, whatever else she thought of him, was definitely something she liked.

Lowering himself, Grue crawled up her body, stopping occasionally to nip and bite at her flesh, each one sending a jolt of pleasure to her dripping sex.

"Get, the fuck, on with it!" she hissed eventually, grabbing his short cornrows and digging her nails into his scalp.

"Fine!" he grunted and she moaned, arching her back as he pushed his way inside and started to thrust.

He was slow, almost gentle with a steady rhythm that was maddening. Did he not get the point already? After a moment, she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him forward and deeper into her.

"Harder!" Rolling her hips, she pulled back, then slammed herself forward with enough force to make them both gasp.

Grunting, Grue sped up, each thrust scraping her back on the floor and making her breasts shake.

She felt the orgasm building beep in her core, her breathing getting more ragged with each thrust until her sex clamped tight around him, her legs pulling him as deep as she could get as the world went white. Biting into the thick muscle of his shoulder, she rode out the orgasm, feeling him cum with a grunt.

As the world came back into focus, she let herself go limp, falling to the floor as Grue lowered himself next to her. The gnawing heat had finally abated and she was clear-headed enough to think.

"Okay," she muttered, "I guess I can let you live."

"Yay…" Grue mumbled, his eyes closed.

AN: Beta By: Thetntm, NaGeL, Fwee. commission for NaGeL

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