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Love, Laugh, Die
A/N: (IMPORTANT!) This chapter, due to its very short length, is being posted at the same time as Chapter 4. If you haven't read it yet, head back and then return to this one. That's probably a good idea. Er. If you already reviewed Chapter 4, please review this one too. It would make me happy. Cheers.
Chapter 5:
INTERLUDE
…
She lay still on the concrete floor, and they gathered around her as they consumed her.
She was already dead.
They didn't always feed once their victims were dead, but humans were different. They lacked what other species had. Still, they had the potential to be rich and tasty, and if they could not find their favoured meals they would settle for humans.
Their favoured meals were all gone now, along with the golden days.
The human was small, and young, and not altogether very filling. This was not why they were upset. She had been tasty – not as tasty as the one that had come before her, but tasty all the same. This was not why they were upset. She was simply not amongst the most suitable candidates that had been selected. Her contribution was almost non-existent.
They had finished feeding, and the process was in action. In the darkness, the owner of the low, guttural voice spoke. The tone was harsh and angry. "You are foolish. Your youth reveals itself. If you do not act quickly we will miss our chance."
The higher voice then. Its owner was huddled beneath their contraption. "You are unhappy. Would you dispose of me?"
"Perhaps I must."
"Then it is your who are the fool. You know of my talents. Without me you would be in an unhappier place. I bring a taste of the golden days. You would be unwise to dispose of that. Already I grow stronger, my art more developed. I can enter now. I can go inside now, fully and completely."
From the others, crooning. They were pleased. They praised. They praised blindly. "The golden days! The golden days will be back!"
"They are gone, as you well know." The guttural voice. "But if you can indeed go inside now, new golden times are within finger's reach. We place our faith in you."
"As you should," replied the owner of the higher voice. "We can only move forward. This is the path; I shall carve it. This is the doorway; I shall build it. This is the way; I shall lead us to the other side."
The other creatures crooned in celebration. The sounds of their collective joy crawled and slithered up the hulking masses of the engines, entwining with the layers of peeling paint and raw rust without apparent end.