Chapter 8
Still in the jail cell, Senel sat on the bed, waiting for Chloe....or anyone for that matter, to return with news. By now, he surely realized that something was seriously wrong. The others were clearly not behaving rationally. Why would they pull a stunt like this? Senel just couldn't fathom the answer. And he certainly hated sitting here, unable to do anything.
Upon hearing footsteps coming down the stairs, Senel stood up and went to the bars. Grune came into the room, stopping directly in front of the cell with her sweet smile. Senel opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Questions were flying through his mind, but he didn't know where to begin. And he did know that Grune probably wouldn't be able to answer any questions.
"Are you lonely, Senel?" Grune asked, tilting her head innocently.
"Grune....?" Senel shook his head. "Hell no! Just let me out of here! Please, Grune...."
Grune brought her hands together and barfed a black, slimy ball into her palms. She collected the ball into one hand, and reached through the cell bars. Senel quickly backed away.
"Wh...what are you...?" Senel gasped.
Reaching in as far as she could, Grune opened her hand, letting the slime ball drop to the floor. She pulled her arm out with another innocent smile.
"Bye now..." she waved as she calmly left the room.
"W-wait!!" Senel cried out. "Grune!!"
Suddenly, he felt the urge to look down at the slime at his feet. A dark gray insect sprawled out of it, hissing softly.
Senel jumped back. "What...what the hell is that!?"
Even more puzzling was that it had come out of Grune's mouth. What did that mean?
The bug began to crawl towards him. Senel lifted his foot, trying to stomp on it, but the bug quickly moved out of the way, and began to crawl up his leg.
"Ahh! Oh, you crazy bug, get off me!!" Senel screamed, shaking his whole body in an attempt to throw the bug off.
But the insect crawled up his back and onto his shoulder, reaching for his mouth...
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At the random house, Shirley still peered through the window of the room that she was trapped in. She watched as her comrades were still staring down at Chloe's prone body at the floor. She could see Will kneeling down, and then standing up again.
And then the group turned to face her.
Shirley's eyes widened. Oh no...they're coming after me next! If Chloe couldn't fight them off, then what chance do I have?
Will held his arm out to the side, holding Jay's dagger in his hand, while still staring at the door. Jay took the dagger from him and calmly walked up to the door. Pulling out the steak knife, he opened the door and stepped inside.
"Ahh!" Shirley lost her balance and fell on her rear, quickly crawling backwards to the opposite wall.
As Jay closed the door behind him and took a few steps forward, Shirley reached out for whatever she could grab. The first object she felt was a baseball bat, which she picked up, and then brought herself to her feet. She held the bat in her hands, trembling, ready to strike, but hoping that she wouldn't have to.
"Jay, please don't...." she begged. "Please...."
Jay merely held his index finger to his lips. "Shh...."
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Right outside the room, Will and Moses left the house. Norma plopped herself on the sofa, watching the door carefully, rocking back and forth on her knees while laughing maniacally. Unbeknownst to Norma, right next to the sofa, Chloe slowly crawled away, still trying to fight the creature in her body.
While rocking, Norma happened to look down where Chloe had lay, only to realize that she was no longer there. Stopping her laugh, she dropped to the floor on all fours, crawling along the trail of blood droplets in the carpet. The trail led to the kitchen, where Norma stopped at a pair of legs in front of her. Slowly, she looked up to see Chloe standing over her, with the skillet in her hand. Norma only stared up at her, her bottom jaw hanging open.
Chloe raised the skillet, whacking Norma in the head. The treasure hunter fell, knocked out cold from the strike. Chloe threw the skillet aside.
"Sorry, Norma...it's for your own good," she murmured.
A sharp pain jolted through her body, causing Chloe to scream out. "C....Coolidge...."
Clutching her stomach tightly, she began to stumble out of the house...
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As Jay continued to advance on Shirley, she had no choice. She raised the baseball bat, whacking him lightly on the side of his head. Jay staggered back a step, touching the blood that now trickled from his head, giving her a look as if to say, How could you do that? As he stepped forward again, Shirley whacked the other side of his head. Again, Jay gave a similar reaction. He stepped forward yet again, and Shirley attempted to whack him even harder with the bat. But this time, Jay blocked the attack, pressing the bat horizontally across her chest, pinning her against the wall.
"Ah!" Shirley cried out as she tried to push him away, but found that she lacked the strength to do so.
While still pressing her against the wall, Jay pulled his head back, opening his mouth widely. He then leaned towards her as the gray insect began to reach out from his mouth. Shirley almost screamed, but realized that if she opened her mouth, the bug would surely get inside of her body. So she tightly closed her mouth, still trying to push the assassin away. Jay took a step forward with his left foot, pressing her even harder. Shirley looked down at his leg, which was now slightly bent. Just then, she remembered the self-defense move that Senel had been trying to teach her. She stepped up onto Jay's knee, and then kicked him in the head with her other foot. Jay staggered back before falling to the ground, and Shirley landed on her feet.
I did it.... Shirley thought as she breathed a sigh of relief. I actually did it!
She then snapped out of her excitement as Jay was still prone on his back, with the insect jutting from his mouth, flailing its legs about.
"Get away from him!!" Shirley cried as she pulled the bug from his mouth and threw it across the room, splattering it against the wall.
Jay looked up with a dull expression now. Shirley knelt down beside him, placing her hands on his face.
"Jay? Are you okay?" she asked.
She held out a hand for him, and Jay took it, standing up with her help.
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Jay replied.
Suddenly, he thrust his arm forward, punching Shirley squarely in the face. She staggered backwards a few steps, recovering just in time to block his next kick. Jay brought out his knife and attempted an overhead stroke. Shirley grabbed his arms, and swung him around behind her, sending him crashing into the closet. Before he could recover, Shirley quickly slammed the closet doors shut, locking it with the padlock. Almost instantly, Jay began to pound on the doors.
"Open the damn door!!" he screamed.
Shirley staggered back, startled by his sudden rage. Terrified, she quickly fled from the room and out of the house. As she ran out into the street, she dropped to her knees, sobbing again.
"I can't believe this is happening!" she lamented once more. "But I....I can't give up! There has to be a way to save them! There just has to be! But first....Senel!"
Pulling herself together, Shirley stood up and began running down the street again.
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In the jail cell, Senel grabbed the body of the insect as it was trying to force its way into his mouth.
"Mmmph!!" he let out a muffled scream as he felt the sharp legs nicking the inside of his mouth. He pulled his head back, and then threw his upper body downward, forcefully expelling the bug from his mouth. The bug hit the ground, stunned for a moment, and then picked itself up. Senel spit out blood from his mouth, then quickly moved to the corner of the cell, clamping his hands over his mouth.
"Demon Fang!!"
Senel looked out as a shockwave raced through the bars, slicing through the insect, killing it. Chloe was right outside the cell, dropping her sword immediately upon executing her attack. She slumped forward, grabbing the cell bars for support. Senel went over to her, studying her carefully. Her entire body trembled, and she had streaks of blood from the corners of her mouth.
"Chloe! What the hell is going on!?" Senel demanded.
Chloe pointed at the dead bug. "That bug...is inside...."
"What? Whaddaya mean 'inside?' Inside where?"
"It's...inside me...." Chloe gasped. "Taking....control...."
Senel paused for a moment as the pieces of the puzzle began to come together. "Grune was the one who....released that bug on me. And it tried to get inside me...."
"It got inside me..." Chloe continued. "It was Sandor who did it. Sandor....Jay....Norma....Raynard....they're all...."
"Did you find Shirley?" Senel asked.
"Ah...no....I didn't find her...."
"Dammit..."
"Argh!!" Chloe suddenly hunched over, spitting out blood and vomit. She fell to her knees, clinging to the bars and gasping for breath. "Coolidge....I....I can't...."
"Can't what??" Senel asked. "Chloe, what's happening?? Talk to me!"
Chloe reached down, grabbing her sword on the floor. "No....I won't....let you...."
"Huh??" Senel tried to comprehend what was going on inside Chloe's body, but knew that he was failing miserably.
Chloe picked up the blade, sticking the end into the ground for a moment, gripping the hilt with both hands, leaning on it for support. Then she picked up the blade, putting it to her left hip.
Senel's heart jumped as he realized what she was about to do. "Chloe, no!!"
Chloe began to bury the blade into her hip, drawing out blood. She let out a piercing scream as more blood poured out from her mouth.
Senel tried to reach through the bars to stop her, but she was out of reach. "Chloe, stop this!!" he cried desperately.
Once the wound was at a decent size, Chloe dropped the blade again. She looked up blankly for a moment before falling face-first to the floor.
"Chloe!!" Senel crouched down low, looking at her carefully, wondering if she was still alive. He then paused to think about the recent events. Stella and Walter were back from the dead, and shortly after, his own comrades began to behave strangely. Despite Shirley's warnings, he had still been in pure denial. "I'm such an idiot! Why didn't I see this coming? None of this would have happened if...."
He immediately stopped himself. The first thing he needed to do was get some medical attention for Chloe. "Hey!! Somebody get down here!!" he screamed, pounding on the cell doors, despite knowing how futile it was.
But sure enough, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Senel!!" Shirley cried as she came down into the room, holding a set of keys. She immediately stopped with a gasp of horror upon spotting Chloe's bloody body on the floor.
"Shirley! Can you heal her??" Senel asked.
"Um....yeah..." Shirley replied, timid about the bugs in Chloe's body. "Here!"
She handed Senel the keys, and then knelt down beside Chloe, casting her healing eres. Senel quickly unlocked the cell and moved beside Shirley. While Shirley was healing, she spotted something crawling out of Chloe's wound. Both Shirley and Senel jumped back upon seeing this. It was a large white caterpiller-like bug, crawling out from Chloe's hip.
"Ugh, that is disgusting!" Senel cried out. "Chloe...."
"I've....I've healed her wounds....so she should be okay...." Shirley stammered, almost gagging. "Right now, we have to get to the Ruins of Frozen Light."
"Huh? Why there?"
"Because that's where all of this is coming from. Just think about it! The spacecraft, Stella and Walter coming back, and then everyone acting strange! You don't really think that was just a coincidence, do you??"
"Well....I...." Senel muttered.
"Let's go!" Shirley reached down, picking up Chloe's sword.
"Wait! Do you even know how to use that sword?" Senel asked.
Shirley looked down at the sword, which felt heavy in her hands. "No...but I have to try." She ran up the stairs, and then out of the house. Senel gave Chloe one more look before following.
As soon as they got out into the street, they heard voices calling out to them. "Senel!"
Senel and Shirley paused, and then spotted the Oresoren running up to them, catching their breath.
"Quppo! What are you all doing here?" Senel asked.
"Looking for you," Quppo said. "We found something at the Ruins of Frozen Light. The aliens from the spacecraft are going into people's bodies and controlling them!"
"They even got Jay!" Poppo added. "Ors!"
"I told you!" Shirley smirked at Senel.
"We looked everywhere for you!" Pippo said. "We're glad that you two are all right. Ors..."
"But how do we stop all of this?" Senel asked. "How do we get these things out of their bodies??"
"We found that if you destroy the leader, the creatures without hosts will die," Quppo said. "But for the people who are possessed....we couldn't find a way."
"But there has to be a way!" Shirley protested. "We can't just leave them like this!"
"We'll keep looking; ors..." Quppo said.
"And we'll destroy the leader," Shirley added. "And the one who's leading them is....Stella."
"Stella!? You mean we have to kill Stella!?" Senel cried. "But I just....there's no way I could do that!"
Shirley looked at him. "Senel!"
"What? Are you really okay with this!? Fighting Stella!? And fighting the others!?"
"If that's what it takes to save them, then I will! And do you want to know why!?"
"Why!?"
Shirley closed her eyes, saying calmly, "Because you all did the same for me. When I lost myself....when I was taken by Nerifes....you were all going to fight me in order to save me. So....I'm going to return the favor."
Senel paused in confusion. "But Stella....I just....I can't do it."
Shirley let out a sigh. "Okay. That's fine, I understand. After all, you loved Stella, so how can you possibly bring yourself to kill her?"
Senel raised an eye. "Shirley, what are you....?"
"However..." Shirley continued. "Stella is my sister, and I won't let those things desecrate her body any further! So I'm going to the Ruins of Frozen Light to stop her! And if that means I have to go alone, THAT SUITS ME JUST FINE!!"
She turned and ran down the street towards the bridge that led out into the field.
"Wait! Shirley!" Senel called after her.
"Oh no! We've got to go after her!" Pippo called.
"Dammit!" Senel took off, running after Shirley. Pippo and Poppo began to follow, but Quppo stopped them.
"Wait, my brothers," he said. "We have a different mission. We must save the others, and there's only one man who can help us."
"Alcott!" they all called in unison.
They turned and headed for the hospital.
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Senel emerged from the duct at the Ruins of Frozen Light to catch up with Shirley, who was now standing at the entrance.
"Shirley!" Senel quickly ran to her, then stopped to catch his breath.
Shirley gave him a glance, then looked into the ruins again.
Senel straightened himself. "Look, I know you're really pissed off right now, and for very good reason. But just hear me out."
Shirley gave no response.
"Listen, I still don't quite understand what's going on," Senel continued. "But I do know that I want to put an end to it as badly as you do. And I won't let you do this alone. Also...."
Shirley turned to face him now. "Hmm?"
Senel continued again, his voice strained. "I'm sorry I yelled at you earlier. I was just out of my head, thinking that Stella and I could be together again. But...it was just a dumb dream. We lost Stella long ago, but it's not too late for the others. Let's save them before we lose them for good."
He held his hand out for Shirley, who looked away for a moment. She let out a sigh before facing him again, taking his hand.
"Okay," she replied.
With that, the pair began to enter the Ruins of Frozen Light.
