Chapter 27: Invasion

"- if I could raise a toast to The Connections, to Umbrella, and have us all say, Happy Tenth birthday to Eveline!"

A gloved hand pushed the laptop screen down, a warning dark in Heisenberg's eyes.

"You have to stop."

Iris had been watching the video of the E-001, Eveline , obsessively ever since her return from her check up with Miranda. It gave her comfort. Fed her rage. This other woman, potential vessel, was involved in this sick experiment on the poor girl. A monster, a villain, an easy victim to shove at Miranda. One she'd not empathise for. Not feel guilty over.

Yet still, that knotting in her stomach persisted.

Miranda had stayed quiet about any updates on the potential vessel for months , and Iris had been warned not to pry, even though it burned her throat to keep such questions back during every desperate prayer session she shared with the woman. She'd established a good relationship with the crazy bitch somehow, and Karl was not prepared to have that relationship ruined because of Iris's impatience.

Surely if the woman had been pregnant at the time Miranda had told Iris about her, then the baby was out by now. And if the baby was born, then what was next?

What if Miranda couldn't draw them into the village? What if the baby wasn't suitable after all? And all attention would be back on Iris and her ever-uninhabited womb?

" HEY" fingers snapped in front of her face, near hitting her nose. Karl was staring down at her, a grim line for a mouth and worry in his eyes.

It was Friday. Another Friday of sitting in a dank cave, listening to Miranda babble prayers as if taking a single breath would result in the whole village blowing up. Another Friday of pretending to pray for a child, whilst desperately trying to ignore the Megamycetes's power enticing her to attach herself and spread her awareness over the span of the village.

Another Friday of coming home with no information, exhausted from the mental battle of ignoring the all-powerful Black God, and not even being able to so much as kiss her husband for too long less they both lose control, like a couple of horny teenagers, and accidentally create life.

She had a headache.

She wanted whiskey.

Heisenberg wouldn't let her have whiskey anymore. Couldn't risk any alcohol being detected in her blood, which Miranda loved to take samples of, just in case she'd randomly acquired some genetic disease or illness since the last examination.

" Iris."

She jumped out of her thoughts, shaky hands laying onto large gloved ones.

"Sorry."

"You need to get your shit together. It's Friday."

" I know what day it is"

A flash in his eyes and a hand at her throat, no squeezing, no violence - yet. A warning.

" Watch it." He growled, "We're so fucking close. So fucking close. To getting her off our backs and siccing her onto some other poor bitch. The last thing I need is you being distracted."

The hand left with a departing squeeze . Iris glared up at him and forced herself to not push this into a full blown fight by forcing her powers onto him.

"You've been lucky kid. Being such a good little manipulator. But that shit won't last. So watch your fucking head and keep it the fuck together." He spat, eyes twitching with nervous energy.

Things had been tense in the factory. A heavy, growing pressure that was present from the moment Iris woke to the moment she fell asleep. Thickening every time she brewed those stupid herbs Miranda had gifted her, every time she returned from her visits to the Black God, every time their touch lingered a tad too long under the covers of their bed.

" I am keeping it together perfectly fine since I'M THE ONE DOING IT ALL" Iris screeched. "I am the one getting examined, I am the one bringing your fucking samples so YOU don't even have to LOOK at the bitch. I am the one that has to hold her hand, tell her how sorry I am that I'm not fucking pregnant, that I'm loyal to her, her obedient little pet that is just dying to be bred FOR HER."

Iris snarled, stepping forward and shoving a finger in her husband's face, " I am the one doing this. Whilst YOU get to stay here, tinker with your toys, and pretend like you're not wanking every five fucking minutes whilst I have to sit and FESTER."

A shit-eating grin spread across his ugly mug, Iris scowling as he sauntered over into her space.

"Awwww is that why my little miss is grumpy? Sulking in the CCTV room? Have you actually been watching that torture porn of that poor kid or are you actually spying on me in the shower?"

"There's no cameras in the showers."

"That's what you think."

Iris refused to take the bait out loud, her mind racing on all the times she'd hidden away in there as a maid. She swore there wasn't a camera in there. He was bluffing.

Please be bluffing.

A hand grazed her waist, lingering up a bare arm and caressing her face.

"You know I'm happy to help you darling, leave you all relaxed for your meeting. Think of it as… motivation , to do a good job. Bring the other broad here," His face grew closer to her, eyes darkening, "and get Miranda's crazy ass away from us so we can finally-"

She pushed his stupid face away.

" HEY"

"Shut it." Iris snapped, finally breaking and using her powers to force him still. " The audacity to think I'd touch you after that display! And you have the nerve to call me cocky pfft." She smirked at his reddening face, all furrowed brows and snarling teeth, but the bulge in his trousers told a completely different tale. One she wished she could read right now.

Maybe one day. Soon. If Miranda was fruitful in her attempts to get the other vessel here in time.

"I'll be home as soon as I can. Try not to chafe yourself."

She decided to leave him to sweat, frozen in place, until she'd stepped out of the factory grounds, snickering to herself on the bridge as she released her hold on his cadou.

He'd simmer down by the time she returned.

Hopefully.

Usually Iris would arrive to already see Miranda knelt at the base of the Black God, rocking on her knees, hushed prayers spurting through her thin lips as if taking a breath would result in death. Tendrils would be licking at her ankles, caressing her waist and arms, and Iris had to grin and bear it, because Miranda insisted that this was Eva hugging her from the beyond.

This time, she was standing, staring up at the entryway with a manic grin plastered on her face. The woman, who looked all too thin, with stringy hair and bloodshot eyes, rushed at Iris and threw herself at her.

Iris froze for a beat too long, then gently rubbed at Miranda's back as she tucked her pointy chin over Iris's shoulder, whispering gleefully in her ear.

" They're here! I did it!"

She pushed Iris away, gripping her shoulders with clawed hands and a haughty smile.

"The BSAA are run by a bunch of blithering idiots. It was so easy to infiltrate them. Just an email here, a clearance code and some financial stipends there, some old favours from my lab days… Oh Iris " A sob escaped her throat, "It'll be no time before my sweet Eva is back in my arms''

"Mother Miranda! This is amazing news! Will they be living here? How is the baby?"

It was happening! Iris couldn't believe it. Her fingers shook with excitement. No more herbs, no more examinations, no more distance.

They could touch each other again. Without ripping away too soon, in fear they'd go too far.

That awful unending tension was about to be blown to smithereens the second she stepped foot over that bridge.

"They'll be moving to a town nearby, I've already chosen their home. I know every nook and cranny of their new life. There's nothing that can happen that I won't be aware of. The baby was born in August, my goal was to have the child be born in our land but unfortunately, lockdown rules override witness protection."

"...Lockdown rules?"

Miranda stared at her for a moment, as if Iris had said something incredibly stupid, then smirked and flapped her hand in a dismissive way.

"The outside world is a dangerous place Iris, you know that. They have wars, plagues, natural disasters. All things I keep you safe from, here in this village, under the Black God's eye. Lockdowns are commonplace, in the outside world right now. In a sad attempt to keep themselves safe from their own destruction."

Iris wondered how much of this was true. She'd never written of any wars or disasters in her diary. But maybe a child would not be aware of such horrors.

She couldn't let Miranda's poisonous words infect her dream to escape the village. Wars, plagues and destruction or not, anything was better than being stuck here.

"Once they arrive, I will visit the baby. It'll be easy to slip in and out without detection. Their technology is not as all-seeing as they believe. It will take time to assimilate her to the Black God. Prepare her for the ceremony. But I believe, by the time she reaches six months, she'll be ready."

"When will that be?"

"February."

They had barely two months. And just a hundred Soldats to their name. Iris could barely do anything worthwhile in battle, she'd never been able to test her influence on multiple Cadou that weren't her Haulers. Experimentation on lycans was basically forbidden, they were too tied to Miranda's influence. And they couldn't allow her to detect Iris's full power.

They'd gone so long without sparking any real interest, they couldn't blow it now.

"I cannot wait, Mother Miranda, to see your daughter. She'll be wonderful."

The woman smiled tearily, "Yes. Yes she is…. We must pray."

And so they did. For hours .

Miranda always got caught up in her prayers, most Fridays Iris would hobble back to the factory with screaming knees and near-dead circulation from being frozen in place on the cold ground under the Black God. She'd spend the whole time whispering, begging for Eva. Whilst Iris begged the Black God to not show her up in front of Mother Miranda, to stop enticing her with more power, more knowledge, more influence.

To resist such a siren call, it made Iris feel like the world's strongest, and most exhausted creature.

She dreaded the call every morning, and missed it every night.

"I think that's enough for today, I still have so much to do."

Iris blinked, her consciousness that had been floating, trying to escape the cave, returning to her cold, aching body. Miranda was already standing, her shoes were sticky with residue from the Megamycete. Iris didn't know how she could stand it.

"Of course, Mother Miranda. I wish you all the best. I am so excited."

"Don't speak a word of this to anyone. Not yet. I…" a nervous small smile graced her face, making her look younger, innocent, "I don't want to jinx myself just yet."

"Yes, Mother Miranda." How many times did they have this conversation? How did Iris manage to become this woman's confidant? How long would she have to keep up this charade?

"I will stay, for just a bit longer. To pray for you."

"You are too sweet, my dear Iris."

The words stung like a whip to her back, but she smiled sweetly and bid yet another goodbye to the woman, waiting until she was far from the cave before turning towards the Megamycete.

Just a little bit. A small check.

She dipped into its power and pushed her awareness to the edges of the village. Would she be able to sense the baby already? If it indeed was infected with the E-line. What granted Eveline her powers.

Her head hurt at the effort of breaching the harsh confines of the village, but for a second, the tiniest blip of something, something powerful, familiar, rang through Iris's bones. She snapped out of the Megamycete's grip immediately, scared that she'd gone too far, stepped on Miranda's spider's web and called the predator to come hunting.

But the cave remained silent, still.

Something big was outside the village. That was for certain. Iris just couldn't imagine such power being from a baby.

In two months she'd be able to see for herself.

With screaming knees, and numb feet, Iris finally emerged into the daylight and wobbled her way home to finally touch her husband.

He was sulking in his office, experiments were all but dead in water at the moment, the villagers were all stupidly healthy and accident free. It was infuriating.

No work and no play made Heisenberg a dull boy.

He didn't even look up from his nonsense scribbling as Iris stood on the other side of the desk, smiling.

"It's here."

Silence.

"The baby. The other vessel. It's here ."

The pen stopped moving.

"I think I sensed it. Just outside the village. It… It's powerful ."

He stood up.

"Miranda wants to complete the ceremony when the baby is six months old. We have two months."

He rounded the desk.

"Two months, and she'll have her kid back. She'll be distracted. Weak. Karl we can-"

Lips crashed to hers.

Iris welcomed them with a deep, bone-aching sigh. Melting into him as if her bones had all but faded away.

" Imagine gutting her just before she can get her baby back " He groaned into her neck, nibbling on the sensitive skin.

"Imagine fucking in her lab. On that stupid table she shoves me on. Examines me on."

He lifted her onto the desk, shoving the nonsense notes and reports on absolutely nothing onto the floor.

"I can't wait for her to end these goddamn examinations. I'm sick of feeling her inside me when it should only be you." Another groan, large hands clutching at her backside and sliding her closer to him, her legs either side of his thighs that spread them ever wider.

"She speaks of the outside world, of some group, organisation that she infiltrated to bring the family over to the village. Maybe they'll notice something is off. Maybe we'll have some reinforcements in crushing her."

"As long as I get the final blow, I don't care who shows up to this shithole."

He lifted her dress over her head and latched onto a nipple with practised ease. They'd fooled around like this constantly near the beginning of their forced drought on sex. But as time went on, as the end became further away, any fleeting touch seemed tainted by the fear of going too far.

Small bites and marks littered her paper white skin, bruising a dark purple already, near black like the stains on her hands and feet. Further proof that she was no longer human, infected, alien.

Evolved.

Who were they to deny that they were enhanced beings, above the simple humans of the village, above the failures like Moreau and Donna. They possessed power, and kept their sanity. An apparently difficult feat in this mould-infested pit.

A surge of pride ripped through Iris's chest, she bit into Karl's shoulder to stop herself from giggling like a maniac.

They were so close to the finish line.

Fingers grazed her puffy cunt, a low moan leaving her husband as he played with her.

" Fuck your wet."

"I'm always wet." She huffed, it had been ridiculous at times, worsened by the blasted herbs that Miranda insisted she ingest, Iris brewed them religiously in fear that Miranda would know if she hadn't. They made her skin clearer, her inky hair shinier, and her lust even larger, like a monster that refused to be satiated by simple words and gentle touches.

The two fingers that entered her burned beautifully. She squirmed in his arms and was pushed back, pinned by a hand splayed across her chest. Heisenberg circled inside her, faster and faster, pumping and curling and tearing her apart .

"Don't cry."

" I'm not."

He laughed, and wiped a tear from the corner of her eyes. How embarrassing.

His dick was shining, near purple and so so missed. He lined himself up and locked with her black eyes as he entered her, filling her and bottoming out with a loud groan.

" Fuck I've missed this."

Iris locked her legs around his hips, pushing him further, deeper with a whine.

"Desperate?" He chuckled. She pinched his side as a response, and was answered with an equally taunting pinch to her clit, and the rock of strong hips.

It wasn't going to take long. She wished it would.

She wanted to spend the rest of the day on his desk, under his warm body.

Heisenberg grabbed at her legs, throwing them over his shoulders and ploughed into her with enough force to have the desk rattle and shift under them, with each snap of his hips his strong fingers circled her clit with such overwhelming pressure that left tears freely pouring from Iris's eyes.

It looked like ink, splashing from two wells. Heisenberg had said once. Even her tears had been tainted by the Cadou. She found it hard to pay any mind at the moment, clutching at his shoulders and mouthing silly sweet nothings into his ears, licking the shell and sending shivers up his spine as she whispered obscene dreams of Miranda's demise into his ears.

" -Location… Sdnnfd… Location identi-Identified."

One of the many radios littered around the factory sprung to life.

"What the fuck ugh" Iris thrust herself up into her husband. She was going to kill him if he chose to be distracted now.

" -Here-Village-. Move.- Move out."

In the distance, a large, ringing howl of Urias could be heard from deep into the forest.

Bloodshed was to come.

" Karl"

" I know"

He kissed her deeply, and clutched her tight. Her long-awaited orgasm ripped through her to the sound of gun fire and screams as the lycans tore through these invaders. Heisenberg folded into her as her cunt sucked him in further, squeezed him tighter.

" I want you to- Karl. I want you to-"

"I know."

He pistoned into her as the unknown, crackling voices cried out for reinforcements, and came inside her as their request was denied and the screams died out, radios ringing out nothing but howling lycans, and the sound of bodies being dragged against dirt and leaves.

As she lay on his desk, spent and with seed leaking out of her, staining her thighs and pooling on the wood below, an alert on the security system pinged.

Lycans were in their scrap yard. They'd brought gifts.

Time to get to work.

Author's Note: I'm sure they won't regret that at all.

I thought it was funny to put in something about lockdown bc the Winter's deadass moved to Europe in the middle of 2020.