It happened so fast. Eff managed to grab onto Sickness's wrists trying to hold onto her as whatever eldritch monster was trying to drag her away. Leaving no choice, he quickly transformed into his true form. As his eyes began to glow red, black shadow tendrils emerged from his back sprang forward toward the being, and slashed its appendages that slithered tightly around Sickness.
As she tore the severed limbs from herself Sickness stood up to come to Effs aide as he continued to challenge the beast. It thrashed its arms towards Eff narrowly missing him as he charged towards it, successfully stabbing a tendril into the being's head. Now, Eff was close enough to where the being grabbed him and began to constrict all around his body.
"Ahh, grabby aren't you?" Eff laughed demonically, as he began to aim for its head again. He wasn't in any pain, that he had to be thankful for as he wasn't fully human yet.
"I'm not going to let some sad sack of shit ruin my only chance now." He proclaimed as his blow to the head connected, however, the being's grip didn't let go as it screeched. Eff then saw behind them a few feet away, Sickness in her unbridled glory as she came barreling towards them on her razor-sharp scythe-like legs. She made enough of a launching impact into the middle of their enemy to create a hole to which she started slashing away.
Dboy and Reverend heard the pleas from Sickness and began running into the woods where the fighting raged on. By the time they arrived, both Sickness and Eff appeared to be demolishing and ripping apart whatever was left of the attacker. Dboy scowled lower as he saw it was now overkill and the creature was no longer moving.
"How embarrassing."
Walking over, Dboy exclaimed, "Alright, alright, you got him! I don't think it's going anywhere!"
Snapping out of their bloodthirsty rage, Eff and Sickness transformed back to their default humanoid selves. Seeing the black misty remains as they slowly drifted into thin air, Dboy observed the pile of dark matter.
"So what happened?" Reverend asked as he walked to Sickness's side.
Sickness shrugged in annoyance, dusting off whatever remains splattered on her, "Right as Eff started to leave, a woman appeared by me. Disguised as this shit started telling me they knew Our Creator and started to drag me off saying, 'Don't make Father wait'. Stupid sack of shit! Couldn't even stay alive for long!"
"That's because it wasn't designed to." Dboy said shaking his head, "This was a puppet. I remember our dear Creator used to pull some shit like this with Nny sometimes. Tell me Sickness, what did the woman look like?"
Playing with her hair, She replied nonchalantly, "Green eyes, smallish face, dark hair all I could see."
Sighing, Dboy knew then and there it was the woman Zaira he met all that time ago. "Do you all remember that time at the riverbed where we first camped out with humans? That "woman" appeared to me too saying her name was Zaira. Gave me the worst tremor I'd ever had. But I still remember that vision of a large building, it had a balcony. Whatever is waiting for us there, it's there."
Eff furrowed his brow, "It's almost like deja vu. She shows up again when we are around a group of humans even choosing to go after Sickness of all people. Say, Reverend?"
The meat priest perked up after shifting around in the black dust remains of the deceased puppet, "What is it?"
Eff questioned, "Dboy & I didn't want to be connected to any of Shmees filth but you kept connected, right? What happened? Did Shmee attach himself to that girl's life force?"
Gleefully smiling, he recalled," Ha ha ha, he sure did! I mean from what I could tell. I couldn't take much of a proper gander since this fight broke out. You think this creature showed itself because of what Shmee was doing?"
Eff nodded his head as he continued, "I think it was a way to make sure Shmee wasn't going to do what he did. I mean this being was weak as all hell. It makes me think she showed up at the riverbed to attack Dboy since maybe he or any of us could have figured out Shmee's idea earlier. I don't know, maybe the misery that was found under that bridge that night Dboy would've caught on..."
Dboy contemplated, he knew it was unusual for him to be the only one targeted that night but understood Eff's theory. He became incapacitated through most of the night while the others couldn't have had the advantage Dboy had.
"But, why would it attack Sickness? And you? Why wouldn't have gotten Shmee instead?" Dboy rebutted. However, it then clicked for all of them in that instant. The puppet was too late. Shmee had been successful with overtaking a different human other than his original conceptor, Todd.
As the four of them raced back towards the campsite just an hour before the sun began to rise they saw Shmee standing at the edge of the camp in a robe waiting for them to arrive. Sipping out of a mug of coffee, Shmee couldn't wait to have more of it. It was probably going to be his next very human obsession.
Smiling, he raised his free hand and started waving at the rest of his group, "Hey! So happy to see you all come back from your little adventure!"
Eff snarled as he approached him, "Yeah! No thanks to you while you were getting your dick wet!"
Chuckling in response, Shmee knew he had something now to show for it. He then revealed what he was after all along to the rest of the group.
It almost felt like lightning, they could feel themselves almost transcend into the air when they suddenly had their vision taken away into complete darkness...then, a light appeared. Eff, Sickness, and Reverend could feel its warmth. Like an embrace radiating from the inside out all over, it almost felt like...home. Nothing like the stiff coldness of their creator, for this was the complete opposite. They knew it was evidence of raw life force. Dboy felt it burning him almost tearing away at his senses as it felt most violating to his spiritual desires. No, he refused this attack on life onto him. As the feeling of their body came slowly back onto earth, their vision slowly improved to normal. The light they were seeing condensed around Shmee in almost like a bright body-shaped orb. For a minute they could see it - Shmee now carried his attachment to the girl Dani. And very soon, she would lose her mind and perish. All because Shmee had her life now.
Eff shook his head in almost blinding jealousy, he knew now Shmee could siphon her off at any time and become real.
"I guess you fuck a woman and everything is better now huh?" He seethed at a grinning Shmee.
He smacked Eff's shoulder playfully, "Haw, haw, haw! Don't be envious older brother! You'll have your own way of achieving what I have. Everything now makes sense to get what we all want."
"You have it figured out now?" Reverend asked hopefully. He knew what he saw through Shmee wasn't the only way. But he had to confirm if it was true.
Shmee replied, "By the means that we are conceptualized is the means of how we get what we want. I am one to absorb trauma, which is why I was created. Sickness was created to absorb creativity. Eff was created to absorb depression and in turn, used to invoke murderous maniac tendencies. Dboy was created to counter Eff, create more depression while subduing the lust for life. And, Reverend, similarly to Eff you were made to invocate desire in the most libertine way without morals or repression."
Dboy couldn't believe what he was hearing. For him to leave this world he would have to get close to a depressed human long enough to which he could attach himself. Only then, he would have to do god knows what to make that happen. Dboy almost became ill thinking he would have to do what Shmee had done.
The rest, however, were beyond excited.
"Well, shit!" Sickness gasped, "I didn't think you weren't going to able to find a way but fuck!"
Overcome with joy plastered on his face, Eff and Reverend jumped around, hooting and hollering in celebration. But Shmee settled them down by saying, "Now, Now, not the time to rejoice for certain things have to happen first."
Pausing and scratching his neck Reverend remembered what he had uncovered & reached into his back pocket. Handing over a paper flyer to Shmee, "Would this have anything to do with it?"
Opening up the folded piece of paper, Shmee looked it over before handing it over to DBoy, "A freakshow? Out in Maine? Where did you find this?"
"I found it buried in the creature's remains - oh that's right you weren't there for it. " Reverend replied shrugging.
Shmee knew what he was talking about though. He was aware of the attack going on and knew the creature was after him first but didn't bother to face it as he was just on the precipice of getting what he wanted. Right when he had full access to Dani's lifeforce, Sickness and Eff were already taking care of the being.
Dboy felt a shock of electricity go through his hand as he held the flyer and read its contents. He knew, through the haze of his tremor, that this was what had been calling to him for a while. The encounters with this puppet creature, the vision of the building, all of it was coming together. Now equipped with Shmee's sordid knowledge of attaching to new humans it was time now more than ever to get what they all wanted. They needed to go to this freakshow.
Sickness could almost cry, now there was a chance they could all be set free without one or the other killing each other. But a small question remained, "Hey Shmee?" she asked.
He looked over to the doll-like abomination that called to him, with her usual shadow-like framed glassy eyes as she continued nervously rubbing her hands together, "Is one person going to be enough?"
Perplexed almost, Shmee questioned it in his mind and understood what Sickness meant by that. If they weren't their original creators or flushers do they have to go out and "hunt" for more?
"Hmm not sure yet, we'll check back in with that once Dani is dead," Shmee answered. "We ought to get going now, don't you agree?" He asked Dboy as the voice of misery nodded.
"Yeah let's get the hell out of here."
Quiet in the early morning rising, all were asleep in vans, RVs, and campers. None were the wiser to the horror in the woods last night, as all 5 Voices gathered their things in secrecy. As Shmee readied himself he left a handwritten letter to Dani. He knew the act was over, but he needed to make sure he would always stay on her mind. He figured it didn't matter though as he knew he would stay tethered to her spirit. Nonetheless, folded and left on her side table was the best psychical memory he could leave her with. As the sun rose, the mysterious travelers were long gone. What was left was only a brief mention in between whispers of other transients at the camp, and a letter that Dani read moved her to tears. She knew she would never see Blue again, but it was strange in the way she felt healed. She knew she would live to see another sunrise again. She would meet another, hopefully with the same beautiful dark eyes Blue possessed that gleamed in the sunlight. She lived in this moment where love and care do exist again. Dani smiled, feeling whole again she got ready for the day and tucked the letter under her pillow. Knowing full well that when night comes, and the night after, and the night after that, she would re-read the tender words left behind by a man she barely knew. But now more than ever, she would create a life of her own & die happy having the pleasure to meet him.
"I do apologize if this sudden departure is rude or even inconsiderate of me. I have my obligations to fulfill, but the time I had the pleasure to spend with you has revived me so. Dani, I don't want you to pause your life out of fear or rejection or loss ever again. For you see, I will always be with you. This isn't the end of us, or rather what we have represented. I know you are stronger than what you had to survive through, and you no longer will survive but will simply live again. There will be times when things seem dark, but I will be there with you by your side. Absorbing those things you cannot take. All I ask in return is you not to forget me. And one day, we'll be together again."
Somewhere, far away, the voice of a trauma conduit softly laughed to himself. He knew she was thinking of him as they left that morning.
"If only you knew how fucked you are."