Codename: Bloodlust
Bloodlust:
“Pfftt, it’s locked. Make yourself useful and get it open mudhead.”
“Now!”
She stands back, huffing as she does. She hates him, in fact, she only tolerates him at all because she hasn’t quite figured out how to kill him yet.
Sludge:
“Yes.”
He mumbles, making his way to the garage door and pressing flush against it. His sludge-like body begins to seep through the cracks, the trash and debris that stuck to him falls to the ground when challenged by the cold steel of the door.
Bloodlust:
“Yuck.”
She turns her head in disgust, waiting until she hears the sound of the door opening.
“Out of my way!”
She struts past him, shooing him and avoiding any eye contact.
Sludge:
“Yes.”
He scuttles back to make room, watching her briefly before falling in line like a duckling. The building is dark and quiet and stretches in every direction, stains litter the tiled floors and cobwebs decorate the white walls. The empty halls make it seem like it’s been long abandoned, but it doesn’t fool Bloodlust. She knows places like this all too well. They continue on for quite a while before turning a corner to a long hallway.
Bloodlust:
“There it is.”
At the end of the hallway is a door with a red handle, just like they were told. The walk down the hallway feels like a time capsule, her mind swirling with violent flashbacks, she stifles the tears building in her eyes. She knocks loudly and steps to the side, pulling her pocket knife out and taking them to her wrists, slicing vertically four inches along each forearm as she winces in pain. Sludge backs away on the opposite side of the door, shrinking down until he’s almost a puddle, keeping his distance from her. A man with a machete comes out of the door, checking in her direction first.
Trafficker:
“What the—“
Bloodlust:
She waves her arm to the right and hardened tendrils of blood from her wrist slam him into the doorframe, his machete clatters to the floor as she wraps a tendril around his throat, using him as a shield as she enters the room. Sludge maintains his distance, peeking through the doorway to keep an eye on her.
“Die, die, die!”
She flings the man at another that was rushing her and impales a tendril through both of their chests, lifting them and pinning a third man against their bodies and a wall, repeatedly ramming them into each other until they create a collage of crushed bones and fresh blood. She retracts the tendril from her right arm enough to let their bodies fall and begins hitting objects around the room with a crazed look in her eyes, looking for a hideaway she is sure exists. She grunts as she slaps over cabinets and flips tables, Sludge finally enters the room with hesitation. Under a rug she finds a hatch and quickly pries it open with the help of her tendrils. Immediately she can hear crying and panic, she shoots down the stairs in a hurry.
“Shhh, it’s okay, I’ve got you, I’ve got you.”
A dozen or so children huddle in the corner together, cowering, their clothing dirty and torn. She plucks the girls from the crowd one by one, motioning for them to head up the stairs.
“Don’t worry about that stupid sludge—thing up there, he’s on our side.”
“Don’t look at the bodies..”
As the girls are escaping up the stairs, one of the boys whimpers.
Boy:
“What—what about us? We want to go home too.”
There is a deep sadness in his eyes, they’re dry, as his body has no tears left to give. His lip quivers as he speaks, his body is bruised, as are the others, no doubt from abuse.
Bloodlust:
Her hand falls from the back of the last girl exiting, she straightens up. Her small stature seemingly enormous in the moment to the petrified boys. She hisses and glares over her shoulder back at the boy dead in the eye as she rests her advance at the bottom of the steps.
“Why? So you can grow up to be like them?”
“Men?”
Her voice shakes and her lips curl in anger as the word grates along her vocal cords.
“No.”
The cold death sentence comes with a snarl from the depths of her heart. The boys scream in protest, the tendrils from her wrists whip at the air between them, warning them of what’s to come should they dissent any further. Her nostrils flare as she gives them one final look of contempt before making her way up the stairs and locking the hatch behind her. The boys beneath scream and plead, thumping along the steps and banging on the hatch from below. She drops the rug to leave the hatch hidden once again.
“Let’s go.”
She commands, leading the girls out in a hurry, they’re too frightened to inquire about the fate of the boys. Too scared of the blood-soaked woman and the smelly man made of dirt and trash trudging behind them. As they enter the long hallway, two men round the corner, drawing guns when they see the group.
“Protect me!”
Instantly, Sludge arches his elastic-like form up and over to the front of the group, stretching himself from wall to wall and ceiling to floor to block them from harm. The two men empty their magazines, but each impact is absorbed by the mass of sludge. Bloodlust grabs her knife once again, poking her palm this time and letting the blood pool. The sound of the men reloading echoes through the hall.
“Move!”
She orders Sludge, he parts and allows a small opening to appear within his body. She reaches her right arm up with her palm facing the men, steadying her aim with her left hand. She fires three large globs of blood that solidify while traveling the distance between them. Chunks of flesh are ripped from their bodies as the bullets of blood make contact with them. Their lifeless bodies drop to the floor in horrific fashion. The girls huddle together screaming and averting their eyes, scurrying past them as the group continues onward, remaining quiet afterwards until they reach the front garage door. The light of the sun is harsh as it hits the girls, it’s been some time since they’ve seen it, as the building had no windows. Just outside, a distraught woman is waiting in a social services van, she jumps out of the vehicle at the sight of the children.
Distraught Woman:
“Oh my—I got a call for—I can’t believe—“
She stutters in a frantic display of concern as she bounces from child to child, half-hugging them while shaking wildly, she can barely process the situation.
Bloodlust:
She squints at the woman, her pink locks of hair blowing in the gentle breeze.
“You’ll take care of ‘em, right?”
Distraught Woman:
Her hand flies over her chest, trying to calm herself down. She looks toward Bloodlust and notices how she’s caked in blood and open wounds, then at the man made of filth and her eyes widen in disbelief.
“Y—yes—yes!”
Bloodlust:
“They’ve been through a lot, don’t let them down.”
She begins to make her leave, trekking past the woman. Sludge follows closely behind.
Distraught woman:
“I—this needs to be reported—all girls—everyone’s out?”
She stumbles back when Sludge gets near, he smells of grime and garbage.
Bloodlust:
“Yes… just the girls were in there.”
She looks down at the ground like it called her name.
“You never saw our faces.”
She extends a tendril from her wrist into the air as a threat. Without another word, the woman nods mid flinch, packing the children into her van and running to the drivers side. Bloodlust watches them peel off before she begins walking. Sludge follows by her side, slightly behind pace.
“Thanks.”
She says begrudgingly, without looking back at him. Her wounds stop bleeding and she wipes away at the remnants of dried blood. She turns into an alley and begins the long walk with no home to call her own. A stray dog yelps at the sight of them and hides behind a dumpster.
“You’ve got to stop following me though you idiot.”
She stops and turns to him, arms flailing in a weak frenzy.
“I don’t know if you can tell, but I don’t exactly like men, I want nothing to do with them, including you! Even if you are some sort of monster, you’re still one of them!”
She pants, waiting for his response with a wide, exaggerated expression. A strand of hair falls over her left eye.
Sludge:
“Yes.”
He nods, despite sloshing closer towards her. She rolls her eyes and shakes her head, continuing forward.
Bloodlust:
“Ugh. I swear I’ll find a way to kill you, you know?”
Her fists clench at her sides.
Sludge:
“Yes.”
Bloodlust:
A small smirk tugs at the corner of her lips at his blind allegiance, she wouldn’t dare to let him see though. She loosens the tension in her hands slightly.
“You’re gonna find us a place to stay tonight, maybe drown someone in your disgusting goop or something.”
She stops and looks back at him.
“Now get your ass on the rooftops! We won’t make it a block with you in the streets.”
Sludge:
“Yes.”
He nods again as he scales the alley wall.
Bloodlust:
“And you’re sleeping on the floor!”
She yells up at him as she watches him slither his way up the wall.