Part 4 – Speak . . . (2/2)

Confused I looked around, Tanya should have been here, right? All I could see were quickly moving and blurry shapes. My head hurt and my vision blurred every time I tried to get up and move. And to make it worse, whenever I did so, someone or something would hold me down and restrict my movement. I knew only of Sadiya, who I suspected to be the one to torment me, actually being around, but by the sounds nearby I knew that other people were also in the area. I heard voices I didn’t know speak about things I couldn’t understand. Only when the very dominating and harsh voice of Sadiya managed to barely cut through the noise, I understood a bit of what was going on.

“Sir, yes it is under control.”

“...”

“Yes, there was a . . . situation. It is cleared now.”

“...”

“Yes, I understand Sir.”

“...”

“I would not advise it but . . .”

“...”

“Yes . . . it will be done, no need to worry. Jeez.”

All of a sudden Sadiya’s voice got louder as if she had turned in my direction.

“Alright, ladies and gents, clear out and we will proceed as planned.” ‘Proceed? Proceed with what?’ “And by the way, I would be very grateful if anyone of you finally manages to track down that damn escapee! We already have enough problems; don’t need that bitch on our asses too.”

Still held down by whoever was with me, I struggled against my bonds a bit more, when I saw something move close to me. A bulky, blurry, blue brute was coming my way! ‘No! Do not crush the squishy mage you damn moving mountain! Shoo! Shoo!’ Alas, my metal pushing seemed to do nothing to deter the colossus from approaching me. Seeing how my fate was in my hands alone, I tried crawling away as soon as my bonds were released. I must have made a good impression because the blue mass just stared down at me for a few moments, before shaking its top boulder. Not even a second later two strong grabby paws clenched tightly around my waist and I was lifted high into the air.

Much to my demise, it was in this very moment that my stomach decided that it rather wanted to stay grounded than join the new space program. And of course, to top it all off, it was less like a waterfall but more like a boiling pot of water under too much heat, as the puke began bubbling out of me. So instead of spewing my load over the pavement it just dribbled down my chest, covering both my clothes and the strong hands holding me. Curiously enough my hearing seemed to be normal again, as I actually could hear the man or thing holding me swear.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake! Lieutenant, your pet bitch just puked all over me!” ‘Hehe~, yes, I did! Beware the power of puke!’

“Then drop her!” ‘Wait, what!?’

Still surprised by Sadiya’s answer, I didn't even have the clearness of mind to process what happened next. Instead of putting me down on my feet or maybe laying me on the ground, the asshole holding me dropped me as if I was a particularly nasty old rag. And thanks to my still limp body I fell forward like a dead fish and impacted almost instantly with the cold hard asphalt. While it was indeed very outrageous how they handled an obviously sick person, my mind was soon occupied by other things. I hadn't quite realized it at first, but the ground actually felt sublime! The shallow puddle I was lying in was wonderfully cool and wet. I had never been one to revel in the rain, but now the little drizzle felt almost like kisses on my skin.

Indeed I was oddly content with the situation. Despite being treated like a piece of garbage, they had given me something so wondrous. Almost happily so my guts groaned and a little more puke bubbled up from my guts. Despite the more than copious amounts of puke I had already left on the street and myself, I didn't feel empty. In fact, it actually felt more as if something was replacing my stomach acid and now pushed out the offending liquid. There was another rumbling from my stomach, which prompted me to try and get out of my already ruined blouse in the vain attempt to save it from damage.

I had just fumbled with opening the last of my blouse's buttons when my guts clenched up. With shaky hands, I barely managed to get myself into a kneeling position before the rest of my stomach contents found its way out of me. Only this time it was less bubbling and more spewing forth from my throat. Coughing and choking on the very last remnants of my steadily declining dignity was definitely not how I had thought this day to go. After a minute or so of continuing this, I heard a gasp from close by and a metallic click right next to my ear. It was only after the sixth spasm that my teary eyes managed to focus on my surroundings

The first thing I noticed was the two pairs of armoured boots to the right and left side of my vision. And if I wasn’t entirely stupid, that click had been a gun’s safety. The only problem being that I couldn’t understand why someone would once more hold a gun to my head. It wasn’t as if I was in any kind of position to be dangerous or much of anything else right now! Confused my eyes darted around trying to find the reason for this behaviour when finally my gaze fell onto the ground below me. In between the puddle of vomit and water was something else. It was the same stuff that was also still dripping from the corner of my mouth. The soldiers must have thought I was changing into some kind of monster . . . that I was emerging!

And I couldn’t fault them, because before me was something entirely different from what a human normally produced. Dripping onto the pavement was a thick, blackish sludge. With its odd colour and high viscosity, there was no way that I could pass it off as simple spittle. Actually when listening closely one could hear a slight sizzle sound each time a drop hit the pavement. But the worst thing must have been when I reached out to touch it. Not only did the boots immediately retreat from me but I could hear more halfway audible words and shouting. Thankfully there was no need for me to understand them because when the shit I had puked up twitched closer to my hand I recoiled in an instant. Panicked I looked up to the blurry blue shapes before me, hoping that I wouldn’t be gunned down. My father would never accept an emerged daughter, and I, by the fucking hells, wasn’t sure what was happening to me right now!

Slowly but surely one of the mercenaries approached me. Coming closer, the dark skin and short black hair, exposed by her lack of a helmet, were a dead giveaway. Different from her colleagues, Sadiya did not point her weapon at me, so a point for her I guess. While her rifle was still slung over her shoulder, one of her hands rested on her side-arm in an easy to understand threat. I already half expected her to kick me even further to the ground but it was not to be. No, instead the woman that had not let out a single moment to torment me in the last few hours sat down in a crouch and looked at me in a mix between boredom and fake friendliness.

“So, you done?” She cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Ye- Yeah. I think so . . .” The entire situation was simply too weird and unbelievable.

“Good. Stand up and sit in the truck. Another of your “Situations” and I’ll sock you unconscious.”

“You aren’t going to shoot me?”

“Kid, you do know that these are sonic rifles, yes?”

With this, she simply stood up and left me where I was. All I could do was scramble to my feet and run after her if I didn’t want to be left behind.

. . .

I barely took notice of anything on the way back to my parent's mansion. My mind and senses were still so out of it that even looking out of the window provided me with a renewed feeling of vertigo. So instead of doing much of anything, I just sat with my eyes closed and slowly massaged my temples in the hope of fighting my migraine. Whatever the ritual had done to me, it was certainly wreaking havoc on my body. First were the missing memories and blackouts, then the headache and now I had even progressed to puking up weird sludge. ‘By the Ancient One I hop- Wait! What the heck? Who the fuck is the Ancient One!?’ Besides myself I startled out of my half-sleep only to be immediately greeted by a blinding light.

“Get up, we are here.” Sadiya turned around and I could just barely see her pocketing a flashlight. ‘Fucking Bitch.’

I did even spare her a glance as I rushed past her and put my finger to the door scanner.

“Beep, beeeep! You have no allowance to enter! Please leave or contact an operator!”

“What the fuck!?” I repeated the gesture only to be provided with the same answer.

“Oh? Is the mean door not letting you in?” I didn’t have to look to imagine Sadiya’s condescending smile.

“Shove off, bitch. I won’t be defied by technology!”

And so instead of trying to get the damn scanner to work, I simply put in the override code. I had been clever enough to break the scanner on its second day by repeatedly switching between scanning my pet mouse and my own hand. At some point, it had locked up and asked for operator calibration, so my father had sent Tanya to reset the thing. Afterwards, I had simply sensed for her astral residue left on the touchpad.

“Reset initiated. Please leave operator footprint.”

Once more I put my finger on the scanner.

"Genetical footprint is not identifiable. For better customer support your information has been sent to the QUARIUS R&D. Thank you for using a QUARIUS Security System. Operator race set as... Sentient. Temporary operating capabilities enabled.”

“What the...” I had half a mind of kicking that shitty thing.

“So it is true! Not even machines can stand being in a Sherman’s presence!” Not dignifying her with an answer I rushed inside the house

Once inside and finally safe from the annoying outside, I went straight for my bathroom. There was no way by the Ancient One that I was going to be covered in puke and muck any second longer! The worst was that thanks to the stuff already drying, my skin was itching like crazy. I wasn't even halfway there when I had to rip off my clothes. This was far worse than a simple itch; it felt as if part of my skin completely drying out.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” ‘Why does it itch so!?’

I chucked my skirt somewhere into a corner of my bedroom as I hopped around trying to get my tights off. When I finally managed to free myself of my fabric prison, I had to – much to my horror – see that my panties were almost glued to my skin. Working my finger between the seam, I was greeted by the same black goop from earlier.

“Nope! Shower now!”

Basically ripping the doors open and jamming my fingers into the control panel, I sighed in wanton bliss as the stream of hot water hit my back. It felt so wonderful on my skin, like the sweetest and loveliest of kisses. It was almost as if my body craved the water more than it did the air. And the best of all, the itch soon faded away to be replaced by a dull throbbing. Trying to feel for my most badly afflicted areas, I rubbed a hand along my throat where the itch had been the worst. And oh Ancient One it felt sublime. My skin was so soft and sensitive like never before, almost like the skin of a baby. My whole body trembled in pleasure at the merest touch! I was so absorbed in what basically amounted to getting off on choking myself that I would have almost missed what was actually happening. Only when I heard a soft splash I opened my eyes.

I jerked back at what I was seeing. Right next to my foot was a large shred of human coloured skin being washed away by the water. Not truly believing it I turned to the wall-mounted mirror and wiped away the haze. And there it was, right where I had tried to throat fuck myself, was a large spot were the skin was dark, soft and glistening. On each side of my throat were four holes, constantly trying to suck in water and push it out again. Still, in shock, I wrapped a hand around it trying to understand what was happening to me and then I felt it. There was a soft pulsing on each side, almost like little the pumping of two little hearts. All in all, it looked more like something belonging on an octopus than human really.

Finally realizing that this was actually happening, and not to someone else but to me, I tried to scream. Yet all I could do was Speak . . .

“AHHHHH!!!”