Landing on his arse with a huge "thump" he didn't get far, Carl's hands flew out grabbing his hips in a death grip stronger than he'd ever felt. "How was this half-dead fucker so strong?", it was too insane to deal with. He tried desperately to pull away, clawing and kicking backwards but it was impossible, it felt like an iron vice locked onto him.

The right hand released his side and moved up, gripping his shirt, the shit head was actually pulling itself up him. He fell backward in the struggle, with Carl fully on his legs, lying on his back he felt the pressure of the heavy filthy body sliding up his own.

Clambering and jerking nothing he did could shift the encroaching stink that was making its way up to his chest. It wasn't just heavy, it was like shifting dead weight, and with the vice-like grip digging into his flesh, he couldn't escape.

Terror started to fill him, thrashing out was pointless and he couldn't roll with the position he was held in. While shouting every profanity he could think, Carl's face reached just above his chest.

Screwing his hands into fists he hit him in his sticky wet face with everything his awkward entanglement allowed. This only seemed to halt the advancing teeth, he hit him again and again. The sticky thick gunk flew everywhere and a few metallic tasting bits flew at his mouth, spitting and retching he lost concentration for just long enough to miss Carls movement...

He noticed the tugging sensation first, it was like a dull ripping sensation, no real pain but there was almost like a warm throbbing that was hard to ignore. Forgetting the taste of what might have been in his mouth he Looked down, it was a weird angle but dread slowly replaced fear.

Arching his neck, most of what he saw was Carls head moving, it seemed almost rhythmic. Realization dawning on him, the arsehole raised his head, this nightmare was chewing on a piece of his flesh torn forcefully from its place above his right nipple. The striking and scrambling intensified, the sticky liquid was spraying all over his face, and it was getting into his eyes, nose, and mouth now but this wasn't important in his frantic struggle.

He barely heard it, through the madness......

RotBaby...... AHHHHHGHHHHHHHHH FOOOOOODDDDDDDDD.

"Fuck, I'm going to get eaten" he screams out.

He felt the fear turning to anger, all he could think about was being found rotting and half-eaten, never having achieved anything in life. "Even the person who had to clean it would think he was pathetic" his mind was becoming a swirling mass of rage-filled despair.

Feeling the negative feelings ball up in his stomach he clenched his hand so tight dark liquid started running from between his fingers. Using every bit of the anger and frustration that had built over the past days until now, he used it all to fuel himself. launching his fist straight into Carls snarling mouth, the head surprisingly flew backward with force. Teeth and chunks of gum went rocketing in all directions, staring at his blood-covered fist he was in astonishment.

"How had that happened, he wasn't strong enough to do this was he?" Snapping out of his thoughts, Carl's head starts pulling back to face him again. The snarling face now had a fist-sized hole where its mouth used to be, the jaw was half hanging away and black liquid oozed out through the gaping wound.

Seeing this his mind went back to terror after spending all the rage in one mad attempt at surviving, he was empty. Even looking like he lost an argument with a sledgehammer, nothing he was doing could get Carl off! Louder this time he heard it properly.

RotBaby........ FOOOOOOOOOOODDDDDD

His body froze, he was one second trying to get away then it just stopped moving. "Oh Fuck, No No, not now!" he screamed, he couldn't afford his body to stop working now.

Clive...... Damn it RotBaby, You fucking moron! You gave us away right at the perfect moment, you arsehole!

Dread filled his mind, and he could have sworn time slowed as the voices registered to him...

"Wait no no no, this can't happen now! I thought you were gone?", He began shouting out in the ramping of the insanity level of it all.

As he was internally melting down he could feel Carl trying to bite him again. Cloth and flesh ripped but without a lower jaw the damage wasn't nearly as bad now, with no pain to react to his mind started breaking.

"Was I going to lie here paralyzed by insanity and die?" It was so hard to focus but when his arms started moving of their own accord this cleared his mind fast.

He screamed at the delusion within himself, "This isn't real, I won, I could move!".

A Cackling laugh flew into his head...

Clive.... "ha ha ha", nope you idiot. But I've got to give you credit on getting Dad to back down there! When he started nuking your brain I hid trying to avoid that punishment, after you went all defiant child in his and won that dick measuring contest. Then with RotBaby silent being knocked out, you started shouting about how you won and I thought to myself "Now this would be a great time to play a little trick". So I went quite planning on waiting till a great time to crush your fragile mind.

Snapping back to the scene in front of his eyes, his hands had started coming together above his chest, they clasped onto Carl's head and began lifting.

Laying there with no control he could see the gruesome damaged head rise up like it was a weak child, small chunks of flesh lifted away with it.

"Wait a trick! are you fucking joking?", he going fully insane none of this was real. How could it be, "I'm not dead and I could move..."

Clive.... gotta admit I was shocked at that part, turns out if you use a strong enough emotion, you can wrestle control from RotBaby and he goes to sleep. That was lucky...

The Talking carried on while all he could do is watch the horror happening.

Carl's head continued moving up until it was in line with his face. He could see it now, his eyes were completely clouded over and his face looked feral, the fucker was still trying to mouth at him. Carl continued to pull and grip at him, but his head just stayed still unmoving like the weight he struggled with was nothing.

Clive.... oooooh, this part is going to be fun.

"What part", he asks fascinated by what was happening. Curiosity turned into a terror-filled nightmare as I watch in horror.

His hands start squeezing around the head, pressing into the sides like testing a melon for ripeness. This was surreal, he watched as Carl's head started to, well it started to change shape in front of his eyes. It tried to pull away yanking and pushing, realizing something was wrong, he heard cracking, as leaking splits started appearing around the eyes. Skin started to peel away but his hands kept squeezing, the rapidly crushing head was now spewing dark stinking liquid all over him, his mouth was full of foul-tasting metallic gunk. This was horrifying to watch but worse was when the head started to get pulled closer...

His mouth began to open, he was unable to do anything, he didn't have control of anything but his eyes now. He tried to scream as the misshapen once head passed his lips, he tasted it.

Clive was filling his head with maniacal laughter...

Clive..... ha ha ha ha ha ha, this is so much better than I imagined!

The taste was like a cross between rotten egg and iron, he wanted to gag or vomit but it would come. He kept watching unable to control his eyelids or switch off from it.

Carls head, broken and crushed connected with his tongue fully in his mouth, teeth sank down into it. Nothing he could do would stop the horror he was being made an unwilling participant. After a few bites, the feeding turned into a frenzy, over and over he bit into it.

Tasting every bite not all of it tasted the same, some parts were worse than others and a few had a bile taste that made him want to die. Worse than all of the eating and the terror was the slight relief he felt when he tasted the brain and it was sweet. The thought of preferring one part to another when it's all human was just too much. As flesh ripped and bone crunched he couldn't get away from it, no closing his eyes, no control just frantic feeding with sounds he would never forget. His mouth groaned out sounds of enjoyment and all he did was scream internally.

All of this happened while Clive laughed. Unsure how long it lasted but by the end, he felt numb inside more than his body ever was on the outside. Carl wasn't a bad landlord, they weren't close but this was too fucked up, he had eaten an actual human, all he wanted to do was puke but he couldn't. All he could do was watch it all in silence.

At some point he realized it was all over, he had been lying on the ripped-up remains of Carl so long the blood had dried upon him now. The mess was starting to give off a nasty sulfur smell.

Looking around himself he discovered he could move again, his body was now his own. Looking towards his fingers they flex and he was afraid of getting up and seeing the mess, once he did it would be real, he wouldn't be able to deny it any longer.

He spoke, "I'm really dead aren't I?"

Clive... you finally back buddy? You ok now?

Sighing he resigned himself to listening to the insanity, he was a talking demon in his head "was that really the most insane thing right now" he thought to himself. In a tone void of emotion "why would you care if I'm ok!. Just answer my question "am I really dead?"

Clive.... ha ha ha, your right I don't, it's just all this laying here in self-pity is killing me inside slowly, and I just want your pansy-ass to move, we need to get started

"NOW" he snapped, anger flaring.

Clive.... whoa whoa there big guy, yeah your dead, I told ya already. Forgot to check if you were breathing again? "haha".

"I just ate my landlord and you are joking? I ripped him apart and ate him, I tasted every bite...." he gripped his head.

Clive.... "You" didn't eat your landlord!

"What? HAVE YOU GONE FUCKING STUPID?" Temper rising again. "What would you call it then?"

Clive.... well if we want to get all technical your body ate him, not you. You aren't badass enough to do that, nope! That one was all on RotBaby, gotta admit when he went all xenomorph alien on Carl's ass and started eating through his stomach my impression of it went up a notch. Then he went and just rolled over to sleep, that was just cold as you can get! Didn't even want to cuddle and chat with her after...

he laughed hard at this.

It must be full-blown PTSD but he stifled a laugh too!

don't get him wrong, he felt sick at what had just happened but he wasn't expecting the alien reference at all. In his mind, all he could think of was tiny versions of himself popping out of a person's chest, as fucked up as that is he laughed, he laughed and laughed and laughed. He laughed so long his voice started to wear out and go gruff.

After the hysterical laughing stopped he got up, avoiding looking towards the mess left behind. Surprisingly he felt far more steady and in control of this now. Getting up was still weird with no feeling but he did it with little trouble. Lifting his arms, the dexterity in his fingers was far better compared with earlier, he could now move them properly again at least. Overall he just felt stronger and more himself now.

"I feel more in control" he spoke out loud. "Is RotBaby or whatever it is, sleeping again? Is my body mine again?"

Clive... hmmmmm kinda and not quite at the same time. Look I'm going to level with you, don't get used to it, RotBaby can take it back if it wants something bad enough! For now though, we need to get moving, I don't want to die since I'm stuck in here with you.

Arent I already dead?

Clive.... don't interrupt with stupid comments, I get dumber every time you talk I swear. You are dead but if that dumb brain of yours gets enough damage even Dad cant save you. We both die.

"Ok ok ignoring your smartass insults ill bite, just keep it simple. got it?"

Clive... fine, but it's hurting trying to think in a way that your limited mind can grasp.

"Hey.... cut it with the insults, I'm not joking."

Clive... ha ha ha, ok look I'm not an expert on the dead or anything but my guess is when you topped your weak ass and died the curse took your body for itself, it won outright after you gave up. The only reason you're even still here messing up my day is because of Dad. He messed around with the situation somehow, must have used your last thoughts of wanting to live to bypass some pretty rigid rules where I'm from.

"Mark on my soul? you said that before, and it still doesn't make sense" he interrupts.

Clive.... wait, stop before I lose the will to live and vote for RotBaby smashing our skull against a wall! I'm getting to it, let me finish!

"I'm trying too ok! the mark on my soul bit is too confusing", he was willing to accept being dead now, even the bit about a demon and a curse stuck inside him, after the mess that was his landlord he couldn't deny it, this was all so crazy.

The souls and marks thing was the part he didn't get, "what was in it for Clive's Dad?" He wondered. The only reason he was not passing out yet from all the insanity was the no breathing part of it all, score one for being undead!

Clive.... Yeah on your souls, Dad's mark is like a contract kinda, it's more complicated but it's a way of making an exchange of things legally binding in our world so to say. You get something he gets something so to speak, but once you sign it, there is no going back "haha".

"So what did I get and more importantly agree to pay?"

Clive.... What you got is simple and complex at the same time! You got to still be here somehow, not sure how yet though, maybe a minion-type thing. That allowed your soul to stay in here with me "yay thanks Dad". Now for the weird part and when I say this I'm being honest it's strange. I didn't think it was possible with the rules of balance but as for what you paid, it's nothing. Your soul is marked but you have no conditions at all so far as I can tell. Dad isn't the giving type at all so it's weird!

"So he brought me back to life but doesn't want anything in return?" he interrupts sarcastically! He speaking but not waiting for a reply now just letting it sink in, "but you say the curse won and claimed my body?". I lift my bloody hands in front of my eyes, "Why am I here moving then?, Shouldn't it just be the curse... RotBaby I mean, just be here, not me?"

Clive... well to make it easier think of your body as the battleground, RotBaby started in your ankle, he began attacking to gain ground, in this case, your body. As you got weaker and your body starts dying the attack moves towards your soul's last place of defense, the brain. In your case though, you up and left the castle so RotBaby moved in thinking it won. You got really lucky though, Dad rode in here and built you a special ultra-cool castle to protect your soul from ever being evicted, he then moved you and me back in all safe and sound locking it tight when he left "sigh". RotBaby though like the stubborn baby it is couldn't accept its defeat and made its own castle in your stomach refusing to give back the ground it stole. This is all metaphorical so to speak but basically, you currently own about 20% of the place and he won the rest when your weak ass gave up, It isn't all bad though! As long as he doesn't get too hungry again we might be able to keep him in this dormant state, but that's just guesswork.

The mention of being hungry snapped his mind back to Carl on the floor in a mutilated half-eaten state and the blood covering himself. He almost went back to his panicking but kept himself steady, he replied in more control.

"So him being hungry is why that.... situation with my landlord happened?".

Clive.... this case was a little more extreme. RotBaby by its nature is always hungry, but when it's starving it will blindly rampage and attack anything it considers food! All you need to know is lack of food makes baby mad. Maybe one day we can train RotBaby with treats like a dog "ha ha ha".

He starts looking at his nails all chipped and bloody then down over his body, his clothes were ragged blood-stained tatted remains of what they once were. He looked at his shirt closer, it was torn open on the right upper side near his chest. There was dried blood like the rest but the bite mark he expected to see wasn't there.

In its place was an ugly dark grey scar. The entire place was covered in ugly dead skin but it was closed over, no gaping hole as he expected. Wondering to himself "is this super healing?", it couldn't be, it was more like it was repairing itself with patches of rotting flesh.

"So by my understanding of this whole thing is two giant all-powerful assholes are using my body as a plaything?" The question came out sharply.

"One wants to make it into a mindless zombie feeding on humans and the other is refusing to let me die because you fucked up and almost got yourself killed too, Is that right? " he didn't understand it any more than before but he could at least grasp the idea.

Clive.... grossly simplified and I completely disagree about the part where you imply I fucked up and not you! But sure to move this along, yeah you've got a general idea.

Looking down at the mess on the floor that was once my landlord, he started to feel the rage bubble up again.

"Fuck you both" he called up to the air aloud, "I'm not some game character you can just up and play with. I'm not being part of this game", his voice becoming harsher as he spits the words out.

Expecting pain he winced not caring.... after a few seconds, no big voice rattled his mind and no pain came.

Clive.... yeah I wouldn't worry about that! When you threw that tantrum I think he realized you weren't going to break and since killing you wasn't an option he's been kinda quiet. Can't even feel him watching us now, If you didn't look like a huge man baby, crying and screaming that might of been a little cool! The snot ruined it so wasn't to be super clear, I'm in no way saying your cool.

Pinching my nose he felt the pressure now he realized, sighing, "Ok I get it so you're saying I'm super cool and your Dad sucks ass!".

Clive.... HEY, that's not even close to what I said. Try to be a nice guy and this is what I get for my efforts, disrespect from a meat bag

He stopped listening to him, turning around he was now in thought, " have no real friends, my family although in good intention smothered me and I was just miserable living a meaningless existence".

He walked towards the door done with this place, he just wanted out of this house and everything it represented now. Ripping back the sheet covering the door, his vision was filled with white, he wondered for a second if he was about to feel pain.

Standing there with arms up to protect himself, all he could hear was laughter ringing in his head, "what! what is it?" He calls out...

Clive.... You were kinda out of it for a while there, you went full vegetable on me! I tried telling you but you weren't listening. Congratulations you made it to dawn big guy!

Sudden realization at the words he scrambled for the door, in a mad effort he unlocked it with ease. Turning the handle, he pulled with everything he had...

The sunlight hit his eyes and instantly he was blinded by how bright it was out here, it felt funny expecting to see gloomy weather and realize the world gives zero fucks about how your feeling. His eyes now adjusting, the scene in front of his eyes was that of utter madness. It was like going to sleep one day and waking to a nightmare the next!

The peaceful red brick streets he was so used to seeing had car wrecks, smashed windows, and fires blazing all around. It was like stepping into that aftermath of a war that you missed, he felt like he had gone down a rabbit hole to hell.

Despite this whole shitshow he was grinning! One thing was looking up in life or death in this case. He now had a reason to live, a reason to move, to try. Cutting off his thoughts Clive spoke...

Clive.... we're gonna need supplies

"Supplies?" He asks

Clive.... if we're gonna fuck over Dad and his Freinds game we're gonna have to prepare.

"And your ok with that? Won't Daddy be angry?"

Clive.... I'm still pissed Dad turned me into a useless familiar and abandoned me in here with you two morons. I'm not sure how much we can do but I've got a few ideas "ha ha ha ha"

The last part was cackled out like a maniac.

"You are kinda twisted you know that right?"

Clive.... yep and your broken, maybe we can start a boyband.

He laughed, "we can put RotBaby on the drums, not sure he's up to singing".

Clive.... I just realized I don't know what to call you. I never asked your name...

"Hmmmmm, my name", he thought about this question. Thinking on it, it felt weird, his entire life was over and at this point with everything he went through, that felt like a different person. With how broken he was at this point, the old him was gone, he felt foreign and vague now. The name too, this felt like it belonged to the loser who hung himself, the guy who shit all over himself.

That wasn't him anymore. "I've decided something Clive" he speaks breaking the pause.

Clive.... not what I asked but ill play along, just hope those two brain cells rubbing didn't cause a fire! What did you decide?

I'm throwing away the old me along with his name, he died hanging on a door like a pathetic loser. I'm not going to die like that again, I'm living forever.... this will be my new life in this shit and blood-stained world.

Call me DeadHead

High pitched laughing went on for a while from Clive and at this and he began to feel it was a mistake to try and be civil. Clive began cutting him off...

Clive.... I like it, suits you! The wishy-washy metaphoric story was a bit much but I dig the name. Fine nice to meet you DeadHead lets fuck this shit up......

Taking a huge step forward to the freedom in front of him, words rang out in his mind...

"I'm not your game character, I'm not your fucking toy to fight over. You could have won, all you had to do was let me die my way! You both took that from me and now I'm going to live. I'm going to shove this existence so far up your arses you taste my shit-covered rage forever. Fuck your pact I'm motivated now and I'm not playing by your rules".