Holly dusts off her hands as she heads back into the rustling kitchen. “Alrighty, Mr. Punky Poo, your father better be feeding you the SUGAR-FREE and lactose-free ice cream-” She freezes.

A cloaked and tailed woman sits lazily upon the cracking center of the table as she sloppily chews on leftover dino meat. The table is in shambles with spots of black muck.

Angus is sealed to the wall in the same goop, he mumbles from his muck-covered lips.

And in his high chair, Punk’s hands are glued down, and his mouth is also glued shut. He wobbles the best he can, which is not much at all…

Holly’s eye twitches and she clenches her knuckles at her sides. They pop in sequence. “...who are you?”

The woman holds up a finger and continues chewing. “Hangongimmeasec.”

Holly scowls, and her knuckles clench to the point that they are popping like stove-top corn kettles. “...what did YOU do to MY HUSBAND and MY SON?”

Angus, in vain, tries to scream at Holly beneath the muck.

“Who knew Oviraptor philoceratops could taste this good?” The woman belches. “Oh, those two neanderthals? Ummmmmm, I spat on them, DUH!” She chucks the finished bone at Holly’s forehead.

The exact instant the bone ricochets off her forehead, Holly dashes forward and slices vertically with the sharpest knife from the countertop she could get her hands on. All in one impressive swoop.

“Hey-yo~! That’s fast~!” An upward voice chides.

But, not impressive enough. Another bone hits Holly’s forehead as she looks up.

Like a gecko, the strange woman hangs upside down with her bare feet. Her tail droops down with her bow-adorned hair.

In shock, Holly drops the knife. Her eyes also fixate on the symbol on the woman’s left thigh. It’s familiar, a poker diamond with a DNA helix in the center. The same one on the metal card Fabby bit into during breakfast.

The woman wags her finger. “My eyes are up here, perv!” Her eyes bulge out into sharper-than-before scleras.

Holly can also sense something, an unseen and unknown force, emanating from the woman and filling the atmosphere…it makes Holly fearful, but she stays focused…

Suddenly the woman’s cheeks swell up and hiss like a helium-filling balloon. Odd veins rise and swing ’round her neck and pop out the skin to reveal frills with sharp edges. Bubbles foam between her lips. Then, her mouth jets out black muck at the knife on the floor below like a gunshot.

“Frail jittery hands shouldn’t play with knives. An old hag like you could injure herself~!” She flips off from the ceiling and lands cross-legged on the table.

The table cracks more as she wiggles her ass on it to get comfy.

Holly clenches her fist and launches another punch!

*SPLAT* Muck is spat at her fist, and the force glues her arm firmly to the wall.

The woman chuckles.

Holly tries to free her arm, but it won’t even so much as budge. She stops. “...what do you want from us?”

The woman stretches her arms, lays on her back, and yawns. “Waiting for some bimbo with a nice body and clubs on her cheeks to come home already…ugh…the wait is killing me…” She pokes her right and left cheek. “...and with amber eyes too…” She holds open her eyelids.

‘...Fabby…’ Holly’s mind races.

The woman senses Holly’s fear. “Yer name is Hollyrock Granite, right? I know allllllllll your names. Lardass is Angus, and the punk is Punk.” The woman cocks back up to sit. “We got everything all figured out. Fabiana, Club, whatevs, will come in, see her precious family held hostage, and surrender without a fuss. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy.” The woman squeezes her own titties and chortles childishly.

Holly scowls. “Surrender? Why? For what?”

The woman looks annoyed and pouts. “Umm. Hello? Cuz we need to drag her ass back to our AWESOME machine to extract her eyes. RIGHT. OUT. OF. The sockets.” Her devilish smile matches each syllable.

Holly gasps and sweats.

“Awww, my master is a genius~!” The woman blushes.

“...muh…muh?” A squeaky voice calls.

Holly looks over.

“...muh…muh?” The squeaky voice calls again.

The woman looks over faster. As if her hunter's eyes are triggered.

“muh…muh?” Sweet little Pearl is in the kitchen. She is crying, and her eyes are also of amber.

Holly cries. “...no…” She looks over to the woman.

The woman starts to clap and skips over. “Oh my goodness~❤️ What have we here~?” She hoists up Pearl.

Holly reaches in vain. “LET HER GO!”

The woman keeps a safe distance while jostling around Pearl. “She’s perfect~❤️ I’m taking her too! Oh, yes, yes, yes~❤️”

Holly desperately tries to pull herself free. “SHE’S JUST A BABY!”

“The sweetest lil’ baby~❤️ Shoot, will my master let me keep her or use the machine on her too?” The woman pouts in postulation.

Pearl SCREAMS.

“PUT HER DOWN!” Holly is pulling so hard on the wall that it’s beginning to crumble around her. Her eyes turn amber too, dull, yet still faintly amber.

Angus pleads under his glued mouth, as does Punk. Both are on the verge of tears.

The woman puts her hand over her mouth in shock. “Golly gee~! You too? The master will be very pleased with my discovery today!”

Holly snorts, the veins bulging in her forehead. She frees herself and an entire chunk of the wall like an earthquake.

Pearl yells. Angus yells. Punk yells. The woman blows a raspberry.

With a wild and unrelating gaze in her eyes, Holly charges-

*POOOOOOW* An abrupt fist crams into Holly’s face.

Holly’s head slams on the ground as she slides across the floor. The kitchen floor is now decorated with a crater beneath her skull.

“MUH-” Pearl tries to scream before getting silenced by muck.

The woman pats Pearl’s cheeks lovingly. “Hush now, sweetie~❤️”

Angus’ and Punk’s eyes watch a dense shadow approach the woman with heavy footsteps.

The robed figure responsible for striking Holly cracks their knuckles.

The woman pouts. “I can handle myself, Anky!”

“Sure…you’re fully exposed...where’s your robe?” A tail with a mallet of bone whips with force from the figure’s backside.

“Sliced up on the table.” The skimpy woman with the bow in her hair points over. “I was in disguise. You’re welcome!” She sticks out her tongue.

“Heh. Knowing your shameless self, you probably were eager to show off your body…” The figure, presumably named Anky, throws off her own robe. Her muscles are rippling, and her frame is wide and rocky, literally. Stones shield her breasts and abdomen. On her left arm is the same symbol of her companion.

The skimpy woman pouts. “And what if I was? HMPH! I’m a super sexy icon that people everywhere can’t resist drooling over. That’s everyone else’s problem, not mine!”

“Huh? Wouldn’t that get troublesome? Wouldn’t you want to cover yourself?”

“I like being drooled over! HMPH!”

“...shameless and full of it…” Anky sighs, then gets up close and personal with Pearl. “Eh? She’s got the eyes too?”

Pearl shakes and looks away.

“Yeah. Say hi to our new baby sister~❤️ She’s so cute~❤️” The skimpy woman makes funny faces at Pearl.

Anky feels a tug on her ankle.

It’s Holly, she crawled over.

“And that’s Holly. She’s got ’em too.” The woman points down at Holly.

Anky crushes Holly’s hand with a stomp. “I noticed but wasn’t impressed. She’s old and weak. She’s better off dead…” Anky lifts her leg to stomp again-

The woman bonks Anky’s head. “And our master would appreciate any extra samples.”

Holly feels dizzy…

“You’re such a pet and a pest!” Anky bonks back. “Don’t boss me around, Lopho! I haven’t had any real action all day!” Her stomach growls. “And I’m hungry!”

“It’s not mine or the master’s fault you’re hungry, cranky, and stupid.” Lopho pouts. “HMPH! There’s an ice cream cake in the freezer.”

“Ha. You didn’t already swallow it whole? I thought you loved sweets, pig.”

“HMPH! I don’t wanna get chubby and lose my perfect figure that compliments my perfect personality!” Lopho gestures her hand down her body. “Some of us care about that sort of thing.”

“Oh! Nuh-uh! Nah! Don’t you start with that again! My figure reflects the only thing that matters, MY STRENGTH!” Anky gets up in Lopho’s face. “You? What perfect figure? I have more skin and bone in my left ass cheek than you have in your entire body! I could poke ya, and you’d fall apart!”

“It reflects your personality! Rough, abrasive, and anti-social!” Lopho's face pushes back. “My figure is so much more inviting~❤️ I’m slender and easy to get touchy-feely with~❤️ I don’t mind getting poked in the right places~❤️ But NEVER from you!” Lopho blows a raspberry.

“...creep…” Anky walks over to the freezer and breaks her fist through it to chow down on Patty’s birthday ice cream cake. “WhywrouldIneedtabeinvitin’fer anyway?” Cake bits fly from her rude mouth.

“You’ll never make lots and lots of babies with that attitude!” Lopho launches a barrage of pouts in Anky’s direction.

“I DON’T WANT TO MAKE LOTS AND LOTS OF BABIES WITH ANY ATTITUDE!” Anky isn’t intimidated by pouts.

The two proceed to whine, bicker, and bitch at each other. Arguing back and forth incessantly. Pearl reaches for mommy on the floor…

Holly can barely understand anything being said…Holly feels dizzier and dizzier…Holly blacks out…

-CHAPTER END-

-SET IN STONE-