"JASON!" A faceless girl cried, "J-Jason, you c-can't!" She grabbed at my shirt, her featureless head tilted up, creaking loudly like an old wooden hinge. "Jason... Plea... Pleeeeaaaasssssssse..." Her words trail into a hiss, her head twisting suddenly-- crack. Her head was hanging limp, facing the ground, her steel grip still fastened on my shirt as I tried to push her away from me. Slowly, with a hinge-like creaking noise, her head tilted up towards me again, the color drained from her skin. I felt my heart race. I knew what was coming. Just under where the faceless girl's right eye would be, something pushed forward. It pressed on that single point, the skin taut as it grew a dark, putrid green.
PH-SHHHH
The skin broke with a sound like tearing paper and what shot forward from the limp head was a black tendril, blood splattering onto my face as it wrapped around my throat. It was hot and slick. I could feel my skin searing where it touched. Another limb exploded from her other eye. From where her mouth should be. From her shoulders, hips, and ribs, her body was shuddering and wincing like she was being shot from behind until I was covered completely in slimy, black, seething vines. Her bloody, mutilated corpse was on the ground, twitching as black worms crawled from the wounds. I was burning as the oily vines squirmed over every inch of my skin. Two tendrils outstretched from my body to in front of my eyes. It morphed slowly, intertwining, stretching until it looked like her face. "You can die now. No one wants a toy when it is broken." It tore apart into vines again and shot into my eyes--
"AH!" I sat bolt upright. Alice was reclined on the couch. She didn't even look up. She knew I hated it when she made a fuss, but I was angry either way... I opened my mouth to say something sarcastic or glib, just to get my frustration out, but I shut it before the words could escape, my teeth clacking together loudly behind my lips. I don't always feel like this. This is just the drain talking. I wasn't angry, I was empty. I needed energy.
"Jason..." Alice's voice was soft and caring-- I hadn't noticed her get up, but she was beside the bed now. Something I had gotten used to, honestly, is the fact that when you're in pain it is really hard to care about whatever anyone else is doing. I felt her sit beside me and I still wanted to bark something hateful at her. I wanted to tell her to piss off and find some other freak to treat like a baby. "We have one more Bio-Battery. It should hold you over until tonight... I wish I could help you now but I need a bit more time to recharge from--"
"Just give it to me," I say bitterly, opening my eyes to see her cupping a small transparent orb, her brows furrowed empathetically. A twinge of guilt shoots through my chest. "... Please," I add in a whisper.
She nodded and placed the orb in my hand, careful not to touch me. The cold plastic felt good on my palm but I wasn't allowed to enjoy it. I knew if I held it too long while I was like this, it would melt. I looked at it though. I hated that I depended on these damned things. I hated that I felt like this without them. I shouldn't even need them, what I needed was my armor and-- no. I'm not going down this rabbit hole again. The battery. Focus on that. I felt the plastic start getting soft. I didn't care. It was an interesting if not ridiculously idiotic little thing; a plastic orb packed to the breaking point with ZZ plants and radioactive micro-organisms that multiply uncontrollably. Dying plants and engineered cancer are packed into a bubble for demon consumption. To the naked eye, it looked like some weird Christmas ornament, but to me, it glowed neon green. I could feel my body start to drain its life without my conscious choice. Might as well, the thing was nearly a melted puddle in my hand. I drained it in less than a second. It was now a half-melted plastic ball filled with ashes.
"That one seemed especially vibrant... did it feel like more?" She had a hopeful little smile across her lips, and I considered it cute, so at least there was a positive thought in my head that wasn't 'I'm positive I'm going to decapitate the next thing that speaks.' That was nice.
