His Tenebris Moenibus - A Stranger Things Story

008

"Well, how do I know if I'm doing it right if there's no soul to steal from it?" Emily asked, sat next to Henry on a sofa in one of the sitting rooms. "I can make things break all I want, but how do I absorb?"

"That usually just happens naturally. It's like I explained, you just kind of have to reach inside and pull. You know, like pulling a loose thread from a sweater. You take the thread and then it unravels." Henry said. Emily pursed her lips, but shrugged.

"So have me practice on a human. Even if it doesn't work exactly right, that's one less to worry about later."

"I could, but I've thought about doing this for years. Alice played with this stupid thing all the time, and Mother would have had a fit if it turned up broken."

Emily raised an eyebrow, not breaking eye contact as she raised the nasty looking Barbie doll off the ground and willed the plastic limbs to bend. It fell to the table in front of them in a mangled heap not dissimilar to Henry's human victims. The doll's sultry eyes remained, however.

"There's a difference between plastic and flesh and bone." Emily said, wiping her nosebleed away. "You can't 'curse' a toy, I can't give it visions or scare it." She raised her left hand in front of Henry's face in a clawed gesture, simulating the visual of when he claimed his victims. Henry gently grabbed her wrist, using his thumb to stroke the inside of her palm. Emily's fingers twitched at the contact.

"It may not look like that when you claim your victims. We're similar, but not identical." Henry said, wrapping his clawed hand around Emily's waist to pull her even closer to punctuate his point. Emily exhaled sharply through her nose before perking back up.

"Maybe like a kiss of death?" She asked. "That was an ability my Hellfire character had. She put poison on her lips and kissed people to kill them. It was a slow death, but it was always funny to watch everyone look at me like I was crazy whenever I would use it on an NPC."

"It only requires direct contact with the victim, so theoretically that would work." Henry replied, turning to face her with an amused smile. "But why would you go around kissing humans? Aren't I enough?" Emily laughed.

"You're so dramatic. It's only in their minds. I'd argue it's crueler because they're being kissed while the life is being sucked out of them." Emily moved to straddle Henry's waist, resting her forehead against his. "Think of it like how a black widow kills her mates after sex. You always likened me to a black widow, did you not?"

"I thought you liked the bats more." Henry said with a small laugh. He brushed back the hair that had fallen in front of her shoulder.

"I can be both." Emily shrugged. "Besides, for you, this isn't a death sentence." She leaned in closer to gently kiss him. Emily thanked her lucky stars every day that they weren't still in the lab. Ever since she and Henry had massacred everyone inside and were subsequently banished to the Upside Down, they had made it a habit to show all the physical and verbal affection they had been banned from for years towards each other. To them, that was true freedom.

"Hey. Assholes!" An echoey girl's voice said from the entrance of the room. There was no body to go with it, but Max's voice was easily identified. Emily jerked away from the kiss as she and Henry looked at the spot where Max's voice had come from. "I'm here. No more music, no more games."

"What is she doing here?" Emily asked. "She ran away, why would she come back?"

"Could be a trick."

"It's absolutely a trick. No doubt her friends are here with her."

"Do you hear me? What are you waiting for, huh? Come on, do you want me or not?" Max yelled. Emily looked at Henry, slightly bemused.

"She's acting as bait. Once you invade her mind, they know your body's defenseless. They probably have a team on this side." Emily said. Henry didn't answer. Instead he stood up off the sofa and began walking out of the room. Emily got up after him, an eyebrow raised. "What are you doing? It's a trap."