All My Favorite Monsters

Corpse

[???]

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS!"

I could see the desperation in my opponent's eyes as she breathed heavily, her stamina drained from the fighting.

I chuckled. "Oh, but I do! I won't just allow her to leave me behind like this. She shouldn't have left you behind like this. Ali, why won't you listen to reason?"

The symbol in Ali's right eye changed from a red X to a purple exclamation mark, although the other remained the same.

"This is no reason!" Fear edged her voice, "This is madness! Just move on with your life!"

"And allow myself to fade completely?" I snapped, "You've always been foolish, Ali. That creature has eaten your brain like maggots."

Ali's zig-zag shaped mouth curled into a snarl.

I placed my hand on my companion's head, giving her an affectionate scratch. "Hold her down."

Ali cried out as she crumpled to the ground, her tentacles curling inward in agony as she was forced to her knees. I walked forwards to her, and tilted her chin up to meet my gaze.

"You won't get away with this," Ali growled.

"And yet, I already have."

She gasped sharply as my teeth sank into her neck, and her sweet blood flowed over my tongue.

As she went limp I stood back up, allowing her to fall to the ground. No sign of life showed. I wiped some blood from the corner of my mouth as my companion walked forwards to me. I gave her a nod, and she lunged, digging into Ali's corpse as she tore at her flesh.

---

[Addie]

Anatox was the one to show me around the cabin, since everyone else wasn't very willing to. Or wanted to kill me. Or eat me (I'm looking at you, 541).

Apparently every time I make a new antagonist, a new room forms in the cabin without messing with the outside size somehow. This conveniently worked with myself as well, for I had my own room as well. It reminded me of my room at home. After showing me around, Anatox left me be. But not before giving me a knife - luckily, she seemed to be genuinely worried about my safety here.

Although I wasn't sure how to use said knife...

I placed the weapon on the table and once again retrieved the pen from my pocket. I thought about what happened earlier, when I had (apparently) summoned Harm somehow with the scribble I made. Was this a magic pen or something?

Sighing, I looked around the room until I coincidentally found a sketchbook and a pencil in one of the drawers of the desk in the corner. Able to calm down and think things through for a bit, I sat down on the bed and started drawing.

-----

Inferno's ears pricked, and her head turned to the door. She could have sworn she heard something, like a scream...

"You good, Inferno?"

Xirox, a white, anthropoid wolf currently possessed by one of my old friends, Baroque, stood next to me.

"Did you hear that?" Inferno asked in a low tone.

"That scream sound?" Xirox stated nonchalantly, "Yeah. Why?"

"Well, it's a bit abnormal when we know for a fact that everyone is currently in the cabin, don't you think?" Inferno questioned sternly.

Xirox shrugged. "Guess that makes sense."

"I'm gonna go check it out. Vizor?"

The demon, hearing his name called from the other room, teleported through the shadows and reappeared in a dark corner within Inferno's vision. "Yes?"

"Come with me," Inferno commanded. "Something's happened, and I want to make sure it's nothing to do with us."

Vizor nodded, and followed her out the door. Xirox decided to come as well.

-----

Vizor flew high above the trees, scanning the ground while Inferno and Xirox trekked below. The wind made the leaves whisper as the canine hybrids quietly looked around.

"You sure it came from this way?" Xirox questioned. He had heard the sound, too, but was less troubled about it and, therefore, didn't really remember exactly where it had come from.

"Yes," Inferno confirmed, "We should be coming close, as a matter of fact."

Sure enough, Vizor returned not too long later.

"I found something," Vizor stated as he landed near the two. "Less than half a mile east. You'll wanna see this."

Inferno and Xirox exchanged glances, and followed Vizor through the woods.

It wasn't too long before they came across what Vizor found.

It looked to be a corpse - or what was left of it. It seemed to have been torn nearly to shreds. Her stomach and chest had been ripped open, revealing the ravaged remains of her organs. Oddly enough, there wasn't as much blood as you'd expect from a death of this violent manner. Inferno stepped closer, and through the remains she could see the person's face, which was very similar to her own. The person also seemed to have had tentacles, which were splayed like spaghetti noodles at the corpse's side.

"Who... is that?" Xirox questioned, not daunted by the macabre scene in front of him. None of them were. They often did things like this themselves.

But this time, it wasn't any of them.

"I... don't know," Inferno replied. She knelt down and observed the remains. She couldn't help but be creeped out by the fact that the corpse looked very similar to her.

"The only one I could think of that would do this is Xerc," Vizor commented, "But I know for a fact that he's been at the cabin since the new girl got here."

Xerc was actually 541's name (well, the shortened version of it). Apparently the name brings back bad memories, so he hates getting called it, despite the alternative being three numbers. No one called him Xerc unless he was out of the room.

The mention of Addie made Inferno think of something. Barely an hour after a new person arrives, and some random person's dead. That couldn't be a coincidence, right?

Inferno growled slightly in frustration. She hated not knowing things.

"Bury her," Inferno finally said, "We'll figure this out. Until then, no one but us will know about this."

She turned to the trees.

"That means you too, Paralysis. I know you're there."

After a second or two, the little gray wolf cub appeared. His red eyes were sparked with annoyance.

"How'd you know I was here?" Paralysis asked telepathically.

"You've lived in my dreams for a while now," Inferno replied, "I know your presence when I feel it."

Paralysis made some kind of eye roll motion, and flew up into Inferno's arms. She gave him a small scratch behind his ear.

"And why are we keeping this secret?" Vizor questioned.

"I have this suspicion that Addie has something to do with this," Inferno replied sharply, "And I want to figure out what's going on without interference. Not a word of this unless I say otherwise."

---

m u r b e r >:D

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