PERVERSE - Apply Fic

27

Ambrose does not bleed. The congealing liquid which comes out of him is not blood. Audrey scrapes it off the carpet into a plastic cup. She recognizes it as one of the later stages before their blood turns to soil, thick and dark.

Fallon tries not to watch. She sinks into a ball on the floor, curling in to herself. Tucked in the narrow space between the two motel beds, she closes her eyes. Is that what Corrin saw, when she died? Was it that horrible that night?

No one else moves while Ajay assesses Ambrose. When Ajay pulls back his eyelid, there are no pupils which could be dialated. His whole eyes are glossy, inky black. The substance is sticky on Ajay's hands. Ambrose's skin is warm to the touch. Ajay tries to feel for a pulse on his wrist, but something crawls beneath it and he slams it down. Ambrose hovers the back of his hand over Ambrose's lips.

"How did no one say anything?" Nico swallows, quietly whispering. "Nobody saw him and tried to help him?"

"It's Halloween," Clare squeezes Nico's shoulder gently, hoping to pull them back from the scene.

Nico lets Clare take him, leans against their shoulder. It was supposed to be a fun party. Even Clare was drinking. Even Barry seemed to be having a good time. Even Leo was dancing in the crowd.

"He's not breathing," Ajay looks at Ambrose's chest.

Eva bends down to the ground. She grabs Ambrose hand, crawlies and all and puts it up to her face. He smells like a bonfire, like he was out at a busher all night and the firewood clings to his clothes. Eva looks out the open doorway, at the crow on the telephone wire.

"He's dead?" Kaia peers forward, swallowing.

Barry laughs, "of course he's fucking dead. The question is, is he dead again."

There is air on Ajay's hand, hanging over Ambrose's face. He can see it rise from his mouth, a faint whisp of grey hanging in the air. Ajay isn't even a doctor, and he's certainly not a mortician. And Ambrose doesn't seem to be exactly human.

"Ajay," Leo whispers, moving closer.

With one hand up to Leo's chest, Ajay pauses. He can feel the mysterious liquid seeping into the knees of his trousers. He looks up at Este. She is so beautiful, always, even with her eyes wide and her face looking at him. Would Ajay find her ugly if it were her beneath him? Would he be doing what he is doing now? Perhaps it is because Ambrose had always felt as if he were beyond this plane.

"When Kaylee died, she decayed rather quickly," Audrey pokes Ambrose with the back of their pen. His skin squishes in. "He's intact."

"He smells awful," Barry plugs their nose.

"He's bloating like he's decaying," Ajay manages.

"There's no rigor mortis," Audrey counters.

Fallon curls into herself tighter. The room feels like its spinning. Either she needs more drinks or less. Something sweet on her tongue, a different taste than smoke and muck. Suddenly she is aware of the clothes on her skin, how they hang. Everything seems to drag around her.

"Ajay," Leo leans down closer. "We should move him into the bathroom for now. We don't all need to see it."

"I think," Clare cuts in. They squeeze Nico's shoulder tighter, and Nico's hand wraps around theirs. Clare looks at Kaia. She nods. "I think he went to where he died."