Veridis Quo

Chapter 58 - Nirvana

Louder than a raid siren, higher than the moon, I shrieked with no regard to my vocal cords. The tension in the room snapped, popped like an investment bubble. Fried nerves were swept away and replaced by raw terror.

I'd never felt a fear so great. Fear often has a reason; a phobia, danger, an unknown, past experiences. This kind of fear I only read about in textbooks, the kind my ancestors had to tackle throughout their primitive lives.

The fear of prey in the presence of a predator.

After staring at one another and parroting our names back and forth, she did the unexpected; she lunged. Her black spots became streaks, the horns a pair of scissors capable of clean decapitation.

First, there was shock. I knew I wasn't the nicest to her, but she didn't exactly treat me like a prince trapped in a tower! If her feelings were hurt to such a degree, I was willing to be the bigger man and apologize... as I didn't want to get another beating.

Then, confusion. Why did she do it? Consuming my blood. Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. Didn't she know I could carry diseases?! Hypothetically! Was she a vampire? I wouldn't put it past her nuclear levels of absurdity to be into playing with people's fluids.

And finally, realization struck the anvil. Keep in mind, all of the above happened in like a second, shorter than that.

Her pupils dilated. She spoke strangely, out of her own body. Out of control.

Although she was a hybrid of herb and carv, the latter's nature was the dominant part of her being. The urge to kill – to maim but not to eat, was strong with her. May the force not be with her, ever! She'd told me all the gruesome tales I'd need to write several horror novels and comfortably live off the income for the rest of my life.

Melon didn't do it for money. Power and authority were earned through sheer force and brutality, a cunning plan always in the making. Morbidly, she did it for the love of the game, just like me. Because I loved making content and music, not the killing part.

Which I was about to become.

With little time to react, I followed instinct, more like reflex.

As I let my throat rip, I swung a fist, a cherry kick also directed at her. But she carried too much momentum, there was nothing I could do to stop the grinning maw full of sharp, piranha teeth from taking a chunk. So, I put up a last line of defense.

To ease the terror, I squeezed my eyes shut and held my breath till it was over.

I should've seen it coming. Perhaps if I'd reacted at the right moment, I could've broken her jaw with a lucky hail-mary of the leg. It didn't even register that I was going to... to...

As the thought of pleading for my life occurred, a weight fell on top of me. I was pushed to the head of the bed, a crisp smack connected with the top of my skull.

This was it. This was the end...!

My neck exposed, arms weighed down, I prepared to receive the worst.

...

A moment passed.

...

Then another.

...

I tired of my clattering teeth bore for her to see. She just laid on top of me, unmoving. She did nothing but breathe near my ear, onto the left shoulder. Damn, she wasn't as light as she seemed.

Confusion began to creep into the mud pit. What the hell happened to her? Was this another attempt at messing with me? Why wasn't she doing anything beyond just... existing.