FALTER

CHAPTER 55: The monsters within.

As Ren slowly opened his eyes, the first thing overloading his senses was the sharp, metallic stench pervading his nostrils. The second was the awful slickness of the puddle underneath his naked body. As consciousness returned to his limbs, he gasped in panic and slipped off of the rough slab of stone he had been lying on.

An explosion. Splinters in his arms. Ears bleeding, the heat in his eyes. A suit of black armour standing over him. As his eyes faded, Ren remembered the plans he had set into motion. But through the flashes of flame, he heard the dull echo of screams trying to reach him. He saw Deepti sprawled on the floor as her brother rushed towards her. He saw a bleeding, unmoving Rachel looking down at the pile of bodies around her.

Ren whined as he fell directly onto a couple of candle holders. He rolled around pathetically in the slick, trying to regain some sort of balance.

"I'm... sorry..." A choked voice whispered from above him. Ren hadn't realized how silent it was until then, so the voice made a deep shiver run through his bones. He looked up, and the woman in the suit of armour was above him once again. However, instead of looming over him, Absynthe was caught in a web of black, suspended by a smattering of black tentacles. They had broken through her armour, and from the sounds of it, had even lodged in her throat. "I did... everything... you told me to... but He was... most upset..."

The woman coughed as the light of the remaining candles danced in her cracked visor. Then, to Ren's horror, he saw a smile spread across her face, growing unnaturally wide until black tears pooled in the corners of her eyes.

"But now... I'm... happy..."

This time, the voice came from within Ren's head. The sensation was so unpleasant and horrific that the man screamed as he clutched his head. His heart was pounding and-

It stopped. Ren gasped, his body trying to process the shock. He felt the weight on his chest slowly increasing as his heart stayed still. As an immense fear gripped him, Ren started clawing at his chest. In the dim light of the candle, another sight added on to his terror. He brought his forearm closer.

It was covered in slick and bruised. Ren heaved as he squinted his eyes. Suddenly, something shifted under his skin. He watched as swirling tentacles moved around inside his arm, and he realized the same was happening to the rest of his body. His entire body rippled as the invader slowly spread through his body. He felt a cold mass slither up his throat and into the back of his skull.

The man got to his feet unnaturally, each movement of his body coming one instant too late after the last. He gurgled as he stepped beside the altar, reaching for that haunting black device. As he put it around his waist, and pressed the rusty old button, the Drive creaked open. A flow of liquid burst out from within, leeching and grabbing at the man's bare body until it resembled a haphazard recreation of a dress. All the remnants of Ren could do was watch in horror as the god he once worshipped made itself comfortable in the depths of his mind. Tears streamed from his eyes as his very face cracked open.

When his mouth spoke, it wasn't the voice of the young man who had lead a church.

"This time... I'll face you properly."