Shattered From Stars

Chapter 16

T/W: lil bit of vomit in this one I'm sorry
If you're super squeamish I recommend reading with caution

My eyes widened, pain spreading throughout my flank. I bit back a curse as the brown tom and I tumbled in a flurry of fur. I tossed him off of me as gently as I could, rolling away. I scrambled off the floor and onto my paws. I suppressed a snarl and faced my friend. My mouth went dry at the sight of him, I was numb to the blood trickling down my leg.

The only word I could think of was 'vicious'. He looked almost feral. His eyes were devoid of all kindness and paranoia, whoever he once was, and were replaced by unbridled hatred and distrust. His teeth glinted with flecks of an acid green color - my blood. His nose and mouth oozed more black gunk than I'd ever seen before.

"Shzeltis, stop!" I screamed, my voice cracking.

"I won't!" His voice had an echo to it, as if two of him were speaking at once, "you know what you—" he paused abruptly, eyes still pinned to me. For a while the only sound in the room was his raspy breaths. It was like he was trying to collect his thoughts.

Then his belly rippled and he vomited shiny black muck everywhere. He gazed at it and blinked. A blank look flashed across his eyes again, like the one at Shawn's bar. His pupils shifted to me. A black tear slipped from his right eye.

"Alkaid?" His broken voice was normal for a split second.

Then he let out a bloodcurdling scream, the echo returning. The fur on my neck rose as my claws slid out in panic. More black erupted from his jaws but this time it pooled around his paws and slunk up his legs. The 'melting' got worse.

He retched and coughed, trying to clear his lungs but it was in vain. His breathing ran faster and faster until his rear legs gave out on him. The malice gathered around his tail and continued its way up his body.

I couldn't do anything.

He gagged as the sludge engulfed his body and tried to enter his throat. His eyes darkened around the edges, as if the black invaded them too. Two long, drippy limbs extended from his torso like claws. His tail grew longer, and thinner, with a fluffier tip that also produced the black mud.

I couldn't. Do. Anything.

I heard the sickening crack of bones mixed with the shrieks coming from Shzeltis as something akin to wings formed from the goo onto his back. Two pairs of them, one near his flank and the other above his ribs. The most bizarre thing was that they weren't quite connected to his body; they were floating slightly. Shzeltis's soft whimpers slowly morphed into cold cackles.

Nothing. I did nothing.

The cruel laughter grew stronger, dangerous and mangled. It crept up my spine and shocked my heart. He grew an additional set of drippy appendages and assisted himself onto his paws.

His eyes glowed a sickly green, much paler than Shzeltis' regular irises. He smiled, black goo connecting his jaws.

"Is something wrong, Eruku?"

That voice wasn't his. Shzeltis didn't sound like that. This voice hadn't a hint of gentleness. All it carried was sadistic deceit.

He staggered towards me. With each step I grew more tense. This dark creature never took on a solid form; his body was constantly dripping and shifting, everywhere he stepped left a thick puddle of black liquid. It never stuck to the ground, however, it seemed to gravitate to him and rejoin his form.

"I believe I owe you a vote of gratitude, Alkaid. He's been fighting for so long. It was exhausting him. I was wondering how long it'd be until he snapped-"

He was up in my face now, the stench of decay filled my nostrils. I only glared.

"-you gave him that final shove."

I felt a growl building up deep in my throat. "Shzeltis—" before I could finish, quick as a viper he spun and knocked me across the room with his tail. I hit the wall with incredible force, feeling something shatter.

I healed my body and floated off the ground. I prepared myself for attack. If Shzeltis was in there I needed to get him out.

"Your scientist is DEAD," he roared. He tried to strike me again but I teleported to the other end of the room. He must have expected it because he was already facing me.

"I... am... him now," he grinned wickedly, standing with supremacy.

"You... aren't Shzeltis. You never will be," it was hard to keep my voice level. Not because of fear, but rage. I wanted to rip this thing apart, bring Shzeltis back. I wanted this monster to pay for its arrogance. I wanted this nightmare to end.

I lunged at him and pinned him to the stone. I breathed heavily and lit my paws with my signature green fire.

"I simply must beg to differ. He made me, I'm part of him, not the other way around; he and I will always be one in the same."

"No," I felt my paws heating up as the flames grew hotter. I bared my teeth, claws unsheathed, and prepared for a final blow when—

A slimy claw protruded from my chest, my blood gushing down it. He had created another limb from his ever-moving figure and plunged it into my heart. I was frozen.

He knocked me off of him and sat up, admiring his prize. I barely had the strength to stand to see he had taken my heart out of my body.

"I must admit I'm quite disappointed," he whispered coyly, "he thought very highly of you. Thought you'd put up more of a fight."

He squeezed the heart in his claws. I gasped instinctively. It felt like someone had put a load of boulders on top of me. I couldn't breathe; I heaved but all that came out was dry coughing. My vision swam as blood poured from the open hole in my chest.

"Don't worry. We'll put this to good use."

A/N: sorry Shzeltis.