And Then the Trees Came Knocking

Chapter 15

Blood gushed from my mouth as the bloodwood impaled my stomach deeper. I heard a scream behind me.

Pop! Pop!

I looked back over my shoulder and saw Freddy kneeling, shooting at the bloodwood. Those tiny bullets did nothing against this massive creature. The bloodwood hoisted me in the air like meat on a skewer and turned towards Freddy.

I didn't see any of the others with him. Did they find the car? Were they dead? I tried to move but at that point I couldn't feel my limbs. Despite the injuries, I was still ready to fight. The weakness grew.

This bloodwood didn't eat me. Maybe I was not its prey anymore. Maybe it just needed to kill me.

Pain spread from my stomach to my chest. My stomach moved, tightened. The muscles were closing in around the branch. A shock of cold ran up my spine. And it clicked.

I was healing. And I was...hungry.

Life exploded back into my limbs. I grabbed the branch sticking through my stomach and used it as leverage to twist my body around, hard. The branch snapped and I fell.

I grabbed onto the other branches to catch myself. With bursts of energy, I pushed myself from one branch to the next. The bloodwood withdrew its branches, closing in my free space. But I knew exactly where I was going.

With one final swing, I threw myself head first into the bloodwood's large black-oil eye. My entire torso sunk into it, all the way to my hips. It was much softer than I expected.

Without a moment's delay, I shoved myself in deeper. The branches grabbed at my legs, but I sunk my fingers into the gushy side walls. I could feel the heartbeat inside here. It sounded like a lover's call, beckoning me deeper.

Blindly, I scraped my way inside. The branches shuddered away. I could tell this was painful for the creature. And I was glad.

My arms reach forward. Through the gunk and blood, I found it, the heart. It was larger than a tire, connected to slimy tubes. Strangely, the bloodwood was so soft on the inside. So fragile.

Using the tubes as an anchor, I pulled myself in close to the heart. I couldn't take it anymore. My mouth flung open and my teeth gnashed down on the heart. The entire bloodwood jerked wildly. Gravity flung me around the internal cavity. I sank my fingers into the heart to hold on.

And I ate.

The taste itself was like the drop of a rollercoaster. My eyes rolled back. Pleasure spread from my tongue to my spine and brain. Goosebumps tickled my arms. The muscles all moved at once, convulsing. And the muscles grew. Energy returned to my entire body even stronger than when I was electrocuted.

By my twentieth bite, the bloodwood fell. The heart stopped. I kept going, eating until there was nothing left.

At the last bite, I choked back a sob. I wanted more. Panic set in. I wanted more.

Like a beast, I tore myself out from the trunk of the now-dead bloodwood. There had to be more. I was still so very hungry.

But all I found outside the bloodwood was my human companions crammed on the back of a pick up truck. Freddy was with them.

None looked afraid this time. Their awe calmed my rage. I felt myself shrink, back down to my regular height. I hadn't even noticed how large I'd grown.

"Let's go, Dani," Freddy said with a soft smile.

"Where?" I asked.

I climbed into the back of the truck. The others moved over to give me plenty of room. I was soaked head to toe in blood-oil, and missing both shoes.

"The fuck out of here," Leon said from the driver seat.

"Sounds good to me."

Leon drove towards the nearest road.

I could now hear the distant groans of the bloodwood. It'd be difficult getting out of the city. There were thousands of them. My stomach growled. I was hungry again.