Chaos and Corruption (Jeff the Killer Fanfic)

32. Bumpy ride

Eyeless Jack

"Hey, Nina wants to know if you can help swap oil in Vlad's car today."

"Oh yeah, tell 'em to meet me at Delilah's around three and grab the oil on the way," I said, pulling my shirt off and tossing it into the growing laundry pile, "I'm going to take a quick shower, have a good day, I'll swing in and check on you and Tanis later."

"Alright, I love you," she smiled as she leaned up, catching her cheeks so I could kiss her scars before planting a noisy kiss on her lips that made her laugh.

"I love you too my witchy girl," I teased, locking the door behind her before I walked back to the bathroom.

While the water heated up I stripped from my sweats and tossed them aside, a distinct itching on my spine driving me nuts as I rolled my shoulders back. I did what I could to get a good look in the mirror only to find small bumps having appeared, the skin around them peeling like a sunburn. To my surprise they were evenly placed, four on each side and they were all squishy to the touch, just like normal skin. I'd have to have Delilah take a look when I went over and I left it for the moment, hopping into the hot water and letting it ease the itchy sensation.

Once I'd finished I draped a towel around my head and shook the water off before I wrapped it around my hips, grabbing my clothes and going about my usual day around here. Since I was basically freeloading off of my girlfriend at this point I tried to make her life a little easier by handling the laundry and the dishes, cleaning up whatever needed to be cleaned and just making myself more useful than sitting on my ass and smoking. I pulled a henley with a couple holes out from my drawer in her closet, not wanting to ruin one of my better shirts if I was going to be working on cars.

On the way out the door I grabbed my jacket and a smoke, lighting up before I flipped my shades down and dropped the stolen longboard to cut the travel time. It had grown colder, but over the last couple days since we'd gotten back from Seattle I realized it wasn't fazing me as much as it used to. I turned the corner and took a deep breath, letting the smoke leave my lips before I slowed and hopped back up onto the sidewalk. Delilah had pretty blue lights still strung up around the outside of the house and I jingled my small ring of keys as I unlocked the front door to let myself in. Grinny greeted me from his spot on the counter and no matter how much I detested the creepy little shit I still scratched his chin and listened to him purr.

"I thought I heard your clunky footsteps," Delilah poked her head out from her bedroom with a teasing grin, "to what do I owe the pleasure of today's visit?"

"One of Nina's friends needs his oil changed so I told him I'd help," I explained, setting the board down and hanging my jacket up, "I need you to take a look at something too."

"Oh? I'll be out in a minute."

I helped myself to a soda from the fridge and sat on the couch while I waited for her to emerge, a long black linen dress draped over a striped turtleneck adorning her tiny figure today as she moved about the house like a ghost. Just put a pointed hat on her and she'd look the part, something I teased her about as I pulled my shirt over my head for her to examine the bumps. She let out a few small noises as she prodded them before patting my back to let me know I was good.

"The final step in the transformation is complete!" She announced with a chirp, "now I'll have company for the next millennia with you and Chelsea around."

"This is pretty normal per the process?"

"What those bumps are is technically what you'd call an 'ever-expanding cellular growth', appendages that you'll be able to shrink, grow, shape, and move. Operator has very similar ones, except they're made up of mostly dark magic instead of actual cells."