Al took a step forward as well. He took off his hat and scratched his head, sending large flakes of dandruff down onto his shoulders. He stood on his toes to see the creature’s face, now devoid of any colour at all. It was simply a blank black tablet, with no features to speak of except for the lump where its nose should have been. “What the fuck was that?” he asked finally, his voice squeaking in a way it hadn’t done since he was thirteen.
Suddenly, its eyes snapped open again and it rose up quickly, the blackness flowing around the wound on its neck until it was no longer visible where it had been. Its green eyes were like headlights for a moment, then dulled as it got to its feet again.
“Argh-guh!” Phillips yelled, his lower lip trembling in fear as he shot again. This time the splash of black liquid came as the bullet seared its shoulder muscle. The small piece of lead passed right through and the creature did not even seem to register that something had happened this time.
Phillips shot twice more as the creature loomed ever closer, its hands clenched into fists that dug the claws into his own palms, sending tiny bits of blood onto the carpet before the wounds got a chance to heal. Each shot connected with the centre of its chest and went ignored, the pale flesh of Xander Drew visible through each hole for a moment before the darkness slithered in to cover it up, like the rush of water after a stone is thrown into it.
-click-
The creature grew stiff and ridged, its face showing the closest thing to emotion it had since it had appeared at the closet door. Its eyes grew wider, as though it recognized the tiny sound of metal on metal that had rung out towards it. It turned, its eyes narrowing again as it saw Al with one hand on the knob to the front door, and one still on the deadbolt he had just unlocked.
“Maaanah!” the creature roared at the top of its lungs, turning its body so fast that its kneecaps snapped in the wrong direction, his femur breaking the skin and healing itself seconds later, leaving only the spurt of black blood as any evidence it had been there. It charged at Al, leaping onto its hands and feet and pouncing, its mouth opening half way through the motion to show all of those teeth again.
Al screamed, bringing his arms up to block his face.
A moment later, one of those arms slammed against the door, leaving a circular red splotch that ran down towards the floor.
Tears coursing down his cheeks, he stared at the stub of mangled flesh and bone, clutching it with his other hand as blood sprayed out and onto his face and the ceiling, dripping back down on both of them. “Fuck!” he screamed, clenching his teeth so hard that one in the front that was decayed actually cracked and popped out, rolling along the floor and coming to a stop next to a shoe.
The monster brought its hand upwards quickly, giving Al an uppercut with its palm open and its claws outstretched. The long one and the end of its middle finger caught the loose flesh where Al’s cheek met his jawbone and an instant later it was gone, along with all the skin on that side of his face right up to his receding hairline. When he opened his mouth to scream, his jaw came loose, falling slack against his chest. The creature reached up its hand again, shoving it forward after a second’s pause as if to aim. Its arm jutted forward, the talon-less thumb digging into Al’s lidless eye. Clear gelatinous goop came out as it wrapped its remaining digits around the back of the rapist’s head, then slammed him against the metal door with such force that his skull caved in, tiny bits of it sticking out of his hair as he slid lifelessly to the floor.
The creature sunk its teeth deep into Al’s chest as the body lay on the floor, gnawing and gnashing about wickedly. There was a sick slurping sound as the dead man’s wet muscles contracted reflexively around their killer’s chin. Finally it reached what it wanted, withdrawing its head with the young man’s heart resting comfortably between its jaws. After a moment it clamped down hard, sending fountains of blood in all directions, before swallowing its prize.
The black beast turned, its hands dripping with blood and brain matter, towards Phillips. Between the two, Cathy still sat on the floor unsure of whether to be happy or sad about what the Black Womb was doing all around her. The entire altercation had taken place in less than three minutes.
It took a step forward. When it stepped out of the hall where Al’s remains were and into the light of the living room, Cathy could see redness pumping its way into the corners of its eyes. After a moment it went away, then came back again as the Womb took another silent step forward. It ground its teeth as if in pain, closing its eyes and clawing at its own skull with its claws. In her mind’s eye, Cathy could almost see the mental tug-of-war going on between Xander’s consciousness and the Womb’s. After a moment its eyelids split open again... revealing eyes that were a deep green aqua as the creature opened its mouth in what could only to perceived as a smile.
“Black Womb lives!”
“Oh, god,” Cathy gasped, kicking herself back against the carpet. Scrambling to her feet, she took off towards the door to the kitchen so fast that she almost tripped on a record that had been tossed out onto the floor.
The creature watched her
