Her words fell short as she turned around. She wanted to scream but couldn’t, something deep inside her stopping the sound and beating it to death within her before it could escape from her lips.
Xander’s wrists were already bathed in stringy red blood that ebbed its way against gravity up his arm, getting blacker and blacker as it went. He finished his slow slice with the thick chunk of polarized glass he’d taken off his desk, gritting his teeth together even as the larger, sharper one’s forced their way down. His eyes began to bleed tar as the vessels inside them burst, sending even more darkness surging over his body.
He took a step toward her as it dropped the glass to the floor, landing in the charred circle he’d made days ago.
“Xander, no,” Cathy tried to say sternly, backing up a pace and falling against the wall, then trying to get back on her feet quickly. “Xander... this is the opposite of why you brought me here!” she screamed, pleading with him.
If he looked at her, she couldn’t tell. His eyes were completely black now, like most of his face.
“Black Womb lives,” the creature stated as it walked past Cathy, as though she were not even there.
She had to look and make sure its eyes were red just to be sure that Xander was in control, because right now she really couldn’t tell the difference as she sat on the bed and watched it go through the window. Somehow that single, blurred line was more terrifying than anything on either side of it had ever been.
She couldn’t help but think that she had failed her friend.
Tommy slid open the drawer with a hard thud, several patches of grey dust rubbing off onto his knuckles as he let go of the handles. He stared down at the treasure-trove before him, rubbing his thumbs against the edges of his enclosed fists for a moment before diving in, shoving great heaps of socks and underwear aside with great sweeping motions.
A few feet away, Sud stood at the vanity, looking into the mirror with a somewhat quizzical expression on his face, not unlike a chimp upon first discovering such an object. Slowly, his eyes cast downward onto the dozens of small boxes and cases that lined the bottom of the mirror. He reached out carefully with one finger and opened a varnished, caramel-coloured box that looked like it might have contained jewelry, instead finding only its red velvet lining. He frowned, battling a tiny bell held by a small ceramic pig wearing a top hat before opening another box. This one was filled with earrings, but most of them were just the dime-store metal hoops that Sara had worn almost every day. “Pff,” he huffed, closing the lid unceremoniously.
“Hey,” Tommy barked, smirking over his shoulder at Sud to get his attention. He turned around, holding a pair of white cotton panties stretched between his thumbs.
Sud laughed, turning away from the mirror.
Tommy turned them around, taking note of the small embroidered long-stem rose on the front. Smiling wickedly, he brought them to his face and took in a long breath through his nose before balling them up and throwing them at Sud, laughing. As Sud did the same, he turned and started rummaging through the drawer again. “You finding anything over there?”
Sud looked up, letting the underwear fall to the floor as he turned back toward the vanity and opened a third box. “Nope,” he said simply, trying to act as though he hadn’t been distracted.
“Fuck,” Tommy cursed, slamming the drawer shut and then pulling the next one all the way out, letting it fall to the floor with a crash. He had to back up quickly to make sure it didn’t smash his toes, then dug in and tossed anything he deemed unnecessary aside. “There’s gotta be something in here we can use to get under Xander’s skin. I don’t frigging care what it is, just so long as it makes that memorial memorable.”
Sud chuckled.
Tommy rolled his eyes, grabbing a large clump of bras at once and tossing them aside.
Sud opened another jewelry box on her dresser, this one sterling silver. He was pleased to find it packed full of things, even though most of them looked ridiculous or campy at first glance. He picked up a little piece of wood from it, immediately cracking it in two and tossing it behind his shoulder. He picked up a necklace, wrapping it around his wrist and snapping its chain.
Tommy took out a pair of silk panties and ran his finders along the front, feeling how soft they were. “I bet Grendel saw these a few times before he bought it,” he laughed at Sud, without turning towards him.
Sud grunted in agreement as he shoved a small gold locket into his pant pocket.
“Not to mention that skank Cathy. You just know they did it the night of his party, right? Just know it. Everyone knows it,” he grinned, waving a cautious finger at his friend. “I’ll have her one of these days, too. Just you wait.”
Sud rolled his eyes, a small grin growing on his rubbery face.
“What? You don’t think I could?” Tommy almost laughed, turning back away from Sud and continuing to sort through the drawer.
Sud let out a short, snort-like laugh.
“Keep it up, chuckle-brain. I’ll let you smell my fingers when I’m done.”
There was a loud crash and a blinding flash as the light above them snapped out, leaving both men in the dark. Sud didn’t even have time to yell before polarized glass before the bulb overhead came crashing down on him, making dozens over tiny cuts and
