Erind Hartwell

2:31 a.m., Wednesday, February 5, 2020.

Lizzie leaned towards me, her hand cupped around her mouth, and whispered, “Hey, Aunt Pino.”

Yeah, she was really calling me her ‘aunt’ now. Weird kid. I bent down. “Hmmm?”

“I have a secret. Want to hear it?”

Really, kid? This wasn’t the time and place for childish shit. We were lined up against the wall, keeping quiet because there were some monsters on the other side, and this kid wanted to gossip? Despite myself, I replied in a hushed voice, “A secret?”

“Promise you won’t get angry?” she said.

I rolled my eye, but it didn’t properly convey my exasperation because I only had one. I checked on what Doms was doing at the head of our line—she was scouting the way to the elevators using a cellphone tied to the end of a pole with its video recording turned on—then I looked back at Lizzie. “Sure, I promise.”

“Aunt Pino, I wanted to see Erind when we were hiding together…so I peeked under the blanket.”

I pointed at the cart with my human body beside us and questioningly tilted my head at Lizzie. “I’m not going to get angry at that,” I answered. “What did you think of her?” If she was going to say my human body was ugly, I’m going to throw you to the monsters when I get the chance.

“She’s pretty—

I nodded my head. Okay, kid. We’re going to be friends.

“—pretty normal.”

Fine, I wasn’t going to argue with that. "That’s the secret?”

“No. Um, I…I notis…notishd something with her.”

“You mean ‘noticed’?” I said, and she nodded. Was there something wrong with my human body? “Uh, okay…what is it?”

“She’s sleeping but not really.”

“What do you mean by that?”

She exaggeratedly inhaled and exhaled then pointed at her nose. “Um, what’s this again?”

“Nose? Breathing?”

“Yeah, breathing. I forgot,” Lizzie said with a frown. “She’s not doing that. And she’s very pale. But not dead. That’s the secret.” She looked at me with a serious expression as if it was some great revelation. I guess, to her, or to any normal person, it really was super weird.

“How can you tell she’s not dead?”

“She’s warm,” she said. “I touched her.”

“I see…” I had to take her word for that because I couldn’t feel any temperature with my metal body. That was a sort of relief to know my human body was still warm. I was low-key getting concerned what was up with it because it didn't have the greenish glow other people have.

“I know dead people are cold,” Lizzie said a-matter-of-factly, like when kids were proud of knowing an ‘adult fact’. “I found Grandma cold before—”

(There’s only two of them), Doms said, interrupting my nice little chat with her daughter. (Normal zombie types that haven’t mutated into something nastier.)

I leaned to the side to see past Julie and Paolo’s massive form, and saw Doms waving her cellphone back at me. She already watched the footage it captured. I gave her a thumbs up.

(We can do this!) she insistently projected in my head. (Then we’ll be able to use the elevators.)

(Hopefully, they work.)

(We have to check them asap to plan our next steps if they’re busted.)

(You’re right.) Just two zombies? With Doms decked out in her blades and armor and Paolo in his powerful copied form, we could easily make short work of those two. (But do keep in mind that any nearby monsters might also come), recalling what happened to me and Cesar, and that Doms said she saw some monsters in the floor above us. I sent my thoughts to both Doms and Paolo.

(Got it!) Paolo said. Even though we were communicating with our minds, I sensed the eagerness in his thoughts. Just a typical guy, excited to test out his brand-new strength like it was a toy.

(We’ll quickly kill them.)

The two of them replied to me, but they couldn’t ‘hear’ each other’s thoughts.

Once the three of us were connected, I instantly sensed that the two of them would also be able to speak to each other using our links. I immediately blocked it. It was hard to maintain concentration with all the finger links I was using, not just controlling the output of power, but also guarding the thoughts that passed between the three of us.

Besides keeping it a secret that they could communicate with each other, I also didn’t want them to know I could actually control them if I needed too. Of course, they could mentally fight back, and I’d most likely lose if they concentrated hard enough. However, if I could surprise them, I’d be able to control them for a few seconds before they realized what was happening. Best to keep my cards close to my flat metal chest.

(Do we go now?) asked Doms.

(Wait. I'll be the bait), I said. (Paolo, Doms said there's a couple of them.)

(Just two?) Paolo said. (No need to be the bait, Pino. I could smash them all.)

(I want the two of you to be as safe as possible), I said. (When they are on me, the two of you kill them. Target one each.)

(I’ll take whatever monster will be on your right side.)

(Paolo said he’ll take the right, so you get the left), I said to Doms.

(Copy that.)

“Julie,” I whispered to Paolo’s sister who had no idea what was happening in our mental conversations and was watching us with a perplexed expression, “Take care of Lizzie and the sleeping Erind. We’re going to fight.”

She gazed up in concern at Paolo’s imposing stature. “Pao…Don’t do anything stupid.” She reached out and awkwardly patted his tremendously muscled arm covered with hair.

Paolo was only able to grunt in response because he no longer had a human mouth to speak with. He waved his hand, which was large enough to grasp her entire head, as if to say she had nothing to worry about.

(I’ll first check the location of the parasites), I said as I walked to the corner that turned right to the elevators. (Then I’ll give the signal to attack.) There was no need for me to do this bait-thing since these were just the weak zombie ones; Doms and Paolo could handle it.

But I had a couple of goals to tick off here.

One, I wanted to look like I cared about them, I couldn't resist the urge to build this face, and two, I was going to test my healing finger on these monsters.

I haven’t tried using it on the monsters before because, duh, why would I want to make these mutated fucks stronger or give them impenetrable armor? However, the properties of my healing finger presented the opportunity of using it as a weapon. Logically, I should be able to shoot them with my finger threads. The host bodies of these monsters had the same green glow as the humans I’ve linked with; why would they be any different? As for the parasites with the red glow, I think it was better to let them be for now.

I stepped out from behind the corner. Two of them, like Doms said. One was standing right in front of the elevator, as if it was waiting for it to open. The other zombie was kneeling on the floor, surrounded by a pool of black goo, doing some prayer-like motions.

“What’s up, fuckheads?”

They both turned to face me with blank stares.

Tiny tendrils crawled out of their mouths. Damn, the parasites inside were starting to mutate them.

I pointed my healing finger at the kneeling zombie and fired. I hit it just below its right collarbone. I started pumping it with my power, the blue thread connecting us glowing brighter. Was it going to turn it back to human? Or was it going to decay at a rapid rate?

But before any noticeable change could occur, the kneeling zombie screeched and lunged at me. I ducked under its arms and rolled. I slipped on the black goo and continued sliding across the floor. “Fucking—"

The zombie by the elevator, seeing I was bowling towards it, leapt at me with its mouth wide open. I held up my arm to block its bite. Its teeth cracked as it met my hard as fuck metal skin. The tentacles growing out of its mouth wrapped around my forearm.

Where was the other one?

Darkness fell over me as another mouth bit the upper half of my face, covering my sight, its teeth grated against my temples. But I could still see very well even in the mouth of this fucking zombie. I could see the disgusting saliva coating my eye. I stared down the zombie’s throat, straight at the tentacle parasite inside it. And the parasite stared back at me with dozens of pebble-sized glowing eyes from deep the zombie’s gullet.

EWWWW! Fucking gross! A rare instance I wished I didn’t have this enhanced vision.

Was this bastard biting my head the one I shot? Did my healing power have any effect? I tried pushing them away to see what was happening, but I was too weak. The two fuckers were gnawing my body even if their teeth were getting worn down.

(Do we go now?) Paolo asked

Enough of this shit. (Attack them!)

(The parasites—?) Doms begun to ask.

(Inside them! The tentacle things!)

Suddenly, the asshole zombie biting my head was pried off. Paolo's huge bulk blanketed me with its shadow. He held the struggling zombie above his head. My arm that the other zombie was biting suddenly felt lighter. I looked down and saw that only the head remained attached on my arm. The headless body, now controlled by the tentacle parasite, was being hacked to pieces by Doms.

(Are you okay?) Paolo said. He started twisting and pulling apart the zombie he captured.

(Wait—)

(Huh? Why?)

Hmmm…I was still connected to the zombie, and I continued using my healing power on it, but I didn’t notice anything wrong with it. I mean, there was something obviously wrong with it because it was a mutated human with freaking tentacles coming out of its mouth. But there was no indication that my healing power had any effect whether in a positive or a negative way. (Never mind. Kill it.)

(Die, you monster!) he shouted in my mind.

The zombie shrieked as its body was stretched…and stretched…until the skin, and muscles, and bones could no longer hold on. Like a piñata smashed opened, there was an explosion, not of candies, but of the zombie’s innards. It reminded me of what the gorilla monster did to me. In fact, this was exactly what the gorilla monster did to me, minus the shower of blood and guts, because Paolo copied its form.

In each massive fist, Paolo held a half of the zombie. He bellowed as he waved the zombie pieces in the air. He was enjoying himself too much. One would assume he would have misgivings about using the body of his father's killer.

The green color had been snuffed out, but the red was still there.

A large piece of the clump of tentacles that was the parasite, managing to keep itself mostly in one piece, escaped from inside the torn body of its host like a nut jumping out of its cracked shell. I grabbed its tentacles as it tried to flee. It jumped on me and tried to bind me. Paolo came to my aid and easily ripped it away. He threw it to the floor and flattened it with a stomp of the clawed toes of his wolf-like hind legs.

“Can you help me with this too?” I held out my arm with the head of the other zombie still attached.

Paolo pinched the head like it was a grape, and it sprayed me with more black goo.

“That’s a bit brutal, isn’t it?” I said, wiping away the gore from my body. “Looks like Doms is done too.”

“Is it dead?” she asked me. “The parasite?” She gave her zombie a few more stabs for good measure.

“It’s dead.”

“If only all of them are this easy.”

“Unfortunately, they’re not.”

“Wishing is free.” Doms shrugged. “I’ll get Lizzie and Julie.”

“So, how’s your body, Paolo?”

This was the power granted by the third finger of my right hand. Before Doms absorbed the corpse of the gorilla monster to remake her armor, Paolo copied it, gaining its form and strength. Although to what extent he inherited its power and abilities, we weren’t sure of. We also didn’t know how long this transformation would last. But we did confirm he couldn’t copy a living target as Doms asked him to try it on her and nothing happened.

I noticed a sort of pattern here: the fingers on my right hand gave powers to puppets such as strength, armor, and being able to copy a dead body; while the fingers on my left were more of supporting the puppets, like healing and transferring damage between targets.

(It feels great!) he said. He beat his chest like a gorilla would and roared.

“Quiet down,” I said. “You’ll attract other monsters to our position.”

(Yea…I’m sorr—)

“You also roared earlier. You should really control yourself.”

(It’s just that the strength…I feel like I could really kill the Adumbrae that caused all of this. With this strength I can rip apart all the monsters we meet!)

Now, where have I heard that before? I thought sarcastically. “Don’t forget these were people,” I scolded him while pointing at the zombies. "They're victims too, you know. Just like you." Wow, I was surprised I could say that without breaking into giggles. Having a robotic sounding voice did help. I had worn faces that cared about others, but I was certain I hadn’t said anything like this before.

He slowly lowered his arms. (I…yes…I forgot.)

“Is Paolo okay?” Julie asked me.

“I was just telling him not to get drunk on power.” I also faced Doms for a second when I said that, building up my face some more. “I think I should remove my powers from Paolo—”

(What? Why?!) He also made a sound that was a cross between a grunt and a keen whine.

“—for now. If we need it later, you can transform again.”

(But I’ll need another dead monster to copy!)

“I already explained this to Doms that I don’t know what the long-term effects of my powers are on you normal humans. I don’t want you to escape here alive just to get locked up by the BID afterwards. So far, looks like Doms is fine. But you…I’m not so sure.”

(I’m fine too!)

Julie didn’t know what her brother was saying to me, only hearing the grunts of the gorilla monster form, but she understood her brother was being stubborn. “Paolo, please listen to Pino. I don’t want you to turn into a monster.”

I did this little schtick for Doms, now I had to do it to Paolo for consistency’s sake. Now, on to the real reason why he had to return to human form. “You do know you’re not going to fit inside the elevator with that size?”

His boulder-like shoulders slumped upon realizing that teensy-weensy fact. (You’re right…)

“I don’t think he should change back yet,” Doms said. We all turned to her. She was by the elevator. “Both of these are not working.”

"Huh?"

"They're turned off. The Adumbrae must've deliberately disabled the elevators."

Shit! Were the stairs our only way down? “Julie, what’s the time?” I said, remembering something important. “Can you check your phone?”

“Uh…er…it’s 2:37 a.m.,” she said. “Why?”

2:37 a.m.? If I recalled correctly, I started this transformation at 1:01 a.m. And SpookyErind said I only had about three hours or so in this form.

Fuckity fuck.