Emilena breathed under her breath, feasting her eyes on the scared young woman whose hand was trapped by her meaty fist.
"If you don't scream, I'll kill you afterward rather than before..." she whispered throatily into her prey's ear. She could already feel herself getting hard in anticipation.
As Lily's cries were muffled in Emilena's ham-sized palm, they were interrupted by someone leaping onto Emilena's back and whacking her in both temples simultaneously.
Sparks erupting in her vision, she threw the intruder over her back and stumbled. Before she could even get a good look at the scrawny white rat, pain erupted through her abdomen as Lily blasted her at point blank with her own shotgun.
Emilena was abruptly in a white-walled laboratory, standing at attention by the door. A heavy shotgun, much more advanced and high-tech than the last one, rested on her shoulder and in the butt of her hand.
"This'll only be a minute, John," her partner Lupis said apologetically.
"Don't worry about it," she smiled. "Always happy to help you out."
"If only these blasted scientists held a similar attitude..." Lupis muttered acidly. Without further ado he marched over to a group of whitecoats staring at clipboards in front of an unsettling creature in a tank.
Emilena didn't like to look at it; it looked like it was asleep or dead, but even from here she could tell its muscles were primed. It seemed to be masking incredible agitation.
Emilena shuddered and looked away. At least she was safely over here, not being involved. Lupis always handled the unknown better than she did.
But something in her mind wouldn't stop thinking about that creature. She tried to focus on Lupis, who was aggressively demanding information on the security features of the room. She liked to look at Lupis when he worked, it calmed her. But right now her thoughts of him kept getting pushed aside.
Maybe I can convince him to relax tonight with some beer, she thought, idly swiping her security card to open the laboratory door. He needs some stress relief, he hasn't spent a night in our bed for over a week...
Abruptly Lupis snapped his gaze over to her with a speed that made her jump. "John. What are you doing?"
Emilena looked with surprise at the security card in her hand. "I--? I don't know? I was just..."
"Close the door. Now!" Lupis snapped.
Emilena made to shut the door, but hesitated. The thought of the creature made her pause. Why couldn't she stop picturing it?
Lupis was by her side in the blink of an eye. Faster then the human eye could track, he made a swipe for her security card, but she flipped it into her sleeve. He drew his own, but she moved to block him.
"Get that door shut!" Lupis yelled at the scientists, but they were frozen with fear.
"Lupis...what's happening?" Emilena asked, worry crossing her face. She couldn't control her body.
"It's in your head!" Lupis said urgently. "You've got to fight it! Don't let it control you!"
"Oh, god..." Emilena cocked her shotgun and fired it at the tank housing the creature. As the scientists ran for cover, the body tumbled to the floor. "Lupis! Make it stop!"
Emilena tried to run, but Lupis tripped her and slid her into a wall. Swiping his security card, he closed the laboratory door. "Activate the hazard frequency!" he snapped at the scientists. Only one found the courage to move, but he soon lost it when Emilena fired clumsily at him. Her head was spinning. Where was another way out?
She and Lupis spotted her ticket to salvation at the same time; the computer terminal. Leading through that wall were the wires connecting the computer to the network. Integrity will be weakest there.
Lupis blocked her. "Fight it John!" he snapped again. "You're a government agent you fucking idiot!"
She smacked Lupis upside the head with a ham-sized left hook. "I--I'm not you Lupis!" she cried. "You were always--"
A gunshot cracked out; Lupis had assumed a crouching stance and shot her in the thigh. The gun quavered slightly and aimed at her other thigh, a crippling blow. But the hesitation gave her the chance she needed. Not even understanding how, she sent Lupis flying away from her, hitting the wall with a sickening thud.
As the scientists cowered in the corner, she ripped the computer from the wall and found the origin of the cord. Outside, she heard guards attempting to batter down the door.
"Stop!" Lupis shouted into his radio, staggering to his feet and stumbling forward. "Don't break down the door! That's an order!"
He shot her again. And again. She staggered, but the intruder in her mind gave her the strength to keep standing. Raising her fist, she punched the wall repeatedly until her bloodied and broken fist had cracked it.
She felt hot fangs sink into her neck; Lupis was attempting to sever her spine. He knew where the weakest and most sensitive part of her neck was...
Emilena collapsed to the ground obligingly. Her breathing didn't come easily. But it was gone, she could tell. It had abandoned her. "Lupey..." she whispered weakly.
Lupis surveyed the extensive damage to her body with intense alarm. "You worthless fucks get me a medical kit or I swear to god I'll kill you where you're cowering!" he shouted at the scientists, who collectively found the sudden motivation to follow orders.
Emilena could feel it; this was the fight she couldn't win. "You were always better than me, Lupey..." she saw blackness cloud over her vision. "...better...at hiding your thoughts..."
"Don't talk," he commanded sternly. But her last sight was his worried face. He was crying. He never cried...
She tried to raise her arms, to touch him, but it was too late. At least she tried...
Abruptly Emilena woke up in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily, she staggered out of bed, mind reeling. In the bathroom she splashed cold water on her face, but no amount of shock could wipe the dozens of deaths she'd just experienced from her memory.
She smelled the unmistakable aroma of bacon and eggs coming from the kitchen, but she locked her bedroom door instead and sat silently on the edge of the bed. She needed to think about everything she'd just seen, digest it. She needed it all to make sense...
