One-Winged Angel
Classic Big Bads have the tendency, when push comes to shove, to turn into big honking monsters. A Mad Scientist in a fit of urgency might down his own Psycho Serum, or a practitioner of Black magic might mutate himself into an Eldritch Abomination, or... you get the idea. Bets are good they'll become way more bloated, ugly, or plain disfigured. And with this new form, their power increases immensely. This indicates that the villain means business and it's time for the heroes need to get cracking.
Expert from TVTropes about the "One-Winged Angel"
"(Y/N), are you okay? You look... really on edge... like, really." Mordecai cocked his head to the side as he looked behind at me as we were walking up the stairs to the tower.
'I'm fine... I'm really fine, it's just... does it smell strange to you?' I responded. I honestly felt like there was this invisible heavy mist that was crushing my insides. I don't know if it was because I've never been in this part of the tower before, or the fact that something really bad happened in these halls, but I did not have a good feeling. It even smells slightly metallic, and it might be just me, but the lighting was much darker and more eerie.
"Now that you mention it..." Mordecai raised his nose to smell the air. "It... does smell kinda weird... What happened?"
'You're asking me.' Barracuda shrugged. She seemed awfully calm about this. But then again, she is awfully calm about most things.
We just reached the top of the stairs when we saw something strange. An open doorway somewhere along the hall was blocked off by bright yellow and black signs saying "KEEP OUT". I was just about to express my confusion, when all of a sudden I noticed a slightly unnoticeable but large smudge along the floor of the hallway. Like something large and bloody was dragged across it. When the three of us investigated the open room, I noticed that it was a normal bedroom, with a small, comfortable bed in the corner, sparkling chandelier, a wooden bedside drawer, and a large pool of dark red liquid in the middle.
"What... the fuck..." Mordecai whispered, shaking. "Is... Is that Blood...?"
'It is.' Barracuda responded, cold and nonchalant tone of voice completely contrasting Mordecai's shaking, unstable one. 'Even smells like it.'
"How the hell are you so calm?"
Barracuda smiled coldly. 'You'd be surprised.'
Mordecai shot a side look at me that read "Wtf", and I just shrugged. Barracuda just left the room. I stared at the pool of blood.
What... Happened while I was gone? Was this why Fresh didn't want me to even look at the tower? Jesus Christ, this has to be a joke... What happened to the four of them? Is... Is that their blood? Fresh wouldn't do something like that, he would never! At least I hope. I swallowed and clenched my fist. What is this? And I never thought that I would ever think this again, but I actually ended up doubting Fresh's true character. I just mentally slapped myself. He's a kind person. He's a kind person. He's a kind person.
I mean, he did kill some people, but that's only because they deserved it.
...
Right?
"(Y/N)?" Mordecai nudged my shoulder. "Should we leave now?"
It took me a few seconds to gather my thoughts together and answer his question. "Y-Yeah, sure..."
'Are you okay?'
"Yeah yeah yeah, I'm great, thanks, let's just go." Mordecai obviously didn't take the bait, but he still just turned around and didn't talk about it. The entire journey up the tower was extremely long and to kill time, I started thinking. It got me nervous. It got me dreading. It got me scaring myself. Tetra and Lumina were just Seventeen. Pi was Sixteen. Quin was Eighteen. They were so young, and telling from the amount of blood in that room alone, I don't think I can ever imagine the pain they experienced. And they were younger than me...
Some halls seemed to carry a much more malicious energy around it than others, and as my feet started to hurt from the sheer amount of stairs, I started to wonder.
What if all along I had known the person Fresh wanted me to see... And the four shapes saw the real Fresh... Who subsequently murdered them...
No. I'm just being a dick. I'm in shock, I can't think straight, it's all the blood. All the blood that painfully came out of someone's body. I don't know if it was just me or not, but for someone to bleed out that much blood, their attacker must be taking their time enjoying the torture inflicted on them. It was like all blood was drained from their body.
I reached my hand out to Mordecai's and held it. He just looked at me weirdly. I don't care what he's thinking, I just needed the warmth and comfort of another human being to stabilise myself a little bit. He realised this, and pat my back.
"If it helps you to know, we're almost at the roof now." Barracuda turned towards us. "I think Fresh'll be happy to see you."
I laughed nervously. I can't believe I'm actually dreading seeing him. At this stage. The feeling of dread mixed with the other warm, fluffy feelings in my stomach formed a disgusting solution that made me feel sick. Reaching the top of the stairs to the roof, I notice another dried up pool of blood, as well as stains of it on the stairs and walls, like a water balloon had burst. It looked much older than the pool in the bedroom miles and miles down below. I stopped in my tracks. The maroon blood against the pale pink marble stood out like a knife in a toy box. I can't stop staring at it. My world became a little dizzy as I tried to pry my head away, but horribly failing. It was like something was forcibly making me stay put. I finally broke out of it when I felt Mordecai's warm hand take mine and walk up the stairs and onto the roof, making sure to not step in the flaking stain on the stairs.
Even the roof felt darker and colder than it usually is. No, it's not the weather, it's not the chilly wind, it's something else entirely. It's-
"A͕̽h! B͇̀u̪͠tter̛̜fly̱͛!" A cold, chilling, sharp-as-a-knife voice cut through the air and sent shivers down my spine. Something about the voice is familiar, but it was demonic, deep and sounded like metal being scraped against glass. But... Butterfly? Only one person calls me that. And that would be...
"Fresh...?" I turned around, looking for the source, but when I did, I turned pale and almost fainted on the spot.
I expected to see a handsome, well-dressed man wearing a royal cloak, pale pink skin, short black horns, one eye pink and one eye black, both with white sclera.
But what I saw instead, was a massive demon wearing spiked, torn dark clothing with a tailcoat and cloak - all bathed in a dried blood that matched the blood on the stairs and floor down below. Skin dark pink, horns long and also dark pink, eyes angular and with pink sclera, and most hauntingly, a mouth that stretched from ear to ear filled with far too many razor sharp teeth all in a wide grin. Mordecai didn't know what he was looking at and even Barracuda looked shocked.
I almost ran away on the spot when I laid my eyes upon that demon. Its appearance was so terrifying and so unworldly that I froze up. What is this...? That's not Fresh, it can't be, so why is it calling me "Butterfly"?
'Wh-Who are you?'
He laughed a bitter cackle that froze me to the core.
"A̗͝w, you̹͆ d̩͑ö͕́n̟̾'t rȇͅcognis̺͆è̗ me?̟̓" He cocked his head to the side like he was trying to be cute. But something like that would never be cute. He was bathed in blood for gods sake.
'Fresh?'
"C̣͛o͇̊rrec̗̔t̯̾!" He chuckled as he walked over to me. I felt like a bunny rabbit staring into the eyes of a wolf as it approached. I froze.
And he hugged me.
The warmth and touch was familiar to me, but the resonating feeling of panic deep within me was not. Then I realised something.
If this really was Fresh, before I was up to his armpits.
Now I was up to his stomach.
How tall did this guy grow? His body smelt like blood and it did not sit right with me. I didn't feel safe. I need to get out of here and away from this thing. It's not Fresh, it's an impostor, it can't be Fresh, Fresh doesn't look like that! Fresh would never be covered from head to toe in blood! Right? And it's dried, so that means that he didn't even bother changing out of his bloodstained clothes. His shirt was as stiff as a board and reeked of the choking stench of death.
"What... happened to you?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer. The stench of blood choking me almost made me hurl and I shifted my head to be able to talk clearly.
"A͈͒bś̹o̪͐r̭̅b̭̃ed part of ͖̓ṭ̆h͇̒e͈̍ ͍͐T̩̐r̩͘e͙͆e ͎̎o̠̊f͇̉ L̼͗ife.͈̅ ̭͑" He responded as he stroke a couple fingers through my hair. His fingernails were really sharp and it really didn't help the situation because I felt like he could dig them into my skull and kill me within an instant. "A̭̚n ̢̎e̩̍n̗͐ṭ̄i̥͝r̬̀e third!"
"Is that why... you look like... well, that?"
"Y͐eȁ̙h̟͑,̪͊ yeah ͕͋I̟͆ ̲̀knoẉ̕,͈͝ crazy, but do̱̎n̮̚'̙͘ţ̎ ̫͝g̪̈et͓̒ ̼͊t̂ͅo̻͂ö͖́ ̑ͅcomf͎́ọ̋r̲͗table, D̥̅e͚͑ariȇͅ,̬͐ ͉́it's ͉͝only gon͎̈́ņ̄a͓͘ ͉͗g̼̔e̖͌t uglier̭̓ ̟̉ả̞ŝ̯ t̝̽im͕̑e͎̚ ̘̆goes̙̈ ̜̄o̮͑n~" Was that supposed to be reassuring? Because if he says that if it's going to get uglier than this then I don't know if I would want to even imagine what he would look like with the entire Tree of Life absorbed within his body. And how tall would he grow? Right now I'm up to his stomach. I think he'll be the size of Godzilla and I don't think that this tower would be able to support him then.
I made eye contact with Mordecai who looked like he was shitting himself as he stared at us.
Then, I felt something that felt like a bug crawl up my shoulder. I turned around, and screamed. There was a massive centipede-looking insect the size of my entire leg crawling across my back. It had a shiny, spiked shell and pinchers that looked like it could gut a cow.
"WHAT THE-" I immediately let go of Fresh, frantically trying to get the thing off. It dropped to the ground, skittering over to Fresh. Then, I noticed a few others poking their heads out from behind him. I actually heard Mordecai walk away.
"Aw̰̕, she ̰̈́ļ̓ik͖̀es yo̫͘u!" Fresh chirped. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? "No̩͋ ͉̍surprise rę̾ä̼lly̯͑, but̥̕ ̜̓ī̘t̞̋'̩͌s st͍́ill̗̂ ͎͆ado̐͜r̤̍ǎ̢ble."
"ARE THOSE CENTIPEDES?"
'C̪̑at͔͝eŕ̲p̺̆illars,̠́ ̯̂ac̬͊ț͂ually̨̐.' He smiled. "Ó̝nc͕̉e̢͑ I absorb the re͗͜m̟͝a̘͑ning ̫͌t̪̒w̻͛o̦̐ par͕̓t̹̅ṡ̞ ̠̇o͔͛f t̨̃he ̠̀Tr̩͌e͎͐e of Lif̹͒e̲͗,̝̂ ̜͋t̗̃h͑ͅey'll tur̬̐n͚͑ ͙͌ï͜nt̼̅o̞̾ be͈̔aû̪t͉͑if͎͆ul ̧̏magnifice̟͑n̟̆t̮̏ ̠̆bu̞̒tterf̥̀l̝̀i͔̍e̺͛s."
A/N: Like I said in a previous chapter - that's what they're actually called in the game's files. They're not centipedes, they're not ragworts, they're caterpillars.
He stroked my cheek with a warm hand that I now realised had razor sharp claws that were covered in blood. I shivered. Is that why he calls me Butterfly? "J̝͗u̬͌s̯̓t lik̲͘ȇ̖ ̫̃you̪̔."
"Yeah... haha..."
He hugged me again, and Barracuda coughed, getting both our attention.
"Uh... I just remembered, I saw some new clothes that I thought (Y/N) might like, can I go show her them now?" Oh thank god she noticed how uncomfortable I was getting. I guess this is what they mean when they say "Girls looking out for each other".
"Ȃ̪l͎̕r̟͋e̐͜ä͙́dy di̲̾d͖̓ ͍͑so."
'...What?'
"N̖̄o nee̪̓d͖̓. Ĝ͈ot ͔́h̞͆e̱̕r ̪̏ṣ̐ome̘͗ n̺͋e̥͋w ͔́s̮̈́tuff̙̊ ̼̒I͓̚ tho̼͐ugh̥͊t́ͅ sḧ̞ḛ̍'d lik̞͊ḛ̏, ̠̚I thi̙̒ň͖k̜̓ sh̳̋e͖̊'lľ͉ ̺̍look m͕͗ag̤̽nif̮̽i̳̓c̤̚ent̯̆, wȇ̡l̨̈l,̥͗ ̝͘n̢̈́ȯ͓t like ͛ͅṡ͕he wasn͕̈'̠͌t͕̓ bẽ̡fo̦̽r̙̀e̜̚,̘̔ bṷ͛t̮͆ ̝͆s͕̕til̥̀l,̥͂ ̪̈́you ̢̋ǧ̡et my̨̌ ̱̚ṗ̭oinṱ̚,͉͐ ̫̎right?"
'Yeah, but, can I still-'
Fresh shot a dirty look at her and smiled, bearing his fangs. He even took a single hand away from my body and revealed inch long claws. The demon stared down at the snake, threatening to rip her into shreds. Barracuda actually looked scared. Something I didn't think she was capable of. I can't stop staring at his bloodstained claws. What did he do?
"Y-You know what... you're right..." She looked at me like she was apologising to me. Honestly, I couldn't blame her. In fact, even though I know his rage wasn't directed at me, I felt terrified. And telling from the fact that he was covered in blood, he was not playing around. It wasn't an empty threat, he actually wasn't afraid to kill her. I could tell from the look in his eyes. Ruthless. Cold. Merciless.
What has Fresh turned into?
If he changed this much after absorbing part of the triangle, what was he like before he absorbed any parts? What was Cumference like?
It didn't bother me that much before this, but now that I was looking at an eight foot tall monster, I just truly realised how much of a drastic transformation absorbing a part of the Tree of Life was. Before he was kind, a ray of sunshine, selfless and riddled with anxiety. Now he was a ruthless monster with every intent to rip anybody who stood in his way to shreds.
This isn't Fresh.
This can't be him.
There's not a single trace of that kind, gentle man that I developed a crush on, there's only a monster left behind. It was like all kindness had been sucked clean out of him.
"Y͒͜ou're ͈̅d͎̐i͈̾smisse̡͛d̳́, ̺̀B͈̉a͕̔rrȧ̞cuda͈̾."
'What? But-'
He didn't even have to say anything this time, because the moment he shot a seriously, deathly glare at her, she just shut up, didn't say anything, mouthed the word "sorry" to me and left the two of us alone. Now that it's just me, the chilling wind that breathed a cold breeze down my spine, and a monster who was hugging me like I was an oversized teddy bear.
"H͇́o̢̎w ͇̄á̟r͈͗e ̡̀you͚͐?" He asked, stroking my hair.
'G-Good...' I was terrified.
"T̗̉h̜̚at'̤͆s ṇ͒ice." I sensed a smile in his voice. Whether it was a smile of kindness and affection or a smile of sly malice, I don't know. I really hoped it was the former, but after seeing his transformation and the result of it, I started to doubt it. I started to doubt everything. I felt him move, and something soft touching the top of my head, followed by a soft "chu" noise. I realised he had just kissed my crown, the very top of my head. As much as I felt conflicting emotions towards the touch, I actually ended up calming down slightly. Guess that means he's still Fresh, even though he looks like a shark that was dipped in a vat of pink paint. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to stay like that or just leave me alone.
"A̛̪re y̺͒ô̪u̜̾ sc̖̈arẹ̈́d?" His cold, deep voice made me tense up. "İ̟ ̩̓ĉ͙an ̹̑s̻̅m̲͑e̥̊ll your fearr̪͛.̘̌.̡̈́.̢͒ ͍̈́I͍̚ ͖͐can̥͋ ̞̎à͉l̥͋most ̤͐t͖͌a̦͗ste it.̱́.̜̉."
Barracuda, why did you have to leave me alone with this creepy as fucking thing? I even felt the talons of a few Caterpillars scuttle across my back.
"A̡̛nd̻̾ ̙̐it tä͍ś̢të̯́s s̨̑o̥̕ ̫̊sweè̻t͇̅.͖̂.̢̍."
Okay I actually feel like pissing myself right now.
"Scared?" I was practically shaking in his arms. "Of course I'm fucking scared! You look like if an angler fish had sex with a chewed up bit of bubblegum! You look like a stop sign that came alive and started to eat everybody! You look- you look like a pink version of Venom!"
Silence.
"O̫͊h m̟̔y goḋ͜ ̣̓y̦̆o̰̐u're̺̅ ̢̇r̨͊í̹ght." He said like a wall of epiphany had hit him in the face. "I͙͛ ̰̋do̻̒ loõ̳k̬̈ lĩ̝k̗̀e Venom̥͛."
'You even sound like him as well.'
"D͇͊oes̝̎ ͓̌this̳͂ ̣̂meȁ͖n̞̽ that͇́ y̖̆o̗̕u'͎̄r̲̄ȩ̚ ̪́my̞͠ Aņ̓ne?"
Despite the intense negative emotion I was feeling beforehand, I couldn't help but snort.
'Sure, I guess.'
And just like the old Fresh, the new Fresh in front of me smiled in pride at the fact that he just made me laugh. Or snigger at least. Even though his teeth were as sharp as a knife.
"H͉̀e̟̾y, (̰͆Ỷ̝/̡̊N)?"
'Yeah?'
"I͚̎ lov̭͂ẹ̽ y̹̐ou." He whispered into my ear with a cold, chilling voice. I just froze up. I love you? I love you? I felt all colour drain from my face. WHAT THE HELL IS THIS, A FANFICTION?
I felt what I would assume to be panic well up in my throat. Jesus Christ if I had known that he would turn into such a sadistic, horrifying monster I would've just killed myself in that cave right there and then.
"U-Um, yeah, thanks Fresh, I just remembered that I have to go now-" I muttered shyly as I tried to wriggle out of his embrace, but I only ended up feeling a sharp prick between my shoulder and neck. I looked at the area where it hurt, and I just saw a large claw digging itself into my shoulder. It tore through the leather jacket I was wearing just like slicing through paper. My eyes widened and I started to feel a weird pressure building up in my chest cavity. Please let go. It was like my heart and lungs were expanding, and doing so made my head spin. The fact that I actually saw a trickle of red break the skin did not help at all. I know he wasn't trying to hurt me, but... His grip... felt so choking. Please let go.
"W̨̕here'̱́r̝̃é̙ you̡̒ ̪̆g͙͝oing̣͐?͇̈́" I heard him speak. His voice was colder than usual and I felt myself freezing up. Every cell in my body was turning into stone. I tried to respond, but all that came out was a choking noise that sounded vaguely like a gasp. I felt the warm fingers of his left hand brush across my right cheek, but the physical effect it had on me was identical to if his fingers were as cold as ice. His other hand was still digging itself into my shoulder. Please let go. When his fingers left my cheek, I even felt a little stinging sensation across it. It was like he accidentally made a miniature scratch on my face with those talons.
"Ḑ̌on't t̛̯r͙̒y̞̐ ͇̀to̠̊ ̗̓r̅ͅun, M̗̈y͈͘ De̥͛ař̼ỉ̫è̬." He whispered into my ear. Immediately I felt all the discs that made up my spine lock together and freeze. "Í͈'m nọ̃t͙̆ ͍̾gon͓͗ṋ̄a h͚̚ư̬r̩̕t y͌o̜͐u.͙̄"
WELL I'M SORRY, YUNO GASAI, BUT YOU'RE KINDA TEARING THE FLESH IN MY SHOULDER APART RIGHT NOW.
I don't think he noticed the trickle of blood running down my shoulder. I don't think he realises the terror that must be swimming in my eyes. I don't think he realises that my vision is slowly going in and out of focus as cotton balls fill up my noggin. His predatory gaze is fixated on my face. It's like he's feeling me with his eyes, like I'm a beautiful Leonardo Da Vinci painting that he's never seen before.
"I-I... I need... to go..." My paralysed vocal chords finally managed to form those words. I was hoping that he would finally take the hint and let me go, but instead I felt the pain in my trapezius grow stronger as my heart escalated to my throat. There was more blood coming out of my shoulder where his claws dug into my flesh. The pain was growing stronger by the second. But he paid no mind. It's like he doesn't even realise how much he's hurting me. He probably doesn't. More and more cotton balls start to fill up in my skull. It's like a water hose is washing out all of my thoughts with water that is subsequently numbing my thinking process. Panic usually feels like a sharp needle filled with adrenaline being shot into your chest, but in this case, it feels more like a vacuum cleaner sucking all my brains out slowly and slowly, until nothing remains.
"S̨̍tå̩ý̯.̩̓" I heard a cold yet suave voice in my ear. I thought I heard it tremble. "Ṗl͘͜eḁ̊sě̟ ͕̎st̏ay."
I think it was that moment where I passed out. Special emphasis on think.
And I say "Think" because despite the fact that my legs gave way underneath me and I couldn't move, despite the fact that everything was black, I could still vaguely hear the sound of a man panicking as he roared in a combination of shock and anguish.
I wanted to slap myself for cherishing those moments where I didn't have to see his face.
That wasn't Fresh, right? That couldn't be him. Sharp teeth, covered in blood, beady, predatory eyes... That's not Fresh.
I remember I woke up in my bed after a few hours sleep, staring at a familiar ceiling. The pain in my left shoulder was gone. I looked at it, and I saw that the clothes I was wearing had changed. I was now wearing a plain T-shirt with a pair of black shorts that stopped about half-way down my thighs. I moved the collar of my shirt to the left, and noticed white bandages covering my shoulder.
I also realised I wasn't wearing my bra.
I really hope that it was a group of Female servants who did this and not him.
But after a little while, I begin to take notice of a warmth next to me, as well as a faint snoring. Looking over to my right, guess who I see?
Yup, you guessed it, a massive crocodile with dark pink skin.
Except this time half-naked, because Fresh just goes to bed wearing nothing but his underwear.
I felt myself freezing up the moment I saw him lying there sleeping. It was almost as if one single move will coax him to wake up and tear me to shreds. Like a hibernating bear. My eyes eventually went to my bedside table, where a note laid.
I'm sorry I hurt you. I patched you up and put you to bed. I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry about the roof. I'm sorry about the blood. I'm sorry for everything.
There wasn't even a signature like the previous times he wrote a note to me. His handwriting was messier and more rushed. Whether it's a side-effect of the Tree of Life or the fact that he's disturbed by the fact that he just ended up physically hurting me, I don't know. I swear I saw a few droplets of what I assume to be tears dotted on the paper.
I prodded at the bandage on my shoulder. It hurt when I poked it, and the pure white was slightly stained red. It was... kinda bad... I could feel depressions in my flesh and it made me feel sick and dizzy. Laying back down, I started to process what just happened. But as I did so, I realised that when I was laying next to him, I didn't feel as safe as I usually do.
He told me he loved me and then proceeded to tear a hole in my shoulder.
I know that he probably didn't mean it, but that still made me swallow a heap of saliva, and I swear that I felt the pain in my shoulder flare up again. I felt fear around him, I felt fear around someone who can hurt people without even trying. I was scared. I was scared of Fresh.
After a while of thinking, and an extremely uncomfortable feeling bubbling up in my stomach, I sat up.
Finally, I decided what I was going to do.
I wasn't safe in this place.
I needed to get out of here.
I got changed as quietly as I could into the warmest clothing I could manage to find, took my phone, put on a pair of outdoorsy-looking boots of mine, and stared at the door. I almost felt guilty for this. Because of the guilt in my stomach, I took a rose from the vase next to my bed and put it in my hair, as a momento of when he was just Fresh and not a monster. I looked at the monster sleeping in my bed one last time. I wanted to say goodbye. But after a while, I just looked away, mentally punching myself in the face as I opened and closed the door as quietly as I could.
As I jogged down the hallway and down a flight of stairs, I wondered what he would do once he realised that I was no longer in his tower. Would he scream and try to hunt down and kill me? Would he lock himself up in a room and have a mental breakdown? I slapped myself yet again as I just ran down the stairs. Don't feel guilty. You'll just end up running back to him and he'll end up hurting you further.
After a while of alternating between jogging and walking, as well as a surprisingly low amount of Corrupted being encountered, I finally reached the front door to the tower.
Pushing it open, I gagged.
What was that smell?
WARNING: DO NOT EAT ANYTHING AS YOU READ THE NEXT PART. ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE EATING SOFT FOODS OR PROTEIN.
I don't think there was any words capable enough to describe how absolutely putrid the smell was. I was expecting the smell of freshly cut grass, fresh oxygen, the smell of a peaceful full-moon night, but instead it felt like I opened the door and all of a sudden someone threw a dead skunk on my face. It was like I had woken up in the sewers in a pool of literal human waste with thousands of dead rats rotting away next to me. The literal cherry on top was the smell of something sweet. Too sweet. Like a dead body had been submerged in honey. The perfume was heavy on my chest, dense and absolutely stomach-churning. Something deep within me told me to not, under ANY circumstances, look up.
But I did anyways.
I only saw four pairs of feet dangle from seemingly nowhere. I wanted to throw up. A part of me wanted to keep looking up and know what exactly was happening, but it was like my eye muscles wouldn't let me. Neither were my neck muscles. But I already had a clear idea who those legs belonged to. Some of those shoes were caked in red.
Oh my god.
Is he hanging Tetra, Lumina, Quin and Pi's dead bodies in front of his tower as some kind of Warning? Or even a trophy?
The smell made my stomach feel like it was being kneaded like a baker kneading dough. Before I knew it, I had doubled over, feeling the acidic contents of my stomach emptying itself as my whole entire body just gave up.
To give you an idea on how absolutely horrible it smelled, take some meat, put it in a snaplock bag, leave it outside in the hot summer heat for three days straight. Then, open it and mix in some diarrhoea you got from Taco Tuesday. Marinate for two more days. Afterwards, piss off a skunk, get the skunk spray from it, and mix it in. After all that, puff a few puffs of your favourite floral perfume. There, you're about halfway there to knowing how a dead body smells like.
That's just one dead body, imagine four in a row.
And here's the thing - I haven't even looked at the bodies properly.
I only just saw their legs and then my body decided "Nope. Not today."
So many chills travelled up my spine as the skeletal hand of death crept up like a spider. Almost as if there was something dwelling among the bodies, waiting there to skewer me on the spot if my eyes fell upon it, only to hang my dead body up there, joining Tetra and the others in death.
Without daring to look up, I ran out the doors, gagging and gasping for fresh air. If I didn't want to leave beforehand, I definitely would now. I had NEVER ASKED to ever even get CLOSE to a dead body, and smelling it is something that I would never wish upon anyone. I now have a brand new respect for Autopsy surgeons and undertakers.
I think one thing a lot of books on Wattpad all fail to include is the absolute horrible stench that dead bodies give off as they decompose and actually empty their bowels, making it literally smell like shit. They always romanticised death, so much that I had always thought that rotting corpses smelt like rotten fruit and that's it, but in that moment, I stand EXTREMELY corrected. Rotting corpses do not give off the dainty whiff of a bouquet of dead flowers. Fuck that, it's more like if a dirty, used toilet had punched you in the face.
I just ran from the tower, not looking back.
A/N: I have never even been near a dead body before, DON'T PANIC.