Nina
After sleeping for almost fifteen straight hours I was wired, even with a full stomach. Kitty was passed out on the couch above me while I'd curled up in her sleeping bag, scrolling through my phone and deleting any trace of myself from social media. My family had already made the news and they knew immediately it was me, it didn't take a world class detective to sleuth that one out. I mean, who else would have done something so cruel?
The creak of approaching footsteps distracted me and I Thomas walked out from the hallway, a different jacket on his shoulders and his mask around his face. I made a small 'psst' to get his attention as I sat up and he waved to me, rubbing at my eyes and realizing he had shoes on.
"Are you going out?"
"I'm...still hurting pretty bad. Think I need to eat something."
"Let me get my shoes on, I'll come with you."
I unzipped myself before grabbing for my now clean and blood-free jacket while he waited. I grabbed my knife off the coffee table as I stood, popping my back and snickering when he gagged in response. All I could do was laugh as I followed him out into the night and took a deep breath, glad that I was finally back in Oregon and not in the desert as I tasted rain on the breeze.
"We walking?" I asked.
"Yeah, unless you have a better idea."
"Have any bikes? Maybe a skateboard?"
He arched an eyebrow before gesturing across the street to another house, their garage open and giving me ample space to wander in and take a look around. I spotted two longboards shoved in the back and cracked a grin before tossing one to him and taking off at a running start. It needed a little fine tuning, but the ride was still pretty smooth.
"A little music and a coffee in my hand, now that would be a perfect night!" I laughed as Thomas caught up to me.
"I didn't know you could skate kid, still surprising me after all these years." He grinned as he kicked the ground. "Are we going for round two of being a handy little helper?"
"Bitch, I dance to my own drum! I'm a big kid now, give me some credit!"
"Alright, alright, I'll let you show me what you've got," Thomas beamed and I cracked a massive grin as I kicked, gesturing to the right before we both made a gentle turn.
I knew we were outside of city limits by how sparse the houses became, Thomas pointing to one in the distance with the lights off and a high fence. We kicked up the longboards and tucked them just inside the fence before he led me around, whispering quietly about the best ways to check doors and windows before we found one that was open. He let me use his hand as a boost and I hauled myself into the house, stepping gently until he followed after me.
We stalked through the house side-by-side as we checked the rooms, finding a couple fast asleep in their bed at the end of the hunt. I pointed to the woman and he nodded, a nasty grin crossing his face before we split up and took our victims. Something overcame me, a certain tingling as the blood in my veins caught on fire, the desire to create some carnage grow ten times stronger. The knife fit comfortably in my hands as I ran my fingers gently down the woman's face, her eyelids fluttering for a moment until fear crossed her gaze and replaced the glossy, groggy sheen. In that second I pulled my knife back, slamming it into her ribcage and taking absolute delight as the light left her eyes. Once she'd bled out I dragged my blade across her face, carving the same lovely smile into her cheeks that I'd cut into mine as I dragged her onto the floor.
When I finally looked up from my piece of art I saw Thomas perched on the bed, the chilling echo of ribs cracking when he pried them open sending a violent chill down my spine. My eyes were glued to the scene as sharpened teeth sliced through flesh like a warm knife through butter. Man, he made lungs look tasty. I wondered though why his appetite suddenly changed to include the whole menu instead of just a portion. The man's eyes came out of his skull easily but he appeared troubled as he rolled the man's head around.
"Trying to pull his head off his neck?" I snorted as I got to my feet.
"I need something to break his skull. Get to the good bits."
"Why didn't you say so?" I purred as I flipped the knife, holding the handle out to him. "Let's get him crackin', Roswell-reject."
"You really are a perfect little mini-monster," he laughed before whipping the blade into the softer parts of the skull, the cracking bone pleasant as he pried the pieces away and handed my weapon back, digging into the squiggly goodness. He definitely didn't seem human as he did this, reverting to some strange, animalistic instinct that intrigued me beyond belief while I watched.
"What's with the zombified feeding frenzy?" I questioned while he finished his meal, licking the blood off his fingers like frosting from a spoon.
"If we're going to beat Operator at his own game I've got to keep eating," he explained, prying himself away from the corpse and taking a deep breath, "one more full meal and I won't be human anymore. I'll have the strength to equal his, then we can get Jeff back."
"What's 'strength equal to his' mean? Teleportation? Some badass mind control skills?" I teased as I followed him into the kitchen, watching from the counter I hopped onto as he washed his hands and face.
"Well I got some pretty new teeth down in Tempe," he flashed his grin at me again and I took a closer look at his fangs, "should be getting a huge strength and speed boost after that body. Final one makes me some Cthulhu-esque tentacle monster like the big bad asshole himself."
"Spooky, I'm sure Chelsea's going to just love that one," I giggled and he splashed water at me.
"Come on, let's head back before they notice we're missing," he laughed, trying to hide his embarrassment while I followed him back out the same window we entered from.
I was still laughing as I grabbed for my board, kicking off ahead of him but letting myself glide so that he could catch up. It had to have been maybe three or four in the morning and as I took a deep breath of the misty air my body practically sang it's relief to me. This was my new home. My new family. I didn't have to fight for my right to be myself and I slapped Thomas's hand as he weaved around me. I wanted to scream to the moon and dance along the streets I was so happy.
"I can't believe I waited so long to finally snap on someone," I cackled as I crouched, letting myself gain a little speed, "I know it's so bad but damn does it feel good!"
"You know my worst fear after letting you cut into that guy at the river was you ending up like this, now I'm taking you along on my goddamned food runs."
"Thank you for doing that, by the way. I know you felt bad about it but...this shit almost feels like it was inevitable." A sigh escaped my chest as I got back to my feet and closed my eyes for a moment, letting the wind wrap around my face and enjoying what little feeling I had left. "I haven't felt this good in so long. No structure, no routine, no barriers; just me, my knife, and the only people that matter anymore."
"I'm touched, and to think you had to blackmail me to get me on board!"
We howled our joy and the sound echoed through empty streets, our new rides taking us quietly down the road until we made it back to the neighborhood. I definitely wasn't returning mine and he seemed to be on the same page as we stashed them in the small shed in Delilah's backyard before we walked back around to the front of the house and let ourselves in. Kitty was still out on the couch but I stopped Thomas from entering just yet when my gaze landed on a dark figure at the dining table.
"Shh, listen," I whispered, "is that...Jules?"
"—you, you really, you really think that you're the boss? You really think that you can just...tell all of us what to do, and we'll do it?" She laughed as we approached the table. "They might, maybe, but me not so much. I know, oh, I know you're powerful. I know you're a big strong man, but you gotta remember who brought you these little fish."
"What the fuck?" Thomas mouthed out to me and I shrugged, my eyes wide.
"You gotta remember that whatever I want, I get. Whatever I want! If I want their fucking blood then I will take it! There ain't a God damn thing you can do about it. You may scare Delilah, but she's just a bitch. Not me. I will fuck you up the next chance I get. Now...let's talk about these little fishes."
"Jules?" I said suddenly, my hands shaking as I listened to her. What the fuck was this?!
"What?" She seemed to snap to attention, looking around wildly, "where— where am I?"
"The kitchen, I think you sleepwalked out here," Thomas suggested and she relaxed as he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Fuck, I come back to life and I'm still doing that shit?" Jules groaned as he helped her out of her chair. "Are you okay? You're cold as shit, dude."
"Nina and I just got back in," he nodded my way and I waved, still absolutely shell-shocked, "body's back in tip-top shape now."
"Oh you...oh," she shivered as I let her pass by, "yuck. No wonder you smell like that."
"Is it really that bad?" Thomas laughed as he took a whiff of his shirt, "guess I'll toss this in the wash."
"Well, while you do that I'm going to head back to the room. Thanks for waking me up, though. Remember when I ended up on top of the Renegade?"
"Oh God, yes," he snorted as he stifled a laugh, "okay shoo, we're going to wake Kitty."
She snickered as she walked back down the hall, Thomas pulling his jacket off and holding his hand out for mine while I watched her. The whole time my skin crawled with unease, every kind of red flag imaginable going off inside my head. As I looked back up at his face in the darkness I could see his gaze narrowed.
"What the fuck was that?" I wheezed quietly, looking back toward Kitty to make sure she was still asleep.
"I-I don't know," he whispered, "she's been known to sleepwalk and talk but...but that was something else."
"I don't think Jules was as clean as Delilah deemed her to be. Keep this between us for now. It could be nothing, but that whole chit-chat was too specific for my liking."
"What about Kitty?"
"Kitty's already dealing with enough," my voice softened as I looked back at her again, "we'll get to the bottom of this. We make a pretty good tag-team, after all."
His face eased as he smiled, bumping my fist before he nodded in agreement. I was left to return to my sleeping bag and I felt a weird heaviness as I looked back at Kitty, wondering what weird mess Jeff inexplicably shoved us into by bringing someone back to life.