Severing Sanguine: A Companion Book to The Fallocaust Series Book 2 (85 page)

“Silas!” Felix managed to shriek, his voice garbled and gurgling as the lions yanked him around like a child’s ragdoll. He looked up at Silas for a fraction of a second and locked eyes with him. “Master!” he screamed.

“Goodbye, lovely boy. Sorry it didn’t work out,” Silas called with a loving smile, before he wrapped his arms around Nero’s thick bicep. He squeezed it tight and hung off of Nero’s arm, Felix’s screams fading away as the lions fought over his body, before the screams stopped altogether.

“I will not miss him,” Silas said, stroking Nero’s arm lovingly, “but oh was he ever a beautiful specimen.”

Silas kissed his hand and gently laid it on top of the chain-link fence. Felix now in several pieces, his remains firmly in the jaws of several lions who were taking him to different areas of the pen. “Come now, loves, we’re going home.” Then he looked at Elish with the same content grin. “And when we get home, I will find my Sanguine and I will make sure the rest of his immortal life is spent in happiness.” Silas ignored the frown on Elish’s face, and still hanging off of Nero’s arm, they turned their backs to Felix and walked down the wooden stairs. “And once he is home safe, love, I want Ares and Siris home. They make me smile and laugh and I think our family needs some lightness.”

“Yes, Master,” Elish said with a nod. He reached out and affectionately stroked Silas’s shoulder. “The family does need a cleansing, I commend you for your decision.”

“Yes, things are about to change within our family, for the better.” Silas’s smile darkened.

It was silent save for a whistle on Silas’s lips. When they finally approached the plane they could all see Ceph. He was standing with an oiled rag in his hand and his head deep into the plane’s engine.

Silas broke away from Nero’s arm and started waving his finger back and forth like he had a tune stuck in his head. “Ceph, my love, what’s wrong with our plane?”

As Silas walked ahead, Elish heard Nero let out a long, tense breath. When the king was far enough away Nero took Elish’s hand and silently squeezed it.

“How did you know?” Nero whispered, his voice barely audible even to chimera hearing.

“I knew he was heading towards a meltdown. I know his mind,” Elish said in the same quiet voice. His purple eyes watching Silas as he spoke happily to Ceph.

“And I knew if the mood took him – Ceph would be down there with Felix,” Elish continued.

Nero swallowed and nodded, and with a quick glance to make sure Silas wasn’t looking, he gave Elish a quick, but emotional, hug.

“Thank you, brother,” Nero whispered. He broke away before Silas or Ceph could see him. “I owe you.”

“I know,” Elish replied, “and I won’t forget it.” His eyes flickered back towards the plane. “Let’s go home.”

I woke up to someone poking me in the nose. I opened my eyes and saw Barry staring down at me with a mischievous grin on his face and his bear ears wiggling back and forth like he was excited about something.

“Morning…” I yawned and stretched out my limbs, the sounds of my bones and joints popping filled the underground room I had made my lair.

Then a smile came to my face. I turned my head to say good morning to Jack but it disappeared when I saw his side of the bed was empty, though the imprint of his head was still on the pillow. Unable to help myself I grabbed the pillow and smelled it; I could smell his hair and his body. It made my chest shudder and fill.

“I bet he had enough and ran,” Barry taunted, his voice getting raspy as the days went on. He sat down and wrapped his arms around his legs before he started rocking himself back and forth. “Jack and Sam went up the hill to fetch themselves some meat. Jack fell down and Sanguine frowned and they both ate each other’s fucking faces.”

“That doesn’t even rhyme, idiot.” I yawned and got up before stretching again, the warm air from the heater keeping my body warm. As my ears adjusted to the sounds of the room I heard my other little friends playing behind the stacks of boxes. I liked their laughter reverberating off of the walls, it made things happy. “He’s gone to get us some food, just like he did yesterday and the day before.”

I rubbed my eyes and as I dressed myself. Jack and I were both the same size except I was taller and lankier than he was. I wore the shirt he wore yesterday and buttoned it, then zipped up my old pair of black pants.

“Nah, I’m sure he’s fucked off and ran.” Barry lit a cigarette and stretched out on the bed before putting his hands behind his head. He looked at me and grinned through the cigarette. I leaned down and took it from him and went to get myself a glass of water.

“I don’t think so, not this time,” I said.

I couldn’t help the shake inside of my chest when I remembered the last night we had had together. We had been making out almost non-stop over the last three days. The next morning after I had killed Ludo we had both woke up with a fire inside of us. Though we had never gotten further than kissing and touching each other; I just wasn’t ready for something like that. It was different doing it when the bloodlust and madness was coursing through me, but when I was normal it still made me nervous and anxious. Jack had understood that but he had been taking full advantage of my lips and I of his.

It had been an intense couple of days, though Barry and my other friends had been starting to get annoyed that I hadn’t been paying attention to them. And I also hadn’t been able to go out and create any new friends, the new mouse still needed a body.

“He will,” Barry said in a singy voice. I shook my head and drank a ladle full of water, we had a plastic bucket full of water and a ladle for dipping. We would get something better eventually but this was good enough.

“You do know you can’t handle friends let alone a boyfriend, right?” Barry chuckled.

“I seem to be doing well with my boyfriend so far,” I said wiping my mouth. The word boyfriend still made my body shudder like the word itself was a live wire. I’d had a boyfriend for going on four days now. It was an exciting prospect and it was making me feel like I was king of the world.

I had a boyfriend! I had a boyfriend and not only that, my boyfriend was Jack. My chimera brother, who not only knew who I was but he also knew me. He knew me and the shit I had done and what had happened to me – and he still wanted to be around me.

Who would have thought that would happen to me?

“Sami?” a small female voice sounded behind me. I turned around and saw Patches looking up at me, her hair ribbons were blue today, they matched her eyes.

“Yes, little lady?” I responded.

“You haven’t brought us anyone new to play with for days now,” she said with a pout. She started swinging her dolly back and forth. I noticed behind her the others were gathered together, their eyes fixed on the both of us. It was almost like she had picked the smallest straw and she was the one that had to confront me.

“Ralph our mousey is still trapped inside.” Patches lowered her voice and as she swung the dolly it turned into the mouse I had rescued. “And we can hear him screaming. Can you hear him screaming?” Patches walked up to me and held up the mouse.

I leaned down so my ear was against the mouse and tried to listen.

My entire body spasmed in shock as an ear-piercing scream sounded from the stuffed animal. It was so intense it ripped through my mind and caused me physical pain. Out of reflex I jumped back and dropped the ladle onto the ground.

Patches didn’t move or react to the noise. She only stared at me with grave eyes, the mouse still being held out by her tiny little hands.

“He’s suffering,” she whispered and clutched the mouse to her chest. “Why are you letting him suffer, Sami?”

“Yeah,” Sir spoke up. Fingles was beside him, his nose twitching invisible whiskers. “Why is making out with Jack more important than freeing your friends? Why is he suddenly more important than us?”

“Yeah!” The others exchanged glances of confirmation. They nodded at each other, several of them started to look angry. “Why is he more important than us? You’re just like Jasper. Gross touching makes people turn evil. Evil! And BAD! You’re going to have sex with him!”

“No, it doesn’t! And I’m not!” I snapped back at them, but the guilt was welling inside of me. Maybe I had been a bad friend. I had just been having so much fun with Jack. Didn’t I deserve some happiness?

“Yes, it does,” Barry said behind me. I turned and saw that he was standing; he had another cigarette in his mouth. He was starting to look differently which I found odd. His black eyes were starting to have flecks of red in them, and his curly hair was starting to straighten and turn black. “Sex turns people into things. They’re right, Sami. You’ve been shoving them into the back room and ignoring them so you can kiss Jack. We’ve been there for you since the beginning and now since you have him we’re not needed?”

“I deserve some time to be happy…”

Patches pushed the stuffed mouse into my hand and patted it. “Ralph deserve to be happy too. He’s trapped inside and he’s suffering. If Nero and Silas were like you, they would’ve left you alone and suffering in the basement. Even they were better people than you.”

“What a shitty friend,” Moose said. He had been my sheep dog. “Enjoy fucking Jack. Pervert.”

Their words were like a spear through my chest. I found myself too stunned and hurt to answer them back. I could only stare at them as their twinkling eyes glared back. Angry eyes. Ones that held in them a disappointment and hatred I had seen one too many times in both my youth and adulthood.

“Sanguine?”

I jumped and gasped from shock as I felt a hand on my shoulder. I whirled around with my heart giving a thrash, but a moment later there was a swell of relief when I saw the face of my new boyfriend.

Though Jack’s expression was troubled; I could see two lines on his forehead from him scowling so much. “What are they saying to you, baby?”

I turned away from them. Jack put a hand around my waist and walked me towards a patio table with two plastic chairs. We had brought them down during Jack’s first full day here. I sat down on one and Jack pulled the other one beside me. He placed two brown paper bags in front of us, the bottoms shining with grease.

“Nothing…” I mumbled, though my friends had successfully soured my mood.

“Sanguine…” Jack rested a hand over mine and squeezed it. “Come on, boyfriend. Are they yelling at you? Or telling you to do things to yourself?”

I shrugged.

“Why don’t you put them into the back room and I’ll get us out our food.”

I turned as I heard my friends give out howls and cries at Jack’s suggestion.

‘He’s always putting us away!’

‘He doesn’t fucking care about us anymore.’

‘He made us just to abandon us!’

Barry laughed. I looked to him and saw he was lying on the mattress with a comic book in his hand, his cigarette still pressed between his lips.

“They don’t like being put away,” I said as I looked towards the closed shut metal door. Jack hadn’t seen what was behind that door yet, though he kept asking to see. “They scream at me when I put them away. They want to be free.”

My words were swallowed by my friends constant howling. I clenched my teeth and for a moment I closed my eyes tight. Their voices sounded like battering rams, constantly throwing themselves against my brain even at the expense of their own bodies. It was a constant barrage when they were unhappy, hit after hit until visible cracks were apparent on both my inner mind and their bodies.

“Shut up!” I whirled around and snapped. They screamed and shrunk back, some even holding their hands over their own heads as if expecting me to strike them. Watching them do that filled my mouth with acid. It was what I looked like when I was afraid of Jasper striking me. The realization made me sick.

“Sanguine…” Jack said in a voice full of concern. “What are they telling you to do? Please tell me – are they telling you to hurt yourself?”

I shook my head and heard Jack let out a relieved breath, but a moment later his heartbeat gave another start.

“Are they… telling you to hurt me?”

My head shook again. “I’d never hurt you… I love you.”

Soft lips kissed my hand, and his heart jumped at my words. “I love you too, Sanguine. I want to help silence them. You’re so happy and joyful when they’re locked away. What can we do to quiet them again? Until you’re ready to come home with me.”

Home? This was my home… I didn’t want to go back to Alegria. I didn’t want to see Silas ever again. Silas had made it clear exactly what he thought of me. I was nothing but a lying whore to him, someone who, in his mind, had made all of this up.

Jack had said Silas knew, he was just saying he didn’t to protect himself but I didn’t care.

There was a rustling of paper, Jack brought out two plastic containers. Each one had a hamburger in it and potato fries, and even a small section for the red ketchup and mayonnaise. I hadn’t been hungry before but the wonderful scent of real bosen meat made my mouth fill with saliva.

“They want me to kill again,” I said as I stared down at the patio table, once white but now every patterned groove was crusted with black. “The mouse is screaming inside of his body. He’s screaming at me to free him – I heard him myself. Everyone is unhappy. I put them away too often. They say I’m ignoring them because I have you now.”

Jack paused. His eyes hardened as he took the top off of one of the plastic containers. “We’ll eat our food now… and after… will you answer some questions for me?”

I shrugged and took half of the hamburger out of the container. “I guess, if it doesn’t make them angry.” I took a bite out of my hamburger, my friends had stopped screaming at me but they were whispering now. I hated it when they whispered because it was like a background radio was playing. I didn’t like listening to this one though, as soon as they knew I was trying to listen in on their conversations their voices suddenly rose and got harsh.

And then the screaming would start all over again.

As I ate Jack decided to fill the empty, tension-filled air with his own adventures outside. He told me which pub he got the food from and some of the rumours that had been going on. He told me that sometime soon, though he didn’t know when, there was going to be an invasion in Irontowers. He said no one knew the exact date so the rebels wouldn’t know when it was. I responded back by telling him what my suggestion had been to Nero and Silas for a way for the family to sway public support for the rebels and he praised me for helping.

“I love Nero a lot,” Jack said after he had swallowed his food. He still ate so politely, at least I was getting better with my manners. I no longer talked with my mouth full. “He’s always been a fun older brother to have. Elish is as well, he’s strict and cold, but he’s reliable and calm in the face of our chaotic family.” Jack smiled at me warmly. “Garrett is just a big softy and he’s had a hard time fitting in because he’s just so un-chimera. I’ve only seen him go into ‘chimera-mode’ maybe twice, for the most part he’s just a normal fun guy.”

I grabbed a fry and bit it in two. “It seems like the first generation turned out alright.” I paused and tried to block out my friends whose voices were starting to rise. “But the second generation seems to have a lot of issues. Silas always seemed frustrated with you guys, and Elish – especially Elish.”

Jack’s mouth downturned. He swirled one of his fries around in the ketchup. “Once Elish and Garrett started getting into genetic engineering they started developing the technology to make even better chimeras. So, excited to try out the new technology, they created a bunch of us: you, me, Apollo, Artemis, Valen, Felix, Ludo, Ceph, Rio, and Perish. Though Apollo, Artemis, Ceph, and Perish were created before us but we still consider them second gen. I think I mentioned that before. Anyways…” Jack let out a breath. “There still seems to be a lot of bugs in the coding they used for some of us. Me and you seem to be okay genetically, all of our enhancements took, same with Apollo and Artemis, Ceph and Perish. But Valen’s genetics are a complete mess, Ludo barely developed any enhancements and had tons of mental problems, and Felix seems to have processing issues, so he gets angry a lot and has little impulse control. Whereas the first generation seems perfect –” Jack shrugged. “A lot of the chimeras Silas took pains in raising have turned out to be disappointments and failures.” Then he shrunk down. “Even those whose genetics worked out perfectly seem to be failures as well.”