Chapter 29: Subconscious

Marcus opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. His throat tightened, his breath hitching as his eyes dropped to the plate in front of him.

There, nestled between sprigs of parsley and a drizzle of bloodied sauce, was Connor’s severed head. His skin was greyish and clammy, his lips trembling as whispers came out of his mouth,

“It hurts ... please ... it still hurts...”

His eyes were wide open looking straight at Marcus as if pleading with him to do something.

Even when the rest of his body was gone, melted into the thick stew beside the plate or charred into the glistening barbequed meat on the skewers next to it. He was very much alive.

Marcus gagged, bile rising in his throat as he turned his face away and started to puke, only for Dylan to suddenly scream beside him.

Dylan’s mother had changed.

Her body began to shift and warp with a wet cracking sound, bones rearranging themselves as her lower half split into black, chitinous limbs.

Eight long spider legs dug into the wooden floor, leaving grooves as her upper body remained mostly human, though her face was now wrong—eight beady, glistening eyes blinked at once across her forehead while her smile stretched too far across her cheeks.

She leaned in with the spoon, thick with red stew, and forced it into Dylan’s mouth. He choked, cried, and yet swallowed.

“Good boy,” she cooed sweetly, stroking his hair with a clawed hand. “Eat up. It’s your friend.”

Connor screamed. His severed head jolted on the plate as if the pain reached even the remnants of his nerves. His voice cracked, hoarse and helpless, “Stop ... I can feel it ... I can feel it all...”