Chapter 3

Evony wakes up on the cold hard floor. It takes a moment for her eyes to adjust to her surrounds, and when they finally do, she notices she is back on the top floor of the building in her own lab. Everything is still a mess but there isn’t any sign Stanley or the creature that took him over.

Slowly, she pushes herself to her knees and then up into a kneeling position to glance over the edge of the counter. Her eyes dart back and forth and she breathes out a sign of relief upon not seeing anything.

So far so good.

As Evony gets up to her feet her eyes glance off the mirror hanging to the right of her. She quickly turns, doing a double take. She is naked, but most importantly there some kind of glossy black veins forming along her upper thigh. She rationalizes it as dirt and tries to brush it away. It’s not, it’s beneath her skin. A tingling feeling of fright shoots through her and she begins to shake.

Get a hold of yourself. Focus on getting out of here and then see what the hell it is.

Slowly and as silently as Evony steps past broken glass and overturned furniture, scattered papers and miscellaneous equipment. Her first objective is to escape but running out of the building naked doesn’t quite appeal to her—at least not so much with something growing beneath her skin. That would raise too many questions and most likely quarantine.

Evony makes her way to a door on the opposite side of the lab. Beyond is a small locker room for the employees to change and hold their belongings. Inside her locker, Evony always has a change of clothes, and though she has never had to change into them, she is glad to have them. Donning the clothes in record time, she exits the room and makes her way back to the opposite side and through the door.

The eeriness of the floor puts her even more on edge. Normally the place is full of noise. During the day it’s the sounds of machines, shuffling feet and talking. At night it’s only the sound of computers and humming machines. But now, there is nothing. Evony stands still for a moment, trying to relax her heart to keep the drumming from pounding in her ears.

There is a rustle of papers to her left. Her head snaps that way as she is put on guard. But what could see do against that creature? Her mind floods with images of his black latex-like muscular body, his thick long cock, the feeling of the pleasure he gave her and the orgasms—oh the orgasms were like nothing she ever had experienced before, hers and his both.

The rustling of the papers is only due to the wind coming through the open window that she had ultimately feel through and where he had taken her. Evony shakes her head, trying to clear away the thoughts. The last thing she needs is a distraction, especially one where she took part of reluctantly at first and then fully with her own free will. What should be disgusting instead makes her smile and blush. She feels her cheeks turn red and she has to shake her head again and take a deep breath to get back on track.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

Evony turns away from the window and starts to head for the elevators but quickly stops short of them. Worries about them being too loud or stopping half way down should the power suddenly fail fill her head.

The stairs! I’ll take the stairs.

The door to the stairs opens without hindrance. She steps though, looking over her shoulder once more before closing the door. Down the six flights Evony flies. Though she should feel tired or even worn out, the stairs don’t provide a challenge to her. In fact she feels energized, even over energized. Evony isn’t even breathing hard by the time her feet land on the ground floor. Her legs feel great without any sign that she just raced down six flights of stairs at a rapid pace.

With a shrug—something to worry about later—she pushes through the door and steps out into the lobby. The place is immaculate, not a sign of any disturbance. Compared to the floors above her, it seems rather odd. With each floor she took, Evony made sure to cast a glance through the door’s windows. Each and every floor looked the same as the top floor—trash and furniture and bodies lying all around broken and scattered.

It’s now or never.

Taking a deep breath, Evony runs across the lobby’s expanse toward the row of double glass doors. Her heart races and she glances from side to side just waiting for the moment the Xenobiote attacks. It never comes as her hands touch the metal bar of the door. With one final sigh she is out the door and into the night air.

Without looking back or waiting to look at all, Evony finds herself running down the walkway past buildings and alleys and store fronts. It isn’t until she is several blocks away that she stops and curiously she is not out of breath.

Just what the hell is happening to me?

She needs help. But will the police help her? What would she tell them? Will the black creature still be there when the police investigate? There are so many questions and no answers. She doesn’t know where she can go. Her fiancé Matthew is out of town for a conference, her parents are dead and her brother is four hours away, but her friend Kelly is someone she can trust.

But what time is it? How long was I out?

It doesn’t matter, it can’t. Evony is about to throw her hand up to flag down a cab when she realizes she doesn’t have any money one her. She instead places her hands in her pockets and begins the walk to Kelly’s house.

-

Evony is at her friend’s apartment building almost an hour later ringing the buzzer for her apartment.

“Hello?” the voice of her friend says through the speaker. “Do you realize what fucking time it is?”

Evony smiles slightly. At least now she knows it is pretty late. “Kelly, it’s me,” she says.

“Oh shit, Evony,” her friend says changing her tone. “I’m sorry for acting like a bitch like that.”

Evony chuckles and says, “It’s alright, can you let me in?”

“Hell yeah girl, come on up.”

The door buzzes open and Evony quickly takes one last look around before slipping inside. Once inside, she takes the stairs two at a time and in no time is standing at Kelly’s door. Before she can knock, the door opens with Kelly standing in the door way wearing a pair of short shorts and very tight white shirt.

“Did I wake you?” Evony asks.

“Yes, you did.” Kelly laughs. “Please come in Evony.”

Evony steps inside ad heads straight for the couch and lies down.

“You look like shit girl,” Kelly says as she closes and locks the door behind them. “Want something to drink?”

“I could use some water.”

“You got it.”

Kelly fetches Evony a glass of water from the kitchen. She hands it to Evony as she sits down in the chair opposite the couch.

“So what the hell happened to you that you need to wake me at two in the morning?”

“Is it really that late?” Evony asks, shocked at hearing the time. “I didn’t mean to impose on you, but you are the only one I can come to.”

Kelly puts her hand on Evony’s knee. The feeling of her touch suddenly sends butterflies into her stomach and she doesn’t know why.

“Girl, you are welcome anytime,” Kelly says with a smile. “Now tell me what’s going on with you.”

Evony tells her everything from when the Xenobiote was found to when she showed up at her friend’s apartment. Though much of it seems farfetched, Kelly listens without interruption or judgment.

“And then there is this.” Evony stands and pull her pants partly down to show Kelly the black veins. The black, however, has spread both up and down her body. “It wasn’t nearly this bad earlier.”

“Girl, you need to go to the hospital or something,” Kelly says with a scrunched face.

“I’d rather avoid the hospital,” Evony states.

“You sure, I can drive you there.” Kelly is concerned for her friend but after knowing Evony for half her life, she knows the girl can be stubborn.

“No, I’ll take a look at it when I get back home.”

“You’re not going home tonight are you?”

“After what I’ve been through, no way,” Evony says with a small laugh.

“Well if there is anything you need right now, it’s a shower,” Kelly offers.

“That sounds like a great idea.”

“After that you’re going to get some sleep,” Kelly says with a wink. “I need a bit of it too.”

Evony looks at the clock. Time has flown. “Shit, I’m sorry for keeping you up late.”

Kelly waves her hand at her friend and says, “Let me get your water running and towel.”

As Kelly walks out of the room, Evony finds her eyes unconsciously looking at her friend’s thighs before drifting to her ass. Then she begins to wonder what kind of panties Kelly is wearing, if any. She gets up a moment later and follows Kelly to the bathroom.