Chapter 2: Quartered

Three months later:

The creatures considered each other as they stalked their prey. They had been told this convention was a target-rich environment, and their leaders had been right. There was plenty of available and willing female flesh on display here. They remained in the shadows, debating which female to occupy. There were other creatures like them here, but they were told to refrain from gathering in one place.

“They all look so ... inviting,” one creature said to the other.

“And tasty,” the other replied. They laughed wickedly at that. Fortunately, the humans would not be able to hear them.

“There’s one,” the first creature said, looking at a curvy brunette in a short skirt. “And she’s married.”

“Even better,” the second creature said. “That blonde over there looks to be a good choice as well.”

“And she’s married also. Seize the flesh,” the first creature responded.

“I will,” the second beast said before slithering alongside the unsuspecting blonde. “It’s gonna be a hot time in town tonight.”

“You know it,” the first beast said before entering the married brunette.

...

The last three months had been very interesting ones. I had spent much of that time training Noei/Noemi on the equipment in the lab, and worked with her as much as possible in the gym. Her muscle memory was definitely there, although her muscle strength wasn’t quite where it needed to be.

I knew that it was only a matter of time before she would be back in fighting shape, so that wasn’t an issue. The issue at this juncture was reconciling the two personalities that seemed to occupy the same body.

On one hand was Noemi Schlager, a highly-educated 21st century woman who loved watching Hallmark movies and tending to the plants she now had scattered about the large house. On the other was my wife, Noei – a strong, Celtic woman from before what was now considered the “common era.”

To give an example of the contrast between the two personalities, Noemi loved romantic movies and would often tear up while watching the men get on one knee to propose to their women. Noei, on the other hand, felt that no self-respecting man would ever get on his knees in supplication to a woman – not even to beg her hand in marriage. To her, if a man wanted a woman, he simply needed to tell her. It was her decision to accept or not. This, of course, was largely due to the society where the two of us were raised.

Both personalities were a product of their upbringing and environment. I realized this early on, but never fully considered that both would exist in the same individual. At times, I found myself often wondering which personality I faced.

There was no doubt which personality came forward the day Derek Howe, her former boss, came to the house. We had just come out of the gym after a strenuous workout. She liked to wear her face paint when she trained, removing it afterward when she showered. We were on the ground floor of the house when we heard the doorbell ring.

Noei opened the door wearing her paint and her short robe with her hair pulled back and tied in a ponytail. Derek stood there, shocked, as he looked at her.

“Noemi, is that you?” he asked.

“What do you want?” she barked.

“We’ve been trying to get in touch with you for a while,” he said. “Some questions have come up about the Silverman case. What is that on your face? What have you done with yourself?”

“I’m finding myself,” she snapped. “Look, you ditched me, remember? Everything I had on the Silverman case is in my file. Now, leave. Before I get pissed off.” Derek tried to push his way into the house.

“Noemi, if you’re being abused, I need to know,” he said. “What’s going on here?”

“None of your damned business,” she snarled. “Now GET OUT!” He recoiled from her and took note of the murderous look on her face and the fighting stance she had adopted. He finally backed out, holding up his hands.

“Alright, Noemi, I’m leaving,” he finally said. “But if you need any help, you have my number.”

“Oh, I have your number alright,” she hissed. She slammed the door after he left.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said, wrapping her arms around me. “Now that you’re with me.” I held her for a few moments, but she broke out of my grasp. “If you’ll excuse me, I really do have to take a shower.”

“Of course,” I said, watching her walk away with more than a little bit of concern.

Svan, my Errnocht counselor and benefactor, suggested I let her find her own compromise. He had always been right before, so I decided to accept his wisdom this time as well.

I was in the lab, going over my latest activity report to the Errnocht, when Noemi called out to me. She was watching something happen on the tracking monitor and wanted to alert me.

“Arte, there’s something here I think you should see,” she said, using the shortened version of my birth name. I walked to her and looked at the monitor. What I saw concerned me – according to this, there were several creatures congregating at a downtown hotel.

“How many are you tracking?” I asked.

“It seems there are seven at the hotel,” she said. “Have you ever seen this before?”

“No, I can’t say that I have,” I said. It was rare to see two creatures within a few miles of each other, but in all the years I had been tracking these things I had never seen so many concentrated at one place before. That’s not exactly correct. There was one other time, but that was more than 70 years ago. “What’s going on at that hotel, anyway?” She pulled up a website and we both read that a convention of real estate agents was taking place there.

“Are you going there?” she asked. I shook my head.

“No. There are too many of them, and that’s far too public a venue,” I said. “Any confrontation there would certainly attract local law enforcement, and that’s the last thing we need. For now, tag those creatures and keep an eye out for them. I’ll need to contact Svan.” I went to the comm panel and made the connection.

“Steve, I was wondering when I would hear from you,” he said when the connection was complete.

“Are you seeing this?” I asked.

“Yes,” Svan said. “And for what it’s worth, it’s not just in your dimension. We’re seeing this across the multiverse.”

“Do you think this is coordinated?” I asked.

“It’s difficult to say,” he told us. “We have never known them to coordinate anything before, at least not to this extent. Until now, we’ve always believed they acted mostly on instinct. This is a whole new development. You’re not planning to go after the whole bunch of them, are you?”

“No,” I said. “Too many and too public. Too much of a chance that local LEOs will get involved. Right now, we’re just tagging them. We’ll keep an eye on their movements and see what they do.”

“I think that’s wise,” Svan said. “We’ve heard from the others in your dimension, and they have reported the same activity. Like you, they’ve opted to monitor the situation for now.”

“I’ll keep you updated,” I said.

“Yes, please do,” Svan said before ending the connection.

“So, what do we do now?” Noemi asked.

“We watch ... and wait,” I told her.

...

Sharon Williams was feeling rather excited as she ground her body into the man dancing with her. This convention was a much-needed break from her rather dull, boring life at home. Married for five years to Ron, she had – at least up until now – been completely faithful and managed to brush off the many offers for illicit sex that had come her way.

But now, she felt her inhibitions slipping away. Watching the tall, handsome man eyeing her body as they danced, she had a wicked idea, and slipped her panties down her bare legs, making sure he got a good look at her trimmed bush and wet slit.

She handed the tiny undergarment to the man with a wicked smile and nearly came as he held them to his nose, inhaling her aroma. She had never done anything like this before, not even with her husband. But for some reason, she had an overwhelming, almost primal, urge to get naked and fuck. And she didn’t care who she was with.

“What do you say we blow this joint and go upstairs?” she asked, her body overwhelmed with lust.

“But you’re married,” he said, holding her hand. Her smile widened.

“So what? You are too,” she said, looking at his ring.

“So I am,” he said, taking a glance at his ring. “What would your husband say?”

“Who cares? He’s not here. You are. And I’m fucking horny as hell,” she hissed.

“Well, then, let’s go,” he said, taking her hand. They left the dance floor and headed for the elevator that would take them upstairs. She began tearing at his clothes before they even got to the room. Once inside, they got naked and fell on the bed. All she wanted at that moment was cock.

After they finished, she ran a finger through her sopping wet pussy. She felt his cum running out of her and wondered if she would get pregnant. Oddly enough, she felt no guilt for what she had just done. For the first time since her wedding, a strange man’s cock had filled her pussy with cum. She had even taken that cock into her mouth and swallowed his semen, something she hadn’t even done with Ron.

“Wow,” the man said. “That was fantastic. You must’ve really been horny.”

“Yes, I was,” she said. “By the way, you never told me your name.”

“Jake,” he said. “Jake Albertson. From New York.”

“Well, Jake Albertson from New York, that was the best fuck I’ve had in a very long time,” she said. “Think you have another one like that in you?”

“I think I can manage that,” he said with a smile. As he pounded into her pussy yet again, she felt a strange warmth spread in her body. I could get used to this, she thought. And if Ron doesn’t like it, that’s just too bad.

...

“I’ve managed to identify the hosts for those creatures,” Noemi said as I watched their movements on the monitor before me. She put seven pictures on the large monitors I had on the wall. All of them were very attractive women from around the country. I focused on a brunette who seemed to live closest to us – Sharon Williams, a real estate agent who worked out of an office only 50 miles from our location.

“They’re all married women,” Noemi said. “Is that normal? Do they always go after women?”

“Not always,” I said, glancing at the monitor on the wall where we had been monitoring the news from Ukraine.

“You think maybe Putin might be possessed by one of those things?” she asked.

“It’s a possibility. It’s happened before,” I said.

“Oh? When?” she asked, shocked.

“During the Second World War,” I said. “We got word that several of Hitler’s closest lieutenants were occupied. We believed Hitler himself may have been occupied as well, but we were never able to get close enough to verify it.” She looked at me, shocked.

“And you know this for a fact?” she asked. I nodded my head.

“Yes, but it’s still classified by the Errnocht, so I can’t get into it much beyond that,” I said quietly before looking back at the seven pictures she had put up. “What can you tell me about this one?” I asked, pointing to Sharon. Noemi did a search and looked back up at me when she finished.

“Her name is Sharon Williams, but you already know that,” Noemi said. “She has worked as a real estate agent for the last six years and has been married to Ronald Williams for five years. He is an investment banker and they currently have no children. Basically, they are your average married couple, at least for this time and place. Nothing about them seems to stand out. Are you planning to confront her first?”

“Possibly,” I said. “She’s the closest to us.”

“I want to go with you when you do confront her,” Noemi said.

“I do not think that would not be wise,” I said.

“Why? You’ve been training me. I feel stronger than I have in a very long time. You and I have faced our enemies together before. And you know that I fear no man,” she said.

“I know that. But these ... things ... aren’t human. Simply put, you are not ready,” I said.

“You know I can handle anything you can,” she said. “I’ve proven that more than once,” she added in a defensive tone.

“Come with me,” I said, getting out of my seat.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“To the gym,” I said. Noemi followed as I walked to the gym. I went to a display case on the wall and opened it up. I looked at the collection of blades and found what I was looking for – a razor-sharp Japanese katana blade. I pulled it out and handed it to her. She took it with a confused expression on her face. I pulled my shirt off and tossed it on the floor.

“Take my arm off, if you can,” I said.

“What?” she asked.

“Do it. You know how to use that blade. Try to slice my arm off,” I said. “I’ll even stand perfectly still while you do. Come on. Do it!”

“But...”

“No buts! No hesitation! Swing the blade,” I commanded. “And don’t you dare hold back.” Shaking her head, she took the sword and swung at my right arm. When it struck my arm, the blade quivered, then flew out of her hand and she fell backwards, landing on the floor. The sword clattered when it hit the floor of the gym, some 20 feet away. There was a red mark where the blade hit, but no other damage.

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” I said as I walked to her. I held out my hand and she took it. I pulled her up and she inspected my arm where the blade hit.

“Wh ... What happened?” she asked. “That strike should’ve taken your arm off.”

“And it would’ve if I hadn’t been ready,” I told her. “Let me explain. After I was recruited by the Errnocht, my body was changed. My skin was altered in such a way that it can sense and repel any attack against it. The more force that is applied, the stronger the reaction.”

“But your skin doesn’t feel that way to me,” she said.

“No, because yours is the touch of a loving wife, not the assault of an enemy,” I said. “Have you looked closely at the pictures I have captured of these beasts?”

“Not that closely,” she said. “Why?” I walked to a computer monitor that sat on a desk by the wall. I pulled up a photo of a beast I had captured during a confrontation.

“Look at the tail,” I said. “You see those spines on it?”

“Yes,” she said.

“These creatures use those tails like a whip. Those spines are harder and sharper than that katana blade you just used,” I said. “With that tail and those spines, these creatures can slice a man to ribbons in the blink of an eye. Unless, of course, that man is ready.” Her face turned white as I spoke. “Like I said, you are not ready.”

“Have you ever been hit by one of those things?” she asked.

“A few times,” I said. “Knocked me on my ass and hurt like hell. The last time, I wore a jacket with Kevlar plates. Thing sliced through the Kevlar like a hot knife through butter. But never broke my skin.”

“Oh my God,” she said. “I’m so sorry, Arte. I had no idea. Can you forgive me for being so brash?”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” I told her with a smile. “You are a Celtic woman. Your blood is as hot and passionate today as it was 2,000 years ago. It’s one of the reasons I fell in love with you. Never apologize for being who and what you are.” She smiled back and her face turned red.

“But wouldn’t this arm band protect me?” she asked. I shook my head.

“That only keeps the beast from entering your body. I have something similar in this ring,” I said, holding up my right hand. “It doesn’t prevent an assault, however.”

“Couldn’t something like that be given to everyone?” she asked.

“Not practical,” I said. “There are some six billion people on this planet. Multiply that by the number of all the inhabited planets of all the dimensions in the multiverse. The Errnocht simply doesn’t have the resources for something like that. They’ve also tried protecting large areas with a single unit, but that turned out to be disastrous.”

“Oh? What happened?” she asked.

“Something went haywire. I’m not entirely certain what. At any rate, there’s now one less version of Earth in the multiverse,” I said.

“So how do you fight them?” she asked.

“The trick is to catch them by surprise, while they’re still in their human host,” I said. “As long as they occupy their host, they cannot bring their tail to bear. And a normal blade won’t work on them.”

“So what do you use?” she asked. I went to another table and picked up what looked like a long-handled screwdriver.

“This,” I said. “The Errnocht call it a transector. Basically, it’s an electronic sword. It’s designed to kill the beast without permanently damaging the host. It works most of the time.”

“Most of the time?” she asked. I pressed a button on the side of the handle and a “blade” appeared. Pressing another button, the “blade” appeared to erupt in flame.

“Yes, most of the time,” I said. “Sometimes, the host is affected, but that’s usually a result of the beast trying to escape the body.”

“I wondered how you managed to hide such a long blade under that jacket,” she said. I chuckled and turned the transector off.

“Now you know,” I said, putting the transector down.

“I still want to face these things with you,” she said. “It’s my right to fight at your side. It’s where I belong.” I nodded my head and took her in my arms. I felt so proud to have her with me.

“I understand. But not until you’re ready,” I said. “I lost you once already. I don’t think I could stand losing you again. Not after all this time.”

“How long does it take to get ready?” she asked.

“It took about 35 years for the Errnocht to prepare me the first time,” I said. “Of course, that was 2,000 years ago. A lot has changed since then. They’ve improved the process quite a bit, from what I understand. I’m not really sure how long it would take.”

“I want to do it,” she said. “Even if it takes 35 years, that is nothing compared to eternity.”

“Are you absolutely certain about that?” I asked. “There is a price to pay for this, after all.”

“What price?” she asked.

“Once you are prepared, you will never be able to have children,” I said. “Are you willing to pay that price?”

“I have already given birth to two wonderful boys,” she said. “You are my husband. I have never been more certain of anything in my life.” I felt pride as I held her in my arms and considered her sweet, round face. At that moment, I never felt more in love with anyone as I did with her.

“Very well,” I said. “I will confer with Svan.”

“Thank you,” she said. The next thing I knew, we were on the floor in a passionate embrace.

...

Sharon Williams prepared to leave the hotel, now that the convention was over. Before last night, she never would have even considered cheating on her husband. Now, it was almost all she could think about. It was as if something inside her had changed, like a switch had been thrown.

She turned and looked at Brenda Harrison, an agent from a town not too far from her own. She also appeared to have changed a bit.

“So, are you ready to get back to the grind?” Brenda asked.

“Not really,” Sharon said. “But I guess all good things have to come to an end. It was a good convention. I had a really good time. How about you?”

“It really got good last night,” Brenda said with a slight smile. “I feel ... liberated, somehow.”

“Yeah. Me too,” Sharon said. “Maybe it was something we ate last night. I guess I’d better be heading back. Call me sometime if you’re in town and we can go for a drink or something, okay?”

“Sure,” Brenda said with a smile. “I’d like that. We can compare notes or something.” The two women exchanged hugs and went their separate ways. As Sharon drove, she thought about what happened the previous night, and what happened earlier that morning. It had been some time since she had given her husband a wake-up blowjob.

As she thought about it, her hand went to her skirt. Raising the skirt, she slipped a finger under her panties and felt the wetness between her legs. It’s just sex, she thought. Ron doesn’t have to know. And if he did, so what? He wasn’t hurt by it. Besides, he wasn’t there to tend to her needs. She needed a cock, and she got one.

All the excuses went through her mind as she drove. As the miles went by, she found herself getting excited – again. She saw the exit and looked at the sign advertising the truck stop. Yes, there would be plenty of strange cock here for her to sample. She might be a bit later than she planned getting home to Ron, but so what? Maybe I’ll bring him a nice wet surprise, she thought with a smile as she made the exit.

...

“So, where is she now?” I asked after we returned from the gym. Noemi looked at her monitor before responding.

“It looks like she’s at the truck stop at the Indian Trail Road exit, just south of town,” she said.

“It’ll take me about 35 minutes to get there,” I said. “Keep an eye on that one, let me know if there’s any movement.”

“Alright,” she said. “Be careful, Arte,” she added, giving me a kiss.

“I will,” I told her, returning the kiss. Once I had everything I needed, I headed for my truck. I put the tracker in its holder, inserted the Bluetooth receiver in my ear and drove out. It was dark by the time I arrived at the truck stop. The marker indicated the beast inside Sharon was still here.

“She’s moved some, but not much,” I heard Noemi say in the Bluetooth receiver. I found a spot and parked. After I turned on the GoPro camera attached to my jacket, I pulled the tracker and followed the signal to a white truck with a large sleeper cab. According to the tracker, the creature – presumably still inside Sharon – was inside that cab. I hid and watched the cab.

After a half hour, the cab door opened and I watched her climb out. She stood still for a few moments, holding on to a mirror for support. When she moved away, I followed her. She made her way to a cinder block partition that held a couple of green dumpsters. As I watched, she bent over and threw up. I pulled out my transector and activated it.

Sharon saw the light reflection from my transector and turned to look at me. I saw the beast try to extricate itself from her body when it realized its time was nearing an end.

“YOU!” the Sharon/Beast screamed.

“Semper Invictus,” I declared as I sliced through the beast inside Sharon. The thing writhed on the asphalt in front of Sharon for a few seconds before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The “heart” of the thing lay on the tarmac, pulsating red. I picked it up and crumbled it in my hands. Wiping the dust off of me, I looked and saw Sharon staring at me, her eyes wide, her face a ghastly white. She sat down on a concrete parking stop and regarded me before speaking.

“Wh ... What happened? What was that thing?” she asked.

“Judging from the copious amounts of semen on you, I would suspect you’ve had sex with at least six men,” I told her.

“Seven, counting Jake Albertson from New York,” she said quietly.

“Of course. At the hotel,” I said. I could see she was about to go into shock, so I pulled a bottle of water from inside my jacket and a packet of powder. I opened the bottle and poured the powder inside, then shook the bottle. I had seen this hundreds of times before, so I always came prepared.

“You never answered my question,” she said quietly. “What was that ... thing?” I handed her the bottle.

“Drink that. It’ll help restore your body,” I said. She took the bottle and gulped half of it down in no time. “Careful. Not too much.” I looked back at where the creature had been. “That thing entered your body at the hotel.”

“Is that what made me do what I did?” she asked, still in shock.

“It helped,” I said. “It removed your inhibitions, fed off your inner desires, amplified them, helped you justify your actions in your mind.”

“What do I do now?” she asked. “What will I tell my husband? Oh, God, what have I done?”

“I am not a marriage counselor, so I’m not going to be much help in that regard,” I told her. “Do you love him?”

“More than anything,” she said, tears falling down her face. “I’ve never even considered cheating on him before. Ever.”

“Then I suggest you tell him the truth,” I said.

“What? That a creature entered my body and helped me act like a slut? He’ll never believe me,” she said.

“Probably not,” I said. I pulled a card from my pocket and handed it to her. “Feel free to have him contact me if you think it’ll help. In the meantime, I suggest you clean yourself up. They have showers here. Perhaps you should take advantage of that. I would also suggest you get checked for STDs at your earliest convenience.”

“Oh crap,” she moaned. “I didn’t even think of that.”

“No, I imagine not,” I said.

“Are there any more of those ... things out there?” she asked.

“Yes, there are,” I told her. “But I doubt they’ll come back for you. They almost never occupy the same body twice.”

“You sound like you know a lot about these things,” she said.

“Enough,” I said. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Yes, I am now, thank you,” she said. “And thank you for getting that thing out of me.”

“You’re welcome,” I said. “Can you manage on your own now or do you need help?”

“I can manage now,” she said. “Thank you for asking.”

“You’re welcome, Mrs. Williams,” I said, standing up. “Say nothing about this encounter to anyone but your husband. And don’t forget to have him contact me.”

“I won’t,” she said. I checked my tracker and found there was nothing requiring my attention here, so I bought a cup of coffee and went back to my truck.

“Did you catch all of that?” I asked Noemi when I settled into the cab of my truck.

“All of it,” she said. “Do you think her husband will contact you?”

“I don’t know,” I said.

“That poor woman,” she said. “What do you think will happen to her?”

“Can’t say for sure,” I said. “I have a feeling she’ll end up divorced, though. Anyway, I’m on my way home.”

“Okay, sweetheart,” she said. I fired up the truck and headed home.

...

The next day, I received a call from a quite upset Ron Williams. I was surprised to hear from him so soon. To be honest, I was surprised to hear from him at all. He wanted to know what happened to his wife at the truck stop. Rather than get into it over the phone, I suggested he meet me at the coffee shop at the truck stop. He agreed and said he would meet me there that afternoon.

I was sitting in a booth at the shop when he walked in. He was a bit taller than me and sported a full head of dark, well-styled hair. It almost looked as if each strand was glued in place. Everything about him screamed, “investment banker.” He looked down at me when he reached the booth.

“Steve Iverson?” he asked. I stood and shook his hand.

“You must be Ron Williams,” I said. “How is Mrs. Williams, by the way?”

“A bit shaken, a little jumpy,” Ron said.

“That’s quite normal under the circumstances,” I said. “Care for a cup of coffee? Believe it or not, they make a pretty good cappuccino. My treat.”

“Yeah, why not,” he said. I ordered a cappuccino for him and another for myself. “So, why did you want to meet here?” he asked.

“I have a video to show you,” I said. “And I thought I’d show you the scene of the crime, as it were.”

“You have video?” he asked. “Are you one of those creeps who gets off on taking videos of women having sex or something?”

“No, not at all,” I said. “What did your wife tell you?”

“She gave me some outlandish story about being ... possessed ... by something that made her act like a slut,” he said. “Naturally, I thought her story was a crock of shit. But I knew she was telling me the truth. She has this little tell ... When she lies, the corner of her left eye twitches just a bit. There was none of that.

“When she gave me your card, I honestly thought you were the one she screwed around with. I had every intention of punching you in the nose, but I wanted to meet you first. Get your story.” I laughed at that. By then our coffee arrived.

“Well, before you try to punch me in the nose, perhaps you should take a look at this,” I said, turning my tablet so he could see the video of my encounter with her and the beast that had possessed her. His eyes grew wide as he watched, then he watched it again.

“What’s with this ‘semper invictus’ stuff?” he asked.

“That’s Latin,” I said. “It’s something I do...”

“So, you’ve had experience with these ... things, then?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“You know, when Sharon told me what happened, I thought she had gone crazy,” he said. “I thought she was trying to put one over on me. I’ve known her for years. In all that time, she’s never once lied to me. I quite frankly didn’t know what to think. Until you showed me that video, I was convinced it was all a bunch of bullshit.”

“As you saw, I told her she should be honest with you,” I said. “She said you probably wouldn’t believe her and I agreed. If I were in your shoes, I’d probably react the same way.”