Sweet Venom – Rebroken

Diego yawned a quiet whine, slowly stirring beneath the silken quilts. As he came to, a deep muscular ache began to fill his body. He had to admit, there was some satisfaction to be gained from the pain, but there was something much larger nagging at the front of his mind. His jaw ached too, slack and heavy in his head, a direct reminder of exactly what was troubling him. He grumbled and blinked his eyes open, to see Seeth's eagerly waiting for him. A small smile crept over her face, but he didn't smile back. Instead, his tired gaze slowly steeled into a glare, and Seeth’s smile faded into a look of concern.

“Hey... Are you okay?”

“Actually… no. I'm kinda not.” Diego rolled off her front and onto the bed. He turned away, only to be immediately met with Plasia, who was sitting against the wall, watching him closely with her large, curious eyes.

Fucking hell, there's no getting away from this lot, is there? He thought, rolling his eyes in frustration. There no privacy in this world anymore?!

“Why? Did you sleep badly?” Seeth blinked and shuffled closer to him.

“Oh, I slept just fine. It’s nothing really, just that my jaw hurts from... well... Moltezz using my head as a fleshlight.” He scowled and sat up, pushing himself towards the headboard and away from both aliens. 

“I can... give you a head massage...? It helps -”

“Not the point, Seeth. Not the fucking point.”

Seeth crossed her legs on the bed and sat forward; it was hard to tell exactly what she was thinking as her face adopted a blank expression.

“So... what is the point then? You seemed to be enjoying yourself yesterday when you emptied your balls into Plasia's mouth.” Plasia blushed deeply at Seeth’s words, and stared down at the floor.

“The point is that you put me in a position yesterday where I couldn't say no. You trapped me.”

“The milking table? I thought you'd like -”

“- Are you daft?! I'm not talking about the sodding table! I'm talking about the situation! I had no idea, or say, in what you were leading me into!”

“Y-You came with me willingly!” Seeth raised her voice, rapidly shifting her gaze between Diego's eyes and mouth.

“Willingly?! You carried me there blindfolded! I’m not here willingly, you fucking kidnapped me! I didn't want Moltezz to use my face as her personal onahole! Once I was in, there was no out for me! I was strapped down and used a sex toy for god knows how long!”

“But you enjoyed yourself!” Seeth protested.

“I was fucked unconscious! And I had no say in the matter!” Diego raised his voice, baring his teeth slightly. “No, you know what I'm upset with? You weren't thinking of me -” 

“- My thoughts were of nothing BUT you! What the fuck are you talking about?!” Seeth matched his volume, throwing her arms up into the air in disbelief.

“Your thoughts weren’t about my well-being though, were they?! You were just feasting on me! Basking in the pleasure! Who cares what I want, as long as you get what you want and I'm ejaculating, everything is perfect with the world, right?!”

“W-Well, what about her?! I don't see you kicking off at Plasia!” Seeth pointed a sharp finger at the blue alien, tears stinging the corners of her eyes. Plasia visibly shrank away from the gesture as a mix of horror and shyness broke over her.

“Her?!? She was in the exact same situation as me; forced to participate! Moltezz had her on a lead like a dog, on her knees, barking orders at her, I mean, look at her, Seeth! She’s sitting in the corner of your room, wearing goddamn rags! She was in no position to say no to Moltezz, was she, and she still isn’t!” Diego clenched his fists tightly.

Seeth looked over at Plasia, who was nervously fidgeting with her hands and trying to look small, before looking back at Diego, and sighing.

“Maybe I wasn't in a position to say no to Moltezz either, Diego.” Seeth’s voice suddenly went flat, and her expression turned cold. “But whatever.”

Diego's face softened a little, but he watched Seeth with a steely concern as she continued.

“Look, I need to head out for a bit... to prevent this from happening again, it would be safer for you and Plasia to stay in my chambers. Plasia, can you lock the door behind me as I leave? We can talk about this more when I get back.”

“Yeah. You bet your ass we will.” Diego's eyes narrowed again, staring at Seeth with a mixture of feelings.

Seeth sighed again, loudly but decided not to respond, standing from the bed and leaving the room. She closed the heavy door behind her, all the while feeling Diego's gaze burning into her back.

Amazing. ‘Break him in,’ said Moltezz. Brilliant idea. He looked so angry, so upset. I can’t deal with this… He was the one thing here in this place that was right! Seeth’s lips twisted into a snarl as she marched down the dungeon corridor, towards the armoury. Ugh! Fucking Moltezz! I had this under control!

She had no problem with leaving her lizard in Plasia’s company, but their argument had been far from ideal and, although she maintained her stoic composition, her frustration was quickly churning into anxiety.

This was never going to work, was it..?

Plasia was under instructions not to let anyone else into her chambers under any circumstances, and she hoped that would be enough to protect him from any further unwanted attention. She worried that the others would try to gang up on him without her there, and Seeth knew that that would be too much for him, especially Leech. Leech could be too much for anyone to deal with.

 

Seeth took a stun rifle from the weapon racks and strapped it to her back, then secured an oversized hand cannon (for emergencies only of course) to her thigh. She wrapped a belt of tear gas grenades around her waist, and finally she sheathed a large knife, easily over a foot long, to her waist. Glistening hints of her purple skin peaked out through the black armoured sections of her gear. Now fully equipped, it was time to get the horde out.

 

Armed to the teeth and moving with a surreal silence and grace through the echoey halls, Seeth marched out from the armoury, locking it behind her and thrusting the key deep inside her cleavage, safe from idle hands. She proceeded down several of the dungeons' identical darkstone corridors, but she knew her way around perfectly, and after taking a set of stairs up a few flights, she arrived at the Slave pen. It was a massive, open room that was filled to the brim with monochrome figures of all sizes, sexes and species, most of whom were engaging in some form of sexual activity, or otherwise eating scraps that had been dumped into the room akin to animal slop. All of their eyes were glazed over a dull purple, all their thoughts replaced with one mantra; ‘fuck, eat and sleep.’ there was nothing inside the husks of these creatures anymore; whoever they once were, they were long gone.

 

As Seeth glanced over the horde, the warmth left her body and the new sense of happiness accumulated from her new favourite person drained completely. What remained was a cold, calculating persona. 

 

This is what we do.

 

She barely even gestured towards them, the hundreds of the figures within the room obeyed her very thoughts instantly, ceasing their previous activities and falling into line, before marching out of their crumbling, filthy pen with a forced urgency.

 

She allowed them all to leave first and followed from behind, striding up the remaining stairs until she reached the surface, and entered back into the forest where by the monochromatic figures spread themselves out and began to march together. Seeth stood behind them all, watching their movements, watching through their eyes. Tonight, in the dead of night, the city would finally be picked clean.

 

*

 

“Oh fuck... Oh fuck! OH FUCK! They're coming, they're fucking coming! OH shit... I KNEW I should’ve left... OH FUCK! What have I done?!” Panic was setting deep into Oxyi as her perimeter alarms all began to sound in her apartment. She'd set up around about a hundred of the damn things around the tree line and every single one of them just sounded in unison. Her heart was pounding in her chest, it felt like it was trying to break free of her ribs...

 

“Just one more night I said! Just one more night! Get more intel! Why am I such a prick?! I should have just gone with everyone else!” She stared at her homemade surveillance setup in disbelief, the apartment around her even messier than it was just a few days before, yet somehow she'd managed to fill it with more guns and ammo. She’d been busy gathering supplies, setting up surveillance, boarding up the windows, drawing the curtains, reinforcing the doors across the building... From her little HQ, she had a series of makeshift screens on top of one another, balancing precariously, tapping into the city’s CCTV cameras, watching the streets around her with careful attention.

 

Her unremarkable second-floor apartment was now the only occupied building in the whole city. Everyone else had left earlier that afternoon with the daily shuttle service, and tomorrow would bring its last.. It was the middle of night, and following the evacuation much of the city’s power had gone offline, although some of the lampposts were powered with a solar battery allowing a limited amount of warm amber light into some of the streets. To Oxyi’s horror, their glow now only served to illuminate the shadows of the horde pouring out of the forest, and flooding into the streets.

 

There was no stopping this attack. If she was going to live, she had to remain undetected. Oxyi drew every curtain and flicked off every light, creeping quietly within her apartment block to make sure every door was closed and locked. Every source of noise needed to be silenced, but that meant knocking off her little petrol generator that was keeping the surveillance going... she stood above the rattly little engine and sighed, staring at the off button with deep concern. The figures weren't on her street yet, but they would be soon... It was going to be a long night. She steadied herself, taking a deep breath and pushing the button. The sputtering machine coughed into silence and the screens behind her flickered and died; the only light now in the apartment was coming from the lamppost outside, shining through the boards and curtains over the windows. Her weapons were loaded, she had several improvised explosive devices ready to blow in the bottom of the building, nothing earth shaking but certainly flesh shredding. She quietly grabbed her shotgun and sat against the wall below the window, clutching her weapon tightly and shaking as the street began to fill with zombie-like entities. From the outside, her block should look like any of the identical ones that filled this street and if she was lucky, they wouldn't see any reason to look in this one over any of the others...

 

A few blocks away, Seeth stalked through the dead cityscape, stun rifle armed and raised, pointed forward, her eyes scanning the buildings around her, trying to pick up any signs of life or movement. Guiding her personal horde, they spread out and listened for any signs of life, yet everything seemed still within the blocks explored. Despite the dead glaze over their eyes, once every so often would cock its head in such a way, and another would look around with a sense of familiarity. Many of her horde used to consider this place home, and now they were back ready to claim those spared the first time to join their wretched drove. It was sickening to think about and Seeth knew it, yet still, she pressed on. After all, this is what they did.

 

*

 

“So... It’s Plasia, right?”

 

The alien nodded gently. She was currently perched on the side of the bed, beautiful orb-like, sapphire eyes darting between the floor and Diego’s own purple ones. She shuffled nervously, hands wrapping around each-other endlessly.

 

“You seem a little different to the others, Plasia.” He was at the head of the bed, resting against it, watching her intently. She seemed shy and nervous, almost scared. But he felt a great conflict in her, it was obvious she wanted to approach him but something was holding her back... both of them were currently in Seeth's locked chambers, relaxing and letting the night drift by. It seemed a bit odd to him that Seeth had left him in Plasia's company but at the very least, it gave him a little break and some time to clear his thoughts.

 

Diego’s mind darted back to the first day here, and Oxyi's request for help (although how long ago that was now, Diego couldn’t say.) Somehow, he was now locked up in an alien sex dungeon, he wasn't sure where his gear was, or what had happened to the missing people, but these creatures were absolutely responsible for it. Plasia nervously shuffled toward him and opened her mouth, trying to summon the courage to say something, but lost nerve halfway through and cut herself off, looking upset with herself.

 

Okay, maybe they weren’t all responsible. Plasia could barely muster the courage to speak to him, nevermind go out and kidnap people. He needed to map the place out and figure out what was happening on this planet.

 

Or maybe he could stay with Seeth?

 

He jolted a little on the spot. How could he think such thoughts, after what she’d just done to him? Eh. Easily, actually. Since he’d arrived here, it was like a huge, heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He hadn’t had to worry about anyone, or anything since he’d arrived, not even himself. Seeth was almost perfect. He had to admit, he hadn’t been expecting to be the smaller one in bed, but she made it work. The sheer ecstasy they'd both been in since his arrival was testimony to that. It was the kind of bliss that built addiction frighteningly quickly. But he knew it wasn't right. This place wasn't right, there were dark, dangerous things happening here, and he was sure Leech and Moltezz were the ones behind it. 

 

If only Seeth kept better company…

 

As tempting as it was to relax the day away in the company of Plasia and engage in more… pleasurable activities, he needed to get out of here. Plasia attempted once more to say something, but stumbled once again and just mumbled out something quietly under her breath. She looked disappointed with herself, balling her fists up and shaking a little. It was uncomfortable watching her do this, and so Diego decided it was time to take his fate into his own hands.

 

“Hey, Plasia. How about... do you want to come onto the bed with me? You look tense, let me give you a little massage maybe?” He asked, shyly rubbing the back of his head as he did so. Much to his pleasure though, the girl beamed at him with a great, big smile.

 

“S-S-Sure! Wha-What kind?” She asked quietly, turning around and crawling onto the bed. She was dressed in a torn little white slip that stretched tightly over her chest and her hips. Just like Seeth’s, Plasia's body was absurdly sexual, with smooth curves, hips that could kill and a bust that dwarfed Diego’s entire chest, nevermind his head. She had a wonderfully pleasant blue hue to her skin, and not much carapace on her body either, which gave her a very soft, feminine look. As she crawled over, he got a wonderful view of her jiggling cleavage, which he did his utmost not to look at; but her aroma was chipping away at him again, even if she didn’t mean it to. It took every ounce of mental fortitude he had to stay focused; he had a goal in mind.

 

“Why don't you put your head between my legs and I'll give you a... head massage? Those are great for relaxing!” He stumbled his way through the sentence with all the grace of a drunk child but once again, the alien nodded happily and did as she was asked, laying between his legs and facing up, brushing her jelly dreadlocks into a comfortable position with the back of her hand. “So... why don't you tell me about yourself?”

 

He placed his ebony fingers on her forehead and began to work her soft skin in gentle circular motions, she relaxed instantly, sinking into it. After a couple of seconds she moaned lightly, and instantly panicked, looking up at him as if to say ‘I'm so sorry!’ like she'd committed some great offence in his presence.

 

“It’s okay, Plasia! Relax! You can make whatever noises you want!” He laughed quite genuinely. She was cute, there was no denying that, those large eyes of hers were bewitching. She nodded and relaxed again, taking a deep breath and he began to massage her head once more, rubbing his fingers over the top of her eyes and down her cheeks slowly.

 

“S-So, I'm Plasia... uhm... I uhm... Th-That’s nice...”

 

“You don't need to speak if you're happy relaxing, Plas... mind if I call you Plas?”

 

“Su-Sure... that sounds good...” She let out a little moan again as he ran his fingers down to her chin, he'd given plenty of these out before, they worked wonders for relaxing people. The plan was simple: get her to fall asleep and explore this damn place before Seeth got back from whatever she was doing. From how Plasia was reacting, it wouldn't take too long. The poor girl seemed dreadfully worked up, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he wasn’t the only prisoner here.

 

*

 

The apartment lay in complete silence. The hazy, amber glow of the street-lights outside filtered through the window and onto the last person left in the city, her shaking figure beneath the window frame being the only thing that made this building unique from the thousands of identical abandoned ones around her. Oxyi could hear their steps outside, it sounded like hundreds of the fuckers, shambling about the street. She wasn't sure how thoroughly they'd search, but it didn't sound like they were breaking into buildings at the moment.

 

Perhaps if things would continue this way, she'd make it to the morning. She calmed herself as best as possible, breathing in slowly through the nose, out through the mouth. Her every movement was slow and precise, as not to bang anything or knock anything over. She would give them no reason to investigate this place. It was far more important she survive this than try to get a body count, as much as she wanted to.

 

A quick glance at her watch showed it was still the very early hours of the morning. She would need to hold firm – that was if they actually retreated back in the morning... the thought dawned on her, perhaps they wouldn't fall back, the city was abandoned after all! They might even set up an ambush for the last planetary ferry... These weren't comforting thoughts at all!

 

Against her better judgement, she slowly rose up the wall, shifting over to take a quick glance outside at the very corner of the window, she brought her eye up and peaked for a second, seeing the street in all its infested glory...

 

Whilst there weren't hundreds in this street, there certainly were a lot. Most of the figures were stripped naked and were oddly unarmed, idly shuffling about and looking around the city. She recognised several of them... there were some old city guards, she was sure of it, she knew those people, but they looked different. Colour drained from their flesh, eyes glazed over, purple and sunken... whoever they once were, they were gone. 

 

She sank back down slowly, taking more deep breaths. She didn't know what process led to them being this way, but these people were clearly indoctrinated or infected with something, corrupted perhaps? Marauding through their old homes without a second thought, these people would have given their lives to hold this place before this happened to them. Would this happen to her? A voice from outside jolted Oxyi out of her thoughts.

 

“Controller Seeth says we need to move further into the city! March on, Slaves!”

 

She rose up once more and peaked over the window, catching a quick look at the one barking the orders. This one was... different. Not like the alien creatures, but a cat girl of sorts. She looked like the daughter of a friend she used to work with; she’d had a slight figure, was barely a young adult, who had been training to be a teacher. Now she stood seven feet tall, striding forth in intimidating heels, built from dark, sexual curves, and her body tainted from the ordinary girl she once was and twisted into some sort of mistress-like figure. Her heaving breasts were barely contained within her corset. She looked more like she should have been dancing around a pole or sitting in a guy’s lap, but there she was, marching the streets of this dead city, and commanding an army. The girl disappeared from Oxyi's view and around the corner, this mistress of hell marching into the night. 

 

The minutes ached on, one by one. Oxyi’s hands clutched around her shotgun, her eyes remained fixed on the streets. Aside from the occasional order barking out into the night,the city was filled only with the groaning of the horde. The more they poured down the street, the more of them she recognised. There was absolutely no doubt any-more. 

 

These were the missing people. 

 

She felt tears well up in the corners of her eyes, she couldn't explain what had happened to them or why they were acting this way, but despite her fear and confusion. Oxyi remained absolutely determined to try and fix this.

 

The night droned on in this fashion, the creatures weren't bothered about checking the buildings apparently, more focused on scanning the streets instead. They walked up and down the road, sometimes standing idly, other times walking with great haste towards something... she was watching their movements, the way they walked and stood, jerking around like puppets on strings. Oxyi continued to watch through her window with caution, ensuring she was in the shadow at all times and as much of her was concealed as possible, the odd one would cast a glance up towards the windows, but nothing more. It seemed she was safe. Trapped, but safe.

 

After another hour or so of watching the monochrome shamblers, something rather alarming caught her eye; a familiar figure was stalking her way up the far street - the giant purple alien that had attempted to ambush Diego! She was creeping up the junction that connected to Oxyi's street, holding a rifle up high and dressed in an armoured corset. She seemed rather alone too, with no monochrome figures anywhere near her, she stalked further into the city slowly, watching all around her. She currently had her back to Oxyi and was walking away from her flat, heading further into the city's deserted innards.

 

“That bitch... she's back...” Oxyi whispered under her breath, subconsciously feeling for her shotgun as she eyed the alien up, a fresh wave of anxiety and hatred pulsing through her. Her heart raced as the night before flashed through her mind, the alien’s capturing her friend, and then further back, to the people who had gone missing, who had lost their lives because of this creature stalking the night, her breathe hissed through her teeth as she glared at the back of the alien’s head, as its dreadlocks bounced effortlessly around its shoulders…

 

The alien froze in its tracks. In the stillness, Oxyi’s blood suddenly ran cold. The alien slowly turned, back towards Oxyi’s street. A wave of panic overcame her, and quickly ducked back below the window, heart pounding in her ears. Something was wrong, something had changed.

 

After what felt like an eternity, Oxyi swallowed hard and slowly went to peek over the window again, despite every cell and organ in her body screaming at her to do otherwise. We have to know, Oxyi, we have to look, there’s no way it saw you… She tried desperately to reassure herself she was safe here, that no one had even come close to spotting her. She needed to watch what this alien bitch was doing, if she was in danger, she needed to know, besides, no one could see her up here anyway, right...?

 

She mustered up the last ounce of courage she had left, regained semi-control over her shaking limbs,and for just a moment, peeked out of the corner of the window, then quickly slammed her head back against the wall. No, again, we were too fast, we need to look again, a little longer this time. She had to be sure of the impossible blur she’d just seen. She had to know. Again, Oxyi raised her head.

 

Her blood ran cold, adrenaline coursing through her veins and her knees almost collapsed below her where she crouched. 

 

The alien was staring right at her, with cold, unblinking, focused eyes. Oxyi stared right back, eyes frozen in place. There was no doubt this time; she knew.

 

Panic threatened to overcome Oxyi’s body as every ounce of her being at once tried to crumple to the floor. No, he was brave, he saved you so that you could do this! We can’t let Diego down now! With arms like lead Oxyi fumbled desperately for her weapons, twisting on the balls of her feet, losing her balance and landing hard on her elbow. This was it, she’d been spotted. She grabbed her shotgun, and forced herself onto her knees, back up to the windowsill, and thrust the nose of the gun outside… only to find that the alien, had vanished.

 

For several seconds, there was silence. The only sound in the entire city was that of Oxyi’s breathing. Then, in the distance, erupted a loud rumble that spread its way through the streets below, and into the darkness beyond.

 

*

 

For Diego and Plasia, the last hour or so had been spent in an idle chatter and pleasant motion. Plasia had really opened up to him in very little time, talking softly about what she liked to do and her favourite things, she seemed incredibly relaxed but hadn't quite fallen asleep. Diego did still have faith in his plan, however, even if it was a little underhanded for him. It was too important that he make progress, and find his way out of this prison. Without warning however, as thoughts of escape filled Diego’s mind, the conversation took a darker turn.

 

“- and I used to do a lot of painting too... but I don't get the chance to do that here...”

 

“Oh? Why not?”

 

The alien yawned wide for a few seconds as Diego's fingers danced over her forehead and cheeks, working warmth and tenderness into her soft, sapphire skin.

 

“Well, I'm either hiding from Moltezz o-or blacking out because of… Leech.”

 

“Blacking out? What do you mean?” Diego’s fingers pressed a little tighter as concern took over his curiosity. 

 

“I-I become a different person around her... She brings something awful out of me. I-I can't really explain it very well, and I don’t always remember too much... but the other me is... scary... dangerous.” Plasia suddenly seemed uncomfortable talking about this, and moved the topic forward quickly. “Seeth is nice to me though... She lets me stay with her when she's doing stuff... Only she's not let me in very much recently... I think she just wanted time alone with you...”

 

It dawned on him that Plasia may well have suffered greatly as a result of him being with Seeth. That was a punch to the gut he hadn't expected to receive in this place.

 

“B-But I can see why Seeth wanted to be alone with you!” Plasia continued quickly. “You're lovely! No one talks to me really... you're the first person to ask me about me, even Seeth never has.”

 

“Plasia... How... How bad are things for you here? Why do you hide from Moltezz? Aren’t you… all the same? Don’t you work together?” 

 

“No. I’m not like them. Moltezz just rapes me whenever she wants.” The matter-of-fact tone to Plasia’s words stung at Diego’s core.“I can't fight back very well... She's much stronger than me so I can't do anything... afterwards she locks me up in one of her cages and uses me as an example to the Marks in her dungeon... punishes me for disobedience, and… stuff.”

 

“She rapes you?!”

 

“Y-Yeah? That's just what happens here... M-Maybe I shouldn't be talking about this...”

 

“Plasia.” Diego stopped massaging her and pressed his fingers to his forehead, processing the words he just heard. “Please, I need to know what happens in this place. I saw these people, the Slaves you have here, they looked strange and weren't acting right, my friend recognised even one of them. What are they?” Plasia went to respond; her eyes flickered open and she paused as she gazed straight into Diego’s eyes. He was leaning over her, eyes staring intently into hers.. No matter how hard she tried, words just would not form in her mouth, seemingly awe-struck by his amethystine eyes looking into her soul. 

 

“Be honest with me Plasia, because if things are how I think they are... then I want to help you get out of here. We can work together and put things right. But I need you to be honest with me...” He was almost pleading, pleading that she would trust him.

 

Her eyes turned glassy. She reached up to him with a wobbly hand and he grasped it tightly with both of his own.

 

“Y-You mean that? You'd help me?” It was heartbreaking to hear the hurt and doubt in her voice, as if she believed it was impossible at this point.

 

“Yes. The reason I came here in the first place was to help, and despite everything that’s happened, that’s still what I want to do. But you have to help me too, Plasia; Seeth’s been keeping me in the dark, keeping me… distracted, and I need to know what’s going on. Please, Plasia?”

 

Plasia stared up at Diego with her large, unblinking eyes, then sighed softly.

 

“T-Those grey people you've seen... Leech and Moltezz call them our Slaves, t-they're the missing people. They've been infected with the same corruption that me, Seeth, Moltezz and Leech have...”

 

“Corruption? What sort of corruption?”

 

“I - we don't really know... It's bad though. It’s spread through intercourse and a-as far as I know... it can't be cured. And anyone who's been corrupted can spread it.”

 

“So… A-Are you telling me that all of those people, the townspeople, those Slaves... they were…”

 

“Raped? Sometimes yes. Some came willingly.” Plasia whispered, and hung her head solemnly, too nervous to return his gaze. 

 

Diego’s mind was racing, but he desperately tried to stay calm.

 

“So the… the folks here were all kidnapped and raped or whatever… corrupting them into Slaves, you said?”

 

“Y-Yeah. My kind, we can control the Slaves directly, we can see through their eyes, tell them what to do...”

 

“Just you four?”

 

“Y-Yeah... uhm... well actually... I think the Nodes can too...”

 

“Okay... What does that mean...?”

 

“S-So I heard Moltezz talking to Seeth about it once... So when you get corrupted, if you’re not immune, there's two p-possibilities. You either become a Slave or a Node. S-Slaves are like... they’re dead on the inside, there's no-nothing to them. T-They just do what they're ordered to and like... sleep, eat and have sex, day in, day out. W-Whoever they once were, is gone. Nodes are like... more intelligent... they’re not the same as us, they-they’re still under our control, but they're able to hold conversations and think and stuff... but they're still obsessed with spreading the corruption... like the Slaves and... us.”

 

“My god... this… this is worse than I ever thought it could be...” There were too many thoughts to process but one shuddered to the front of his mind too fast to stop. “W-Wait, I've been having sex with Seeth! Does that mean I'm going to be corrupted?!”

 

“No.” Plasia shook her head quite firmly. “Y-You're a Mark, and Leech says Marks are immune to the corruption, s-so they make perfect sex toys for u-us. She has some Marks locked up in her quarters, and Moltezz has loads, th-they just fuck them whenever they want...”

 

There was a palpable sense of relief that washed through Diego, but this was still horrifying to hear. His skin glistened with nervous sweat as he tried to figure out what best to do. He wasn't sure if he should ask the next question, but he needed to know..

 

“H-Have you corrupted anyone Plasia?”

 

“Me? N-Never...”

 

“Thank the ethers...”

 

“N-Not sure about my other side though... I think she has. I can't tell... I don't think I want to know.” She covered her face with her arms, the thought rocking her to her core. He threw his arms around her, hugging her close to reassure her.

 

They shared in a gut wrenching realisation that twisted them both up awfully. Their eyes met again, it was obvious that Plasia was no monster, at least this side of her anyway.

 

“Listen, I - We need to get out of here. You said your ‘other’ side only comes out around Leech, right?”

 

She nodded firmly again, her chest rising up and down rapidly as she fought back the tears welling up.

 

“Then we need to stay away from her and get you out of here. We'll put this right. Do you know how much involvement Seeth has had with this corruption stuff?”

 

As he spoke, he quickly jumped off the bed, thinking best how to get out; this couldn't wait any further, not Now that he knew what exactly was happening. His sudden decisiveness caught Plasia off guard, and she stared at him cautiously, but then, she felt a bubbling excitement rise within her... finally, she’d found someone who cared, someone was going to do something... and she wanted to be part of this.

 

“I don't know... she's always seemed so cold and stoic until you turned up... I think she just stuck to using Marks rather than corrupting others...” 

 

“That's good! I knew I sensed something good about her... just like you.” He smiled at her and she returned it as much as she could, sitting up on the bed. “Here's the plan, we're getting out of here now. I'm going to grab supplies from around the room, see if I can find some clothes and anything we can use as a weapon and we're leaving, right now. I won't let you suffer down here anymore Plasia.” He spoke firmly and with confidence, he meant every word. And he did exactly as he said, nipping around Seeth's quarters to find anything of use.

 

“I'll get the door!” For the first time since meeting her, Plasia had a spring in her step and something other than complete despair in her eyes and voice. She leapt up from the bed, ensuring her robes were fitted properly and quickly made her way across the room to the heavy door to Seeth's chambers, which was firmly locked on their side.

 

She flipped the latches open and tugged at the door. It began to creak open, the sound of rusted hinges echoing around the chamber, pulling it open just a crack…

 

… And just like that, Plasia changed.

 

Diego had his head buried within a drawer, pulling some spare clothes out and chucking them onto the floor, so deep in thought that he did not even process when the room was suddenly plunged into silence. 

 

“Plas! You need any clothes or anything? Looks like Seeth has some that would fit you!”

She didn’t reply.

 

“Plasia?” He pulled back from the drawer and glanced around at her. She was standing in the middle of the room, back towards him, just staring out through the gap in the door. 

 

“YOU WANT TO ESCAPE, LIZARD?! NO-NO-NO! YOU'LL BE MY PLAY-FUCK-BOY FOREVER!” Plasia spun to face him taking a primal, aggressive stance. Her beautiful orb-like sapphire eyes were now cat-like slits that bore through him. Thick drips of gooey blue saliva seeped from her maw as her whip-like tongue flicked and hissed about her lips. 

 

“Plasia?” Diego couldn’t quite hide the slight quiver in his voice, as he stared in shock at the change that had overcome his friend. “What's, what’s happened to you? Is this… what you meant… the other you?”

 

“BE-MINE-BE-MINE-BE-MINE! YOU WILL JOIN US, YOUR BODY WILL BE MY PLAYGROUND, PRETTY MAN!”

 

“Oh shi-” 

 

“Oh shit indeed!” As if from nowhere, a huge green hand slapped around Diego’s neck and hauled him up into the air, effortlessly. Before him stood the imposing form of Leech, pushing him up against the wall and slowly pushing her face towards his. “Trying to escape, lizard? Trying to manipulate my Plasia into partaking in your schemes? And how Seeth had so hoped that she’d managed to convince you to stay.” She laughed, staring deep into his eyes.

 

“Plasia’s… no-ot… yours…” Diego’s words choked and spluttered out of his throat, around the tightening grip of Leech’s fingers.

 

“You're coming with me, lizard. For Seeth's sake, I will break you.”