Everything was dark. Jenny wasn't sure how far she'd been thrown. Or if she was even whole. Her body felt absent; she felt absent. Where was she? Where am I? How did I get here?
The first sounds to penetrate the deafening numbness was chewing.
Ripping.
Swallowing.
Someone was eating, and Jenny didn’t hear these noises with her ears. The sound waves traveled through the air to reach her greedy tentacles, blood still moving through them, gushing into her body as though she were a cave flooding in a storm.
She accepted and drank, allowing the baffling sensation of liquid heat to flow through her, swirling and spiraling. Her body needed this. Craved every precious drop.
When she blinked, she caught blurry visuals of the chaos around her. Large steel shelves were knocked over. Oranges were everywhere, many of them crushed by falling rubble. Cooking utensils and giant pots littered the floor.
It took her a few moments to realize where she'd landed. She'd been blasted through the wall and into the kitchen, where she must’ve hit the large metal refrigerator door. It was crumpled behind her, but she didn’t remember the impact.
Her eyelids felt so impossibly heavy. It wasn't until she inhaled through her nose and filled her lungs properly that pain ballooned inside her. The sleepiness vanished with a single shudder, and Jenny coughed and threw up blood. She retched again, and blood, thick and gooey and darker than seemed possible, spilled from her lips
Trying to sit up in the rubble and clutching her aching chest, Jenny was hyperventilating. Eyes bulging. Her memories flashed. A green bubble had struck her. Shot out of Miriam's finger. Miriam!
Gingerly, she lowered her head to glance at the damage. She winced so hard that she cried out in pain.
Her exoskeleton had burnt away, exposing her bare chest where the skin was burnt so badly, it looked like hardening lava. Each breath was accompanied by a whimper, and each whimper only made it hurt more.
And the chewing. Teeth snipping through flesh. Saliva, and the sounds of swallowing. A moan of delight followed by a wail of ecstasy. Who the fuck is eating my meal?
Jenny rested her head against the bent refrigerator door, trying to ignore the pain and steady her breathing. It hurt like hell, but she tried to distract herself from it.
She looked through the broken wall into the cafeteria, extending her tentacles forward like radio antennae, trying to find out what was going on. Images fizzed through her head. Static that snapped and crackled like she was struggling to get a connection.
But it was Miriam. Miriam was bent over the Desecrated Angel, pinning down the creature's wrists as it hissed and tried to flap its wings against the floor. The girl was chewing through the angel's arm. She peeled the metallic exoskeleton away with her teeth and dug into the exposed muscle. All the while, the angel shrieked and shrieked.
Fuck... that’s mine. That’s my meal. I nearly died to claim that. What the fuck is she doing?
Jenny retched up more blood. She whimpered at the loss, the dark liquid pooling in front of her and running down the tiled floor to mix with some kind of spilled sauce. From the smell, she realized lunch was going to be lasagna.
Lasagna was about the only school lunch she thought was decent. Sure the pizza days weren’t terrible. And sometimes the tuna sandwiches were good. But the lasagna never missed.
I could kill for some lasagna...
Jenny's tentacles dropped heavily to the floor, crushing chunks of the wall and cartons of milk that burst. Her tentacles slurped up the milk, and she shuddered. Her mind was a mess of hunger and hurt, and every time a tentacle slurped, her focus went right to it.
They were thicker now. Heavier and fleshier, and she had six. Six tentacles. Drinking the angel's blood had furthered her transformation, and she touched her left eye, wondering if her right eye looked the same now. Wondering if her pupils were gone. She’d become so monstrous... but what good was that if she was lying here in the ruins of today’s lunch, barely daring to breathe?
Her ruined arm was limp and bent backward and to the side. She looked at it for a long minute, but no matter how much she tried to will that arm to move, the most she managed was a twitch, and all that accomplished was more pain. Her good arm struggled against the floor. She tried to position her feet underneath her and, leaning against the refrigerator, she tried to force herself to a standing position.
Only to slide back down when her muscles gave out; her ruined chest hurt too much for words, and everything ached. Hadn’t she been through enough? She’d fought and fought and fought; she’d won! She’d won that fight.
I fucking won. So why am I...
Jenny slammed her fist against the floor. The tiles cracked and burst. The entire kitchen trembled – pots and pans; loose rubble rained down from the ceiling; and then she heard footsteps.
Food.
Sustenance.
Ready to strike whatever it was with her tentacles, Jenny turned viciously, lowering herself forward onto her arm so that she felt like a three-legged cat crouched and just waiting to spring forward onto prey. She would rip whoever it was apart and bring them piece by piece to her teeth. It was exactly what she needed to regain her strength.
She smelled the person first. Tasted them with a shiver that rushed through all six tentacles as Susan stepped into the kitchen.
Excess saliva mixed with blood and ran down Jenny’s chin. The taste of the angel’s blood was nothing compared to the warm and homely and inviting scent of Susan.
Susan was limping. She was injured. Her shoulder was bleeding. Beautiful, rich blood spilled down her arm. Down her back. Blood. Gentle and human. Susan's blood... delicate and inviting and warm, not as thick as the angel's, but much more sweet smelling. Jenny felt an itch she couldn't possibly scratch with her fingers. It grew and grew and grew, spreading from her brain down into her stomach before worming through her intestines; if she didn't scratch it right this minute, she would explode.
A lump formed in her throat. Her stomach twisted, her chest ached and burned as she watched her best friend struggle to reach her, climbing over a fallen metal shelf to collapse at Jenny's feet, staring with wide eyes.
A meal delivered straight to her. Who was she to refuse?
No. No. No. No. No!
Jenny stopped breathing. She didn't dare blink or move a muscle. Her tentacles were zeroed in on Susan's frantic heartbeat, and the sounds of chewing and swallowing and Miriam's relentless glee kept shooting through Jenny. Wave after wave of hunger. Anything might set her off; she’d lost control; all she wanted to do was rip Susan open and lick every inch of her from the inside.
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Susan didn't say a word. She was on her hands and knees, breathing hard, staring at Jenny's ruined chest. Tears cleared streaks down the dust on Susan's face, and her hair didn't even seem blue anymore. The blood on her shoulder was drying, and she was clearly injured badly beyond her exhaustion, but a rainbow of light emanated from her hand. She reached for Jenny's face.
I don't deserve this. Jenny seized Susan's arm with a tentacle, halting the beautiful light inches from her chest. Jenny shook her head, only to cough up more blood.
"Jenny!" whispered Susan, struggling against the tentacle.
"No," said Jenny, doubled over to the side as she vomited more dark blood. "Don’t worry, it's not mine." She glanced up at Susan, expecting her to look horrified. Disgusted. Freaked out.
But Susan only looked more worried. Her lips wobbled and even though they were covered in dust and grime, Jenny wanted to kiss them so badly it ached. It was either that or the desire to rip them off with her teeth.
Susan deflated, the rainbow light flickering. "I tried to help her," she said, motioning with her head. "Miriam... I don't know... She's lost her mind. She ate the babies and... oh, please. Jenny. Please just let me heal you! You're hurt so bad." Her eyes lingered on Jenny's bare chest, and she tried again to yank her arm free of the tentacle.
"No," repeated Jenny firmly, trying to stifle another cough. It would feel so good, she thought. To have Susan heal her chest and clear the pain... But Susan had already given up so much to heal Jenny before. To bring her back from the brink of death. What would another round of healing cost an already exhausted body? No. She wouldn't put this on Susan.
And the babies... There was another ache in Jenny's chest that she couldn't explain. Miriam ate the babies? They'd seemed indestructible... Innocent and cute and just a little bit bloodthirsty, but they'd been her babies. And now they were dead too.
Maybe they weren’t dead. Maybe Miriam hadn’t gotten them all. Jenny promised herself she’d go looking for them after all this. Take care of them. Raise them? I don’t know.
This is my fault. She should've killed the angel quicker... but she'd lost herself, hadn't she? The blood had tasted so good... and now her tentacle was wrapped around Susan's arm, and she could feel Susan's racing pulse, and feel Susan's delicious warmth, and...
Jenny exhaled slowly. Once she finished that angel bitch off, she'd level up a lot. Then she'd have all the Energy she needed to heal herself. Besides, it was just her skin that was burnt. The damage hadn’t gone all the way through; it just hurt. But it wasn't immediately life-threatening, so there was no need for Susan to waste what stamina she had left.
But while Jenny tried to clear her head of the furious desire to bite into her best friend, Susan had kept talking, pleading. Trying to get free of the tentacle, but even as she did that, another of Jenny's tentacles inched toward her.
"Why aren't you saying anything?" Susan whispered frantically.
Forcing herself to swallow the excess saliva and another wave of blood, Jenny summoned her hatchet back with a flash of light. She slammed it into the floor with so much force that the kitchen shook. Susan flinched but watched silently as Jenny got to her feet.
She stabilized her tentacles. Her injured arm clicked and clacked against her side, swinging uselessly and drawing Susan's attention to it. But Jenny held Susan back gently, as gently as she could manage despite all her instincts screaming.
She shut her eyes and felt for her exoskeleton, forcing it to soften and shift. It grew warm, glowing hot red as it turned gelatinous and spread over her burnt skin. She tilted her head back and felt the angel's blood pumping through her muscles and her covering. She'd drank so much, but she'd vomited too much before she could process it. Otherwise, it would've added to her exoskeleton, and she could reinforce herself further. But this would have to do for now.
She was glad Susan was here. Relieved and happy, and she desperately hoped that those feelings weren't just out of hunger. But seeing Susan had given her the final piece of the puzzle forming in her head. The idea she'd had. How to get out of this bullshit without killing everyone else.
Human lives remaining: 10
Susan inhaled sharply. Jenny bit her tongue. It hadn't just been an accidental thought to check the count; it was the system letting everyone know the Survival Challenge was winding down to a finale. Whatever Jenny was going to do, she had to try it soon or else it wouldn't matter anymore.
She knelt, feeling better now that her exoskeleton covered her chest wound. It worked like a compression shirt, keeping the pain minimized, and letting her focus.
She'd been forming the idea ever since Susan saved her. Jenny had died. She was sure of it. She'd crossed worlds not just once, but twice. She'd been in Eve's world. She'd been an angel. She'd killed her angel self.
And she'd seen how the angels were brought to this space. That darkness slashed through the worlds; the same darkness that sucked the school into the Veil. She remembered falling through it. Transforming from flesh to light and back again. Muscles and skin growing across her bones. Disintegrating. Reimagining.
In Eve's world, that darkness had risen like water and swallowed her whole. That must've been when she became an angel.
That was the key. Invoking that darkness, making her own cut, with Energy or light or something. Somehow. That was the way back to Earth. And she was sure Susan's power could do it. A healing light to pierce the darkness.
The only way out is victory, Jenny Huang. No other means is possible.
Nah, thought Jenny. You keep telling me that and I think it's bullshit. Maybe that's how they did it for a billion fucking years. But fuck that.
What makes you think you are so special-
"Susan," said Jenny out loud, straining as a headache formed through her head. "I think I have a plan, but I'm not sure."
Her best friend blinked. Her hand had stopped glowing. She opened her mouth to say something, but Jenny grabbed one of her tentacles and squeezed it as hard as she could.
You told me we were all special. And anything was possible. You kept saying that. So why can't this be possible?
We had an agreement, Jenny Huang.
The one where you just appeared in my head? The one where you showed me all those things and made me think I could save everyone?
Susan wiped her cheeks, smearing tear-soaked dust. "What are we gonna do?"
"First," said Jenny through her teeth as her headache worsened. "I'll stop Miriam."
You mean, kill her? mouthed Susan.
Jenny nodded. She didn't hear any more chewing, but the angel was still alive. Was Miriam taking a break? Was she full? Jenny didn't care. The girl was too far gone. Eating other students. The babies. The angels. Miriam wasn't any better than the angels. Her life was forfeit as far as Jenny was concerned.
Susan lowered her head and sniffled. Then she nodded as well.
But Eve had a few choice words to say.
You cannot end the Survival Challenge by any other means. It has been a contest of champions since the dawn of time itself. Even before the Angels. Before the Demons. Before the Humans.
Before the angels? Jenny felt even sicker. So you just forced people to fight to the death? At first, she'd thought herself blessed. A supernatural entity choosing her during this nightmare. Helping her? Protecting her? But things were rapidly coming to an end, and she remembered what Eve had asked of her. To birth her into the world.
That is what humans do. Suffering is the human condition.
I have observed you since you crawled out of the oceans. Since you discovered tools and made weapons and seized power and-
A shudder like she had a terrible fever struck Jenny. It felt like an avalanche of ice cubes rolling down her spine. An onslaught of thoughts rampaged through her head. And she realized Eve was lashing out. Eve was frantic. Desperate.
Whatever idea Jenny had; it could work. Eve didn't want that. As if realizing Jenny's realization, everything calmed. The ache vanished.
This matters not, Jenny Huang.
The Survival Challenge only ends through one singular means. And YOU shall rise victorious. YOU SHALL BIRTH ME INTO THE MATERIAL WORLD.
Jenny stumbled forward and lost her footing. She caught herself with a tentacle and dropped to her knees. Eve’s words hit Jenny like a brick wall, and too many visuals of gods and creatures and blood flashed through her head to make any sense.
"Jenny!" Susan’s voice pierced through the onslaught.
"And what if I don't?" spat Jenny, breathing hard. She couldn't meet Susan's eyes, but she didn't care anymore. "WHAT IF I DON’T?" she screamed. "What if I let Miriam or some angel get me? What if...." She took a breath. "What if I kill myself? Then what? THEN WHAT WILL YOU DO?"
She felt a violent tug on her tentacle. Susan was suddenly in her face, grabbing her shoulders. A hand found Jenny's cheek, and there they both were, on their knees in the ruined school kitchen, noses touching. Jenny's tentacles spread behind her, each one burning as though she'd used Ignite.
Susan's breath was shallow and quick, the warmth caressing Jenny's cheek. Her eyes were wide and tear-stricken. "Who are you talking to?" she asked softly. "Why would you say something like that?"