“Ted Taylor.”
Ted Taylor jumped out of bed to see a shadowy figure standing at the foot of his bed in the darkness. “Who… Who are you?! What do you want?”
The dark figure remained motionless as Ted went to leap out of bed after throwing off the sheet. “Are you LwyrTruth33? You saw the first survivor personally?”
Ted got to his feet in the darkness and peered forward at the silhouette suspiciously. ”Are you the ADF? Here to silence me for exposing your hoax? The truth behind it all?”
Suddenly Ted was blinded as the light flicked on in the room and shielded his eyes for a moment. When his eyes finally focused on the man standing there, something ran tingling down his spine. The man was smiling. And not an easy smile, or even a mocking one. But stretched and twitching at its full extent, showing all of his teeth at once.
“No, no, no. I’m here to give you some experience of the truth as you call it firsthand. I’ve worn this skin for too long anyway. It’s grown… tight.”
Ted watched in horror as the grinning man bubbled and deflated in places as he fell forward. Ted scrambled back against the wall, frozen as with a loud cracking sound the man’s back split open and something alien crawled out. Ted went to shout, but suddenly he was unnaturally paralyzed in his own body unable to move. The creature's mass of tentacles lifted it off of the ground as the skin of the man deflated into a flattish mound on the floor.
‘Now you see the truth. How does it feel? To be so hilariously wrong?’
Suddenly Ted’s lips unsealed while the rest of his body remained locked in place.
“Wha… What are you? What…”
‘Why, don’t you recognize me? Am I so unfamiliar? After all, I’m…’
Ted watched in horror as the roiling ball of flesh shifted into a naked human form. It slowly shifted and bubbled until there was only a reddish mass of flesh left on its head. The face shifted and Ted tried to shout, only to feel his lips sealed again.
‘...You!’
Ted could only helplessly watch as a twisted and bubbling mockery of his own smiling face put a hand through his chest and out through his back. He coughed once and slumped over the arm, dead.
— — — O — o — O — — —
Infiltrator of Authority quickly absorbed the free fluids of the mortal whose appearance it had replaced. It would fix the human’s skin and inhabit it later. It took too much focus to maintain all the little human features otherwise. It had learned that even the smallest details could alert the ADF to discovering it. It had been so embarrassing when it forgot one time to include the ears in its disguise. Without its newfound allies it would not have lasted so long without wasting much of its newly gathered strength it had obtained from its hunts.
But now it finally had a lead on the crown jewel after all this time. All it had taken was one mistake by the ADF in not shackling this buffoon, and the veil of secrecy was broken. Infiltrator of Authority almost snorted when it found her school records based on the location of the post.
They hadn’t even changed her name, but Infiltrator of Authority couldn’t fault them for it it supposed. It and its allies hadn't found her in over a year so clearly the ADFs other preparations had been enough up to now. And after chasing all the false leads they had laid down to distract them. It would have to lay low until the proper moment to strike to see what else they had prepared after the last time it had successfully fed and escaped.
Stolen novel; please report.
— — — O — o — O — — —
Infiltrator of Authority continued to walk down the street. The other tricker treaters unconsciously avoided it as it began its return to Ted Taylor’s home. It should have expected the girl to be resistant to its control given her Potential. It would have to be careful when it would approach her next. When it could get her alone somehow. Now how should it play this? It knew for a fact that none of the ADF could have pierced its disguise. Ted Taylor would have not acted this way before, but he might have confronted the girl if he encountered her on the street. The ADF were ruthless but not even they would kidnap and interrogate it without at least some evidence of involvement with Spawn such as itself. It would be more closely watched by the ADF from now on. Now how to get access to her again without alerting the ADF on its plans?
It had been a few hours since Infiltrator of Authority’s first attempt on the girl. Ted Taylor stepped back into his home and heard the low voice of the son. Alice and the boy had fought before, hadn’t they? The boy was still paying in detention for his prior actions. Perhaps the same events could happen twice. It considered how it could do this while maintaining its persona. It would allow it to get a better read on the girl. Hopefully its comments would disturb her and heighten her paranoia, isolating her from her peers so Infiltrator of Authority would have an easier time of getting her alone. It had observed her chafing at the restrictions of the ADF so she could hold tightly to the few human connections she had left. Good.
The old Ted Taylor had been disappointed in what he viewed as his son’s laziness. But he had still cared in his own way. It was enough that the boy shouldn’t suspect that the Infiltrator of Authority used that perspective as a base for its new personality. Which archetype to shift to? It walked over to the room and heard the voice he was speaking with over the phone was a girl. Impossible expectations. Yes, that should cause the boy to lash at Alice again if things were played right.
The door swung open to Josh’s room. Infiltrator of Authority had to remind itself of his name.
“Dad! Hey, don’t just barge in here…”
Josh stood up aggressively as the girl’s voice over the phone went silent. “Didn’t I tell you to hand out candy? What are you doing in here talking with some prostitute? I thought I made myself clear that no one would be coming over until your grades were acceptable again.”
“Pro… Prostitute? What… Don’t talk about her like that!”
The phone was silent at the sudden confrontation as Mr. Taylor looked at Josh with cold eyes. “Hang up now. It seems you can’t follow even the simplest instructions. Again.”
Josh hung up. It turned back. “Now do your homework. If you can. May as well be productive if you’re going to be staying inside for the next week for this.”
“No! You just insult her like that and shrug it off? How do you even know who I was talking to? What was that about? This is…”
Josh took a step forward and jammed a finger onto Infiltrator of Authority’s chest. He grabbed his hand and squeezed until the bones slid against each other. Josh grunted in pain and fell to his knees.
“Ow! Let me go.”
“You will respect me as your father. Ever since you confronted that girl Alice your grades have been sliding. I would have thought with some extra time to study in that detention you would make something of yourself. But it seems I had too much confidence in you. You make a mockery of me. Of yourself. Now… You. will. Study. And steer clear of Alice. She, unlike you, is able to keep her grades high from what you’ve told me. Do I make myself clear?”
“Uh, Yes!”
“What was that?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Infiltrator of Authority released the boy’s hand and shoved him back. He sat on the ground nursing his hand. There shouldn’t be any permanent damage.
“Get to work. And needless to say… No more distractions until your grades are no longer so abysmal.”
Infiltrator of Authority saw the resentment in the boy’s eyes as he lay there, but Ted Taylor was too powerful for him to retaliate. A few mental tweaks and a few more comments would hurry the process along, and Infiltrator of Authority would get his assessment of the girl. But first she would have to separate her from the other one. Julia. She would never be alone if that one was around to interfere again. Infiltrator of Authority would have to be subtle with the boy’s alterations, the ADF was watching after all.
But well, if it blew this identity…
...then Ted Taylor could always disappear if he needed to.