CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
The man laughed at Momo’s words, the sound echoing in the room as they all stared at one another. “I don’t follow orders from you, murderer.” His voice sounded wrong like someone else was speaking through him. The way his mouth jerked as he moved was even more unnerving to witness, it just made Momo’s skin crawl in pure disgust.
Sonya looked at him in shock. “Well, you better follow mine, get the hell out, and lose my number.” She spat the sentence out at him with his expression becoming unhinged as he attempted to move closer to her only for Momo to block him. Her arm stood between him and the smaller woman as the teenager prepared to launch her fist into his throat.
“Move.” He hissed with spit hitting her skin. It wasn't clear but instead a murking brown color. It was filthy, the man’s entire mouth looked like it was decaying now that he was in her face. Momo felt the realization of what was happening hit her like tons of bricks and she pushed him back with both of her hands hitting him square in the chest.
He fell back just enough for her to grab Sonya’s hand, pulling her close as she hissed low enough for only her to hear. “Your boy toy is a living body bag, he’s been possessed this entire time.” Disbelief colored Sonya’s face but as she faced the man the despair set in.
"Oh, god." The Russian woman whispered, her face crumbling.
The rotten smell he emitted, the blood under his fingernails, his erratic behavior. It all was clear signs of a human undergoing the process of possession. He was sent to destroy their plans and kill her from how much he displayed towards her, contrasting his love for Sonya. It was insane to Momo they’d act out something so risky in an attempt to take her out. But what drove her madder than this revelation was the fact he didn’t bear the markings of someone in that state. If it hadn’t been for her nose and distrust towards him, they’d probably be mincemeat.
Slowly, the creature she wasn’t even sure was a man anymore got off from the ground. His eyes weren’t the color they had been before or even bloodshot. They were just empty, soulless husks as he growled at the two women with uncontrollable rage. Sonya’s grip tightened around her hand as her face became closed off and her body language closed off. She knew she had to be hurting, this human had meant so much to her. He had learned her true nature, had been to her home, and had slept with her for who knows how long.
And now, she was going to kill him.
“You motherless bitch!” He screamed at Momo, the rotting smell of his teeth overwhelming her as she became nauseous. If they didn’t kill him soon he would most likely fall apart before ever facing his wife again. “I’m not going anywhere until I got your fucking head!”
Momo smirked, feeling her fangs poke from under her top lip. She let go of the other woman’s hand, launching herself towards the man. The thrill of the hunt burned through her body as she attacked him head-on. She wasn’t going to sit around and play coy with someone as disgusting as him. If he wanted to tip her apart, he’d have to survive the fight long enough to try. He ran at her and barely caught one of her ankles as he twisted his fingers around it and slammed her body to the ground. There was a loud crunching noise that filled the room, his grip would have broken a human teenager’s ankle from how hard he was holding it.
Her chest burned, the mutated possession meant his strength had grown to match that of a newborn’s. Still, his victory didn’t last very long as she kicked him in the chin when he leaned downward. She put as much force as possible with the move, grinning when his jaw moved merely out of place. His grip loosened allowing her to break free and move out of the way just in time to miss Sonya knocking him over the head with a lamp. It was an unexpected move, with the lightbulb inside the lamp shattering with the woman’s leg aiming to hit him in the crotch.
“Get the fuck away from her!” The European woman screamed her voice shrill.
Momo’s ankle ached but she didn’t waste her time by focusing on it. She watched as Sonya’s kick connected, with her leg moving to the side to try and sweep him off his feet. Only for the man to move out of the way with a turn and wrap his hands around her neck, choking her. Immediately both women started fighting even harder with Sonya digging her fingers into his eyes. The nineteen-year-old ran full speed at him with a jump and bit into his arm, gnawing into his flesh. It tasted disgusting and made her want to vomit but she clenched even harder hoping to hit bone.
His blood was putrid from the corruption boiling within it. It hurt to taste it on her tongue, it felt like something was shoving a hot iron down her throat. His body was disgusting from just how bad his being was rotting. Still hearing Sonya’s choked gasps with her fight growing weaker the longer he strangled her made her bite harder. She clenched down until her teeth felt like they were going to crack and crumble apart. She clamped her mouth around his flesh as the man let out a guttural scream. Before her bloodshot eyes, his flesh parted and his muscles tore with her head snapping back with a loud popping noise, her body trembling.
And with that, she spat out his arm. Momo had managed to rip it into two pieces allowing his filthy black blood to fly out all over the ground in large spurts as he screamed. Sonya was able to break free from his weakened state and lack of two hands with rage on her face. It was red as she gasped from her lack of oxygen and Momo swore she looked like she would faint soon. But despite this the woman punched the hysterical man in the face, quickly following with her elbow crashing into his now swollen nose. There was a horrific pop as his jaw moved out of place in a way that wasn’t natural.
Every hit made a weird, soft noise upon the impact that made her skin crawl. Like there wasn't anything solid beneath his skin anymore, despite what they were able to see. Momo could smell his flesh rotting away, it was rapidly becoming a horrific mess of stench. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably as it hit her, assaulting her senses with how foul it was.
Something moved under his bulging skin as her fist connected with it. Specs of black slime fell onto her knuckles, splattering onto her flushed face with a wave of stench following it. She was yelling with every hit as the nineteen-year-old gagged from the smell coming from his decapitated arm. Still, she kept it together and looked around for something to finish him off. Quickly, she noticed the forgotten teacups on the table until chunks of them broke all over the place. She eyed the largest shard and turned to the man stumbling backward as Sonya caught his other hand as he tried to grab her.
“Suffer you fucking cunt.” Momo mumbled before running with the shard in her hand and slamming it into his back. She dug it deeper and deeper the more he screamed, blood spurting all over her upper body. It was like a geyser and smelled so bad she felt vomit begin to fill her mouth. The teenager jammed the shard in further, her hands going into his open wound.
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First, her fingers slipped through, her fingertips being plunged into what felt like a million maggots wriggling together. The slime that burned her skin to the bone passed her knuckles as she forced her hands further. And further, every push makes the man's body groan and his balance collapse with his knees failing. He fell to the group with a wet slap as Sonya managed to land another hit. It was clear whoever had sent him underestimated how long his body would last in a fight. Decomposing as he began to die. The man was falling into ruin as the teenager ripped him apart with one final scream as exhaustion hit her.
“Momo!” Sonya screamed as she found herself falling. She tried to control her body but the rancid smells in the room and her growing headache overwhelmed her. Blood began to trickle down from her nose and onto her lip as it began to bleed, it was getting harder to think. The world turned abruptly black and consumed the teenager as her eyes slowly fell shut.
***
Nandi found herself watching the wealthy woman finish her sentence and hand over the microphone to the next speaker, the audience erupting into applause as she departed from the stage. In her hand, she felt Falen squeeze it as he spared a glance behind them. They had been in the crowd for over ten minutes now and she wasn’t too sure the coast was clear. The teenager was paying extra attention to her surroundings with the exits covered in party-goers and drinks being offered every so often to the two of them. She didn’t want to risk getting drunk at a time like this.
While she waited, Jolene had gotten back to her and explained she had decided to take Kaeo back to her bedroom to rest. Her hangover was rough and she had started to blubber some nonsense about ruining her life by drinking. Guards would be outside the door per usual for an heiress and she would have a little slumber party for the two of them. This was a great plan in Nandi’s mind and she made sure to add in her reply to tell the guards two more of Kaeo's friends would be joining her. They could talk about everything together in the safety of the young girl’s bedroom.
For now, they would be in the lion’s den listening to each speaker drone on about their newest investment or how their childhood had just gotten into a top ten university. If she wasn’t used to hearing her mother boast the same way she’d be bored out of her mind. Instead, she vigilantly awaited for something or rather someone to show their hand. Whoever was following them wouldn’t give up on how skilled they appeared to be and the anxiety was causing adrenaline to pump through her body at a rapid pace.
“A woman is standing off by the side whose one of them,” Falen whispered in her ear. “She’s one of your kind but not someone who belongs here. Look at what she’s wearing.”
Nandi looked over where he directed and she was met with a small, petite woman who was looking out a window. She was dressed in what to the normal, uninformed eye would appear to be a designer bodycon dress and extravagant heels. Some of the other women at the party had even begun to take a peek at her before gossiping with little giggles behind their hands. But to someone like herself who was raised in the fashion industry, she knew otherwise.
The dress was a fake, a knock-off someone dead broke would get. She wouldn’t be surprised if she got it from some fast-fashion brand. And the jewelry she was wearing while passable, was plastic. Someone invited to this party who couldn’t afford a real million-dollar dress and a hefty jewel to match was definitely out of place. Nandi’s eyes narrowed as she looked over the rest of her appearance.
One of her heel straps was hanging off to the side, the hook barely attached to its opening. Her shoes had been off and in a rush to look presentable she had put one of them on wrong. They weren’t the type you could run in and if you were someone who preferred sneakers, they would be near impossible to even take a small jog. Still, she had to admit they were pretty to look at.
“Her clothes are bargain bin and she must’ve worn those shoes to melt into the crowd,” Nandi muttered as the human man nodded in agreement.
His gaze was far away, he was looking deep into the woman’s soul. “Her true form is horrendous, I’ve never seen anything so corrupted. I’m surprised she can even walk being so sick.” Quickly, he turned away as if staring anymore would make him nauseous with a sour look taking over his face. “It’s like Kaeo’s but ten times worse with how everything is structured.”
“Meaning she’s being held together by a string? How is she even standing, how was she even running after us?” The teenager was aghast, she hadn’t seen any of her kind in person that way without them being on their death bed. And here this woman was chasing them around the building with the intent to take them down no matter what it took.
It just didn’t register to her that someone who had to be in so much agony was capable of nearly taking not one but two people down single handily. Was she armed or did she think that her body would be horrific enough to overpower the teenager? Was she aware of who she was or was this just a random attack that she happened to be in the crosshairs of? Or worse, was this woman after Falen or her mother and didn’t care about her presence at all?
Nandi’s mind was spinning and she was momentarily thankful for the classes her mother put in as a child to maintain a faux mask of class. To the rest of the world, she looked cool and collected, maybe even a little bit aggressive with her demeanor. But inwardly she felt panicked with the knowledge that she didn’t know who this woman was, who had sent her, and what was her agenda coming to such a crowded place with one foot already in the grave.
Falen had a look of wonder and disgust on his face as he continued staring at the woman. “I don’t know how but she’s stable on the outside. But inside, it’s like a bunch of rotting flesh, falling apart and slipping all over the place,” He quickly turned stonefaced. “We should avoid her at all cost. Touching her might cause a chain reaction that we do not want to be in the way of.”
“Chain reaction?” Her stomach twisted. “You mean she could explode if I land a hit on her?” Thinking about how the woman would ripple before combusting from her pores in a mess of puss and goop made her feel sickened. Whatever happened to her or was controlling her had essentially turned her into an abomination. The expression on his face told her that Falen was thinking the same thing.
“Maybe, maybe not but we shouldn’t risk it.” He said with his hand clenching onto her shoulder comfortingly. The couple couldn’t cause a scene, they had to wait for the right time.
The woman began to converse with someone on the phone, her eyes having a yellowish tint to them under the room’s bright light. They moved around erratically as she appeared to be getting upset with the fact that she could no longer see them. Nandi wished that she could hear what she was saying about them but she wasn’t going to risk moving any closer than they were. Her skin was oily and even looked like it was starting to peal rather aggressively on her neck as it moved up and down. Everything about her seemed so wrong now that she knew what she truly was.
A living Frankenstein's monster who wouldn’t be accepted by humankind or the supernatural. Her mere existence made whatever upper hand Nandi thought might have disappeared and become instantly replaced by shock. Whoever this woman was working for was dangerous and breaking rules that their kind strictly followed. The two teens continued to watch as her expression become fierce as she spoke faster to whoever called her. Eventually, she left their sight entirely, hurrying off into another part of the crowd, the sight of which made Nandi even more anxious.
‘I might have to tell mom, even if she digs deeper into what we were doing.’ This was bigger than the two of them and she knew they couldn’t handle it by themselves. She’d talk it over with Jolene and Kaeo when they were able to be alone for the night. If they agreed, she’d go alone to tell her mom what she had seen and hope the woman allowed her to continue being away from her side.