She heard Sangre’s voice as she woke up.

“I’m surprised you’re alive. That was an adult dose. We don’t usually have little kids intrude, so that’s all we had.”

She blinked and tried to move an arm, but couldn’t. She was tied to a chair in a small room. Everything spun into focus. He was shrugging.

“I’m glad you’re alive, of course,” he continued. “Because I have better plans for you.” He went to the corner and pulled out a bucket. It was full of dirty yellow fungus.

“You did your best to ruin it, but all you really did was harvest it for me. And you know what else? It’s time to make some jelly-juice.”

Kid didn’t like the sound of that. She struggled against her binds. “What?”

“You heard me. The super-sluice jelly-juice! More than that, actually, dear test subject.” He pulled out his cleaver. “You’ve been injured before, haven’t you? You know how the lard can heal? I could have an endless supply from you alone. I don’t even need the rest of the class now. But how long does it take to produce a pound of lard? Do you know what it is to lose your mind?”

A complete non-sequitur. She strained her arms against the chains and ropes holding her to the chair. Overkill, perhaps, but they held her there effectively. If she could just get them a little loose—

“Yeah. You’re going nowhere. Would you like a snack?” He held up a chunk of mushroom.

The door opened and shut. Lin entered the room. She beamed at Sangre. “I got it.” She held out a syringe.

“Thanks.” He took it from her. “I used to be a nurse, before I got into this business. Long, long time ago. I know all the tricks. So. Would you like to eat it, or would you like an injection of spores? Go ahead. Take your pick.”

Kid fell still. “No.”

“Is that all you have to say? No?”

“You can’t do this to me.” She listened. The earth shook again. Something big was out there—but what? And Snaggletooth had to be on his way by now. If she could buy more time, maybe he’d burst onto the scene and save her.

“Who says I can’t?”

“Uh, everyone? Common decency? God? My mom?”

He laughed. Then, abruptly, the smile fled his face and he grimaced. “Don’t talk to me like that.” He held out the syringe. “It makes spores grow in your lungs. An endless loop—the circle of life. The spores grow, they create lard, the lard makes you immortal; bing! An endless supply, like I said. Eat. Or else.”

Kid had no choice. He stuffed a piece of mushroom in her mouth and she began to chew. It made her drool and her tongue burned. Her vision doubled and swam. He held her mouth shut and plugged her nose until she swallowed.

Then something stabbed her thigh. Sangre, as mad as he was, gave her a dose of spores anyway.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“You’re a fool for thinking I would keep my word.” He roared with laughter, and Lin giggled.

There was no time to feel hopeless—the chains tightened. Her skin began to glow with yellow light, and her whole body felt swollen. It felt as if her head were going to explode—and, mercifully, the world went blank again.

***

When she awoke, the swelling had receded and she was alone. The whole room was incredibly bright with a buttery light.

She wriggled the feeling back into her fingers and gasped. Her left pinky was missing. What’s more, she felt stronger than ever. If eating refined lard gave her power, then what would producing it do? Presumably there would be the same effects in abundance, because the lard was already in her whole body.

Sangre entered the room and shielded his eyes. He was glowing too. “I just took a little something from you,” he said, referring to the missing pinky. “I took some lard from your leg, too. Don’t worry, the wound closed itself. I just had to make sure it worked before talking with my client.” He crouched to get on her level. “We’re equals now,” he whispered. “Both immortals. Do you know what it is to lose your mind? You can see everything, hear everything now. Listen.”

She heard her friends talking in the shack, though they must have been half a mile away. Dripping water, the buzz of the light bulb, and the rumbling of the earth—nothing was subtle anymore. Footsteps. She could almost hear her fingernails growing! Looking around, she could see the tiny scratches on the wall down to the bubbles and iridescence of Sangre’s oily footprints. Nothing could be tuned out, and it overwhelmed her.

Like Snaggletooth said, once Sangre tasted the jelly-juice, it was over. How could they kill an immortal?

The door busted open, and the old man Snaggletooth ran through. Without hesitating, Snaggletooth pulled his gun out and shot Sangre.

Sangre laughed as the wound healed itself. But as the pain of healing made him shut his eyes, he got distracted. It was his undoing. Snaggletooth ripped the cleaver from his enemy’s belt and walloped off his head. It smacked onto the linoleum and rolled around.

Horrified, Kid shut her eyes. When the sound stopped and she opened them, Snaggletooth held up Sangre’s severed head triumphantly by the hair. “We did it. I mean, excuse my tardiness, but we did it!”

He undid the chains and ropes holding Kid to the chair.

Kid stood up. Though she had been trapped there for hours, she wasn’t sore. “My friends?”

“Let’s go free them.”

He grabbed the control panel and held the head up to it, scowling. He pushed a button. “Face activated. I’m afraid I’ll have to hold onto this, as heavy as it is.”

Yellow blood dripped from the neck. Sangre’s eyes rolled around and locked onto Kid. He opened his mouth and whispered.

“You’ll regret this, Kid.”

“No,” was all Kid said.

“No what?” Snaggletooth’s mouth hung open, showing off his perfect teeth.

“You didn’t hear him?”

“Hear who? He can’t speak. He hasn’t any lungs anymore. Or vocal cords.”

“But…”

Sangre laughed. “All part of the plan. Do you know what it is to…” he trailed off.

He was speaking. His voice was just too low to be heard by mortal ears. Sangre mentioned hearing thoughts; could the super-sluice jelly-juice her body produced have done this?

She took a step, and her body felt lighter than air. She tightened her fist and felt the noticeable absence of her left pinky.

I can’t let him get inside my head, she thought. I have to ignore him.

“Easier said than done,” he whispered. He began to sing a campfire song, and the repetitive lyrics wormed their way into Kid’s mind. Sighing, she followed Snaggletooth to her class.

Oddly, the class hadn’t left the building yet. They seemed beyond frightened, their mouths opening and closing wordlessly.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you something. He’s on his way!” Sangre’s voice was cheerful.

“What is it?” Kid asked. Snaggletooth gave her a confused look. He held the severed head behind his back so the class wouldn’t have to see. With an outstretched arm, Kid comforted her classmates.

Bowker was the first to find her voice. “We have to get out of here.”

“Yup, captain obvious,” Kid said.

“Why are you glowing? Can you turn it off? I don’t want him to see.”

“Who? Sangre? He’s dead.”

“No.” She paused and flinched as something heavy thudded outside. “The Mushman… He’s here.”