Page 10 of Soul Redeemed

Ava tossed the leg aside and turned her attention toward the Sang still feeding from their pile of human remains. No doubt, the beast had given them more on purpose, to throw her in the middle of their feeding, because having had a taste of that delicious blood, she damn near considered diving amongst them for more. Instead, she scavenged their discarded pieces, sucking the last of the blood from each chunk of meat, until a fossil-white tone gave them the appearance of discarded chicken bones.

Once she’d finished, Ava tucked herself back into the corner like an animal and waited for them to attack her, her body re-energized by the blood, but trembling with fear.

Minutes ticked by, and she crouched there, waiting, until all three of them climbed the walls and returned to their upside down perch from the ceiling.

*

A loud clang had Ava’s attention shooting back toward the door, where Oliver stood. She scratched at her skin that’d begun to itch beneath the grime. Had four days passed already?

Muffled screams tensed her muscles and Ava braced herself, as a naked redhead and a blonde stumbled into the room and tripped forward, their hands smacking against the concrete. The beast stood over them, and when he ripped the tape from their mouths, the screams sharpened, prompting Ava to cover her ears. At the slam of the door, the two females scrambled to their feet, knocking at the small window, behind which Oliver stood with a smug grin.

“Shhhh.” Ava placed a trembling finger to her lips. “You’ll wake them,” she whispered.

Craning her neck toward Ava, the blonde’s terrified expression shone back perfectly in the darkness, and her gaze trailed toward the ceiling and back to Ava.

What Ava must’ve looked like, naked, dirty, and chained to the wall like some kind of animal.

One split second of paralysis, and the blonde fell into a frantic screaming, twisting back toward the door, slamming her hand against the glass. “Please! Don’t do this! Please help us! I’m begging you!”

Ava tucked her legs in tight and rocked to the beat of panic pulsing through her. Whatever calm she’d summoned in the last three days was quickly doused by the woman’s terrified screams. Shut up, shut up, shut up. She clamped her eyes shut, still holding her hands over her ears. For one brief moment, she fell into a peaceful stillness, until she opened her eyes again.

The blonde had disappeared, and a single high-pitched scream sliced into the dull white noise inside Ava’s head, while the redhead continued pounding against the door.

A dark shadow swooped in from behind her, and in the next blink she disappeared, too.

On a whoosh of breath, Ava lifted her gaze toward the ceiling. Above, the creatures twitched and jerked, their wings wrapped tightly in front of them, between which strands of blonde and red hung down like party streamers. They held the females against them, upside down, and for one brief moment, it was blissfully silent.

In the next breath, the familiar agonized sounds that Ava had heard for months filled the room. Shuddering at the thought of what was happening behind those wings, she tucked her head back into her knees and pressed the palms of her hands to her ears.

Gods of Obsidius, forgive me for my insolence, for I lack understanding. Forgive my transgressions, for I lack direction. Restore my faith, and I shall continue to worship you for all of my immortal life.

5

The cold concrete pressed against Ava’s cheek as she stared up at the object hanging beside the Sang closest to her. Her eyes tracked the incessant drops of red blood that pooled beneath the brown, cocoon-looking sack housing the blonde. Ava could just barely see her face peeking out of the top of it, coated in a clear, slimy fluid. A second cocoon hung in the corner, that one holding the redhead.

For the last hour, or however long it had taken for the screaming to end, Ava studied their faces to see if they were still alive. Agony etched their expressions in the deep furrow of their brows and she wasn’t sure if that was a permanent mark of suffering, or temporary. They almost appeared to be sleeping, frozen in time.

A protrusion slid around inside the sack, indicating some kind of movement. It slithered beneath the shell of the cocoon, and for the first time in a while, the blonde let out a whimper. She sniveled and broke into a weakened sob, but never once opened her eyes, as if she couldn’t bear to face the reality.

Ava thought for sure she’d be next, after they’d finished with the two females, and particularly when the one Sang creature resumed its staring down at her. It never came, though.

A hissing sound interrupted her thoughts, and Ava tracked it toward a sprinkler-looking object above her, that rained smoke. Pushing up from the floor, she slid herself back into the corner of the room, watching the smoke descend, filling the room. She covered her nose and mouth inside her cupped hands, not daring to breathe. An overwhelming dizziness took over, and her eyes blinked heavily under the weight of whatever had penetrated her senses. The room spun, the cocoons shifting around her as if she were trapped inside a tornado. Faster and faster they spun, until her view shrank into a pinprick of light, and she could no longer hang on.

*

“I don’t get it.”

The sound of Oliver’s voice penetrated Ava’s mind like a scythe through a field of daisies. Whatever momentary reprieve she’d gotten from the nothingness gave way to the gray concrete walls of her old confinement, the same dull cell from before, and she glanced up toward where she’d once again been shackled to the wall.

Beside her, Oliver sat on the bed, chin resting on his knuckles as he stared away toward the opposite wall as if deep in thought. “I followed the Cartazmus. Word for word.” He shook his head and clutched either side of his skull. “It makes no sense. You were as pure a sacrifice as we could possibly get, and they rejected you.”

“Those females. What happened to them?” she asked.

With a dismissive wave of his hand, Oliver glanced back. “They’ll be discarded before you go back in, don’t worry. I just wanted to see if they would attempt to mate with them. They’re nothing but a control group.”

“Is that what … that’s what they …”

“Yes. That’s how they fuck. It’s quite fascinating. For weeks, they’ve merely poked at the females, probing them with their penises. But earlier, they began the mating ritual.”