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My stomach growled, folding in on itself and making me nauseous, but just the thought of food made me queasy. Swallowing the bile that rose into my throat, I turned to Layla again. Saliva pooled in my mouth.
“Feed.”
Yes. I needed to eat.
After shimmying off the slab, I accidentally knocked over candles that had burned down to a waxy puddle on the concrete. My feet touched the cold floor, and my legs trembled to support me.
As I approached Layla’s side, my eyes remained fixed on her. I gazed down at her bloody corpse, my stomach growling again. I licked my lips, air rushing in and out of my aching, strained lungs. I reached a shaking hand out to her, my surroundings spinning again. Flies buzzed near her corpse and above me. I salivated more as I grabbed her cold, stiff arm and brought it to my lips.
My gums ached like they had tightened around my teeth. Pain shot from them to my jaw and temples. I ran my tongue over my teeth, realizing they turned into sharp points. Clenching Layla’s skin with my fingers, I snarled and bit into her flesh.
I closed my eyes, moaning. I flung my head to the side, ripping skin and muscle, and savored the taste of the most delicious delicacy I had ever eaten. While tearing out another piece from her arm and chewing it, I ignored the buzzing flies and filled my growling stomach. The taste was so good that I moaned as the bloody sludge slid down my throat. Something in my mind took over, and I was in the back seat. I watched myself gorge on Layla’s arm until only the bones remained.
The pain in my body subsided. My stomach no longer hurt like it did minutes ago. I could sense the stab wounds healing themselves, and the heaviness in my chest began to lighten.
My gaze drifted to the stab wounds in her chest. With my fist, I smashed through the tough area and reached into her sternum. The cracking of her bones and accompanying wet sounds sent shivers down my spine.
The thing inside me had control, and it wanted her heart.
I wrapped my fingers around the organ and pulled until a sucking and popping sound released her heart from her body. I brought it to my mouth, shivering before tearing out a piece with my sharp teeth. I closed my eyes, moaning as I chewed on the tasty heart.
Layla would forever be with me now. I’d always have a piece of her in me. Well, until . . .
The half-eaten heart slipped from my grasp, and I scurried backward, gasping for air as I resurfaced. The entity inside me withdrew, watching as I panicked.
“What have I done?” I cried.
Tears blurred my vision, and when I wiped them away, I ended up smearing more blood on my face. I sobbed, frantically scrubbing my bloody hands into my stained white dress. “Oh, god,” I cried. “Oh, god. Oh, god.”
In a rush, I scrambled backward, tripped, and fell down the stairs, landing on my bottom. I cried out, curling up and running my fingers through my tangled hair.
“What have I done?” I shrieked.
Why was I alive? How did I come back?
I opened my eyes and peeked through my hands to look at the dais. It was shrouded in shadows, but I could just make out a dark gray upside-down cross in the middle of the stage. It towered above the slabs. A sliver of light streamed from a window and shined on it. Jesus hung upside-down on the cross, wearing his crown of thorns, with blood trickling down his face. He had the same look of terror that I had.
It was all a mockery of God and me.
I was a good Catholic girl. A student at Sacred Heart Catholic School. Even though I knew premarital sex was against the rules, I hoped my weekly confessions would have earned God’s forgiveness.
A wail clawed up from deep within me, erupting through my chest and out of my mouth. I scratched at my breasts and neck as I stared wide-eyed at the cross.
Layla lay on the slab like a slaughtered animal, and my heart pounded in my ears as I scrambled to my feet, rocking with silent sobs. That was what we were to those men who sacrificed us to their evil god.
“My name is Lucien, little sinner.”
I wailed and spun around. I dashed down the narrow path between the pews to the large crimson doors decorated with a giant pentagram in the middle, where demons were gathered on the outer sides. Shoving it open, I rushed into the night.
Trees surrounded me. Crickets chirped, and an owl hooted somewhere in the woods. The wind gusted against me, sending shivers down my spine and raising goosebumps on my arms. I didn’t know where I was, but I didn’t care. My feet led me down the large concrete steps and onto the abandoned pathway through the forest.
I walked for God knows how long. I searched for a familiar landmark but didn’t find any. Eventually, I wandered onto a street with houses lining both sides. A dog barked from behind a gate. I stopped and turned to face the snarling dog’s snapping teeth. Saliva dripped from his curled lips, and he continued barking at me and jumping forward.
“Hank!” a man from inside the house yelled.
The dog kept gnashing his teeth and snarling.
Rage boiled in my veins, and I peeled back my lips as I lunged forward, returning the snarl. My gums tingled—the same sensation I had before my teeth changed. Copper filled my mouth as my teeth sharpened to points.
