Inhumans Pt. 01

Sarah gently steered Angel back into her room, closing the door then placing a finger under her chin, making Angel look up at her.

"You were hurt that I was controlled?" Sarah asked but Angel shook her head, blushing slightly and staring at the floor again.

"You saying that you wanted her to...do those things...to you hurt," Angel said. "I know you were controlled, and that you weren't in control and it wasn't true...but I just couldn't get it out of my head."

Sarah watched her for a moment before lifting her chin again. Angel turned her head to the side, refusing to look Sarah in the eye again but Sarah gently cupped her cheek, forcing her to look at her. Angel stopped resisting as soon as their eyes met, Angel staring into Sarah's, seeing a list of emotions flashing through them. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out and she closed it again. Then, Sarah leaned forward, pressing her lips to Angel's. Angel sighed, kissing her back, wrapping her arms around Sarah's neck. Sarah's own hands rested on the small of Angel's back and they remained there for a while.

"I did not mean to hurt you," Sarah said. "I did not mean to be caught by the Succubus."

"I know," Angel said. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like you did when I knew you didn't. It wasn't fair."

"You were afraid," Sarah said, placing her hand on Angel's cheek again, gently wiping her tears away. "And you saved me."

Angel smiled slightly before her face fell again.

"I'm not simply trying to make you feel better," Sarah said, Angel's head shooting up and her eyes widening again. "Even if it were to make you feel better, there is almost nothing that can make me willingly commit sin and blasphemy."

Angel's eyes widened, guilt filling her features before Sarah kissed her lightly again, then pulled back.

"But you are one of those few things," Sarah finished, Angel's eyes widening again.

"What do you mean?" Angel blinked.

"I mean, that you are important to me, Angel," Sarah said. "I wish to be with you, as more than friends. And though I am not ready for sexual intimacy, I would like to be intimate with you in other ways."

Angel stared at her before tears began to flow down her cheeks again and she threw herself at Sarah, kissing her passionately. Sarah kissed her back, wrapping her arms around Angel once again.

I opened my eyes, staring at the ceiling and then looking at the clock. It was late, about lunch time now. I sighed, standing and walking out of my room. Lunch time was pretty vague for us, though when we generally ended up getting hungry around ten to two. I walked to the balcony over-looking the "Exam Room" and leaned on the railing, watching as Mia and Alicia kissed, Alicia's tail wrapping through Mia's nine and writhing inside, both girls trembling and moaning from the contact. Beside them, Cassidy was shoving two fingers into Janice's snatch while her tongue continuously flicked Janice's clit, Janice lying on top of Cassidy and returning the treatment. Off to the side, Angel was seated beside Sarah, her head resting on Sarah's shoulder, their hands clasped. I smiled. Looks like they worked things out after all. And it seemed that I wasn't the only one who was going to be stooping low enough to snack on the others' lust as they enjoyed each other.

I closed my eyes, tilting my head forward and letting the sexual energy wash over me, feeling my appetite wake up then slowly ebb away. The door behind me opened and I turned, seeing Crystal walking in, eating a donut but freezing upon hearing the moans. I sighed.

"It's not because I'm perverted," I said. "I can absorb sexual energy from the air through my skin. It's an easier, albeit less effective, way for me to feed. That way they can be faithful and I won't lose control."

Crystal nodded then turned, hurrying away. I sighed, leaning on the railing again, seeing Angel looking up at me.

"Go get her," Angel mouthed.

I rolled my eyes, taking another moment to ensure my instincts were under control, then turned, walking out of the room, following Crystal by the way my instincts flinched when I was on the right path. Finally, I reached her room and knocked. After a moment, the door opened and she blushed but stepped out of the way. I stepped inside and she closed the door.

"Um...I'm really sorry but I don't want to feed like..." she trailed off, swallowing and I felt my chest compress slightly.

"A monster?" I finished. "Don't worry, I'm not here for that. I figured you might have some more questions."

She nodded slowly, walking over to sit on the bed.

"You said your species is at war with mine, have you ever fought a...uh...slime?" she asked.

"Yes," I said. "Only one. And not because of the war. Because of the job. He was trying to feed on one of the others, one who's not here anymore. So I fought him. Truthfully, I should have died, but...someone saved me."

"The slime you were with?" she asked.

"Yes," I nodded. "She arrived in time to save my life by killing the other slime, then spent the next week training me to fight them."

"What was she like?" Crystal asked.

"Well, beautiful for one," I said. "And strong. She never lost a single fight, that I know of. Never lost control, either. And she was the bravest person I've ever met. She saved my life by risking her own more times than I can count, and she was always willing to do the hard job without needing to be asked. Not that I ever let her. The others don't know this, but the Succubus that caught her, it only did that because she let it. Because she knew that it would have caught me if it hadn't."

"But, I thought you couldn't be controlled," Crystal said.

"Not anymore," I said. "Every time I see one, all I can see is one draining her. And my anger blocks out their control."

Crystal nodded before deciding to change the subject.

"So, what's going on between you and Angel?" she asked.

I snorted, smiling.

"I lost control of my instincts once and she bore the brunt of it, and survived," I said. "That's something that absolutely no one else has ever done. So, after I had calmed down, she made a joke that it was proof that we were made for each other, and then the joke kind of turned into an agreement. We were together for a while, sort of. We weren't really dating, exactly, but we weren't just friends anymore either. We sort of...used each other for comfort. We had both lost someone we loved, so we went to each other to make the pain go away."

"And now she has Sarah," Crystal said.

I nodded.

"So, does that mean I'm supposed to be yours?" Crystal asked. "Everyone seems to have someone that they're paired with. Am I yours?"

"No," I said. "You're your own person. Mia and Alicia, or Janice and Cassidy would happily accept you if you wanted to try feeding off of them. Just be careful not to absorb them. If you decided to feed, you'd be able to choose to do so with anyone except Angel or Sarah."

"What about you?" Crystal asked. "Who do you feed with?"

"You saw me feeding earlier," I said.

"Now I know you're lying," Crystal said. "You told me before that the hunger never weakens. So feeding from what's in the air can't possibly be enough."

"For a long time, no," I admitted. "But it's enough for now."

"And what happens when the time comes that you need to feed for real again?" Crystal asked. "Who are you going to feed on?"

"I don't know," I said. "If it's my instincts kicking in, it'll be whoever's around. If it's me, I don't know."

"Sounds like you need Angel," Crystal said.

I shook my head.

"Angel was just my attempt to forget..." I trailed off, staring at the ground. I had almost slipped up and told her. "Anyway, don't worry about me. I'll never force you to do anything you don't want to. I may be a monster, but I'm still a person."

With that, I stood, walking to the door and leaving before she could say anything else. I walked silently to my room, sitting down against the headboard and staring down at my lap, my hands trembling. I curled them into fists, forcing the trembling to stop. I was so very hungry. And being around her wasn't helping. I turned to the door as someone knocked. I walked over, opening it and sighing. It was the human director in charge of covering our team up.

"Director," I said with a nod.

"James," the director said. "May I come in?"

"Sure," I said, stepping out of the way and allowing him in before closing the door.

He walked to my bed, dropping the folder he had with him on it then turning to me. I walked over, sitting on my bed and picking up the folder, and thumbing through the pictures and reports inside.

"I got into contact with my sources on the subject you asked about," the Director said. "The deaths were the same. All of them. Not even similar as with a species. Exactly the same. Every time. And all the victims were blond men about thirty years old."

"I see," I said. "Pattern?"

"Hard to pinpoint," the director said. "But I got it. The monster's jumping. One victim a city. Hard to detect that way. More time before it gets tracked down."

"Smart," I said, staring at the disemboweled corpse in one of the pictures, his large intestines lying sideways across his lower abdomen, or rather across the hole that used to be his abdomen, and his small intestines stretching from his knees to above his head, his own penis having been ripped off and shoved into his throat, suffocating him. "What did you find out about the monster?"

"Definitely not the same class as your usual rabble," the Director said. "Picture thirteen."

I flipped to it and stared. Identical wounds, same physical description for the victim, except with a different style and length of hair. Same everything.

"What am I looking for?" I asked.

"Eyes," the Director said.

I looked at the man's eyes but there was nothing abnormal about them.

"I don't see..." I trailed off as I spotted it.

The man's right hand was clenched into a fist, but I could just barely see the edge of an eye in his palm.

"Is that..." I trailed off. "He's a Tenome?"

"Class three, at least," the director nodded. "Capable of partial human transformation."

I nodded. Tenomes were nasty creatures with their eyes in their hands. They were known to feed on both humans and monsters, but instead of feeding sexually, they took a nasty bite out of their victims to kill them, then ate them, even in the middle of a street, though they generally lived in caves. Weaker ones weren't fast. They were emaciated and had flaps of skin hanging off of them, and their eyes were in their hands, making it difficult for them to catch any prey that was paying attention. However, after they had been around long enough, they graduated up through the classes, growing stronger and faster as they did, until they reached class three or higher, where they learned to change themselves into humans but retaining the eyes on their hands. By that time, they were hard as fuck to kill, and just as hard to hunt, since they knew to keep their hands covered or hidden.

"Are all of them Tenomes?" I asked.

"Yes," the Director said. "I had my sources go back and review the autopsies they 'acquired' and each and every one has been a Class Three or above Tenome."

"I see," I nodded. "Thank you."

The Director nodded and left and I sighed, walking out of my room as well, heading to the Exam Room where I could smell the others still were. I walked in silently, making my way past the two couples on the floor to Angel, who looked up at me surprised.

"What's up?" she asked.

"We need to talk," I said.

She nodded and I extended my tentacles, lifting myself up to the balcony, Angel flying up beside me.

"I have to go see my family," I said. "I'm leaving you in charge."

"Your family?" she blinked. "Why?"

"Someone's been killing Class Three Tenomes," I said.

"Good," she said. "I hate those creepy things."

"Not good," I said, holding out the pictures.

She flipped through them, eyes widening.

"But, that's..." she stared at them then at me before nodding slowly.

"I'll be quick," I said. "You know how much I hate my family."

She nodded and I took the pictures back, slipping them back into the folder before turning to leave.

"While you're there, you should feed," she said, stopping me. "I know you don't like it, but it's either that or you feed here."

"It's risky," I said. "If I stay long enough I will."

She nodded and I walked out of the room then down to the lowest level where I had set up a spell circle in case I had to go home. I used my tentacles to light all of the candles around the room before sitting in the center, placing my palms together before myself and closing my eyes. I began to speak the spell, the words rolling off of my tongue in a hushed chant with a practiced ease born of being infinitely lingual. All I needed to do was hear a hundred words of a new language and I would be able to speak it.

Finally, I felt my stomach turn and lights flashed before my eyelids before the ground lurched. Then, it was over. I opened my eyes, lowering my hands and using my tentacles to push myself up, leaving four out to hover at my sides. I looked around my old room in disgust before walking out through the heavy iron door and then wandering the halls of my old home. Somewhere here, my father was already waiting for me.