Corpse

Avery lay there, staring at the ceiling, trying hard to ignore the pain. Soren had gone deeper than any other time and he could feel the warm trickle of what he assumed was blood. Ever since that day he had awakened to the sight of Soren eating Cruz, Avery had known that this was how he was going to die.

Soren moved, sending a fresh wave of pain that caused Avery to moan. Avery closed his eyes and tried to slow his breathing. He did not know what Soren was planning. He had expected to get his throat ripped out, not left laying on the floor with his flesh locked in Soren's mouth. He could feel Soren's hands holding onto his shoulders, body pressed close.

Avery moved his arm and Soren let out a low growl, though it stopped the moment he touched Soren's side. Now that he was still alive, all he could think about was what Soren had once told him about changing the hunger. All this time he had not once participated in the sex with Soren. He had not fought it, knowing that that was useless, but he had mostly shut down and simply endured.

He realized that, in this moment, if he wanted to live he would have to actively change the narrative. With that thought in mind he slowly moved his hand under Soren's shirt and laid his hand against bare skin. Soren growled, but it was low enough that it was almost a purr and Avery felt the urge to laugh.

Instead of laughing he moved his hand down to slide in Soren's pants and kept going. Soren's body shuddered and he gave another purr-like growl. Soren moved, his mouth not once losing his grip, and pulled at Avery's pants.

Avery could feel the pull, hear the fabric rip. Before he realized what was up, Soren had ripped away the clothes on both of them. Avery did his best to brace for what was about to happen, moving his legs to wrap around Soren and bringing a hand up to hold the back of Soren's head. The last thing that Avery wanted was for his throat to still get ripped out, just by accident instead of on purpose.

Avery released his breath and tried to relax his body as he found himself getting fucked dry by a half-feral Soren. It was almost as painful as nearly getting a chunk ripped out of his throat, but he held on and did not fight it. He wanted to cry when Soren's body shuddered and collapsed on him, releasing his hold on Avery's neck.

Soren pulled out and moved to look Avery in the eyes. Soren's eyes were once again brown and there was a rawness to his face that Avery had never seen before. No smugness, no sign of the monster that he normally was. He almost thought he saw worry there, maybe even a little fear hidden deep within those brown eyes.

Avery gave Soren a half hearted smile and closed his eyes. When he did not reopen his eyes after a while Soren realized that he had passed out. Soren shifted his attention to the rest of Avery's body. He noticed the blood about the same time that the smell hit him.

"Damnit."

Soren finished ripping off Avery's shirt and pressed it against the still bleeding wound on his neck. He could tell that he missed the more vital areas, though just barely. Things were slowly starting to come back to him; the mystery man that had collapsed, the strange object and him losing control.

When he thought about it, the thing smelled familiar. It was not the first time he had come across that smell. The bastard wanted me to lose control and kill everyone. Why can't he just let me live? He knew why, though. His father was so lost in his delusion that Soren was supposed to be the one to end the world that only death would stop him.

~Jordan, I need Madelyn and a first aid kit, please. Bring something to cover us, too, we're both naked.~

Soren could hear Jordan move and realized that he had been waiting on the stairs. He shook his head and looked down at Avery and smiled.

"You did well, my pet. I don't have a lot I can give you for doing so well, except maybe a few days of rest and my respect. Not that I'd actually tell you. Maybe one day."

He had chosen Avery as an experiment because the foundation had been laid the moment he had seen what Soren was capable of. Soren had known that seeing a friend eaten had broken Avery, if only just a little. His plan had involved breaking Avery further and slowly rebuilding him. Avery was his ultimate back up plan and it had proven successful.

~Is he ok?~

Soren looked up as Jordan carefully approached, a blanket in his hand, eyes on Avery.

"Yes. The bite is deep and will definitely need stitches."

Jordan went down on his knees and opened the blanket. It turned out to be two small blankets. Soren had Jordan help him move Avery. He lay one blanket across his lap and they laid Avery's head on his lap, making it easier for him to hold the shirt against the wound. Jordan covered Avery with the second blanket, just in time for Madelyn to appear.

She looked at them but did not say anything. Jordan stood and moved out of the way as Madelyn put on gloves and knelt to look at Avery's wound. When Soren removed the shirt she glanced up at Soren for a moment then turned to the plastic case at her side. The first thing she took out was a syringe.

"This will numb the pain for a while. I'll have to do stitches, but it looks like most of the bleeding has stopped."

After she gave him the shot of painkiller she proceeded to clean the wound and stitch it up. While she was busy Ethan showed up with a pair of sweatpants for Soren. He stopped, though, when he came to the stranger lying on the floor.

"What the fuck is that?"

Madelyn was still busy so Jordan went to Ethan. Jordan was not sure what he was seeing. What he did know was that he felt the urge to vomit, something he vaguely remembered from when he was a kid. There was a deep grey worm slowly crawling it's way out of the man's ear.

~Madelyn.~

"Just a moment."

She frowned as she tried to talk and sew up the wound at the same time. With the last stitch in she tied it off then applied gauze. Jordan called her again and she stood with a sigh.

"What the hell is that?"

Madelyn's eyes went wide and she covered her mouth with the back of her hand. The worm had fully emerged from the man's ear at this point and was beginning to crawl off his head, heading for the floor.

"You're the scientist, you're supposed to be telling us what it is."

Ethan took a step back, his eyes unable to move away from the creature.

"What is it?"

Soren could not see what they were talking about, they were in his line of sight. Madelyn went back to the plastic case and pulled out a jar used to collect samples. She went back to the body and quickly dropped the worm into the jar and put the lid on. All three made a face as they looked at the creature in the jar.

Madelyn brought it to Soren to look at and he frowned at the sight.

"Fuck. I don't think that my father stopped experimenting at all." Soren looked up at Jordan who had mirrored his frown, "I think he moved where he was doing them so that you wouldn't know what he was doing. So that you couldn't tell me."

Soren looked over at the man laying on the floor and finally realized what was wrong with him.

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Ethan moved around the body and went to stand by Soren while Jordan went up to the body and checked for a pulse. Madelyn came around the other side and knelt to get a closer look.

"I would say that he's been dead for a while. There is no body heat, his eyes are cloudy and" - She took a deep breath, releasing it with her nose scrunched up and eyebrows lowered - "He smells like his body is already half decomposed."

~He found a way to animate a corpse?~

Jordan looked up at Madelyn, then turned to Soren.

"Madelyn, your main job right now is to find out as much as you can about that worm. Take the body to the dungeon and cut it open, I want to know if there's anything there."

"Can I dissect that thing it threw at you?"

Soren's eyes narrowed for a moment before he nodded, "Just keep it away from me. I've come across it before. The damn thing smelled familiar and I only know of one other time I've lost control."

Madelyn and Ethan were staring at Soren, waiting for him to finish. Jordan was looking at him as well, but for a different reason.

~It was back when we were fourteen. Soren's father had cut himself and the smell had sent him over the edge.~