what Felicia was doing, but presumably she was ripping out her own eyes, too.
Finally, I stood there, blood gushing from my empty sockets. I didn’t feel all that much less scared, but at least it was a little better.
The floor began to vibrate, and there was a loud rumbling sound.
“So beautiful…” said Felicia. “So beautiful.”
How was she seeing something beautiful? I couldn’t see shit. Had she not torn out her eyes in horror? Had I jumped the gun?
“Gaze upon me!” shouted the faces. “Gaze upon your master!”
“I can’t gaze!” I said. “Somebody tell me what’s going on!”
“Shhh!” said Carlton. “The faces are speaking!”
I felt a slimy tendril wrap around my left ankle.
“I demand another sacrifice!” shouted the faces.
“When did they become sacrifices?” I asked, utterly confused. “I thought the heads were food! Somebody tell me what’s going on?”
Blood was still pouring from my eye sockets. How frickin’ long did that stuff take to clot?
“Give me the eyeless one,” said the heads.
That sounded like a perfectly fine idea. Why not give the eyeless one to the heads as a sacrifice? There was no downside that immediately came to mind, and so…
No, wait.
I was the eyeless one. I didn’t want to be sacrificed.
But somebody had to be sacrificed, right? It might as well be me.
No, wait.
That thought process didn’t make any sense. Had I poked my brain while I was ripping out my eyes?
“Carlton, no!” I said. “You can’t do this! We’re brothers!”
“Nobody likes a guilt tripper,” Carlton informed me, shoving me down the stairs.
I don’t remember exactly what I said as I was tumbling down the stairs, but it was impolite. I struck the cement floor, hard, and my right hand came down on something very slimy and tongue-like. As it licked my palm, I thought, yep, that’s a tongue. The sensation really wasn’t all that unpleasant, at least compared to the prior sensation of falling down the stairs, or the next sensation of two of my fingers getting bitten off.
I remember exactly what I said then, but I don’t think there’s a spelling for it.
The face I’d landed on proceeded to bite off the remaining three fingers. I shrieked. Some blood from the stumps would have squirted into my eye, so from a “glass is half-full” perspective I was spared that discomfort, although I wasn’t feeling particularly blessed.
“Since when do the faces eat fingers?” I cried out. “I thought they only ate heads! What the hell has happened to the world?”
“I think they felt bad for us having to bury all of those bodies,” said Carlton.
That was a blatant lie. We’d been stacking the headless bodies in the corner of his living room. The relationship between my brother and me had been damaged beyond repair.
I suppose the best course of action would have been to turn around and try to climb back up the stairs, but I was blind, disoriented, and in extreme agony, so I ended up crawling forward. A mouth bit into my knee. Another mouth bit into my other knee. A third mouth chewed on my toe, although I was wearing decent shoes and its teeth didn’t break through the rubber.
I was glad that this was— no ! I wasn’t glad at all! Getting devoured by these faces was literally the worst thing that had ever happened to me. Felicia could make rambunctious love to a guy right next to me on our bed while I was trying to watch TV and this would still be worse.
My arm that had a hand that still had all of its fingers went into a very large mouth, plunging in past my elbow. I tried to pull it out (obviously) but the mouth chomped down before I could do so.
“Aaah!” I said. That probably doesn’t convey the full impact of what I said, but I don’t wish to overwhelm you with capital letters and exclamation points.
The mouth chomped and chomped.
The teeth had broken the skin, but not the bone, so I did have another opportunity to withdraw my arm. I’m not certain
Finally, I stood there, blood gushing from my empty sockets. I didn’t feel all that much less scared, but at least it was a little better.
The floor began to vibrate, and there was a loud rumbling sound.
“So beautiful…” said Felicia. “So beautiful.”
How was she seeing something beautiful? I couldn’t see shit. Had she not torn out her eyes in horror? Had I jumped the gun?
“Gaze upon me!” shouted the faces. “Gaze upon your master!”
“I can’t gaze!” I said. “Somebody tell me what’s going on!”
“Shhh!” said Carlton. “The faces are speaking!”
I felt a slimy tendril wrap around my left ankle.
“I demand another sacrifice!” shouted the faces.
“When did they become sacrifices?” I asked, utterly confused. “I thought the heads were food! Somebody tell me what’s going on?”
Blood was still pouring from my eye sockets. How frickin’ long did that stuff take to clot?
“Give me the eyeless one,” said the heads.
That sounded like a perfectly fine idea. Why not give the eyeless one to the heads as a sacrifice? There was no downside that immediately came to mind, and so…
No, wait.
I was the eyeless one. I didn’t want to be sacrificed.
But somebody had to be sacrificed, right? It might as well be me.
No, wait.
That thought process didn’t make any sense. Had I poked my brain while I was ripping out my eyes?
“Carlton, no!” I said. “You can’t do this! We’re brothers!”
“Nobody likes a guilt tripper,” Carlton informed me, shoving me down the stairs.
I don’t remember exactly what I said as I was tumbling down the stairs, but it was impolite. I struck the cement floor, hard, and my right hand came down on something very slimy and tongue-like. As it licked my palm, I thought, yep, that’s a tongue. The sensation really wasn’t all that unpleasant, at least compared to the prior sensation of falling down the stairs, or the next sensation of two of my fingers getting bitten off.
I remember exactly what I said then, but I don’t think there’s a spelling for it.
The face I’d landed on proceeded to bite off the remaining three fingers. I shrieked. Some blood from the stumps would have squirted into my eye, so from a “glass is half-full” perspective I was spared that discomfort, although I wasn’t feeling particularly blessed.
“Since when do the faces eat fingers?” I cried out. “I thought they only ate heads! What the hell has happened to the world?”
“I think they felt bad for us having to bury all of those bodies,” said Carlton.
That was a blatant lie. We’d been stacking the headless bodies in the corner of his living room. The relationship between my brother and me had been damaged beyond repair.
I suppose the best course of action would have been to turn around and try to climb back up the stairs, but I was blind, disoriented, and in extreme agony, so I ended up crawling forward. A mouth bit into my knee. Another mouth bit into my other knee. A third mouth chewed on my toe, although I was wearing decent shoes and its teeth didn’t break through the rubber.
I was glad that this was— no ! I wasn’t glad at all! Getting devoured by these faces was literally the worst thing that had ever happened to me. Felicia could make rambunctious love to a guy right next to me on our bed while I was trying to watch TV and this would still be worse.
My arm that had a hand that still had all of its fingers went into a very large mouth, plunging in past my elbow. I tried to pull it out (obviously) but the mouth chomped down before I could do so.
“Aaah!” I said. That probably doesn’t convey the full impact of what I said, but I don’t wish to overwhelm you with capital letters and exclamation points.
The mouth chomped and chomped.
The teeth had broken the skin, but not the bone, so I did have another opportunity to withdraw my arm. I’m not certain
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