expression immediately went slick and jaded -- oh, it's just you -- and Gina's eyeline corrected itself. She kept walking.
"C'mon, Gina, keep walking, girl, just keep walking," Derrik muttered in a tiny pleading voice. "Keep trucking, maybe it won't notice you, maybe it --"
Suddenly, in an odd double-take, Gina turned slightly.
And finally noticed the ... thing.
"Ohh no," Derrik choked.
Ryan grunted, frustrated. He knew he should do something, go get help, call out... something ... but everything was happening so fast. Miss Babcock suddenly noticed Gina, and Gina was staring at the jelly-thing, and there they were standing there... all three of them... staring at each other...
(yes, even the thing, it was staring... it had no eyes, but it was moving, the top of its... globbiness ... back and forth, "looking" at Gina then Babcock, Babcock then Gina...)
Gina had a scrunched look, appalled and annoyed. Why are these two ... creatures ... in my field of vision , her expression seemed to complain. It was that same how-dare-other-things-exist attitude Gina whipped out at anything that didn't directly involve her pleasure in some way.
Miss Babcock simply seemed puzzled.
The "thing"... kept looking... back and forth... back and forth...
"Why isn't it... attacking them?" Derrik wondered in a dry, far-away whisper. "What's it waiting for?"
"Maybe it's confused," Ryan offered. "Maybe since there's two of them, it can't decide what to--"
Derrik interrupted by busting open the front doors.
"What are you doing?" Ryan croaked, feeling mountainously exposed.
"GINA! RUN! THAT GOOP'S GOING TO EAT YOU!" Derrik bellowed. He was on his knees, looking like he was proposing -- and, what he said next came close to it: "GINA! I LOVE YOU! I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU AND THAT THING IS GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T RUN RIGHT NOW --!"
He held the door wide open, a desperate pleading expression wrenching his face. Ryan wanted to hit him, slam the door, but he was frozen -- he couldn't -- move --
Miss Babcock looked over her bony shoulder with an a- ha! expression, sure she'd caught the three of them in cahoots --
And Gina, she stood there for a moment, looking at the jelly-thing, then Miss Babcock, then over at Derrik... she looked a little confused, a lot irritated... as if some big prank were being played at her expense...
But then her eyes set upon Ryan, and even from this far away, the look on Ryan's face -- helpless, horrified -- told the slender cheerleader that even if she didn't know what... something was...
... horribly wrong.
Her eyes took on a panicked quality, and after quickly darting back and forth to all the people, finally ended up on... the thing.
Something -- and the world will never know exactly what -- dawned on her.
In her hand was a cell phone.
With a sharp cheerleader shriek, she threw it at the globular glop.
The phone entered the skin of the creature and came to a rubbery halt, as if it had been dropped into a large gelatin dessert --
And then, suddenly, the cell phone darted and dove in quick jerky circles, like a startled fish...
It took a moment for what he was seeing to sink in, but when it did, Ryan's heart thumped hard against his ribcage as he said in a breathless mumble: "It's... tasting ... it!"
And the phone swirled and jittered for a second or two, before being spit out quite unceremoniously onto the ground.
That's when all pretense fell from Gina's eyes... leaving only pure, unbridled fear.
"OH MY LOVE MY SWEETHEART OF MY LIFE," Derrik shrieked, as he fell facefirst to the ground, the effort of his pleas sucking all energy from his body, "PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF RUN LOLA RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN--!"
And that's exactly what Gina did.
Or tried to.
~~~
A few torturous moments later, the thing shivered slightly and effortlessly spit out one of Gina's bright red pumps. Then, with a tiny after-shiver, seemed, calmly, to come to rest.
That, and the slimed-over cell phone, was all that remained of Gina
"C'mon, Gina, keep walking, girl, just keep walking," Derrik muttered in a tiny pleading voice. "Keep trucking, maybe it won't notice you, maybe it --"
Suddenly, in an odd double-take, Gina turned slightly.
And finally noticed the ... thing.
"Ohh no," Derrik choked.
Ryan grunted, frustrated. He knew he should do something, go get help, call out... something ... but everything was happening so fast. Miss Babcock suddenly noticed Gina, and Gina was staring at the jelly-thing, and there they were standing there... all three of them... staring at each other...
(yes, even the thing, it was staring... it had no eyes, but it was moving, the top of its... globbiness ... back and forth, "looking" at Gina then Babcock, Babcock then Gina...)
Gina had a scrunched look, appalled and annoyed. Why are these two ... creatures ... in my field of vision , her expression seemed to complain. It was that same how-dare-other-things-exist attitude Gina whipped out at anything that didn't directly involve her pleasure in some way.
Miss Babcock simply seemed puzzled.
The "thing"... kept looking... back and forth... back and forth...
"Why isn't it... attacking them?" Derrik wondered in a dry, far-away whisper. "What's it waiting for?"
"Maybe it's confused," Ryan offered. "Maybe since there's two of them, it can't decide what to--"
Derrik interrupted by busting open the front doors.
"What are you doing?" Ryan croaked, feeling mountainously exposed.
"GINA! RUN! THAT GOOP'S GOING TO EAT YOU!" Derrik bellowed. He was on his knees, looking like he was proposing -- and, what he said next came close to it: "GINA! I LOVE YOU! I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU AND THAT THING IS GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T RUN RIGHT NOW --!"
He held the door wide open, a desperate pleading expression wrenching his face. Ryan wanted to hit him, slam the door, but he was frozen -- he couldn't -- move --
Miss Babcock looked over her bony shoulder with an a- ha! expression, sure she'd caught the three of them in cahoots --
And Gina, she stood there for a moment, looking at the jelly-thing, then Miss Babcock, then over at Derrik... she looked a little confused, a lot irritated... as if some big prank were being played at her expense...
But then her eyes set upon Ryan, and even from this far away, the look on Ryan's face -- helpless, horrified -- told the slender cheerleader that even if she didn't know what... something was...
... horribly wrong.
Her eyes took on a panicked quality, and after quickly darting back and forth to all the people, finally ended up on... the thing.
Something -- and the world will never know exactly what -- dawned on her.
In her hand was a cell phone.
With a sharp cheerleader shriek, she threw it at the globular glop.
The phone entered the skin of the creature and came to a rubbery halt, as if it had been dropped into a large gelatin dessert --
And then, suddenly, the cell phone darted and dove in quick jerky circles, like a startled fish...
It took a moment for what he was seeing to sink in, but when it did, Ryan's heart thumped hard against his ribcage as he said in a breathless mumble: "It's... tasting ... it!"
And the phone swirled and jittered for a second or two, before being spit out quite unceremoniously onto the ground.
That's when all pretense fell from Gina's eyes... leaving only pure, unbridled fear.
"OH MY LOVE MY SWEETHEART OF MY LIFE," Derrik shrieked, as he fell facefirst to the ground, the effort of his pleas sucking all energy from his body, "PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF RUN LOLA RUNNNNNNNNNNNNNN--!"
And that's exactly what Gina did.
Or tried to.
~~~
A few torturous moments later, the thing shivered slightly and effortlessly spit out one of Gina's bright red pumps. Then, with a tiny after-shiver, seemed, calmly, to come to rest.
That, and the slimed-over cell phone, was all that remained of Gina
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