Author's Note: After several months of development hell, I present to you the eight chapter of Organism X - Now with 100% less farting!
1
In the distance, Erin could hear the freshly turned girl moaning and grunting as the blonde, Lindsay, toyed with her. The sound simultaneously repulsed and aroused her.
"She's going to be a beauty when she fully changes," Megan said.
Erin turned to face her the arrogant brunette.
"You're a freak. All of you are freaks," she said.
Megan snorted.
"As if you aren't?"
Erin burned with shame and stared down at the floor. An image of the terrified girl Erin turned flashed through her mind.
It had felt so right in the moment. So good.
"Exactly," Megan said.
The pair were standing in front of Felicia Owen's room. Megan held the door shut, her body brimming with anticipation. Erin continued torment seemed to be her favorite new game.
"Why are we here?" Erin asked.
She wanted to get this over with.
"Because," Megan said. "I wanted to show you something special! Your hero has been busy!"
"My hero?" Erin asked.
"Oh, come on. We all noticed how you followed Felicia around like a little puppy dog. It was kind of pathetic, to be honest, freshy."
That part of Erin's life now seemed like an ancient era long since passed. It was hard to believe she had been a normal human being only a few hours before. Now what was she?
The thought of Felicia being turned into one of these things hurt in a dull and empty kind of way. It was an ache in the back of Erin's heart, crowded out by so much condensed trauma.
That all changed when Megan threw open the door and gestures inside with the enthusiasm of a circus showman. Erin followed her pointing fingers and lit upon a scene she had no reference for.
What Erin saw didn't make sense. The room was a mess of green slime and bulbous, fleshy pouches. Things Erin guessed were more worms wriggled in the slime and piled garbage.
The smell hit her a moment later. An overwhelmingly sweet yet alien odor that matched her own warped scent. This was amplified a thousand-fold, however.
One of the flesh bulbs began to wiggle and shake. Cracks formed along the membranous surface from which green ooze leaked. In the next moment, a bulging black head burst out of the top of the mass, reminding Erin of the chestburster from Alien.
The head turned this way and that in the air before slithering its phallic body out of the ruined mass of flesh to join its brethren deeper in the room.
"Eggs?" Erin said. "She laid eggs?"
"Yup! She's even more of a freak than we are. And look at all these perfect little worms. There's probably enough to turn the rest of the hallway in here."
Erin stepped back, horrified at what she saw. It wasn't human. Humans didn't lay eggs. They didn't give birth to monsters either.
She felt so horribly unclean. Would she become like that? It had happened to Felicia, why couldn't it happen to her?
"Oh God," Erin muttered. "She laid eggs?"
"What's the matter? Does this freak you out, freshy?"
Erin backed away from Megan and the room of horrors behind her. She could feel the remnants of her own mutagenic worm stitched into the fabric of her body. It made the horror even more palpable.
"Oh God, I need to go," Erin cried.
And then she ran down the hall, desperately trying to escape the reality hidden in that room. She didn't know where she was going. It didn't really matter. There was no real escape.
Erin stumbled down the brick pathway, reeling from what she had seen.
Eggs. Felicia had laid eggs.
The thought didn't cease to horrify Erin. Even her own inhuman nature seemed normal next to the alien mess in Felicia's room.
A twinge between her legs made the girl cry out, reminding her of the dragon that now lurked inside of her body. It wouldn't be long now before her urges kicked back into high gear. She needed to get away.
Erin stepped hard on a patch of slick brickwork and felt her leg give out, sending her to her knees. Pain flashed like a firework explosion in Erin's knee before fading to a murmur.
Erin sank down, feeling the cold water on the ground seep into her clothing. That's when she heard it.
There was the rhythmic thumping sound of footsteps approaching in the distance. Erin jolted up and looked down the path in the direction she came from but saw nothing.
"Who's there?" She called out.
There was no response.
Was it her imagination? She swore she heard something.
Erin stood up and made her way down the path, moving at a faster pace this time. She suddenly felt watched.
What the hell? I'm the monster, so why do I feel so afraid?
As Erin walked, she heard the footsteps resume, moving faster this time. She whirled around and nearly screamed at what she saw.
Three men in what looked like paramilitary gear stood about forty feet down the path. One of them pulled a radio on their shoulder close and spoke a command. The other two men pointed guns at Erin and opened fire.
Instead the explosive clatter of gunshots, Erin heard two loud pops and followed by a whistling sound. Looking over, she saw a bright red dart planted into the soft earth next to her.
"Close in!" The man with the radio shouted.
Erin turned tail and sprinted down the path, her heart pounding in her chest. Just hours ago, her life had been normal and now she was being hunted like an animal.
There was a bend in the path ahead. If only Erin could get around it fast enough, she might slip out of the men's vision.
Erin hit the bend at a full sprint, her lungs burning. She could hear the men's voices behind her still. She dashed behind a wall and pressed her back against the moist brick. If only she could double back around once they passed her, she might get away.
The men were close now and it wouldn't be long before they came upon her.
Her mind raced as she tried to formulate a plan. She could feel the hot tears burning her eyes and blurring her vision as she pushed her brain to its limit.
"Fan out," the lead man called out.
He couldn't have been more than a few feet away.
Erin's blood ran cold as she realized her time was up.
From deep within her, a voice whispered. It was the same voice that drove her to plunge into debauchery in third floor dorm room of her classmate. The voice of the monster.
"I can save you," it seemed to say.
Erin pushed it away. Nothing good could come out of that voice.
Hearing the men's shouts, Erin's panic took hold of her and she dashed out from the brick wall and began running the way she came.
Immediately, she heard the men cry out, followed by a loud pop. A sharp pain erupted in her shoulder, followed by a spreading warmth.
Erin slumped to the ground and looked to see the men closing in on her. All the energy in her limbs died away and she could feel her consciousness slipping away.
The voice inside spoke again.
