Isla, clearly disturbed, asked, "Cole?"
He sighed, getting ahold of himself. Duty pulled him back, he couldn’t fall apart until the little girl was finally safe. "Call me Efrem, Isla. That's my real name."
Jin shook his head, and his eyes rolled into his head, likely at the pain of doing so. He managed to hang onto consciousness, and said, "Well, I guess I'm Jin again now since I lost. Although, we could still battle if you want. I could use my telekinesis to move my body around like a puppet. Then we’d both die."
Isla offered Efrem a hand, but he shook his head at her before nodding at the portal. To Jin, he said, "No, thanks, you competitive freak. I'll settle for a draw."
"No. You won. Isla's the last one standing, just like you aimed for. This was well played. You pushed me into using my entire resource pool. I think I'm even older than you now."
Efrem stifled a laugh. "You're even competing to see who's older?"
Jin’s smile faded. His bloodshot eyes focused on Isla. "Well, girl, you gonna go or what? You won."
"Jin's a sore loser," Efrem explained. "But seriously, kid. Go. I can tell you're still burning life to keep the boars peaceful. Please, just go, and no goodbyes. Just live and be a good person. Pay it forward. That's all. I want my life, all of our lives, to have meant something."
Isla looked conflicted, tears staining her cheek. She opened her mouth, then closed it.
Efrem watched her about-face and head toward the glowing portal. His heart raced at the sight, a wave of relief washing over him. He hadn't been able to find another way, but he'd kept his word. He’d also somehow done it without killing Jin. It wasn't perfect but--
Isla's hand passed through the portal, and Efrem's heart leaped to his throat. She jumped forward, but came out the other side. She hadn’t disappeared. This could only mean one thing, or at least, only one answer seemed to fit.
Winning this deathmatch required everyone else to die. Efrem looked at Jin in panic, expecting his friend's competitive streak to rise again, but the gamer only frowned.
In fact, Jin's attention wasn't even on Isla. Efrem followed the direction of his gaze to one side. A hunched, nearly skeletal figure hobbled silently through the forest and into the clearing. It had no skin, and was covered in char, as if it’d been burned.
"Efrem," Jin wheezed, a warning in his choked voice. "I've got one shot with my power."
The figure hobbled closer toward a stunned Isla. She pushed her hands out in panic, probably trying to use her pheromone power to halt the creature like she had with the boars.
The figure didn't stop, slowly closing the distance with Isla. Now it was only thirty yards away or so, shuffling closer. One of its hands was stretched out.
Now that it was closer, Efrem was able to see the creature's other skinless hand holding a hot knife. The handle was still burning the monster's hand, but the monster didn't seem to care. Efrem recognized the blade.
Jin grunted. The last of his hair fell off his head, revealing liver spots. He'd grown older, lifting his broken body into the air. He looked near death in more ways than one.
Efrem yelled, "Don't! I can help!"
Jin spared him a glance and gave Efrem a toothless grin. He said, "You always were the best of us, willing to die for the ones you love, or feel responsible for. But dying is easy, we all do it eventually. But enduring all the stuff that life throws at you for others? That's hard. If you die, you can die as you are. On the other hand, life will mess you up. If you really want to play the hero, live, Coleslaw."
"Wha--" Efrem began, but couldn't even form a single complete word before Jin blurred, becoming a human rocket, aimed at the skinless creature approaching them. When Jin connected, the creature was knocked back several yards.
Isla had already begun running to Efrem.
Jin's crumpled, mangled body lay at the foot of the fallen creature. He wasn't moving. Efrem could still sense Jin's life through his borrowed power, but it was beginning to fade.
The creature hissed, planting the steaming knife into the dirt as support. It hoisted itself to its knees, hunched over Jin. The creature cried out in a weirdly quavering voice before plunging the blade down.
Efrem couldn't do anything to stop the attack. His instincts told him he only had a decade of energy left, tops. He was so physically exhausted and beat up, doing anything would require burning even more energy. Could he act? Would it be enough to kill the creature? Jin's last move had seemed to barely affect it.
The monster lifted its hand and brought the limp Jin’s dripping, bloody hand to its mouth and licked his skinless lips. Then it began to chew. Efrem dry heaved, and with a supreme effort of will and Isla’s support, he barely stood.
"What do we do?" Isla asked, horrified. "My powers aren't affecting it, and the portal isn't working."
Efrem needed a plan. He'd have to sacrifice himself; that was the only move that made sense. He opened his mouth to respond but stopped, his eyes widening in shock. The creature had eaten the back of Jin’s hand and arm, and began to change.
Skin formed over the naked sinew of the creature, weaving new flesh. Out of all the things Efrem had seen that day, this was the most horrifying. Eating Jin's hand was somehow healing this thing.
It kept chewing, and the creature's hair grew. Efrem and Isla could only watch in stunned fascination and disgust. He knew he should act now before it could heal more, but his tired brain just felt stunned.
Something familiar at the back of his mind pulled at him, a lingering feeling he hadn’t really felt since killing Ricardo's shadow. No way. Efrem supplied the feeling with a few months of power, then a full year. Soon, his body was healing itself, even supplying him with physical energy from his life force.
The sensation should have felt good, a relief. Instead, it filled him with dread.
Efrem looked at the creature. It picked off the last meat from Jin's hand, swallowing.
Light, ashy gray hair had grown down to the monster's ears. The creature's skin was healed enough now to tell that it was human. The figure was a woman, an old hag. Her blue, rheumy eyes looked sickly under the orange dome light. She smiled, revealing the impression of dimples in her wrinkled cheeks, dimples that Efrem had kissed countless times.
Chapter 18
The figure was definitely Holly, but not as Efrem had known her. He'd noticed some changes in her personality since the game had begun, but Holly had always stayed by his side. Whenever they’d fought, or planned, or just tried to survive, Holly had been there with him.
No, that wasn’t true. He remembered his fight with Ricardo, just before she had been thrown outside of the dome wall.
Efrem had told her his plan, to use her power to put Ricardo to sleep. But when it had been time for her to use her ability, she'd done something else entirely. Even now, Efrem wasn't quite sure what had happened.
She’d made him sick, damaged him. Boils had bloomed from the man's skin as if there’d been small explosions inside his body. Efrem could remember the scene.
Worse yet had been Holly's expression. Efrem had been in denial back then, but he’d seen the darkness growing in her. Her eyes had been narrowed, clinical like she’d been looking at something interesting under a microscope. But her smile… Now Cole could see the truth. The island had twisted Holly, turned her into a monster that enjoyed using her power to cause unnecessary pain.
Despite all the messed-up things he’d done and seen this day, this realization rocked Efrem so badly he had to make an effort to get past it, to not be buried under it. He knew that if he’d spared another second thinking about Holly’s twisted, alien new sadism, he might just give up.
Now that Holly was back and somehow alive, the terrible memories had surfaced from the depths of his mind like a kraken. Instead of being controlled by it, he used his fear and disgust to wake himself from his stupor, from his naivete. The old hag in front of him was not the woman he loved anymore. She was a monster worse than any creature on the island. Hopefully she wasn’t a
s evil as Ricardo, but Efrem wasn’t going to make any bets.
His eyes moved to the broken figure at the regenerating Holly’s feet. Somehow, Jin wasn’t dead yet, which made his fate even worse. The connection to his power was fading slowly inside Efrem. He very carefully said, "Isla, I think the portal won't work unless only one of us is living. You gotta run to safety. I'll take care of Holly."
Isla did not move. Instead, she firmed her lip and raised a hand. The silent boars seemed to all come to life at once, thundering and squealing. Their mutated, injured bodies lifted themselves back to their hind legs, and they all stampeded toward the Holly hag. Isla grimaced, visibly aging again.
The orcs all surrounded Holly in a circle. Holly paused from eating the living flesh of one of her oldest friends long enough to invitingly wave an arm.
Even after everything that had happened, Efrem’s heart hurt when the boars trampled over Jin's unconscious body. When he lost contact with Jin’s telekinetic power, he knew that his friend was finally dead. There was no logic to the feeling, but Jin had been closer to Efrem than his own foster parents. For most of their lives, he’d been the brother Efrem never had.
As the mutated boars swarmed Holly, Efrem realized he didn't feel that same concern for her safety. It was clear why, though. Holly was already dead; this thing wearing her face was an abomination.
Isla focused her attention on the boars, likely commanding them to attack with tusks, hooves, and teeth. The creatures were so large and numerous that Efrem couldn't see what was happening. He wanted to tell Isla to stop, that this was overkill, but Holly had somehow survived the burning effects outside the dome. He kept his mouth shut.
As he watched the confused violence, Efrem wondered how Holly could even physically be here. After thinking about it for a few seconds, he decided he might have the general gist of it. Some of the specifics might be wrong, but he had a feeling he was right.
At first, she had most likely burned through decades of life just to avoid death as she was burned alive. He couldn't imagine the pain she’d endured. Then he realized that Holly knew more about the body than he did. She might have turned off her pain sensors, if that was possible.
Of course, she might have just been crazy enough not to give up.
Either way, it was a horrible thing to think about. Then again, she had also eaten Jin's hand without hesitation. Maybe she had encountered mutants along the way--did she eat them too? Despite the heat, Jin shivered.
To his side, Isla continued to focus on her orc thralls. The pastor's ten-year-old daughter now physically looked like she was in her mid-thirties. Her expression was silent anguish, and Efrem understood who she really was in that moment.
It was likely that Isla had been abused by her father. Dolos had implied that the power seeds would express themselves according to who their host was as a person. Isla had obviously wanted what every little girl wanted--safety, comfort, a functional family. She’d gained the power to keep others away if she didn't trust them. On the other end of that spectrum, Isla could use this ability to command, to call others to trust her, to help protect her.
Efrem said, "You should have gone through the portal."
Isla put her hand down. The mutant boars stopped their attack but were still gathered in a tight group on top of Holly’s and Jin’s bodies. She said, "I lied about my mom being in Costa Rica. I don't know where she is. Daddy kicked her out because she liked another man and wanted to live with him. So…yeah, I don't know where she is."
"Why did you lie?"
"Everyone wanted me to live so I could remember them.”
Efrem suddenly felt guilty about how they’d all forced Isla into taking the survivor role. They hadn’t really ever asked the girl what she wanted. She hadn’t exactly been forthcoming with them, but with how she looked now, it was easy to forget she was only ten years old. Despite that, she was strong in her own way. She’d accepted her role as everyone's hope. Isla had understood that trying to save her gave everyone else purpose. So much pressure, and she’d assumed her role without complaint.
Isla smiled sadly. "I'm afraid to go back alone. Can we try going through together? Please?"
Efrem nodded, but he was certain the portal wouldn't work that way. "If it doesn't work, then you try it again yourself, okay? Take it back home and find the police. They'll protect you." This was the best advice he could offer her.
She shook her head. "You're the only who can protect me. I don't trust anyone else."
Efrem wanted to tell her that she would find a way. There was always another way, after all. But now, after everything he’d endured, he remembered Sheriff’s words. Sometimes the only way out of the forest was through it. Efrem had burned through so much life, he was barely standing. He swallowed and said, "I--"
The boars shifted, squealing in fear. Alarmed, Efrem asked, "Is that you?"
"No." Isla's face drained of color.
One of the orcs in the center of the group was abruptly lifted up. Holly was still alive, her body riddled with punctures.
Efrem hadn’t even thought to reach out to her healing ability, verify she was dead like he had with Jin. He was so tired, he was missing things.
The mutant boar struggled as Holly held it over her head, and the other creatures stepped away from her. In her hands, the mutant creature seemed to condense, twisting inward.
"She's absorbing it," Efrem said in fascination. He reached out with Holly's power, and knew it was possible, but wasn’t something he could do. Efrem knew too little about biology and exactly how her power worked. He knew that if he tried doing what she was doing now, it wouldn’t end well for him.
At the side of Holly's neck, a tumor the size of another head grew. Then the tumor sank back into her skin. Holly's hair grew longer, the white strands replaced by blonde at the roots.
Most of the remaining orcs seemed to sense trouble and began running away. Efrem grabbed Isla's hand, his power borrowing hers, sent back to strengthen her ability. "Make the boars fight her!"
Together, they pushed as much hate, anger, and fear to the mutant boars as they could. Oddly enough, Efrem was barely burning through his life while Isla used her power. She didn't seem to age visibly either. Maybe his ability was somehow lowering the toll of the power seed if he worked with someone.
The mutant thralls attacked even more viciously than before, but when they collided with Holly, they seemed to stick to her. One after another, they hit, or kicked, or bit, and got stuck. Holly’s mass grew. In a few moments, she and the boars were one giant bulbous mass of pulsing meat. Efrem wanted to throw up.
"Crap," he spat. "We just made her stronger!"
He let go of Isla’s hand. Despite her real age, she looked like a calm veteran, and Efrem had to remind himself that she was only a child. He grimaced, mind racing.
Efrem’s power could touch Isla's and Holly’s abilities. He also had the shadow power he had absorbed earlier, but the thing frightened him. If he let it out, it might take over his mind and even kill Isla. He’d be more confident about keeping the darkness in check if he had more life to spare, but he was too old.
He grabbed Isla's hand again, a plan forming in his mind. "Use your powers on me, Isla! Do you know what adrenaline is?"
Isla shook her head. "No."
"That's okay. Just try to make me feel alert, like people can feel when they have a lot of coffee, got it?"
"Yes, I think."
They focused their combined power, and Efrem felt his mind expand, clearing away all the fear and dread he was feeling. When clarity returned, it felt like his brain had been cleared of cobwebs. Of course, with his mind being sharp again, he could feel all of his damage.
Efrem needed to do something about all the distractions. He used Holly's ability and searched inside his body. One by one, he turned off his pain receptors. When he was done, he no longer felt his old age.
The sensation was odd and not very pleasant, like the shots he’d gotten before at the de
ntist, but all over his body. This combo wasn’t a super power, like Holly's new, massive strength, but it'd have to be enough. He felt more alert than ever, and his body was healed.
Efrem sprinted toward the giant bio mass as it bubbled and condensed, expanded and contracted with the rhythm of a heartbeat.
He threw his hands at the giant, lumpy thing, summoning Holly's power to force the monster's brain to shut down. Suddenly, his hands were met with other hands. Efrem's grip was locked under a titanic strength.
The entire, disgusting mass had somehow condensed back into Holly's form, but not the old, cannibal hag from before. Holly was back how he remembered her, but maybe even more beautiful. Her blonde hair flowed to her lower back. Her skin on her athletic, naked body was flawless. She flashed Efrem the smile he'd loved so much, her cheeks dimpling.
"Impressive," she said, voice like silk. "Good to see you've adapted to your power seed. But I've evolved further." She flexed and Efrem's hands were crushed by her godlike strength.
He screamed at her in defiance. His pain sensors that had been turned off came back online and began to flare--Holly's doing.
Efrem grimaced. This wasn't a physical battle, but a supernatural one. He summoned Holly's power and fought for control of his own body. She was trying to do something with his kidneys, but he burned two months to fight it off. Then she was in his brain, altering some chemicals.
Efrem's left side twitched. He somehow knew he was about to have a stroke. More life energy burned through him, and he'd never felt so old, so tired. Part of him wanted to give up, but he thought about Isla, an innocent. He healed his hands even as they were being crushed.
All the while, Holly didn't even seem to be breaking a sweat.
Efrem reached through their connected powers to understand where she’d gotten her new strength from. What he felt there horrified him. Holly's mind was still intact, but she had absorbed literally tons of flesh and life. This had to be how she’d survived outside the dome. Efrem could sense her practice at the technique. Holly had been able to heal using the flesh of others. She’d used it to reverse her aging, too.
Cole Blooded Page 16
