chapter 3

Selina’s heart jumped and she prepared to run again, but only for a second. She calmed down when she saw that the thing possibly stalking her was only Jay. It appeared that Jay had also discovered the strange dispenser, as she was now so much fatter and finishing some kind of pastry with her hands.

Jay spoke, but kept her voice only a little louder than a whisper,” Easy, it’s only me.”

Selina rested her hand on Jay’s shoulder,” How’d you escape? I saw that mess in the kitchen and I figured you must be glued to a wall somewhere .”

Even in the near blackness, Jay could see the slick, strange flesh lining the wall gleam with vaguely human shapes. “That thing... when it chased after you, Kori and I ran. I don’t know where she is.”

Selina places a hand on her massive belly,” Well, we have to find her and get out of here, fast. It’s just gonna get harder the longer we stay.”

As they spoke, they began to walk to the stairs. Jay stopped,” I think you’re right, but what do we do about them.”

Selina already had one foot on the creaking, ancient stairs as she turned to answer Jay,” I already tried it, now come on.”

They tiptoed up the stairs as quietly as they could, but they had gotten so fat and the stairs made so much noise, it was impossible. Thankfully, they remained hidden when they reached the top. They stopped before they opened the door, though. The basement door was open just enough to see an inch of the room outside and they could see the shadowy figure that’s trapped them shuffle by the door. They saw just enough of it to see that it had ditched the skin suit it was wearing and now the full horror was on display. It slammed the kitchen door. They waited a moment, and quickly moved out of the basement. Jay gestured for Selina to follow her, but Selina held her hand out to tell her to wait. Selina went kitchen door and hoped that thing wasn’t on the other side and with all her newly gained weight, pressed down on the doorknob, breaking it off and hopefully buying them a little time.

They walk through the wrecked dining room and to the front door, which was still blocked by the metal barrier.

With no where left to go, Selina turned to Jay and whispered,” Ok, I think we have to break a window. It’s gonna be a tight squeeze, but I can’t think of anything else.”

Jay added to Selina’s plan,” I think you might be right, but we need to do it upstairs. Less of a chance of that thing hearing us. I think that’s where Kori is hiding too. I mean there’s nowhere left for her to hide, right?”

“Right.” Selina nodded and they continued their search for an escape and Kori upstairs. They begin checking the rooms. Selina went back to the bedroom from before and compared her hips to the window. They were narrow windows. It would be a tighter fit than she thought and was still a two-story drop to the ground, but a sprained ankle was infinitely better than being plastered to a wall.

Jay looked through the bathroom. Without any thought, she turned on the sink. She covered her mouth with her hand as a pink, bloody sludge squeezed out. Nauseated, Jay stumbled into the bedroom with Selina. Their attention is then pointed to the closet, when they hear a belch come from the double doors of the closet. Selina swung them open and sitting on the closet floor, oblivious to everything is Kori, who’s spent the entire time they were hiding and looking for her eating eating. She’d grown enormous, fatter than the other two girls and resembling the women they’d met earlier who were trapped below.

They tried to be quiet, but Selina let “What the fuck!” Slip. Kori being this fat now complicated their exit even more.

Kori swallowed what was in her mouth and looked up and read the clear frustration on Selina’s face,” I’m sorry.”

Selina sighed,” Uh, don’t worry about it. Jay, help me pull her out.”

Jay and Selina gripped both of Kori’s arms and pulled, but she was jammed firmly in the tiny closet and she was of course impossibly heavy. The rescue was cut short, though. There was a heavy crash and an inhuman scream. The scream wasn’t close to animalistic either. It didn’t sound like anything organic could make a sound like that. They could hear it moving up the stairs.

They all looked at each other, waiting for someone to have an idea. “Pull, goddammit!” Selina screamed. They strained and finally they got Kori standing just as that monster got to the door. Selina slammed the door and thinking fast, Jay pushed Kori down in front of the door. Kori was just heavy enough to keep it from opening the door. Selina picked up the phone from before and smashed out the window, making sure to get all the glass climbed through, though her hips were just wide enough to wedge her in place. She shrieked and squirmed. She was firmly stuck.

Jay was in the middle of this chaos of Kori blocking the entry of the monster and Selina kicking and screaming. She could at least try to help Selina. “Brace yourself!” She shouted and pushed on Selina, trying to get her free. Really all she was doing was smooshing her ass.

“Hey! What the hell are you!” Selina heard a crack and felt herself lurch forward. The window frame had come loose and she fell. She landed on a pile of dead brush and rolled onto the dust, only half conscious. She was brought back to reality but the commotion she’d just escaped from. The creature had finally moved Kori and was in the bedroom. She could hear them scream. She coughed on the dust and tried to think of a way to get inside. She looked at her car and sighed. It was the only way back inside. Even with the seat moved all the way back, she could just barely fit and her belly pressed into the steering wheel. “God dammit!” She screamed as she hit the gas and rammed her beautiful red car into the wall next to the front door.

Upstairs, the creature had Jay cornered, ready to slash at her with its claws. It rushed downstairs as Selina stumbled out of her car. She struggled to stand and she wasn’t given any recovery time. She grabbed a beam from the broken wall, but it sprinted at her and slammed her into the hood of the car before she could swing. It slashed at her, cutting apart her shirt. Then, it grabbed her by the neck and by her right arm and lifted her up. She was bracing herself to be gutted, when it buckled under her weight and dropped her. She landed on it, crushing down on its chest.

When she realized what just happened, she couldn’t help but laugh,” This is for my car!” The deadly creature moaned with pain as she bounced up and down.

Jay was expecting to see a bloodbath when she went down the stairs, but she saw Selina laughing like an idiot with this thing that had been tormenting them being crushed.

Jay titled her head,” Um, wow.”

Selina tossed the wooden beam to Jay,” Ya, I know, now kill this thing. I don’t like how much I’m enjoying this.”

Jay lifted up the beam with the sharpest end pointing down at this thing that had tried to keep them hostage. She jammed it deep into its skull and finally, it was dead.

After they caught their breath, the two women went down to the basement to release the others that were still trapped down there. The strange substance that had been holding them and coating much of the house had started to decay once that thing had died and they were easy to free. Something else they were feeling the effect of was that the weight didn’t seem to last. It was apparently a temporary effect of whatever they had been force fed and after an hour, Jay and Selina were looking almost normal, though their clothes were still stretched and ripped. Kori and the others were still big, but they had all gotten small enough to move on their own. They all had a discussion over what to do. They debated over just leaving it or calling the police. Selina answered for them. She dipped the tip of her sock into the gas tank of one of the cars, lit it with her lighter and tossed it into the house. The hot, dry air spread it fast and the discussion over what to do was over. They all took a few minutes to watch it burn. Every one of them had been looking over their shoulders, waiting for that thing or something even more horrible to attack them, but this gave them confirmation that whatever could be hiding in that house was dead.

It was a warm sunset. The smell of smoke still lingered in the air. It was quiet, except for a beat up red muscle car speeding away.

End.