Koda staggered back, ears bleeding from the sheer volume of the explosion.
That was far different than any of Riley’s earlier attacks, this one was far more destructive.
Once the smoke cleared, Koda noticed two things.
He saw Riley leaning against a wall, both of his arms mangled and ruined, blood covering his scorched body.
And on the other side, the seemingly unconscious Old Bram’s entire torso was a mangled mess of blood, ash and bone.
Koda’s eyes widened and he rushed to Riley’s aid.
But the boy just smiled at him.
“Don’t come, they’ll go for you instead.” Koda looked down at Riley’s arms, noticing that the parasitic worms that were once wriggling beneath his skin were all leaving his body through his arms.
‘Of course!
Now that Riley is nearly dead and all of the villagers are gone, the next best thing to feed off is… Old Bram!’ Koda realised, staring at Riley in awe.
The boy forced himself up, limping over in Koda’s direction.
Koda rushed over and wrapped the boy’s arm around his shoulder.
“Are… you going to be okay?” He asked.
Riley stared at him and chuckled dryly.
“I don’t think so, dude.” But to both of their horrors, the mood was cut and changed to that of fear.
Old Bram staggered to his feet.
Both of the boys stared.
“Well… there goes my plan.
Straight out the window.
And now you’ve gone and got me infected too.
Stupid… stupid brats.” His voice was even more deep and grating than before.
Koda stared as old Bram picked up some of Riley’s scattered flesh from the floor and threw it into his unhinged maw.
Both of the boys stared in disgust as the old man started eating things.
Everything.
Anything he could find.
And his body changed.
His body got bigger, more muscular.
Without thinking, Koda held Riley and ran.
He ran to the only place where he could think of, he ran to Old Bram’s butchery.
Slamming open the door, holding on tight to his only friend and locking the door shut behind him, not like it’d make much of a difference anyway.
He let Riley lean on the counter as he pushed open the entrance to the cellar and helped Riley once more as they descended the stairway.
Koda hadn’t ignored the parasite’s reaction to Old Bram, if they wanted to feed off him so badly, surely the main source of the worms would be way more interested in him.
If Old Bram were to follow them in, he would have to fight off a very hungry nightmare creature.
Entering the cellar and leaning Riley up against the cold hard stone, Koda fell to his knees and started breathing heavily.
He was so hungry, so thirsty, so tired and his burned arm was causing him so much pain.
He wanted this nightmare to end, he needed it to end.
But of course, he wasn’t the only hungry one, on the other side of the room was a large amalgamation of worms and flesh.
It was disgusting to look at.
It had writhing tentacles that looked as if they were ready to attack at any moment.
But right then, the stone door exploded open and out walked Old Bram.
The man looked rabid, he looked angry, he looked as if he had nothing to lose.
“I… I will kill you.
I will make sure both of you brats rot in hell.” He said, blood dripping from his maw.
But at that exact moment, a fleshy tentacle lashed out and wrapped around his thick arm.
He turned his attention to the nightmare creature.
“Oh?” He muttered, a sinister glint appearing in his eyes.
“If you want to fight me, I will kill you too.
That way, I won’t be infected anymore, right?” He growled.
But then, more tentacles lashed out and wrapped around his body.
The man ripped and teared free from the tentacles but more and more wrapped around him.
The entire cellar shook, Koda held onto Riley tightly.
And then, the butcher was pulled into the flesh of the creature.
The cellar shook even more, the creature retreated into a cave and took the old butcher with it.
Koda’s eyes were wide and scared, the cellar shook even more, causing the ceiling to start caving in on itself.
Riley chuckled.
“That… old bastard is in for it now.” He said dryly.
But Koda wasn’t amused, he stared in disbelief as the only way out… the cellar doorway… Was closed off by large chunks of debris.
Every way out of the cellar was closed off, the debris was far too heavy for Koda to move, especially in the state he was in.
“Shit!
How do we get out?
What the hell am I meant to do now?!” He yelled, making Riley’s eyes widen slightly.
“It should be okay.
I’m going to die now anyways, I’m alright atleast.
Sorry you have to be stuck down here with me.” He said with yet another chuckle.
Koda stared back at him with disbelief.
“This… this isn’t funny!
And what do you mean you’re going to die?
You don’t seem infected anymore, why can’t you live?” He asked with desperation in his voice.
Riley sighed.
“What is there to live for?
I’m still infected, just not to the point of being a zombie yet.
Just because some left, doesn’t mean all of the parasites left.
Also, look at my arms.
I can’t use my aspect anymore and I’m going to bleed out.” He said with a somber tone.
Koda bit his lip.
“No.
There has to be a way, I can’t let you die now.
Not after all you’ve done for me.” He said, eyes starting to get blurry.
Riley stared up at Koda’s teary eyes and smiled slightly.
“All I’ve done for you?
You aren’t even the real Koda, silly.” He said with another dry chuckle.
Koda’s eyes widened.
The pale boy on the floor simply shook his head with a sigh.
“What kind of… friend would I be if I didn’t notice the difference?
You are not my Koda.
My Koda was timid, very shy and never really took responsibility into his hands, always letting life take the wheel and going with the flow.” He said.
“You are different.
You are so adamant on making change, taking charge of your life and making sure your goals are fulfilled.
That is not my Koda.” “You… how?
How did you know.” Koda asked, his voice cracking as tears began to form in his eyes.
This was a strange reaction, Koda rarely ever cried, it was especially strange that he would cry for a boy that he only recently met.
This boy wasn’t even real, he was just an illusion conjured up by the spell.
So… why did he feel so real?
Why did these emotions feel so real?
“Hey… fake Koda, could you do me one last favour?” Riley asked, his voice breaking.
Koda nodded, still shocked by the revelation.
“Could you… eat me?” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Rikud0u gulp… happy pride month yall!!
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