CH 9° Feeding Frenzy

Jeff roused from his sited position, then with fluid and deliberate movements he extracted his taser from his belt, his hands subconsciously began fondling the Familiar contours as he approached the west wing. The soft hum of the device seemed comforting to him, a smug look could not help but appear on his face, perhaps he could be considered a king in his world.

As he walked his mind wandered to the nerds, those eccentric geniuses, what could they possibly be doing at this moment, it was closing hour after all.

"how can a crippled man be so blessed," Jeff thought to himself, his eyes fixed on opulent surroundings, every stop he took seemed to remind him of Aldritch's success.

The lavish decoration of the building seemed to mock the reality of Aldritch's condition.

Just then a blood-curling scream shattered the silence, the eerie sound echoed through the entire floor like a pig being slaughtered,

The cream seemed to halt Jeff in his tracks, his mind momentarily froze in terror, the sudden interruption was followed by a crackling sound from his radio,

"Tchh Jeff, did you hear that?" The voice was laced with concern and trepidation, snapping Jeff back to reality.

"Yes, I did" Jeff replied, his voice barely above a whisper, as if he was speaking to himself, yet loud enough for his partner to hear.

"not just me, I think the whole city heard it" he paused, his eye fixed on the west wing, he felt his mind race with unknown possibilities.

"What was it, Jeff?"

"I don't know but it came from the west wing I'm going to go check it out"

" I'm on my way" his partner added but Jeff was already speeding towards the west wing.

...

Jeff withdrew his handgun from his belt and held it firmly in front of him before quickly making his way to the west wing, upon arrival he spotted the computer as it was still untouched.

Taking his stance Jeff surveyed the area for any abnormalities but found none, an oppressive silence hung in the air, as he drew closer to the door, he began to detect low, menacing growls, that could be mistaken for an animal in a feeding frenzy, the sound sent waves of shiver down his spice, with maneuvering steps he approaches the door.

And then he was met with a sight that made his blood run cold, the scene he was witnessing was gruesome, a carnage that defied explanation.

As Jeff's gaze fell upon the gruesome scene, a creature unlike any he had ever seen came into view. Covered in a black, tar-like substance that seemed to shift and writhe like a living thing, it was hunched over the remains of what appeared to be a woman. The creature's eyes, glowing with an otherworldly light, were fixed on the mutilated body as it fed with a ferocity that seemed almost... animalistic.

Jeff felt his horror frozen in place, his mind struggling to comprehend the sheer magnitude of the atrocity before him. The creature, mere inches away, seemed oblivious to his presence, focusing solely on its grisly meal. Jeff's heart raced, his breath caught in his throat, as he stood there, paralyzed with shock and terror.

The creature, whatever its origin or nature, was the largest living entity Jeff had ever laid eyes on. Even in its crouched position, its massive frame loomed over him, casting a long, ominous shadow on the ground. Despite its hulking size, it moved with a strange, almost serpentine grace, its body seeming to flex and twist as it fed.

Marie's lifeless form was dwarfed beneath its bulk, her once-vibrant body now a mere husk, drained of life and color. The creature's towering height made Jeff feel small and vulnerable, its imposing presence filling the room like a dark, suffocating shroud.

Jeff's reflexes kicked in, his gun snapping up to train on the creature with instinctive precision. The weapon's muzzle flared twice in rapid succession, the reports echoing through the room like a death knell. "Bang! Bang!" The shots were loud and clear, but the creature's response was eerily delayed as if it was momentarily stunned or confused.

Then, its gaze slowly shifted, its eyes fixing on Jeff with a malevolent intensity that made his blood run cold. The creature's massive body began to unfurl, its limbs flexing like twisted, nightmarish springs, as it began to rise from its crouched position.

Jeff squeezed the trigger, his finger tightening with a mix of fear and adrenaline. The gun bucked in his hand, the shots ringing out in rapid succession. But to his horror, the creature didn't even flinch. It simply turned to face him, its eyes blazing with a fierce, otherworldly intensity.

For a moment, it seemed to regard Jeff as a nuisance, an unwelcome interruption to its grisly meal. Then, with a jarring suddenness, it launched itself at Jeff, its massive body hurtling towards him like a dark, with an unstoppable momentum.

As the creature enveloped him, Jeff finally got a clear glimpse of its grotesque form. It was a massive pile of twisted flesh, a monstrous amalgamation of limbs and torso that seemed to undulate like a living serpent.

The creature's body was a mass of writhing, pulsing tendrils that appeared to shift and flow like a liquid, it's existence seemed to defy all logical anatomy.

As it wrapped around him, Jeff felt himself being swallowed by a living nightmare, the creature's embrace squeezing tight like a noose.

He was trapped in a suffocating cocoon of flesh, unable to escape the crushing grip of this eldritch horror.

As Jeff was engulfed by the creature, he felt his body begin to dissolve from the inside out.

The creature's internal fluids seemed to be a corrosive acid, eating away at his flesh and bones like a ravenous fire. Jeff's screams were silenced as his vocal cords disintegrated, his body melting away like wax in a furnace.

His consciousness was consumed by an unbearable agony, his very essence being broken down and absorbed into the creature's twisted form.

In a gruesome parody of assimilation, Jeff's liquefied remains were incorporated into the creature's mass, further swelling its already gargantuan size.

...

Jeff, come in... Jeff, I heard gunshots, what happened?" The voice crackled through the radio, piercing the air with a sense of urgency. Aldrich's gaze snapped towards the sound, his ears perked up like a predator tuning in to prey. He sniffed the air, his nostrils flaring as he tried to discern the source of the noise. It wasn't food, but something else entirely. His head cocked to the side, he homed in on the sound of heartbeats, the rhythmic thud-thud-thud echoing through the silence like a siren's call. A strange, guttural growl escaped his lips, the sound unlike anything human. "Ghgh..." The noise was low and menacing, a primal warning that sent shivers down the spine.

Aldrich's massive, mutilated form lurched forward, his flesh still sloughing off the remnants of the black, tar-like substance. Yet, even as it melted away, the blood and flesh he had devoured worked to repair the damage, knitting his twisted body back together with an unnatural speed.

The process was agonizingly slow, but inexorable, like a dark, macabre puppeteer pulling his strings. As he forced his ravaged body to move, a new prey stumbled into view, trembling with fear. The prey's eyes fixed on Aldrich, its gaze frozen in horror, as it stammered a single, awestruck phrase: "Holy shit..."

Aldrich's advance halted his twisted form frozen in confusion, as if the concept of talking food was beyond his comprehension. Then, with an unearthly swiftness, he bridged the distance between them, the pile of twisted flesh seemed to have suddenly grown a mouth his maw open wide. In a motion both swift and savage, he struck, his jaws closing around the creature's head with deadly precision. The head came free with grisly ease, blood splattering across the walls like a grisly fresco. Aldrich's jaws worked mechanically, chewing and swallowing the head in a single, fluid motion as if devouring a macabre snack.

Aldrich's senses detected a sudden, ominous change in his surroundings. The air was now thick with the rhythmic thud of multiple heartbeats, a symphony of life forces that resonated deep within his twisted core.

Had his mind been lucid, he might have recognized the familiar cadence of his company's daily routine, the stirrings of a new day, and the unsuspecting employees shuffling to their duties.

But his consciousness was consumed by a singular, primal imperative: the call to feed. The innocent lives around him were mere vessels, unwittingly surrendering themselves to his monstrous hunger. What ensued was a bloodbath of unbridled ferocity, a massacre that would forever scar the halls of the Helix Foundation.