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Melanie had gouged out her eyes long ago in order to escape the gaze of the Ceaseless Watcher, and of course she was grateful for that.
But escaping the Watcher didn't mean she had escaped any other entity. And the Slaughter still had its grip on her, even after Jon had removed that bullet from her leg.
Melanie didn't think she would ever escape the Slaughter.
Especially not now that the entities had manifested themselves into the world.
Every day, Melanie simply tried to survive with her girlfriend Georgie. Georgie wasn't affected by the Slaughter in the same way she was—sure, her skin was cold as death and she couldn't feel fear, but she was safe.
Every day, Melanie felt the Slaughter's sharp influence on her, urging her to get out there and kill. It had been like this ever since she gouged out her eyes with that awl, ever since she had been in the hospital for horrible blood loss.
Georgie had told her she almost died.
And Melanie's theory was that she had, temporarily.
Because now, Melanie's heartbeat had been replaced by pure, unbridled bloodlust.
Well, of course, it would be unbridled if it wasn't for Georgie.
Again, Georgie was safe. A calm oasis in Melanie's dark world of murderousness.
Melanie could no longer see, but she took comfort in Georgie's presence nonetheless. Right now, they leaned against each other, and Melanie savored the sensation of her soft chest, of her cold skin, of her dreadlocks in between her fingers. Georgie had no heartbeat, but Melanie could hear her soft breathing, feel the rise and fall of her chest.
It made her feel in control. Even though the world had gone to shit, she felt safe here.
At least, she felt safe for a little while.
Then the door opened. Melanie felt Georgie sit up with a start, then getting up and leaving Melanie alone.
"Georgie?" Melanie called out. Grimacing, she felt for her cane until her fingers closed around cool plastic. She got up, calling her girlfriend's name again.
The voice that answered was not Georgie's.
"Why, hello there."
"Wh-who—" Melanie stammered—
"Oh, you don't recognize me? I know you can no longer see, but you should at least be able to recognize my voice~"
There was a sort of familiarity to that voice. Melanie felt like she had heard it before. It gave her an awful headache…it sounded like a normal voice, but it felt like a horrible, high-pitched ringing in Melanie's ears.
Melanie recognized that sensation, she realized.
"Helen."
"That's meee~" Helen said. "How have you been doing, dear?"
"Don't call me dear." That nickname was reserved for Georgie, no matter how open their relationship was. That nickname was one of the many things that made Melanie feel safe—but not when it came from the Distortion's mimicry of a mouth.
"And why not~?"
"Where's Georgie?" Melanie lifted her cane, holding it almost like a bat. She knew it would be bad if she beat the shit out of Helen with this cane—she kind of needed this cane and she didn't want to waste it.
However, Georgie understood that Melanie needed to defend herself sometimes.
That's why there was a small button on the cane—when pressed, a blade jutted out from the end.
Melanie pressed that button now.
"Oh, she's just taking a little stroll through my corriders~" Helen said. "I'll return her to you soon, do not fret."
Melanie felt a rush of anger surge through her. "What are you doing to her?!"
"Just playing with her a little, dear. I'm not going to consume her like the others~"
Melanie tried to ignore the way her face heated up at the nickname.
"Don't call me that!!"
With that, Melanie rushed forward with her blade-cane, thrusting it towards where she felt Helen's presence. But the cane simply went through air, and Melanie felt her feet step onto a different surface. A rug, she realized.
A headache suddenly pounded between her ears.
"Trying to find Georgie?" Helen's echoing voice said. Following that was a laugh—oh, that laugh, why did it make Melanie blush? It was only a painfully beautiful laugh—
"I'm going to fucking kill you."
"I'd love to see you try."
A yell of anger tore itself from Melanie's throat as she ran forward with her cane again. This time it hit something, something that attempted to mimic flesh, but failed in a way that made Melanie's head hurt more.
She needed blood.
Melanie tore her cane from Helen and slashed at her again and again. The cane certainly ripped through the mimicry of flesh, but Melanie felt no blood on her face.
Then, just like that, Helen was gone.
Melanie turned around, teeth gritted as she panted from exhaustion.
"Where the fuck did you go?!" she called out, her voice filled with rage.
No answer.
Melanie took a few steps forward, one hand pressed up against the wall that made no sense.
"Give me Georgie, and I won't kill you," Melanie said, quieter this time.
The silence almost made Melanie dizzy. She tried not to faint—fainting would be incredibly dangerous when she was blind, carrying a blade, and in a hallway that twisted nonsensically.
She slowly took more steps forward, searching for the presence of Helen again.
As she walked, she realized that only part of her wanted to kill the Distortion.
The other part was the same one that made her blush at the nickname "dear," that made her heart flutter at Helen's echoing laugh.
The other part of Melanie admired Helen in a way.
And it made her wonder if she could kill and kiss her at the same time.