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The head moved forward as the body continued to slide out fromthe vagina. It raised upon the shaft of the body like a snake, and Childe heardit hiss but knew that that had to be his imagination. It glided on over thewrinkled sac of the testicles and underneath, apparently headed for the anus. Then itdisappeared while the uncoiling body kept issuing from the slit. Bythen, itshead must have gone deep into the man's bowels.
Childe unfroze abruptly. He shook his head as if trying to clearaway sleep. He was not sure that he had not fallen into a semihypnotic statewhile watchingthe bizarre scene.
He stepped through the door just as Vivie
Now that he was closer, he could see that the pale and slimy bodyof the thing was in the man's anus. It apparently had gone in as deeply asit could, oras it cared to, because the motion was stopped. Childe felt sickbecause he could imagine that golfball-sized head with its vicious eyes blind inthe nightof the bowels and its mouth chewing on whatever it was that it founddelectable in there.
CHAPTER 23
He reached out and touched the pink-red and swollen nipple onthat superbbreast.
She reacted violently. Her eyes flew open, exposing the beautifulviolet, and she rose up off the bed, leaving the throbbing penis sticking upand dragging the body of the thing out of the man's body. Both came loosewith a slurping sound, and the tiny mouth of the thing chattered a high- pitched andangry stream of expletives. At least, they sounded like cursing toChilde, although he did not know the language. The words seemed to be Latin in origin, they were vaguely French or perhaps Catalan or something in between.
On seeing Childe, the thing reared up on its body, which coiledbehind the head as if it were a rattlesnake. Vivie
Childe moved up along the bed and reached out and slapped the manin the face. The hand left a red imprint,, but that was the only reactionfrom him. He continued to stare upwards, and his chest rose and fell slowly. Hisdong wasbegi
"That will do no good unless I give him the antidote," Vivie
him. "Then give it to him!" "Or you'll do what?" The tone was not hostile, just questioning. "I'll call the cops." "If you do," she said evenly, "you'll be the one hauled away.
I'll chargeyou with breaking and entering, threatened rape, and assault, andbattery on myfriend here and maybe even attempted murder."
Childe wondered why she would not charge him with actual rape, then it occurred to him that she would not want a physical examination.
He said, "I'm not in too good a position, it's true. But I don'tthink youcould stand much publicity."
She climbed down off the bed, brushing against him with one softhip, andwalked to her dresser. She picked up a cigarette, lit it, and thenoffered him one. He shook his head.
"Then it's a Mexican standoff?"
"Not unless you give this man the antidote," he said. "I don'tcare what it costs me, I'll raise a howl that'll bring this place down around yourears."
"Very well."
She opened a drawer while he stood behind her to make sure thatthere was no weapon in it. She picked up a large sewing needle from a littledepression intop of a block of dark-red wood and walked with it to the man. Sheinserted its tip into the jugular vein and then walked back to the dresser. By thetime she had replaced the needle, Bill was begi
Childe said, "Were you conscious?" Bill nodded. He was concentrating on Vivie
"I can't believe it!" he said. "What the hell were you doing withme? You pervert!"
Childe did not understand for a moment. The accusation seemed so mild compared with what had happened. Then he saw that Bill had notwitnessed the thing issuing from her vagina. He must have believed that she hadstuck some object up his anus.
"Your clothes are over there," she said, pointing at a chair onthe other side of the bed. "Get dressed and get out."
Bill stood up unsteadily and walked around the bed. While hedressed clumsily, he said, "I'll have the cops down here so fast yourheads'll swim. Drugging me! Drugging me! What the hell for? What did you intend todo?"
"I wouldn't call in the cops," Childe said. "You heard what shesaid she'd do. You'd end up with all sorts of charges flung at you, and, believeme, thiswoman has some powerful co
Bill, looking scared, dressed more swiftly.
Vivie
"Yeah, I'll bet you two perverts do!" Bill said, glaring at both. "For Christ's sake!" Childe said. "I saved your life!" Childe watched Vivie
her weighton one leg, throwing a hip into relief. He hated her. She was soagonizinglybeautiful, so desirable. And so coldly fatal, so monstrous, in allsenses of that overused and misused word.
Bill finally had his clothes on, except for his raincoat andrubbers. These, Childe supposed, would be in the closet in the vestibule downstairsjust off theentrance.
"So long, you queers!" Bill mumbled as he stumbled through thedoor. "I'll see you in jail, you can bet on that!"
Vivie
Vivie
He backed away, saying, "Keep your distance, Vivie
She laughed again and sat down on the edge of the bed. "No, ofcourse not! But why are you here? We left you alone, though we could have killedyou easilyenough at any time. And perhaps we should have, after what you did tous."
"If you were human, you'd understand why."
"Oh, you mean the monkey sense of curiosity? Let me remind you ofhow Malayans catch monkeys. They put food in a jar with a mouth largeenough for themonkey to get his paw into but too small for him to withdraw the handunless he lets loose of the food. Of course, he doesn't let loose, and so thetrappertakes him easily."
"Yes, I know that," he said. "Your analogy may be a fairly exactone. I'm here because I still think that your bunch had something to do withmy wife'sdisappearance. I know you denied that, but I can't get it out of mymind that you did away with Sybil. You're certainly capable of doing that. You're capableof anything that's cruel and inhuman."