Taken Over

   “It’s you,” he said again freezing me in place. I turned questioningly toward him. Whatwas me? “You’re what he’s been hiding.”

   His words caused turmoil and confusion to surge through me. “You’re all over this room. Your smell, your taste, it’s everywhere.” His hand fell onto the hematology analyzer on the table. It was then that I noticed the empty vials littering the table. My blood was gone. “You’re all inside of me.” My eyes flew back to his, my heart slammed rapidly against my ribs. I could barely breathe through the horror choking me. His lips were red, red as blood. Myblood. “And you’re good.”

   The purred word caused everything inside of me to go limp. He had drunk my blood. And he likedit. And he wanted more.

   He was going to kill me. He wasn’t human. Holy crap he was one of them!

   Thoughts raced through my head at a million miles per hour. I couldn’t focus on just one of them, couldn’t grasp just one. All I knew for certain was that he wasn’t human, that the aliens had infiltrated our group for some reason, and that he was going to kill me. “Sooooo good,” he continued. “No wonder he’s keeping you to himself. No wonder he’s hiding you. Greedy, greedy boys always lose their toys. He’s been bad though. Very very bad. He’s inside of you too. He knows better than that. It’s forbidden. But he is, he’s inyou, and you survivedit. Amazing. And now he’s made you even yummier than you would have been otherwise.”

   Holy hell, not only was he going to kill me, but he was completely freaking insaneon top of it!

   I didn’t know what he was talking about. Didn’t know what he could possibly mean with his hissed words, and strange statements, but I was shaking from their effects. Shaking from the strange notion that I should understand his words, that a part of me didunderstand them, even though I didn’t want to, even though I refused to acknowledge the fear that twisted through me. And not all of that fear was because of this man standing across from me, but from something more, something else.

   I was lost. I was terrified that I was going to die, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. I whipped the gun up, but before I could fire it he was on top of me, knocking it aside. He was so fast, so stu

   I grasped hold of his hand, struggling against the death grip strangling me. Stars of bright light burst over my eyes. My feet kicked against the wall as he lifted me off my feet with terrifying, inhuman, ease. There was something wrong with his eyes, my vision was swimming due to lack of oxygen but I could still tell that there was something wrong with his eyes.

   And that was when I realized that his entire eyeball, not just his iris, was completely black. It seemed as if the color in his iris had seeped out to completely take over the eyeball. But it wasn’t only just encompassing the eye it also seemed to be seeping into his face. I watched in horror as the black spread throughout the veins in his face, causing them to stand out starkly against his dark complexion.

   I choked, gagged, sputtered as ice began to pulse through my veins. Blackness, oozing blackness encompassed him. I could almost feel it creeping out, trying to wrap around me. Trying to get inside of me, just like that thinghad tried to get inside of me. Against my throat, I felt the pinch of nails, or talons, on my skin. I felt the cool trickle of my blood as his suddenly clawed fingers pierced me.

   Though he was not as ugly as those things that hunted us, and drained us dry, he was ugly, and he was horrifying. And he was what those things served. He was what they fed. And now he wanted to feed from me.

   That blackness was in the air now; it seemed to be coming at me. Another long talon pierced my skin. Ian licked his lips eagerly, taking the last of my blood from them. A gurgled scream escaped me; bile surged up my throat as he bent his mouth to my neck. His tongue was hot against my chilled skin as he licked over me, tasting me. I nearly vomited with disgust. A low purr escaped him; his pleasure was nearly palpable as he continued to savor my blood. He drew back slightly, using a sharp nail to draw a line down my skin. I felt the sharp pain of the slice as my blood spilled forth.

   “Delicious,” he murmured. “Eat you from the inside out.”

   That blackness tore into me. It seemed to rip into my very soul, shredding through my flesh, bone, and marrow. I bucked against him. A silent scream of agony slammed through my skull, spread through my veins, and paralyzed my body. I felt as if I were being drained of more than just my blood, but also my soul, my very life essence. It was as bad as when that other thing had gotten a hold of me, only Ian was not physically inflicting a wound in order to do it.

   “Inside,” he breathed.

   I couldn’t move; I felt my eyes roll back in my head. I was going to faint. I was going to die. And I found myself welcoming it if it meant that I could escape this.

   “No no sweetness,” he whispered. I could feel the darkness leaving me as he pulled slightly away. The black veins in his face began to slowly fade but his eyes remained burning charcoal orbs as he smiled at me. “Out.” His disgusting tongue moved up my neck, tasting more of my blood before moving on to stroke over my cheeks. I recoiled in revulsion from the feel of him. “It’s so much more fun when you stay awake. So much more fun when you enjoy every little thing that I am going to do to you. For hours, dayseven. I’ll make him pay for being a greedy, treacherous boy. Oh the joy of it all.”

   I wanted to cry, wanted to sob in horror, but he was ripping me away from the wall. Dragging me by my neck he made his way toward the back of the room. I stumbled, nearly fell, but was held ungraciously up by the nails he dug sharply into my skin. I could feel blood seeping from the numerous wounds he inflicted upon me.

   “I’ll teach him to try and hide his toys, to not share. You are a rare treat, a survivor, a delicious, scrumptious little survivor .It’s truly amazing you know.”

   No, I didn’t know; I didn’t have one damn clue what the hell he was talking about. In fact, I could hardly think at all due to the lingering haze of pain, confusion, and terror that was clamoring through me.

   Ian stopped abruptly, jerking me roughly up. Before I knew what he was doing, his hand was at my waistband. I froze in horror, my muscles locked into place as my breath stuck in my lungs. He gri

   My mouth parted slightly in horror, it was in that moment that I realized there was a fate worse than death, and that I was facing it. Renewed strength filled me; I shoved violently off of him as I tried to pull free of his tight hold. Pain surged through me as his claws ripped across my throat, and tore into my skin. Blood spilled over me, but he had not expected me to react at all so I was able to wrench free of his tight hold. Shock radiated over his face for a moment, and then the black lines surged to the forefront again.

   I stumbled back, trying to catch my balance as I slammed off of one of the tables. He lurched at me, leaping forward with a snarl that caused the hair on my arms to stand on end. Grabbing hold of the closest thing to me, I lifted the microscope and swung it at him with the full force of my might. Pain radiated through my arms as the jarring impact of microscope, verse face, slammed through me.