(Eeeeyyy I finished this part, even if it is short. And again itās technically two parts, but the tenth part is too short to post alone so yeah.):
After he eats his fill of food, Marvin and Chase move the flesh elsewhere. One of the āchildrenā, as Marvin calls them, comes slowly towards him. He smells at the child and recognizes the scent of being the one called Cindy now. She pushes nearby, looking up at him with nervousness pouring from her. But also something along determination.
āYou wanna come play with me?ā She asked him and heās shocked. He turns his eyes on her and slowly blinked, tilting his head to the side as he tries to process what she just said. She giggles a little. āYouāre like a dog!ā
āā¦. āOg?!ā Robbie exclaimed and smells at the air, listening intently for the sound of soft scratches or deep barking because he can suddenly remember everything about dogs and⦠another small and fluffy creature. Cats! āOh⦠ānd catssss?!ā
āWhat?ā Cindy said questioningly before giggling some more. She grabs his hand and he jumps in surprise- no one normally touches him unless itās Marvin or Henrik patching him up- āCome on! We actually have a dog!ā
āāOg!ā Robbie shouted as loudly as he could with his dull voice. He lets the child lead him where she wants to, turning a few times before they come up to a clear looking area on the wall. She pauses and opens what sounds like a door- which doesnāt make sense thereās not a door there- and pulls him outside where heās hit in the face with warm air against his cold skin. He lifts his head a little at the new smells because he hasnāt been in this area yet.
Then he hears the sound of barking and his jaw falls opens and he points in the direction of the barking- smelling the shape of the dog. āāOg! āOg!ā He yelled excitedly, basically bouncing up and down on the halls of his feet.
Cindy laughs and releases his hand a moment later and walks ahead of him. He follows her as quickly as he can- which isnāt fast at all- towards the dog. Itās a big one and heās already wanting to⦠pet itā¦? Yes! He wants to pet the dog!
Itās barking seems to only intensify as he draws nearer to it, however. He doesnāt notice, though, too excited to see the dog. He does notice how the dog has what Marvin calls a leash on and it being held back to what appears to be a smaller version of a house.
āThis is Jasmine, our German Shepherd!ā Cindy explained and she pets the dog herself. Robbie takes this as an okay to get closer to try and pet the dog but as soon as his hand even gets close to it it bites down on his hand. He gasps in surprise, not pain, and tries to pull his hand away but the dog wonāt let go and he can smell the panic coming from Cindy. āNo, Jasmine, release!ā
But Jasmine doesnāt release she just pulls Robbie closer and the dog is much stronger than him currently. He goes tumbling to the ground and just as he lands the dog lurches on top of him, biting down on his shoulder. He tries to push her off but now sheās ripping off some of his skin.
āDad! Dad!ā He hardly hears Cindy screaming before she disappears, leaving him to fend for himself against the dog.
This is must of been how Henrik and Marvin first felt when he had returned, pinned to the ground while being torn apart. He begins to feel guilt himself because thatās a terrible feeling. He tries to kick Jasmine off and she does slide off for a moment. Robbie tries to scramble to his feet but because heās so slow she grabs onto one of his ankles and begins to drag him back.
āRobbie!ā He hears Marvin yell and he looks up, smelling for the magician but heās too panicked- he canāt really make anything out aside from the dog and his own dull colored blood. He tries to refocus but he canāt heās too panicked- even if he canāt feel the pain of himself being torn apart he can still feel each tear and pop of skin or bone being ripped out of place. āChase get that dog off of him!ā
āShe never attacks people!ā Chase shouts and Robbie can just hear footsteps running over to them. āMuch less mauls them. What are you doin, Jasmine, let him go!ā
A moment later and the dog lets out a whimper and is dragged from off of Robbie. Robbie is trying to push himself back up but he must have been too slow for Marvinās liking because the magician is suddenly beside him, wrapping his arms around the zombieās shoulders and pulling him as far from the dog as they can get. He can just see one of his feet being left behind. He blindly reaches for it even though he knows itās too far away but Marvin grabs that hand and pulls it back, still holding the other close. Robbie can hear Marvinās heart beating way too fast and the sound of it sets the zombie further on edge when it would normally soothe him.
āWhy the hell was she attacking Robbie?!ā Marvin demanded above him and Robbie lets out a small noise of confused agreement- he too would like to know this. Though, Marvin must have taken it as a noise of fear because a shaky hand is running through his hair. āHey, itās okay, Rob, itās okay now.ā
Well, yeah, he knows that, but he canāt seem to communicate that now and plus the hand going through his hair actually feels nice⦠his head leans into the touch and the world fades for a bit because he becomes so focused on the touch.
āI- I donāt know why she would attack Robbie unless-ā Chase cuts himself off and Robbie sniffs at the air just in time to see him shaking his head- āunless Robbie hurt her or Cindy-ā
āNo, Daddy,ā Cindy shouted, appearing in the nearby doorway. āRobbie was trying to pet her- he was really excited to see a dog! But then she bit himā¦ā
āThat doesnāt make any sense!ā Chase pointed out and Robbie can just see that heās staring down at his detached foot. āAlso, he lost a foot. Thatās gonna be a problem, dude. Maybe he should-ā
āHeās not getting near that dog again!ā Marvin shouted, and the arms around Robbie tightens a bit further. āIt tried to kill him- Iām not letting that happen again!ā His voice had become shaky near the end and a type of sadness is pouring from Marvin now.
Robbie grunts a little. He does kind of want his foot back, but, then again, he doesnāt want to upset Marvin or get near that dog again. Thatās not how he remembered the animals to actā¦
Chase throws his hands up in defense and Robbie only now hears the dog continuing to snarl at him. He can see it pulling at its leash and barking and snarling in his direction. This unnerves him and he pulls his legs in closer to himself, trying to get a bit further from the dog. āOkay, calm down!ā Chase exclaimed and looks back down at the foot. Disgust comes from him and then Cindy is running over and bending over. āCindy!ā
Cindy ignores him and sheās picked up the foot before Chase could stop her, running to Robbie and Marvin. She holds the foot out in offering and yanks it away when Marvin tries to take slowly. āNo!ā she said and hands it to Robbie. āHe can do stuff, too.ā
Robbie takes the foot but when he smells the guilt coming from Marvin he frowns and pulls away from his arms. Cindy grabs his arm to help him up when she notices his struggle. He looks back at Marvin.
āWhat⦠wronā?ā he questions and tilts his head, trying to get a better look at the magician who is now sulking.
āNothing, Rob,ā Marvin said but Robbie knows that thatās a lie. He can literally smell the guilt coming from him.
Marvin stands after another second and brushes himself off, helping Robbie to stand and stay standing afterwards. āWe need to call Henrik, again,ā he said to Chase who runs off to do so. āLetās get you sitting down.ā
Robbie holds onto his foot and lets Marvin help him inside.
He had just wanted to pet a dog.
***
Henrik is leaving again after being called.
Perhaps⦠he will follow him, this time.
Maybe he will⦠find out whatās happening.
He doesnāt like not knowing.
***
Gah I actually missed writing this. I just need more inspiration and muse for it so I can know what to write. Though, I think I know whatās going to happen next. Another face is gonna appear >;)
āWilford?ā asks the ego who had materialized from thin air into the meeting room.
Wilford swallows, hard, eyes wide an uncomprehending. He shoot a glance at the Host then back at the ego, his heart thrumming like the wings of a trapped bird. Itās the Author standing in front of the room, eyeing everything with suspicion and confusion. The only thing of familiarity is Wilford and even he looks different, no longer the somewhat gawky baby-faced Junior reporter with a candy-striped coat of before. Heās more built than before, hair longer and silkier. Gone is the candy-striped coat, replaced by a simple yellow shirt, suspenders, and a bowtie.
It takes the Author a while to realize that itās the same meeting room as the one Wilford had dragged him into seemingly forever ago. Itās much larger now and fuller, the last time heād been there itād been only Wilford, the squirrel nut and⦠he looks over to the other end of the table and sucks in a sharp breath.
Last heād seen Dark, heād been an unstable amalgam of shifting ideas looking for power. Heās seems to have found a solid form now and the Author can feel the power oozing out of him, sees it in the gray leaching into everything he touches. And Darkās looking at him too, red eyes smirking like he knows something he doesnāt The Author hates it.
He hates the many pairs of eyes boring into him, all looking for something he doesnāt understand. Thereās so many of them too and the Author draws his powers around him like a cloak, hackles rising. Wilford still hasnāt answered him and he feels disconcerted.
āHow are you hereā, says someone at last, breaking the thick silence.
The Author looks at the speaker, confused by the bone-deep familiarity the hits him at the sight of him. But thatās strange, heās never seen that ego in his life. Nothing about the slicked back black hair streaked with gold, the bloody bandage, or the trench coat reads as something the Author recognizes.
āWho are you?ā he asks, turning to him because Wilford still isnāt speaking, looking more like a stunted fish than anything.
āI am the Hostā, the Host answers, voice trembling, āand you shouldnāt be here.ā
His bandages are turning from a faded pink to a deep, unsettling red and thereās blood dripping down his cheeks like tears. Thereās an ominous pit growing in the Authorās stomach and he can feel the Hostās power as if it were his own.
āWho-who are youā, he asks again, not quite understanding the first answer.
And the very air seems to shift, the smell of ozone tainting the air. The Host takes off his bandage and most of the others look away, unwilling to see into the bloody pits where the Hostās eyes should be.