[LycanDope]

Chapter 3
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The group slowly followed Arnold, casting glances back at Ralphie's prone body. Carlos stood apart, eyes flickering here and there along the corpse. Unnoticed by anyone else, the skin along his scalp moved in a line, as if a fat worm was working its way from his left ear to the back of his neck. Little fluorescent green dots swarmed like fireflies through his eyes, gathering into the darkness of his pupil and then dispersing all at once. "Such a waste," he whispered. "Such a waste of flesh and bones and blood and organs. A bag of flesh and bones and no blood. Bag of bones? Organs? Musical organ? Bagpipes?" His whispered laugh was a skittering of bugs hiding in the darkness. When he spoke again, his voice was different, higher in pitch and nearly sing-song in amusement. A mockery of his old classmates sighing in frustration at his jokes. "Caaaarlooooooos." Now his voice was lower, rapid. Devoid of emotion. "Could replace the flesh with steel. Flexible metal. Attach the muscles with strings and cat whiskers and pain and love. The heart? Muscles need blood. Or some kind of blood. Someone else's blood? Steam powered? Nuclear powered? Pain powered? Eyes with marbles that see whatever I-"

Keesha called from the hallway. "Carlos? Are you coming?"

Slowly, he turned to look at the young human creature that created sound waves from the vibration of air and a complicated set of interactions involving the lungs, throat muscles, teeth and tongue. Carlos saw the young woman and his mind buzzed with possibilities. Equations full of symbols that belonged in no sane math book rumbled through his brain. The molecular structures of flesh, metal and sin rode shiny black horses along his neural pathways. He grinned. "Yes, of course I'm coming."

The pair made their way down the stairs and back onto the first floor. Dorothy Ann had her back to them and was busy with her work. The woman's fingers were marked with red and black as she took various types of colored sticks to mark the floor in a triangular pattern. Upon glimpsing the diagram in front of the woman, Carlos nearly screamed from the sudden blooming of pain behind his eyes. He averted his gaze, hands to his face as he tried to process what happened.

"Are you all right, Carlos?" Keesha reached out to her friend but he pulled away slightly. She thought she saw something move along the back of his hand but when she blinked, it was gone.

"I'm fine," Carlos gasped. "Let's... the basement is through the kitchen. Back here. Let's go." He took his hands away from his face, wiping the bloody palms on the front of his old blue jeans. Carlos walked briskly away and past the refreshments table until he was out of sight of Dorothy Ann's diagram. The pain in his head was finally subsiding and he could feel the things in his body calming down. His friends. His new friends. They whispered to him of forbidden knowledge. Ancient spells and techniques thought to be erased from history. Destroyed in Mesopotamia and South America long, long ago. But not forgotten, no. Not entirely forgotten. Nothing is ever truly lost. The long, thin creatures crooned to him, singing as they traveled through his blood and body.

The kitchen was very well appointed. A large table dominated the center of the room with miles of counter spaces arrayed around the room, hugging the walls. Copper pots and pans hung from small, dull metal hooks above the table. Keesha's eyes strayed to the various knives stored around the room. "I don't like this. Every little thing looks creepy after that. Everything. I'm scared, Carlos. How can something like that exist? Something like Ms. Frizzle? I feel like I'm in a nightmare. I... I want to go home." She hugged her arms close to herself as they walked around the room to reach the back.

"It'll be fine. The girl... Dorothy Ann is clever. Too clever. She'll find a way through the field. I could break a way through if-" Carlos' mouth snapped shut. He stole a glance at Keesha out of the corner of his eyes but she seemed not to have heard him. They both stopped in front of an ornate oak door.

"Is this it? Are you sure? How do you know?" Keesha's voice was tinged with slight panic. The thought of going into the basement terrified her. Her whole life, she'd grounded herself into reality and, now, she doubted everything. Every little shadow, every little movement or ticking or creak or unexplained noise became ominous and she hated herself for being timid and afraid.

Carlos stepped back from the door, slightly behind Keesha. "I know because it told me. The construct you call Liz." Keesha began to turn to Carlos, her eyes big as saucers but Carlos' hand shot out to the back of her neck. She froze. "There, there. No need to fight it. Not that you could. Open the door and just go down, I'll follow. I have so many wonderful ideas to show you. So many incredible things. And you get to be part of it. Lucky, lucky you."

The thing on Carlos' shoulder wasn't Liz. It was about the size of the lizard Keesha remembered from school but now it was barrel shaped with a round, open maw rimmed with teeth. Eyes dotted its back in three rows and putrid green wings fluttered occasionally as it moved. Claws like a rooster gripped Carlos' shoulder while a thin tail coiled around the young man's throat loosely. He stroked it's back and the thing's eyes opened and closed in a ripple as his fingers moved.

Keesha's neck was entirely numb. She'd felt a quick, hot flare of pain and then nothing at all. She could still think and breathe and look around but everything else was lost to her. She didn't feel the compulsion of Carlos' words. She didn't feel this overwhelming desire to do as she was told. Her body simply moved. She could still feel everything - the way the clear faceted doorknob dug into the soft palm of her hands and the cold air of the basement on her as she took the stairs down. Yet, when she tried to stop herself moving, there was nothing there. Her body didn't exist. She could feel sensations but she had no control over herself. Carlos followed close behind her, talking to himself under his breath. She wanted to scream at him, plead with him, anything to make him stop.

"Watch your step now. I wouldn't want to damage my toy. Oh, not that that would stop me. I would fix you up just right. Even better. Here we are. Stop for a moment." Keesha felt Carlos move around her in the darkness and, with a click, a small overhead light bulb flared into life. "Now, let me just..." There was a sudden dull aching sensation at the base of Keesha's skull that made her knees want to buckle. She would've moaned if she had control of her mouth. "Perfect!" Carlos stepped towards a large wooden table in the corner of the room.

Keesha mentally screamed at herself to run. To move. Her body still refused to listen to her. Instead, her eyes flickered around the room, desperate to find something that could help her. Mirrors and wood working tools lined the walls with small shelves interspersed among them. Her eyes caught one of the mirrors that reflected on a mirror behind her. There, at the base of her neck were two bloody, oozing fingertip sized holes. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she fainted.