Chronicles of Eden - Act IV (9 page)

“First off, is everyone alright?”

“I scratched my elbow after I fell from the front seat,” Falla mentioned while looking to her elbow with annoyance.

“Is everyone alright?” Daniel asked again tiredly.

“Yes, I believe we are,” Specca said looking around at everyone.

Daniel nodded slowly then looked to the village in the distance.

“Okay,” he reasoned. “Well, no sense getting worked up over this. This is just a little setback, nothing we can’t recover from. For now we need to get to that village and alert them about Luna and Emily, just like we were planning to do. I’m sure somebody there would be able to help us repair our ride, hopefully for a reasonable price.”

“You can use the money we would have used for the inn to fix it,” Triska suggested with a glare at Alyssa. “I think that’s only fair.”

“No way, Triska,” Alyssa snapped at her. “I’m getting my night with Daniel tonight even if it kills me!”

Jovian and Jacqueline smirked to that and glanced to each other while Daniel shook his head while keeping his eyes on the village. Triska waved to the caravan with frustration and stomped her foot.

“It nearly just did, along with all of us!”

“Okay, again, that’s enough,” Daniel called out, with Triska and Alyssa looking to him worriedly as the boy tried to keep calm about everything. “First we get into the village and get help for Luna and Emily, then get our ride fixed, and then we’ll figure out our sleeping arrangements, alright?”

The girls all nodded to that, with Alyssa biting her lip in fear that she may have cost herself the night alone with Daniel at the inn. Triska blinked then looked around at the monster girls in the group.

“Um, Daniel? They can’t just walk into the village like this, Eston isn’t a monster-neutral zone.”

“Yeah, I figured as much,” Daniel admitted. “That’s alright, we don’t all need to go into the village together. Triska and I can ride into the town on Lucky and talk to the people first, you all can wait here with the caravan and out of their sight in the meantime.”

“I’m coming too,” Alyssa spoke up.

“Why?” Triska asked sharply. “We’re already in this mess because of you, we really don’t need more trouble to deal with.”

“Because if Lucky gets spooked by the villagers I can keep him calm,” Alyssa reasoned. “The last thing we need is him getting scared and frightening the whole village while Daniel’s talking to them about peace with us.”

Triska and Daniel looked to Lucky for a moment before Daniel smiled weakly and nodded to that.

“Well, you do raise a good point there.”

“Fine, you can come too,” Triska reluctantly agreed.

“Must we really wait here like this?” Specca asked worriedly.

“Just until we explain our situation and Daniel can win over the village,” Triska reassured her. “And then we’re coming back for all of you. We shouldn’t be too long.”

Specca slowly nodded then walked over to the caravan along with Squeak and Falla. Jovian and Jacqueline watched the three head over to the broken ride then looked to Daniel with curious smiles.

“Please hurry,” Jovian kindly requested. “We wish to enjoy one last dinner with all of you on this night.”

“Yeah,” Jacqueline giggled. “Hurry back, we’re starting to get really hungry.”

Daniel and Triska nodded as Alyssa took off her hat, the witch walking over to Specca and handing it to her while Triska walked past them and boarded the downed caravan to get her sword.

“Here, hold onto this for me, okay?” Alyssa asked. “My staff needs to stay here too, having either would give me away in the village.”

“Sure, no problem, Alyssa,” Specca said while taking the hat.

Triska hopped back out with her sword strapped behind her while Daniel unfastened Lucky from the caravan, with himself and the two girls then climbing onto the horse’s back. Triska held onto Daniel’s waist while Alyssa held onto hers, the two girls giving one last wave to the remaining group before they took off towards the village. Specca sighed and leaned back against the caravan while Squeak climbed aboard, the ant girl grabbing her pickaxe from the corner and slinging it behind her before exiting the wagon.

“Why are you getting that now?” Specca asked as the ant girl hopped back down onto the ground. Squeak squeaked something while watching Lucky riding off towards the village, with Specca then looking to the sisters curiously as they smirked a bit.

“She says she’s just being prepared for danger,” Jovian relayed.

“Yes, you never know when trouble might creep up on you out here,” Jacqueline added as she glanced over to Falla, the butterfly girl facing away from her and watching Daniel and the two girls riding off together. Falla blinked then glanced back to the sisters, seeing the two girls smiling at her while she felt like there was something about them that was familiar.

‘Something’s not right about them, I just know it. What am I not seeing here?’

“Something on your mind, Falla?” the sisters asked together in unison.

Falla looked at them carefully then back towards the village, trying to shake off the bad feeling she had forming inside of her. After a while her eyes slowly widened as she remembered back to when they first found Emily and what the child spoke about regarding her encounter with the dreaded man-eaters.

“I hope Daniel is able to convince the village to help us,” Specca said softly as she walked over next to the butterfly girl. Squeak nodded and squeaked something while looking around the area and keeping on guard, with Jovian and Jacqueline smiling curiously at her then at Specca.

“She says she has complete faith in Daniel,” they relayed together in perfect sync. “He’ll be able to help us.”

Falla felt a cold chill run down her spine while Specca glanced back to the sisters with a curious eye.

“How do you two always do that?” Specca asked.

“Do what?” the sisters asked with happy smiles.

“Talk at the same time like that. It’s just so different,” Specca said with a raised eyebrow.

“We just do,” the sisters replied with shrugs.

Specca looked at them quizzically as Falla slowly turned her head back to the sisters. She glanced from one to the other, both twins just watching her from behind their masks.

“You know,” Falla carefully mentioned. “When we found that human child out in the wilderness she was scared out of her mind, exhausted from running all day from the monsters that killed her parents.” Squeak and Specca watched Falla as she slowly turned to face the sisters with a sharp eye.

“The poor thing was blind,” she said softly. “So she couldn’t see her parents’ killers at all. But she did remember hearing them very clearly. Hearing how they ate her family, taunted her about it, laughed about it.”

“Oh dear,” Jovian said softly with her smile still standing.

“That must have been so horrible for her,” Jacqueline agreed with a shrug.

“It must have,” Falla agreed. “The poor girl was so scared of those monsters, even though she couldn’t see them. She told me and my sister what she heard though. How there were two of them, both being female, both being older than she was.”

Specca looked at Falla curiously while Squeak walked over towards them before stopping in front of the sisters, the ant girl watching Falla as the butterfly girl stared down the twins with an accusing glare.

“Two of them, who had a very unique way of talking,” she accused sharply. “They always spoke together in perfect sync, as if they were one.”

“Falla, what are you saying?” Specca asked carefully.

A loud squeak was heard behind her, the nixie then looking back with a jump as she saw the sisters holding Squeak firmly by an arm each while also holding onto her head and neck. Squeak was looking ahead at her friends with fright as her arms were forcibly held back behind her, the sisters giggling in unison as they removed their masks. The twins placed the masks in their dresses in front of their left breasts before Jovian yanked on Squeak’s hair and tilted her head up.

“I think she’s implying that we’re not human,” Jovian said looking to Squeak with a cold smile, the ant girl trembling in fear as she couldn’t budge or break free at all from their grasp.

“Yeah, like we’re monsters or something,” Jacqueline laughed while brushing Squeak’s hair.

“Jovian? Jacqueline?” Specca exclaimed. “What are you doing? What… what’s with your eyes?”

“They’re not human, they’re monsters!” Falla shouted as she pointed to them. “Like hell two human girls could hold your friend like that!”

Specca’s jaw dropped slightly as Jacqueline leaned down and slowly licked Squeak’s neck, the ant girl trembling as she felt the girl’s tongue going across her skin up to her cheek.

“You know,” Jovian mused coldly. “We wanted to enjoy eating you all together, and were prepared to wait as long as reaching this little hole in the world to do so.”

“No, you can’t be,” Specca breathed out.

“But since Falla wouldn’t shut up,” Jacqueline reasoned with a dark smile. “I guess we’ll have to settle for eating you all however we can, starting with you three.”

Jovian chuckled and let go of the ant girl before starting to walk towards the others, with Squeak then being held by both arms and forced down onto her knees by Jacqueline alone. The ant girl thrashed about but wasn’t able to break free as the blonde haired sister held her arms back behind her with great strength.

“See? See?” Falla shouted while pointing to Jacqueline. “A human couldn’t hold her like that, she’s a monster! They both are!”

“What?
What
?” Specca cried out.

“I told you, didn’t I? They’re not human, those are the man-eaters!” Falla exclaimed with fright.

Jovian laughed then darted forward and grabbed Specca’s hand, the nixie screaming and trying to run away before she was thrown down onto the ground. Jovian pounced on the girl and sat on her lap, holding the nixie’s hands down by her head as Specca screamed and stared up at the creepy smile on Jovian’s face. Jacqueline giggled then threw Squeak down onto the ground on her side, the blonde girl then kneeling down and holding the ant girl’s hands down by her head while leaning closer to her face. Using only one hand she held the ant girl’s wrists together down on the ground while her other held Squeak’s waist. Squeak struggled to kick free and get up yet was held down with great force, with Specca thrashing around weakly in Jovian’s grip nearby as the raven haired girl laughed down at her.

“What are you doing? Let me go!” Specca cried out.

“Haha,” Jovian laughed with amusement. “No, I don’t think I’ll be doing that. You look so delicious after all.”

Specca stared up at the girl’s strange eyes then screamed and shook her head as she tried to get free. The sisters then looked over to Falla as the butterfly girl slowly took a step back away from them.

“What’s wrong, not going to try to save your friends?” Jovian mused before she leaned down and licked Specca’s cheek, the nixie screaming as she kicked about underneath the monster.

“I don’t think she cares about them, she’s just a lousy rat after all,” Jacqueline said before she grabbed hold of Squeak’s breast, the ant girl squeaking and shaking her head with fright as the blonde girl roughly squeezed and fondled her. Jacqueline laughed before licking her lips slowly as she eyed the ant girl over with a hungry smile.

“I’ve been waiting to bite into these for a while now, they’re so plump and juicy looking,” she said coldly. Squeak looked down to her breasts then to Jacqueline with terror and shook her head, with the blonde girl slowly nodding in response.

Jovian licked Specca’s cheek then forced a kiss on the nixie, with Specca screaming into her mouth and trying to shake her head as she felt the raven haired girl’s tongue lapping around hers. Specca kicked and thrashed about while her tail whipped around on the ground before Jovian leaned back and smiled wickedly down at her.

“You taste good, Specca. I wonder how you taste between your legs,” she taunted before baring her teeth in her smile, with Specca shrieking at hearing that. Jovian laughed and watched as the nixie desperately tried to free herself before a loud crack echoed out, with Jovian promptly dropping down to the side with blood pouring out from the back of her head. The girls all looked to her then to Falla who was standing over Jovian with a large rock in her hand that had blood splattered on it.

“Falla?” Specca breathed out shakily.

“Okay, I am
sick
of you calling me a rat, you fucking bitches!” Falla yelled before she swung down and cracked Jovian’s skull open, striking again and again with furious grunts while Specca scrambled away from them onto her feet. Squeak watched with surprise as Falla smashed Jovian’s head into a bloody smear then quickly bashed her head up and knocked Jacqueline off of her, the blonde dropping to the side before Squeak quickly rolled over and pinned the girl down with one hand while reaching back and grabbing her pickaxe with the other. She squeaked loudly before driving the tool down with a sharp whack into Jacqueline’s head, spiking through the skull with a crunch as blood splattered onto the dirt. Specca held her arms around herself with a nervous whimper as Falla stumbled back to her feet and tossed the bloodied stone aside, the butterfly girl catching her breath as she backed up towards Specca while keeping her eyes on Jovian’s body.

“Those were the man-eaters… those were the man-eaters…” Specca managed to get out while struggling to calm her nerves.

“I told you, didn’t I?” Falla snapped at her.

Specca looked to her then to Jovian with horror before over to Squeak as the ant girl slowly stood up and yanked her pickaxe out of Jacqueline’s head.

“Squeak, are you alright?”

Squeak nodded and looked to her with a weak smile and squeaked something.

“Oh my god,” Falla said holding her hands over her mouth with wide eyes as she stared at something. Specca and Squeak looked to her then to Jovian as the girl was slowly sitting up, her head regenerating and growing back before their eyes.

“What the… impossible,” Specca breathed out with fright.

Squeak stared at Jovian with shock then looked down to seeing Jacqueline smiling up at her, the girl’s large hole through her head slowly closing up again. Squeak squeaked loudly and darted away from her towards the other girls as they all watched the sisters slowly getting up while their fatal injuries healed up completely.