Alien Tongues ~Humans Spines Book Two~

Looking with Lodely

Dumaine

        There's a different Translucent inside Emmeline today. Finally. I do not recommend spending an entire month with Gorjivon and his (It took me a day to figure out he like's being referred to as a he) theatrics. This morning I instead woke up to Emmy sitting in the corner of my room, artfully smearing toothpaste all over the wall. She is still smearing toothpaste.

        "Hey, toothpaste isn't supposed to go on the walls. If you tell me your name I'll try and find you some paint, would you like that?" I'm crouching down in front of her, still in my pajamas that are actually just my clothes from yesterday.

        Her head nods, but her eyes still look spacey, not quite focusing on anything. Like Hans seeing what I no one else could. Hans...

        "Lodely, Lodely, Lodely...Lodely, Lodely..." The creature almost sings. It moves her mouth like its tongue is in love with the taste of the word. "Lodely, Lodely, Lodely..."

        "Your name is Lodely?" I thought all the Translucent had long complicated names.

        "Lodelyelliqorsmus." She points to herself. I guess they all do. She points across the room. "Relltorgikvinson," She points again. "Minidfellious," She scoops something I can't see off the floor in front of her. "Palelytinvul." She sets it back down and looks straight through me. "I guess they all do. Except for Krissy."

        I feel a shiver rain over me. Lodely is kinda spooky. I stand as she turns back, staring at her toothpaste art. I should probably go find her some paint. And a way to see the Translucent again. And my accordion.

***

        "Do you have any paint? Or markers?" I'm looking up at Cecilia.

        "Why?"

        "There's a new Translucent in Emmeline, named Lodely and I think it likes to paint. It sorta made a toothpaste mess on the wall."'

        "Seriously?!" She pushes past me up the stairs. I suppose that means there isn't any paint. I stumble after her. Just because Lodely was nice to me does not mean she will be nice to Cecila.

        "My wallpaper!" I hear her screech. "You put that down right now, Demon!"

        "No, no, no!" I rush into the room. Cecilia has swiped the toothpaste away from Lodely like she would a toddler with scissors. "Please don't call them Demons! They might get mad and there are a lot more in this room than you think!"

        "It ruined something that does not," She holds a tutting finger to Lodely's nose "belong to it. They can't hurt me! Only this one has a body and it can't even look at me! How is it-it-hhggck!" Her yells morph into heaving. She's doubled over, holding onto her throat. Her body convulses but there's nothing I can do. I mean, I know exactly what to do. There's something lodged in her throat and I know how to remove it. But she isn't going to let me. I overheard Drexel explaining to her what I am last night. She sounded less happy having an alien murderer in her house than a 'Demon'. She's glaring at me right now and I can almost see what she's thinking through the deep brown of her eyes.

        This is perfect timing for him to kill me, with Drexel out at the store. I bet this is the same Demon as before, just putting on a show. They've been planning this since the beginning.

        And I can feel the thing inside me. It wants to lean down, right in front of her face and confess. To tell her that yes, I have been planning this for a month. That I needed to watch her die alone, choking to death in a room she told me was once designed to be a nursery. That I am going to paint the walls in her blood then drag her body down to the basement, where I will store it until I feel like dissecting it like a science project. I will staple her skin to the cinderblock walls and dangle her intestines from the ceiling like party decorations. Then after a week of lying to Drexel about where she is, I will invite him down for a surprise. I will study his reaction to her mutilated corpse before locking him down there-