Blood

Day uh Cahm Bach

It stared at the wall, working one of it's jaws slowly as it studied the smooth surface. It stretched a slick tentacle forward and rested one of the suckers on the cool metal. A throaty purr gurgled from one of it's mouths, it's undulating mass vibrating. The limb dragged down to the floor, curling around a well-chewed white femur, pulling it to one of the sets of teeth and gnawing on it absentmindedly, continuing to gaze at the wall, at the vent by the ceiling.
Some part of it knew it was a way out, but how?

A human skull crunched under it's powerful jaws, a femur cracking loudly beside it.
Gurgling, it hefted itself up on it's thicker tentacles, thin tendrils yearning for the grate, slapping against the wall.
With a whine, it tilted one of the shapes protruding from it's main mass, one that could only be described as a head.

Grunting, it began heaving itself onto the wall, wheezing in exertion as it crawled, suckers popping. It reached the grate, eyes peering in between the bars greedily as it pressed a face into them. "Uhurrrlllgghh."
It froze, startled by it's own voice. It slid down a few inches before it recovered, scrabbling back up as spare tendrils lashed out and wrapped around the light fixtures hanging from the ceiling, supporting it's bulk.

"Hru? Hru." It explored what sounds it could make, growling deeply before it chirped. "Aoi! Ai! Arhrhrhrhrhrai!" It swung back and forth excitedly, remembering the sounds the strange tasty creatures made.
"Vae. Vvvvvvvvfffffff. Ah. Da. Ruh. I. Tuh. Shee." Mouths opened and closed, then one of them let out a screech, not unlike a dinosaur.
That tickled it somehow, the rest of the orifices parting to release a cacophony of noise akin to grating laughter.

"Oh my God, I think it's mimicking voices." A sound came from the wall that moved. It went mute again, instincts taking over and shutting it's mouths. A dozen eyes turned to slits, and it swung it's ungainly body violently at the surface across the room, colliding with a thud. A screech echoed on the other side, and the sound of something hitting the floor. "You idiot, it heard you! Hey! Where are you going? Get back here! Deyja, come back!"

"Day ah, um ack! Ah-ah-ah-ah!" It burst into laughter at the silly noises, tendrils slapping on the wall. "Um ack! Ome ack! Cahm bah! Ah ah!" It swung it's meaty self into the thin part of the wall, laughing obscenely in it's inhuman voice from multiple faces.
Until one of the greater, more painful swings sent it crashing through the suddenly sharp opening. It flailed helplessly as its' own momentum tore the appendages from their places and landed it on something alive. Something that screamed.
It clung onto the unstable surface fearfully, biting into it on instinct to not fall off. Instead, warm, wet, thickly flavored liquid exploded across it's tongue, wetting it's thirst, one that had been growing since it ran out of sustenance in the previous chamber.

It automatically tore into the meal, wincing at the screeching coming from it. "Day uh, cam bac! Day uh! Day uh!" The unoccupied mouth copied excitedly, yipping as it repeated the same three words over and over, the screams dying down as the brighter red substance coated it's burgundy thick skin, muscles writhing beneath as jaws snapped. The other being had already left, disappearing down the hole in the floor with a lot of sound.
After some time of feeding, the creature glanced over where it had gone.
"Day yuh?"

Tentacles flicked in the moment of silence.
"Com bach."
Nothing but ambience.
"Rrrrrrrurururururururuh-h-h-h-h-hhhihh." It gurgled thoughtfully, then resumed eating, snuffling as it slowly dragged the corpse back towards the wall.

. • °. • °. • °. • °. • °. • °. • °. • °. • °

Nicholas sobbed to himself, gripping his hair as he remembered how Deyja screamed, clawing at the floor as it gutted her. How her fingers lost traction on her own blood that pooled around her.
How… cowardly he was, running when he could have done something.
Her gurgling screams still echoed in his ears, haunting him. The moist slaps of bloody tentacles on tile, the flesh tearing, the viscous growling as it tore into her with more aggression than any natural animal. The way her skin caught on it's teeth, squelching..

He should have done something.
Anything.
It should have been him.

"Come on, we need to stop it before it kills anyone else. We need a plan." Adam rested a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We can't freak out now, alright? We have to kill it."
With a trembling breath, he nodded, slowly rising to his feet. "Okay. O.. kay." Nick straightened. "What's the plan."