Chapter 8
Eddie guessed the creature was making a run for it and would be passing through the house’s first floor on its way out. As he emerged from the portal that had brought him into living room, Eddie saw he’d pegged things correctly. The worm monster reached the bottom of the stairs as he took aim at it. Eddie’s shotgun boomed in a series of thunder claps as he emptied the weapon’s magazine into the creature. Worms died by the dozens where each slug ripped into the thing’s form. Gray ooze splattered from the thing as it reeled sideways into the wall next to the stairs. Eddie ejected his automatic shotgun’s spent magazine and was in the process of loading a fresh one as the creature recovered and heaved itself up to its full height. The psycho-porter and worm monster stood facing each other as Eddie slammed his weapon’s new magazine into place.
The worm monster raised a hand at him and a geyser of fire exploded out of the worms that made up its palm. Cursing, Eddie opened a portal right beside where he stood and leaped through it. As fast as he was, Eddie still felt the heat of the creature’s flames singe his back. When he came tumbling out of the portal’s other side onto the street outside the house, his flight jacket was on fire. He rolled about on the pavement, smothering the flames. The creature burst through the house’s front door, sending splinters and larger shards of broken wood flying, but Eddie was determined not to let the monster get away. He took aim at its legs as it raced past him, heading across the road beyond the sidewalk he lay on. The heavy slugs he fired severed the monster’s legs where the kneecaps would have been. The monster’s upper body thudded onto the road directly into the path of an oncoming truck. The driver laid on the truck’s horn and slammed its brakes. Tires squealed, leaving black marks of burnt rubber on the pavement, but the truck was unable to stop before plowing into the worm creature. The creature had lifted its body up with its hands, and the truck’s grill smashed into it. Worms flew everywhere in an explosion of gore. The truck skidded on past where it had struck the monster, finally coming to a stop several seconds later.
Leaping from the truck’s cab, the driver turned to stare at the mess in the road where his vehicle had hit the monster. The road was slick with masses of slithering, writhing worms that were crawling toward one another. Eddie stared at them, just as shocked as the driver, as they reformed into the monster he had been chasing.
“What the frag does it take to kill this thing?” Eddie muttered as he got to his feet and started reloading his automatic shotgun again. A long, spear-like tentacle of a tongue lashed out from the worm monster’s face aimed at the truck driver. It sank into the man’s chest, breaking through his sternum to pierce his heart. Eddie watched in horror as the monster’s newly formed proboscis sucked the man’s blood and innards out. Bulge after bulge moved along the length of the proboscis into the worm monster’s form. Eddie could see the thing was using what it was taking from the man to restore the damage done to its own mass. He gagged but managed not to vomit.
Ringer came flying out of the bedroom window above the street. Shards of glass rained out over the street as Ringer, held aloft and carried by his telekinesis, came streaking at the worm monster. There was a manhole nearby, and the creature raced toward it, grabbing its cover. It hurled the manhole cover at Ringer like it was throwing a discus. Ringer came to stop in the air, yanking his arms up in front of himself to form a shield. The telekinetic energy of his shield rippled where the manhole cover made contact with it before bouncing harmlessly away. The worm monster had apparently had enough of them. Before Ringer could recover, the worm monster jumped into the manhole it had opened and had vanished into the sewers by the time Eddie reached it to look down after it.
“Bloody fragging Hades!” Eddie cursed as Ringer swooped through the air to land beside him.
“Let it go, Eddie,” Ringer ordered the psycho-porter. “It wasn’t what we were here for anyway.”
“You’re just gonna let something like that thing go?” Eddie raged.
“I didn’t say that,” Ringer answered, “but right now, our priority is finding Richard Ferguson.”
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