Page 113 of How to Seduce a Slender

His body reacted of its own accord. A storm greater than the wind elementals that wreaked havoc upon the Badlands filled him with uncontrollable rage. Cold. Numb. Uncaring. Unstoppable. He ripped around and latched a massive hand around Elyth’s throat. “You.”

“Whaa—” She struggled, kicking her feet helplessly as he wrapped his fingers fully around her throat. His body elongated, towering over her as he hung her above the ground. Her claws slapped at his palms but couldn’t dig in.

“You will pay,” he snarled between hard snaps of his jaw. His fangs grew, his face morphed.I am what I eat.His head knocked back painfully as a lonely howl filled the air. The fog around them shook as Elyth struggled to escape his grip. He only tightened it as he grew. Legs bowed, back arched, vines and thorned grew along with his tendrils. A Slenderwolf appeared in his place as he slammed her into the soil. She screamed as he ripped her back into the air and smashed her again.

Over and over, he watched her body crumble. Her wings cracked, bending and splintering like wood. She clawed at his massive paws made of swirling static and smoke. He ground her into the earth beneath them before sticking his long muzzle in her face.

“How dare you! Howfuckingdare you! She was my everything! The one thing that was mine. You stole her from me! And for your selfish fucking gain! Do you know how long I waited for her to come to me? How long I hoped she’d smile at me? How long I fucking mourned you! I thought you died. I thought I let you die! That I was the villain, but here you are…ruining my life, once more. You rotten little witch!”

He took ahold of her wings in his other paw and ripped them from her body. They tore like skin still attached to a living body. Seam by seam, she screamed as they left her body and crumbled into ash in his paws.

Elyth cried crimson tears as she struggled to cast. So, he broke her hands. And when they repaired, he broke then again. Over and over, never letting up. He was no fire, but an unending storm, brewing over her till he encompassed her. And as he ripped her arms from her body, turning them to ash, he shoved her into the ground enough to shake it.

“What will you do?” Elyth screeched, blood pooling in her mouth as nubs of arms and wings began to regrow. “You can’t kill me. I made sure of it. I will just regenerate. You can destroy my body all you like. Will you eat me like you did her? It’s the only way to win, but you’ll be infected with me. You are what you eat.”

Smith glanced at Melody’s body once more, the ache filling him to the brim.

“No…” He breathed, glancing at her. “I only have a taste for her. You are like poison to me.”

Elyth snickered, rolling her eyes. “Always such a weak thing.”

“I didn’t say I wasn’t going to kill you,” he snarled, lashing out with the last ounce of his effort. Ripping through her walls like a tissue paper curtain. His claws fell away, transforming back as if he’d spent all his turbulence on ripping her to shreds. Elyth coughed up blood as he stood over her, as Smith, and dragged her across the soil. “My lady! I have a request.”

Dahlia Rosemont twisted away from the massacre on her front law to face him. The whole family lingered there in frozen confusion. Smith stepped out of the fog, revealing the graveyard as it really was. Full of bodies and parts. He chucked Elyth across the ground into the moss and clovers. Elyth rolled in a heap of broken bones to the Lady of the Manor’s feet.

“The witch did say you hadn’t eaten.” Smith bowed to her.

“What!” Elyth shrieked, trying to rip away.

Dahlia filled the air with dark static, a television screen filling the sky over their heads. A third, yellow eye broke open on her forehead. Her mouth spread, a maw of swirling teeth and endless oblivion. Elyth screamed, struggling but without the means to free herself as Dahlia grew three times her size…then dropped the necromancer down into her gaping mouth.

Smith didn’t stay to watch her crunch Elyth’s bones or swallow her…his feet were already dragging him back to his bleeding heart, dead and cold in the graveyard. He sank to his knees beside her. His hands finally reached her face. Brushing aside her hair from her cheek, he didn’t realize Slender could cry. But something akin to tears dribbled down his cheeks. Head tossed back a broken scream ripped out of his chest.

No…not her…please…

“Smith?” Sebastian breathed, tip toeing up to him.

“She collared me, sir.” Smith trembled, hands barely able to cup her cold cheeks. “She made me rip her throat out. Melody must have known how to break the collar. But she… Sir, you have to bring her back.”

Sebastian knelt beside him, putting a tender hand to her shoulder. “Dear friend, you know I can’t do that. She won’t be Melody if I do. And besides, her soul belongs to someone else.”

It was like he’d summoned her. A crow screamed over his head. Smith looked up to see a massive, three-eyed crow sitting on the fence. It stared down at him with a wicked gleam in its obsidian eyes. The steady sound of someone crunching through snow echoed in the air. Then, the hag appeared. But she was in a youthful body, much like when Smith and Dahlia first saw her. Long, silky onyx tendrils of hair around a circular face, a cute button nose, flashing purple eyes. She held up the front of her skirt with one hand and used her staff as a walking stick with the other.

“He has a point. Now…invite me in, boys. I’m a very busy woman, and I haven’t got all day.”

Smith sat back on his calves as Sebastian waved a hand, the entire section of fence sinking into the earth for the Witch of the Woods to cross. She stepped over the fence, her crow dropping onto her shoulder. Persephone dusted snow off her skirt before kneeling before Melody. She tsked while scooping Melody off the ground. “You really outdid yourself, Slender. Go on and make her bed, I want fresh clothes and something comfy. She’s gonna need to recover. Fixing a few bones or missing skin is one thing but bringing her back from the Nightmare Realm will take a toll.”

His chest panged as he followed the witch like a lost puppy. “She’ll be alright?”

“Breathing and alright are two different states of being. Let’s start by getting her back to breathing. You’ll have to wait and see if she’s alright.” Persephone huffed, stomping across the graveyard, tsking at all the body parts and ripped up lawn. “Seriously, one little necromancer and the whole realm is turned upside down. Ah! My lovely Hungry One, good to see you’re finally living up to the name. A fed Hungry One is a strong Hungry One.”

Smith stumbled after her, sparing Dahlia an apologetic glance as she glared at the witch. But after everyone realized what she was holding in her hands, they dropped their faces. Dahlia scrambled up beside Smith. “What can we do?”

“I just told you!” Persephone rolled her eyes. “Clean bed. Fresh clothes that are comfy, probably lots of water in a glass with a spout or straw. Chop, chop people.”

Agatha and Havershum exploded into the house as Austin tentatively put out his arms for Persephone. She lightly draped Melody in his arms and instructed him to bring her inside. She swung her hands about, telling everyone what to fetch until it was just her and Smith.

She smiled at him in a motherly way, patting his blurry cheeks. “Don’t worry, my boy. I told her she was going to be my guardian for the rest of eternity, and I intend to keep it that way.”

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