IN HER DYING EYES-the black embrace

His face was hidden by his long hair as he ate. " Keep eating and find out... seemes you might have stepped into somethign interesting." he siad gently, looking at her with kind eyes. "You might like what you see." he siad, finishign his first slice. He ate another two and lay on her bed, no sign of blood anywhere. " Wake me up ina few hours... you can have your bed back then." He groaned and cracked his neck. "Madness isn't always a bed thing, eh?" he added.
 
She wanted to know now.

"But..." she began but knew he probably wasnt listening.

She ate quietly 2 slices and put the rest in the fridge for him later..


The blood had subsided which probably meant that he was healing himself slowly.

She wanted to tell someone...

but who would she tell?

more importantly who would believe her? besides her crazy family?

She decided against it... her eyes closing slowly in the chair she sat in as she leaned her head

down against the desk.
 
Nightime came again. The man dodged her roomate, and Anastasia woudl awaken on a saturday morning in her bed, fully clothed with a warm blanket on her.

"Enreon... yes, I infected someone... yes she pretty... oh, cool your jets you elven freak." he sighed, talkgin with someone that had a THICK thick thickTHICK thick.. did i mention THICK AS MUD irish accent.

"Yeah, keep in touch." he finished the call, leanign against the window, holding his pounding head. he reached into the fridge and went for the pizza's... the first box was empty... so was the second. all the veggie pizza was gone. he heaved a sigh. " Oh hell... theres no more lying about this now." he stood up and ran his figners through his hair. " G'damnit..." He cursed. the bloating would more than have doubled overnight.

"This was NOT supposed to happen this fast... shit." He opened the window and leaped out into the air. " I must speak with Gaia..." a large raven streakign through the sky.
 
The next day when Anastasia woke up she felt

a little better.

Fuller...

She looked around for the one she had just somewhat rescued last night

No trace

She began to wonder if this was all just a dream.. then she saw the empty pizza boxes and realized it was not..

Something was happening to her.. she had never eaten so much and she had never felt still, so bloated

not in her life.. something was happening to her

"If I find the bird... I find the cure" She said, washing up, snatching her coat and walking swiftly out the door.
 
it ould be difficult hiding her bulging middle now, and yet the hunger pesisted. At teh park, there was a note tacked to the willow tree.

"Anastasia, need to cunsult a higher power. Wait for me here. P.S. my name is Armand" was all the note said in elegant scrawling letters. her stomach churned harshly just then.

meanwhile, Armand was soarign throught eh clouds. by the time she foudn his note, he landed on the large marble steps of a grand castle. several peopel with long pointed ears addressed him friendly-like and he went on hsi way tot eh deepest bowels of the castle, tot eh room only he knew how to get to... The natures oracle chamber.
 
Anastasia rubbed her stomach in pain

She felt and probably looked pregnant

"Ah..." she wimpered a bit as she settled down by the tree..

She decided to just wait for him

Because only he had the answers she would seek..
 
The world felt different today. smething was off. after about half an hour of sittign there, she woudl realize the color of the water was like a rainbow of blues. things she hadn't taken into thought before were apparent. Just as her body felt fuller... so did the world around her. nature id anyways. far off smells invaded her nostril sending messages of flavor to her tongue. The dead grass beneath her had fresh grass barely startign beneath it.


Meanwhile, the chamber armand sat within was black rocks, obsidian shards floated everywhere and a large pyramid of Malachite stood upside down to form the large stone platform he sat, cros legged upon abovea large pool of water. the water was pristine and filled with white pearls and black sands. the water sworled ever so slightly along witht eh spinngin motion of the malachite.

"You have found the means to yoru end, haven;t you?" came a disembodied voice.

"Yes....but at what price. I never thoguth I'd SEE that girl again when i infected her. All my research said nobody would miss her much if i stole her away... now i fear i must make it her choice to help me." armand sighed, thinkign back to her pristine face, and those beautiful eyes.

"Follow that heart which beats within you still." came the feminne voice again. " Only you know the answer to this problem, my dear armand. perhaps it is time you no longer hid in the shadows of the past." the malachite stopped spinning, the rooms ethereal glow disipated and the malachite pyramid fell gently to rest upon the water as aramnd left the chamber... a smile on his face.

"Oye boss. lung tyme noo see, eh?" Came a jovial voice.

"Enreon, I don't have time for your... why are you wearign pink?"

"breas' cancer awareness." he said simply. " I puttin' un a show in denmark." he added.

Enreon ran a rave caterign service... or so he called it. he sold Drugs from the fairy world at big events and supplied live lighting systems simultaneously with his small army of elven.

"Tha' virus you been workin' on, the buys dun in the lab found summit." he said, adopting a less sporatic demeanor.


"Tell me." he said, walking away again, Enreon followed in tow, takgin half as many steps as armand, but keepign up none the less.

"One of the buys dropped a dead flower in the solution. the flower grue roots again." he began, yawning after that word.

"And?" armand asked

"And the solution doubled in volume...then again it was less'n half a pint fifty fifty solution.."

"Gods, your saying the virus absorbs power from nature to grow, AND restores it simultaneously.. that.. that violates every law of physics AND magic i know!" he slammed his palm against his forehead.

"Whats wrogn boss/"

"The girl.. i told the girl to wait beneath the willow tree in teh middle of the park...."

"so?" enreon asked, jokingly. " I dun get i-... oh..." AEnreon got it... oh BOY did he get it.

"Well, run, spaniard!, get her outta there before she blimps like a peter in a whorehouse!" he yelled, shoving armand.

Armand left, but not without slapping enreon for the bad sex joke.
 
Anastasia sat under waiting for Armand.. she thought about getting up to leave

because she started feeling worse and worse as the seconds, minutes what seemed like hours went by

The pain was becomming unbearable, even if she wanted to get up she felt she couldnt

"Armand.. where are you?" She asked outloud quietly



I wonder if he left me here.. to die..



thats how she felt. Like death. Her stomach felt like it

was slowly ripping her to bits..
 
the grass around her tortured form was beginning to grow. and the ripping woudl soon be clothing as her form exceeded the limitations of her choice of clothing. A warmth bordering on the inferno's heat filled her every pore. Twas then that The figure of a massive raven shot across the sky. there was another sound of tires screeching far behind her. A large sunflower seed broke into bloom by anastasia's left hand.

Armand was busy making a distraction He needed a BIG one to do what he was about to do and still remain unseen. He stood on the side of the street and glamoured a young hoodlum into pulling out his knife and stabbign some people in the arm... an easy task... except thsi kid was WAY gone from drugs.

"Arms.. wait, like guns or people arm... people arms prolly taste like chicken wings." he said with a smile, his eyes glazed over even more by armands stare.

"I do NOT have time for this..." armand said, finishing the glamour. Anastasia woudl notice she had been growing. also, that small green lines like tattooes were forming on the newly exposed skin of her middle. the heat was intoxicating, a gentle lure into sleep. but a sleep any smart person woudl know to be deadly.
 
Anastasia wined in pain a she felt herself getting bigger

"Whats happening to me?" She asked herself as she began to sit up some

She had to get to a doctror but she couldnt move,

She reached inside her pockets for her phone and began to slowly dial her mothers number

She knew something was happening to her as she watched Nature and the way

it reacted to her... also the way something no less than a tattoo was forming

she felt faint, like falling asleep.. her eyelids were heavy now as she finished dialing the numbers

and pressing talk
 
Armand finished the glamour and swiftly tore through the shadows, several small rips in reality spawning odd shapes. No doubt ghosts would flow through them to haunt the place, but he didn’t care right now. He had to get to Anastasia. He leapt out of the shadows of a large cat-tail, exploding its fluff everywhere as he tripped not-so-gracefully, landing on his knees in front of her, his upper body laying on her rotund middle. Draping his arms around it, he could barely reach the grass on either side.
<o:p></o:p>
“aye, dios mio…” He cursed, staring into her eyes with those big sorrow-filled and intense brown eyes of his. Flecks of red lining the outside of the black spot within.
<o:p></o:p>
“Anastasia.” He said, with a thick Spanish droll. A sultry comforting voice. Too conforting. But this was not glamour. It was too pure. “ Wake up Anastasia…we have to go. I’m taking you far away from all of this…right now. So please… don’t fall asleep on me just yet. I promise-“ he moved her hair out of her face. “ You can rest soon…but not yet.”
 
Anastasia opened her eyes slowly looking up at him

"What..have you done to me? What's happening to me?... " she cried as tears

Began to stream down her face...

She sat up slowly so not to upset her stomach..

"Where are we going?" She wined

She felt like she was going to die.
 
Armand spun to her side and pt her arm over his shoulder, holding her up. " nnng.. put on sme weight lately love?" he joked, smiling at her. " C'mon, I'll explain everything later. You'll be just fine." he said, putting his hand beneath her other arm, propping her up. he was strong. where he touched her bare skin, the hot feelign disipated. Teh virus had taken full root within her, and was moving lower into her body. the urge to vommit became strong, if she did, she woudl be met with a ghastly site as green, thick ooze would splash out, near instantly turning into a large patch of thick, tall grass were it hit the ground.

"We are going somewhere... tropical." he said cryptically.
 
Anastasia wiped her tears away... getting up slowly..

As he helped her

"Tell me what's happening?" She said again, she really wanted to know

She had a right to know.

She had never felt so big in her life...

Something was happening to her

And Armand had something to do with it
 
"You've been infected with a virus. A mistake of science and magic that breeds endlessly wtihin its host, slowly turning her intoa visage of the nature goddess gaia... I'd say you've been infected for about two days now... beign around nature.. well, fills you up' faster than just regular stuff it digests away to a manageable point when the stimulus of nature is gone. but digesting the stuff isnide you has side effects too... ever SEEN a fertility goddess statue?" he asked, shakign his head. " Not a pretty picture if you like wearign clothes.. c'mon, lets get you to your dormitory, We'll talk more there." he picked her up in his arms, her belly making that rather tough.

"Put your arms around my neck." he ordered, taking off at full speed, a sickening blurr of speed that made sure nobody saw them. Her body hadn't stopped growign yet, however. He coudl feel her swellign in his arms.

'this isn't right.' he thought to himself. 'it should not have progressed this far for WEEKS...'
 
When they got to her dorm she sat down greatfully

Trying to make her head stand still from him racing so fast

Against time..

"Was it you! Did yu do this to me?!" She said cursing

In translyvanian under her breath.

"I knew I shouldn't trust you.. I tried to help you

And you infect me? How could you? FIX ME! NOW!"

She demanded. She couldn't stay like this.. she felt

Fat bloated ugly and infected.
 
"Listen, blame me all you want, But there IS no cure. You should be more worried abotu procuring better clothing. If i don't remove you from this place emmediately, You won't like what happens tommorow. my researchers JUST found out that contact with nature causes the virus to multipley at a massively excellerated rate. Give it another hour and the swelling will spread to your chest and hips as well. remmeber.. Goddess thing." he ranted off, spinnign in circles, trygin to figure out what to do. He spoke in several different tongues about random things. somethgin was turning in his head. He took out his cell phone.


"You saved me the other day... Now i will try my damndest to save you... ot that this is fatal..." he added the last part with a sigh. "annoying yes...uncomfortable, burdening and extremely messy, yes... but fatal, not int eh least."

Researchers at teh castle were workign hard to reduce the growth, even redirect it, but armand knew the easiest way to reduce this was to drain it from her form.


"I need you to get ttogether your things. We are leaving in one hour." he finished, turning around and facing the door as he spoke in spanish to someone on teh phone in hushed tone.
 
"I will blame you! you and your dumb researchers testing me like im some

some, some GINNIEPIG!" she screamed trying hard to think of all the things she might need

"You have no right, and the sooner you find a cure the better!"

She concluded, grabbing her over night bag and begining to pack furiously

"And I better not be gone longer than 48 hours or my family

will hunt you all down, find you and kill you!"

She didnt even want to look in the mirror... this was ridiculous

"This has to be a dream.." She said under her breath, shaking her head.
 
"Don't get angry, it makes it worse!" he added over his shoudler. moving woudl be getting harder now, the pain was a dull pressure spreading to her muscles causing fatigue. armand finished his phonecall.

"I'm sure your family has killed a few of my fathers friends already..." he said, checkgin his watch. "Ready to run? i have a hotel room setup for the night across town. my limo will pick us up at daybreak tommorow. If your temper can last that long.. so will your clothes." he added, lookign over her wobbly form with a slightly entertained handsome smirk.
 
Anastasia couldn't help but blush at his smirk

He was cute... but her anger dismissed any

premature feelings for him

She sighed trying to calm down...

as she finished up and put the bag over her shoulder

"Fine. Ready."

She said, relieved to stop moving around so much

"Its starting to hurt more Armand.." She wined..

"Do something"