“He took your limited form; you immediately take advantage.”

Tried to reach the phone, but I was far too restricted. The leftie was the only part capable of offering any resistance. Its braided muscles were as tense as those squeezing the life out of me. It held on for dear life, as if refusing to return to the embrace of its own kind just yet. Points for solidarity, I guess, but if it acted sooner we wouldn’t be in this situation!

“N. Nn-no-ht m-me!”

Forcing these simple words out took so much willpower, that all my muscles were in on the effort. Task complete, body relaxed and surrendered its bones to the crushing pressure.

It didn’t even matter. I was just content to have finally spoken. There wasn’t much I could do either way. My throat would lock up, even if I screamed for help. Even then, all I’d get would be coup de grace. Oncoming train had that well covered.  

Far-off shrill squeak of deceleration was still coming. Must be the very last arrival for the day. They were cutting it real close. Night time was peak activity for these organisms.

I huffed in bemused irritation. Ways to perish were always so abundant. Escaping just one of these critters was an impossible task, but even if I somehow manage it, there would be others. Can’t do this whole night. After all, it was an unfamiliar place. I was unaware of alternative ways in yet.

The weight was there, but my bones remained intact. Even the loaner arm didn’t feel like it was about to be repossessed. I got a distinct feeling the boa was listening. Waiting for more.

Will lose nothing revealing the obvious. Perhaps I’ll even succeed setting this restless vengeance upon the right culprit.

“T-t-theyh. T-t-toohk m-mhy. Ahrm. P-puht t-this one inh-st-t-tead,” I mumbled out through the clenched teeth. “I’ll make him p-pay,” I wheezed out and it came surprisingly easily.

“Where is he?” it was relentless about the only thing it cared about. Apparently, human drama was of little interest to it.

“L-l-leht. M-m-me. M-move,” I demanded, irksomely struggling to pull a hand free. I was not about to hold a full-fledged conversation in this manner. This just wasn’t sustainable, even if I was in my most cooperative mood. Which wasn’t the case. I was still considering whether to let the train plough straight through us, or warn the animal.

I was permitted to squirm a little more freely, but it still felt like I was being thrown around on a disgustingly tense tongue. The train was so close now, even the talking beast couldn’t not be aware of it.

Hastily typed out, “Three other limbs were in Safe Zone Two. I doubt they stayed there. Someone from around here owns them.”

The talking animal didn’t appear interested in my attempts to recruit a suicidal martyr. It twisted, unveiling a visible underbelly. New tails began digging into the foundation. Getting a firm grip of the ground won’t work against a dark damn train, even a slow one! I wanted to scream.

My thumb done the reasonable thing, “Move. It won’t work. Move. Move.”

Electronic voice lacked any sort of urgency in it, so I started punching the lumpy spring to hurry it up. Or at least for it to release me. I did not want to die. Not like this. Not now!

The screeching thunder heading straight towards my head did unspeakable things to me.

I was back on the operating table, trapped by things way out of my league again. Forced to accept my inherent weakness. This situation was descending to the pits of despair far too rapidly for me to do much else besides revert to a small child and cower.

I hated feeling this way. I was better than this! And yet! Everyone kept trampling me. 

My bewildered eyes have finally noticed sinking. Into the ground.

Dust floated. Stone pebbles fell in after us.

I quit flailing. Temporarily.

Constant motion of the incomprehensible beast was burying me along with it. I’d have rather been hit by the fucking train!

The driver of the locomotive witnessed the hole forming right ahead. A violent whistle went off.

“Ai… I… Ah…” I struggled to relay the importance of oxygen to my person. The light from the dim sky disappeared altogether. Above, the track was put back in place. The sight was unbelievable. Was this really within the realm of possibilities? Did I pass out? Hallucinate?

Amidst my dazed panic I found out I was breathing just fine. Sand wasn’t up my crevices, either. The restless whorl patiently waited for me to go on speaking, I presumed. Why else would I still be living?

Half-buried, I had to keep the incentive going.

“I, I c-ca…” I attempted. Remembered. Typed, “I can find your friend,” I declared confidently. His dear buddy was long since dead. Chose to keep it a secret. In case of the likely future disputes, I added, “If there’s anything left to find.”

I was on the run from great many things. Supernatural disintegrators of matter better not become one of them.

Creature didn’t say anything. Was it thinking? Waiting? Was I to miraculously produce the lost soul right now?

“You need to let me go for that to happen,” I suggested. Almost immediately heard the tails burrow into cave’s ceiling. Worse – voices somewhere up there. “Not here. They will kill us both.”

The spring changed direction.

It was unlikely, but I had to ask, “Can you get beyond the city wall?”

“Yes,” soft hiss replied and the scratching changed again. Stone-devourer apparently had no issue digging through the state-of-art fortifications. Okay, then.

Within minutes, the angle turned up again. I tensed, waiting to pop up in the middle of a busy road or a cramped living room. Outskirts were notoriously overcrowded.

“Stop. Need to make sure nobody is there,” I insisted. The undulating grew languid. I heard no man-made sounds.

“Settlement is sparse,” deliberately accentuated lisp informed me as though the writhing thing has been constantly passing back and forth unimpeded. Perhaps it did. Deep scanner wasn’t something that could be ran constantly. It was an undisguised blessing for miscreants like myself. And, apparently, all the other unwelcome trespassers.

Had the defensive efforts of humans really been so worthless? Were we allowed to exist within our delusional bubbles of concrete?

I certainly was. Light shone through the veil of dirt as I was let go.

A decrepit basement. Rubble, exposed brick and trash. Lots of trash. Everywhere. A condemned house? Haven’t seen those in a long time.

As I was distractedly looking around, the undulating entity slithered back into the burrow. Dumfounding. As far as it was concerned, its business here was done. The deal has been struck.

It just believed me? It probably had ways of finding me again. That’s the only explanation for this level of confidence.

“W-waih-t!” I called out after it. Roiling mass in the hole quieted and I hurriedly typed out, “Humans took your friend and you are trusting another one to locate him?”

Answer didn’t matter. It would simply help me figure out this new menace that’s about to haunt my life.

“You aren’t a part of an organism that took him,” the gaping hole stated.

What? And however did it divine that? My words alone couldn’t have been enough – unless I was dealing with the world’s most gullible creature. It was safe to assume such wasn’t the case.

It definitely had other ways of reading me. My general education largely skipped over the anatomy and habits of the extrinsic. It was hard to cover – each animal was too unique to effectively bother, and we had the countless people things to learn about. However, importance of hiding the scent has always been accentuated. Even earth animals could smell fear. These outsiders could probably decipher entire poems from our nervous sweat.

“How do I contact you?” It was unlikely I’d haphazardly stumble upon the containers, but I would be snooping around Raktkalis anyway. Never know what I’d end up finding.

“Cut his arm,” I was told and the suspicion about secret scented messages intensified.

“Distance?”

“Somebody will notice.”

Of course they will. How many fucking creatures were walking around within the cities? How many of sanctioned mutants were spies? Was it a voluntary, or an unconscious betrayal? I looked down at my own constantly misbehaving limb. The damn thing essentially threw me off a train and got involved in some conspiracy.

I wasn’t about to take sides of anyone but my own. In fact, usually – the more players there were, the more lucrative was my pay-out.

“Alright. Do not undo the tunnel.” A down payment. Loopholes was a lucrative business.