Number 7

"First things first. We need to share information with one another, and we need a safe place to do so. Follow me back to my apartment, and we'll talk there."

Motioning for the three to follow her, Sylvia headed back where she came from, and the three quickly fell in line.

The two children walked close to her, hugging each of her sides while the older man seemed to lurk as closely as possible from behind.

"Er... I suppose it would be best to share information, but don't you think you're being a bit rude? Using us as bait, you said? I'll have you know that I am the Vice Chair of Mercius Industries, and-"

The man began to speak with a sly tone from behind Sylvia, to which she merely stopped in her tracks, turning her head to look him in the eyes.

Met with a deadly glare, the man shrunk back.

"Let me ask you this, Mr. Vice Chair. Do you think that means anything in this world?"

Approaching the man, Sylvia looked down at him with disgust - an emotion which she typically never would have shown.

And especially not to someone above her. Not to someone who had authority over her.

Pressing her finger to the neck of the man, she stared him in the eyes, causing him to gulp in the tension.

"If I were to tell you that I was the President of this nation, then what would you tell me? You'd say I was nuts, and that I had no idea what I was talking about. Right? But look around you."

Spreading her arms, the woman motioned to the sorry display of the walls around them, which had been infested with rot.

"Neither does this nation... nor does your company... exist anymore."

Turning around, the children seemed to cling to the woman as she left without the man.

"Ah! W-wait just a moment!!"

The man scrambled to gather his bearings, rushing after the three.

"Just a minute, I said. Don't you understand what you're doing here? It's true that this sector of the city has been infested by some strange disease, but that must be some localized phenomena. My company is international, you know. As soon as the rescue forces arrive, I'll be stationed in a new location."

The man seemed to grin with delight as he spoke from behind Sylvia.

"You know, I could get you into a good position in my company. We've been expanding quite a bit recently, and are always looking for capable hires. If you were to apologize to me for that rude statement, then I would be willing to overlook-"

[That's it. I've had enough of this one.]

It was at that moment that Sylvia spoke.

However, she was not the one who said these words.

These words exited her mouth, completely and utterly outside of her control.

And then, something happened.

The whites of Sylvia’s eyes darkened, becoming black, and she turned around, approaching the man.

Grabbing his neck, the man began to choke, small breaths trying to enter his lungs as she held him up in the air.

[Hey, old man. You're a big shot in the human world, right? Ah, don't answer that. After all, you kept on blabbering on and on and on and on, to the point where I couldn't sleep because of your yapping. I usually like to take a passive role, but I've decided that this is a special case. I'm going to kill you.]

Squeezing the man’s neck, he began to writhe in torment as he was choked.

"Urgh!” He was gulping for air which would never come. “H-help!”

The man struggled to take any breath in, becoming more and more pale. “Y-you.... how dare you.... you b-brats! Stop her!”

At this point, the man's voice had become soft, but the intensity was still there. The children merely shrunk back in fear, unsure what to say or do.

Whether it was out of fear for the man or the woman, even they did not know.

[Hehehe... if you're a big shot in the human world, then that means you must be one of the leaders of the humans, right? Which would mean... you made humans the way they are.]

Sylvia then brought her face just inches from the bald man, tilting her neck in an unnatural manner at a 90 degree angle as a horrid smile drew itself across her expression.

She looked at the man with eyes of pure madness, as if she were staring into his very soul.

[Right?]

The man began to sweat profusely, and his body began to tremble. His neck and face became purple due to the lack of oxygen, and his eyes seemed to be rolling backwards in his head.

[Ah, I can't have that.... let's see... what about this?]

It was then that Sylvia dropped the man, to which he fell to the ground wheezing and panting.

The man panted for breath, gulping down any oxygen he could get into his lungs, struggling to get up. He coughed, before glaring at Sylvia. “How dare you? I’ll have you know-”

As the man gathered his bearings he began to scream, however before he could even do this, the woman held out a hand.

And as she held out this hand, each finger turned into a vile tentacle, colourless yet all the colours at once, slimy and cold to the touch.

Squirming about, each tentacle shot forth, and each of them wrapped themselves around one of the man's fingers.

The man merely watched, his eyes widening as the woman before him took on a monstrous appearance.

"You.... you monster...."

With a gasp, these were the last words he let out before each of his fingers were torn off.

The tentacles snapped back, and with vile cracking noises they took each of the fingers they had wrapped around with them, leaving the man screaming in pain.

“Agh!” His screams filled the halls, ringing in her ears, bloodied hand trying to escape, however the torment did not end there.

The woman then brought each of the fingers to her mouth and consumed them.

As if she was a snake, she slid each of the fingers into her mouth, one by one consuming them in front of the very man who they originated from.

At this point the man's eyes had filled with tears, and he held his hand in torment as he blubbered meaninglessly.

"Wh.. by.. Huhh..” The man could no longer make out syllables from his mouth, only panicked sounds and occasionally short screams.

He shouted and shouted, and as he shouted, he looked up in torment to see something which he never could have imagined.

The woman was smiling.

Her smile was so grand that it was inconceivable.

"You... mob... mon....ster.." He breathed.

She was taking enjoyment out of his suffering.

[Hehehehehe.... that's a good expression, human. I suppose I'm starting to understand a bit more why that man did what he did. After all... it's quite enjoyable to watch others suffer. Isn't that right... Number 7?]

Looking around, the woman then walked back down the hallway to where the zombified corpse was.

The two children looked to one another with terror, unsure as to whether or not they should follow the woman. Therefore, they stayed in place.

[Aha... so this is what you've been working on? I'm glad Number 5's work hasn't gone to waste. So most of the humans have become like this thing. Ah, I suppose they're called zombies?]

The woman had knelt over and was now rummaging her hands through the hole inside the zombie's head, fiddling with the brain matter as if it were clay.

[Heh heh... looks like shoving all those diseases into us backfired. Isn't that right, human?]

Removing her hand from the zombie, the woman looked over to the balding man, who could only stare in horror at whatever creature was before him.

The woman flicked the brain matter off her now blood covered hands, and approached the man once more.

[Now then... I suppose it's time to end this. Ah, but before I do... I suppose I'll let you know why I went through all the effort to take over the host's body. Listen up, old man. And you two as well. Listen, and listen closely, because I'm only going to say this once.]

Approaching the man again, the woman then held out her hands, the fingers of which soon formed tentacles that wrapped themselves entirely around the body of the man, sticking into him in all locations.

The man screamed, with what little voice he had left, at which the woman shoved a tentacle into his mouth, slicing his tongue.

[That's better. Now then... the reason I came all the way here...]

The children both gulped, sweat pouring down their sides as the monstrous woman spoke to them in a voice which was barely human.

[Was because I couldn't sleep.]

Laying this statement on them, the children were left without anything to even say.

Because of something so simple, so insignificant...

The man before them had been mutilated and tortured.

[I came here because of how annoying this man was. Therefore, if you know what's good for you....]

The tentacles then seemed to transform to form bladelike structures which immediately sliced up the man into tiny chunks of flesh, with blood spraying everywhere.

[Don't be loud while I'm trying to sleep.]

And then, with a smile, the tentacles retracted and the woman once again took a relatively human form.

Approaching the two children who were too terrified to move, the woman put her bloodied hands on their heads, and gave them a bright smile.

[Because if you do... then Number 1 will come for you.]

Stepping back, the woman cracked her fingers as she looked down on the horrified children.

[Now then... goodnight.]

And then, the sclera of the woman became white once more.

The expression of the woman changed from one of sadistic malice to one of shock in an instant.

She trembled, and slowly held her hands up to her face, taking a good long look at them.

Then she looked back at the sliced up remains of the bald man, and then to the terrified children.

Holding her hand to her forehead, the woman fell to her knees.

"I..."

She closed her eyes, and tears began to form.

"What... am I?"

However it was then that the boy stood up.

He looked at the woman with determination and began to approach her.

"What... are you doing, brother?"

"She... is different."

The brother held the hand of the sister, who then stood up, and the two approached the woman with brave expressions.

They stood before the woman whose mind had been shattered, and looked her directly in the eyes.

The brother looked at her with piercing eyes, and the sister with fear and concern.

"Are you... alright, miss?", the girl asked.

Looking up to the two, Sylvia wiped her tears and smiled.

"No. I'm not alright."

Grabbing hold of the two children, Sylvia hugged them tightly.

And then she cried.

Tears flowed, and the two children awkwardly waited while the woman cried.

"I'm.... not alright at all. There is something lurking within me... and I don't even know what it is."

----

To say he was scared couldn't possibly describe the emotions which currently welled up inside Shane.

He was mortified.

Right now, Shane and his younger sister Amy were in the arms of a woman who had just performed actions which were inconceivable, even in this world of chaos that had been overtaken by the undead.

Before slicing up that man with what seemed to be monstrous tentacles, she had consumed his very fingers and rummaged her hands around inside the head of their father.

And now, she hugged the two children tightly with those bloodied hands.

However, Shane was the older brother.

Even in this overwhelming situation, it was his duty to put on a brave expression.

For the sake of his sister.

So he stopped himself from trembling, and instead watched patiently to see what the woman would do.

Without a doubt, something had changed in her for those few moments.

Shane didn't know what or why, but something was completely different.

'It was as if... she became a different person.' He mused in his mind.

"Shouldn't we... go back to your apartment? It's... probably still dangerous here.", he whispered.

It may have been dangerous to stay with this woman, yet as he looked over to his father, who had been zombified and mutilated in a horrible manner, Shane understood one thing for certain.

It was even more dangerous without her.

This world had become one filled with two kinds of monsters.

Those who were mindless, who would kill and slaughter without any thought.

And those with intelligence, whose mindsets and ways were far beyond him.

And as for which was more terrifying...

Shane himself did not know.

"You... are right. I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'll... yes... it would be best to return to my room to think things through."

Standing up, the woman was clearly wobbly.

"I don't believe... it was her who performed those actions.", Shane whispered to his sister as they slowly followed the woman from behind.

His sister looked at him, blood dripping down her forehead.

"But then... who was it?"

----

Sylvia sat on the living room couch inside her apartment across from the two children.

"I would normally get you something to drink... but this situation surely cannot be considered to be normal."

The two held one another's hands as they looked at Sylvia, keeping a fearful eye on her every move.

They were without a doubt scared of her.

"I... think it would be best to exchange information.", Sylvia stated.

The chaos which enveloped her mind was enough to throw the woman completely off.

Her body had been overtaken in a sudden manner, and she had entered a strange state of unconsciousness.

In that dark abyss of nothingness, Sylvia knew not whether she was asleep, dead, or in an entire dimension altogether.

However when she awoke, she witnessed a scene of horror.

Blood covered her hands, and these two children as well were laiden in it.

The man who Sylvia had rebuked just earlier had been sliced to pieces.

And as soon as she came back to her senses, memories filled her mind.

Memories of what had happened during the time she was in that state of unconsciousness.

Sylvia wanted to gag upon realizing that she had consumed the fingers of the man.

She trembled in terror on realizing that she had killed him.

She looked at her own hands with fear in realizing that she had become some sort of strange creature without even knowing it.

And the worst part was that she had absolutely no control.

At any moment, the creature could awaken and slay these two children before her.

'But wait... why would I care so much?'

Looking at the children, Sylvia's heart wrenched with emotion that she couldn't allow to subside.

She understood that she needed to prioritize herself.

She should have been more concerned about what the monster inside her would do to her.

Yet right now, she was filled with fear as to what would happen to these two children.

"You two... shouldn't stay around me."

"No."

As Sylvia began to speak out for the sake of the children, the boy took the lead, immediately rejecting her proposal.

"I... don't know what's happening... and everything is too uncertain. But the truth is that if you were to leave me and my sister alone... then we would die. Therefore..."

Looking up to the woman, the two children puckered their lips, trying to keep their fear inside of themselves.

"Please stay with us."

Sylvia slightly opened her mouth, unsure what to say.

However, on seeing the resolve of the two children, she had a single thought.

'How... could I be so weak?'

Looking at the expressions of these two children who were likely terrified out of their minds, how could she have been thinking only of herself?

There was a monster inside her and she might be in danger?

Wrong.

She was the monster.

How could she have been crying in such a pathetic manner when even these two children were stepping forth bravely, challenging even this horrible reality?

Standing up, Sylvia looked straight at the children with a serious expression.

"You're right. I apologize. I was overcome by emotion. I shouldn't have allowed such emotions to get the better of me."

Cutting off her fear, she realized now the position she was in.

She was a manager.

And it was the duty of the manager to guide their employees.

"Now then... I know that you two might be scared, however we're going to need to work together if we want to stay on schedule. So before we do anything, I'm going to need to ask you everything about who you are, and what you've experienced."

----