charged at Tony with the speed of light. Tony tried to sidestep him again but wasn’t quick enough this time. Mike grabbed Tony by his throat, spun around, and lifted Tony into the air. Tony struggled to breathe, and he could feel the blood vessels in his face and eyes slowly begin to pop from the sheer strength that Mike held him with. Tony struggled to not pass out. He had to protect Charlotte, but his hits at Mike’s arm were weak and useless.
“I’m going to make you watch as I tear apart every bitch in your life right in front of you. Your sister, your mother, that fucking dog!” Mike said. “Then I’m going to make you watch as I tear apart your world before I slowly rip you apart and send you into orbit for the rest of eternity, like I did before I came here. And the best part of all is you’ll still be alive.” Mike squeezed Tony’s throat harder, and just as Tony was about to pass out, he saw movement behind Mike.
“Let go of my brother!” Charlotte screamed as she swung Grog’s parents’ heavy titanium meat cleaver that she had found in the kitchen into Mike’s neck. Mike’s grip on Tony’s throat loosened, but he did not release Tony. Mike’s head still hung on by a flap of skin and was getting covered by the blood that was spurting up from his neck. Mike turned slightly toward Charlotte. Mike coughed, and blood poured from his mouth and into his nose. Mike coughed some more.
“Now…”—cough, cough—“I’m really…”—cough, gag, spit out blood—“pissed off,” Mike sputtered out with blood dripping from his mouth with every word.
Tony grabbed Mike’s head and held it up. “Charlotte! NOW!”
Charlotte swung the heavy meat cleaver again, and Mike’s head came off completely in Tony’s hand. The hand gripping Tony released, and Tony dropped to the floor along with Mike’s head. Tony sat up and looked at Mike’s head on the floor. There was something in wiggling in Mike’s blood that was dripping out from his severed head. It was so small, and it was the same color of the blood that Tony might have missed it if it wasn’t wiggling. Tony automatically knew that it was the Demon worm. Tony snarled and immediately pounded the worm with his fist and ground it into the floorboard with his knuckle.
Then Mike’s eyes opened. His eyes were back to normal, and Tony could see that it was the real Mike.
“Tony.” Mike coughed and spoke softly. “Tell Grog and Abbie I’m sorry. I love you, guys.”
Tony’s eyes were filled with tears. “We love you too, man,” Tony assured him.
Mike slightly smiled, and then the light went out in his eyes and he was gone. Tony reached up with his blood-covered hand and gently shut Mike’s eyes. Then Grog crawled over to Tony, holding his jaw. Tony looked up at him.
“You all right, man?” he asked.
“Yeah. I’m okay,” Grog said, almost sounding like he didn’t have a tongue. Grog let go of his jaw and wiggled it back and forth and opened and closed his mouth a few times. “It already feels like it’s getting better,” Grog said.
Then Abbie went to them, limping severely and whining with pain, but she went to her humans. You are getting better already. It’s another gift. You must destroy the Demon immediately, Abbie told them.
Tony looked at the fireplace. “Let’s light a fire and burn it,” he suggested.
Yes, Abbie agreed. Burn it long enough and hot enough should destroy it and all the worms inside of it. But whatever you do, don’t touch it with your bare hands or put it into your shirt. Do it immediately!
Grog stood to get his work gloves and the meteorite still upstairs in his bedroom. Tony and Charlotte went to the fireplace and began placing logs, newspaper, and spraying lighter fluid into it. Then Charlotte lit a match and threw it into the fireplace, which lit with a burst and immediately began to blaze. Grog appeared at the top of the stairs holding the dark red crimson meteorite, holding it out away from his body like it was a terrible smelly diaper.
He came running downstairs and threw it into the fireplace. He took off his gloves and threw them into the fire too. They all watched and could see the worms trying to crawl out from inside the meteorite and then pop and sizzle from the heat of the fire.
It’s working, Abbie proclaimed. It’s being destroyed. You have to destroy the Immortal too. It’s the only way to go back to normal, and you will have to go back eventually. But not yet. He broke my ribs and legs. I’m getting better, but I require some more time to heal and so do all of you.
They all agreed with her.
Charlotte turned and looked at Mike’s body. “How are we going to explain…this?”
Grog and Tony looked up at each other. Then from behind them, they heard an ear-piercing scream. And then a man’s deep voice boomed, “What the fuck happened in my house?”
Grog’s parents were standing just inside the front door, staring at Mike’s body in shock.
“Oh shit,” Grog, Tony, and Charlotte all said at the same time.
* * * * *
Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.
Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».
Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.
Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.
