On the other side of the gate that barred her path, Avery and Jackson were both struggling in vain against their bonds. Avery had been lifted upward by his wrists, the tentacles there and at his ankles pulling his limbs taut and holding them almost immobile while he tried to fight their grip. Just a few feet away, Jackson had fared no better; the large tentacle around his waist had pulled him into the air, as well, and more of the thinner, more prehensile limbs had rushed forward from God knew where to bind his wrists and ankles just as Avery's had been bound.
And Rylan, much as she wanted to rush in and save her boys, wasn't doing much better. The massive limb at her back pressed her hard against the gate, and she feared it might actually crush her; what she didn't know, unfortunately, was whether struggling to free herself--and likely failing as Avery and Jackson were--or simply going slack and giving in to whatever the hell it was trying to do was the better option. What exactly was this thing planning to do?
When she got her answer, she wished she hadn't.
There were tentacles everywhere, more of the slick black limbs than Rylan could hope to count, and they seemed to descend upon the two men all at once. Still bound tightly--another of the massive tentacles had come forward to support Avery's waist as it lifted him, still struggling and now shouting in his panicked fury--they couldn't do much to avoid what was happening as the limbs began to tear away at their clothes. Rylan watched in utter horror as they were stripped piece by piece, anything that couldn't be quickly taken from them being instead sliced from their bodies by a terrifyingly serrated tentacle, and she was still somehow vaguely relieved when that particular limb disappeared from her vision, withdrawing from them without living a single scratch. None that she could see, anyway.
A moment later, of course, she realized just how stupid she'd been.
The moan of terror she let out when the black, serrated limb entered her peripheral vision would have shamed her in almost any other situation, but this situation certainly called for it. She held as still as possible, trembling as it slid between her skin and the fabric of her shirt, the massive, trunk-like tentacle at her back still holding her against the metal mesh. The sound of tearing fabric filled her ears as it sawed through her clothes, and while they didn't fall away, pinned to her as they were by the larger tentacle and the gate at her front, she knew that if it pulled her back, everything would fall away in an instant, leaving her as bare and exposed as Avery and Jackson were now on the other side of the room.
She had her eyes locked on them as it cut away at her clothes, watching with ever-rising dread as the two of them were set upon, long, wet, prehensile limbs taking hold of human skin and bathing it in a thin coating of whatever the tentacles themselves were coated in. They didn't seem to be doing anything, though, and there was something almost more disturbing about that. If they weren't trying to accomplish anything, then it stood to reason that, instead, they were preparing.
Just as this thought occurred to her, Rylan was abruptly let go, the tentacle at her back receding so swiftly she hardly had time to process it before other limbs, smaller limbs, seized her instead. She felt the warm, pulsating flesh, slick with some viscous fluid she couldn't begin to identify, enclose her bare flesh, taking hold of her wrists and her ankles and even her upper thighs, and then wrench her firmly backward.
Rylan screamed again, but this time, Jackson and Avery might as well have not heard it. They certainly didn't have any chance to react, bound as they were.
And then, almost in unison, three other tentacles, different from the rest in a single, terrifying way, fell upon them all. Rylan watched the one near her with a kind of horrified suspicion, wondering what exactly it intended to do.
Nameless Thing [2/?]
And Rylan, much as she wanted to rush in and save her boys, wasn't doing much better. The massive limb at her back pressed her hard against the gate, and she feared it might actually crush her; what she didn't know, unfortunately, was whether struggling to free herself--and likely failing as Avery and Jackson were--or simply going slack and giving in to whatever the hell it was trying to do was the better option. What exactly was this thing planning to do?
When she got her answer, she wished she hadn't.
There were tentacles everywhere, more of the slick black limbs than Rylan could hope to count, and they seemed to descend upon the two men all at once. Still bound tightly--another of the massive tentacles had come forward to support Avery's waist as it lifted him, still struggling and now shouting in his panicked fury--they couldn't do much to avoid what was happening as the limbs began to tear away at their clothes. Rylan watched in utter horror as they were stripped piece by piece, anything that couldn't be quickly taken from them being instead sliced from their bodies by a terrifyingly serrated tentacle, and she was still somehow vaguely relieved when that particular limb disappeared from her vision, withdrawing from them without living a single scratch. None that she could see, anyway.
A moment later, of course, she realized just how stupid she'd been.
The moan of terror she let out when the black, serrated limb entered her peripheral vision would have shamed her in almost any other situation, but this situation certainly called for it. She held as still as possible, trembling as it slid between her skin and the fabric of her shirt, the massive, trunk-like tentacle at her back still holding her against the metal mesh. The sound of tearing fabric filled her ears as it sawed through her clothes, and while they didn't fall away, pinned to her as they were by the larger tentacle and the gate at her front, she knew that if it pulled her back, everything would fall away in an instant, leaving her as bare and exposed as Avery and Jackson were now on the other side of the room.
She had her eyes locked on them as it cut away at her clothes, watching with ever-rising dread as the two of them were set upon, long, wet, prehensile limbs taking hold of human skin and bathing it in a thin coating of whatever the tentacles themselves were coated in. They didn't seem to be doing anything, though, and there was something almost more disturbing about that. If they weren't trying to accomplish anything, then it stood to reason that, instead, they were preparing.
Just as this thought occurred to her, Rylan was abruptly let go, the tentacle at her back receding so swiftly she hardly had time to process it before other limbs, smaller limbs, seized her instead. She felt the warm, pulsating flesh, slick with some viscous fluid she couldn't begin to identify, enclose her bare flesh, taking hold of her wrists and her ankles and even her upper thighs, and then wrench her firmly backward.
Rylan screamed again, but this time, Jackson and Avery might as well have not heard it. They certainly didn't have any chance to react, bound as they were.
And then, almost in unison, three other tentacles, different from the rest in a single, terrifying way, fell upon them all. Rylan watched the one near her with a kind of horrified suspicion, wondering what exactly it intended to do.