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That old John Amherst was at it again. Always the dramatic fool.
"Oh, no, world, fear meee, for I am pestilence" Jane Prentiss muttered in a low voice, mocking him, then giggled.
She was sitting atop a pile of organic waste, picking and choosing the most rotten parts to feed to her worms. John was family and it irritated her that he couldn't see this. It shouldn't have, she knew. He had his part in the corruption, she had her own. Jane usually tried avoiding him anyway, he was much more ancient and more... Serious. Also he made her feel uneasy, like he could make her worms sick just by breathing on them.
But today their paths crossed. John, serious as ever, ignored her completely. He was preaching to some sanitation workers about the horrors of... Pestilence or something. As ever he was sick and huddled and full of flies. What use is pestilence if there's no one to care for you. Eventually he turned his blue eyes at her. Jane and all her worms waved happily. John returned to Corrupting his victims without a second glance.
Prentiss had always said that Filth rolled better on the tongue than Corruption. And it fit her so much better. She was all about what lies in that discarded banana - or hand - but at the end of the day she was all about family and colony and growing together. Sure, sure, the "spooky" side of growing together too, like eating and buzzing and endless growth and propagation. But at the end of the day, Filth was all about teamwork and love and all that's comfortable. Amherst was all Corruption though. All about sickness and corrupting others and making them feel bad and ignored and unloved.
Without her realising Jane started squeezing a rotten plum in her hand. A horrid smell wafted from it and her hand got inundated with new silvery worms.
"You love me, don't you?" she said to the worms, paying attention their song.
She stilled, and listened. They were brilliant, her little friends. It's why more brains were always better than one.
Eventually she got up, put a little pep in her step and started back the way she came. Sometimes she greeted a little bug. Sometimes she stopped to sniff the air. She was determined to see this through. She would show him Jane Prentiss is not one to be ignored.
Eventually she found Amherst lying in a filthy bed surrounded by ill people, tending to him. Rail thin as ever, smelling of sweat, rot and death. His eyes shone like gems from the fever. His matted hair the colour of filthiness.
John saw her and his eyes shone in surprise before resuming his mutterings about plagues. His eyes returned to her a few moments later when slitting silvery worms started gushing out of everyone else in the room. He looked furious. These were his victims and Jane knew it. And John knew that she was all too aware of it. But she was angry. And he had it coming.
Prentiss deliberately without a word pulled an old rickety chair to the opposite end of the room and plopped her body on it. She slowly smoothed down her tattered sundress while never once breaking eye contact with Amherst. He sat up, looking at her with a mix of anger, confusion and plain old curiosity.
"Now will you tell me why you've so rudely entered on my territory?" He asked, his voice but a whisper, carrying with it the primordial song of death.
"Would it kill you to say hi?" Jane asked, playing with one of her worms, hiding her anger and hurt.
"You killed my victims, miss Prentiss. What is it that you want from me? Is it an act of aggression? I was of the idea that we can coexist peacefully, not impede upon one another"
"That doesn't mean you shouldn't say hi, Amherst," Jane said bitterly. "I exist. I have friends who love me. I am many. And I intend to show you what it means to disrespect me." She got up and started walking towards John's bed. With every step she took he started squirming harder and harder.
"What the-" was all he could say before he got distracted. Jane reached for a pitcher of water and some pieces of cloth, while watching John squirm harder and harder, his face growing more and more red.
A small gasp escaped his lips, followed by thunderous laughter, while he kept wiggling. His eyes showed confusion while he kept laughing.
"Stop, please stop" John managed to say a few times in between bursts of laughter.
"Please I can't, please", he said, tears going down his face, still laughing. Everything stopped and Jane approached a still giggling John with a glass of water.
"You're part of the family, John. Don't forget that. Or us," Prentiss answered the question in his eyes while she sat beside him.
"I..." John started, then went another route for his question. "Do you even tickle?" Amherst was visibly trying to regain his composure.
"Of course. It's how I know I'm still here. I'm filled with lots of souls wiggling and reminding me that they love me and making me smile. And if you need a reminder, just ignore me again." As she got up, worms from all over the bed and the floor were still on their way to return to her, some hanging on her dress, some trying to climb and falling on the floor, all following her footsteps outside the room.
John Amherst was left giggling to himself, with one tiny silvery worm nestled in his palm.