Work Text:
"Where are you going?"
Despite his instinct, he disregarded manners and ignored the woman. He quickly exited the elevator, knowing better than to engage with her.
He turned left, to the floor's B side, and into the apartment.
A trail of symbols, written in blood, led through the narrow hallway and through the door. Just past the opening, he could see the vague shape of a person.
Quietly, he stepped closer. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dark - the person was a naked woman.
"Gary, my love... Have you finally come looking for me?"
He squinted, trying to see more clearly. A soft rose tints his cheeks, Lord help him, but he needs to know what he's up against. He could see most of her now, but not her head - the light from the hallway cut off at her neck.
He caught sight of the red trailing down her skin. Brown blood intermingled with fresh, concentrating on her front.
"My god... Amy? Is that you?"
"Oh. The priest seeks the girl. Gary's fa-a-avorite." Were he able to see her face, her eyes most certainly would be rolling.
His eyes adjusted, and he frowned at the lack of a head-like silhouette.
"No, it's just me. The rejected vessel."
Okay. This must be Tiffany. Whatever. He just wants whatever information he can get, and *out* of these *damn apartments.*
"Who *is* Gary?"
"Gary is a normal human being just like you and me."
The light behind him flickered and brightened, and he saw the woman's mutilated, disfigured head. It looked cartoonishly exploded, skin pulled back like a flower.
"I had to show him what I could be for him."
"You... did this to yourself?"
"The first to perform the ritual willingly."
John furrowed his eyebrows.
"I've done more for Gary than Amy ever did." Her voice rises and falls erratically, almost sing-song.
She shifted, and John's eyes rose up her revealed form - a tall, six-legged figure sat nestled in her blooming neck like a stamen.
"And now,"
John jolted at the sudden change in her tone, dropping more resonant.
"I AM BEYOND."
He backed up a couple paces, tightening his grip on his cross. He winced, the deafening static behind her voice rumbling in his ears.
"I AM THE SECOND DEATH."
The demon turned around, revealing its red eyes and long mouth, stretching past its chest. Tiffany's body turned with it, wrists and ankles grasped in its smaller limbs. Its two larger limbs spread to the side like wings.
John felt his mind shake as the demon let out a guttural roar.
"I AM THE DAUGHTER OF THE UNSPEAKABLE."