It was simple where there was just the flesh and fur and skin 
between your teeth, when she let you 


(us) 


satiate the things inside of us that clawed within and without. And 
there was no one that would tell you that you didn't look right, that 
you weren't the way you felt, when your jaw clamped shut on their 
throat and you drank their life's blood long and deep and full in your 
stomach as their heart beat their last against your chest. 


There was nothing that could hurt you when you were hungry. You 
were already hurting from the inside out. But it was a clean, cold 
pain. And nothing else would get in the way of it. 


The woman 


(lakshmi and i love her like no one else in the fucking world jesus 
christ why did i have to be that outdoorsy bitch and go along in the 
bullshit woods why did i do this to her and us and god i dont deserve 
her i never deserved her did 1) 


was beautiful. 


And even you loved her. And love does not have a place within 
hunger. Within the selfish hunger, the self-loathing, of one who 
chooses to devour the flesh of his kin, of man. 


But she never partook. She never forgot the love. It would be easier 
if she 


(we) 
didn't feel so strongly. 


It is hard to starve, starve in all of the ways that matter and scar and 
burn and twitch, when the fire lights itself deep within her, enough to 
warm us both and make us remember the times that we, yes we, 
when we were warm and comforted, when the monsters that we are 
and were and feel like so often in the world that we were born in 
always in the wrong body and the wrong circumstances, but the 
woman, the woman made things seem so warm and so long, and 
you. 


You fear it. 


You fear her like the man fears the hunger. Like the man fears the 
cold, unyielding wind and the death of his crops. The blight that 
spreads and rots, deep in the earth and the loam and the heart of 
the land. It yields nothing, and the rain does not come. It is a dry rot 
that breaks out, and the flies buzz and feast. But man finds no 
succor, and that is before the snows even come. That is before bone 
breaks stone and flesh. 


You fear the love, because it is in your nature. And it always will be, 
That is what it feels to you. A pain. A deep, spreading rot, not sweet, 
but hot and fast. That is her love. Like the very essence of you is 
undone, and for a moment, you feel as though there is something, 


maybe, that can fill you up, and that there is no more need to hunt, 
to find, to search, for that which can fill your belly. That maybe 
everything in you is full already. 


And you will always hate her for it. Not the woman, but the one who 

you share a being with. For allowing that love to satiate. For allowing 
the both of you to remember being fed when the nights are cold and 
sparse. 


“So, like, | totally met the god of dogs once.” 


“What?” and it was hard to whisper with the body she was given, but 
staying in the Library so long, a girl made do and learned. 


“Totally drunk. Really cool guy. | just kind of walked through some 
weird Ways. Kind of feeling that way every so often. Don't think he'd 
remember me if | ever came through again. Really funny jokes, 
though.” 


Avery smiled, and she was certain that if she could make out the 
face of the man who allowed JJ to check his book out that he would 
not be smiling. Or she. Probably they was the way to go. It was hard 
to tell the genders of the tellers. Or of any of them really. They gave 
her the willies, honestly. But again, like sharks. 


And not the Jaws kind. 


“Thanks.” JJ mumbled. He didn't look at them. No longer gregarious 
in the face of the employees. Willies. Strong willies. 


The due dates always seemed to be different. But, in her 
experience, it was easy to tell when the things were due. The feeling 
was unmistakable. She, personally, couldn't imagine ever letting one 
go overdue. 


As JJ turned, presumably to thank her, he pushed into her. Above 
his head, a sphere of blue and pink shot through the air, burning a 
hole in a shelf of books behind them. A perfect hole. And the cotton- 
candy shaped electricity popped and sizzled out in another cartoon- 
perfect hole. As it flew through the air, JJ rolled onto the ground, 


can't get more unusual results. ~ Dr. 


Testing 05/ / 
Testing to see effects of SCP-978 on nonhumans. 


Subject: Several standard white lab mice. 

Photographed Activity: All mice are in plain glass tank for 
photographing. 

Photo Result: All mice pictured as eating, mating, or both. 


Subject: Single zebra finch, standard lab animal. 

Photographed Activity: Sitting in cage, observing photographer. 
Photo Result: An open cage, with the zebra finch flying off the edge 
of the photo, only a wing and part of the tail visible. 


Subject: Standard white lab rabbit. 

Photographed Activity: Sitting in plain glass tank for 
photographing. 

Photo Result: Subject is pictured mating with another rabbit. 


Subject: Kitten (stray lab animal) 

Photographs Activity: Being held for the picture by Dr. 

Photo Result: [DATA EXPUNGED] - / would NEVER ao that to a 
kitten! -Dr. 


Subject: Guard dog (Doberman mix) and handler. 

Photographed Activity: Guard dog and handler both posing strictly 
for photograph. 

Photo Result: Subjects are pictured as playing a game of fetch. 


Subject: Multiple testing cockroaches. 

Photographed Activity: Cockroaches placed in glass tank for 
photograph. 

Photo Result: No change. 


Subject: Small spider 

Photographed Activity: Clinging to the ceiling. Dr. admits that 
the picture was taken as a last-minute thought when she walked 
past the spider on her way to SCP-978's containment locker. 

Photo Result: A massive, hallways-encompassing web with a small 
spider in it. 


narrowly missing the crackling that cut a wedge through the floor. He 
tossed the book to Avery, and she caught it without thinking. 


Being attacked in the Library was unheard of, and the Docents were 
currently swarming. Large things, hooded and big. Weren't they 
supposed to feel this kind of thing? Weren't they ESP monsters or 
something? 


She didn't have time to think, because the electricity hovered before 
her. It darted toward her, but a bone, a scapula to be exact, erupted 
from the ground. She winced. Avery knew she'd be fucked for that. 
Three more rose up from the ground to enclose it, and the thing 
buzzed inside like a pissed-off wasp beneath a red solo cup. 


What happened next wasn't something she understood until it was 
too late. JJ had taken her hand with a strength that no longer 
surprised her. The both of them ran between the stacks. Behind 
them, the crackling electricity exploded out from the bones. She 
could have done more. She would have done more, but the small 
man stopped in front of a door, tapped on it three times, opened it, 
and then flung them both inside. 


For a few moments, there was darkness, and then she fell onto the 
ground. Onto grass. Dewy. It smelled like somewhere far from 
anything. A veritable jungle of a forest. A startled deer ran away 
from them, and she had to stop herself to keep from chasing it. 


“What the fuck did you do that for?” she said. “My girlfriend's gonna 
be worried sick.” 


“You got that book?” JJ said in response. 
“Yeah,” Avery said. “I got your book. Why'd you fucking take me?” 
“| don't know. Felt right. | do things like this.” 


That was all he said. A shrug. And that was it. Avery stood in 
stunned silence. 


“Do you think we can call her?” 


“Yeah, | know a guy. | mean, I'm glad you're here. You know the 


outdoors, right? I'd be dead if it weren't for you. | mean, probably 
not. Bitches make do. But you're gonna be a big help.” 


“For what?” 


“Shit. Surviving. Someone wants the book. | knew | felt like | had to 
have it for a reason. You're gonna help me get this to Armand. And 
we're gonna find out why someone would want this bad enough to 

start a fucking gunfight in the most neutral-ass terrifying territory to 

start some shit in.” 


“There's no way | can say no, is there? To being your weird forced 
bodyguard in this bullshit?” 


“No. A one-way Way. You're stuck with me, sister. So, like, what do 
we do first? Make a tent out of, like, a boar or something? Maybe a 
deer tent.” 


“No. What? No.” 


Avery sighed. But it did feel good to be back. In the wilderness. The 
bone trees never felt as good as the real thing. And the thing inside 
her? Well, for a moment, it almost preened. 


“Lakshmi'll be worried, dude.” 


It was a dense forest. Denser than the one she had gotten herself a 
little lost in. But with her senses, she doubted it would be hard for 
them to get out. To find the way back, the Way back, or whatever. 


“We'll call her as soon as we get to Armand's. | know some people, 
real good at long-distance relationships. Besides, by then, I'm sure 
we can find you a Way back, right?” 


There was a long pause before JJ said, “So do we have to hike, or 
can | ride you?” 


For a long time, Avery was silent, and then she sighed and said, 
“That's kind of rude to ask. I'm not an animal.” But then, “Yeah, shit. 
This'll take forever if | have to wait for you.” 


“Hell yeah,” said Ju. 


The sun was setting, and in the raising darkness, the butch ran fast 
through the trees, supplemented by the directions of an extremely 
lucky twink. He held the book close to his chest. As though he were 
worried, suddenly, that it may drop. 


Her eyes flashed light. The deer and the possums and the raccoons 
practically jumped out of her way. She hoped this would be 
something interesting to tell Lakshmi, at least. And she hoped she 
wouldn't be too pissed about all this. 


You miss her when she's gone. You always need to be around 
people. And that was why it was so funny when you would go out 
into the woods. The mad bitch, going off alone to traipse in the mud 
and gunk and between trees off in the mountains. It wasn't fun to be 
alone like that. It was a kind of punishment. Sure, outdoors felt pure. 
The air was better. But it was better when you could enjoy it with 
someone else. 


You punish yourself whenever you're happy. It's a thing you've 
always done. Maybe the Catholic in you, forever embedded deep in 
your psyche where it's hard to get out. A malignant brain tumor, the 
kind they can't get to, the kind wrapped around the lizard brain, the 
stuff that makes you shit and fuck and eat. A need to self-flagellate, 
to self-loathe. 


Lakshmi didn't exactly make that all go away. She wasn't perfect. 
She didn't take the entire disorder that was you yourself and make 
you something whole and understandable and dare you say normal. 
Never a miracle worker. But there was something she did. 


When you were with someone who understood you, you didn't feel 
so fucked up. You didn't feel like a broken automaton with a shitty 
wiring or, later, like a giant monstrosity dreamed up by some pervert 
who lives alone in the woods. Because to her, you were always 
Avery. You were a woman. Whole and complete and funny and 
interesting. 


She took you for who you were. And she always did. And maybe 
that was why she kept you from falling completely to the hunger. 
The first one to believe who you were. The first one to accept your 


intrinsic humanity, to love you as a woman loves another woman 
and not like how some chaser would do it or something. And of 
course, you ran away from that. 


And you got into this whole mess. 


The Catholicism in you, oh so rarely, makes you feel like you 
deserve it. Just a little bit. 


“How did you even know about that book?” 
“I got a notion.” 


“That's a super infuriating thing to say, considering | almost died 
over it. And I'm running in the woods with the love of my life worried 
like shit. Probably. | mean, we were kind of in a fight, but Lakshmi 
was totally gonna let me apologize..” 


“Yeah, | know how those go.” And Ju sighed, face against the back 
of her neck. They weren't going as fast as they could have. But it 
seemed right to at least, well, talk a little bit about all of this. “I broke 
up with my boyfriend a bit ago. That's got. Nothing to do with 
anything. But what you said. He said that stuff a lot. About it being 
infuriated. About collateral damage.” 


Avery didn't know why he was talking about this, but she didn't 
interrupt. There was still no smell of humans or human activity. It 
was amazing to her, really, the sheer breadth of wilderness still 
accessible in America. She wasn't, like, patriotic or anything, 
certainly, but there was just something intensely beautiful about the 
very land. The unspoiled nature of parts. 


“You think you're hell to live with. You might shed, but I'm a bitch. 
The notions. They don't really ever stop. They keep coming. | do 
weird shit, and at first, it's cute. People don't mind.” JJ faltered, 
stared off into the distance. 


Avery said nothing. 


“He was only, like, | wanna say forty? Younger than my usual bag. 
But, he was so put together. A professor. And, shit, | must've been 


some manic pixie dream boy for him.” A pause. JJ cleared his 
throat. “Usually, | break up with them. He was the one who stopped 
it. Couldn't stand me anymore. Didn't say it, but | could see it.” 


“Jeez,” she said. Not sure what to say. There didn't seem to be 
anything that she should say. Nothing that she could think of in the 
moment. 


“That's why it's good to hear from you. About you. Even though 
romance is dead for me, forever and ever this final time, it's good to 
see it's alive.” 


“What the fuck are you talking about, dude?” 


He didn't say anything for the longest time, and then he said, “I don't 
know. I'm sorry for being so glib. | can walk alongside, if you want.” 


She shook her head. “It's fine.” 


The silence was only broken by the crickets brave enough to still call 
in the face of the beast in their midst. 


“Any idea who tried to kill us?” Avery finally asked. 


“Nah,” he said. “Haven't had anyone try to kill me in, shit. A long 
time.” 


“This has happened before?” 


“It was more like anime. This is more sci-fi fantasy, if you ask me,” 
he said, holding out the book and shaking it to hammer in his point. 


“Oh,” she said. And then, “You got any plans for keeping me 
downlow if we get near people?” 


“No,” he said. And they didn't speak for a while. The silence was 
gentle. There was no urgency, nothing left to be said. 


The stars twinkled above them. Avery thought of Lakshmi, and JJ 
thought only of how he was going to sleep outside. 


The William Penn Iteration 


Frank Talloran was dying. 


He stumbled down the wide street's sidewalk, clutching his heart. It 
was raining heavily. Behind him walked Curly. Curly was tall and fat 
and almost completely bald. His ratty waistcoat was damp with the 
heavy rain. He limped as he walked, his legs curiously stiff, and he 
used a sinister umbrella as a cane. This was a handsome umbrella, 
unnaturally red with a wooden handle. It was not open. 


"Now, now, Frank! The only way yer're gonna get out of this mess is 
iffin' ye accept Jeezus as your lord and savior!" Curly said. 


Frank could not find it in him to speak. His lungs were collapsing and 
every drop of foul March rain on his skin felt like a needle. Poison 
began to work his way up his veins, slowly melting them. Behind 
him, Curly kept pace. He was driving Frank out of town, down 
towards the woods path which meandered through a stand of 
ancient pines that had been there earlier than the state. 


"| hope ye and yer boyfriend burn for your sins, Frank. I'm not a bad 
guy, | just want to save ye!" Curly sneered. 


"Go to hell," Frank slurred out. He saw only a red miasma.