That was also one less reminder of her problem, as Tony and Sylvia had put so delicately. No giggling children and scolding parents to rub it in how adoption was now the only path she could take. Much as she'd still love any child she might adopt, there was an extreme feeling of frustration in not having a choice in the matter. She would have liked to choose between the two rather than be left with only one option. There was also the lingering doubt in the back of her mind about what sort of a woman she was when she couldn't even produce a child.
"Come on, Mandy, none of that now," she scolded herself while she trudged up the stairs of her apartment building. This depression was what got her into this mess with the creature in the first place, and she didn't want to slide back into any more trouble.
When she reached the door to her apartment, Amanda paused with the key tightly gripped in her hand. She was a little apprehensive about entering her home. It felt like forever since she'd been in there, and so much had changed. She felt she had changed, and maybe not for the better. Amanda was startled when a door down the hall opened and one of her neighbors wandered out and down the hall. She realized she couldn't stand there all day, and so she entered her home.
Amanda was relieved to see the place was exactly as she left it. There was the simple, albeit small, living room to her right with her worn couch and old tv. Then the open kitchen with her tiny dining table with just enough room for two chairs. Straight back was a short hall with her bedroom on the right, and a bathroom and appliance closet with drier and washer on the opposite side of the passage. It wasn't as large as Tony's luxurious place, but there was room enough for all her stuff and she kept up with the cleaning much better than him and his bachelor pad.
She tossed aside her bag on her well-used couch and went to inspect her fridge. She half-expected to find a creature made up of her rotten food sitting inside waiting to pounce on her, but all she saw was some dry vegetables and a gallon of milk with some nasty-looking chunks floating in the off-white liquid. Everything on the verge of sentience was tossed out, leaving just enough ingredients for a cheese sandwich or bowl of yogurt with pickles on the side.
Amanda paused with her face twisted into a look of disgust and disbelief. Her tongue slid out and she shuddered. Had she really just suggested mixing pickles and yogurt? Her mind responded in the positive, and she promptly closed the door. There would be no more thoughts of such Frankenstein creations, not while she still had taste buds. Instead she surveyed the cupboards and found plenty of other foods to offer to her guest.
Then she got to work unpacking her dirty clothes, tossing them into the washer for future cleaning and pouring in a lot of detergent to mask the filthy smell. That chore was followed by emptying the rest of the contents of her bag onto the floor and rummaging through what went where in her apartment. Bathroom articles had their obvious place, but there was also the spare change to put in her loose change jar and other miscellaneous items to deal with. Her eyes were also ever open for any sign of the rock fragment, particularly when she cleaned out her purse, but the item had vanished.
However, Amanda had a great distraction coming in the form of her friend, and she hurried along through her chores. She cleaned up the dust in her apartment and made a quick trip to the store for some basic foods. By the time all the distractions were over, it was noon and her friend still hadn't called.
At ten minutes past there was a knock on the door, and Amanda opened it to see her friend standing in the hall. Amanda's shoulders drooped and she frowned.
"You forgot to call."
Sylvia was undaunted by her friend's lukewarm greeting, and pushed her way into the apartment. Slung over her back was her bag of clothes and the promised entertainment for the evening. The new arrival glanced around the room with bright, excited eyes. Then she dropped her bag beside the couch and ran her hand over the top of it. Sylvia looked at her fingers and let out a whistle.
"You just lot me twenty bucks."
"Pardon?" Even for Sylvia, that was pretty random. Amanda needed context.
"I bet someone in the office twenty bucks that you couldn't have an apartment as clean as your desk, and I think I just lost."
"I'd say I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm kind of glad you're wrong," Amanda replied with a laugh. Sylvia's spontaneity was always a refreshing reminder that life could still be exciting and fun. The wild friend whipped around and smiled at Amanda.
"I suppose I should've known better than to trust my-Jesus!"
Amanda jumped a foot in the air at Sylvia's exclamation. She whipped around and didn't see anything but the closed door to the apartment. Her first thought was that Professor Ward had followed her here from Tony's apartment, but there were no phantoms or creeping tendrils anywhere. She was both glad and angered for the false alarm, and whipped her head back to find her friend staring at her with her mouth agape.
"What in the world is wrong with you?" Amanda snapped at her friend.
"You just, wow, you just don't look so good. Been sick?" Sylvia asked her. Amanda rolled her eyes, but she did look down at herself.
"I don't look that different, do I?" She hadn't seen any definite change over herself, though maybe all this fear and sensual exercise was physically affecting her.
"For one thing your cheeks are really bony." Sylvia reached out and poked at one of the aforementioned protrusions, and Amanda flinched back with a frown on her face. She wasn't too fond of being touched without permission, even by friends. "And you're really pale and look like you've dropped a few pounds since I last saw you."
"Well, it must have been that hike up the mountain. That was a hell of a climb." Silently she reminded herself that the night there had been a hell of a time, too.
"How was that place, anyway? Ms. Busybody overheard you saying you were going to some old cabin or something." Amanda paled at her own stupidity. This was the last discussion she wanted to bring up, so she waved off the question with a laugh.
"Oh, just dusty and old, that's all. I didn't stay there more than a night because it was too creepy, but that's over with now. We've got a whole day ahead of us, so what were you wanting to do first? I could make us some lunch-"
"Already got that covered." Sylvia leaned down, unzipped her bag and pulled forth a sub sandwich. She held it out in her open, upturned palms. "Ta-da! Doesn't it look delicious?"
"Yeah, but you don't have to go through all-"
"No trouble, I just bought it at the store before I came up here. I figured it you're giving me a roof over my head for a night I could return the favor with food."
Who was Amanda to argue with that logic, and the offer of free food for at least a meal? Over lunch they broached every subject Sylvia could imagine, and some Amanda suspected she just made up to make her smile. Then, even though Amanda had been the one to offer the idea, Sylvia took the part of hostess on their outing together. Rather than stay in the apartment, the exuberant friend dragged the pale, hapless other woman for a fun time on the town. They visited high-end shops, ogled at store windows and harassed the birds in the parks. They had so much fun that Amanda was almost able to forget all her troubles, but occasionally she'd spot some dark clothing or they'd pass by a shadowed alley, and she'd recall that creature and Tony's mission.
Sylvia would notice her friend's pensive expression, grab her hand and pull her along to some new and exciting distraction. Amanda had to admit she felt a thrill walking up and down the streets goofing off while so many other people were at work. Compared to the whirlwind day, dinner was a quiet affair. Sylvia took Amanda out to a small restaurant where they ate and talked to their hearts' content. By the time their meal was over and the distance back to the apartment was traversed, it was a late hour. Their early-morning waking the following day lay heavily on both their minds, particularly Amanda's own. She wasn't looking forward to the end of her long vacation, particularly since so much had been filled with unpleasant occurrences.
Regardless of their dread for work the next day
, their current day had been so hectic that they would both sleep soundly. Amanda was exhausted enough to shuffle into the apartment with Sylvia prancing at the head of their little twosome.
"I can't believe how much fun we had today!" Sylvia shouted to the empty apartment. She dropped down onto the couch and stretched out her legs. A few bones popped. "Man, tomorrow's going to be hell for walking around those hard floors in the office."
"Yeah, hell." Amanda knew she had a better idea of what hell looked like, and it didn't involve cubicles or office supplies. The hell she knew had creepy phantom professors and a tentacle monster that just wouldn't leave her alone. Then again, she would miss those intimate moments with the thing. Thoughts of the creature made her glance down at her finger. She couldn't even feel there was ever a bruise there, much less a cut. It was like it never happened.
"I don't know about you, but I'm ready to hit the hay. Unless you want to watch some movies until our eyes shut on us," Sylvia suggested, but Amanda shook her head.
"I haven't been getting up too early on my vacation, so I'm going to need as much sleep as I can get."
"That's fine, we can do something like that another time. Maybe a few weeks from this weekend."
"Yeah, sounds great." Amanda's voice told anyone listening that she wasn't thrilled with the suggestion, but Sylvia wasn't listening.
"Well, I'll just sleep out here on the couch and let you have your bedroom all to yourself." She bounced up and down a few times on the cushion. "Besides, this thing's pretty comfortable."
"That's fine, I didn't really plan out where you'd sleep." The hostess was glad to be without her energetic friend sleeping in her bedroom with her, and most particularly her bed. She'd caught her a few times napping at the office, and knew Sylvia was a heavy snorer. "Did you need any blankets or anything?"
"Nope, I brought my own for just such an occasion." Sylvia whipped out some covers and even a pillow from her pile of stuff she'd brought to the apartment. "I'm ready for anything."
"That you are. Now if you don't mind, I'll just take a shower and go to bed."
"Nope, you just have a good night's rest and I'll see if I can't cook something for us tomorrow morning."
"I can't wait," Amanda replied with a smile. Sylvia wasn't that bad of a cook, and it was always nice having someone else do the dirty work of cooking for a change. "Goodnight."
"'Night!"
Amanda was grateful for her exuberant friend's help in cheering her up, but she felt exhausted as she prepared for bed. After her shower she glanced out into the living room and saw that all the lights were out. There was a lump on the couch beneath the blankets, and the sound of a light snore rolled over to her. She smiled and returned to her bedroom for her own sleep before the big day of returning to the office.
Unfortunately a wakeful night was in store for her, as Amanda awoke some time during the night with a strange feeling creeping over her body. She was only half awake when she raised herself onto her elbows and glanced around the room. Then she noticed a figure standing beside her large, full length windows on the opposite side of the bed which was situated just beside the door. She squinted and tried to focus on the stranger, and was surprised to find it was her friend, Sylvia.
"Sylvia?" she mumbled. The person half turned and flashed that familiar smile at her. "What in the world are you doing in here?" Amanda glanced at the clock and noted the time to be passed one o'clock. Sylvia walked over to the bed and sat down close beside her.
"I just thought I heard a noise in here, that's all. Then I saw something in the window, or at least I thought I did." Her friend bit her lip, and then shook her head. The peppy smile returned to her face. "Guess I was mistaken, but what are you doing awake? I thought I'd snuck in here quiet enough to not wake you."
"It's just, well, I don't know. I guess I've been a light sleeper lately."
"Really?"
Amanda suddenly noticed she was leaning as far back away from her friend as she could manage. There was something not quite right about her smile, something Amanda didn't like.
"Yeah, you know, just nightmares and stuff."
"Nightmares?" Sylvia slipped her legs onto the bed and Amanda quickly slid out of the covers. She moved to the opposite side of the king size bed. "I hope all of your dreams haven't been so unpleasant." Amanda frowned at the phrases her friend just used. Those didn't sound like something she would say.
"Is everything all right?" Amanda asked her companion. Sylvia still had that smile on her lips, but she swore it grew wider than was physically possible. Then Sylvia started to crawl over to her, and Amanda felt herself mesmerized by the languid movements and cooing tone.
"Nothing's wrong, my dear friend, but I am worried about you. You've been under such stress lately that I'm afraid you're going to break under it." Sylvia was only a foot away from her now, and her bright eyes scared her hostess.
"What would you know about it?" Amanda glanced back to see how much room she had before she fell off the bed, and Sylvia took that moment to jump on her. The guest pinned her hostess down onto the mattress and sat atop her squirming kicking legs. "Get off me! What the hell are you doing?"
"Come come, dear friend, perhaps you've already guessed." Amanda's eyes widened when behind her friend arose a few small, loose tentacles. "Now that's better. No sense keeping you in the dark for so long."
"B-but I got rid of you! Tony took that rock with him and the other one was-"
"Useless? Not quite." The phantasm lowered her head so their noses almost touched. Her voice was thick and silky, and Amanda cursed her quickened breath. "Your cut healed quite nicely, didn't it? We're glad to see it did, for it will make the process oh so much simpler."
"What? What about that cut?" Amanda tried to buck off the thing, but the harder she tried the heavier it became.
"What? Not liking me sitting atop you like this?" The creature glanced down at her form, and thought for a moment before her eyes widened in glee. "Would you prefer this form?" the phantasm asked her. Amanda shrunk back as much as she could manage when the form of her friend melted away to reveal Tony's face staring at her. She was repulsed by this shape-shifting demon atop her, and the creature noticed her glare. "Not quite what you were looking for?" His voice was low and sultry. Amanda flinched when she felt his hand glide up her bare leg and stop on her thigh.
"I don't like either of these. Why are you doing this to me at all? What did I do wrong?"
"Wrong?" The thing's face twisted into some semblance of confusion. "You've done nothing wrong."
"Then why are you torturing me like this? Why are you changing into people I know and don't know, and making them do these things? Is this even real? Am I stuck in a dream again, or are you going to make this into another nightmare?" Amanda felt so frustrated by this thing's multiple, conflicting personalities, both physical and emotional. One moment they were in one body speaking in terrifying riddles, and the next the creature was another person entirely and trying its hardest to sooth her frayed nerves. This was just too much to handle. She tried to pull her hands free from the thing's grasp but he held on tightly to her wrists. "If I've done nothing wrong, than you should let me go."
"But you'll run away, won't you? So many of them ran, or tried to. They never made it far." The thing's words made Amanda shudder. Though they were cloaked in a mild, even tone, she was reminded of the madness of the Professor Ward phantasm and his rants about her importance to the creature. These were the ravings of something not quite stable in the mind.
"I won't run away, I promise." She'd try to saunter if she could, but she wasn't above lying to get out of this mess. "Please just let me go."
He leaned down with that familiar face, and Amanda turned her head to the side. She shut her eyes and shuddered when a cool breath of air washed over her cheek. The creature was making a mockery of breathing, but there were no lungs to push the air out nor any body heat to warm it. It was as though something from the grave was trying to imitate lif
e long after it'd forgotten what it meant to live.
"So full of life, and yet not." The creature moved in closer, their nose brushing against the skin of her neck. She shuddered at the cold feeling of their flesh, another pale imitation of the living, breathing man she knew and loved. "Something's wrong with you, but we can fix it. It will be such a little task, and that cut has already started the process."
"Fix it? What's it?" The thing didn't verbally reply, but instead his eyes traveled down her body to her stomach. She felt as though his intense, steady gaze had undressed her and she was naked before him. There wasn't anything she could hide. Amanda followed where his eyes lay, and her own opened when she realized what he meant. "My barrenness?"
"You're barren, like us." Amanda was grateful when he freed one of her hands to reach out and lay his own palm down onto her flat stomach. She flinched when she felt the cold from his icy fingers travel through her thin nightshirt. Her skin trembled and shivered at his touch. He tilted his head while his hand began to move in a slow, circular pattern along her belly. Amanda's heart beat faster and her chest moved up and down. He smiled at her reaction to his mere touch. "There's so much we can give each other, so much to offer. First, though, this must be fixed. Think of the joy we'll both feel when we've accomplished the change, the rapture of becoming one and creating something new!"
At his exuberant comment Amanda froze and she blinked. Becoming one. Those words were the most ominous to her ears. The creature noticed her stiffness and his brows furrowed in disappointment and a hint of frustration. His lips thinned into a scowl and he leaned closer over the full length of her body. Her freed hand bunched up into a fist, and when he was close enough she swung it up to hit him in the cheek.
The blow was well-aimed and connected squarely with his jaw. His head moved a few inches to his left, but for the most part he absorbed the full force of the hit. Then for a moment time stopped, and both of them stuck in their own positions. Amanda lay there on the bed with her fist still pressed against his cheek, and the doppelganger hovering over her. His face was a picture of shock, disappointment, and that madness hidden just beneath the surface.