"I'm missing an eye!"
Orion tried not to panic, but he found that exceedingly difficult when he was seeing his own eye plastered onto the face of a monster. Orion felt the area that his eye should've been, and felt nothing but flat skin.
Andrea was holding off the beast, her wrapped fists raised up to her chin. The beast took no stance, simply standing calmly. It looked around the room, as though adjusting to its newly found organ.
"Orion, what the hell happened!?" Andrea questioned without turning to him. He fumbled for an answer.
"It…it has my eye." He said, the words coming out slowly and coated in fear.
"Well you ain't gonna get it back by sitting there, go grab that knife and get to work!"
That pulled Orion out of his daze. She was right, he needed to help. He had left his knife in his bedroom, so he quickly got on his feet and dashed to retrieve it. He heard sounds of fists striking porcelain behind him as he left.
When he grabbed the knife, he heard Andrea scream. Orion felt his stomach drop. He turned on his heels and charged back into the main room.
He found Andrea in the same position he had been in, with the beasts hands wrapped around her head. He lunged at the monster, knife raised in the air. Before he could strike, the monster lept back.
Andrea fell to the ground, panting.
"You alright?" Orion asked.
No answer. He looked down, and found something horrible.
Her ears were missing. Both of them. When he looked back up at the beast, it was wearing his eye and her ears. It was collecting parts of them, as though trying to complete itself. It was horrifying, so much worse than the Moss Shambler.
Would he be able to get his eye back? And what about Andrea's ears? Was she permanently deaf now? The monster clearly wasn't done with them either. It stood silently, but Orion knew it was ready for an attack at any moment.
He raised his knife defensively. Andrea stood up beside him, feeling for her ears. He could see the panic spreading across her face. It was the first time he had seen her afraid. He turned back to the monster. He needed to end this, and fast.
Orion started looking for weak points on the beast. There were no obvious cracks in the porcelain, aside from the small one Andrea had made in its now disfigured faceplate, but that was most likely too small to take advantage of.
Orion though about the gaps where the copper mechanisms were exposed underneath the porcelain. It might work, but he could also risk snapping his blade if it were to get caught between two moving parts.
Orion felt sweat building on his forehead. The beast had no obvious weak spots, so Orion would have to brute strength his way through.
He charged forward, keeping his blade up in a defensive stance. The beast leaped forward, one hand grabbing his wrist and the other shooting for his head. Orion ducked down, allowing the hand to pass over his head. He couldn't move the knife, so he would need to find a new weapon.
He brought his foot up, and slammed it into the bests stomach. It rang hollow, but the beast did stumble backwards, and it freed his wrist. Orion used the beasts lack of balance to his advantage. He quickly slashed downward with his blade, trying to put as much force into the swing as possible. The blade hit the top of the beasts head, and a crack shot down through the porcelain. Still not large enough to really be used, but it was a start.
The beast charged forward, spear tackling Orion at the waist. He attempted to break free, but the beast was simply too strong. He was on the floor in a second, the impact knocking the breath out of his lungs. He felt it in his side, and a sharp jolt of pain rang through his flesh.
The beast reached for the knife with one hand, and grabbed his neck with the other. It squeezed his neck with shocking strength, and Orion found he couldn't breath. He tried to struggle against the monster, but it was no use. He was pinned down.
That was when Andrea broke out of her daze.
A booted foot found the beasts head, and the pressure on Orions neck lessened as the beast was sent off of him. He coughed and ached, rolling onto his good side and holding his bad one. It felt as though every cell in his body was being burned. He closed his one eye.
[NEXT EVENT: 49:32]
"This is really bad timing!"
Orion stood slowly and looked up. Andrea was weaving past the beasts assaults, her fists up and feet bouncing. She looked every part the pro boxer in that moment. Her eyes were focused, locked onto her opponent with fierce determination.
The face stealer had become more offensive, attempting to catch Andrea and take whatever else it could from her. She was already missing both her ears. Losing an eye would put her at a serious disadvantage.
Or what if Orion lost his other eye? Would he ever get his sight back?
He pushed the feeling of panic down. He needed to kill this thing. Quickly. Orion charger forward. The Face Stealer had its back to Orion, leaving it open to an assault. That's when Orion noticed something.
A crack in the Beasts back. It was different from the one Andrea had made in its faceplate. This one had a dark outline. As though something had burned it. The porcelain looked weaker there.
"A natural weak spot, just like the Shamblers spine! If I can just hit that-"
The Face Stealer suddenly turned on its heel and launched a foot into Orions stomach. He doubled over in pain, the air being knocked from his lungs. Before he could do anything else, he felt a hand grab the back of his head.
His face was suddenly slammed into the floor, Orion screamed in pain, feeling blood rush out of his bruised and sore nose. It might've been broken, Orion couldn't tell. He had lost his knife at some point, and the will to stand up.
He heard Andrea hit the beast, another hollow sound of porcelain cracking echoed through the apartment. Orion grabbed at his nose, feeling blood drip onto his palms.
"Orion!" Andrea pleaded, a little too loud. Without ears, it would be hard to regulate her volume. Orion looked up.
The Face Stealer had its hands nearly around Andrea's head. She was holding it back only barely. She needed help. Orion pulled himself to his feet and rushed forward. The beast knew he was coming, and it would inevitably hit him again. Orion was really starting to hate being hit. He needed a new strategy.
Or, he needed Andrea.
She noticed the beasts attention diverted, and she took the chance to strike. She raised a foot and slammed it into the Face Stealers knee. It didn't seem hurt, but it's leg buckled under the pressure. Suddenly, Andrea had the high ground, and the beast was surrounded.
She freed a hand, and slammed it into the beasts face once again. The porcelain was becoming more and more damaged, and small chips of the plate were beginning to fall off.
Orion took the chance to strike, diving at the beasts back. He slammed his fist into the darkened crack, and pain instantly flared in his knuckles.
"How the hell does Andrea do this?!"
But it worked. The crack grew exponentially, expanding nearly all the way up the beasts spine. It panicked. Orion barely had time to block the elbow that came his way. The force of the attack still sent him flying backwards. When he looked up, The beast had grabbed Andrea by the collar and had managed to flip her onto her back with ferocious speed. Andrea grunted with pain.
The beast ran, launching itself towards the apartments door. It was trying to escape. This would've been good news, but it still had Orions eye and Andrea's ears.
"We have to catch it!"
"What!" Andrea yelled, Orion winced at the volume. He motioned for Andrea to follow him. He stood up, running towards the door.
"Wait!" Andrea yelled again. Orion turned to find her standing behind him, butchers knife in hand. He had nearly forgotten about it. He nodded a quick thanks, and set off into the hallway with Andrea behind him. Orion closed his eyes.
[NEXT EVENT:47:43]
"Let's be fast about this…"