Red Ivy

o the sodden earth, ankle-deep in clotted mud and greasy, crimson-stained vines. Rain still slashed through the

puty Rourke knelt with a battered spade. Her jaw w

e scraped away sodden ivy to reveal a tiny, bloo

rolled. "Whe

a twisted tangle of ivy vines that coiled around a rotted boot and a blackened sock. With a final grunt, she flipped the soil exposing Bella Gra

ay earth in the socket. Her tongue lolled from between cracked lips, knotted with i

crow's feather drifted down onto Bella'

nd backed away. "I

Vex hissed. She retr

pulsed, as though feeding. He touched one gingerly. It writhed i

manic laugh in the dark crashed through him. He looked up at the rotten metal box Rourk

outh frozen in silent horror, a black feather pressed to her tem

on the Polaroid. The image smudg

d inward, organs sucked out by the roots, seemed to twitch as ivy

d into his radio. "And hazmat.

ed fat. The muddy grave sat open, a chasm of earth and w

been underground for hours, her flesh was pristine-pale as porcelain-with no odor of decay

g fluid welled up-half-blood, half-plant sap. It hi

he fluid with a swab. "Accelerates ce

skin fusing as though time itself had reversed. A recent gash at her

ea. "Her throat incisio

ile rise.

w. "At a cellular level. This p

lay unnaturally intact, vines curl

rrounded by humming centrifuges and bubbling test tubes. He tappe

coroner's prelimi

tissue regeneration and plant integration. Exposure

oven with ivy roots, tissue both decayed and newly sprouted. Eyelashes h

on his phone from

CANNOT BE

the room. It shattered, s

ent of darkness, he heard it: a soft,

to his face. Almost inhaled the scent of

awled throug

EM WHAT

Lena's final plea. He stumbled o

he passed a dead potted plant its leaves black

ened. And it would not stop until it