Truth or Consequences

Maya gasped in disgust and pulled out her knife.

Paul, still huddled before the toilet, felt his tentacles wrap themselves around his waist as if to protect him.

"Maya?" Paul asked.  Maya didn't lower her knife.

"Jesus, Paul, what--"

"--I was hoping you'd know," Paul said.  "I just woke up and...they were there."

Without taking her eyes off Paul, Maya moved over toward his bed and pulled off the thin blanket.  She tossed it to him, and he covered himself with it.

"I don't know what this is," Maya said.  "I've never seen anything like this before."

Paul stared into her eyes.  Maya averted her gaze and lowered her knife slightly.

His dream.  Something

(Tal'Shen)

had warned him about Maya.

But it had just been a dream.  Hadn't it?

"The Proxitol isn't working on you anymore," Maya finally said.

"Tell me something I don't bloody well know!" Paul said, his tentacles unwrapping themselves from around his waist.  They moved up, spreading above his shoulders.  The blanket was draped between them, giving Paul the illusion of having wings.

"This shouldn't be happening," Maya said, more to herself than to Paul.

"For Christ's sake, give me a straight answer!" Paul said.  The blanket slipped from his shoulders.  His tentacles reached out to Maya, knocking the knife out of her hand and wrapping themselves around her wrists.

"I don't know!" Maya cried.

"Stop lying!  You know more than you're telling me."

Maya kicked out at Paul, but the tentacles held her too far away.  She opened her mouth to scream, and Paul shook her hard enough that her head snapped back, causing her to bite down on her tongue.

"Go on and scream," Paul said.  "Imagine what I'd do to you before anybody even got here.  Now tell me what the hell is going on."

"I...I've already told you," Maya said.  A small glaze of blood coated her lower lip from where she'd bitten her tongue.  "The Proxitol should--"

"--no, enough," Paul said.  "You've been pumping me full of God knows what long enough. Tell me what's really happening."

"I can't."

"I'll make you," Paul said as one tentacle darted up to Maya's mouth and forced its way inside.  He could feel her jaw quivering, straining under the pressure.

Paul pushed deeper.