The Parasite

It was night by the time Sunset arrived at her hotel near the coast. She found a parking spot, put the roof up, then gathered her bags and got out. Carnage receded under her skin as she walked toward the front doors. He had spent the majority of the drive stretched out of her, listening to music and occasionally singing along but otherwise just watching their surroundings, lost in his own thoughts that Sunset wasn't able to hear. Which was fine, as she had plenty to think about herself. She yawned as she walked into the lobby, already looking forward to going to sleep.

She greeted the lady at the counter and got out her debit card, passing it over and waiting while the other looked up her reservation.

“Let's see... Sunset Shimmer, room for six nights?” she asked.

“Yeah, that's me.”

“Okay, you won't have to pay until checkout, but we do need to put a hold on your card of about $1000.”

Sunset had been saving up for this trip, so she agreed to the hold, signing the paperwork and passing it back. The front desk agent finished checking her in, giving her a sleeve with two room keys in it. “Your room is going to be 312, it's on the third floor, you can take the elevator right over there. We have Wi-Fi, the password is in here.” She flipped open the sleeve to show the password written inside. “Feel free to call down to the front desk if you have any problems with your room. Enjoy your stay!”

“Thanks!” Sunset pocketed the cards and picked her bags back up, heading for the elevator. Okay, that was painless, now let's check out this room.

You got one with a beach view, didn't you?

Yep. Sunset tapped the up arrow and waited. Even though it was late, people still occasionally came in and out, some even in bathing suits. But she supposed the beach never closed, it just didn't have lifeguards after a certain hour. The elevator made it down to her after about a minute, and she waited for people to exit it before getting on, clicking the button for the third floor. There were six floors in all and nearly all the rooms were booked last time she checked the website. It was a popular place, especially during this time of year.

Sunset tapped her foot as the elevator rose, listening to the muzak playing softly. The elevator stopped at the second floor, the doors opening to someone waiting there in their pajamas. The person blinked and gestured downward, and Sunset shook her head. “Sorry, going up.”

“Oh, sorry.” The other tapped the down button and kept waiting.

Sunset chuckled once the doors closed. That person looked tired. Probably running down to the lobby for something, it had looked like there was a small convenience store selling snacks, drinks, and toiletries near the front desk.

A couple more seconds and then they were at the third floor. Sunset wasted no time getting to her room, scanning one of the keys and letting herself in. She locked the door behind her and stepped further into the room, looking around. It was nice, with a king-sized bed and a large window with the curtains currently open. There was a dresser with a large TV, a couch, and an armchair, along with a desk over in the corner. She had chosen to get a room without a full kitchen to save money, but this one still had a refrigerator and microwave.

She opened the fridge to check the storage space, and felt a longing to buy alcohol, but she wasn't old enough by this world's standards. Sometimes she really missed being a mare back in Equestria, where she was more than old enough to buy alcohol.

You should have gone through the portal before we left. Bought some booze, brought it back. Though we could also just steal some...

I'm no thief. Sunset closed the fridge and went to drop her stuff next to the bed.

Carnage stretched out of her, giving her a bemused stare. “You're not above murder, but you draw the line at stealing?”

“Well...” Sunset considered it, then shook her head. “I don't need drinks that badly. And I couldn't have bought any in Equestria because I don't have bits. All my money is Earth money, it won't work there. And trust me, it doesn't change going between the worlds, I've checked.”

“Oh, I'm aware.” Carnage knew that from when he and Light Touch had come over.

“I can wait a few more years until I'm considered old enough by human standards to drink. It's fine. I just kinda miss it sometimes.” Sunset checked the view out the window. It looked out toward the beach, but she couldn't see very far in the dark. There were very few lights out that way. She'll just have to enjoy the view in the morning. She pulled the curtains shut and went to get her laptop bag, setting it on the desk and taking her laptop out. She didn't turn it on, just plugging it in and leaving it there to charge. She sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her shoes off. “So, were you planning on hunting tonight?”

“Yes. I'm quite hungry. So go to sleep, and as soon as you're out, I'll go do my thing. You won't notice anything.”

“Alright, just watch out for cameras, a place this fancy has got to have them and we're in a popular coastal city.”

“I'm always mindful of cameras. Don't worry. I won't get us caught.”

Sunset nodded and pulled over her suitcase, taking out her phone charger. Once she had her phone plugged in and sitting on the nightstand, she got in bed and pulled a couple of the pillows under her head. They were very soft, much softer than the ones she had back in her dorm room. The covers were heavy and warm, and the room was peacefully quiet. She drifted off to sleep quickly, looking forward to tomorrow.

Carnage went back under Sunset's skin and waited patiently as she fell asleep, helping her along with a few doses of different hormones, until he felt her enter her sleep cycle. He exerted his will over her mind to keep her under, then took hold of her nerves and opened their eyes. He saw the world through her weak eyesight, and though he was familiar with it, it still made him scoff. Luckily he still had the full use of his own senses even like this. He got up, taking a few steps near the bed as he monitored Sunset's brain waves. Though her body was being moved and her eyes were even open, she remained completely unaware. Just how he wanted it.

Finally, he had the freedom to act without her thoughts nagging at him, insisting he abide by her conscience instead of letting him use his own judgment on who deserved to die. He picked up one of the keys to the room and slipped it in a pocket, then jogged out without grabbing anything else. He didn't even put shoes on. None of that would be necessary.

He took the stairs down rather than wait for an elevator, and once he was outside, he found a place to hide under cover of darkness and transformed, letting his skin surge out, wrapping around the pathetic human body and giving him the form he much preferred. Sleek, muscular, fully symbiote. He whipped his tendrils out of his back, forming the ends into sharp hooks, and let them trail behind him as he took off running. Sunset would want him to report back to her on who he killed once she woke up in the morning. That was fine, he would have a kill to show her. But he was going to have some fun of his own too. He had all night.

He traveled into the downtown area of the city, seeking out a cult leader who had been recently added to their list when Sunset was first researching where she wanted to stay during their vacation. The cult leader was a very charismatic woman who manipulated her followers into staying within a compound she had built with the church at its center, taking their entire paychecks and most of their belongings away and forcing them into small houses, often rooming them with other members of the cult. She insisted they must let go of material attachments. Give everything up to the church, and they will receive a better, glorious afterlife. They must not speak to or trust outsiders. She had the truth, and those who did not listen would suffer.

Standard religious fare, in Carnage's opinion. But Sunset was incensed by the way the most desperate people in the area were taken advantage of by the cult leader, fed all these promises and being lured in just so she could take what little they had left.

The leader herself didn't live in her own compound, of course. She had a nice apartment in the city, paid for by donations from her flock and supposedly well-secured. Top floor of the building, apartment could only be accessed from the inside and the doors were all locked at night, security cameras, the works. All irrelevant to Carnage.

He knew from Sunset's research what building it was. He made his way there, breaking in through the wall and seeking out the housing office. No one was working, but there were a few people down in the lobby of the building, mingling with other residents and talking. They all quickly fled the building as soon as Carnage tore through the room. There were signs pointing the way to the administrative area, and he went there, going through filing cabinets until he found a familiar name. Gold Wishes. That was her.

Carnage checked the room number and then shoved the folder back into the cabinet, sprinting out. It was mostly quiet as he found the nearest stairwell and began vaulting up the floors, and he wondered if the people downstairs were going to contact the police. He hoped they did. He was in the mood for a full buffet tonight.

He was on the top floor when he heard the fire alarms go off. He groaned and clamped his hands against his head at the high-pitched whining, and to make matters worse, humans were opening their doors and looking around, seeming more confused than worried. At least, until they saw him.

“GO!” he screamed at them, and they screamed in response, fleeing. Carnage growled and ran through the crowd, finding his target. Gold Wishes hadn't yet left her apartment from what he could see, and when he tried the door, it was locked. One swing of his fist later and he was bashing the lock out, the door opening. He walked in and was immediately confronted with the end of a double-barrel shotgun, his target at the other end of it.

“Get out!” she yelled at him, finger tightening in the trigger well. She jabbed the barrels against his chest. “Get out, demon!”

“Ms. Wishes,” he said, gripping the gun in a hand and crushing it. She yelped and pulled the trigger, and it kicked, but no shells left it. Carnage tore the gun away and threw it aside, then advanced on her. She hurried backward, then tripped on the hem of her own nightgown and fell onto her back, where she scrambled clumsily away. “Trying to run? Oh it's so fun when humans try to run.” He slammed a tendril through her stomach. It tore through easily and she gagged, body convulsing and a shriek escaping her from the pain.

Blood welled up hot and thick around the tendril and she grabbed it, trying to pull it away. “N-no, get away, help!”

“No one is coming to help you. You've been preying on the weak for a long time now, haven't you, Gold Wishes? I can admire that. But now, it's time for you to become the prey.” Carnage watched as she thrashed against his grip, continuing to scream for help. He knew that no one was stopping to help. They had all fled downstairs in response to the fire alarm as well as his presence. “Struggle all you like. It will only make this more painful.” He liked being able to do this entirely his way. He liked seeing his prey squirm and exhaust themselves. He adored the way that defiance in their eyes inevitably made way to fearful realization and finally acceptance of their fate. As they realized they were going to die to one far stronger than they could ever hope to be. He savored the expressions the other made as she went through the same realization, and she eventually started pleading with him instead.

“I'm not like those pawns you command from your pulpit,” he snarled at her, the scorn in his voice shutting her up. “You have nothing to use against me. You do not scare me. And you have nothing to offer me. Except for your very body, your flesh and blood, your organs, which will become my fuel. Do you believe those things you preached about, Ms. Wishes? Then you better start praying, right now, and hope they come true.” He gave her a few moments to close her eyes and tearfully pray for someone, anyone to save her. And then he ripped into her body with both hands, sinking his claws deep into her chest to yank out her heart and lungs. Only when she cried out and opened her eyes to look at him once more did he bite down on her head, crushing her skull with a satisfying pop.

He ate messily from his kill, taking his time since he didn't have his host urging him to get a move on. Even when he heard the sound of fire engines and police cars pulling up outside, he didn't hurry, just shoveling another heaping mass of guts into his maw.

Then he heard doors slam, people talking urgently, and footsteps began rushing up the stairs. Oh, again with this? Shouldn't they know by now that they couldn't stop him?

Carnage stood, picking the mangled remains of Gold up in a hand as he turned back to the door. As soon as the first police officer came into view, he flashed a wide, savage grin and held the body up over his mouth, twisting it so blood poured out onto his face and dripped down to the floor.

The officer covered his mouth and stumbled back, turning away to retch. Many of the others did too when they looked through the door and saw what was happening, and Carnage tossed the corpse down, licking his face off and bounding forward. He dove onto the nearest officer, taking off the top half of his body in his eagerness for fresh meat. Then he attacked a second, then a third. Only when they all got the message and retreated did he leave, running back into Gold's apartment and crossing to the door on the other side. He broke it down and found that it led out onto a balcony. Perfect. He scaled the wall up onto the roof and ran across it, checking his surroundings closely. No one was up here with him and he didn't see any helicopters. His acute hearing informed him that the building was surrounded, but that was no problem for him. He dropped onto all fours and sprinted to the edge of the roof, soaring off it and rolling as he landed on the building next to it. He kept running, jumping from roof to roof far too fast for anyone on the ground to keep track of him, and as soon as he was far enough away from the scene of the attack, he found an alleyway between two closed businesses to drop into. He chuckled to himself as he reflected on the attack. He almost wished someone would put up a decent fight, but these humans were pathetic. This planet was just asking to be conquered by him and his spawn.

“Whoa, dude,” a voice said nearby.

Carnage spun around and saw a middle-aged human sitting nearby, leaning against the wall and dressed in old, dirty clothes. It was immediately apparent that the other was homeless, and judging from the unfocused way he looked at him, possibly drunk or under the influence of a drug. “What are you looking at?” Carnage snapped at him.

The man blinked slowly, and his voice slurred as he said, “Are you a monster?”

“Something like that. Go to sleep, filthy creature.” Carnage made his way to the opening to the alley and looked around, deciding who he wanted to go after next.

“Hey, come on, I'm just trying to survive over here, man, you don't gotta shit all over me like everyone else does.”

Carnage decided who his next snack would be. He turned around and marched back toward the other, who shrank back and fumbled around through the bag next to him before taking out a knife. “G-get away, don't make me hurt you!”

“That's cute. What was that about trying to survive?” Carnage scooped him up with one hand, and when the other tried to plunge the knife into his face, it barely sank in. “Because you're not doing a very good job of it.” He used his other hand to brush the knife aside, then consumed the human before he could say another word.

The taste that hit his tongue verified his suspicion that his prey was inebriated. No matter. The toxins were nowhere near enough to harm him. As he finished off the last of the man, it occurred to him that there were individuals like this all over the place. Alone, with little or no defenses, who likely wouldn't be missed. Easy prey. Sunset wouldn't approve. But, if he did this right, Sunset would never find out.

He smiled and turned to climb back up the building, staying low as he traveled through the city in search of more food. This was going to be a wonderful week.