Danielle locked the studio door behind her.&nbsp; The echo of the bolt sliding into place sounded more heavy tonight than ever before. Shoe stood alone beneath the cold fluorescent lights, her thin reflection stretched and flickered in the mirrored walls like a ghost mimicking her movements. She pressed her trembling fingertips against her ribs, counting them beneath skin stretched too tight. Hunger had hollowed her out. Her ballet shoes sat in the centre of the floor, waiting. They weren’t the standard pale pink satin anymore. Weeks of rehearsals had soaked them in sweat and blood, staining them the colour of raw meat. The toes were cracked at the seams from the constant work and grinding bones in her feet.&nbsp; Danielle dropped to her knees beside them and opened the medical kit she had stolen. Her fingers trembled as she pulled out the needle, a gleaming fish hook in the harsh light. Next came the spool of silk thread, red like her arteries.&nbsp; The first stitch went through the arch of her left foot.&nbsp; She pressed the needle against the skin, just beneath the thin veins. The needle slid into her like fresh butter. Her vision prickled at the edges, darkness bloomed in patterns.&nbsp; Danielle pulled the needle through with soaking hands. The thread followed slick and wet and warm with blood. She tugged until the silk ribbon was against her foot, cinching the ballet slipper in place.&nbsp; Danielle gasped as the needle scraped against bone.&nbsp; Her lips split into a grin so wide it tore at the corners.&nbsp; The ribbons of her ballet shoes wrapped around her ankles as she stitched them into her skin. She weaved the silk into her flesh like embroidery. Blood trickled down her heels, painting the floor in crimson liquid&nbsp; Moving onto her next foot, her hands were slippery&nbsp;but every incision brought her closer to perfection. She laced her toes together with thread and needle until they pointed unnaturally straight. Blood swelled in her slippers, saturating the ribbons.&nbsp; When both shoes were fully attached, her shoes became an extension of her. She sat back trembling at her reflection in the mirror telling her to go further.&nbsp; She threaded the needle against her upper chest through the soft, delicate skin above her heart and between her rib cage. Her flesh screamed beneath the needle's sharp touch. Her breath was heavy and ragged with sobs as she sagged against the mirror.&nbsp; Suddenly music began playing.&nbsp; It was her cue.&nbsp; She pushed herself upwards, her feet dragged behind her as she raised her hands and began to dance. Her pirouettes left streaks of blood, pulling at her flesh like slicing into a butcher's knife. The ribbons cinched tighter, slicing new patterns into her skin.&nbsp; She laughed, blood on her teeth. The performance had just begun.&nbsp; *** Danielle woke up face down in a puddle of blood.&nbsp; Her stitched feet twitched against the floor, her pulse weak. The ribbons fused with her flesh like scar tissue. She could feel the pull of thread inside her body, tugging against her tendons. Her breathing was shallow, ribs fluttering like birds trapped in her ribcage. She pressed her hand against her chest and felt something wriggle beneath the surface like the ribbons and thread had rooted into her lungs.&nbsp; Danielle coughed as pink thread spilled from her lips.&nbsp; The mirrors watched her crawl leaving a trace of blood as the ribbons writhed like worms. She once more grabbed the needle and thread adding more ribbons to her arms.&nbsp;The needle sliced through many layers of skin, her flesh unfolding like the ribbons itself.&nbsp; Her fingers were working faster now, craving new gaping wounds in her skin. She spread the flesh like flower petals.&nbsp;Her muscles twitched without permission. The reflection in the mirror cheered her on.&nbsp; Next Danielle reached down with her mutilated hands and pressed a scalpel on her lower abdomen. The thread slipped inside, revealing her organs that were moving and pulsing without her consent. Danielle laughed as she clutched her intestines like ribbons wanting to tie them into bows.&nbsp; A voice bled into her ears, “What have you done?” Danielle stopped.&nbsp; Danielle cocked her head, ribbons swaying from her arms, and ankles as her intestines shifted weakly against her waist. She couldn’t speak due to the thread reaching her throat.&nbsp; “Brilliant.” Nico whispered, approaching her.&nbsp; He stood beside her, resting his arm against her own as he gathered the thread and needle from her hands. He then proceeded to thread his own flesh, attaching his arms to Danielle’s. The ribbons withered inside of Danielle urging Nico on.&nbsp; The ribbons were a part of Danielle, but not Nico. Nico struggled sewing his arms but finally managed to attach himself to Danielle. Her body jolted violently, spasming rattled her bones as the ribbons tightened. The ribbons danced, coming alive as an extension of her limbs. But the materials were just merely ribbons to Nico.&nbsp; Nico’s body was resisting the ribbons and almost collapsed onto Danielle, grabbing the ribbons sewed into her belly. He twiddled the fabric between his fingertips and pulled but the fabric nestled deeper inside her.&nbsp; The ribbons in her legs spasmed, jerking her body upright like she was a marionette. Nico moved with her as her feet carried her to pirouette on broken ankles, along with her intestines dragging behind her. Her throat was still swollen from the thread spilling from her lips.&nbsp; Nico’s limbs tried to keep up with Danielle’s dancing but every step for him he was closer to death. The ribbons reacted, wrapping around his wrists and sliced into his skin.&nbsp; Danielle leaned in and pressed her gaping mouth on his,&nbsp;as a scream died out in his throat. The ribbons poured into him, sliding down his mouth, forcing themselves into his chest. He gagged, convulsing as silk slithered in his lungs, veins and threading him from the inside out. Blood spurred from his eyes and ears, his body arched violently cracking and tearing.&nbsp; Danielle clung to him, kissing him with torn lips, feeding him her ribbons.&nbsp; Nico’s body began to stitch itself shut. Thread travelled past his knees to his legs cinching his flesh together, forcing his bones into an unnatural alignment. He slumped on Danielle trembling as she stroked his cheek with her mutilated hands.&nbsp; “I’ll keep you dancing.” She finally managed to say around the fabric.&nbsp; Danielle’s body wasn’t hers anymore. It was hard to tell where Danielle began and where Nico ended.&nbsp; Danielle danced to the point where her feet were about to fall off but a determined Nico kept her on her broken toes. They played a game of tug and war due to their fused, attached torsos by needle and thread. Danielle pulsed when Nico trembled, “I can feel you.”&nbsp; “I know.”&nbsp; Nico traced the threads sewn on her legs, torsos and parts of their arms. His words vibrated as if they came from Danielle’s throat. Their torsos rippled together. Danielle’s stomach clenched as she heaved nothing but blood. The crimson liquid oozed from her sore lips, trickling down her chin.&nbsp; “We’re changing.” Nico said, tasting blood.&nbsp; Danielle’s stomach lurched as she doubled over. She felt her intestines knot and twist as a loose thread pulled from their shared skin. Her insides were rearranging themselves.&nbsp; “We’re becoming one.” Danielle’s vision blurred once again as their flesh intertwined.&nbsp; She tore her arm from Nico’s, pulling loose threads in the process as they separated in some sections of their shared body.&nbsp; “Danielle?” Nico said. “Something’s moving.”&nbsp; The ribbons that were sewn into their flesh were moving inside them like a rotting parasite. “It wants us whole.”&nbsp; “I’m hungry.’ Danielle said as if her body was hollow inside.&nbsp; Nico offered his hands as she chewed on the flesh of his fingertips.&nbsp; “I need more…”&nbsp;

Chapter One 

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Devour

SarahPincente

Sarah Pincente

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