Always Cook Your Nuts

“I’m telling you guys that’s not going to work,” Tara said. She watched as the guys kneeled on the ground beside the tire and used an air pump that looked older than the dark, moldy trees around them.

“We’re putting air in the tire and sealing it with Gorilla tape. The tire should be fine.” Bobby said.

“Is that why the tape has popped off twice already while we pump it?” Clyde said.

“Shut up. I’m using more than one piece this time,” Bobby said.

Sally shook her head, her arms crossed tight around her chest. She was annoyed with Bobby’s mechanical antics and with herself.

Sally said, “Guys, I really appreciate you wanting to come up here with me for this, but honestly, maybe it’s better if I hike the rest of the way myself. If I jog up the hills, I can make it back before it gets dark.”

“You’re not going up these creepy hills yourself. Are you nuts? We already got two creeps down here. Who knows if there are any more lurking in those woods waiting to attack some hot blonde like you?” Tara said.

Bobby and Clyde stuck up their middle fingers at Tara. She smiled and flicked her hip seductively towards them.

“Oh, come on, you two only wanted to come up here since you’d be alone with two hot girls in the woods,” Tara said.

“We all loved Sally’s mom. Spreading her ashes on the hill where Sally’s dad proposed meant a lot to Mama Sals,” said Bobby.

“You folks alright?” someone said from the woods.

The friends jumped in surprise at a tall, frail woman with a big-gutted younger man.

“Howdy, my name is Mrs. Guts,” the woman said with a smile full of broken teeth. “This here is my son, Darrel. You folks need any help?”

“A spare tire would be nice,” Sally said. “You wouldn’t happen to have one, would you?”

“I’m afraid not, sweetheart. Y’all are more than welcome to leave it parked out here on the side. Hardly anyone else drives through here these days. I got a landline back at my family’s home, y’all can use to call a tow.” Mrs. Guts said.

Clyde looked surprised as his eyes lifted toward his hairline, “You have a landline out here?”

“It’s an old house, dear, come on.” The idea of accepting help from strangers didn’t please Sally. The group of friends graciously followed the family back to the house.

Entering, the friends were not pleased with how the house looked or smelled.

Sally caught sight of a bowl of nuts on the table. They were dark and covered in white flakes. She hadn’t eaten breakfast and needed something inside of her. She grabbed a couple of nuts, flicked them into her mouth, and chomped down on the salty, slimy goodness.

“You kids enjoy what’s left of dinner at the table with my husband and boy,” Mrs. Guts pointed. “Sally, I’ll show you that landline.”

An older gentleman in dark overalls with a big gut like Darrel’s sat at the table and shoved something fatty and pink into his mouth.

“Howdy, kids, my boy noticed you out by the road when he was taking out the trash. The Mrs. here and my boy wanted to make sure you all were alright. It wasn’t an accident, was it?” Mr. Guts said.

“No, sir, we busted a wheel on those rough roads,” Tara said.

Sally remembered their first week of college and how reclusive Tara was. Tara still had her abusive boyfriend from high school. It took forever for Sally and the others to make Tara realize she should leave him. Bobby and Clyde showed a rare moment of acting macho and kicking that asshole’s ass when he wouldn’t leave Tara alone.

“Be nice, they’re being helpful,” Sally whispered.

“You’re the one who taught me to always be on my guard for monsters,” Tara said.

Sally patted her friend on the back and followed Mrs. Guts into the other room, where the phone was.

“You boys like rare meat?” Mr. Guts asked the rest of them.

As Sally followed, her belly let out a large, painful rumble.

“Could I use your bathroom really quick?” Sally blushed.

“Sure, sweetie, down the hall to your left.”

Sally hurried. The pain worsened. She got to the bathroom, pulled her pants down, and sat ready to explode.

Sally held her abdomen, shrieking under her breath, her pants down around her ankles. She felt like her small and large intestines were at war. Being a tall, fit blonde came from a diet of salads and the occasional cheeseburger. All she had today was a smoothie and…those nuts. They were a little slimy, but it was just a couple of nuts.

She felt something, but instead of moving upward toward her mouth to throw up or down toward her ass, it slithered inside. It went around her ribs.

“What the fuck is going on with me?” Sally said, that’s when she felt a rib crack. Sally screeched.

“You alright in there, sweetheart? We ain’t got no Pepto-Bismol here, but I’m sure something else at the dinner table will help soften whatever is going on in your belly.” Mrs. Guts said.

Sally reclined against the toilet. Her head shot back as her neck stretched up in pain. The ceiling and floor were made of grimy wood planks. A stream of sweat fell down her face. Her legs spread as the pain intensified.

Sally cried from inside the bathroom. “I don’t know what’s wrong. I feel sick. My stomach really hurts. I’ve never felt anything like this before.”

“Sally, are you okay?” Tara said. Before she could answer, Sally fell to the floor and rolled around. The inside of her belly expanded, stretching her skin. Something dug outward from her stomach. Black ooze leaked from her belly button.

“What the hell?” Sally said.

“You alright?” Tara asked from behind the door.

“I don’t know, I…” Sally felt the thing inside her belly button wiggling around. Was it a worm? This place wasn’t exactly clean, with its dark walls and floor stained with mold. Had a bug crawled up her pants and into her belly button? She poked her finger deeper inside her belly button. Something bit the tip, like a cat bite. Whatever bit her, it pulled her hand into her belly. Her fingers stretched her belly button into a rat-sized cave entrance. Her hand shot back out of her gut with such force it broke through the sheetrock wall. She winced.

“Sally!” Tara started to force the door open, but then stopped.

“Tara, what happened?” Sally asked.

“We’re fine, sweetie, just hungry and worried about you. Bring yourself back to the dinner table. Don’t be embarrassed. Us ladies need help letting it out into the can once in a while, too,” Mrs. Guts said.

God, I feel so gross. This is so embarrassing, Sally thought. She reached with her other hand back into her belly button to pull out whatever was in there. Something sharp and wet bit her again. She tugged, but nothing. Her finger went deeper until all of her fingers were in there, stretching the outline of her belly button, expanding it across her stomach. Her skin broke open. Puss dripped from the wounds on her torso, and black slime puffed out of her belly button, seeping out around the edges of her wrists.

“Help me, please.” Her cries worsened. She clenched her butt cheeks as something broke through the muscle and tissue. She felt the inside of her rectum stretch, as if pliers inside stretched the inner membrane of her asshole. Sally was in agony, sweating, tears poured down her face as she felt something rip through her pants, shoot up, and Oh God, hit the ceiling.

Sally turned her head. Her eyes widened, seeing a large black tail-like thing that trailed down the back of her pants. It smelled like a turd. The biggest damn turd a human could produce without dying. It was layered, as if made of black shells stacked on top of each other. It could’ve been on the back of Godzilla.

“What’s happening?” Sally cried as the rest of her arm was sucked into her belly button. It broke through her backside and twisted around to the end of her body, where the arm originally formed at the shoulder blade. This new thing, was it even an arm? Was wider and covered in bloody, torn muscle and broken pieces of bone. She could feel it. It was five long demonic fingers with long white, broken down nails as sharp as daggers.

Picking herself up off the floor, her pants fell below her ankles. Her body shook. She unlocked and opened the door. There was nobody there. What happened to Mrs. Guts and Tara?

“Tara, are you there?” Sally winced. Heavy muscles clenched around the white-red pus in the center of her stomach and around her. It peeled through from her back and on the other side of something new, reformed, and demonic. “Guys, I need help.”

“We’re in the kitchen, sweetheart. We got plenty on the table for you.” Mr. Guts said.

“I can’t…something is wrong with me,” Sally said.

She walked from the bathroom door and down the hall. She stopped and saw what was in the kitchen. The dining room table had her three friends laid across it with their wrists and ankles tied to the underside of the table.

“Sweetie, what happened to you? It does look like there is more of you to eat now, so that’s always nice. Though all that red on you will need to be cooked a little more.”

Sally dropped to her knees. The tail that had formed out of her ass smelled and represented some hard turd that she couldn’t push out. Sally felt her other arm, the one that was still out and normal, shake. Its skin bubbled. She raised it and slapped the ground. She had no control over her limbs. Her fists stretched, and her fingers pointed out, pale nails piercing out of the tips of her fingers. Her arm shot into her belly button, crowding her other arm, which was melting into her torso.

Sally threw her head in the air as her other arm pierced through her back. It stuck out like a second little white tail in her stomach, making a growling sound at it, sucked the rest of her arm, and made a second demonic arm come out through her back on the other side. She was on her knees, begging God for help, as gooey black tears came out of her eyes. Her black shirt blended into her black, hard torso. Her animalistic demon arms pushed her off the ground.

“Dad, I think she ate one of the beans,” Darrell said. “I’m kinda hungry. Do you mind if I start digging into these three?”

“Of course, it’s your birthday,” Mr. Guts said.

“Sweetie, I don’t like you eating meat raw. You know that,” Mrs. Guts said.

“Come on, Ma, it’s my birthday!” Darrell raised the fork in the air. He stabbed it into Bobby’s cheek. Darrell ripped the chunk of skin off of it.

Bobby squirmed in agony.

“Bobby!” Sally said.

Her other friends were in complete chaos and panic as they remained constrained. Sally pushed herself but couldn’t move her legs because of the massive arms weighing her down.

“Not yet, sweetie!” Mr. Guts said, picking her up by the waist. Mr. Guts pulled Sally into the hall and threw her downstairs. Mr. Guts followed.

Sally turned as he pulled a large axe off the wall. Swinging it down, he separated one of her demonic arms from her body. The pain wracked through her body like an earthquake, exploding every muscle fiber inside.

“Yeah, those beans we should’ve hidden them, but we got them from one of our special friends. We love eating people. And people come up this road so much these days. So, when he offered them beans, he said they make the body more massive. But p-u! Look at you, a long shit tail sticking out of you. It’s doing a lot more than making you bigger. These arms look tasty. The muscle is thick like a bull, and oh yes, this will feed us for days.” He swung the axe down, cutting off her other arm. “I’ll just leave you here to bleed out. Gonna take these upstairs and season them so they’re tasty right off the bone.” He laughed as he walked upstairs and slammed the door, leaving Sally drowning in her thick black tears.

You can stop it, you know? A voice said from the darkness.

“What?” Sally asked. Her body was so sore. Every muscle from the top of her head to the tips of her toes felt like they were cracking in flames. To make matters worse, was she hearing voices?

You’re holding back. The voice said. It was a woman's voice. It reminded Sally of her mother. That was the whole reason they came up this way. You’re resisting the pain. Resisting the transformation. Let it happen. Your body will be gone, but you’ll be able to save your friends. The voice laughed.

“Mom?” Sally asked.

You shouldn’t have eaten those beans hard and raw. Always cook your food, Sally. If you eat bad meat, you shit your brains out. You ate some bad special beans, and now you’re shitting out a whole tail. You have no arms. Blood is gushing out of the holes in your body, and black pus is trailing the blood from behind. You can bleed out in this mess and just let your corpse be a stale shell, or you can give in to your new self.

“But…but I don’t want to change. I want to go back home with my friends. I want to see my dog again. I want my friends, and I want us to have a picnic on the mountain and spread your ashes, like we planned. I want to even go back to my crappy editing job, with my shitty ass bitch of a boss. I want….”

I’m hearing you want everything besides saving your friends. You can end the pain and die. Just lie here. Or you can become a monster, and at least your friends might be able to go home.

“Can I go back with them?” Sally turned her head in her black puddle of thick tears.

Well, that’s up to them. But you’re running out of time to choose.

Upstairs, Tara, Clyde, and Bobby had their fingernails and toenails pulled out, leaving bloody, scabbed bits on the edge of each toe and finger. The Guts family were shaving their naked bodies.

“We need you clean and free,” Mrs. Guts said.

“Where’s…where’s Sally?” Clyde asked, moaning in pain.

“I’m gonna be cooking these two big fellas right here,” Mr. Guts said, pointing at Sally’s huge arms on the side of the table. “Lots of people say they like their meat rare, but we like it nice, dark and crispy like you all are gonna be.”

“Hold still now, sweetie,” Mrs. Guts said as she held her knife toward Tara’s forehead.

“Oh, you can get fucked!” Tara said.

“Let them go,” Sally said.

Everyone turned to Sally, her clothes ripped and dirty. She was barefoot, black tears streaked her face, her hair wild. Long, sharp fangs jutted out of her mouth. Her fingernails grew red. Sally’s tail launched forward, wrapping around Darrell’s ankle. The boys slid across the floor under the table, breaking the legs off. It crashed on the floor, and their ropes’ knots came undone.

Darrel pulled himself to Sally and grabbed one of the legs of the table and swung it in the center of her face, making a huge crunching noise. He smacked it twice more before Sally grabbed it and tossed it to the side, got up, and he grabbed her shoulders. His hands ignited in the flames like a cloth bathed in gasoline hit by a match. The manchild fell to the ground, screaming and rolling, trying to put out his hands. It wasn’t just her body turning into a demon. She was gaining demonic powers. Very well then, all the more to make this sick fuck of a family of cannibals suffer.

Sally screamed as she felt her torso rip open, and her breasts and pecs enlarged, hardening like a shell.

Mr. Guts ran up to her with a fireman’s axe. Sally stood firm. The axe connected with her head, splitting her skull down the center. Her friends watched in horror, stepping back on the floor, as Mr. Guts sliced down the center of her head. Sally’s eyeballs popped out as blood and snot leaked from her face as he pushed down further. Once he was down to her chest, the separated parts of Sally’s face spread apart and reformed into red scales. Her hair fell off her head. Her eyes stretched out on small pink veins connected to the end of them and hovered above her head. Each half of her severed face grew spike-like teeth, and instead of blood, black goo shot at Mr. Guts’ face. It burned like acid. His skin bubbled, and he spun around on his feet to get away. Before he could get far enough away from Sally, her monstrous face chomped down on his head. She ripped his head off his body, causing him to collapse to his knees. Mr. Guts dropped dead as Sally closed her demonic mouth around his severed cranium and crushed it into bits as if it were sand.

“Daddy!” Darrel said.

Darrel lifted her off the ground, but Sally’s black torso opened up in the center on the bottom at her belly button. Out came five red tentacles. Each wrapped around Darrel’s arms and legs. The fifth wrapped around his head. The tentacles pulled and ripped his head and limbs from his body. Black acid shot out from her belly button, which dissolved his torso.

“Darrel!” Mrs. Guts cried. “My sweet husband, too. My whole family. We just wanted to eat! We—” but Tara smacked the plunger against the side of Mrs. Guts’ head.

“Where did you get that?” Bobby asked, as he and Clyde gathered their clothes.

“It was in the kitchen. Help Sally,” Tara said.

“That fucking thing isn’t Sally!” Clyde said. “Look at it, that’s not our friend. We gotta get the fuck out of here.”

“She’s helping us, she’s our friend. We can’t leave her.” Tara said.

“Tara, watch out!” Bobby said.

A large tail made of fecal matter pointed towards the ceiling. Tara soiled herself. Sally’s friends couldn’t move.

Sally swiped the plunger out of Tara’s hand. Sally pulled down Mrs. Guts’ pants and shoved the plunger up her ass with such force it exploded out of the top of her skull. Brains decorated the end of the plunger.

Tara almost fainted and fell. Bobby and Clyde caught her before she hit the floor. “But…Sally,” Tara said.

“I love her too,” Bobby said, as he and Clyde pulled Tara towards the exit.

Clyde said, “Me too, but that’s not her anymore.”

“She saved us,” Tara said as they exited the house.

It wasn’t long before Sally, or whatever that thing in the Guts’ kitchen was, could no longer hear their footsteps or the breathing of its friends.