scour the flesh with cleansing heat

Originally posted to Twitter on August 13, 2022, and a week earlier on Patreon. content notes: child viewpoint, cults, grooming, gaslighting, vague body horror, self-harm as worship. “Mommy!” You cry as she’s just about to walk out the door, “I want to go worship with you!” Her scarred flesh wrinkles into a smile as she laboriously reaches down to ruffle your hair. “Not until you’re older, dear heart.” “But why? I’m a big girl now!” ...

From Beneath Her Skin

The call’s coming from beneath her skin. It’s not yet ready to be dead, not ready to be buried and forgotten, grave bell ringing with wild abandon. Louder with each heartbeat, louder with each breath, an electric shriek filling the too-still air—!

Herbs, Moult, Amputation

The poultice stings as it presses against her splitting flesh, as the cool liquids inside seep out into the painful heat radiating from her back. She does her best not to scream, not to wince, and her failure is rewarded with a Look, disappointment more potent than any fist. She buries her face in the bed, hides her tears as the second poultice presses against her shame, against the burning red streaks stretching and tearing her skin as they swell and throb inside the small of her back, as lances of Wrongness skewer her to her bed. ...

The Angel's Phone Booth

Feral angel girl sitting in the basement, far from her flock’s nests, filthy light splintered by broken windows falling all around her. It reminds her of her halo, in a way. Letting it fill her senses feels the same as the Thing used to feel in her mind. Years ago someone dragged a whole-ass payphone into the basement, just pulled it right out of the ground and tossed it down. It still sparks form time to time. ...

Untitled Story About a Knife

When she first took a knife to herself, she did not think to find anything more than the release of pain; so she was quite surprised, not to say a bit taken aback, when the knife’s passage through too-rough flesh was interrupted by the wholly unexpected presence of a gearbox, a plastic-sheathed assemblage quietly ticking away just before her wrist’s joint. When she was done being astonished—done listening to the gears and seeing how her fingers twitched when she poked at it—she went looking for more. ...