Love Your Anemones - Shaded Hollow 9 (Body Part)

"Ugh," Veronica groaned as she looked at her phone, "It's Mal." "What does she want?" Jackson asked through a mouth full of pancakes, still shoveling them in. "Apparently the disappearances haven't stopped since we handled Flo and now she has a lead," she told him as she packed up the papers she was working on. "Right now?" Jackson inquired, looking sadly at his perfect stack of flapjacks, wishing that he would be allowed to have a normal meal every once in a while. "Yeah, lives are on the line after all," Veronica scolded, heading for the door. Not being able to argue with such a valid point, Jackson took a last large bite and followed his vampire girlfriend to the creepy cabin Mal lives in.

"What's the situation," Veronica asked the zombie girl as she entered, startling her and Alex. "Oh- uh, the greenhouse on the other side of town has a strange magic around it and the security cameras around the place show a lot of people entering with very little leaving," Mal briefed the two before she too started to pack some stuff. "What are you doing?" Veronica asked as Mal continued to pack. "If I'm ever gonna repay my debts, I should start going on these little 'adventures' of yours," she stated, not giving room for discussion, "Not to mention there might be a few plants there that could help in my research of reversing me and Alex's, uh, condition." "If there is any way to turn me back, I'm there too," Alex told the group. "Alright, but don't get in my way," Veronica told her, "This is still a matter of life and death... if you even can die."

As the sun rose directly above the group's head, they arrived at the greenhouse. Unable to see inside from the high brick walls and thick foliage, they decided just to enter. The thought of knocking came up but they realized that when dealing with a possible murderer, surprise was the best tool they could have. Jackson picked the lock with one of Veronica's bobby pins, a skill she wasn't aware the man had, and the quartet entered. They found themselves surrounded by plants to no one's surprise but as they traversed the jungle of plants, they came across a large pink bulb that was almost the size of a small car surrounded by sticky sap that permeated sweet aromas into the air. "Do you think this could be the culprit?" Veronica asked, getting closer.

Quicker than even Veronica could comprehend, a vine shot from the base of the bulb and wrapped around her arm, pulling her towards it. She tried to break free, raising her sharp nails to cut the vine when another seized the other arm, completely trapping her. Jackson leaped forward with a pair of pruning shears just as the vines started to pull Veronica inwards and snapped its jaw shut on both the vines, severing them. The bulb screamed in what could only have been a pain as the cut vines fell to the ground, more of the sap leaking from them like blood. The bulb started to unfold and to everyone's surprise, a woman was within. Her skin was a sickly pale green and her hair was the same color as the vines, some of the said vines leading directly into her scalp. "You bitch!" The plant girl screamed as the nubs of her appendages retreated into the pod, quickly replaced by more intimidating ones, "You'll die for that!"

Veronica, able to see the attacks coming this time dodged multiple strikes from multiple venom-tipped barbs, each narrowly missing her. She rolled under a pitcher plant that spewed an acidic sap that melted the ground where Veronica stood only fractions of a second earlier. A venus fly trap limb launched from behind the plant girl at Jackson. Fear shook the mortal man as he was unable to stop the attack. He braced for death when the limb fell limb to the ground. Looking up at its source, he found that it had been cut by Alex wielding a trowel. The group kept battling off various attacks from the plant girl until, without warning, she slowed. They looked at the source of the attacks only to see Mal had hit the girl with some kind of bottle, the potion inside subduing her to nearly a sluggish pace. "What did you do?" Veronica asked, stepping back from the slowed girl. "Vinegar is a natural herbicide," Mal responded. Veronica closed in to shred the plant girl when a door to the adjoining house bashed open and a man came running out.

"What the hell are you doing!" He shouted, getting between the four and the girl. "Venus," he said in a panic, shaking the girl, "Venus, speak to me." The girl just moaned, her skin turning a shade of yellow as she slumped into the man's arms. "What did you do!" He shouted at the group. He sniffed the air, smelling vinegar, and traced its source to the pod the so-called 'Venus' sat in. He sprinted back indoors, returning seconds later with a box of baking soda, overturning it into the pot the girl was in. Bubbled formed as it neutralized the acid, relieving Venus of the pain. Her eyes shot open again, this time more scared than angry. "They broke in here and attacked me, Elijah," she told the man, cowering behind him. "Is this true?!" Elijah accused with hatred in his eyes.

"Yeah, but she attacked us!" Veronica retorted, confusion covering her face. "So you break into someone's home and when they attack you, you're the victim?" He spat, his metaphorical venom exceeding Venus's real venom. "If you can give me one reason not to call the cops," He started, "I'll let you all leave under the condition you never come back!" "Your greenhouse is the center of multiple disappearances," Mal spoke up, "And it emanates powerful magic." "I have no idea what you're talking about!" Elijah accused. He was about to yell some more when Venus cut in, "I do."

All five people looked at the plant girl as she started to speak. "People have been feeding themselves to me at night," she admitted meekly, "I didn't tell you because I thought it would scare you off." "Feeding themselves to you?!" Veronica argued, "What, have they just been walking up and asking to be eaten?!" "Yes," Venus replied with a straight face, causing Veronica to lose her bluster. "I don't understand," Elijah said, looking at Venus in her deep red eyes, "Why would you do that?" "You don't understand," she hurried to add, "They literally beg for me to eat them, here!" Another vine slithered from the pod, putting the four on high alert. The end of the vine held a flower that opened, a voice that wasn't Venus's emanated.

"It's true," it said, "I was once a man, but then one night I walked by this wonderful greenhouse." All five looked on in shock as the flower continued, "Life was just so stressful, and when I walked by, something in the air invited me in. So I entered and was met with the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She introduced herself as Venus but was confused as to why I was there. I didn't know why I was there, but I had the urge, the craving, to be consumed by this woman, to become part of her perfect flesh. She was in shock at first, but now that I share memories with her, she was also starving. She needed meat and there I was, offering myself up on a platter. I still remember when she pulled me into a pod of hers, sap melting my body away until there was nothing of my physical form left and my body joined hers. Now we are one, and I couldn't be happier, and I speak for the rest of the souls within this wonderful woman when we say she saved us." The vines then slithered back into the pod, leaving everyone stunned in silence.

"You see?" Venus stated, "I didn't have a choice. I was starved and then he arrived. Then another, and another. Soon, it was a weekly occurrence. Sure I thought it was odd but how could I reject such offerings?" "Wait," Mal started, "Where did you get this plant?" "I'm not sure," Elijah said, still a bit shaken by Venus's confession, "My father brought back the seed from his trip to Brazil." "I've read about these, they're a type of nepenthes or pitcher plant, that was magically infused. They don't feed on meat, they feed on souls and consciousness," she told them as she removed the botany book from her bag, "It says here that they release pheromones that entice sentient life to feed itself to them. The only thing though is that it doesn't introduce these thoughts, it simply amplifies already existing thoughts and removes inhibitions."

"So she released pheromones to coerce people?" Jackson asked, "That's like convincing someone to sleep with you when they're drunk, they aren't really in control." "I've been releasing pheromones?!" Venus said with a shocked look on her face, "Oh my- I've been eating people against their will!" The group looked at her clearly sincere horror of realizing what she was doing. "You didn't know?" Alex asked. "NO!" Venus shouted, sappy tears in her eyes, "I'M A MONSTER!" "No no no," Elijah whispered, "You're not a monster, you didn't know." "Wait, the souls in you wouldn't still be under the influence of the pheromones right?" Veronica asked, trying an angle no one was thinking, "So ask them now, do they regret their choices?"

Venus sat up, the sap still pouring from her eyes as she wiped it away, "No, they say they don't, and they say they aren't under any influence." "Then don't beat yourself up," Veronica told the girl, genuinely feeling sorry now that she understood the whole situation, "But if you're going to eat souls, you can't be having them under the influence of your pheromones anymore." "Of course," Venus sniffled, "But I don't know how to stop producing them." "I do," Elijah said, producing a bottle from a cabinet, "This blocks plant pheromones so insects aren't attracted to them, why wouldn't it work for you?" "Thank you, Elijah," Venus smiled, wrapping the man in vines and kissing him, "Thank you." "I love you, Venus, but you have to tell me important stuff like this, for better or worse," he replied. "I will," she responded, refusing to let him out of the hug.

"Well, that was strange," Alex stated as they left the greenhouse. "Too bad you guys didn't find anything that would help you two." "Who said we didn't?" Mal smiled, producing a small bud from her bag, "This plant has gender-changing properties, with enough research I can at least make Alex and me male again. The zombie thing will probably take a longer time." A glimmer of hope returned to Alex's eye as the possibility of her old life returning to her showed itself. The quartet walked back to the cabin, satisfied with their work for the day.