Rowan glanced to where Aoife and Nadia sat on the couch, and saw that they had seen what he spotted as well. He watched as Aoife placed a hand on the sword at her side, and sighed as he went for the door first.
He put one ear up against the wooden door, and attempted to hear whatever it was Ben was saying or doing behind it.
"We're gonna have to leave soon, so we'll have to figure out how to get you fit to travel."
There was a brief pause as Rowan was caught off guard by what he had said. What was Ben being so shifty for? They had all seen the way he glanced around before stepping in. Was he truly nervous? And then a flash of inspiration flashed through his mind, and he saw the situation from ben's perspective.
'Someone who had likely defended him and taught him to fight was injured, and some strangers wanted to investigate her? Of course he'd be nervous, he thinks we're going to hurt her!'
Rowan felt a pressure lift of his shoulders immediately, and went to move away from the door. Nadia and Aoife stood not too far from him, Nadia with a grim look in her eyes and Aoife with a determined look in hers.
"We have to see. We can't travel with someone we can't trust."
Rowan knew Nadia was right, but he wished there was an easier way to do this.
"He's the one who doesn't trust us. I think he's just trying to protect her. Think about it, you were right, he couldn't survive by himself in the Hell, but now he's protecting the person who protected him."
They still weren't convinced, and Rowan could only sigh under his breath as he stepped away, leaving the path to the door open.
Aoife stepped towards it first, hand on her sword. Rowan could see faint light spilling out of the scabbard, a sign of how sure and strong Aoife's focus was in this moment. He bit the inside of his cheek as she abruptly opened the door, stepping inside in the same breath.
Immediately, a surge of vines slammed into her, sending her flying into the wall opposite of where the door was. Rowan stood frozen in shock as Aoife gasped for breath, her hardened skin doing nothing to protect her lungs.
Quickly, Rowan dashed to where Nadia's spear still rested next to the door and grasped it, turning to watch in horror as vines began to pour out of the room Leah had been in.
Quickly repositioning, he got the briefest glimpse of Ben pinned to the wall, dark green vines becoming tinged with red as they burrowed in and out of his skin. His eyes were wide in terror, and tears were leaking out the sides, but he did not scream.
He could not scream, because another vine was pushing down his throat, coming from the body of a girl on the floor.
She was in a far worse state then Ben, with barely faint patches of skin being visible amongst the vines adorning her body. A mix of flowers and fruits hung over her body, the same red fruits that Rowan had eaten only the night before.
Disgust roiled in his gut as he watched, realising in horror what had happened as Ben tried in vain to free himself from the vines. He watched as Ben's skin knit itself back together, before it was torn apart once more by the vines inside of him.
Rowan had barely enough time to gather that information before a vine surged towards him, the tip coalescing into a spear-like appendage. Terrified of it taking root within his body, Rowan rolled to the side, clambering to his feet as he watched it whip back inside the room.
"We have to run!"
Rowan decided it was the best course of action, the beast was far too strong for them to do anything, or at least Rowan believed. The force and speed at which the vine had struck Aoife was all he had needed to know this was an unwinnable fight.
He dashed towards the door, throwing it open as quickly as he could while racing outside. The breath of fresh air made him realise there was a sickly smell in the house, one that hadn't been there before. A sweet smell, likely coupled with the decay of Leah's body.
At least, Rowan hoped it was her body. If she had been alive while that beast was living inside of her, Rowan couldn't imagine how much agony she would have been in.
Rowan shuddered in horror as he stared into the house, realising that neither Nadia nor Aoife had followed him out when he had fled. He also noticed that there were no more sounds of thuds coming from the direction of Leah's room, hinting that the beast had come to a stop.
Carefully, Rowan reapproached the door to see Nadia frozen in fear next to the couch, shaking slightly. Aoife was adjusting her armour from the hit, which would have likely pierced her body were it not for her ability.
"It hasn't left that room. It only lashed out when we were inside looking at it. We should be alright to grab some supplies before we get a move on. Rowan, check Ben's room for some gear. I'm going to stash some of the fruit away for our trip."
Absentmindedly, Rowan nodded, though he doubted he would be able to eat the flesh fruits, as he dubbed them. Doing his best to give Leah's room a wide berth, he saw out the corner of his eyes, Ben's now limp body squirming as vines moved within.
The grotesque scene made Rowan gag, but he closed his eyes to it and continued on towards Ben's room. Inside, he saw a spare suit of armour and a sword amidst various peels of the flesh fruit. There were far more peels than Rowan believed could have possibly come from just a few days of stay, so Rowan wondered how long Ben had been hiding away in here, eating the fruit from a parasitic vine consuming his teammate.
Pushing past the idea, he grasped the longsword, and stepped outside to return to Aoife and Nadia.
'So much for him being protective.'