got worse. And worse. She looked down.
Even in the dim light she could see the mark on her arm. A dark spot, like a strawberry birthmark. But she didn't have any birthmarks. And this spot wasn't strawberry-colored...... it was green.
At the same moment Michael, who'd thrust one hand inside his sleeve to scratch his arm, made a strange sound. His eyes bulged, his expression changed. He shoved the sweatshirt sleeve up.
Jenny gasped.
There was something growing on his arm.
A plant. There were leaves, fresh and green and young, looking like newly sprouted mint, growing from his flesh.
The next instant they were all on their feet, looking at themselves in the candlelight. Each of them was growing patches of green. Jenny's were like moss, Audrey's like mold.
Jenny gulped. Like Dee and Audrey, she was horrified. But Michael went hysterical.
"Get it off me! Get it off." He thrust his arm out blindly at Jenny.
Even gritting her teeth, she couldn't bring herself to touch the sprigs. Dee took hold of one and pulled.
"Ow!" Michael yelled. Dee stopped. "No, go on! I don't care how much it hurts. Pull it out!"
Dee pulled harder. The plant hung on. Jenny could just glimpse a network of thin roots like white threads connecting it to his arm. Blood began to ooze out of several pores as Dee kept pulling.
Michael was screaming.
Finally Dee swallowed, her nostrils flared.
"Mike, I can't keep pulling. I can't. It's taking your skin with it."
"I don't care! I don't care!" Michael still wouldn't open his eyes. He grabbed at the plants himself with his other hand. Jenny pressed a hand to her mouth to stop from gasping.
Sprigs were growing on his other hand, too. Growing even more luxuriantly than on the first.
"Mike, it's... it's all over you," she whispered.
Michael's eyes flew open, and he looked at his hands. "Oh, God. Oh, GodGodGod ..."
In one frenzied motion he yanked his sweatshirt over his head, pulling his arms out. His chest and stomach were thickly covered with new leaves. They stirred with his breath, brushing one another lightly.
Michael's screams rang from the ceiling.
"Chill out!" Dee finally got him in a choke hold, preventing him from running raving down the hall. His eyes were wild and set, and he was breathing like a lathered horse.
"We've got to do something for him," Jenny said. She could hardly bear the moss on her forearm, but
she had to forget about that. Michael was so much worse off.
"Yeah-but what?" Dee was trying to keep Michael under control. He seemed about to go into convulsions, clawing at himself.
Audrey stepped forward. Jenny guessed that she was actually more upset by the growths than anyone but Michael-appearance meant a lot to Audrey. But Audrey had herself in iron control.
"Michael Allen Cohen, look at me!" she rapped out.
He turned wild dark eyes on her.
"You calm down now. Understand? Verstehen Sie?"
A glimmer of sanity showed in Michael's eyes.
"Right now," Audrey said severely, and putting her palms on either side of his face, she kissed him.
When she backed up, Michael had cherry lipstick all over his mouth. He looked a lot calmer.
"I live to obey," he said weakly.
"You live to kibitz," said Audrey.
"We've all got to stay calm," Jenny said. "We've got to think. How can we get rid of these things? We can't pull them out. So what else can we do?"
"Weed-killer," Dee muttered. There was some exotic red-and-green-leafed plant growing on her, almost harmonizing with her dark skin.
"We don't have anything here to work with," Audrey said. "Never mind anything deadly to plants."
Michael spoke up in a whisper-but a whisper with a new note in it.
"We've got fire."
Jenny looked up at the candle in its brass holder.
"You can let go of me, now," Michael told Dee. "I won't go anywhere. I want to see if that candle will come out."
Dee released him. He tried to take a step, then stopped. He squatted down to stare, his head almost at floor level. Jenny bent, too.
His bare foot was rooted to the floor by a mat of white tendrils.
They were growing out of his sole and into the black carpet. He could barely raise his foot an inch, and only by turning it sideways could he see the roots.
As Jenny slowly looked up, she expected him to go frantic again. But Audrey reached out and firmly took his hand, her fingers crushing the leaves on the back.
Michael was shaking, but he stayed rational.
"Get the candle," he said thickly.
Dee lifted it out easily. "I'm going to try it on