{"id":4685,"date":"2026-02-18T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/?p=4685"},"modified":"2026-02-19T17:20:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T22:20:00","slug":"nostu-part-v-whats-deserved","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/2026\/02\/18\/nostu-part-v-whats-deserved\/","title":{"rendered":"NOSTU, Part V: What’s Deserved"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series NOSTU<\/a><\/div>\n

By Draven Copeland, Managing Editor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

**CONTENT WARNING: This text contains disturbing, gory violence\/body horror, sexual references, strong language, and suicide references**<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Black
“Go ahead and build a better messiah, we can dig another grave” – Marilyn Manson, “Track 99” | Photograph by Diana (Pexels)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Vague light flashed before Jackie\u2019s eyes, ranging rapidly from yellow to orange and everything between, growing lighter and darker almost rhythmically. Tendrils connected to something larger hung over him, and he was forced to wait for his vision to focus out of unconsciousness to understand what they were. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The stringy branches of a willow tree flashed in what he slowly understood to be firelight, the shadows of the branches dancing and intertwining with one another to form a tapestry of darkness and light against the backdrop of the complete void that was the sky behind it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He inhaled for the first time since he could remember, gasping in the smoky air but feeling a heavy pressure in his chest that kept him from breathing fully. He coughed blood out of his airway, feeling its warmth as it spilled onto his naked chest. His eyes began to roll from one side to the other, seeing huddles of people all around in various stages of undress; they stared at him with dark-rimmed, bulging eyes, their mouths curved into a sneering grin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackie began to realize that he was leaned forward, the upper half of his body propped up onto a cool, rocky surface so that he was able to see and be seen by everyone that surrounded him in the dark hollow. Eve\u2019s tattooed arms stood out in the crowd ahead of him, and as she smiled beside a thin, white-haired old man who was completely naked in the firelight, holding up a camcorder to his eye and watching through its viewport with a look of malicious delight on his lips. Darkness seemed to move behind them, as black, shadowy liquid seeped from the shoulders and outstretched arms of the large, thin creature Jackie had seen on Robyn\u2019s phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Its head wavered back and forth, its sharp, pointed teeth reaching out of its dark gray skin, the upper and lower rows of teeth overlapping one another in a way that mimicked a Venus flytrap. Its mouth covered more than half of its humanoid face, which was characterized by pale iris-less gray eyes and pointed ears that extended bat-like from its skull. Nude men and women stood underneath its outstretched arms, slowly lathering themselves in the dripping black liquid, looks of ecstasy on their faces as they touched themselves and one another. The creature stared back at Jackie, a penetrating glare that terrified him into speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNostu<\/em>,\u201d he remembered out loud, to the avid enjoyment of the crowd. The creature\u2019s head bowed down, but its bulging eyes remained locked toward Jackie. Pockets of whispered and excited conversation appeared all around and, to Jackie\u2019s still-delirious mind, seemed to become circumambient, filling his eardrums from all sides and giving him a splitting headache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The old man walked up to Jackie, filming him from varying angles and murmuring with excitement anytime he found a good one. He\u2019d stay in one position for a second or two before he rapidly shifted to find a new one, never fully satisfied with his camerawork. As his sightline followed along with the old man\u2019s movements, Jackie realized that he was completely undressed himself, his wrists roughly tied with twine to both sides of the rocky structure he was on and his ankles the same, spread open below him. Blood dripped from between the tangled windings of twine as he struggled drunkenly, rocking his head from side to side in an attempt to escape the headache. The wrinkled fingers of the old man\u2019s free hand touched Jackie\u2019s chest, prodding his ribcage and nipples while zooming the camera in on Jackie\u2019s skin as he continued to wriggle in protest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something underneath Jackie\u2019s skin moved. It pushed against the skin of his chest as it squirmed and slithered around beneath the surface, swimming down to his stomach and up to his shoulders before it disappeared into his intestines again. Jackie could still feel it pushing through his insides, wriggling down to his back and continuing to move erratically inside his body. It was the most painful thing he had ever felt. The old man smiled widely, his teeth baring in the firelight; his incisors were abnormally long and pointed, and black liquid dripped from his ruptured gums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFuck\u2026<\/em>\u201d Jackie exhaled between gasps and cries of pain. \u201cWhat is that?!<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eve was beside him now, her eyes bulging like everyone else\u2019s. Without her makeup and now standing surrounded by her peers, it was clear that she looked almost identical to the rest of the townspeople. In the wavering darkness that the firelight fought feebly away, the only thing that seemed to differentiate any of the people in the crowd was their hair, their age, and their sex\u2026 and the latter was often unclear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHi, Jackie,\u201d Eve said. \u201cYou\u2019re likely confused\u2026 you are an investigator<\/em>, after all. It\u2019s your business to know. And we can\u2019t leave your investigation unfinished.<\/em> So, I will give you an explanation for your death.\u201d She smiled and nodded at him sarcastically. \u201cI hope this is sufficient consolation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackie tried to retort in some way, but all that came out were heavy coughs of blood. Eve licked her lips, her incisors slowly growing out of her gums as her excitement grew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhere should I start?\u201d she continued, glancing over at the camera. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creature inside Jackie squirmed again, and he screamed in pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow about we start with that? That thing<\/em> is making its way through your insides, eating what it can and discarding the rest. Unfortunately for you, it\u2019s even more painful than most we\u2019ve had the chance to see. Those of you with vaginas have it a bit easier\u2026 and they generally come out better too. The women just have better equipment for this sort of thing, you might say. Their bodies are structured to support another being within them, making the process much less excruciating<\/em> for the mother. And, on the bright side, the normal pregnancy process is often jump-started by Nostu<\/em>\u2019s propagation, making its offspring come out purer from them\u2026 less trouble blending the two species, you understand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNostu<\/em> is often happier with them\u2026 the offspring, I mean. Most births from you males end up\u2026 well, I guess you\u2019ll find out, one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackie yelled in pain as blood began to leak from the orifices in his lower half.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eve gasped in amusement. \u201cIt\u2019s feeding on you as we\u2026 or I<\/em> speak. How quaint.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou fucking<\/em> pieces of shit<\/em>, fucking bastards, fucking\u2013\u201d <\/em>Jackie gasped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRight on one account, Jackie. Our human parents never survive. We are, in our own way, bastard children. My mother didn\u2019t survive my birth, just as you will not survive your child\u2019s. I mean God, for your sake, I hope you don\u2019t. I only hope you are alive for Nostu<\/em>\u2019s verdict<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI mean, it might be of some solace to know whether your nosu<\/em> child survives or not. We nosu are<\/em> Insmith, now, thanks to donations like yours. We can\u2019t have children of our own, and it can\u2019t breed with its own children \u2013 I mean that would be gross<\/em>, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A baby\u2019s scream broke her concentration. Even the cameraman looked over, his hands still holding the camcorder steady. Jackie followed their sightlines and could barely make out the gray-skinned toddler and baby that were being nursed under the dripping black liquid from the looming dark creature. Their adult siblings continued to lather one another in the dripping darkness, barely giving the children any attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere they are, Jackie!\u201d Eve shouted, waking him from his increasing delusions and garnering laughter from the audience both behind and beyond the camera. \u201cThe reason for your arrival \u2013 mystery solved!\u201d She pointed at the toddler and the cameraman turned to film him as he crawled out of the downpour, laughing. \u201cAngela\u2019s one year old. You had her sister on your show, remember? They were so far removed from one another, we honestly wondered if Marie would even care. You\u2019d be surprised how many don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She shifted her finger in the direction of the newborn baby, held in the arms of one of the seething nosu<\/em>. \u201cRobyn\u2019s little brat. She\u2019s already got quite the appetite.\u201d She gripped Jackie\u2019s hair and turned his head back to face her. \u201cIt is<\/em> a shame about my dad, though. Now, with these new mouths to feed, was not the time to lose our main source of blood. You might think that being one of our blood bags<\/em> is an uncomfortable, even painful<\/em> role to play, but the mess you made in your pants earlier says otherwise\u2026 that, or maybe you\u2019re just a little premature<\/em>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFuck\u2026 you<\/em>,\u201d Jackie finally muttered after trying to form the thought with words for what felt like forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTruth be told, Jackie, originally,\u201d she nodded at the cameraman, \u201cI was<\/em> going to fuck you. But then I saw you up close and, honestly, I\u2019d rather fucking die<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s just it, you see. The greatest threat to man is impermanence<\/em>. We can fix that for you \u2013 in fact, we\u2019re doing it right now.\u201d She glanced up at the camera again, and its owner smiled widely. She looked back down at Jackie, her dark, wide eyes becoming swirling black holes in his deluded vision. \u201cYou just won\u2019t be there to see it. As for your corpse\u2026 you\u2019ll be useful<\/em> at least, even after your death. You see, we nosu<\/em> do not only drink blood\u2026 we revel in it<\/em>. And you will soon be a fountainous<\/em> source.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creature inside Jackie\u2019s body pushed against his skin harder this time, to the point that some of his flesh began to tear. The creature\u2019s form was clearer now, appearing almost insect-like under his skin as he watched it crawl erratically through his body. He screamed as Eve continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost people die without a reason, Jackie,\u201d she was saying, sarcastically bowing her head. \u201cMy passing gift to you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackie groaned hysterically, only half understanding the words Eve was saying as his head rocked back and forth like a drunken pendulum. \u201cBella,\u201d he muttered between vomits of blood. \u201cShe knows where I am. She\u2019ll call someone\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe\u2019s not here, Jackie. Didn\u2019t that mean that she doesn\u2019t need to know? Or did you change your mind?\u201d Eve smiled menacingly, her teeth reflecting the blazing flame that he realized must be behind him. \u201cRhetorical, of course; don\u2019t feel the need to respond. Your final moments are these, after all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo the public eye, of which we are aware she is a spectacle, she will quietly slit her wrists after you go missing. After all, she certainly has a history, and you are a cheating whore<\/em>\u2026 and she knows this more than I think you understand. They always do, Jackie. And, luckily for us, you people kill yourselves all the time.<\/em> You\u2019d be surprised how little people care when they don\u2019t have to see it happen. Suicide is such an emotional business\u2026 and it works every time we need a reason for someone who cares about our donors<\/em> to suddenly pass. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou\u2019re happy and unafraid? Well, your friends just didn\u2019t see it in you, and they feel sorry for themselves that they never saw the signs. You\u2019re sad and anxious about the world? Then, your friends should\u2019ve done more, said something sooner, because they could see it coming but were too busy with their own lives\u2026 their own shit\u2026<\/em> that they didn\u2019t have the mental capacity to help until it\u2019s too late. Or maybe they just didn\u2019t give a shit enough. Who is to say but the ones that remain?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd you, Jackie? You have no friends<\/em>. You\u2019re a deceiver<\/em>. Not a single part of who you are to other people is real. The funny thing about it is, the more you do it, the more it works. You become<\/em> a performance. Someone people watch<\/em> for entertainment. For self-pleasure<\/em>, in their own ways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople\u2026 follow me\u2026\u201dJackie was quickly fading now, the words he was able to get out slurred almost beyond recognition. \u201cI\u2019ve got\u2026 people\u2013\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou have subscribers<\/em>, Jackie. 60 of them. You average less than 30 views per post. No one is coming for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \u201cAnd so what if they did? It<\/em> will need more anyways,\u201d Evie looked back at the creature as it stood motionless in its darkness. The liquid that seeped from its body pooled around its clawed feet, crawling over the grass and rolling down the soft decline towards them. \u201cEither it will birth more children through your people<\/em> or it will be fed.\u201d She looked down at Jackie as the creature inside him rummaged through his insides. \u201cAny more questions, investigator<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before he had a chance to respond \u2013 not that he was going to anyway \u2013 Jackie was seized with excruciating pain, his eyes rolling back and his body convulsing mindlessly as the child inside of him burrowed into his midsection, slashing through his intestines as it headed for his groin. Nostu <\/em>slowly stepped towards him, the old man swiveling with the camcorder and zooming in to film its approach. All of the townspeople let out gasps of excitement as they watched, caressing themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNostu<\/em>,\u201d Eve said. \u201cNativiti Mortus Acquiesca<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jackie\u2019s genitals erupted into bloody chunks as tiny clawed hands thrashed out from within him. His blood splattered onto Eve and the old man, spilling out of Jackie like a waterfall into a stainless-steel basin that was set below the rocky surface he was tied to. The clawed hands flailed wildly until they found purchase in the flesh of Jackie\u2019s thighs, digging their long, pointed nails deep into his muscles as the child pulled itself out of its father, its head pushing through the gory exit it had created. It screeched raspily as it emerged, its teeth like blades as they chomped at the flesh and meat it had torn through, and its unseeing, bloodshot white eyes rolling as they bulged from its humanoid skull.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The townspeople watched, laughing and cheering. The old man held the camcorder steady, its red light reflecting in the wetness of the child\u2019s eyes as it thrashed back and forth, clawing and gnashing as it worked its way into the world. Eve licked her lips and touched herself as she watched the torrent of blood continue to spill into the metal basin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black saliva spewed from the child\u2019s mouth as it screeched again, its claws now digging into the cartilage of Jackie\u2019s knees as it made its final pull, splurting out of his fresh corpse with chewed and lacerated entrails following behind it. Its father \u2013 its true<\/em> father \u2013 was now looming over the scene, hunching its massive form under the branches of the tree. With its own skeletal, clawed hands, Nostu<\/em> grasped the child by the throat and lifted it up, bringing it to eye level and staring deeply into it. The child continued to screech and thrash, its claws scraping and digging into the arm of its father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nostu<\/em> exhaled deeply as its jaw began to slowly unhinge, its head rearing back as its teeth grew longer and sharper, its mouth opening so wide that it seemed as if there were no other features on its head but a trap of bared, predatory teeth. Its long, black tongue swayed wildly in every direction, clicking wetly against its teeth as the black liquid that seeped from its body now spilled from its broken jaw.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI told you male births don\u2019t usually work out,\u201d Eve said to Jackie\u2019s corpse. He did not respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without warning, Nostu<\/em>\u2019s mouth slammed shut onto its child, severing the infant\u2019s head from its body. Black blood gushed against its face, filling its lidless eyes and dripping down into the basin, mixing in with the dark red. It slowly unhinged its jaw again as the blood continued to spurt, Eve and the old man catching the spray in their mouths and on their naked bodies. With the next bite, it swallowed the rest of its child whole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a moment of hesitant silence as Nostu<\/em>\u2019s head tilted slowly downward, staring at Jackie\u2019s glazed and motionless eyes. Its jaw began to drop again as it knelt down, sinking to the ground and grasping at Jackie\u2019s legs. In one motion, it violently tore the legs from the twine that tied them to the sides of the rocky structure, screeching gutturally before it began to pull Jackie\u2019s corpse into its mouth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One massive bite at a time, it consumed him, its long, skeletal arms pulling what remained into its gaping mouth before its jaw crunched shut each time. The camcorder did not stop running until Jackie was gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series NOSTU<\/a><\/div>

By Draven Copeland, Managing Editor **CONTENT WARNING: This text contains disturbing, gory violence\/body horror, sexual references, strong language, and suicide references** Vague light flashed before Jackie\u2019s eyes, ranging rapidly from…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4684,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"series":[52],"class_list":["post-4685","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creative","series-nostu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4685","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4685"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4866,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4685\/revisions\/4866"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4685"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imaginarygardens.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=4685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}