A fuzzy wave rolled through Alyosha’s head as he staggered to his feet, the night sky seeming to whirl above him. The lurching in his stomach was doing his balance no favors, and he scooped both hands under his still-swollen gut in a desperate effort to keep the soupy remains of Grushenka from tipping him back onto the ground. He sucked a sharp breath through his teeth as his fingers were embraced by a softness that hadn’t been there before.
“Oh my lovely, look what’s be

It was a single thick, laboured swallow that finally drowned Grushenka in the slick folds of Alyosha’s flesh after a much-protracted struggle with the girl. The novice grabbed wildly at his throat, at the shifting bulges that still twitched in vain desperation inside his impossibly taut gullet. Though his head was tipped skyward, allowing gravity to carry her down, the only stars he could see were those behind his eyes as they rolled back into their sockets. He felt the threads of his cass