The Man

“Who the hell are you?”

The stranger growled out as his blooded stature continued to limp toward my frozen figure. I could tell this was not the man that had taken care of me for all these years, the stranger deftly had the intent to hunt me. 

“Answer me bitch!” he yelled once again glaring at me. I blinked releasing that even if the stranger was injured he moved quite quickly. He had already made it about 30 feet out of the clearing and was almost to my small rotting porch. In a hurry, I rushed towards the stranger to prevent him from entering my home. 

“S-Stop, please!” I croaked while I stumbled towards the stranger having a hard time parting my cracked lips. As he grasped at one of the banksters he coughed, spitting a large amount of blood down his chin. As I neared the panted, pulling his free hand behind him, he received something that I hadn't seen in a long time. There was no mistake of what that gleam of the medal was as he thrust it toward my oncoming figure. A gyuto knife was pointed in my direction.

“F-Fuck” he wheezed again more blood spilling from his mouth and clenching a hand on the banister in pain. “Stay back!” he exclaimed with some of the last of his strength. I stood nearly 6 feet away (ha covid joke) looking at his wobbling body and shaking arm. The stranger took his last trembling breath as his knees locked and he fell into the dirt. I stood and watched the stranger as he laid there unmoving. 

  After several moments I approved him, slightly nudging his side with the tip of my shoe.
No reaction, I took a step towards the stranger, kicking the knife out of his limp grasp around its handle. His fingers jerked with the absence of his knife. crouching I pushed the stranger over onto his back. As I examined the stranger I realized that the carved smile I had noticed was forever indented into his skin. I stared into his unblinking eyes that were lacking eyelids and simply rolled in towards his brain. His bleeding had not stopped and his white shirt was nearly soaked with his blood. 

Every few seconds the stranger would twitch or jerk without reason or causes, and the blood on his shirt would increase. As I stared at the stranger I desired to help him, as to not have the man think poorly of me. I carefully dragged the stranger into my home with minimal effort. Laying him down on my wooden floor I removed his blood-soaked shirt. I treated his wounds, observing that whoever harmed the stranger was not skilled in wheelieing their weapon. As well as this stranger was slightly muscular and had many scars that he had gained before today. Clothing him with a large button-up shirt the man had given me many months ago, I maneuvered him to my small sturdy bed. 

I began thinking, who was this stranger, was he friends with the man, why had the man not protected me from him. Was the man upset with me for being so greedy while asking to meet him? With all of the thoughts and possibilities swirling through my mind. I ceased to notice my nails digging into my flesh, on my arms, on my wrist, on my neck.  The itch was back and the only thing in my mind was to see if the man was truly angry with me. I tripped through my home and out to the familiar rotting porch. I sighed in relief as I saw the folded scratch paper. Snatching the paper from the porch I retraded back inside to keep an eye on the hostile stranger. The paper would never make it to the man because I was not ready to offend the man and have the only person I cared for leave me. The sun was now at its full height and the bright shine of it hurt my eye as well as my peeling skin. 

Noticing the blood trailing down my arms and on the green grass I made my way back to the spring where I washed my wounds. And attempted to clean under my fingernails, it didn't go well. I removed most of my skin from them but most of the blood was already dry and wedged too far under the nail to do anything about. Making my way back into my home I grabbed the stranger's weapon on the way inside, placing it down on my two-person table. I gently used the fille that the man had gifted me. Sitting at my small table I admired the wildlife out my small window, there was a movement in my home. The stranger must be awake, surprising me for it had only been an hour or so. I moved from my wooden chair towards the sound of the strangers cursing, this stranger had quite the tongue on him