Secrets | TMR | One

4:1

A/N bit of gore. Bit of blood
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Within seconds of Nick sprinting away, the creatures face begins to swivel and turn, hunching up from Adeline and lifting its pincer from her ankle.

The sound of Nick's calls grow more faint with every second that passes, but still, the Griever attempts to suss out which direction it came from.

Adeline tries to use the distraction to her advantage. Casting a quick glance down her legs, her eyes widening as she sees the monsters sharp leg hovering just above the gaping wound on the back of her ankle, she goes to shift herself.

Only to find that she cannot.

Her brain is sending all the correct signals down to her leg, practically screaming for it to get out of the way.

But it does not.

It is completely frozen. Numb of all feelings. Like her bones and muscles have completely vanished, and her entire leg has turned to plastic.

Adeline's head whips up to the Griever as it let's out a deafening screech, clearly deciding now that it finally wants to pursue the noise of the leader, who is still hollering from somewhere in the maze.

Launching itself upwards, the beast flies forward, its sharp pincer dragging up the side of the girls right leg, slicing it from her ankle all the way to her upper thigh.

She does not even feel it.

The only way of knowing that she was even injured at all is by the blood spurting out of her leg. The red liquid pours from the wound, turning everything it washes over crimson, almost like a damn breaking and tearing over every path, every blade of grass and every tree on its way.

With her chest heaving and her body shaking, Adeline pushes her left arm against the ground, using it to prop herself up, her backside shifting against the gravel as she attempts to keep herself upright.

She hunches her back down, both her hands curved slightly as they hover around the injury.

The girls eyes dot over her entire leg, and without giving much thought to how stupid it may be, she quickly lays back down, unbuckling her trousers and shuffling them past her bum before sitting back up.

Not having any mobility in her right leg causes her nothing but struggles while she tries to yank her trousers from her left one, but eventually, she succeeds.

Reaching her hand into her bra, Adeline hauls out her small pocket-knife, unlocks it, and uses it to rip into the seam of her trousers. Harnessing all the strength she can muster as she keeps the fabric as straight as she can with her left hand, while the knife in her right one stabs and slices at it.

Yanking it apart at the last piece of thread, the girl drops her knife on the ground next to her and begins twisting the left leg of her trousers around her right one. Tugging and pulling at each end, trying to tighten it against her injury and stop the flow of blood.

Tucking it into her right trouser leg, the fabric twirls around her thigh and calf until eventually it is pushed under the bottom of the wrap.

But just as she finishes up her task, she hears it.

A sound that causes her to freeze on the spot. Makes the hair on the back of her neck stretch out, and goosebumps to form over every inch of her skin.

Nick screaming.

For a moment, Adeline forgets all about her injury, and the fact that she has no feeling in her right leg.

All she can think about is him.