Faith In The Wild •BOOK I•

|6| An Answered Prayer

The scream turned to quiet cries, weeping in the shadows.

Then it clicked within me.

I trembled as tears filled my eyes, the long-dreaded realization hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"Carl..?" I whispered in question.

I don't even think I wanted him to answer at this point.

Something behind me was... Feasting?
I could hear it tearing into flesh and devouring it's meal.

My stomach twisted as the uneasing sound crawled into my ear uninvited.

I turned to see what I had my back to, and there was a deer laying limp with a biter kneeled at its stomach. My eyes darted across the scene I had just witnessed in disbelief and I stumbled backwards, tripping over my own feet, and falling onto my hands and lower back.

The biter snapped it's head around, his milky blue eyes gazing emotionlessly into mine with a look that shattered my heart like never before.

My eyes widened with both fear and devastation, the knot in my throat seeming to of grown like barbwire around my neck.

"All this time," I croaked, tears bellowing over the brim of my eyes, "You were.. roaming out here, suffering..." I paused, my lip quivering under his unknowing gaze.

He just stared at me, a blank expression on his face as his pale skin glistened in the moon-like lighting.

Every breath up until this moment, I took for granted.
Now? It felt wrong to live.. when he couldn't. He didn't get to experience everything he ever deserved, all because I wasn't there to protect him. Again.

"I'm.." I began, my voice thick with emotion, "I'm so sorry.."

My lips parted, the last breath I took, before his blank stare shifted and he lurched himself forward, tackling me with a animalistic glint in his eyes.

I flinched, though I didn't stop him.

Don't do this, Bella. Is this really where you want to end up? Just another emotionless, monster roaming around the remains of earth, waiting to devour whatever your next meal is.. even if...

Don't even go there. Don't do it.

I tried talking myself into fighting back, but.. why?

The other half of me, everything that I made myself believe was actually out here... Somewhere, looking at the same moon as me, turned out to be in the wilderness feasting on a dead deer.

He loved deers, his whole life.. he absolutely adored nature and animals, just like me. We bonded so well over getting to go feed the deers on road trips, throwing rocks into rivers and even doing things he didn't like, just because it made me happy.

He was the most selfless, kind hearted, genuine person and he deserved better than.. this.

My hands dug into his collarbones, holding him inches away as he gnashed his teeth at me, snapping the air in front of my face.

"I'm sorry." I said, just above a whisper.

"I'm sorry.." I repeated, struggling to keep him off of me. I don't know what I was fighting for, but I wanted to give up so badly. Right then and there. Just for the endless nightmare to be over.
I couldn't tell if I was apologizing for all of what happened, the fact that I wasn't there to save him, or that I wanted to give up because 6 feet has never felt so far-- until it was him.

Seeing him... like this, suddenly made the line between wanting to live, and wanting to die, blur a little more than it should've.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you.."
I grunted, with my back to the ground, a stick was digging into my shoulder blades and it hurt, but nothing could ever hurt worse than trying to keep someone you care about.. from taking your life.