Separated in the Phantoms

Chapter 26

We camped out in a random part of a forest. Torin had scrambled some firewood and lit a fire, while I got the camp ready. Suddenly, something hit me -no literally.
“Fuck.” I said. Torin raised his eyebrow at me, not talking but obviously curious. I sighed.
“All of the snacks, food etc were in her bag.” I couldn’t bring myself to say her name. Torin, still not saying anything, nodded and left. I was confused but I focused on my own thing. But, soon enough, he returned. With two dead animals. He prepared them and roasted them. Afterwards, he handed me one and I started eating. Pure and utter silence fell over the forest. The only sound was the crickets calling out into the darkness.
“I know, I am not supposed to talk to you, but if you like it or not, we’re in this together. We need to communicate in order to work together.” Torin said. I gave him a death glare, but realised that he did have a point.
“True, but when we’re not doing anything, I’d prefer you to keep your mouth shut.” I said. Torin looked back at his food and listened. I yawned. Without saying a word, I got into my sleeping bag and went to sleep.
I could hardly fall asleep. All I saw was Faith’s scared face as I was trying to hold on, knowing Torin just stood there. I opened my eyes. I noticed that Torin had gone to bed as well. The only thing left from the fire was a little ray of smoke. I groaned and sat up straight. I felt a sudden sharp pain in my ankle. The one I hurt back in the Land of Ogres. I lowered my sock and looked at it. Even though it was dark, there was nothing wrong. I poked and pinched it, but it didn’t even hurt. I shrugged it off, rolled my sock back up and went back to trying to fall asleep. I, somehow, managed that.
I was woken up by the first few rays of sunshine, dancing on my eyelids. I yawned and sat up. The sharp pain in my ankle had returned. I threw the blanket off of me and lowered my sock. I screamed. Torin woke up.
“What!? What’s wrong!?” Torin exclaimed, clearly still a little tired. I was speechless and all I could do was point to the multiple tiny bitmarks and tiny, black blobs on my ankle. Torin rushed over and threw the creatures away. He checked himself and he was fine. We emptied my sleeping back and a lot of black blob creatures fell out and ‘ran’ away. We checked my back, arms, legs, stomach and neck. I had little bite marks all over my body. I was freaking out. I was filled with panic.
“What the fuck were those things!?” I asked in pure terror.
“They’re Skin Eaters. They’re little creatures who feed on dead animals and humans. Especially their skin. I think they thought you were dead.” Torin explained.
“Eww. Disgusting.” I said, as I started to pack up my stuff. Torin quickly followed my example and started packing. And soon enough, we were ready and on our way.