Mouth Full of Cotton

Chapter Fourteen: PAIN [MAINE SMITH]

I continued eating the chicken, taking a sip of my soda, then— Pain throbbed from my neck to the rest of my body, waves of pain crashing throughout. Fangs, there were fangs on my skin, no– IN them, digging in.

The pain got worse and worse until I wound up screaming, the sound roughening my throat. Shock and pain rushed through, and I tried to pry the teeth off of me, finding out it was Leo who hurt me. He's had his moments, nibbling at my arm with permission, but this was too much for me to handle. For anyone to handle. “GET OFF, GET OFF, GET OFF!” I yelled, tears beginning to well in my eyes.

My thoughts began to grow hazy, until I heard thumping footsteps, and a loud roar sounded. A gunshot. Sarah shot him. He let go of my neck, clutching at his right arm with eyes stunned with trepidation as he looked at her. As much as his teeth hurt, I would never, EVER, wish for anyone to hurt him like that. I've never been shot, but I could only assume it's tenfold worse than a bite, albeit in one, small area.

 A bang, with another, she shot him twice more; his shoulder, and his left leg as each sound was met with a tormented shout. She was hurting him. “STOP, SARAH, FUCKING STOP!” I shrieked, and she had the nerve to glare at me, as if I was insane. Throw me in an asylum for wanting him safe, then. “But he's hurting–” I cut her off. “I DON'T CARE! YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO DO THAT, HE'S MY FRIEND!” Sarah scoffed at my words. “Him, that freak of a man? Your friend? He's a beast, a monster, just look at him.” She pointed to his wounds.

 I looked at them, starting to feel queasy as the blood ran from him in streams. But as I looked closer, I could see his blood was lumpy, semi-solid. It was odd, as if there were bits of bloody meat coming out of him.

Arising, I looked at him, my wide eyes meeting his own in unease and disbelief. “Leo,” I began, my voice a whisper, weakened by the rasp of stifled tears, as the pounding in my chest began to sound over my thoughts. “What… are you…?” A tear, two, ran down Leo’s cheeks, and with a faltering stance, he stood, looking away as he ran away, shoving Sarah aside into the wall resulting with a groan from her as he bolted out the front door. I followed suit, running after him, but he was far ahead, heading to the forest.

A bang, and a bang once more. I shoved Sarah after I heard the last pained cry from him, shouting at her. “YOU IDIOT! YOU'RE THE MONSTER HERE!” I glared at her, turning back to look at Leo, who was long gone. I continued my path to him with a fast walk, panting slightly as I looked down at the grass. More blood was there, and I knelt down, making the odd decision to touch it.

It felt extremely odd, not only was I touching my best friend’s blood, but even the clumps felt weird. But as I felt over the pieces with my fingers, it felt weirder. It wasn't meat; it had a sensation like cotton. My heart stopped abruptly, and I got up, following the trail and beginning to run.

“LEO–!” I shouted “LEEOO!”

I ran as fast as my body allowed me too, each step bringing my body more and more aching pain. I held my breath, trying to steady it as I ran to him, finding myself being surrounded in the darkness and denseness of the forest, the smell of rotting, fetid meat making its way to my nose. This was the place he'd take me to on occasion, the place he took me to a while ago. I never, ever wanted to take a flashlight there.

 Footsteps thump behind me against grass, I assumed Sarah was following me, and glancing back briefly, she was.