Mouth Full of Cotton

Chapter Sixteen: Inquiries [MAINE SMITH]

After walking for what felt like a century, my legs gave way, and I doubled over, catching my breath as the aches in my body began to cease. Moments after I looked up, seeing a dim light. I could hear Sarah behind me, her footsteps rather loud, to me at the least, but loud nonetheless. I reached for the air, finding purchase on her arm and yanked her close to me so she was on the ground at my side. 
“Quiet,” I breathe out, making out two large figures in the low light. She was already quiet, which made me feel stupid, and by how she exhaled, she was sick of my shit. Too bad, so sad, woman. I could somewhat see Leo in there, one of the figures was holding him… kinda parentally. Did I walk in on– no, wait, they're too big to be human. Is… Is this where stuffed ones went?

“You're… a human,” The dark-clothed figure spoke, voice quavering with a sense of sadness and desperation behind it. I felt bad, honestly, for whoever that was. “You're my human boy, my child, my only…” Their voice drifted into unintelligible murmurs, and I couldn't decipher what they said. “Are you sure, are you so sure I'm human…? What about my ears…?” That voice, it was Leo. that was him, in their arms, speaking. His voice was shaking, damnit, I just want to go hug him.

“You were born with them, we decided not to get rid of them in case you wanted—” He cut them off. “But where's my mom…? Other people have moms… where's mine?” I swear, the air got thicker, and I tensed, the situation was too much. He never talked about having a mom at all, not to me, not to anyone, he didn't even mention the topic and always wanted it to be avoided. Even though I wanted to know what happened to his mom now, the other part of me didn't want any knowledge of what might have happened.

My heart was beating vehemently, the sound in my ears as if I was listening through a stethoscope. The noise of it overwhelmed my senses, and I steadied my breathing, as if that would work. I was terrified.

Sarah was pressed up against me, wanting a view for herself, and wanting to listen better to the ordeal. Closer and closer she got, more pressure against me. It provided me an uneasy comfort, the pressure was nice, however the person applying it was not. “I wanna go home, I wanna go back to Maine, I need to say sorry, I… I…” His voice got shakier and shakier, and I felt worse, my heart aching for him. I don't care that he bit me anymore, I just want him to be happy, that's all I've wanted.

He… missed me. He can't be a stuffed one, right? Stuffed ones don't feel emotion, I've been informed, he felt bad; he felt guilt and remorse for his actions. He can't be a stuffed one, he feels; he has emotion.

Sarah’s stirring form interrupted my train of thought, it felt like she pulled something out of her pocket; her gun. She better not try shit, if she does anything, I'll make sure she never breathes— no. This seemed like a girl from one of the posters. I need to keep her alive, for whoever wants her. I don't care if Leo’s not human, that's my other half, I cant have him die, he keeps me cared for, and I return the favor the best I can. We showered together, even, were that close. I can't lose him, I can't, I just can’t. I live for him, he helped me get better. All this murder and hate for these plushies is about as dumb as transphobia. God, it frustrates me thinking about it.

Click…

I grip her arm tightly, constricting it like a boa. My hand shakes from the force. “Don't even try.” I speak through gritted teeth, my voice low so as to not disturb the scene I observed. Don't make any more moves, asshole. You've done enough your way, it's time to do things my way.

The one figure set Leo down, and as he w— limped… as he limped away, the taller one took down their white hood, a cat mask coming into view. Ah, the color, vibrant yet lifelike. I took a minute to look at the mask with reverence, my mind respecting these stuffed ones even more. But the figure… a he, I think? He took off the mask, revealing the absence of a face, cotton fluffed from within the hollow head. It was horrifying, the cotton seemed somewhat old, stained a slight red…. I do hope that it isn't blood. The thought made my stomach churn.