A Bloodborne Tragedy

chapter 5

And the next moment, the weight was dragged off Daniels chest and he could finally breathe. Through the adrenaline, he stood up quickly, not willing to allow the man another chance to get the upper hand. He looked around for him, but didn't see him anywhere near like he should be. It had only been a couple seconds. Then he saw it, saw him. A large figure a good distance away in the forest with its teeth bared, threatening the man he pinned to a tree. The very reason he'd taken to the bottle tonight in the first place was right in front of him. Through the loud heartbeats pumping in his head, telling him to run and don't look back, he stared and strained to listen. "How dare‐ I can't lose him again. I just got him back." Sho said, digging his claws into the man's throat. Daniel was shocked as he watched Sho rip the man apart from his neck. Blood dripping down, all over the tree and down Sho's forearm. Then he fell to the ground, wide eyed and lifeless.

Daniel had seen murder before. He'd seen cold blooded maniacs kill for the thrill of it. But he'd never seen a man's throat ripped out from someone's bare hands like that, especially the gentle hands that'd served him drinks and shared a marijuana cigarette the day prior. It made his stomach flip seeing the blood staining his shirt, and the next second he went down, expelling the alcohol and dry heaving what food he didn't have. He was sitting there, gagging, long enough for the adrenaline to wear off and his nerves to steady. The silence of the night was broken by Sho's soft muttering, comforting Daniel through the sickness and helping him up.

Daniel's throat hurt terribly. He could feel the cat-scratch stinging of the cut and the blood that had dripped down to stain his shirt. He had a great headache that lasted well into the night even after Sho had given him a blanket and laid him on his couch to rest as he cleaned and bandaged the cut. The nausea didn't subside until well into the next morning after drinking a tonic he'd had in his saddlebag for cuts and wounds he got from his constant running from the law.

Waking up to Sho watching over him silently was jarring. Those red eyes like a predator making sure he couldn't possibly die in the middle of the night. The cut wasn't deep enough for that anyway. He had to distract the man with requests long enough for him to run to the hotel (though quickly regretted it when the bandage rubbed roughly against the wound and caused him quite a bit of discomfort), and get some much needed time alone to clear his thoughts.