Ghost

The same deep water as you - the cure

The rocks bit into the soles of her feet as she raced down the footpath to the cove, following the anomaly of a boy. finally, something interesting was happening on this island, something that wasn't just degeneracy or death to grieve. he'd bared his teeth, suddenly and she'd noticed not only the saliva overflowing but also the sharp glint in which they shone. his eyes had turned impossibly black, till they were all iris, and when he had grabbed her arm his grip was so tight there was already a bruise forming on her skin. He looked at her with such intensity, she felt like she'd explode into-no, like he was going to eat her. his nose had wrinkled into a snarl and at her cry he had suddenly looked stricken before turning and bolting.

"god" she thought"how do i get him to make that face again" 

she was close behind him, but as he raced down the beach of the cove she slowed, not used to running and watched as he ran into the waves, diving into the water. she was calling his name at the top of her lungs, coughing, trying to catch her breath as he went over and she stopped at the water, helpless as it swallowed him whole. it lapped at her feet, begging her to follow. she cupped her hands around her mouth as she watched him slink through the waves and yelled for him again. 

he stood suddenly, still not yet in open water and she watched him sink his teeth into a fish. He devoured it, and ducked back for more, the scales glinting in the sunlight like bullets. as she watched him tear the things apart, she yelled for him again and then he was below the water, letting the waves guide him back to shore. she raced over to him, grimacing as he heaved the fish and stew they'd had for dinner onto the beach, the water getting rid of the evidence. 

"ugh puke your guts out a little more pretty would you?" she gagged, and turned away as he dry heaved, making noises like a cat passing a hairball. she'd always liked cats though. this, this was, however animalistic for a person. or some sort of humanoid thing. whatever he was.

he looked up at her, and she saw his eyes were no longer black, but red and burning from the salt and sudden tears that were falling into the sand. his voice was flailing and flopping out of his throat, silver and fleeting in his panting breath, mouth stained red. she leaned close and caught the word sorry whimpered over and over and over and she knelt beside him taking his wrists in her hands. 

"for what?" she asked gently "for what" and he was crying again, pushing her away. 

"i bit you" and suddenly she was laughing. 

"no you didn't" she said as he frowned, suddenly confused. 

"then who was bleeding?" 

"you were? you bit your lip" she motioned where his lip was open and still bleeding and he put his fingers to his mouth, looking at it on his fingertips in open astonishment. 

"so what are you? some kind of sea vampire?" she joked. he didn't laugh, still shocked. 

"lets get you back inside and clean that up" 

he was shivering from the cold, and there on the sand, the waves still cradling him and nose and eyes red from crying and the burn of the ocean water, he looked so pathetic she shivered too.

they walked back up to the house in silence and he let her put some salve on his lip to slow the blood. she tried making him eat more leftover stew but he shuddered away from it and so she gave him some sweatpants and a sweater so he wouldn't catch a chill. 

"has that ever happened before?" she asked him. He was sitting, taking up half of the kitchen table, slouching onto his arm, eyes glassy and wide. He shook his head, arms crossed and hair damp from the sea. his cheeks and lips had a slightly pink tint to them, the freckles somehow darker for it, the black sweater, one that could've been a little more loose, was stark against--