Odd Love

Chapter 10; Mourning Sickness

     It was pleasantly cool, the sun basking overhead. Hardly any clouds littered the sky and it would have easily been an amazing, relaxing day. However, two figures stand in the grassy yard behind their house, looking down at a mound heaped over the earth.

     A make-shift stone sat at the head of the mound, marks etched in it as if the mound had been used before. Upon closer inspection, the marks were indeed tallies, keeping track of how many eggs had been buried here.

     In front of it stood Matt and Tom, the former of the two clinging close to the other, holding back tears. While his eyes barely remained dry, his breathing was wracked with sobs. Tom, standing next to the taller ginger, had a stern expression, hardened as he tried to keep himself from crying.

    The pair had just buried the crushed and mutilated creature, trying to force themselves to believe it just rolled out of the nest somehow. It just... didn't seem like that short of a fall would shatter it so badly.

     But as soon as the burial had started, it ended. Tom walked hastily to his room deathly panicked that- in that amount of time- he would return to see another broken egg. While Matt moved slowly to his own room, trying to silence the whimpers and sobs that filled his throat.

     Both not uttering a word to one another.

     Tom shoved his door open, his now wet eyes softening at the sight of the eggs that remained. He anxiously checked them for cracks. Paranoia filled his mind, making him protectively cover them at the slightest creak in the wooden floor .

     He was a mess.

     Blood from yesterday- still not fully scrubbed off the floorboards- left a small red stain that tainted his room. Sickening thoughts clouded his mind, leaving him grabbing at his hair in frustration. Tom took deep breaths, trying his best to expel them from his brain. He couldn't.

     Matt laid in his bed, his glazed and sore eyes staring at the wall. He didn't want to talk, he didn't want to eat, he just wanted to sleep; but sleep was impossible. Flashing images of dead animals and splattered organs surrounding him whenever he closed his eyes. He cried out, bringing his shaky hands to his face, praying for his subconsciousness to stop.

     He rolled over onto his side, curling in on himself. His hoodie and blankets were wet with tears, but Matt didn't quite care. He turned more to scream into his pillow, abruptly stopping when there was a soft knock at the door. Matt hesitated, not wanting to move from the bed. They knocked again.

     Matt pushed himself off of the bed, trying to rub his face clean the best he could. His hand gripped the handle and, for a moment, he paused. Shaking his head, he just cast his gaze down and opened it, slightly startled to see a green hoodie.

     Edd looked up at Matt- concern slathered on his features- and spoke in a soft tone, "Neither of you have... spoken. Do you maybe want to talk to someone, Matt? I'll listen, I promise." Edd normally wasn't one for the mushy bits of friendship, but it was blatantly clear that his friends were in need of some sort of assistance. Matt hesitated when answering Edd, leaving the brunet to think.

     "... Wh..? O... Okay..." He whispered, his voice wavering through octaves and cracking on the syllables.

     He cleared his throat dryly, trying to do away with his shakiness. Matt shifted hesitantly, allowing enough space for Edd to slip into his darkened room. The stench of sour bile burned the shorter boy's nose almost immediately, his hands rushing to cover his mouth in disgust. Matt- seemingly indifferent- flipped on the light switch, revealing the puddles of vomit that crowded the far corner of his room. Edd winced, a concrete frown dominating his expression.

     "I'm... So... S-Sorry f-f-for... The... The m-m-mess... I... I... I n-need t-to clean..."

     Matt's lip quivered as he spoke, playing against the dull and dispassionate sound of his words. Edd stared at him, nauseated and deeply revolted by the state of his friend.

     "Matt. What the hell  is going on with you." He scolded, grabbing him firmly by the shoulders to keep Matt from drifting away. The taller boy took a shallow breath, his hands balled into fists as attempt to stop the tremors that shook them.

     "... It's... You-You wouldn't understand... I... I... I... I-"

     "Matt... You can tell me anything and you know that." Edd said softly, gently interrupting Matt from his verbal loop.

     Matt nodded slowly, blinking back salty tears as he spoke with his quivering voice, Th-The... Those e-e-eggs... they.... they're... M-M... Mine a-a-and... Tom's... O-Ou... Our..." Edd just tilted his head, cocking an eyebrow as the ginger stuttered along.

     "The-They're our... ch-children..." He didn't really know what to call them, though Matt really did consider them his very own children. Even if not all of them had actual creatures in them. Edd just froze, looking quite shocked, but surprisingly not repulsed like Matt had been expecting.

     "The eggs are the child of you and Tom? How is that possible?" Edd queried, disbelief claiming his expression. Matt shifted in slight discomfort, but answered anyway.

     "W-Well... T-Tord had... had valid com... complaints about... n-n-noise. A-And To... Tom's monster f-form it... it can... D-Do th-th-these sorts of... things." He was kneading his hands together, most of his long nails broken. This left them sharp and ragged to the touch. Edd nodded along, trying his best to comprehend what the other was saying.

     Matt took another breath, wanting to just curl up and forget about it all. "A... An-And... O-Oh god... S-S-Some... S-Something... H-Happened... S-Someone... Th... It... I-It..." Matt didn't finish, water bursting from his eyes in abundance. Edd held him sadly, letting Matt sob onto his shoulder. He shivered at the feeling of fabric dampening with his cold tears.

     He had an idea of where Matt was going with his jumbled sentences, but Edd wanted to stop him from floundering with words so he tried to offer as much consolation as he could.

     Matt's loud hiccups soon turned into a session of uncontrollable gags, trembling as he weakly pushed Edd away from him, try to not get anything on him. Edd himself felt an urge to join him, his stomach tightening into a hard knot as Matt continued to sputter and gasp for air.
He put a hesitant hand on his back. Edd rubbed circles until Matt stopped convulsing, beginning to drag him out of the dirty room.

     "C-Come on... I'll make you something to eat..."