The Shadows

Help her

I'm so sorry.
"Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, STOP!" Stranger yells, her voice cutting into my brain, disturbing me as she lets out a small sob. I can see her eyes spilling over with tears as my body twists from shock, wrenching my hands free of her grip. I didn't want to do that.
"Okay, okay, okay, okay." Stranger speaks to herself as she starts up the car, fumbling with the keys in her hands. I want to talk to her, I want to apologise.
But I can't move.
"I've got this, it's okay, I've go this, I've got this, it's fine." She talks to herself as my heart writhes in guilt, as she picks at her shaking fingers when the car starts, her unsetady hands taking the wheel.
God, what have I done?
The car drive is hard to decipher, Stranger muttering under her breath every now and then, and my body forcing meto stay sentences I don't even understand. At some point on the drive, Stranger goes silent, and it weighs on the car like a tonne of bricks. The air is thick to breathe and it feels wrong to even try to do so.
I think we've arrived at my apartment, though I can't really see through the haze in my brain, because Stranger exits the car and walks around to my side. Her uncertain fingers carefully unclip my seatbelt, and I wish I could say something to her of benefit.
But you can't.
She lifts me out of my seat, and I wan to say that I'm okay, that I can do this. But that would be a lie. My body automatically walks back to my apartment after being carefully set ont he ground, and I can feel my heart twist with guilt as I hear Stranger scramble to catch up with me. Is she okay?
My mind blurs, and I can see Stranger sitting with her head in her hands at the dining room table, while I can feel my feet hit the ground as my body forces itself to move, paciong around the room. My mouth forms words I don't want to say, and I feel guilty for letting them come out like this.
"Shapes- all shapes- no point-" God, what is my mind doing? I don't want to say this. I shouldn't be putting Stranger through this. Why hasn't she left yet? She can;t care that much? I'm ridiculous, I'm crazy.
Why won't you just leave?
"I'm just a shape- the worst shape-" No. "should stop-" No. "should die-" NO. My words are cut off when Stranger stands up abruptly, scaring my mind into a halt. Her face contorts as she looks at me, into one of fear and upset and a bunch of other emotions I don't understand. And I feel so bad for putting that look on her face. Why did I do this?
"Stop it!" My face goes blank as I stare at her, my heart stopping slightly out of shock. Tears begin to fall down her face, smudging the makeup she wears, and making her mascara leave black trails donw her face. Just like me when I cry.
"Don't you dare tell me you should die, don't you ever say or think that again." God, her voice is trembling. What have I done to her?! I'm sorry. She keeps talking as her lip starts to tremble.
"Have you no idea what you're doing to me? You are my scarecrow in this horrible land of Oz, because I will mis you the mosy, you. You..." She stops as I start to cry again, clear tears of pure sadness leaking down my face. I laugh through them, forcing a smile to appear on my face, though it isn't convincing.
"That't the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me..." My body starts to shake again with the force of my tears, and Stranger comes over to me in a flash, pulling my tiny body into hers, holding me together. My heart hammers in my vhest, the glass smashing together so violently, I'm sure she can hear it.
"I- I wish I could tell you everything, but I don't know where to start." I mutter to her, knowing my words will get blocked by her clothing. My shaking stops and Stranger lets go of me, heading for the sink. She switches on the cold water, splashing and washing her face of the makeup. She quickyl wipes her face on her shirt when she's done, and tries to walk to the bathroom, probably to reapply the makeup. But I stop her with a hand on her arm, my eyes staring at her foot, my heart lurching in my chest. She's limping.
"You're limping." My voice is small from the shock, but I try to make it matter of fact. Her eyes flick down to look at her right foot, before looking back at me.
"Yeah, something happened at dance, it's probably fin-" Oh god, at dance?! I should have stayed, I could have helped her. I cut her words off, making my voice strong and loud. I shift my face to one of authority, to let her know she's not getting excuses by me.
"No, stop, let me look." My face is in a frown and my eyes are serious when I look at her. I can see her note this. But I can also see her discomfort at nt having makeup. So she tries again to give me an excuse.
"No, it's fine, I'll be back and you can look in a minute-" Her voice is stronger than before, trying to convince me of her argument. I can't believe he though. The signs are all there and now I will help you.
"No, you will let me looks now." I keep my authorative tone, staring up at her with a hard epression. She tries to resist my grip, but I lean around her and flick on my little kettle, walking her back to the living room. I'm stronger than I look, there's no escaping. I walk her to the sofa and  force her to sit down, pushing on her shoulder till the rest of her body obeys and sits down.
"Stay." I glare at her slightly as I walk into the kitchen, listening for her movements. I hear nothing, so I relax slightly, and set about making some tea. The kettle is just about boiled, so I put a teabag in a mug I quickly grab out of one of my cupboards. I pour the hot water in the mug over the teabag, making sure to stir it and squeeze the teabag out with a spoon. I dispose of the teabag into the compost bin and pour in some milk, trying not to put too much in, since I don't know how she likes her tea.
It takes a few minutes, but I carefully carry Strangers tea into the living room, handing it to her when she reaches out for it. She takes a sip of it and I wonder how that doesn't burn her mouth. She places it on the coffee table in front of the sofa.
I carefully lift her foot onto that same table, and I watch out of the corner of my eyes as she takes a pillow off of the sofa, squeezing it tight in her arms. God, I feel bad, but I need to check this out. Sorry Stranger for the pain  that's gonna come next.
I slowly tug off her sock, dislodging it from the bloody skin inside. The sock is plently bloodsoaked, letting me know that this has been there a while. Has she been dealing with my shit while being injured?! Jeez.
The sock pops off of her foot after a few seconds and her foot is bruised a long the side and front, slightly deformed with swelling in some areas. Theres a blood clot under her nail, sticking the detached nail to where it is neant to be, though from what I can see, the nail is only hanging on by a small peice of skin. Ouch.
The rest of her foot appears to be fractured, which will not be good for her dancing career. I see her eyes well with tears as she ralises this same fact, and I feel bad for her. I could heal this, is the thing. I can ensure she can still dance. But that means revealing that I'm able to control and use shadows. Oh jeez. What do I do? I look up at Stranger, her face contorted in pain, and I want to help.
"Oh jeez, sorry, love. This is gonna hurt." I tense slightly as the words escape my lips. Did I really just say that?! God, I hope she didn't hear that. I leave it alone, as I gently pull at her nail, watching as the blood stains my fingers. I can hear the skin under the nail ripping as it dislodges as I pull. Stranger tenses her foot and I flinch, knowing that's gonna disturb her fracture. God, that's gotta hurt. It's at moments like these I'm glad I can't actually feel pain. I see Stranger close her eyes at the pain, and pay no attention to it, focusing on pulling her nail off of the skin.
I look up when the pillow falls from her hands, hitting the floor. I tense slightly, feeling a pange of guilt in my heart. Oh dear... Stranger appears to have passed out from shock and pain, her head lolling forward into her chest. Oh, I'm sorry. You could have said it hurt that much. I feel bad for her, but, hey! This means I can heal her foot completely and let her do dance again, without her knowing what I am! Though, I can't grow back that toenail. But thats fine, just a bit of an inconvenience.
I run off, leaving Stranger alone for a second, heading into my small bathroom. I grab my med kit from the medicine cabinet and run back downstairs, checking on Stranger. Yep, she's out all right, I think as I wave my hand in front of her face, making a breeze.
Okay, I can do this.
I should lay her down now, I may not have the energy for that after I heal her, I know how much energy that uses. I hook my hands under Strangers neck and in the crooks of her knees, shifting her body lengthways over the sofa, into a laying position. She's even lighter than I had anticipated. That can't be good for her health. Her feet hang over the end of the bed slightly. God, she's so fucking tall! Actually, I'm just small, but anyway!
I pull the blanket off of the back of the sofa, draping it over her body carefully, so as to not risk waking her up.
I move to the end of the sofa, kneeling so I'm level with her feet. I open the med kit, grabbing some disinfectant to clean her foot with and make sure the wounds don't get infected while I heal them. I soak a cotton swab with the clear solution, wincing at it's smell slightly. Ugh, smells like my childhood.
I wipe Strangers foot, cleaning away the blood and throwing away the toenail. Doubt she'll want to keep it as a souvenir. Okay, the foot is clean. Onto the next step.
Please don't wake up.
I hold my right hand closer to my face, watching as a black, oil like substance snakes its way out of my flesh, wrapping around ym hand, engulfing it. Sighing, god I'm tired alredy, I place the hand on Strangers injured foot, watching as the shadows move onto her skin, twisting visciously over her foot. I sit and watch as trhey begin to glow white, indicating the job is being donw.
I can hear Strangers bone correct itself in her foot, and I can ehar as the shadows hold it there, stitching the bones back together. Ugh, I hate that noise.
The shadows remain for anothe minute, finishing their work, before turning back to black, crawing their way back into my skin. At least Stranger should be fine now. But I'm so tired. God, that uses so much fucking energy.
I grab a bandage from the medkit and wrap it around Strangers foot, watching as the swelling goes down. This may cover some suspicions at least, right?
I yawn, looking at Stranger as she sleeps. Her cheeks are flushed slightly with heat and I smile. I'm glad I helped. I force myself up, putting the med kit back in the bathroom, and turning off all the lights in the house. I mkake sure the door is locked, and frown at the snapped metal chain. Ugh, whatever.
I don't eant to leave Stranger alone, so I lay on the floor, shifting my weight into the soft carpet. It takes me only a few seconds to succumb to the dark embrace of sleep.