Birthmarks and Bruises

The Proper Burial (Part 1)

Andrea's brow furrowed. "I'm sorry, but... that really is far-fetched." Her fingers rubbed gently over the bruise on her other hand. "It's too hard for me to process, but that's not to say I don't believe you..."
Maxine cut her off with a yank to her sleeve, revealing the top of her shoulder. Sure enough, there was the deep mauve stain of a bruise- perfect and ovular.
"And that would be Lewis." Maxine mumbled.

It made Andrea's skin crawl a little. She always liked to watch paranormal shows, and read about conspiracy theories, but... this was too much to take in at once. Especially as Maxine was so calm about it. Then again, she seemed way too apathetic in general.

"We're almost done, I think." Commented Maxine, completely dismissing anything she had just said. Andrea kicked a stone out of the way, helping her companion hollow out the rest of the grave. It felt weird, calling it that. It was more of a body dump. Unprofessional. Inhuman. Wrong.
Maybe there was a reason Maxine was glossing over the subject.
"May I ask you another personal question?"
The older girl's gaze shifted upwards.
"Sure."
Andrea felt like she already knew what she was going to ask- and she wasn't exactly guaranteed an answer.
"How did you get so... many?"
The girl's lip set into a thin line, seemingly looking into the distance. After a few tense seconds, she sighed, focused on a spot behind where the pair were digging.
"I'll tell you later" she mumbled, throwing down her shovel with a loud clatter.
Andrea spun round, immediately wincing at the sight of Marcus. His cheeks were still wet with tears and the blood of... whoever. Dark rings had already began to form around his eyes, making them seem even more hollow than before. He was a mess- but you couldn't blame him.
He's watching us dig his own brothers grave.

"Hi, Marcus."
It was difficult to say anything that would even be mildly comforting. Marcus had opened his mouth to speak, but his only response came out as a choked hiccup, his jaw still trembling from shock and grief.
The girls watched helplessly as he mouthed something, the bottom of his blood soaked shirt being wrangled in his clenched fists so that the fluid dripped out onto the grass.
"Excuse me..?" Andrea questioned, moving closer. She didn't want to make him move in fear that he'd fall. Marcus didn't look too peachy, and the paleness of his face indicated that he wasn't in a good physical state either after crying for god knows how long.
"Is... this for Lewis..?"
His words were mangled and barely audible.
"Um, well..."
Andrea peered back at Maxine, who nodded solemnly.
"Yes, it is." Andrea bit her lip, struggling to find the right words to say. "We'd better give him a proper burial. We can't just leave him in there."
Marcus forced out a sound of hesitant confirmation, which would've been a word if his voice hadn't cracked so badly.
"Where is he?" Maxine asked, bluntly. As intelligent as she seemed, Andrea was quite sure she had much to learn about sympathy. And support. And what not to say and what tone to use.
To be honest, though, she didn't think anyone knew how to handle this.
Marcus inhaled sharply, pointing a quivering thumb back towards the house.
"Have you moved him?" She continued, leaving the edge of the grave so she could hear his response more clearly.
"I was holding him." he croaked.

Oh, god.

Andrea silently willed the churning in her stomach to stop.

I mean, it's not that bad. When you think about it... maybe it's a separation thing. Or denial? It's not weird. He's just... going through a lot.

Maxine cleared her throat, seemingly disturbed. Which was odd. For her, at least.
"Let's just.... bury him." She grumbled. "Would you like me to carry him for you?"

Marcus was unresponsive for a few moments- which was understandable. Andrea could see he wanted to be by Lewis' side forever, even if it was just his corpse. He just didn't want to accept the fact he was dead.
"Okay." He choked. Maxine nodded curtly, forcing a half smile onto her lips before the trio turned away back towards the house. Strange, it looked perfectly normal from the outside. From a glance it was almost as if a brutal murder hadn't taken place. Amazing.
Andrea sighed, gently touching Marcus' arm. He tensed.
"I'm... really sorry about your brother. I know it doesn't mean much, but..." she felt a lump growing in her throat. "I'm really, truly sorry we couldn't do anything more."
New tears strayed down Marcus' face, leaving streaks of lighter brown against the blood and dirt which had gathered on his skin. The teen had slapped his hand over his mouth, eyes screwed tight and every part of him violently shuddering.
"It's okay, you can cry." Andrea soothed. And so he did. Long, hard, torso-wracking sobs which echoed around the bloody walls of the house.
Even Maxine turned to look at him with a spot of sympathy.
As soon as Andrea had passed the doorstep she was hit with the smell. Of course, the body hadn't began to rot yet, but the stench of blood, sweat and wet-dog smell of the Snatcher was still pretty overpowering. She tugged the collar of her shirt up to her mouth so she could breathe easier, seeing that Maxine had already done the same.

Into the next room and there he was, propped into a sitting position with his head dangling downwards, lifeless. She couldn't see them from here, but she knew under that mop of dyed hair were his glazed, glassy eyes, staring at nothing. Maxine had lifted up his chin- hands under his arms so that she could hoist him from the ground easier- and Andrea looked away. A noticeable puddle of blood pooled around the stump which had once been his arm, seeping into Daniel's clothes, who was laying unresponsive next to his deceased brother. He still didn't know.
Felix was sprawled out on the table, drooling, almost peaceful in his sleep. There was a painfully large contrast between the ginger and the rest of the room.
"He's pretty heavy." Maxine muttered, handling Lewis like he was just a sack of meat. Maybe it was good she had detached from the whole thing.
"I feel like I should try and wake the boys. Or, at least Daniel. He deserves to be awake for this." Andrea said, feeling the pit of dread in her stomach grow forever larger. How would she be able to explain that Lewis had died from a loss of blood? And how would she explain that they couldn't do anything more for him? What about Felix' rib? Any injuries Daniel had?
It was kind of nauseating to think about.

She gently shook the younger sibling's shoulder, huffing a little when he wouldn't wake. He was definitely breathing, and his pulse was fine, but.... still he refused to come back into consciousness, no matter how hard Andrea tried to wake him. The most she could get out of him was a twitch.
Maxine sighed, grinding her teeth in mild frustration.
"Should we just leave him, and inform him of what's happened when he wakes up naturally?" Maxine suggested, clearly wanted to get the whole thing over with and have her hands free of a dead body.
Andrea considered it for a moment, before rushing to the kitchen and searching for a cup, or at least some kind of pot. Maybe cold water would wake him. She saw it on a TV show somewhere.
The walls were a little less bloody, fresh air seeping in from the slightly opened window. It was mildly pleasant.
Right. A glass cabinet. Or mugs. Whichever.
A few saucepans, but not really anything smaller than her own head.
Don't wanna drown him.
...Perfect.
An array of blue plastic snack bowls lined the shelves, and so she grabbed one with much haste.

"Shit." She cursed under her shaky breath. Andrea threw her hands down, hurling the bowl back towards the kitchen. "Now he's unconscious and soaked. How the hell does someone stay asleep through that anyway?" She exclaimed.
Felix shrugged. Apparently, in the time Andrea had spent on finding a last resort, Maxine had already managed to awake the redhead with ease.
"He's a really fucking heavy sleeper."