Hybrid

Blood For Blood

A scream pierced through the air nearby and I knew immediately that it was Maria. I decided to move carefully towards the scream this time, unsure of what the level of danger was. Joe had his hand clamped over Maria's mouth to silence her, but she had other ideas.

If the situation hadn't been so scary, I would've laughed at her licking his hand. However, I was smart enough to know now wasn't the time. Joe looked over his hand and decided the best punishment was to smack Maria across the face hard enough to knock her to the ground.

I couldn't stop the growl that came from me, and I slowly circled the area knowing Joe couldn't spot me. I wanted to make him as scared as Maria was. I picked up a rock and tossed it to another location to make Joe look away from where I was.

When he was distracted, I slowly moved out of the woods. I felt my claws come out of my fingertips and I rolled my shoulders back as my teeth ripped through my gums. Joe spun around quickly, but not in time to be able to do anything. 

I grabbed him like I had earlier that day, pinning him against a tree instead of lockers. The smell of smoke invaded my nose and burned my nostrils.

"I figured Isaac would've deterred you," I snapped.

"Your guard dog should've left me alone," Joe snapped back at me.

"You said you didn't feel bad for Maria losing control of her legs, so let's see how well you walk without yours," I threatened.

I felt pain in my abdomen. When I looked down, a knife was lodged in my stomach. I stumbled back, clutching at the knife to keep myself from bleeding out. I dropped to the ground, trying my best to ignore the pain spreading.

Joe kneeled over me, grabbing onto the knife. I tried to remove his hand, but I was suddenly weak. He twisted the knife inside my gut. When he noticed the blood streaming from my mouth, he pulled the knife from my stomach.

I heard a scream that could've shattered glass. I felt Maria's hands press down on my stomach, but I felt too weak to hold any pressure myself. Her eyes were wide and panicked. My blood was on her skin.

"You're going to be just fine Dylan, I promise," Maria said, her voice shaking.

I leaned my head to the side to cough up blood.

"You need to hold on. You just need to hold on," Maria kept repeating.

Joe grabbed her arm again, "He's pretty much dead already. There's nothing you can do. Let's go."

Maria fought against him harder this time, but she still lost. The last thing I saw was her being dragged away.

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Maria

I heard the knife rip through Dylan's skin. The sound played over and over in my head, and the moment I closed my eyes I could see him die. I could see those beautiful brown eyes fade and his breaths grow more shallow. I hadn't stopped screaming and I didn't think I could.

I felt like my chest was being compressed. I had to fight for every breath I took. I was just trying to force a breath in. My body shook with rage. Tears stung my eyes but refused to fall. I was unable to scream, falling into a silence that consumed me.

Joe dropped me ten feet from Dylan's body, kicking me in the abdomen until his rage simmered. I didn't even try to deflect his hits, my eyes filled with the sight of Dylan's motionless body.

There was an ache in my chest that hadn't been there before. It felt like my heart wasn't pumping blood correctly, like it had somehow forgotten how to function. Each beat was off. The ache only grew.