Her Wendigo Chapter 2

Black Bath

In the bathroom, Lia was on her knees right outside the tub. Her bare knees and feet were covered in the black. It was soaked into her clothes on one side and smeared on her cheek. She held a wet rag that was soaked with water and what Lia could only describe it as a black, almost ink-like substance. She reached out the rag again and dabbed gently around Damian's eye socket. It seemed to finally slow its leaking.

She wanted to call it blood. It seemed like it was blood. However, Lia didn't think it was the right name for it. It was thicker than blood and like oil it floated above the water that was in the tub, but it didn't stick to your hands like oil did. On her hands it felt like water. The first couple drops pearled on the waters surface, sliding around before combining together into a dark almost tar like layer. It was very strange. Lia thought to refer it just by its color, black.

As she dabbed around Damian's eye socket she supported his head up with her other arm. His skull was much heavier than she thought and was almost causing her arm to shake from fatigue. He did little to help keep it up. Lia made sure despite her weak arms to keep his head away from the water and black goo below.

She peered down the other side of the tub. Damian's body was curled up and limp in the ceramic tub. It was impossible to decipher the black from his pitch black fur. The only thing she saw was his bony ribs rising and falling along with what sounded like a raspy purr. The purr was a whisper.

Just a few hours ago after her shower Lia was dead asleep. Damian was his usual self. Lia calmed down from her crying. They both were asleep together in the bed. Besides twitching and small coo sounds that occasionally emitted from Damian they both slept soundly. The thick sheets kept Lia warm from  the chilly air that was moved about by the ceiling fan above them.

She woke slowly at first to Damian shuffling about in bed. She felt him kick out and hit the bed before sliding out from under the covers and onto the floor. She rubbed away something wet from her face and lazily turned over to turn on the small lamp at her beside. Curious to what got Damian up and running.

The old lamp took a while to flicker on and once it did Lia was frozen. The bed was completely soaked in black. It was soaked through her clothes, on her legs, it was what she smeared on her face. Damian was crawling to the bathroom with one of his frail hands covering his eye socket. Black spewed from the eye socket as Damian tried to cover it. It slipped between his fingers and gushed onto the floor.

Lia yanked the heavily soaked sheets off of herself and rushed to Damian. She knelt near him to keep him from staggering. Her breath rushed in and out of her lungs. Her mind spun in circles, making her dizzy. He was in a smaller form than he usually was in. Looping her arms around his frame she carefully lifted him up and rushed to the tub.

"It's ok," she spoke repeatedly as she tried to lower him gently into the tub. 

She didn't know if he was ok. He didn't peep a single noise during his struggle to the bathroom. During this whole ordeal he was quiet. Until later, when he started purring.

Since then, she wasn't sure for how long, she has been trying to keep the black under control. With the slowing flow of the black liquid she hoped she did a good job. Damian slowly returned to his larger size as well. Her knees ached from kneeling for so long.

She gently set his head back down to the bottom of the tub, careful not to get water or black into his mouth, and got to her feet. 

"I'll be right back," she said reassuringly.

Walking back over to the mess of towels she made earlier. She grabbed a couple and folded them. Going back to the tub to kneel down beside it she set the towels under Damians head. It kept his head up and was stable. She stood back up to grab the shower head and disconnected it from its holder. Turning on the warm water she started to rince out all the black that was on Damian and in the tub. It easily slipped out of his fur and streamed to the drain. It made Lia happy to see Damian lift his head. He lifted it so he could rest it on the edge of the tub since he was getting larger, back to his usual size. While one hand held the shower head the other ran its finger through his fur and feathers. She was careful to keep the water from spraying at his face. Only to clean it with a damp rag after.