Stranded [ 3 ]

>You left the house and got in your car.
>You had a grey Honda.
>Not easy to pick out.
>You parked it and sat inside, pondering everything that has happened lately.
>This job was going to kill you one day.
>Not today though.
>You had something that needed doing.
>And someone to take care of.
>The equipment was in the back of the car.
>You waited to get it out until you were in a more secluded area.
>The job had begun.

>Spot.

>Track.

>Sqeeze.

>Recoil.

>Screams.

>The sights and sounds never faded from your mind, always echoing.
>The blood, the tears, the tangible feeling of guilt that eroded you from the inside out.
>This job wasn`t for the weak-willed, the soft-hearted.
>But you were neither of those things.
>Almost any shred of feeling left in you had died long since.

>You left the site.
>The equipment was being 'cleaned'.
>Next shift was in four days, afternoon.
>There was always a cooldown period before they could send one out again.
>But you were in high demand, so it was only the four days that you would have off.
>You were paid in full, money waiting as a dead drop in a hidden location.
>Always plenty, but you never spent it all at once.
>Too much attention that way.

>You arrived at home, exhausted.
>Today`s work had been difficult.
>As you opened the door, you heard Jennette call out to you.
>"Hey, is that you?"
>She sounded like something was wrong.

"Yeah, I`m home."
>"Okay, good... can you... help me with something?"
>She sounded like she was in pain, the unstable pitch and odd pauses lending themselves to this assumption.
>You hurried to the living room.
>She was grimacing while holding her injured leg close to her body.
>"It h-hurts. A lot."
>The painkillers must have worn off.
>You were still surprised that they worked on her.
>But they seemed to metabolize faster in her body.
>She would need to take it more often.

"I`ll get something for you."
>"Please."
>She was shaking at this point; crying from the pain.
>You quickly walked to the closet and pulled out the kit.
>You opened the bottle and dug out one of the large pills.
>This would work.

"Here, take this."
>You handed her a bottle of water and the pill.
>"Th-thanks."
>She downed the pill with a gulp of water, then chugged the rest.
>You sat down beside her and glanced over the wound.
>The bandage needed to be changed.

"You know how bacteria and infections work, right?"
>Of course. I`ve been to school, and some college."
>They had college?
>Monsters seemed alike with humans in some ways, including higher education.
>You wondered for a moment what she would major in.

"Well, I`m going to have to change the dressing there so it doesn`t get worse."
>She looked up at you.
>Her eyes carried the feeling of pain and fear.
>"Is it... gonna hurt?"

"Yeah. We don`t have to do it right now though. I think we should wait for the painkillers to kick in."
>She wouldn`t be able to handle any more.
>This was the right way to go about this.
>"If that can make it hurt less, then let`s wait."

"Sounds good. Anyways, I`m sorry I didn`t get home sooner. I was... having traffic problems."
>She reached out and grabbed your hand.
>"I`m glad you`re back here now. I was... afraid."
>The eyes on her palms were closed, so there were no tears soaking your hand.
>She leaned back and looked at the ceiling.
>"You know, I don`t think I`ll be getting home any time soon."
>Her tone was wistful, but it appeared that she had come to accept this.
>She shifted her gaze back to you.
>"At least I`m here though."

"I know the feeling."
>"Huh?"

"Some things happen that you can`t go back and change."
>You looked down at the pistol on the table.
>The three lines deeply carved into the side were a reminder of this statement.
>Jennette seemed to pick up on your feelings.
>"Are you okay?"

"Mhmm."
>You wanted to change the subject before the conversation took a turn for the worse.

"So, are you hungry?"
>The question was a bit jarring, considering the shift from solemn to the idea of food.
>She nodded.
>"Yeah, I could go for something to eat."
>What do they eat anyways?

"Any preference?"
>Jennette laughed a bit and shook her head.
>"Not really. I`m omnivorous."
>She flashed her teeth with a wide grin.
>The painkillers were probably kicking in at this point, resulting in a little bit of giddy behavior.
>You had given her a larger dose so that she wouldn`t be in pain.
>You couldn`t stand the sight of someone suffering.

>She didn`t specify anything, so you just threw two steaks on a pan and cooked them.
>Yours was medium, hers was rare.
>You set everything up on a tray and carried it to her.
>She had dozed off again, but her eyes shot open when she got a whiff of the meat.
>"Is that for me?"

"Yeah, eat up."
>Her eyes grew wide when you set the tray in her lap.
>"Thank you..."
>She looked so happy.
>And you... you felt happy too, today`s events pushed to the back of your mind.
>You sat down next to her and ate your steak.
>She used her claws to cut hers into strips, then she downed them one at a time.
>Somehow, she made the motions seem civilized, as if they were common practice.
>She quickly ate it all.
>Soon, you had finished eating too.

"Was it good?"
>"Uh-huh."
>She set her tray on the table, then leaned back.
>One of her large horns nicked your face as she did this, and you felt the familiar sensation of blood flowing down your cheek.
>A stinging pain ran up the side of your face as the wound registered in your mind.

"Jennette."
>"Yeah?"

"You need to mind the horns."
>She looked confused.
>"Wha-"
>She noticed the thin gash.
>"Oh, sorry, sorry!"

"I`ll put a bandage on it. It`s fine."
>She was still trying to apologize
>You broke out the kit for the umpteenth fucking time today.

>Disinfectant.
>Ointment.
>Bandage.
>All patched up.

>"I`ll be more careful, I promise."
>You sat back down beside her.
>She kept her distance this time, but still reached for your hand.
>You took hers in your own and just remained there, sitting on the couch.
>Enjoying each other`s company.

>You were grateful that you didn`t kill her.
>The thought of that made your stomach tighten up.
>After all of this time alone, it was a fellow monster that made you realize that at this point...
>You needed a friend, someone to talk to, someone that was there for you.

>She reminded you of your little sister.
>Always trying to find something to be cheerful about.
>She was so young, so small.
>You missed her, you missed your family.
>At this point, you let go.
>The dam broke.
>"W-what`s wrong?"
>You pulled Jennette into a hug.
>And cried.

>Jennette wrapped her arms around you as well.
>She likely had no idea what had brought this on, but you were not in a good state.
>You held her close while your body was racked with sorrow.
>Old, distant, buried memories flashed through your mind.
>One taken from you, for each notch on the gun.

>You were getting ready to go to college that day.
>Everything had led up to that point, and your family was excited for you.
>You remember the handshake your father gave you as you were about to take off.
>And the gunshot that rang through that bright, cheerful moment.
>Ripping into the heart of your mentor, your best friend, your dad.
>The memory of your mother, screaming as more piercing blasts silenced the excruciating sound of your younger sister, sobbing.
>Your mother, fighting to reach you, fighting to save the only person left in her world.
>Tearing the revolver from one of their hands, shooting indiscriminately at the group of assailants.
>Then the wound opening in her knee, as she collapsed you could see the expression of fury on her face.
>She pointed it at the man in the suit standing behind you, with a gun pointed at your head.
>He offered her a choice.
>He would personally kill everyone here, you and his own men, and leave her alive.
>Or, she could kill herself, and you would survive.

>She put the barrel to her temple.
>A weak smile on her face, taking one last look at her son.
>The sight of the helpless sorrow in her eyes.
>Her silent goodbye as she pulled the trigger.
>The suited man behind you, hitting you in the back of your head, leaving you unconcious.
>The pistol he wielded was placed in your unknowing hands, leaving you to be blamed for the murders.

>And yet, you were not charged.
>Some sick cosmic joke had been played upon you, leaving you free, yet ostracized.
>A pariah that had no one to lean on.
>Even with your fingerprints on the gun, they still did not have enough.
>You had blunt force trauma to the back of the skull.
>A sloppy job had been done, leaving too many questions, too much evidence pointing away from you.
>No motive, no concrete evidence against you, the only piece of truth being that which came from your own scarred memory.
>And with the corpses of criminals in your house, known members of some gang or mafia group lying dead, they suspected more.

>And so you were free.
>Though unable to find a job, unable to seek higher education, unable to reach those far away hopes.
>Damned to live life as an innocent percieved as guilty by the ignorant whole of society that questioned your every step past that day.
>So you turned and stepped into the world of the ones that had ruined your life.

>You became what you hated most.
>Yet you never found out why they targeted you and your family.

>Through all of these years, you managed to seal these emotions away, supress them in the hopes that you would never feel anything again.
>But feeling... was part of being human.
>And although you couldn`t feel broken, deep down you knew you were not whole either.

>Yet, this small creature, the one that stepped into your life so suddenly, had unbound that humanity.
>And so you were there, crying into her shoulder.
>She still sat next to you, comforting you as you let out every bit of the compressed emotions that had been building up.
>You fell asleep in her arms after a while.