The Bite That Binds [Kaylor] ON HOLD

[ a hideous thing inside ]

I know, I know.  I have This Lullaby to finish.  But that only has four chapters left and I'm really excited about this idea, so I decided to just go ahead and go for it.  This one is probably gonna be pretty dark at times, and maybe a bit confusing and unclear at first, but I promise we'll get there as long as you just stick along for the ride!

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Got a curse we cannot lift,
Shines when the sunset shifts.
There's a cure, comes with a kiss.
The bite that binds, the gift that gives.

                   ;; Wolf Like Me : TV On the Radio

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Karlie awoke to the feeling of underbrush beneath her back, a colletion of branches like fingernails hooking into her bare skin.  Her head felt heavy and filled with snow, and as she sat up, a jolt of pain thundered past her temples.  She let out a low groan, a noise sort of like a growl, and dug her thumbs into her aching skull, trying to massage it away.

Her fingertips felt sticky, and when she looked down, they were caked with still-drying crimson.  It settled in the creases of her knuckles and played hide-and-seek beneath her nails.  Her palms felt stiff with it.  Another low groan, and instinctively she moved to wipe her hands on her thighs before remembering those were bare and she'd just be smearing the redness on even more skin.

All of this registered before she realized how cold it was.  There was a layer of frosty morning dew in her hair, and white crystallization decorated the earth around her.  Everything smelled crisp like only winter could cause, a distinct, shocking clarity that muted the naturally gamey scent of the trees around her.

Her flesh rose and prickled into goosebumps.  They covered her like tiny little hills and valleys, a vain attempt at keeping her warm.  She was entirely naked, and her winter-paled skin stood no chance at keeping out the chill.  She tilted her head up, squinting between the branches.  The sun was hardly up, meaning it was probably around 8 a.m..  Her memories were foggy after a certain point, but she remembered where she was, and figured she could be back in the city by 9:30.

Karlie pushed herself to her feet, taking her time.  Her joints popped like gunshots, and her muscles felt tired and sore.   It wasn't unusual.  After the strain she couldn't remember but knew her body had gone through the night before, it wasn't surprising at all that her body reacted as though she had fallen down a flight or four of stairs.

On clumsy legs shaking like crumbling cities, she started the walk back to her car.  By now her feet had grown used to the terrain, and she didn't whimper or really even register when she stepped on sharp-tipped nettles or branches sharp like spears.  The cuts would be healed in less than an hour, anyway.  Trivial matters.

Thankfully, her sense of direction was unfailingly accurate, and after about 15 minutes of shivering her way along a pathetic excuse for a woodland trail, she found her car.  She'd left her keys tucked behind a rock nearby, and she pulled them out, pressing the unlock button and popping the trunk.  Inside lay an odd collection of items.  Three outfits, several bottles of water, a box of snacks, a pile of blankets, and a few sets of baby wipes.

She took the last item out then walked over to look in the side mirror of her car.  Blood sprinkled across her face like a strange constellation of crimson stars, and she scrubbed it clean.  It lined her mouth, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she had the distinct thought that it looked a little like Taylor's lipstick.  It made her feel sick, and she scrubbed her chapped lips so hard that they cracked like ice and released little intricate trails of blood.

Her hands came next, and she cleaned as much from beneath her nails as she could.  One was shredded, and as she cleaned it, it started a dull, throbbing ache that matched her rapid heartbeat.  She curled her hand into a fist, putting pressure on it, not caring that it made the pain that much more distinctly obvious.