Worse Than Prison

Chapter Seven

Teach Me How To Live

Silence screamed, he wailed, he cried. His chest was tight and achy, his throat felt like he was choking on a lump and his eyes stung as salty tears streaked through the blood caking his face. Jared winced and did the first thing that came to his mind, the first thing he could do.

He reached out and hugged Silence tightly in his arms, a hand supporting the back of Silence's head, ruffling his dark hair. Silence's frame shook as he sobbed and Silence couldn't stop himself from holding onto Jared in turn. He wanted to yell, to scream all that had happened, all that he was feeling, but only gibberish came out. The occasional 'op' and 'oh' choking from his throat.

"Sssh," Jared murmured, holding Silence close, "It's all right, Silence... It's all right..." He didn't know how long he could stay there holding the boy in his arms, wishing he could take away all the teenager's pain, but there was hardly a thing they could do and if the guards found out Silence had done this, they'd kill him or worse.

"All right, Silence," Jared said softly, pulling away and looking at Silence's dirty, sad face, "I... Need you to do me a favor. I need you to finish this guy off. Can you do that? Do you think you can hurry up and... Finish?" Silence stared at him, confused.

Finish him off? What for?! I thought you were mad at me for doing this! Why... No, wait. That's why. He doesn't want me to get caught. They'll think Skull fled. Oh, but he's huge... How can I finish him before they realize what's wrong? And I'll be covered in blood. What then? Jared seemed to have a plan because he was ushering Silence to hurry along, glancing outside the door down the hallways. Without much another thought, Silence was scrambling back over to Skull, chewing down on the meat hungrily.

His senses were going wilder, becoming keener. He could hear Jared's heart beating three feet away, he could smell the sweat running down Jared's forehead, he could his movements through the floor, his vision grew sharper, and his taste buds became more and more sensitive to the delightful taste of blood and meat. He felt himself growing warmer, stronger. Each bite seemed to boost his health as he gnawed on bones that stuck out.

However, he'd only finished the man's torso, throat, and arms before he began to feel a bit sick. His stomach ached and his head hurt. Jared's sigh sounded like an angry gust of wind, the feeling of it on his back. He looked up at Jared, giving a small whine of discomfort.

Jared looked up and his eyes widened. Silence seemed almost good as new, maybe too new.

His skin was warm, glowing with a healthy cream color and his cheeks were rosy pink. His eyes were bloodshot with blood, however, and his body was caked in it. His eyes were such a bright blue, they almost looked like ice now. Even his teeth seemed to be in better shape.

"Holy crap... Okay, Silence, wait. If you can't finish him, we'll find somewhere else to put him, all right? Here, uh, there's gotta be somewhere..." Jared's voice trailed as he rose to his feet, cautiously approaching the corpse. It made him sick to his stomach, but he held the vomit down as he stepped over, bending down. The body was so mangled, he'd probably have to hide the man piece by piece. The thought made him groan in disgust.

Silence watched him, having slid back across the cement against the wall on the other side of the room. He was leaning up against the wall, slowly making his way onto his two wobbling legs. He only stared as Jared began to drag Skull's shredded corpse to the nearest closet. As he dragged, the body began to fall apart, flesh ripping and parts getting left behind.

Silence frowned a little and inched forward, dropping onto all fours again and grabbed whatever fell behind, hurriedly stuffing it into his mouth. Jared glanced behind him to see Silence gnawing on whatever was falling off.