Blood Waste

7. Inside

7. INSIDE

Everything was red.

I stood on shaky legs and observed the world before me, flickering from green to red, to gray and back again. Awestruck, I tried to tilt my head back, desperate to find out what was happening to me.

Confused, I fell with a loud thud, whining in confusion as the scarlet pine trees rose before me like skyscrapers.

Get out, my mind told me, run now. I cocked my head to the side and looked up to the dark blue sky, wondering what was happening to me. A sharp snapping noise brought me back from the lucid state, and I bolted into the forest without thinking.

At first I didn’t think much of the fact that I was running on all fours, and once I did I stumbled, running into a tree. Nose trained to the ground, I immediately picked up on a scent.

Christopher.

How I knew was beyond comprehension, but I followed the musky smell into the forest of blood. The trees flashed to green as I padded between the fallen trunks and I shook with unease, thinking of Christopher again.

Christopher.

The name sounded so foreign on its own, even speaking it in my mind made me shiver in fear and something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on…

My body was acting of its own accord and it scared me. It wasn’t long before I had realized I was retreating into my head, not paying any mind to the outside world.

Little feet scampered over dead leaves, pitter-pattering like rain. Soft mud snuck its way between my feet. The moon swelled like my grandfather going into cardiac arrest, all those years ago.

I smelled something different.

Blood.

Blood blood blood.

I crept closer, moving away from Christopher’s path and settling on one of my own. The light, coppery scent enthralled me, and I licked my lips in anticipation.

A twig snapped and my world was red once more.

So red.

I couldn’t speak.

There was everything and nothing to say – For once I decided to play it safe and think about what I had done.

Snippets passed like wildfire every second I blinked; red flashes of charred skin, the moon burning in the sky, and the crackling of a dead spine.

I had awoken in the back seat of Christopher Bale’s car, a thin sheet draped over my naked body and a nap-sack lying next to me. Jolting up with a start, I had looked around wildly until I came to my senses. He was driving. I was going crazy.

I was a werewolf.

It hit me harder than I expected, and I didn’t want to cry but I couldn’t help it.

The tears came unprecedented, without warning. One second I was staring blankly into nothing, and the next I was quietly sobbing, struggling to come to terms with the fact that I was a werewolf.

I didn’t notice the car slide to a stop, nor did I see Christopher Bale exit the driver’s side of the car to come in the backseat with me. Warm, strong arms engulfed me and for a split second I forgot everything.

I forgot that I was a monster. I forgot that I could never see my family again. I forgot that I was naked, and that I was crying in the arms of the person that had caused all of it to happen.

“This is…” My voice broke, and I cleared my throat, looking up into his eyes. “Your fault. All of it, it’s your fucking fault!” Screeching, I pulled away and wrapped the thin sheet around my frame.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered, looking away.

“If you were that torn up you would never have done this in the first place!” I screamed, yanking a white t-shirt over my head as he turned around, getting out of the back and into the front once more.

My hands dove into the bag, and I pulled out a small pair of shorts, sliding into them as he looked in the opposite direction and pulled the car onto the road.

Over the next ten minutes I slowly began to calm down, taking deep breaths as I made a note to myself to refrain from screaming at him again. Minutes morphed into half hours and soon enough I was staring to believe I was on a different level of existence, disconnected from my body.

It was like I couldn’t think, too caught up in the millions of questions running through my mind on replay. I didn’t know whether or not I should hate him for what he had done to me.

“Where are we going?” I whispered in a barely audible tone.

“A few towns over.” His reply was cold and standoff-ish.

“Oh.” I breathed, looking out to the trees that flew past in blurs.

Biting my lip lightly, I tried to hold back the raging waters within me that threatened to spill at any moment. It didn’t work.

“We can… We can never go back?”

“No.”

“Ever?”

“Never.”

I opened my mouth, then closed it again. There was nothing left to say.

“You should sleep.”

“Huh?” Head turning, I stared at the back of his head until he spoke again.

“Sleep. It’ll make it feel like we’re barely moving. Slow things down.” He took a glance over his shoulder and I blushed, surprised by his random concern for my feelings.

“O-kay… Sleep. I can do that.” Looking away, he went back to driving and I closed my eyes as I left my past behind me.

“You’ll forget.”

Is that what I really wanted?

Let go, Tori. I told myself. Let go because you have to.

I dreamt of wolves.

Cloaked in sheepskins, they gathered around me as I rose to the moon’s occaision, howling when I shed my clothes to step into the bright light.

It wasn’t right, but it was home.

An ear-piercing wail escaped my lips as they tore me to pieces, and I refused to open my eyes, gripping the forest floor as razor-sharp teeth ripped me limb-from-limb.

 I didn’t want to wake up. 

 [ a/n: Short chapter, but an important one nonetheless. Chapter Eight is freakishly long, and once I do a basic edit, I'll post it! And remember, don't be afraid to comment! xD ]