The Company

A Little Piece of Hell

Idealism, sits in prison,
Chivalry fell on its sword,
Innocence died screaming,
Honey ask me, I should know.
I slithered here from Eden,
Just to hide outside your door...
--Hozier

My arms burn by the time I'm done dragging Eden's body to the fence. The girl is small, but I swear she weighs as much as a sumo wrestler. Terry is of no help, not with those slender arms.

"Okay," I huff at the fence, waving my hand. "Do the disappeary-thing."

Eden, face still a mess of agony, grunts as she sits up against the steel wire. Taking a few giant breathes, her features relax to look almost serene, and her skin starts to waver, as though she were just a mirage this entire time.

But mirages don't weigh that much, so I can't convince myself that her body, which is now turning into wafting color and seeping through the fence like smoke, is just a trick of light.

Soon, the girl is just smokey color, moving to the other side of the fence. Once all of the substance is gathered in one spot, it melds together to solidify, reconstructing her body.

However, my jacket and her gown did not make the trip over, and Eden materializes naked on the other side. I hear Terry's inhale and immediately turn around to punch him in the arm. "Be a gent and turn around, would ya?" I chide.

He wisely obeys, averting his stare and turning away. I make the gruelling climb back over the fence, my thighs and arms screaming out their resistance. My wounded shoulder only makes matters worse, the bite mark sore and stinging.

I fall to the ground more than I land, flinging the clothes off my shoulder and redressing Eden back to rights. It is a slow process due to my exhaustion and her pain.

I take in her bunched up, sweaty face, her arms clutched around her stomach.

What could be wrong? The effects of the anesthetic should have worn off by now, surely?

Terry drops down next to us. " My car is just over here," he says, pointing to a gathering of trees. "We taking her to a hospital?"

I throw him a sharp look. "Absolutely not."

"Why?"

I groan. "Terry, what the hell would we even say? And she is not normal. She has to be an anomaly of some sort. They won't know how to help her anyway."

"What do we do with her then?" he asks.

"She goes with you."

"Me?! What'll I tell mom and dad? They won't let a girl wearing nothing live with us!"

"Well she can't come with me!" I counter. No fucking way.

"Why?" he tilts his head at me. "You live alone, right?"

I open my mouth, but close it when I realize that my place is the only suitable option. I look down at Eden, whose head is bowed in pain.

Ah fuck. Why? Why me?

"Okay, fine. Help me carry her to your car." Terry looks like I've just asked him to rock-climb Mount Everest. "Hey, you wanted to do what I do, right? Well this is what I do, Princess."

"I'm not a princess," he whines, taking Eden by one arm as I take the other.

We move her into the trees, to the car, lowering her gingerly into the backseat.

"Please don't throwup in here. It's real leather interior," Terry tells a barely conscious Eden.

I roll my eyes at him. "Are you fucking serious?"