Here There Be Monsters (OLD VERSION)

Chapter 8: We're A Bit Fucked Now, Yeah?

He took a deep pull on the cigarette, letting the smoke out slowly so it left that burning feeling in his nose, a pain he could latch onto for support, something to ground himself to the moment. Who knew how many more moments he had left, death seeming to sit around every corner. Suddenly Anthony spoke up.

"Do you mind if I try?" He asked, pointing at the cigarette.

"You ever smoked before?"

The cat shook his head. This should be fun to watch.

"Yeah, sure." He said, handing it to Anthony who cautiously put it up to his lips before sharply inhaling. A moment later smoke exploded out from his mouth as he violently coughed, tears forming in his eyes as Eli laughed.

"You actually like that?" He stammered, wiping the tears from the corners of his eyes as he handed it back to Eli.

"You get used to it." He said, smiling as he inhaled before blowing the smoke in Anthony's direction, restarting the coughing again as he waved the cloud away.

"Sorry I just couldn't help myself."

Though he looked annoyed, he could see the corners of his mouth curl as he tried to hold back a smile, still sputtering as his lungs punished him for the abuse. It was moments like that that fueled the hope that maybe everything would be ok after all.

"Hey guys, instead of sitting there, can you actually help me over here?" Campbell chimed in. His car was currently sitting in the driveway to the house, the seats taken out to be deep cleaned, making the driveway look like a crime scene. After Anthony had gotten the crow patched up, they decided to head to Campbell's house, where he lived alone with just his older sister who fortunately stayed sound asleep as they snuck in. Each taking turns in the shower, they did their best to sleep in his room, though it was obvious none of them were able to sleep, every noise from outside making them all jump. Each time this happened Anthony inched closer to Eli on the floor until they were touching shoulders, and it only felt natural as his fingers inevitably interlocked with Anthony's. But even that comfort was not enough to bring sleep to the pair.

The sun was still low in the sky, barely having risen. Knowing that none of them would be able to sleep even with the sun up, the group headed outside in an attempt to take their minds off the events of that night. But Anthony settled down on the curb, staring at the forest across the street as sunlight illuminated the towering pines. He didn't quite feel like he could be away from him yet though, so Eli went to sit next to Anthony on the curb, taking in the otherwise beautiful view, had it not been for the fear of what could be hiding there.

"In a minute." Eli responded, scared to leave Anthony's side or avert his gaze away from the forest, just in case he missed something.

"This would be a lot easier for someone that could use both of their arms, and I wanna get this blood off my driveway before my sister wakes up."

Eli had helped change the crows bandage earlier that morning, and the wound looked worse if anything. Knowing how serious the injury likely was, he doubted it would heal properly if not treated by a real doctor. Something about it bothered him though, as it was already turning an angry red color, which normally wouldn't happen unless it was infected. An infection setting in this fast was impossible as far as he knew, the only explanation being that since it was a bite, maybe that had a worse effect. He would need to think up a lie then head to the local physician, hoping that they would have answers. For the time being though, he was keeping the arm in a makeshift sling.

"Alright alright I'm coming, come on Anthony." He said, knees cracking as he stood up and walked over to Campbell, Anthony following close behind. Suddenly Campbell's eyes widened as he stared at the place where Eli had just been looking. Whirling around, he scanned forest cover, rapidly searching for whatever Campbell was looking at.

"What is it?" Anthony asked frantically as he stood adjacent to Eli, eyes darting around the foliage as he searched for whatever had spooked Campbell. Slowly Eli turned his gaze to the crow, studying his face as he continued to stare at the same spot, confusion clouding his gaze a moment later.

"Must've been a trick of the light, sorry for the scare." He said, chuckling nervously to himself. Eli could still see it in his eyes though, the fear was still there, it was potent. He didn't believe it was a "trick of the light". Before he could say anything though, Anthony spoke up.

"Let's just get to work on cleaning, no point in scaring ourselves over nothing." Anthony said, grabbing the hose and beginning to spray down one of the seats. Campbell nodded, hastily grabbing a bucket and sponge and starting on another seat. The tension among the group was in the air now, like a physical thing suffocating them. Something felt very wrong, he was sure they could all sense it. With what happened the previous night it was difficult not to be on edge to start with, but this added an additional layer to it that made it impossible to ignore. He had no choice but to help with the cleaning though, glancing over his shoulder at the dense cover of trees periodically. He had a feeling it would be a long time before he stopped checking over his shoulder, the situation weighing him down like rocks sinking to the ocean floor, soapy dried up bits of blood running down the driveway and into the gutter.