Author's Note

Chapter 6 - Bloodstained

The sword didn't stop blazing. Not even once I'd collapsed to the ground in front of the beast, coughing, cold tears beginning to run down my cheeks from shock. It had taken a moment for the realisation to sink in, the realisation of the events that had just taken place, but once it had done, my knees buckled and I had fallen heavily onto my legs, coughing and spluttering. I dropped my sword: it fell and filled the air with the disgusting smell of burning flesh.

I didn't want to think about it, didn't want to look at the animal.

The searing pain in my thigh became overwhelmingly apparent, almost pulsating, shooting from zero to one hundred. My body shook uncontrollably, I coughed up my lungs. Subconsciously, I was aware of three others surrounding me, though I didn't want to talk. Where had they been? Why hadn't they helped? Anger swelled up inside me.

The gash in my thigh continued bleeding.

My head span. Arms wrapped around me, someone's body pressed against my back. I shook them off before turning to the left and vomiting violently, adding to the vile stench in the air. Faintly, distantly, an Irish accent was talking calmly to someone, and though I heard Thomas's words, they didn't compute in my head.

"Where were you?" I croaked out, my vision changing, becoming fuzzy. Everything I saw was like it was being reflected in a pool. My heart pounded in my ears, I couldn't hear much apart from shuffling and voices, arguing. I couldn't make out the subject of conversation. My head hurt, throbbed.

No answer came. At least, not that I could hear. My leggings were tugged off. Faintly, embarrassment echoed in my head, but I was too exhausted, too disorientated to care in that moment. They brushed against my wound as they were peeled off, the fabric feeling like salt in my tender flesh. I cried out, more tears rolling down my face, a sick feeling building in my stomach. I could no longer see, my vision was black, stars swam in the darkness, distorted.

A cold hand rested on my leg near the wound, goosebumps prickled out over my skin. I blinked furiously, longing for my sense of sight, hating the overwhelming darkness. And then, someone's finger was running over my wound, a freezing gel seeped into it. I screamed in pain, a sound that ripped my vocal cords to shreds. I was on the verge of unconsciousness, pain overwhelming every sense. Someone's warm hand wrapped around my mouth, muffling my cry, and I felt the back of my head hit someone's chest. My eyes were wide, though I still saw nothing. I struggled against the touch as I whimpered weakly, writhing around as the finger pressed deep into my wound. Nausea overcame me once more, and I felt bile rising up in my throat, though was forced to swallow it down. I winced at the burning feeling as it travelled down my neck.

"Shh, they'll hear you, more will come," Thomas's whisper felt as loud as a gunshot in my ears, causing my head to pound even more. The sentence was one that was incredibly unsettling to hear while I had a loss of sight, it made my mind explode with fear.

Some kind of cloth was being wrapped around my leg - a bandage, I guessed. It stung, stung far more than you'd think, making me sob even more into Thomas's hand. But just like that, it was over, the pain in my leg stopped. It felt almost numb. Then, someone was pulling my leggings back onto my body, lifting me up awkwardly in order to do it, before allowing me to slump back down.

The hand didn't leave my mouth.

Though my head continued to pound, my vision gradually returned to me, though everything seemed to be tinted a slight blue colour.

The bug was the first thing I saw. Apparently, someone had moved my sword, for it lay - still burning, though not as strongly - to the left of the insect. But the sight of the bug itself almost made me finally pass out. One of its arms had been torn off, and a thin, crusty layer of something covered the joint where it should have been. Though what really got me was its head. I hadn't really seen what I had done before, I had been too overwhelmed, but now...