Swooped | ✓

Chapter 2: Cold Turkey

"Fuck," I choked out, rinsing my mouth out under the sink and swishing some minty mouthwash to try and get the horrid taste out. Looking at myself in the mirror, I grimaced as I looked as bad as how I felt. My long hair was sweat-soaked and stuck to my pale, almost grey-complexioned face. My lips were chapped, nose red and eyes rubbed raw from crying during my sleep. The magpie scratch on my cheek was still red, the skin around it tender and raw.

"This better not be the fucking bird flu," I croaked to myself, stumbling back to bed and pulling the blankets back around me. It was already too much for me to walk to my ensuite bathroom, let alone go downstairs to get something to eat. I just had to try and sleep this off, and then maybe when Milo gets here he can bring me some food and medication. 

Somewhere during the day, I managed to fall back asleep, and it was a peaceful one. Dreams were blank, there were no birds chasing after me. By the time I woke up again, it was to a weight pressing down beside me on the bed. Rolling over to face the weight, my muscles aching as I did so, I blearily turned towards the person. Seeing Milo's face, I managed a small, exhausted smile. He had clearly let himself into my house with the key I had given him in case I ever locked myself out. His frown was pulled down tightly with concern, dark eyes uncharacteristically warm.

"Jesus, you're really sick, C," Milo said quietly, brushing some of my damp hair from my forehead, pressing his hand against it. I hissed as his freezing hand pressed itself against my skin, flinching. "You're so hot, what the hell."

"That's what I tell myself in the mirror every day," I said, unable to help myself even though it felt like someone had taken sandpaper to my throat, rubbing it raw. Milo gave me an exasperated look, pushing me back slightly so he could pull the blanket over my shoulders. 

"Maybe you're not as sick as I thought, if you can still mess around," Milo said, rolling his eyes. "Have you eaten anything today?" I shook my head, Milo frowning again. "C, it's 5pm!"

"I... I couldn't get out of bed," I said weakly, smothering my cough with my blanket. "It's so weird, I've never had a cold like this before. All my muscles hurt like a bitch, especially my back. I have no idea why."

"Sounds like the flu to me," Milo mused, brows pulling together as he thought to himself. "Maybe I should get you some flu medication. But you do need to eat first, C." Peering at my face with his sharp eyes, Milo reached out to gently touch the wound on my cheek. "Do the scratches hurt?"

"They sting a bit, and feel kind of hot," I said, shrugging under the covers. "Not really bad, in the grand scheme of things, considering my whole body feels like death." It was then that my stomach decided to make its presence known, rumbling loudly. Milo's brow quirked up, and I laughed sheepishly. "So, you were were saying that I need to eat..."

"Yes, I brought food," Milo said quickly, poking my cheek. "I got it when I headed over here, but it got cold on the drive over. Go shower, and I'll heat it up."

"Do I smell?" I asked, Milo snorting.

"Not just smell. You stink," he said, nose scrunching up with disgust. I laughed at his words, pulling myself up in bed with great effort, bumping my best friend with my shoulder.

"It's called masculine musk, excuse you," I said, Milo shaking his head incredulously, getting up  from my bed. He stretched out his hands, an invitation to help pull me out of bed. Smiling, I slipped my hands into his, shivering at how cool they were to the touch, and let him tug me up onto my feet. 

"You're not going to pass out in the bathroom or anything, are you?" Milo asked, giving me a once over as I apparently swayed on my feet. 

"No, I think I'm good," I assured him, shrugging. "But if you hear a loud thump, that's just me passing out." Milo was unamused, giving me a hard look, which I tried to wave away with another smile. "Seriously, I'm fine. I'm actually starting to feel a bit better."

"If you say so," Milo said, still slightly unconvinced. "I'll bring the food up for you, so don't bother going downstairs."

"Aye aye, doc," I grinned, Milo smiling as he grabbed the plastic back of takeaway from the floor beside my bed, disappearing to go and heat it up for me. 

Not wanting to make him wait while I showered, I quickly forced my sore muscles to the shower, turning the water on to let it heat up before stripping off my sweaty clothes and throwing them onto the floor. Shivering in the cool air, I hastily stepped under the steaming water, letting out a soft moan as the hot liquid slipped down my body. 

After letting myself enjoy the warmth of the shower for a minute, I then carefully washed my hair, which clung to my neck and shoulders. It was when I was rinsing the shampoo suds from my hair, that I noticed something strange in the mirror that was visible from the shower - because, you know, sometimes you just wanted to look at yourself while you showered.

With my arms raised, I noticed something poking out from the middle of my back. I rubbed at my eyes, wondering if I had gotten soap or if the steam was clouding my vision. But I hadn't.

"What the fuck?" I murmured to myself, turning my body slightly to get a better view. "What the fuck, oh my God, what the fuck?!"

There, in the middle of my back were two bony-looking sticks, bent at an angle. The skin they emerged from was pink, almost like a healing scar, and as I stared at them they moved. Up and down. Up and down. Side to side. 

"AHHHH!"  I screamed, panic filling my body, the weird bones growing out of my back jerking around wildly as fear seized me. Stumbling back, I slipped on the slick tiles of the shower, falling hard onto my ass.

Thump.

My heart beat rang in my ears, louder than the sound my body made when I hit the ground, and I knew that my ass would be bruised from the fall but I was too shocked to register anything, not even the door flying open as Milo burst in.

"Culver, what happened?! Are you okay?" Milo's voice yelled frantically, the shower door opening. He immediately cut off the water, kneeling down  in front of me, the jeans around his knees dampening as he gripped onto my shoulders. He shook me slightly, face tight with worry.

"M-Milo..." I whispered, colour drained from my face.

"What? What's wrong?" Milo asked, his eyes trekking down my naked body, not even caring that I was naked. Not that I could care either, right now. I couldn't care less if he had seen me popping boner - not that I currently had one - since I had actual fucking bones sticking out of my back. I would have much preferred conjuring up a stiffy in front of Milo right now.

"M-my back," I stammered, eyes wide as I turned to Milo, head shaking side to side in disbelief and fear. "There's... There's..." Milo frowned, hands tightening on my shoulders to turn me around. When I felt his hands jerk on my shoulders, stilling, I knew he had seen them. Whatever they were.

"What the fuck?" Milo dropped, mirroring my words from only a minute ago. "Are those..."

"Milo," I said slowly, trembling. "I think I'm about to faint."

A/N: At the rate I'm writing this, I'm going to see if I can update this story every two days or so, so you guys don't have to wait too long between updates! Let's see how long I can keep this up for 😅 And, of course, thanks for reading!