A/N: This chapter is a bit dark. I almost freaked myself out as I wrote it haha >-< Just imagine a ton of creepy ass obnoxious Slender Men.
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T W E N T Y - N I N E : M O N S T E R S
K A T A R I N A
When I finally come to, I'm laying on the river bank with my face in the damp sand. I must have swam to shore after being sucked in from the current. I cough to clear my throat and when I try to push myself up off the ground there's a sharp pain in my shoulder that nearly makes me pass out.
I roll over onto my back and sit up straight. I look down at my chest and there's a bullet hole in my shoulder socket. There's a large amount of blood that's ran down my black tank top and I'm more pissed about how my mom's leather jacket got ruined.
Carefully I stand, holding my arm up to keep the pressure off my shoulder wound. I need to get out of the open and have a look at my wound. When I make it into the woods, just far enough not to be seen by anyone walking down the river bank, I lean back against a oak tree and slowly shrug out of my leather jacket.
I look at my chest where the exit wound is. So I was shot in the back, great. Whoever shot me was a lousy shot. I was basically a standing still target and the fucker shoots me in the shoulder? If it would've been me, I would've killed my target. I take a look at my back and I notice that it doesn't look too good. It almost looks infected but it's different. It shouldn't be turning infected this soon. There's green and purple veins scattering out away from the initial wound. As I look down at my chest, it's doing the same thing. What the fuck is this?
Not only does it look bad I also feel sick, like I'm going to throw up as my body is trying to reject whatever poisons in my body. That's when I finally press my finger tips to my wound and taste it. As soon as I taste its bitterness I quickly spit it out. I smell my finger and there's a faint hint of alcohol. Witch hazel—the kryptonite for warlocks.
Great.
The bullet at least went through so there's not one lodged somewhere in my body, but now I have to worry about being poisoned. From what I researched before, the side effects are upset stomach, coughing up blood, fever and hallucinations. All the things it's used to treat humans for but has the opposite effect on us.
I need to get out of here and get medical treatment. If I don't somehow treat this fever that's no doubt already on its way, it could end badly for me. I'm by myself right now and no one is here to look out for me.
What I don't understand is who shot me and not just with any bullet, but one laced with witch hazel? That's not very common, which tells me someone was intentionally targeting me. Which explains why there was only one shot.
I take a deep breath as I lean against the tree and when I open my eyes I noticed a bundle of white flowers at the base of a tree nearby. I walk over and have a good look at the plant. It's Yarrow. Just my luck. I can use this to my advantage. I pluck a couple handfuls of the flowers and look around at the ground. My vision is already starting to falter but I find a small rock that's smooth on one side for a pestle and there's a large boulder that I can use for my mortar. My own makeshift tools to grind the Yarrow into a fine powder.
I place the flowers onto the boulder and begin mashing them with the rock. It's taking longer than if I had the actual tools but for now it's working and it'll help with the bleeding and the fever that's soon approaching. Hopefully the hallucinations haven't started to kick in and I'm dreaming all of this up.
Once I have the Yarrow into a fine enough powder, I pinch some in my fingers and bury it into my wound. I groan in pain as it nearly makes me pass out. I take a few deep breaths, catching more in between my fingers as I press more into my wound. Once I've done both sides, I grab my leather jacket and begin to make my way west in the opposite direction of the rivers current. I should eventually come across the freeway. I walk slowly through the forest, and realize it's starting to get dark. I don't have my phone on me to use it's flashlight. I could use my powers to start a fire and that's when I realize my totem isn't around my wrist. Fuck.
Dante had taken it off me last night during our little spat and I forgot to put it back on as we were both so wrapped up in each other. I could use some of the magic I have on reserve within me but I may need that for something more important.
I begin to feel dizzy so I lean up against a tree stump and slowly slide down. My head is feeling heavy but I have to get going. I can't stay here much longer. Suddenly there's dark figures peaking out at me behind trees and I instantly go on defensive mode. If I grab my throwing stars in my pack, I could take them all out from here. They begin to cackle at me and chant my name.
"Kat! Kat! Kat! Kat!" they won't stop. I pull out one of my blades from behind me and hold it out in front of me, ready to strike.
"Kat! Kat! Kat! Kat!" they continue to slowly mock me as the creep closer.
"Shut up! Get the fuck away from me!" I scream out when there's suddenly another big dark figure in front of me. I swing at it but my arm is grabbed and my blade it taken from me. I punch and kick at the figure. No, I can't die like this. I can't!
"Katarina stop! Please baby stop!" it calls out to me, begging me. How does it know my name? Why is it calling me baby? No it wants me to stop so it can hurt me. Eat me alive even.
"Leave me alone! Stop!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I try to shove the monster off of me. I still hear the little ones behind the trees, chanting my name. They howl and laugh at my mockery.
"Stop laughing. Stop!" I scream as the monster holds me tighter.
"Fuck Mickey what the hell is going on with her!?" it growls as it picks me up from the ground.
"She's been poisoned Dante. From the look of her wound it's witch hazel. Whoever shot her, laced the bullet with witch hazel. She needs medical attention and somewhere safer for now to ride out the hallucinations and fever. At least until Jax, Jared, and Cameron get here and we can take her back to your house with the infirmary," another voice speaks but I can't concentrate. I still hear the mocking voices of the creatures in the trees. I instinctively tighten my grip around the monster who is carrying me and his grip tightens on me as I shiver. When did it get so cold?
"Shit Mickey she's trembling!" he growls but he sounds worried. Why would the monster be worried?
"It's because of the shock she's in. I don't even want to know what she's imagining right now."
The monster presses his mouth against my temple and kisses it. Why is the monster kissing my face? Is he tasting me to see how good I'll be for his next meal? I need to get away. I try to fight my way out of his arms but it's no use. I whimper into his neck and shut my eyes, trying to drown out the voices.
"It's okay baby. None of it is real. Listen to my voice. I'm real and I'm here. I have you and I'm not going to let anything hurt you. I'll protect you," the monster promises me calmly. As I bury my face in closer to his neck I smell the familiar smell of Old Spice. I inhale it deeply as it calms me. Dante. The monster smells like Dante.
"Over there Dante! There's a cabin. Thank God!"
Dante? Cabin? No. No Dante is in trouble. Those monsters will get him. The monster carrying me with devour him. I have to warn him.
"Dante..." I yell but it comes out as a moan.
"Yes angel, it's me. It's Dante. We found a place to lay low until help comes. I'm going to be here for you through all of this. You're not alone. I love you Katarina and I'm never letting you leave my side again," he whispers into my ear and I strangely find comfort in that.
It's gotten colder now and I vibrate in the monsters hold. His grip tightens on me as he brings me closer to his body. There's a sound of a door being kicked in and I smell must. The voices are faint now and when I open my eyes my vision is blurry. I look ahead at the neck in front of me. It's olive-toned skin shines in the light of a freshly lit fire and I can see the hint of black ink peaking up from over the collar of the shirt. I nuzzle in closer to it, begging for the comfort it grants me.
Big strong arms wrap around me one last time as I'm laid down on something soft. A bed? I shiver ones more as I can feel and hear my teeth rattle. I curl up into a ball and pull my knees to my chest. There's a hand on my forehead and a gasping sound as they quickly pull away.
"The Yarrow she used on herself helped a bit with the fever but she's still burning up. I'll be back with some cold water for her head. Stay here and try to get her warm Dante."
"Where else am I going to go? I'm not leaving her side. Not ever again Mickey."
With the monsters last words I feel myself start to slip down the rabbit hole into nightmares I can only describe as a sick and twisted version of Alice's Wonderland.