17 Attacked

After several torturous hours, we make it back to the small space by the bunker's entrance around sunset. My arms and shoulder are sore from the trip. Without checking I know there's a deep bruise growing. The pain is so deep and real, I once more find myself at a loss. My physiatrist told me pain in my delusions come from my mind deceiving my body into believing it's injured. Somehow, knowing doesn't make it seem less real. As I wince from the pain radiating from my shoulder, the line between reality and delusion blurred a little more. Feeling helpless, I do what's been keeping me going this long. I throw all the complicated thoughts to the back of my mind and deal with situations as they come.

I sigh as I take a seat on the ground and watch Monna as she skillfully butchers the boar-like creature. She's too focused on butchering to snipe at me, so I enjoy the moment of quiet. Daric sits to my right and Zain to my left, while Ivo makes a small fire.

"Won't setting a fire at night attract wild animals?" I question, vaguely aware of the higher level of danger at night.

In response, Ivo lifts a flower with a yellow center and thin blue straw-shaped pedals ending in a tear shape. The stem is as thin as the petals with multiple round jagged edge leaves. "This is a teegle sprout. It'll keep the larger predators with a high sense of smell away."

He throws the flower into the fire, and the flame turns a vibrant blue. The smell of smoke is replaced with the smell of rain. Monna quickly cuts up the meat and cooks it over the flame. As before, I decline to eat; still not feeling the pang of hunger. I watch, fascinated by the dancing blue glow that carries the scent of spring rain, after eating they stare at the fire as well; which is why no one noticed until it came too close that we're in danger.

"Screech!" a wail is heard seconds before a shadow flew by. Zain caught off guard, didn't dodge fast enough. The shadow grazes his arm and lands on the ground and gives us a glimpse of the creature. I pale in fright when I see it's a susik. A hideous creature, no bigger than a small dog. A large round head with yellow compound eyes that take up most of its face; making them great nocturnal hunters. They don't have a sense of smell so they wouldn't be chased away by the teegle sprout. The mouth is a long tube; leaking from its mouth is drool that acts as a paralytic. Tiny serrated teeth are used to latch on to the victim similar to a leech. Paired with the paralytic saliva, it allows them to subdue their victims as it drains the blood from their bodies. The tiny round body is half the size of the head and has a long coiled tail; it uncoils to help hold onto a tree or victim. Six stubby legs tipped with claws used to cling upside down from tree branches to ambush victims.

The susik didn't get a chance to latch on to Zain. If the paralytic got into his system, he would have dropped immediately. I doubt they have a cure on hand, so his entire system would have shut down; causing organ failure and death. I shiver as I drag Zain and Daric behind me. Monna still holding the knife used to butcher the animal earlier, surprises the shit out of me when she whips it blade over hilt into one of its large compound eyes. There is an explosion of green blood as it slumps over dead, the ground sizzles where the blood lands. The knife falls out with half the blade remaining; the rest ate away by the blood. We look on in silence.

Turns out, it also has acid blood, who knew?

"Okay, I think it's time to go to sleep now," Ivo aptly points out.

"Should we do anything with that?" I ask nodding to the susik.

"Why? You plan on touching that?" He points at the still sizzling ground.

"You know, I'll go ahead and pass."

"Don't worry about it. Help me hide the camp."

"Hide it?"

"Yeah, we need to hide our presence or the guards will patrol it more often."

I almost facepalm myself, /Right, I knew that./

Out the corner of my eye, Daric and Monna look at Zain's injury; Ivo and I clean up. We finish, and Zain's wound is clean and wrapped. Everyone heads back to the bunker except Monna who stares blankly at the bloody cloth in her hand. Ivo tries getting her attention, but she didn't seem to hear him.

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Monna stares at the bloody cloth used to clean Zain's injury. Her triggered past washes over her with the weight of an ocean; she's lost to the memories of pain, screams, and blood. Her heart clenches as she tries to hold them back, but they refuse to let her forget about Aken. The first boy she loved with all her naive heart, the one who held the key to her destruction.

As a sheltered merchant's child who knew nothing of the outside world, she believed every lie he spoke. Her closest friend, Tilla, encouraged her blossoming love. Monna made the mistake of giving him a key to the back gate so they could meet at any time. One night she woke to fire and slaughter. Many tortured screams shattered the quiet night. Then she saw Aken. Surely the boy she has fallen in love with has come to save her from this misery. Her terrified heart soared.

But her heart crumbled when she saw Tilla and him embracing like two passionate lovers. They came apart and noticed her standing there. She expected them to look guilty. Instead, they laughed. They laughed at her like the ignorant, foolish child she was. Aken tossed the key to her feet. Saying he no longer needs it now that he got what he wanted.

She stood there gazing at it, while she figured out it was all an awful lie to reach this point. They left as her world burned. Aken pretended to love her and Tilla pretended to befriend her. All for what? Money? Her father's merchandise? As she grieved a passing man saw her. She was so closed in she didn't see him until he was already dragging her with him. He was too strong, and she tried to get away, but couldn't break loose. He held her down. The grit from the dirt dug into her skin. She screamed desperately for help, begging him to stop. But no one came, and he didn't stop. By the time he finished taking what little she had left, she was truly numb to everything.

She waited for the blow that would end her life, but the tip of a sword stuck through his chest. She felt grim satisfaction, knowing he too lost something he will never get back. The man slumped to the ground. Behind him holding a bloody sword, caked in dirt and grime but stood determined, was Ivo. He threw her a jacket and held out a hand to her. And since then, she has yet to let go.

"Monna," Ivo says for about the fifth time trying to get her attention. She snaps out of her daze and gives him an adoring smile. "We are done for the night. Are you coming?" She bobs her head and quietly follows along.

____________________

Her ghost wanders, feeling nothing.

No, that's not true; she feels unsatisfied, hate and unwillingness. She hasn't done nearly enough. Has yet to make the woman who forced an early death on the ghost suffer. The ghost refuses to go quietly. She won't fade into obscurity! Despite her unwillingness, there's little else she can do but roam with her hate. After all, she's dead; her undying will maintaining her spirt even in death. She fears her spirit will scatter soon; until she hears his voice again, the only consistent thing that's been with her through the years.

He whispers to her. Offers to lend a hand to help satisfy the anger that burns what's left of her soul. She smiles for the first time in many years.