"Raven."
Through the darkness I heard a voice, piercing through the haze.
It sounded urgent.
Someone calling out to me.
"Raven, shift back."
Every now and then I would see snippets.
Just stilled images flashing before me, showing pictures of a living room.
Of a broken table.
Of a boy.
It felt somewhat familiar but I couldn’t place it.
"Raven! —Ah, fuck."
..And pain.
So much pain.
The voice continued to call out to me, pleading with m e to do something...but I wasn’t ready.
No, instead, I rescinded into my mind further to escape.
To try and forget what was happening.
...To pretend everything was okay.
And so, I hid from it all, blocking out the images and voices.
Waiting until, finally, things didn’t hurt so badly.
..Until I was sure the pain had stopped.
".Raven," came the voice again.
Only, this time, recognition finally kicked in.
Kieran.
It was Kieran's voice and...and I’d shifted.Changing into the wolf and...—.
Oh...no, no...Instantly, my eyes flew open...and I found myself contained within his arms, wrapped up in a blanket.
He looked down at me with a face showing signs of exhaustion, his breathing heavy.
And I immediately knew something was wrong.
I wasn’t sure how long had passed but I was back to m y normal self, implying it had been at least a few minutes.
But...there was something else too.
Something I’d come to expect from these lapses.
..I could smell the sickly scent of blood.I squirmed out of his grasp, pushing away just enough to get a good look at him...and there it was.
The source of the smell.
A large gash down the front of his chest.
Blood flowing from it...increasingly becoming worse ...pooling on the ground around us.
And, suddenly, it was as if the whole world tilted.
Everywhere I looked there was blood.
Red painted on every surface, on every piece of furniture, on every wall...curtain...and lamp.
And as I frantically looked around, I felt my breathing quicken, my heart starting to race.
...Just what had I done? This was exactly what I had been afraid of and yet I’d let it happen.
I turned back to Kieran, finding his face now so pale, and I quickly moved my hands to his chest to help stop the bleeding.
Hands that were soaked even up along my forearms already.
"I’m so sorry," I whispered.
"I-I didn't mean to do this." I'd told him that this was dangerous and a bad idea.
Why hadn’t he listened to me?
"Raven...it’s okay," he replied.
I looked at him incredulously, as if he were insane for not seeing the amount of blood he had lost.
It was a miracle he was even still able to talk.
"N-no...no it’s not okay," I stammered.
"Nothing about this is okay...You’re going to die because of me."
entire body shaking, feel the tears beginning to form in
he knew what he was doing, that everything would be fine, and
being helped? Was I actually a monster? "Raven,
"Fine’?”
repeated, my voice becoming
t o call an ambulance.Goddammit, Kieran! Why didn’t
to stop the bleeding but he then grabbed my
are you doing?!" I
"Stop," he ordered.
even
no it’s not.How can you say
look,"
you...I-I
forcing
"...I said I’m fine."
I slowly looked back down at his chest, I found
that had already stopped bleeding
"W-what...? I don’t understand..."
spun my head around to look at the
of furniture, the place seemed utterly the
No blood in sight.
I had seen it so clearly, smelt the strong
mistaking it....How could that
said, and proceeded to lift me onto his
was reluctant at first, still confused by what was happening, but it didn’t take long for me to realise what this meant.I threw my arms around him in relief, no longer caring if my sudden attachment to him
that mattered was that
That he was safe.
"J-I’m sorry," I cried.
sorry.I fucked
came up and gently stroked my
warmth was helping to
"You’re fine," he said.
do
did," I
of whether it was minor, you still got
tried to help me, it was clear that I was still a failure.It didn’t matter
I’d never overcome.Somehow, it felt like I would
and useless at things that should have been natural for
to
Kieran didn’t seem to like
pulled me away and held my face so I was forced to
was your fault," he
"I mean it."
"But I—."
instantly
a breath and repeat
was not
mouth to protest but he gave me a look that
if telling me this
I finally said in
mumbled the words quietly but he still
nod in approval, he let go of
seen anything like
changes I've ever witnessed.But...I don’t know.It’s giving me a
saying there is actually something wrong with
more...something external affecting
any jewellery? Or have anything metallic touching you like a piercing? It’d look something
weren’t a good idea for me given m
"No."
about diet.Do you drink any teas? Or regularly deal with any
replied again, becoming increasingly more confused
trying hard to come up with
could tell he was
"..What about medications?"
body immediately
for anxiety and post- shifting side effects; mostly the pain and nausea.But...that was something I had been
By a doctor.
A professional.
were a professional...employed by m
wouldn’t have though, right? Because that
Kieran prompted when I
the bile in my throat,
"Yes," I answered.
"Yes. I have medication."
you show it
stood up and walked to where
took a bit of shuffling before I eventually
so quickly, my
said, presenting it to
swiftly took it from me,
worked, subconsciously pulling the blanket around me more for
than anything that this really would be ordinary
rarely
"These...these are suppressors,"
slowly
designed and used in chemical warfare.I llegal now, of
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