Clutching The Darkness

Chapter 13: Le Bienveillante

I couldn't take the damage anymore, so I crawled weakingly through the place. Thoughts swirled in my brain; words like 'fear', 'pain', 'murderer', 'blood'. The whispers died down, extinguished like a fluttering flame, but I could still hear the small, sharp pronunciations of letters like 's' and 'g'. Why am I still here? Why did I even come here?

"Find Benilde or Isaac. And hurry. Have heart, don't let your wounds drag you down. Or then, you truly might die. The distorted are everywhere."

Right... It hurts, but I trust that you'll help me again. Just like he did before, when the bite on my arm from the first leper had suddenly vanished. What was up with that? How was my clothes and flesh suddenly healed again? As if nothing had happened...

The sound of violins gnashing and slashing roamed the knocked-over metal, shelving units. Hints of a church organ mixed with a piano strengthen more and more. My skin began to sweat, and my eyes bobbed with hesitation. That music... I've heard it before. It's...Benilde's type of music!

Soon, her footsteps pittered and pattered gently, and when she spotted my face stinging with the unending sense of agony spreading throughout my back, her eyes widened.

"Oh, crap! Cali!", she said, running over to me with completely reckless abandon of the chaotic mess around us.

I instinctively tried to hide the sickle beneath my sides. Her hands gently tugged at my shoulders, while she inspected the mangled mess I was in. I could only breathe raspily with a fading pace in the contraction of my lungs. I would wince when she flipped me over trying to analyze my slashes.

"What happened?"

I tried my best to answer, but my ragged breaths did not allow me. My eyes tried to signal to her my dire state, but her dubious face kept looking around puzzlingly. She seemed...confused?

"Are you okay?"

AM I OKAY!? Does...does she not see my injuries? My heart skipped a beat. Not seeing my injuries...not seeing my injuries. This happened before! Back at the diner, the bite mark I had from the first leper...no one saw it either. Is everyone incapable of seeing my damages?

"Cali?"

SPEAK! Why am I unable to say anything? Choke it out! Come on! You have to warn her about the monsters. The distorted are going to be here soon! The whispers in my ear wouldn't abate, in fact they were getting stronger and more present. She couldn't understand me, except she followed the perplexed gestures of my eye, inspecting the trail of trashed merchandise and strewn out shelves.

"Uh, I'll go get help! Sit tight and breathe!", she tried her best to force a smile but the worrying in her brow betrayed her. She rushed on ahead, following a trail of debris and my own blood. Her pace was quick but her constant horrified gazes at the sight of the altercation made her stop constantly.

It clicked. She couldn't see my wounds. But she could notice the damages of the environment? Is everyone in this reality, unaware? Of the distorted, are they also ignorant? It was a clusterfuck of opposing metaphysical concepts. How could she, or anyone else see the surrounding damages but not see my wounds? Hey, are they able to see my status? To see what happens to me?

"Prepare yourself. The challenges of your journey will only get worse now."

What do you mean? What will get worse? This has to be the worst night of my life. I just wanted to go home today! Argh fuck, it hurts! My back stung again with a bout of pain. Every factor made it worse: the air grazing like sandpaper on my open cuts, the coldness of this place like an icy grip on my spine, and the searing feeling of my sweat boiling in my wounds.