Charles Smith x Reader

Fourteen

Hours passed.

With every second the night seemed to turn darker, gloomier. Every now and then you could hear how Charles groaned, how his breath hitched.

Every time it made a shiver crawl down your spine. The beating of your heart pounded against the bones of your rib cage.

Sometimes Aponi called out for new water or to empty the bowl that was filled to the brim with blood and old bandages.

Your hands were stained with red by the time you ran to throw out the second bowl and get some new warm water that Aponi used to keep Charles' body temperature at a stable level.

He shivered, probably due to pain and the sweat that kept on coming. Whenever Aponi wiped him clean it took less than mere minutes until he was covered all over again.

The old woman did her craft in silence. With her eyes narrowed and her attention fixed onto the issue at hand she cleaned wounds, removed everything you had failed to get out of his flesh and sewed the wound back together.

Metal shells clinked as they fell into the porcelain bowl with blood and flesh.

Your shoulders twitched. The constant smell of iron drove nausea down your throat. You had to swallow to keep from throwing up on the spot.

A ridiculous thought when you thought about the fact that this man's life was at stake. You, on the other hand, were just being petty.

Taking a deep breath, Aponi straightened her shoulders after what seemed like hours. Water turned red as she washed the blood from her hands.

"You should go.", she said with a quick glance at you.

You shook your head.

"No...", you muttered, your voice shaky and so close to breaking that it almost made you go mute. "I... he's... in my home... on my floor... Why..?"

With a groan, you buried your face in your hands and wiped it so many times that your skin started to stretch and burn.

For the first time since she had entered your house, the old woman half-turned towards you. Her old eyes travelled over your face before your eyes met. Lips curled and a wise smile appeared.

She didn't have to speak a word for you to understand her. With a gesture, she instructed you to leave. It would be better for everyone involved. Especially because it seemed like the worst was yet to come.

The thought made you shiver to the core.

How could this get any worse?

Swallowing hard, you close your eyes and let your head fall back.

Clarence lifted his head wearily next to your foot. A strange darkness had entered his eyes as well. Animals were sometimes just as clever as humans. And this dog understood that this was a fight neither of you could fight in.

"Come my boy.", with a thin smile you patted him lovingly on the neck and stood up.

Only at the door did you grab one of the oil lamps and take one last look back.

"If he doesn't make it...", you couldn't finish the sentence.

A shadow darkened Aponi's face. Her gaze travelled down to Charles.

"He's...", her fingers wrapped around her braids. "Like us. I can... feel it. We will honour him... like ours."

Even if you didn't want to think about that possibility, you felt relieved that Aponi wouldn't disown him. He would be given a decent burial. That was a comforting thought.

Groaning, Charles furrowed his brow as fingers dug a little deeper into his flesh to search for the last splinters of the bullets.

Blood gushed from the wounds, covering his dark skin with a glassy sheen. Muscles twitched.

It smelled like you had butchered something in your house.

"Come on.", gently ease the dog out of the door.

But before you left, your body was gripped by a strange feeling. You couldn't describe it, but it felt strange. As if the darkest of darknesses was crawling into your flesh, eating its way through your bones and into your marrow, nesting there like a parasite.

It was the worst feeling you had ever felt. For a second, your lungs contracted and you could no longer breathe.

Your eyes jumped to the revolver you had hung on a nail next to the door. Maybe it would be better to be careful than lenient. Your fingers closed around the cold metal.

"Call me if there's trouble.", you muttered over your shoulder.

Her eyebrows drawn together, Aponi gestured. Streaks of blood stuck to her cheeks where she had wiped her face with the back of her hand to get rid of sweat.

"Go.", her voice was heavy, too focussed to continue dealing with you.

With a nod, you pulled the door shut behind you and disappeared into the night. Darkness swallowed the warmth of the fire that warmed the inside of your hut.

Clarence raised his head curiously. His ears perked up. You could immediately sense that he wanted to tell you something.

It was strange how quickly life had changed out here. In the morning, everything had been nice and relaxed. Now you thought you were trapped in danger. Your fingers tightened around the revolver.

"Go, my boy.", you whispered to him as your eyes wandered in the direction he was running. "Show me what you smell."

Tail wagging, Clarence trudged towards the barn, which rose like a black cube into the even darker sky in the night.

It smelled of rain and mud. A cold breeze blew through the tops of the trees. Your body trembled. It was suddenly so cold.

When you were a few steps away from the gates, you stopped. Clarence had already disappeared inside. You cautiously stretched your neck. Your eyes could barely make out anything, only blurred outlines and moving animals.

Something rustled. Reflexively, your index finger slid onto the trigger of the gun.

"Hello?", you shouted into the barn. "Is someone there?"

A bark shattered the silence. Something rustled again.

You ducked your head and scurried inside, pressing your back against a box for protection.

Clarence barked again. This time the mooing of the cows mingled with it.

Something wasn't right.