He Was Dying

Chapter Three

My vision flashed. I could see their red outlines through the walls and trees, and my head began to pound.
I hated this feeling, but I couldn't help it. I watch the outlines in silence, my breath puffing heavily through my chest.

My former victim sat on the ground, while the other human tightened fabric bandages around his ankle and lower leg. He must've landed on it incorrectly. I heard him hissing in pain, the other hushing him, warning him that, and I quote, "the monster must still be around."

I...

I wasn't a monster, was I?

No.
I couldn't be.

Wraith always said we weren't monsters, that humans only refered to us as such labels because they feared us. We were out of their norm. Humans never knew how to react to us.
Was this it?

I lifted up my mask, sweat once again dripping from between my teeth. My long, slobbery tongue ran over my teeth as I grinned maniacally.

Without thinking, I bound through the window and threw the man to the ground. He tumbled through the garbage and grass, smacking his back on a wall.
The injured boy sat in shock, shuffling away but only hitting brick behind him. "L-Luke?" He whispered out, looking towards the unconscious man a few feet away. Tears dribbled from his eyes and his lip quivered.
Oh god.

I held out my large paws in a sign of surrender and innocent as I snapped out of "it." A suddenly flash of gold erupted from the other side of the yard, implying another human has repaired a generator.

Turning back to the injured boy, I pointed at him. You.
I gave a pushing motion with my hands. Stay.
Pointed to the ground. Here.

His eyebrows furrowed, but after a few more attempts of failed charades, he nodded and scooted over the man who he called Luke. Luke...
And the boy in blue was Delirious.

Am I supposed to be learning names? Probably not, but I will anyways.
Dropping on all fours, I sped away towards my cabin. Thundering through the door, I bounced up the collasped stairs and out onto the second story porch. Turning a corner, I threw open a dull yellow and blue chest and sniffed about in its containments.
Nope. There's a tool box in here.

I exitted the house and ran through junkyards and jumped over wrecked vehicles. Darting through the doors of a smaller building, I skipped a whole two flights of stairs, skidding around a corner and dropping down infront of another chest. The lid was already tossed open and it was empty.

Arriving back at Luke and the other boy, I saw that he was beside him, Luke still remaining unconscious. "Don't worry, Luke. Delirious is coming, and I'm here. Everything will be okay."

Suddenly the boy in blue limped up, smiling when he saw the two, but his mood dropped and so did he when he saw me. Delirious' heart was racing, and I could hear it. "G-get away from us!"

The boy in the red jacket turned to him. "Shut up! Any sign of Bryce?"
So is there a fourth?

"No, Evan.. can't find him. And what do you mean, 'shut up'?! This is the monster who basically kidnapped you!" Delirious shouted, thrashing his arms around in dramatic motions.

Evan looked towards me, then back at Delirious. "He didn't hurt me." Delirious pointed out his wrapped ankle. "I landed on it weirdly. Chill out."

Delirious scowled and stood up. I swooped in and plucked the bright red medical kit he was carrying off the ground. I stomped over, dust kicking up and fluttering about behind me, and delivered the med kit to Evan, who had his hand out.

As I left the area, I could still hear the two bickering.
"Nice camping trip so far, Evan."

"Hey, it was your idea!"

"Oh, shut up."

"You shut up."

Camping trip? I knew what that was. Hillbilly said that some of the reasons humans end up in our yards was because they're lost. Maybe they were on a hike or have gone camping, and wandered in by mistake. Another reason was sometimes, late at night, people crash their automobiles and hunt for shelter or civilization, and they soon find the buildings in each of our yards.
That must be why they were here.

I hoped Luke is all right.

My eyes looked to the sky as my mind began to wander. It was near impossible to see the moon due to the grey and red clouds cluttering the air above. The top of the trees were fresh embers, the smell of crisp, burning wood heavy in the wind.
My ears folded as ashes of leaves and tree bark landed on my head, nose twitching at the strong scent.

I wonder if this will effect the humans. If possibly the smell will make them sick. If the fumes would hurt their eyes or the ashes burn their skin and leave red scars.

Feet thumping towards my cabin, I tugged my mask off my head, my ears flipping about sort of awkwardly. My face twitched as I hoisted my long legs over a small pile of logs.
Walking through the doorway of the run-down home, a rush of warm air hit my back and I sighed.

What are the others going to say when they find out I let humans go?
They'd have my tail for that. Luckily, I don't have a tail. So boo-hoo to them.

Unzipping my suit, I kicked it off my ankles and tossed it in the nearest cabinet. Rummaging around through a few other wardrobes, I pulled out a baggy, dark grey sweater and yanked it over my head, my ears being dragged back by the hood.

I liked this sweater. It was with me since I arrived in this yard, so basically forever. A male was printed against the fabric, a mask hung over his nose and covering his mouth. It had my symbol on it, too. It made me believe it was, maybe.. special.
Below him, two ribbons outstretched along the sweatshirt in human english. I haven't mastered their language yet, but I was getting better.

Before heading down to the basement for a quick rest, I trudged upstairs to the porch. My large feet clicked on the wooden planks, the smell of crows drifting in the air. But there was also something else..

I wandered onto the porch. My senses sharpened and twitched, the scent of ashes and wood and birds drifted into the vents on my chest. I looked around, curiousity definitely getting the better of me.
Then I saw him.

The fourth.