We All Have Our Sad Stories

Chapter 12

Ness' scream rang out through the mountains, the curse words streaming out of her mouth as she used her knife to stab another one of the beasts in the head. They kept coming at her, and she used her legs, elbows, feet, anything to restrain them from biting into her perspiration-soaked skin. As she had flipped over and brought her knife out from under her, it had sliced through her, resulting in a downpour of blood; this only excited the beasts more, their eyes growing more ravenous.

As she killed them, they fell upon her body, and she made sure to avoid the teeth at all costs. When the last one fell over she screamed, "Get these f*cking things off of me!"

She heard heavy breathing above her before Liam and Lilly's faces appeared before her, lifting the dead bodies off of her now-weak figure. Blood drenched her clothes and body, her hair matted into one giant knot on top of her head. When the top half of her body was visible, Liam tugged on her arm, trying to pull her from the pile.

Ness retracted back into herself, screaming in pain as a hand flew to her side to cover her heavily bleeding injury. Lilly shoved a body out of the way before gasping, covering her mouth in horror. "D-did they get you?" Her voice got higher at the end, despair setting in.

"No, no, Lilly. I'm fine. I did it myself," Ness reassured her, wincing when her hand touched a deeper part of the cut.

"Well it sure as hell isn't fine," Lilly sneered, looking away from the wound. She then looked to Liam. "You need to carry her back."

Liam immediately nodded, placing his hands in the appropriate positions before Ness pushed against his chest, shoving him away.

"I can do this. Just help me up." She stretched out her hand, flinching in pain at the movement.

"No. Liam, do it." Lilly wouldn't take no for an answer. She had to get her healed as soon as possible. The wound could get infected and that would lead nowhere pleasant.

Liam listened to Lilly, for once disobeying Ness. He lifted her gingerly off of the ground, making sure to take light steps back to the house as not to hurt her anymore. Ness continued to hold her side, biting her lip until it bled to keep her screams in. She didn't open her eyes as she passed everyone else, not allowing them to see her so vulnerable.

They didn't care; they were worried about her wellbeing, not her tough girl image.

Lilly's grandpa-- the guys found out his name was Bill-- gasped when Liam barged past him carrying a bloodied up Ness who looked close to passing out. She groaned when she was laid onto a couch, any movement whatsoever sending another shock of pain throughout her entire body. Bill didn't hesitate to get out a bottle of alcohol and pour it over the wound, making the tears Ness had tried so hard to keep in pour down her cheeks. Her teeth grit together as the burn of the liquid coursed through her. A damp white cloth was placed on her side and Lilly held it there steadily as Ness again screamed in torment.

Bill ushered the rest of the group into a separate room as Ness tried to catch her breath, their panic-stricken faces looking towards Ness, who had her eyes shut so tight they looked as if her eyes had sunk back some little bit. They saw the tears and knew that it must've been terrible; Ness didn't cry over nothing. The scratches on her face that she had never cleaned were still a bright red, but before she was never bothered by it.

When Bill got around to Liam, he pat him on the shoulder, lending him a chair next to Lilly. He didn't say thank you as his generous self usually did; he sat down and took Ness' hand, not flinching when she gripped it as tight as she could, trying to transfer her pain into someone else, whoever they may have been.

When she opened her eyes a little, she saw that it was Liam and tore her hands away, pulling them to her chest as she started shaking due to the powerful ache in her side. She took deep breaths to relax her body; tensing up would only make matters worse.