Some Thing Called Myself (Complete)

III: something wet

Ch. 3: Something Wet

Couldn't life give Mara a break? Couldn't she give her a moment of peace and silence to think?

Eyes widening, Mara turned around to look at the dark shape emerging from the lake, a curtain of raindrops and lake water falling in rivulets from its massive body. The creature's face was almost twice the size of any human's, its skin wet and covered with what looked like a thick layer of ooze. Underneath it, its face was pulled back like a fish; two big, black, bottomless eyes were locked on Mara's. Its mouth—a wide slit filled with sharp teeth—opened to form a soundless, broken sentence.

"Give...him...back," the creature said in a gurgled voice.

Maybe to give the scene the proper ambiance, lightning crossed the sky, and a thunderclap made Mara's shoulders jump. She wanted to ask who the creature was looking for, but no sound escaped her trembling lips. The creature raised one of its thin arms and whipped it at Mara, long claws ready for shredding. Before the creature could hit her, a hand grabbed its arm.

At Mara's side, fighting to keep the creature controlled, was the ex-corpse Mara was about to throw in the water.

"What the hell is happening here?" Mara jumped to her feet and stumbled a few steps backward, only to fall again into the mud. "You should be dead!"

"Are you seriously going to focus on that, Mariana? Now?" The ex-corpse gave a pointed look to the side.

As if on cue, the creature screeched, trying to break free. The sound was so acute and high-pitched that Mara felt it more than heard it.

"Hit...her eyes!" the ex-corpse shouted.

Once it heard those words, the creature let out a weird sound between a growl and a whine, thrashing in the water to free itself from the ex-corpse's hold. It tried to submerge again, and it seemed ready to haul the world with it if necessary.

"Mara!" The ex-corpse dug their heels and leaned back, grunting. "Quick!"

With another screech, a slime-covered tail lashed from the lake. It hit the ex-corpse with such force that Mara heard the crack in their knees from where she stood. With an especially violent pull, the stranger spun and fell on the mud, releasing the creature.

"Give him...back." The creature slid out of the water again and stretched her claw-like hands to hold the ex-corpse's leg. "You dirty Sentinel. Where...did you take him?"

Mara's chest tightened, and something stirred inside her. She grabbed the first thing she found—the thick branch of a poui tree.

"Leave my corpse alone!" she shouted, swinging the piece of wood against the creature's eyes.

The collision sounded and felt like hitting a tin bucket. As the creature slid back into the water with a cry of pain, Mara walked to the stranger half-dazed and let the tree branch fall on the ground. Soon, her knees followed. She looked at those black eyes she knew so well and took in a deep breath. Her reaction, she thought, would have to be controlled and calm, like the adult she was.

"What the fuck was that shit?" Mara blared. She gripped the ex-corpse's shoulders and shook them for good measure. "And you're alive!" She held their face and felt the steady pulse on the tips of her fingers. It quickened. "How are you alive?"

"Comes with the beating heart, I guess?"

Mara ignored the clear mockery in their tone.

"You weren't breathing or or or m-moving, or!"

The ex-corpse hid their smile with a dirty hand. The rain was already clearing the mud on their face. "Right." They cleared their throat, and their expression hardened. "There's no time to explain now, but I promise I will. She's coming back." They got up with a grimace and winced, their expression twisting when they tried to step forward. "Help me, Mara. We need to leave the shoreline for now."