Let Me Stitch Your Broken Heart

Carly had just settled down for a short rest when she heard a branch crack. She jolted upright and turned towards the noise. Two large red eyes were focused intently on her from the woods she’d come through about fifteen minutes before. “Who’s there?” She knew those creatures didn’t have eyes, but she knew nothing of the other animals that might call this realm home. All she knew was that giant red eyes were always bad in movies. She backed away from the shadowy figure that was beginning to creep closer.

“Stay back! Go away! My boyfriend is on his way back. He’ll be here soon! He’ll kick your ass if you try to hurt me! I swear!” Carly lifted a small branch from the ground and poked it towards the eyes.

“Is that what I am now? I don’t remember asking you to be my girl.”

It sounded like Colton, but he didn’t have such large eyes. They reminded her of a dog. “What do you want from me?”

“Carly—”

“Who are you?” she cut him off.

“It’s me.”

“Go! Get outta here!” She tried to shoo it away.

“Carly,” the eyes came out of the forest to reveal the remarkable body attached to them. “It’s me. It’s Colton. This is my,” he paused, “wolf form.”

Carly was speechless. The thing that stood in front of her was a wolf, but two times the natural size. The red eyes, now that she truly looked into them, weren’t animalistic in the slightest, despite their color. The ears and toes were furless and somewhat resembled a human’s. All over its great body, white-blonde fur grew in unhealthy patches. Where there was no fur, human skin resided.

It spoke again, “I swear it’s me. I know I’m hideous like this, but I can’t help it. This is one of the downsides of being what I am.”

Silence answered him as Carly’s mouth continued to remain agape.

“Please don’t be scared. I told you I was one-third werewolf. I know that this isn’t what you expected. I mean, look at me, I can talk!”

She nodded.

“I suppose that’s a plus, right? I had no choice, Carly. I was trapped. The explosion when I transformed was just big enough to bust me out.” He waited before going on. “Carly, please say something.”

“I-I…what should I say?”

“I don’t know. Whatever you want, I guess.”

“Wow.”

“That works. I can work with wow.”

“When do you change back to normal?”

Colton laughed at her choice of words. As if normal was an option for him! “At sunrise tomorrow—our time.”

“Our time?”

“The time here passes in a way that seems normal, but when we return to our world, only a few moments will have passed.”

“So you’re stuck like that until we go home?”

“Basically. Or until a few years has passed in realm time.”

“I want to go home now, Colton.” She winced at how whiny she sounded.

“I know. So do I. But we have to wait.”

“For what?”

“For one of those things to conjure up a portal that we can steal into.”

“How long will that take?”

“There’s never any way to know.”

Carly’s shoulders sagged and she placed her chin in her hands. Staring at the ground she spoke, “Does this mean the whole process of me becoming a vampire slows down?”

Colton hadn’t thought of that. “I’m not sure.” His expression turned thoughtful. “I suppose it would. It would make sense.”

“Yeah,” she sighed. All Carly wanted was to be like Colton: invincible, strong, smart, wise, gorgeous, breath-taking. “When I change, do my looks change, too? Or is that just a myth?”

“They change some. Your skin gets paler and your eyes change colors. That’s all I know of. I mean, I’ve never really seen a before and after picture of someone. There’s no way for me to really know.”

“Hm.” She went silent and continued to stare at the tiny blades of grass surrounding her feet.

After a few painful minutes, Colton spoke truthfully, “Carly, why won’t you look at me?”

She forced herself to look up at the hideous creature. “What do you mean?” She was aware of the irritation the bit at the edge of her words.

“You’re making yourself look at me,” he spoke slowly, as if he were trying especially hard to keep calm. “Look, I know I’m ugly right now, but it’s still me. Please don’t be afraid.”

“I’m not afraid,” she huffed.

“Then what are you.” If he’d been in human/vampire form at the time, he would be standing with his feet apart and his arms stretched down, hands in fists.

“Tired.” Her tone was haughty and unbelievable.

“That’s a lame excuse and you know it.”

She sighed again. “Fine! You look awful, okay? I can’t stand to look at you because it makes my eyes hurt! You are hideous, Colton. I can’t bear the sight of you! Is that what you want me to say?”

“Is it true?”

“I kind of exaggerated.”

“How much?”

She continued to force herself to look into his eyes. “Not much,” she spoke harshly.

“Then, yeah, that’s what I want to hear.”

Frustrated, Carly turned away and began to walk. She rested her arms atop her head and made sure the curses beneath her breath were just loud enough for him to hear. Finally she turned back to him and screamed, “How can you be so calm when we’re stuck here for who-knows-how long?”

“We’re immortal.”

“Oh, yes. We’re immortal. It doesn’t matter what we do with our time because we have way too damn much of it! Well, pardon me for being impatient. I’m American!”

“So am I!”

“What? Impatient? American?”

“Both! I don’t want to wait here anymore than you do. I just want to go home to how life was before I met you! I wish I’d just let some random human find you and jump start you goddamned truck! Then, I would never be in this mess!”

“It’s a fucking station wagon!”

“Oh, who gives a shit?”

“I wish I’d never met you.”

“Oh, really? You’re done with me now that I’ve given you what you want: immortality, healing, adventure, love, compassion. What more could I possibly give you?”

“Nothing! I don’t want anything else from you other than for you to leave me alone!”

“Fine! I will. You can find your own way home!”

“I will!” Carly echoed.

With that, they each stalked off their separate ways.