This Blood Is Gonna Wake the Night
Something from the past
It took two days and three nights to find a road of some sort. But I knew it was a road. By the time I’d found it, I was exhausted and starving. There hadn’t been anything I could feed from. I did see something the previous night but it bit me and made a dash for it.
I staggered forwards, unknowing as to which direction I was travelling. If I hadn’t have known how bad things would be back at that place, hot tears would surely have been staining my cheeks. But only if I didn’t know what they would be doing to me if I went back now.
Dizziness and disorientation had begun. My hair was matted from sweat and my breathing was becoming laboured. I didn’t know how much longer it would be before I lost my consciousness and starved to death.
People like me are difficult to kill. We have this nifty little ability called regeneration. But, like everything else, we’re alive and we need to feed. Just like anything else in the world, we will eventually starve to death.
My thoughts were interrupted by a hissing sound to my left. I turned towards the sound, my very able eyes detecting what had made the sound. It was long and coiled up. Its thin angular scaly body looked familiar. I’d seen one somewhere before. . .
Of course! When I was a little kid, my Mom and I used to look at them in big books with lots of pictures. I struggled to remember the things she used to tell me.
”There are loads of different types of them, Gerard, with different colours and stuff to suit their habitat.”
“What’s a habitat, Mommy?”
“It means their home.”
“So is this my habitat?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
A small proud smile spread over my face as I remembered what she’d taught me about them. I struggled to remember what they were called but it didn’t come to me. It was resting on the tip of my tongue but then slid off at the last minute. I frowned with frustration.
But then another thought came to mind. Whatever it was, it was alive, right? It had to have a beating heart! And if it had a beating heart, it had blood pumping around inside of it. Which meant that I could feed off of its blood to try and satisfy my acing body.
I wasn’t too sure how you handled the thing, though. Did I simply pick it up? Well, it couldn’t hurt to try. So I just reached out to close my hand around its smooth body. . .
And yelped.
It had lashed out and bit at my hand.
I shouted and swore after it as it made a run for it and slithered off. I even picked a small rock up and hurled it at it in my fury. . .
When I woke up the next day, the bite mark had healed completely with no evidence of ever being there. Regeneration. The skin that had been peeled away from my hand when I escaped my cuffs had healed on the first night of my escape. Regeneration’s a good thing to have on your side.
I travelled along the side of the road hopefully. Surely it would lead me to a town or city somewhere. It had to. That’s what a road’s for, right? To get you where you want to get. And I want to get to a town or city.
In the distance, there was a humming sound. And it was growing louder and louder. I turned to look but I couldn’t see anything. It was probably still a little way away. With a sigh, I turned to keep walking.
The humming was still getting louder. With every step I took, it seemed to get louder. And it was starting to irritate me. So I tried to walk faster. But it was still getting closer, moving faster than me.
And then it happened. What I’d been waiting for. I knew it would happen eventually, and it did.
My knees gave in and I collapsed to the ground, the heat from the side of my face sticking to the dirt. The only thing I could hear, besides the humming sound, was the sound of my own laboured breathing. It was echoing all around me.
The humming slowly came to a stop. But I was only just aware of it. Darkness was overtaking me. I kept my eyes open just long enough to see a set of wheels and a pair of boots hit the ground before my eyes rolled back and I passed out.
I staggered forwards, unknowing as to which direction I was travelling. If I hadn’t have known how bad things would be back at that place, hot tears would surely have been staining my cheeks. But only if I didn’t know what they would be doing to me if I went back now.
Dizziness and disorientation had begun. My hair was matted from sweat and my breathing was becoming laboured. I didn’t know how much longer it would be before I lost my consciousness and starved to death.
People like me are difficult to kill. We have this nifty little ability called regeneration. But, like everything else, we’re alive and we need to feed. Just like anything else in the world, we will eventually starve to death.
My thoughts were interrupted by a hissing sound to my left. I turned towards the sound, my very able eyes detecting what had made the sound. It was long and coiled up. Its thin angular scaly body looked familiar. I’d seen one somewhere before. . .
Of course! When I was a little kid, my Mom and I used to look at them in big books with lots of pictures. I struggled to remember the things she used to tell me.
”There are loads of different types of them, Gerard, with different colours and stuff to suit their habitat.”
“What’s a habitat, Mommy?”
“It means their home.”
“So is this my habitat?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
A small proud smile spread over my face as I remembered what she’d taught me about them. I struggled to remember what they were called but it didn’t come to me. It was resting on the tip of my tongue but then slid off at the last minute. I frowned with frustration.
But then another thought came to mind. Whatever it was, it was alive, right? It had to have a beating heart! And if it had a beating heart, it had blood pumping around inside of it. Which meant that I could feed off of its blood to try and satisfy my acing body.
I wasn’t too sure how you handled the thing, though. Did I simply pick it up? Well, it couldn’t hurt to try. So I just reached out to close my hand around its smooth body. . .
And yelped.
It had lashed out and bit at my hand.
I shouted and swore after it as it made a run for it and slithered off. I even picked a small rock up and hurled it at it in my fury. . .
When I woke up the next day, the bite mark had healed completely with no evidence of ever being there. Regeneration. The skin that had been peeled away from my hand when I escaped my cuffs had healed on the first night of my escape. Regeneration’s a good thing to have on your side.
I travelled along the side of the road hopefully. Surely it would lead me to a town or city somewhere. It had to. That’s what a road’s for, right? To get you where you want to get. And I want to get to a town or city.
In the distance, there was a humming sound. And it was growing louder and louder. I turned to look but I couldn’t see anything. It was probably still a little way away. With a sigh, I turned to keep walking.
The humming was still getting louder. With every step I took, it seemed to get louder. And it was starting to irritate me. So I tried to walk faster. But it was still getting closer, moving faster than me.
And then it happened. What I’d been waiting for. I knew it would happen eventually, and it did.
My knees gave in and I collapsed to the ground, the heat from the side of my face sticking to the dirt. The only thing I could hear, besides the humming sound, was the sound of my own laboured breathing. It was echoing all around me.
The humming slowly came to a stop. But I was only just aware of it. Darkness was overtaking me. I kept my eyes open just long enough to see a set of wheels and a pair of boots hit the ground before my eyes rolled back and I passed out.