In three days I blew out my savings on food and water. Despite how hard I tried not to, I began to binge again, mostly on bread and meat and rice. Stuffing my face in a dark room only made me more empty inside. When I stared at the crumbs remaining on several of my empty plates, I wished I had someone to share my food with.

Scrubbing that little storage area down was no fun, and I felt bad for sometimes stealing soap and disinfectant from the janitor’s closet. It took me so long that it was midday by the time I finished. Nobody ever locked the door, and I had seen my only neighbor on this floor once around the building.

The air smelled like lemon and alcohol mixed together, which was a lot more of a better scent than before. All of the dirty rags stained with the layers of filth filled up two whole trash bags, but I could actually see the color of the worn wooden floor and the walls. I stretched my back and rubbed my blistered, raw hands together before climbing up the ladder and flopping on my mattress, closing my heavy eyelids.

When I suddenly sat up in the dark room hours later, I realized that I had slept too long and that my shift was halfway over. A wave of panic washed over me me as I threw off my blankets and stumbled outside in the cool night in a daze.

* * * * *

Janice’s house was illuminated with several lights as I finally made it down there, sweating and panting. It took me a while to catch my breath, and I had to lean forward to do so. To my relief, she didn’t appear to be anywhere in sight. Sometimes she saw me by the porch before I entered the shed to grab my tools. I knew I was behind schedule, and she would notice for sure and fire me. Being late wasn’t acceptable, even by her rules.

Of course, the sandwich was left nearby.

I sighed before grabbing it and stuffing it into my sweatshirt pocket. My boots got wet from the damp grass as I dragged myself across the field. Peanut butter and honey wasn’t a bad combination, even though I couldn’t remember when I had last eaten it. This time, as I stepped into the woods, I made sure not to pay any attention to my surroundings or look out for everything, though it was difficult.

With a shaky hand, I placed the sandwich on the tree stump and kept working, hacking at a stubborn tree that refused to fall over. Several hours passed; the devastation continued to rush over me at the silence. Just as the first rays of morning light began to show, in the corner of my eye, I saw saw a black figure slightly move. My heart skipped a beat as I hesitated, holding the axe still, before I forced myself to keep at the job, fighting the temptation to look back. Although my back was turned, the rustling sound of leaves in the bushes was like music in my ears as the figure slowly took a few steps forward before snatching the sandwich and quickly drawing back.

I couldn’t help but slightly pause at the gentle noise of the crinkling bag and unwrapping paper, the rattling of her chain. The handle of the axe became slippery with perspiration between my hands, even though I clutched it tightly. If I screwed up again, I would never forgive myself for it. She is here, she is here.

After waiting for a moment, I slowly faced the young woman. She was quite a distance away from me, but to my relief was standing in full view where I could see her. She shyly clutched the sandwich in her hands and took a few more steps backwards. I didn’t dare walk towards her this time and remained where I was. The hair on her head, a wild mess of kinky curls, was covered in leaves, twigs, and dirt. Her gray eyes studied me for a moment, full of fear and curiosity.

I slowly sat down on the ground; a small smile slowly fell on my lips.

To my relief, the young woman sat down on one of the stumps as well, imitating my movements. Her long legs, which were thin as sticks, dangled from the edge. She didn’t say a word and frantically crammed the food in her mouth, and I winced at all of the infected cuts she had that were in clear view. Her cheeks were round and stuffed with bread; the ragged cough she had made her whole body shake.

She finished the rest of her meal in one giant gulp and began licking peanut butter off her filthy fingers, before shivering and rocking back and forth for a short moment. A pained expression appeared on her face. Before I could do anything, she leaned forward and upchucked all over herself, staining her already soiled clothes. The gurgling sound made my stomach turn, and I scrambled to my feet, feeling my heart sink. Was she allergic to peanut butter? She clearly had it before, multiple times. I was sure of it.

Oh no. No, no, no.

This was my fault. All of it. If I hadn’t waited so long to help her, none of this would’ve happened. The Khonie didn’t even look at me, just kept doubling over as she kept emptying her guts out. Saliva dripped from her mouth as she kept gasping for air.

She didn’t run as I knelt next to her, mostly because she was in a daze. It was wrong of me to be this close to her since her senses were off, since I could tell she was not too far from losing consciousness.

A putrid stench filled the air, but I hardly noticed as I slowly wrapped an arm around her, helping her up on her shaking legs. She was much shorter than me, so that the top of her head just about reached my upper bicep. Her skin felt extremely warm and I felt a wave of panic overpower me as she doubled over to puke again. It was still pitch black outside, which meant that it was hard for us to be seen, but we definitely could be heard. I stared at her face for a moment, which was scrunched up with pain.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said.

The Khonie didn’t reply, and I didn’t expect her to. I didn’t think she heard me. We both stumbled out of the trees and into the field, although her steps were becoming weaker. It wasn’t until we were halfway through did she collapse in the grass by my side. As I gently scooped her up in my arms, I kept frantically looking around, my breaths shaky. Janice’s house. I needed to bring her there. But when the familiar sound of trucks driving in filled the air, my selfish desires became too much for me to resist. I carried her into the shadows in the complete opposite direction.

* * * * *

By the time the crack of dawn arose, my arms felt like they were going to snap off at the shoulders. Anything that had on a uniform or was taking an early morning stroll; I made sure to avoid entirely. As I slipped into the apartment building, a heavy, buff looking security guard snored loudly at the receptionist’s desk, a thin pool of saliva gathering underneath his chin. It nearly made me jump, but I manage to go down the dimly lit stairwell, tightening my grasp around the Khonie so that I wouldn’t accidentally drop her. Praying there would be no other people in the hallway out drinking or partying, I managed to make it to the very last floor.

As if things couldn’t be more stressful enough, my door was severely jammed as I loudly fumbled with my keys. I had to slam my body sideways against it multiple times before it finally swung open, banging against the wall. Light from the hallway spilled in my dark room; and the static sound of the television playing from the janitor’s room was audible on the other side of the thin wall.

The young woman’s arms dangled loosely in the air as I set her down on my tiny mattress, her breathing heavy and raspy. The voices in my head were screaming for me to stop, to turn around and bring her back to the woods. But the temptation was too strong to resist. As I flickered the light switch on, I immediately shut the door and locked it again, leaning my back against it and trying to catch my own breath, heavily sweating and shaking. She didn’t move.

I have a person here.

I just kidnapped someone.

The instant the thoughts crossed my mind, shame washed over me. She would’ve been better off at Janice’s place, which was a lot bigger than mine, for sure. What was I doing? I didn’t know what I was going to say to her when she fully gained consciousness, and noticed that her worst fear came true, that I was holding her here against her will.

Swallowing my guilt, I grabbed an old but clean quilt I had brought at the market. Very slowly, I gathered enough courage to approach her, half expecting her to wake up. She didn’t, and I gently tucked it around her, before immediately moving back against the wall again. As if by cue, she turned her head to the side in her sleep, and the signs of a fever were apparent as a dark red hue settled on her sunken cheeks. But she was shivering real bad. I studied her for a while, wondering if I should go a pharmacy on the street and find a way to steal some medicine, although I didn’t have any money on me. But I would have to figure that out later.

I took a damp rag and lightly began to wipe the mud off both sides of her temples. Cautiously, I pushed a couple of strands of her wild hair behind her ear with my dirty fingers and studied how her closed eyelids slightly moved. In the midst of my guilt and shame, I was unable to stop staring at her pretty features. Her raspy breaths were the only sound in the apartment. She had a very large but interestingly shaped nose, bulbous and round.

The book sat on my table. I grabbed a water bottle from my hidden stash and tried to get some into her, but her mouth remained clenched shut. With my hand, I froze it until it was a giant block of ice, before placing it on her forehead, which was sweaty and hot.

As I glanced around my trashed, filthy apartment, I briefly exhaled. I knew that she would be only more frightened if she awoke and found herself in such a disgusting place. Picking up a garbage bag, I began to clear and gather up all of the cigarettes, rotten food, empty cans. It took me about a couple of hour to do so, since there were piles of it everywhere. After sweeping, I threw my dirty clothes in my laundry basket, reminding myself to wash them in the next few days. I kept glancing at her, working as quietly as I could not to disturb her slumber. With a heavy grunt, I rolled up the window to let some sunlight and fresh air in. When the light hit my face for the first time in a while, I drew back a little into the shadows. Once the place was decent, I took out all the trash, and, after snatching an air freshener from the janitor’s closet, placed it on the table I had wiped down. I scrubbed the kitchen floor twice, applied a cleaner that got rid of all of the stains I had left on the carpet. My hands were raw and red, but I kept at it until that scent was gone and my arms burned. The scent of lemon filled the air. I organized everything the best I could in my kitchen, although I kept looking at her several times. She hadn’t moved.

After finishing up, I laid down on the now clean floor next to the mattress and rested my head against my arm, watching for any movement on her freckled face.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

* * * * * *

Something felt wet and warm. I must’ve dozed off, because when I quickly sat up my sweatshirt was covered in some dark brown substance. There was a small gargling sound coming from the woman, even though she was groggy with sleep as I was. More vomit spilled out of her mouth. When I turned around, the quilt was now stained with the same thing, except it was a bright red color. I slowly rose to my feet, feeling my eyes widen, panic settling over me.

Blood.

A lot of it.

Quickly, I helped her sit up before she could choke. Her face was so sweaty I had to use my sweatshirt sleeve to wipe it off. As I got to my feet, I set another water bottle by her side before locking the door and running out as fast as I could.

* * * * * *

With one hand, I rapidly pounded on Janice’s door, the pit bulls jumping up on me as I stood on the porch, glancing back for any workers. Only one supervisor stood nearby the truck, and he was smoking a cigarette. There was some slight movement before the doorknob began to turn and she stepped out, holding a glass of apple juice in one hand.

“Why, Adlai!” she said pleasantly, before her expression changed into shock when she saw my clothes. I bit my lower lip. The cup slipped out of her fingers and crashed against the ground.

“What in the world?”

“I need help,” I stammered. “It’s not mine, I promise.”

“Is that supposed to make it better?” Janice replied, bending over to pick up the shards. With one hand, she shooed her dogs away from the mess.

“Please, you have to come with me.”

“Why? What on earth did you do—“

Before she could even finish her sentence, I grabbed her by the arm and dragged her forward. She stumbled to keep up and called out something to the man sitting on the truck before following me in the woods and out into the waking city, the sun beating down our backs. People surrounded us, so it wasn’t that hard to blend in as it was earlier. Still, I made sure to keep my sweatshirt hood over my head so that I wouldn’t be recognized by any soldiers.

“What’s going on?” she demanded.

As much as I wanted to tell her, there simply wasn’t any time. We entered the apartment building, pushing several past people coming and going in. Janice didn’t ask anymore questions until I unlocked my door, got it to open and flickered on the lights. The fresh smell of vomit was stronger than ever, even more powerful than the lemon freshener I had used to try to mask up the original stench in my apartment, and the young woman was hacking and coughing, while curled up into the fetal position. Janice gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth.

“Are you crazy?”

“No.” I hesitated. “Maybe. A little.”

“How did you even get her in here? What did you do?”

I looked down.

”What did you do?”

”I know that it’s not safe for her here. But neither is it out there. I…I just wasn’t thinking, alright? I didn’t mean for it this to be this way.”

Janice folded her arms. “You obviously did. No. Nuh uh. Nope. This is wrong, and you know it. Did she even want to come here with you? You can’t just go around taking—“

I turned around and blocked her just as she was getting ready to leave, holding my hands out towards her. “No, no, no! Please.”

”Get out of my way. I don’t want any part of this.”

”Just….just listen, alright? You can’t tell anybody about this. Please, I’m begging you.” If she was shocked now, I couldn’t wait for her to see the storage room for herself. “She’s been throwing up all day....it didn’t start becoming bloody until recently.”

Janice glared at me. “So that was why you didn’t come back to the shed to return your tools. Why didn’t you tell me about finding this creature in the woods? Did you want to sell her?”

“What?” I shook my head quickly and knelt down by the woman, placing a hand on her forehead. “No, no, no. She doesn’t trust me, but I had to bring her here because she was really....really sick.” The gleam of the chain around her wrists made my stomach twist. “Do you think you have a tool that can help me get these off?”

Janice sighed before getting down on her knees next to the mattress. “You should’ve told me about this. I don’t believe in selling any Khonie, but you had no right to bring her out into the city; someone could easily come and snatch her up. She’ll be taken back to the maximum security ward and killed anyways. The creature has a better chance out in the wilderness, where at least she could hide.” Janice lightly touched my shoulder. “Do you know what they do to civilians who help the Khonie?”

I looked away. “They’re not going to find out.”

She rolled her eyes before gathering the young woman in her arms and taking her into my tiny bathroom. She gently laid her down in the bathtub, her head leaning against the faded tile wall. I sat down sideways on top of the closed toilet seat lid.

“My mother always said that a good cleaning was the start to recovery,” she mumbled, as she started pushing up her sleeves. Her dark eyes studied me; I wondered what kind of person she would’ve thought I was if she had noticed what my apartment looked like only a day ago. It didn’t seem to be mine, but belonged to someone else, without the garbage on the floor. “I don’t understand why you didn’t just take her to my house. I would’ve patched her up and sent her on her way, back in the woods. Why bring her here? How is she supposed to leave when she recovers?”

”I can help her.”

”How? Explain. There are soldiers on every single corner, Adlai. Fact is, you’ve made it worse for her. If I take her from here, even at night, that alone will cause issues if they catch me with her, you, anyone. Are you aware of that?”

I didn’t answer, just avoided her gaze and rubbed the back of my neck. Janice’s tone suddenly changed when she saw my facial expression.

“Why did you bring her here?” she repeated gently. “I’m sorry for snapping like this, but don’t scare me like that, okay? You’ve got to be more careful.”

“I just....I wanted some...someone here. With me.” I felt my face turn red. “To talk to.” My voice trailed off into a whisper.

"With a subhuman creature? Have you completely lost your senses?"

I stared at the bathroom floor.

“Look,” Janice said slowly. “You’ve got to use common sense. Don’t let your emotions get in the way of fact. It’s not safe for her here, and you know it. If you truly care about her, you would send her back into the woods where she belongs. She has survived there for a while.”

Her words stung. I had gotten used to the pain that haunted me day and night, but this was my only chance to catch a break from it. I slowly got to my feet before stepping out.

“Now, look—“

“I can’t just do that,” I said, turning around and facing her. “If she goes back there, she’ll die. There’s got to be another way to keep her safe. There are hundreds like her who need help. I...I can’t just let her return how she was.”

Janice shook her head. “You need to promise me that once she gets better, you get her out of here immediately. I don’t think what’s going on is very pretty either, but I cannot risk you getting into serious trouble over this. If they catch you, they’ll drag you out into the streets and hang you, especially in a time like this. It’s not worth it.”

I shoved my hands deep in my pockets.

“You need to take this action. While she’s sick, fine, she stays here. The moment the creature gets better you take her back. I will come by and check in every week to see her progress, okay? You need to focus on yourself, boy. You’ve been through a lot so far. Trouble is the last thing that you need.”

When I looked at the bathtub, I didn’t really see a creature in it, just a woman. I didn’t understand why Janice didn’t notice it as well. But at least she wasn’t snitching on me, and her reaction could’ve been a lot worse.

“I promise,” I mumbled.

“Good. Now do me a favor, go to the nearby river, and get me several buckets of water, okay? It’s not like it’s gonna come out of the faucet itself.”

* * * * * *

It took me six trips to and from the building to finally fill the bathtub up, after having to try to push myself through the civilians crowding around the river. While Janice scrubbed the Khonie down with a thick bar of soap and a rag, I made sure to wash the sheets the best I could, getting rid of the stink and the blood. It was after an hour of waiting outside the bathroom did the door finally open. I had just finished placing the fresh blankets on the mattress when I looked up.

The young woman was still knocked out, but the bright yellow crewneck sweatshirt and the shorts she now wore, which belonged to me, hung loosely from her skeletal frame. She looked smaller than ever in my clothing. Her bloodstained, dirt crusted uniform was stuffed in a trash bag. Thick white bandages covered every mark on her body, and I moved aside as Janice gently lowered her on my bed. She placed the back of her hand on the woman’s forehead again before shaking her head.

“She’s still burning up,” she said quietly. “Just try to keep her hydrated, okay? That’s probably why she was throwing up so much earlier. She had some really infected stuff in her cuts, so make sure to clean and change the bandages everyday. I’ll provide you with a bottle of antiseptic as well.”

I nodded and sat down on the floor. Janice gently placed a hand on my shoulder, before turning around to head to the door. I didn’t watch her leave.

* * * * * *

For the next three days, the Khonie didn’t even stir, although the vomiting stopped. It was nice to have someone to come home to, for the most part, but I was scared what her reaction would be when she woke up. For now, I just kept making her drink water, which she swallowed. Her eyes were barely open by a slit, and her breathing got better. And despite me tugging and trying to pull her wrists free from the chain, nothing seemed to work.

One evening I trudged towards the shed to start my shift. My hand gently wrapped around a pair of pliers, and as I slipped them into my pocket, there were muffled voices coming in from the porch. I could hear faint crying, and then the shatter of glass. When I peeked from behind one the shed doors, I felt a wave of nausea rise within me. Not too far away was a Red Mamba vehicle.

“Where is he, bitch?”

The voice didn’t sound familiar to me, but there was another heavy smack, and then I heard Janice scream. One of the soldiers reached out and grabbed her by the hair, causing her to wince in pain. Pepper and Honey were held back by the other two guards, trying to desperately go towards their master, barking loudly.

“I don’t know who you’re talking about!”

“Three months ago, the Red Mamba lost a valuable asset to the army, who must be returned. He is to be charged for treason, do jail time, and then expected to continue his service. The Mouse. We have seen four corpses of our own soldiers, slaughtered and impaled, not by a bayonet or a gun, but by ice. He must have gone this way, there is evidence that he was spotted in this area. You must have seen him.”

Janice grunted as she broke free from his grasp. “I ain’t see nobody. All of my workers are men. How am I supposed to know what the Mouse looks like?”

There was the sound of paper being unfolded. “Do you recognize this photograph?”

As a moment of silence passed by, I slowly backed away, dropping the axe to the ground. I saw Janice’s figure reach over and take it. Her nose was bleeding, and she had a black eye.

“No,” she said slowly, staring out into the dark woods. “I ain’t never seen him before in my life. None of my boys look like that. I don’t know anything; I’m just running a business. The only soldiers I ever see here is you.”

“Very well,” the soldier said. “Since you’re telling the truth, I guess we best be on our way. But don’t worry, we’ll have our guys scouting these woods, anyways. We’ve been searching every city for weeks. This whole area will be underneath supervision, starting tonight.”

“What?! You...” Janice turned red. “You can’t do that, that’s my property, damn it! How dare you!”

“And this is a mentally unstable young man with the option to kill you mercilessly with the power that he possesses. Hydrocyrokinesis. The ability to control water and ice with his mind alone, to trap you into it until you suffocate. He is running loose now, and we must take the best precautions to ensure everyone is safe. Also, if I find out that you have been hiding him anywhere on this property, you will be shot.”

The look of horror on her face crushed me. I turned and ran in the woods as fast as I could, the sound of Pepper and Honey barking growing quieter in the distance.