Breathing in sharply, the air rushing through his cracked lips. Staring up at the ceiling of the room he rented; relaxing once more, he recounted yesterday's events. Arriving in the village, entering the wedding uninvited and celebrating, making his way to his hotel before having a shower and then...

The memory escaped his mind as he rolled around. Feeling a weight shift on the bed, Norbert stared at the guest he had. There, lying next to them, covered in filth, was a boy. Norbert just stared at the kid, thoughts flashing of him abducting someone or doing things with a kid.

Jumping off the bed, landing on the ground, feet still on there as he stared up at the ceiling again.

Obsius, descending on his head, pecked his forehead, chirping quickly. Just staring in response, Norbert moved his legs around, taking them off the bed as he stood up, Obsius hopping to the top of his head as the two stared at the new guest, still sleeping after the racket.

Looking up at Obsius, who was leaning forward, just spotting the bird's black head, Norbert asked, "So, do you know what happened last night after I made it outside?" Norbert asked. Memories of the night he could remember until then, the ground welcoming him, and Norbert couldn't remember anything else.

As he stood there wondering what could have happened, a suspicion arose, and reminding himself of the sand beast back in training when his body just took over with a simple task the last thought was. In that case, it was to defeat the creature.

As Norbert looked over the boy, completely unharmed and sleeping peacefully but dirty, Norbert knew the last task: to protect the kid. Norbert stared forward at him, seeing his body slowly rise and fall. Norbert stepped to the bed, seeing where he was resting before.

The once-white sheets are now painted red in sections. Looking down at himself, Norbert was shocked by what he saw; he had been wearing his shoes when in bed. That was a disastrous thing to do, only slightly worse than the much he strolled through.

Not wanting to imagine the cleaning services for the mess he has caused, not even permitting the kid Norbert had also left, completely covered in filth. Taking his clothes, Norbert picked up the spare clothes he wore during the day, happy to bring a spare change. Heading into the bathroom, Norbert turned the water on, making the room steam up, feeling the warm water wash away the muck from the previous night.

Once cleaned, Norbert began drying himself; rubbing his hand on his back, he felt bumps under his skin. Spinning around and looking at himself in the reflection, Norbert saw the pieces of bullet that had almost pushed themselves out of some areas but the skin keeping them in.

I'm happy that he at least wouldn't need to go to a medical practice to remove the bullets and explain what happened. Shuffling through the draws, Norbert found a pair of scissors. Taking them out, he held the point to his skin.

Carefully, Norbert stabbed it, creating a hole as he forced the energy to surround the wound and push out the foreign matter. Watching Norbert saw his entire back veins turn purple before focusing on the wound he inflicted himself.

TING

Norbert watched as the wound healed after expelling the bullet and any extra shrapnel. Afterwards, all pain had left him, only feeling it when the blade first pierced his skin. Breathing in, ready for the pain he would experience, Norbert repeated the pattern until finally, the last bullet left his body.

Looking down at the floor, Norbert counted thirty bullets and many more fragments. Picking them up and placing them in pieces of toilet paper, bundling the entire object up as he flushed it down the toilet, saying bye-bye to the issues of that night.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Donning a shirt with no holes, Norbert looked at himself in the reflection, the worry of the night before now not showing a mark on his face. Looking around the bathroom, happy that it wasn't a complete pigsty, having cleaned most of it, Norbert left the room, heading over and seeing if his latest companion was awake.

Opening the door, Norbert looked around the room, seeing it was much the same; the only change was that the boy now sat upright, compared to lying asleep when he left the room.

The boy looked over at Norbert, just staring, mouth slightly agape. Norbert walks over, seeing Obsius now on the pillow. Leaving the bird there, knowing she was probably looking over the two the entire night to wake them up if something happened, left the bird to sleep.

"You need to take a shower." Norbert said to the boy, indicating with his thumb the shower.

The boy nodded, heading for the bathroom and closing the door behind him. The water came on moments later as Norbert looked at the bed, not wanting to lie down in the filth now that he was clean.

Putting his shoes on, Norbert looked across the room, seeing his clothes strewn about the place. Packing it all up, Norbert sat down again, the water still in the shower. Having been some time, Norbert went to the door, about to ask what was wrong.

Stopping as he heard crying from the other side, Norbert slowly rested his hand on the door, smiling at it as he imagined the boy balling his eyes out, trying to mask it with the shower sound.

Moving away from the door, Norbert looked at the window, remembering his position from before, seeing the window was big enough for him to sit on.

Resting one foot on the window sill, the other hanging off, Norbert watched as the town went about their day, wondering what the warehouse looked like now after his nightly activities.

***

Norbert looked down the hill, seeing the tape all about it. Officers crawling the site, trying to look for anything. The other townspeople are also looking out at the site.

The two stood with the crowd, Norbert looking over, feigning shock at what he saw. The body bags are in a line, counting all twenty-one, looking at how many on the roof must have survived.

No other carnage was in the area, just blood splatters and his footprints in the dirt. As Norbert stared, remembering the footage of the last time, he wondered how he made it into the hotel. Believing he wouldn't be able to operate a door, just catatonic in that state.

Filling it in the back of his head for later, Norbert departed with the boy, getting out of town. The two of them holding croissants in their hands, the recommendation from the hotel receptionist the other night.

Biting into the warm croissant, his tastebuds watering and dancing as it entered his mouth. The butter on it melted together and slid down his throat. On his last bite, he received a peck on his cheek. Turning to look at Obsius on his shoulder, he moved the last bit away from his mouth, leaning the food over, Obsius picking it with one of her feet as she pecked at it, nibbling on it piece by piece.

As the two continued to walk, now the town behind them, no word had spoken to each other on their journey so far. Looking around once, confirming that nobody was near him, Norbert nodded before raising his hand in victory.

"Looks like we got away for now. Best keep your ears peeled for anything. Have a feeling that they will come again." Norbert said to the boy.

Continuing to walk, the boy did not respond as Norbert stopped, staring as the boy continued walking down the road.

"Kids these days," Norbert said to Obsius before catching back up.

Pulling on his shoulder, Norbert pulled him around to face him, stopping the boy from moving. "Going to respond? And anyway, what's your name?" Norbert asked.

Only receiving a look in response of confusion, Norbert squinted his eyes in frustration. Taking out his phone, Norbert opened up, thankful he had downloaded the languages before, not wanting to see the expense of roaming out here in the middle of nowhere.

Selecting Italian, Norbert asked the question again, seeing the boy's eyes light up with recognition. "Bartholomew", the boy responded.

Norbert just stared at him. "You've got to be joking, ok Bartholomew, what's your plan?" Norbert asked, putting it in the translator as he spoke.

Showing the screen only received a shrug as the boy began typing. Waiting several moments, Norbert looked like the screen was given to him.

Reading it aloud, "Home up north. Your company would be nice and will ask Grosly for something for your efforts." Whistling to himself, Norbert turned to Obsius.

"Guess we're on an escort mission now. Wonder what Grosly will cook up." Norbert replied, half thinking to himself and the position he already had that helped him out.