by Bre Faucheux
Her thoughts raced with every possibility, still refusing to believe that Jamison was hurt. The thought of more tragedy finding their small group was more than she could consider. She could accept her own impending death, but Jamison had to survive. He had to.
Her head was level with the ground and she could now look into his eyes. He took the sleeve of his tunic and wiped the remaining blood from her face and neck. He then looked into her eyes, knowing that she could see him. Madison’s eyes moved about frantically, trying to see where he was hurt, if he in fact was at all. Only when he took his hand to her cheek did she look at him directly in the eyes. She felt as though he was examining her. And for a moment, she wondered if he remained unsure of whether or not she was alive. She moved her eyes so that he would know so, but he was searching for something else within her. She sensed it. He had never looked at a soul this way until now. And then he did something she never would have expected.
He took the thick belt from around his tunic, and the thin rope draped around it. He bound it around her wrists, tighter than she would have thought he would tie someone he cared for. The rope felt as heavy on her arms as her body felt lying upon the ground moments ago. He took the belt around her waist and tied her to the tree, buckling it around at the side and then yanking it tight around her chest, assuring that she was unable to move. She let out a groan that sounded more like a growl ripping from the inside of her throat. She didn’t know she could make such a sound. It personified every inch of pain she felt at that moment, and then some. Jamison quickly backed away from her and looked her up and down. Her head fell forward and she was unable to lift it to meet his glaring gaze. If she had, she would have let him see every ounce of treachery she felt inside.
Is this how you treat your blood, Jamie? Is this how you let me die?
She continued to let him know the pain she felt with every growl that came crawling out. The belt tore into the sides of her rib cage. Every breath she took was more difficult than the last as a shooting pain came up from her chest and out her throat. Her cries seeped through the entire area. They pierced the morning air and she knew that people from camp would be able to hear. She could have sworn that her lungs were on fire and the flames were just barely grazing the edge of her throat.
She finally managed to send some sort of signal to her neck that it was time to move. Before every single movement she made had been a struggle beyond any physical pain she had ever endured. The mere weight of her body had been overwhelming, but she felt as if she was gaining slight control of each small muscle within her neck and throat. The back of her head rubbed against the bark of the tree and her hair caught its small crevices. She felt her mouth open, but no sound came out. She closed it again with bruising force and felt sharp points dig into her lips and gums. It was her teeth. More blood seeped from her mouth and down her chin. She tried to stay calm, but the combination of pain and the trickling down her skin was too extreme. The blood felt heavier than the belt around her waist, heavier than anything she had ever carried. It was weighing down on her already slender body.
Jamison simply looked at her. And as she looked at him, she saw the fear in his face. He was afraid of her, if not terrified. That was why he had tied her up.
What is wrong with me, Jamie? Am I ill? Am I dying? Please tell me what is happening.
He suddenly turned to walk to the group of men coming toward Jamison. They were still a short distance away from the tree line, but they had undoubtedly heard her cries. They pierced her own ears, let alone the ears of those nearby. The men looked at Jamison, wondering the same as she had, if he was hurt. Lyndon reached for his shoulder, his expression clearly disturbed by the state of Jamison’s tunic. Madison tried to hear what they were saying, and to her shock, she could. It was a faint sound, still almost a whisper, but she could plainly hear the words that came from Jamison’s mouth.
“My sister needs help. I believe she is dying.”
“Then there is nothing that can be done for her,” said Jayden. “We cannot help our sick; we are in no position to do so.”
Lyndon nodded in agreement as the others merely stared at Madison, and she stared at them in return from a distance. “We will do everything we can to make her comfortable,” he said.
Jamison stared at the ground, hope leaving him as his shoulders dropped.
“Why in the name of God have you tied her to that tree?” asked Jayden. Then the realization struck him and he leaned forward as though no one else would hear him, knowing full well that they were all within ear shot. “Was that her? Was she making those noises? Those were the noises of a beast, Jamison.”
“Precisely, this is no mere illness,” said Jamison solemnly.
“She is bleeding. There is too much blood lost,” Lyndon added.
“That is not her blood. Nor is this mine,” he responded, motioning towards his tunic.
“What was that noise, Jamison?” said Jayden, demanding an answer with his tone.
“You heard her! You all heard her!” he yelled. “This is no illness. I think those people did something to her.”
“The natives? We have not seen them in days.”
Jamison took a deep breath, uncertain of whether or not he should reveal what he saw in those woods. He needed these men to help him, and to want to help his sister. And yet, the truth may provoke the opposite reaction from them. Madison continued to listen to them talking, still in shock from how clearly she could hear every word that was spoken. But nothing could prepare her for the words that were about to leave her brother’s mouth. They explained his actions fully.
“I think my sister may be possessed.”
The men spoke for a few moments longer, one running back to camp. To do what, she had not the slightest idea. There was nothing to reach for except a few sips of water from the jugs she had gathered the previous night. They obviously decided on a course of action, but Madison was no longer listening. She was examining her body thoroughly. There was blood drenching her pale blue dress, and more trickling from her hair. The rest was matted dry to the back of her neck. Her arms were also laced with a deep red. She could still feel it trailing down her skin from under her garment. And the sharpness that had pierced her lips had been her teeth. She couldn’t even imagine what she looked like. She closed her mouth, not wanting to cut the rim of her lips any further, but when she managed to move her lips slowly and without pain, she grazed her bottom lip with her tongue. It was no longer bleeding. It was healed. There were no traces of the gashes she had just created in her mouth. Her tongue felt around the outer rims of her mouth and then the inside. Her teeth were sharp, almost like small daggers. They grew in length as she moved her tongue along the edge of each, one by one.
For a mere moment, she believed Jamison. She knew with a certainty that she was possessed by some demon. And it was unlike Jamison to make such a statement with his hatred for such accusations. Perhaps the man with the fur skins and the painted body had done this to her. But her movements, she remembered how she had chased him. It was just before he fell from his horse. She had grabbed him and pulled him down. She had moved through the woods with unnatural speed. That was before she caught the man on horseback. Her body had moved with such ease and agility, unlike now. Each limb still felt heavier than any weight she had encountered.
And the thirst, it had been fleeting. She blacked out so suddenly, but she remembered the awareness keenly, the acute knowledge that it was building up from inside of her. She only felt contained by the skin that bound her insides from shattering and coming apart from within. The man on the ground seemed to know what was taking place inside of her. The look of revulsion and fear on his face reflected the anticipation she had felt.
And then she knew.
I killed him. This is his blood. I killed that man. Jamison thinks I will kill him now. They all will. They will all fear me.
She felt her teeth again and noticed for the first time the metallic taste upon them. It was everywhere in her mo
uth and down the back of her throat. That was the pain she had felt, the thickening of his blood within her and on her body. She had tried to consume him.
Jamison is right. I am possessed. The thirst that was inside me… it was living inside of me. It wanted release. No, it needed release.
She focused harder on Jamison in the distance. The men were still deciding on a course of action.
“You said yourself that you didn’t believe in the magic and sorcery the priests adhere to in England, yet you bound your own sister to a tree,” said Jayden, his tone almost mocking Jamison’s logic as he scowled towards Madison. “And worse yet, you think her dying? Is this how you treat your blood if she is truly within death’s grasp?”
“She attacked one of them. She –,” his voice cut off. “I believe she may have killed one of them. He lies in the woods. That is a native’s blood about her body.”
“They must have attacked her first. Was she fetching for water?” asked Lyndon.
Jamison looked to her, then glanced back and nodded silently.
“If so, then you brought this on yourself. You said that you taught her to use a knife a few months back. A woman should never be taught such things,” said Lyndon.
“If this be true, and she was attacked by a native, would you prefer her to have been defenseless?” snapped Jamison.
“But both our jugs for water lay full just there,” said Jayden. “What was she doing in those woods?”
“It matters not!” Jamison said his voice near screaming. “My sister is dying and I have no way of helping her.”
“Why did you tie her to the tree then? Your actions have no sense, Jamison,” said Jayden.
“I told you, I believe she is possessed. And whatever spirit within is killing her. Simply look upon her closely and you will know,” Jamison stopped and tried to catch his breath which was quickly leaving him.
Madison heard everything with perfect clarity, and yet she couldn’t focus on what their words meant. She began to cough and her body hunched over her legs sprawled out in front of her. Her stomach ached with fire inside her chest. It was beginning to rise again. She needed to give into it. She needed to let it out.
Jamison does speak truth. I must be possessed.
She tried to catch her breath, but it came in heaves. The more she tried to breathe, the more her breath left her. And she swore that within moments, she could hear Jamison doing the same. She looked across the hilly field and saw Jamison buckled over, one hand grasping for ground in need of support as the other men tried to help him up. His coughs were nearly as loud as hers. He clutched his stomach and she saw that he felt the same pain as she did. His body suddenly went limp and Jayden caught him just before he struck the ground. A deep groan matching hers came from his throat and echoed throughout the surrounding forest. Madison managed to bring the weight of her head back up to the tree so she could rest it on the bark to see more of what was happening.
Jayden helped Jamison lay down upon his coat, using it beneath his head as a makeshift cushion.
Lyndon looked to his crewman, the last one remaining. “Go fetch some water for them. And get Madison from that tree immediately.”
The crewman complied and went for water. Just before he reached her, he stopped. He gazed upon her in the same manner Jamison had, not quite believing his eyes. If she were ill, he thought, she was certainly dying at this point. Blood had dried around her mouth and she quickly closed it as best she could even though the coughs still came in heaves. She hoped he couldn’t see the state of her teeth. If he thought her a demon in the same way Jamison did, he may as well leave her there. He looked back toward the others for a brief moment, as if wondering if there was someone else to do the job of carrying her. He quickly resolved that there was no one else, and removed her bindings. Upon loosening them and looking at her again, she saw a crooked smile cross his face. He was almost near laughter. It was as if he was more fascinated than repulsed by the sight of her.
He grabbed her from behind her back, making a barrier between her and the tree, and then he lifted from under her knees. She was lighter than he had expected, thus he walked her to their deplorable camp as quickly as he could and lay her next to her brother.
Just as he laid her down, she lifted her arm to gently hold the space behind his neck to steady her decline to the ground. She managed to get a clasp of him even though the rest of her body felt completely useless with pain and heaviness. He waited before laying her head down completely, as if he expected her to say something, but she only looked at him. It was then that he saw what she had been trying to hide. The blood stains on her teeth, and the sharpness that had overtaken them. The demon inside her felt the need again. She felt it wanting release, and the pressure built from under her jaw. She was starving all over again.
Faster than she thought her weakened body could respond, she forced her way into the man’s neck. She only penetrated the skin enough to get a taste of the life that lay beneath it before he threw her off. She felt her face strike the dirt, scratching it. Before she could scream in pain, she felt her scratches disappear under her skin again. They had healed just as her lip had.
The quick jolt brought her back to her current surroundings and the pain of thirst and starvation disappeared as quickly as it came.
The crewman ran back to Lyndon and Jayden as they searched for any remaining water or support for her and Jamison.
Jamison let out a cry that echoed throughout the forest. Madison saw his expression change as his head fell near hers. They looked at each other, both lost in the other’s changed appearance.
Jamison’s eyes were becoming translucent, almost violet. And his teeth, just as the few she had noticed within her mouth, had become sharp. He wrapped his arms around his chest and then went still, waiting for air to fill his lungs. His limbs carried the same feeling of weight that Madison’s had. They were trapped within the confines of their skin. Their blood was thick and both had turned strikingly pale. She knew that her heart was trying its best to pump her blood. Every time it pushed more throughout her body, the beating pulsated throughout her joints.
She was sure that by this time the man she had bitten told the others of what she had done. She would be killed for their own safety. Looking into Jamison’s eyes as they changed before her, she wondered if he had seen what she had done. But he was almost in a daze between gasps for air. She instinctively wanted to feel some kind of guilt or extreme remorse for having hurt the crewman. He had every reason to protect himself and the others against her now. But the thirst inside her, she couldn’t tell herself ‘no.’ The blood was there, and it was meant for her.
No one came over to her or Jamison. In fact, they seemed to disappear. Perhaps the crewman had left to get more water. Perhaps Jayden and Lyndon were simply giving them peace to die near one another.
Then she heard the faint noise from just a few yards away. And within seconds, it was not so faint anymore. Others were coughing nearby. The crewman, Jayden, and Lyndon, were all upon the ground gasping for air. The sounds of all their coughs seemed to permeate the valley and the hillside. Lyndon crawled to her on his hands and knees.
No illness could travel about this quickly.
And just as she gained the strength to lift her lead weight arm to reach for Lyndon, to beckon him forth, he rolled onto his back, heaving.
What have those people done to us?
With the sensation of needles spreading through her neck, she managed to turn her head once more to Jamison, who reached for her hand with the only strength he could gather. She wondered for a moment if her eyes had changed in the same way his did before her. She had always looked to him and seen his blue eyes staring back at her. He didn’t even look like the same person with the violet that had overtaken those eyes.
She hoped that whatever this was, that it would take her quickly. She felt her eyes become heavy as they had been when Jamison found her. They were the only part of her body she could move. Her limbs dug into
the earth from the weight of the blood coursing through her veins. Her eyelids dropped over her sight and everything was dark. She could still hear the sickness overtaking everyone close by. And then, silence. She let the pressure within her body abruptly consume her as everything disappeared.
7
A foggy haze blocked Madison’s vision as her senses slowly came back to her. Water rushed within hearing distance and she could sense someone moving. Something hard touched her lips. A hand put pressure on the back her head. Jayden was lifting her forth and brought her liquid from one of the jugs. She sipped it slowly getting a few sips down before she was placed back to the ground. Something soft was under her head. Jayden had tried to make her comfortable by setting his coat beneath her. With hesitation, Madison lifted her eyes to meet his as her sight slowly returned. Jayden peered into her eyes not with the spite or annoyance she was used to, but with genuine concern.
She began to move her eyes about with surprising ease. She was in the woods, surrounded by the forest she had become familiar with. Looking up, she saw that she was under the logged makeshift roof that Jayden and Lyndon had built by the stream. The large boulders beside its flowing water allowed for shelter. The stream sounded more like a strong river now. It rumbled louder than she remembered.
“How did I get here?” she asked.
“I carried you. You were far worse off than the others,” Jayden said softly.
“And Jamison? Is he still sick?”
“He is extremely weak. He can move slightly, but only to cough.”
“Why did you separate us? Why am I here?” she asked.
“Jamison asked me to bring you. Your coughing stopped and you slept for nearly four days. He hoped you were getting better. He wanted you separated from the others so you were not exposed to the illness again.”
She looked at him directly, no longer observing her surroundings.
