Save Me | K.TH *COMPLETED*

In His Mind

"Uh, are you okay?"

Great job, Kirelei. That's obviously the first thing you say to a boy who just singlehandedly fought and killed a fully grown man with a knife.

"Answer my question."

His voice is weak from blood loss, and the shade of his face is ashen gray in the dim light. He needs help as soon as possible, if not serious medical attention.

"I'll answer your questions after I stabilize your condition, okay?"

I cringe at my voice- it's even more squeakier now that I've been turned back to the younger version of myself. Even though I'm eight years back, stupid boldness still remains in me.

So I approach V without a second thought. I know him- he would threaten and have me at knifepoint- but he'd never hurt someone unless they hurt the people he loved and cared for.

As I expected, he shrinks back into the wall, trying to make me back away with the bloodstained weapon. "Stay back, or I won't hesitate to knife you, top to bottom."

I ignore his empty warnings and threats, finally stopping in front of him and kneeling down. Casually, I shrug off my shirt, leaving me with only a long sleeve shirt under. Then I use it to wipe the thick red stuff off of him. Strangely, my hemophobia doesn't seem to bother me here at all. Normally I'd already be dead from the smell, but it doesn't affect me at the most here.

Maybe it's because I've been turned back to a ten year old, and I didn't have a thing called hemophobia then.

V gradually lowers his knife as he allows me to a wipe the blood off of his face and arms. But that doesn't mean he has let his guard down. He's too smart to give over his trust that easily.

After I tear the shirt into three long strips, I tie each of it around the most major wounds carved on his body.

"Skies, I can't believe they would do something like this to a twelve year old." I mutter softly underneath my breath as he flinches in surprise.

"How did you know I'm twelve?"

I look up, and give him the most childish, ten-year-old-innocent smile I can muster, which is easy because I'm actually ten.

"Lucky guess. I'm ten, by the way."

I tie one strip around his torn forehead like a makeshift bandage, reminding me of the bandannas he always used to keep his falling hair up. With my sleeve, I dab gently on the parts I missed on his face.

"You've lost a lot of blood, you know. Your face looks paler than a ghost." My ten year old self can't help but add a childish ghost sound at the end of the sentence, and the corners of V's mouth tug slightly upwards at my silly action.

"I know."

"I thought you were really brave," I squeak out. "That man was being horrible towards you."

His slanted eyes widen in surprise. "You saw? How come?"

"I saw you through that wall. When I wanted to come through to help you, the wall wasn't there anymore. I don't know- it was super weird and not normal at all."

V winces a bit when I continue to wipe at his face. He points at my sleeves, which are now stained red with his blood.

"You got your clothes dirty."

"I don't mind," I shrug. "They're just clothes. I can wash them anytime." He tilts his head to the side, obviously amused at my mature behavior. "It won't come off, you know. There'll be a red stain there forever, no matter how much you wash it."

"Oh. It's okay, though. I wanted to help you, and I did, right? This sweater helped too, so you should be thankful to the sweater." I can't help but cringe severely at my ten year old speech, literally oozing gallons of innocence and childishness.

V smiles weakly. His face has grown even more paler somehow, and his eyes keep losing focus.

"I think you should rest a bit. I promise I'll keep you safe while you do."

He seems to find his purpose after I say that, and shakes his head. Then, his arms wrap around my tiny frame, lifting me up like a brother does to his little sister.

"Let's get you out of here first."

I point to the wall on the opposite side. "Go through there. I think I can make it possible, and it's way faster than any other way, I think."

He nods and tightens his arms around me, like he's losing his grip on me with every second that passes.

We walk through the wall like it's made out of air, and I immediately shiver at the chilly night temperature. On the other hand, V seems to be used to the biting cold. When he notices my teeth chattering, he angles my petite body so my face is buried into his shirt, and wraps me in his jacket so I don't freeze to death in my light sweater.

But we don't go that far until V suddenly collapses. It's obvious he's deathly weak from the huge loss of blood and energy- it's a miracle he even came this far, holding a child in his arms.

Even though with his current drained state, he'd protected me when he fell, tilting his body so his back would meet the ground instead of mine.

"Hold on," I quickly say as I help him sit up with the wall supporting his back. "You need to rest."

His eyes are keep closing, but he keeps trying to force them open, which I can tell is getting harder to do each time.

When his face tightens slightly in distrust, I shrug off the jacket and say.
"I can't make you trust me- but I do know for sure you need some hardcore sleep."

Then I tuck the jacket around his front like a makeshift blanket. At the simple, caring gesture, all the suspicion in his eyes melt away like ice to fire. His body relaxes and with it, all the tension that's been keeping his body taut as a rope for the past minute.

"I trust you."

With those three words, he changes everything.