Unnatural Instinct: Transform

32.

More humans—and they're close, somewhere in the trees just ahead.

'Rush!' you scream, leaving your victim to hurry over to him.

His horns are still stuck as he continues to thrash his head, snarling and growling.

You seize his arm. 'Let me help.'

Panting, he collapses to his knees. Slumped like a doll, his victim is still alive, though beyond awareness as he gurgles and jerks and scrabbles harmlessly at Rush's head. Rush is concealed behind him and you're suddenly seized by an overwhelming need to see him again. You feel it like a burning grip around your heart.

The shouting is getting louder.

'You must flee!' he gasps. 'They'll kill you!'

'Not without you!' Wrapping one arm around the man's neck and the other around his waist, you pull and pull and pull, the man coughing and jerking worse than ever, until you finally wrench him free, collapsing to the ground with him on top of you.

You're not given a chance to right yourself before Rush has thrown the man off you and hauled you to your feet.

'Your shoulder!' you cry as more blood gushes from the bullet wound.

'Never mind,' he growls. 'Move!'

And so you run—and you run fast, faster than any human. It's a lucky thing that Rush was shot in the shoulder rather than the leg. Though it would have been far luckier still if he hadn't been shot at all. Why is he out here in the first place?

The shouting starts to fade and you're beginning to feel hope that you might actually survive this when you look back at an explosion of screaming—they've found the bodies. You imagine what they must think.

Rush yanks you ahead with a grunt. 'Don't look back.'

You run and run, looking out for the castle, wondering why you haven't reached it yet. Surely, it must be close. Until you finally realise that he isn't heading to the castle at all.

'Where are we going?' you say.

'Anywhere else.'

You don't know how long you run for, all you know is that you've left the humans far behind and the sun is starting to rise. The light makes you wince, and you're forced to lower your eyes to the ground. And it's that more than the ache in your bodies which finally forces you both to stop.

Rush slumps to the ground with his back up against a tree while you drop to your knees beside him.

'Oh, Rush,' you say, reaching for his wound.

'Don't worry. I'm fine.'

'No, you're not.' He's bleeding everywhere, even worse than he was before. Why? Shouldn't he be healing? You stare at him helplessly, stricken.

'You need to remove the bullet, that's all,' he says.

'How?'

Panting, he leans his head back against the tree. His horns gleam bloodily in the sunlight. You can see bits of human tissue still stuck to them. It should make you feel sick but you feel nothing but fear and worry.

You suddenly remember what you did to the buck. You can do this. You have the strength and skill. You'e a Drona, after all, not a mere human.

Settling yourself nice and close, you reach for his shoulder. He grunts and his yellow eyes roll towards yours as you dig your strong fingers into the wound. He snarls and gulps. The tendons bulge in his neck. The veins tense in his arms. His adam's apple flickers as he gasps. But he doesn't stop you.

Gritting your teeth, you continue to dig, using the sharp tips of your nails to cut through his flesh. It's deeper than you hoped. Blood leaks out like tears, tissue rips back, until you finally feel something different to the soft, wet muscle of his shoulder. For a moment, you experience the horrible feeling that you've reached bone. But it's not. It's small and moveable. Grabbing it between your nails, you slowly draw it out.

Rush growls and gasps. His arm jerks. His hands are clawed into fists. A tear rolls down his cheek. But you've got it! Finally, it's pulled free and you throw it away like it's poison.

You throw your arms around Rush. 'What were you doing? Why'd you go out there?!' You kiss him on the ear, on the cheek, on the lips. He tastes so good.

He gives you a tired smile. 'To get rid of the buck. To get rid of the evidence. I knew they would come after us. I didn't know they were already there. It was a risk.'

'A stupid risk!'

His smile broadens, then falls away, leaving behind a face fall of pain. 'They killed my servants as they tried to help me.'

You grab his wrist, thinking of the dark one. 'All of them?'

He shakes his head. 'All of them. I saved their lives and now they've paid me back with their own.' His sad eyes meet yours. 'You must understand; it's always death with humans.'

Crawling into his lap, you hug him tightly. 'Not all of it. I have you.'

You hold each other for a long time, enjoying the pounding of each other's hearts, the warmth of each other's skin. You breathe in his smell, like it's the air that keeps you alive.

'Everything is going to be all right now,' he says finally, kissing your shoulder.

You wipe your face. 'But where are we going to go?'

'We'll find somewhere. Somewhere new. Somewhere better.'

'Anywhere's good, as long as it's with you.'

After finding a safe place to sleep, you wake up early before the sun has set to continue on your journey. You still don't know where exactly you are. What country, what continent, what world even, but you don't bother asking. It won't help and you'll figure it out soon enough.

Sometimes you jog, sometimes you walk at an even pace, holding each other's hands. The humans haven't caught you up and you doubt they ever will. You think of all that's happened to you over the past few days. You can't believe it. Has it only been a few days? It feels like a lifetime. It feels like you've known Rush forever. Already, your old life feels like a distant memory, your family, your friends.

You swallow a surge of grief. It's all gone now and you have to move on.

Eventually, you come upon a stream. Quickly, you wash yourself. Pink blood flows off you. Most of it is Rush's but some of it is the man's you killed. You think of him briefly. Was he a brother? A father? He was certainly a son.

You remember his face and how he tasted as you bit deep into his throat. You remember the screams as the others found him.

Monster. Monster. Monster.

'Hey,' Rush says, taking your hand. 'Are you all right?'

Startled back to reality, you shake yourself. His yellow eyes watch you carefully as you sit frozen on your knees, the water drying on your skin. You glance down at the stream, at your reflection gazing back at you.

What other creature could be worse than you?

You frown and your reflection frowns back.

Plenty.

You look back at Rush. 'I'm fine. Let's get moving.'