#everything......... difficult.......... whye

[theskyeandsea]

The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea || Monty & Skylar

Timing: May 9th, 2020

Location: Upstream of the Whye River

Tagging: @therealdeville

Notes: Desperate to end the silence, Skylar goes to the Whye River in the hopes that it will help her regain her voice. Montgomery seizes the opportunity.

Unhooking her hearing aids from her ears, Skylar stowed them away in the glove box of her car, along with her veneers. She was parked out alongside the river, as close as she dared to drive in her small Honda Civic. The closer her hearing aids were to her, the better, but she couldn’t risk getting them wet. So, inside the car they stayed. Taking a steadying breath, she opened her mouth, as though to say something. But, nothing came out. She was still silenced. After going to the Scribe Headquarters with Rio yesterday and coming back with nothing... She couldn’t help but wonder if she had been right from the start. Maybe it was all because she’d turned in the pool, the chemicals mingling with the strange magic that turned her into a seal… taking away her voice. Maybe changing in the river would fix her. She needed her voice, she had to have it back. And nothing she’d tried had fixed it yet. So, she’d take matters into her own hands. Exiting the vehicle, Skylar picked her way towards the river, the seal skin bundled in her hands like a picnic blanket. If she could just… get into the river, maybe things would be better. Tramping through the reeds and mud that filled the river bank, she was keenly aware of how little she could hear, how uncomfortably silent the world was around her. She just wanted to have her voice again.

It had been a long watch. Keeping a careful eye on their prey, learning everything that they could about her. Over their observations they’d learned about her hobbies (she seemed to like anime at least), the food she ate, the company she kept, the hours she worked and even the how much sleep she was probably getting. Obviously there were other priorities but for Montgomery a side project like this was important in it’s own way. It required a singular attention. She’d seemed distressed lately and Montgomery had noticed that she hadn’t spoken for a while. They wondered if the two were related. It made no matter however because she was isolating herself. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. Their fence had a number of potential buyers who would be interested in a piece of this singular… quality. Montgomery wished that he had had more time to prepare for this, but her decision had swung on an apparent whim and Montgomery knew that as she pulled her hearing aids from her ears and began heading through the forest that this would be the best chance they got for a while now. It was time to strike. They’d parked a few hundred meters away and followed her quietly, with a practiced ease.

The mud squished under her feet, a sound she would normally be able to hear, but Skylar could only feel it through the soles of her shoes. The silence was uncanny, in a way that never failed to make the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. It never felt safe to be without her hearing aids, but here she was. She had to do this, had to take this risk. Otherwise, she might spend her whole life without a voice. And what would she do then? Everything she’d ever worked for relied on her being able to talk, to understand. What would she do without it? As she walked closer to the river, she kicked her shoes off, setting them out of reach from the water’s edge. A shiver ran down her spine as she stared at the gently rushing water in front of her. Lips pressing together into a thin line, Skylar pulled her shirt over her head and slid out of her shorts to reveal her bathing suit. As much as she wanted to make this right, she wasn’t going to go fully naked into a public river. She let out a long sigh and unrolled the skin in her arms, letting it fall limp before her. She just... had to do this.

The hearing aids missing from the selkie’s ears were a blessing to Montgomery and as they strode through the forest they realised that they wouldn’t need the equipment that they had brought with them. Hunting selkies in the water was hard because as soon as they got going they got away from all but the fastest water vehicles. They were slippery. Crafty. Quick. Montgomery offset this in a simple way, they didn’t allow them that luxury or they brought a very fast boat. But harpoons and a bow that fired specially modified arrows were amongst the hunting rifle, revolver and knife that they’d brought with them. As they watched her prepare to enter the water, Montgomery knew that it was time to strike. Stepping forward they pressed the end of the barrel of their gun to the back of Skylar’s head and reaching out, tugged at it a little to indicate it was time for her to turn around. “Don’t move,” he signed at her with his free hand, “I don’t want to hurt you anymore then necessary.”

The second Skylar felt the cold metal press against the back of her head, her entire body froze. She went still, so still her heart seemed to stop. Who was there? She hadn’t-- of course, she hadn’t heard them coming. She hadn’t heard anything, her hearing aids weren’t any help when they were back in her car. The hand on her shoulder was rough, demanding, and she turned slowly to face the man. And then she saw the gun. The gun, trained on her. As the man signed, all she could focus on was the gun, pointed at her. The circular barrel staring straight at her, the man’s finger poised on the trigger, ready to fire. He was… He wanted to kill her. He was going to kill her. And she couldn’t-- she couldn’t do anything. Petrified, too scared to move, she obeyed his signed command. But, her hands were shaking, tears she didn’t realize had risen to her eyes, they poured down her face. She was going to die. She was going to die, before she’d even really lived. The skin in her hands slipped through trembling fingers, falling into the mud between them. 

Montgomery had seen tears before. They’d seen them a thousand times. Cried some of their own. Everyone had pain. Everyone had loss. Montgomery was a doctor, he had seen it a thousand times. He had seen worse. This was perhaps dispassionate but there wasn’t anything in Montgomery that stirred. Swallowing calmly, he looked down at the skin. It was just laying there. Montgomery could just take it and leave. But that was cruel. She wouldn’t last more then a month, if that without her skin. It would be a painful way to go, like the most extreme withdrawal symptoms. Montgomery had read an account of it once, fascinating. Maybe they would take it and just watch, see her degrade before selling it on. The observations alone were more then worth it. Signing once more, Montgomery indicated for her to kick it over to him, and then step back away.

Tears still streaming down her face, Skylar watched the way they didn’t care. There was no hint of emotion in their eyes, no compassion there. This man was… a hunter. Not in the way that Rio was, or even the way that Nic was. They both cared. They both drew lines. But, he didn’t care that she was in her human form, he didn’t care that she was staring at him, that she understood everything that was going on. As the man began to sign at her, she couldn’t help but close her eyes. She hated it. She hated that he knew sign, she hated that he was making her sign her death warrant in the language that she loved. And she hated herself for doing what she had to. Skylar did as he told her, kicking her skin out towards him. The seal skin flopped in the mud, the coat smeared and streaked with brown as it rolled to his feet.

Montgomery looked at her somewhat dispassionately. It was sad really. In an almost pathetic way Montgomery felt incredibly sorry for her. She had been born into a world that she really didn’t stand a chance in. Her own species didn’t seem to care enough to teach her how to live safely. She was just unlucky really. Maybe Montgomery was just really lucky. Without taking their eyes off of Skylar, Montgomery crab walked carefully to the side of the skin, crouching down carefully they realised that they weren’t really as lucky as they thought that they were. A loose branch, a stone, he didn’t know what it was but it sent them sprawling as they snatched for the skin, their fingers wrapping clumsily around it, a poor grip as they sprawled onto the forest floor. His old bones creaked and he felt his body groan in pain. He was getting old. 

Skylar’s eyes were trained on the man the entire time he walked towards her, the way he crouched in the ground, grasping at her skin. He was really going to take it. And if he took it… the pain, the depression, everything that came with losing her skin would come back. And she would die. She would die, just as surely as she would if he fired that gun. The pain would overtake her, the agony would overwhelm her, the oppressive absence of her skin would win. And she would be dead. But, she didn’t want to die.

The thought sent a jolt through her. She didn’t want to die. It wasn’t something she’d ever verbalized, something she’d ever put together. But… It was true. As hard as this life was, as difficult as it was to try and figure out who she was and what she was, it was her life. And she wasn’t going to let him take her life. Not him, not anyone. Not without a fight. When she saw him fall, foot catching on some foliage amongst the weeds, she knew that she had to act. Call it fate, call it God, call it a lucky break. Skylar wasn’t going to lose it. Rushing towards the man, she lunged forwards, her mouth wide open. Her curved, wicked sharp teeth clamped down on his wrist, her jaws flexing hard. The taste of blood filled her mouth as she felt her teeth cut through flesh and she almost gagged. But, she wasn’t done yet. Yanking her mouth free, her teeth dragged across flesh, tearing at, as she reached with her hands and grabbed her pelt back. Skylar scrambled away, hoping to be free of him.

Montgomery howled in pain. Being bitten by a wild animal was tough. Always painful. They were wild things for a reason and they had the jaw strength to tear through and rend flesh as if it were nothing more then a warm knife moving through butter. He felt the teeth slice through muscle in his forearm and blood spurted across his skin and she pulled her pelt away from them along with a chunk of flesh. As she’d bitten them, Montgomery had lost grip of their revolver, but as Skylar scuttled away heading towards the river, Montgomery couldn’t help but grin. “At least you’ve got some fight left in you,” he hollered at her, not that it really occurred to them in that visceral moment of pain and agony that this was probably not something she could hear, “I’m not going to let you get away though.” With his hand that was less maimed then the one that she had bitten, Montgomery scooped up his gun and aimed down the iron sights, but then Skylar dipped behind a tree in her rush to get to the river and Montgomery swore. Sprinting after her, he tried to get a good shot, but a combination of firing with his bad hand, the extreme pain he was currently experiencing (not to mention the blood gushing from the wound) and the moving target. Squeezing the trigger, Montgomery knew that they hadn’t hit her where he wanted, he wasn’t even sure he’d hit her. But he kept moving, his prey wouldn’t escape him. 

The taste of blood was overwhelming in her mouth, making Skylar gag as she ran away through the trees along the shoreline. If she could just make it to the river, if she could just get to the water, she would be safe. She would be free. And, for a brilliant moment, as the water rushed along the shoreline, lapping at the smooth river rock-- it seemed as though she’d made it. But, she couldn’t hear the way the hunter was yelling at her, she couldn’t make out the subtle sounds of the gun being cocked. But, the gunshot cut through the rapid pounding of her heart. The sound, then the pain-- instant, searing pain that seared up her leg. She fell to the ground, her pelt dropping with her. The iron-rich scent of blood filled the air and Skylar let out a shuddering gasp as she glanced down before immediately wishing she hadn’t. It looked as though someone had taken a long, thin scoop of her flesh from her calf. And the blood. The blood was thick and viscous and pouring from the wound. Gritting her teeth together, she crawled to the water’s edge, draping her pelt clumsily over her. Rocks scraped her stomach and mud slathered against her skin, but she continued, forcing her body to turn. She had to turn. She had to change. She had to, if she wanted to live.

Montgomery was not above making mistakes. Clearly. Just look at this situation that he found himself in. He had allowed his prey the chance to escape and of course a creature would always take the opportunity to scarper down it’s proverbial rabbit hole. In this case, the girl, as skinny and slight as she was, well she was bolting. Her rabbit hole was a river where Montgomery knew that he would not be able to follow her. After all he was in his element right now and as such he was in control, but once she returned to her element then she would once more gain the upper hand. Pain wracked his body as he staggered through the underbrush, his arm looked bad, the flesh was ragged and torn where her fangs had shredded through muscle, flesh and skin, but pain was temporary. The pleasure that this would bring him would be permanent and Montgomery was wondering just how well they could incorporate a stuffed selkie into their collection of trophies. After all, they weren’t someone to make a fool of. “There’s nowhere to go girl,” he grunted in his south african drawl, “nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, even if you get into the river, I know you live in town, I’ll find you again. Better to just end this now.” Montgomery would never underestimate the power of hopelessness. It had the potential to really take away from someone’s confidence in their ability to simply survive. 

The water was a cool relief against her burning flesh and Skylar forced herself deeper into the river. As she slid into the dark water, grit and small pebbles pressed against her open wound, eliciting a gasp of pain. Her blood stained the water around her, a circle of red that grew as she tried to slip into the seal pelt that was pressed against her. But, at the man’s words, she froze. Nowhere to hide. Nowhere to go. He knew that she lived in town and he was… he was threatening everything, everyone. When she swallowed, the taste of blood hung with a cloying bitterness in her mouth. Anger, fear, it all roared in the back of her mind. She wished she was stronger, braver. So that she could say words that promised revenge. But, as she looked at him, all she could see was an angry, broken man. A man with bags under his eyes, a ruined arm at his side, and bright white hair. He was angry and he was cruel. And he’d tried to kill her, promised to kill her. But, she couldn’t help but pity him. What had made him this way? Staring at him with blue eyes the color of the sea, the words bubbled from her lips, the first words she’d said in nearly a week.

“I forgive you.” She said before slipping into her skin and diving to the depths of the river.

[ainereads]

Disneymovieathon TBR

This month I am participating in The Disneymovieathon. I’m really excited about this one because High School Musical is one of my favourite Disney originals! I’m on the science kids team. All book descriptions are from Goodreads.

Read a book that is pink or glittery

I’ve picked The Babysitter’s Coven by Kate Williams. The entire cover isn’t pink but there’s a lot of it throughout. 

Seventeen-year-old Esme Pearl has a babysitters club. She knows it's kinda lame, but what else is she supposed to do? Get a job? Gross. Besides, Esme likes babysitting, and she's good at it. And lately Esme needs all the cash she can get, because it seems like destruction follows her wherever she goes. Let's just say she owes some people a new tree. Enter Cassandra Heaven. She's Instagram-model hot, dresses like she found her clothes in a dumpster, and has a rebellious streak as gnarly as the cafeteria food. So why is Cassandra willing to do anything, even take on a potty-training two-year-old, to join Esme's babysitters club? The answer lies in a mysterious note Cassandra's mother left her: "Find the babysitters. Love, Mom." Turns out, Esme and Cassandra have more in common than they think, and they're about to discover what being a babysitter really means: a heroic lineage of superpowers, magic rituals, and saving the innocent from seriously terrifying evil. And all before the parents get home. 

Read a book set in space

I picked Gemina by Jay Kristoff & Amie Kauffman for this prompt. I really enjoyed Illuminae by them. 

Hanna is the station captain’s pampered daughter; Nik the reluctant member of a notorious crime family. But while the pair are struggling with the realities of life aboard the galaxy’s most boring space station, little do they know that Kady Grant and the Hypatia are headed right toward Heimdall, carrying news of the Kerenza invasion. When an elite BeiTech strike team invades the station, Hanna and Nik are thrown together to defend their home. But alien predators are picking off the station residents one by one, and a malfunction in the station’s wormhole means the space-time continuum might be ripped in two before dinner. Soon Hanna and Nik aren’t just fighting for their own survival; the fate of everyone on the Hypatia—and possibly the known universe—is in their hands. But relax. They’ve totally got this. They hope.

Read a romantic book

I picked Frankly in Love by Davd Yoon. I’ve had this on my TBR for a while and really want to get to it. 

Frank Li is a high school senior living in Southern California. Frank's parents emigrated from Korea, and have pretty much one big rule for Frank - he must only date Korean girls. But he's got strong feelings for a girl in his class, Brit - and she's not Korean. His friend Joy Song is in the same boat and knows her parents will never accept her Chinese American boyfriend, so they make a pact: they'll pretend to date each other in order to gain their freedom. Frank thinks fake-dating is the perfect plan, but it leaves him wondering if he ever really understood love - or himself - at all.

Use a random number generator

I got Date Me, Bryson Keller by Kevin van Whye when I used the number generator. This is a new book on my TBR. 

Everyone knows about the dare: Each week, Bryson Keller must date someone new--the first person to ask him out on Monday morning. Few think Bryson can do it. He may be the king of Fairvale Academy, but he's never really dated before. Until a boy asks him out, and everything changes. Kai Sheridan didn't expect Bryson to say yes. So when Bryson agrees to secretly go out with him, Kai is thrown for a loop. But as the days go by, he discovers there's more to Bryson beneath the surface, and dating him begins to feel less like an act and more like the real thing. Kai knows how the story of a gay boy liking someone straight ends. With his heart on the line, he's awkwardly trying to navigate senior year at school, at home, and in the closet, all while grappling with the fact that this "relationship" will last only five days. After all, Bryson Keller is popular, good-looking, and straight . . . right? Kevin van Whye delivers an uplifting and poignant coming-out love story that will have readers rooting for these two teens to share their hearts with the world--and with each other.

Read a book you changed your mind about

I picked Normal People by Sally Rooney for this prompt. When I read it the first time, it took me a while to realise I was actually enjoying it because I found it strange to be honest. Now, it’s one of my favourites of the year. 

Read a book in a day

For this prompt, I’ve decided to listen to Quidditch Through the Ages on audiobook because it’s so short. 

Read a polarising book

After googling what this meant, I’ve gone with Conversations With Friends by Sally Rooney. Most people say you like one or the other, so I’m interested to see which I prefer. 

Frances is twenty-one years old, cool-headed, and darkly observant. A college student and aspiring writer, she devotes herself to a life of the mind--and to the beautiful and endlessly self-possessed Bobbi, her best friend and comrade-in-arms. Lovers at school, the two young women now perform spoken-word poetry together in Dublin, where a journalist named Melissa spots their potential. Drawn into Melissa's orbit, Frances is reluctantly impressed by the older woman's sophisticated home and tall, handsome husband. Private property, Frances believes, is a cultural evil--and Nick, a bored actor who never quite lived up to his potential, looks like patriarchy made flesh. But however amusing their flirtation seems at first, it gives way to a strange intimacy neither of them expect. As Frances tries to keep her life in check, her relationships increasingly resist her control: with Nick, with her difficult and unhappy father, and finally even with Bobbi. Desperate to reconcile herself to the desires and vulnerabilities of her body, Frances's intellectual certainties begin to yield to something new: a painful and disorienting way of living from moment to moment.

And that’s my entire TBR for this readathon. I’m so excited to complete it!

[southeastasianists]

Growing up in the early 1940s, Mrs Leow Oon Geok fondly remembers how her father would take her and her siblings down High Street every Sunday.

“We would have cake and ice cream at Polar Cafe, and he would also take us to Ensign Bookstore and a music shop, where the owner was his friend,” recalled the 85-year-old Mrs Leow. “He was always interested in music and reading, and he even made me learn the piano.”

Her father was none other than war hero Lim Bo Seng, who was synonymous with the legendary Force 136 guerilla task force during World War II. “Although he was very strict, he was a very good father and loved all of us,” Mrs Leow – the eldest in a brood of seven – told Channel NewsAsia.

RARE GLIMPSE OF A WAR HERO In September, Singaporeans will get a rare glimpse of the father behind the war legend, when Lim’s personal diary will be shown as part of the National Museum of Singapore’s (NMS) big exhibition to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Fall of Singapore.

Titled Witness To War: Remembering 1942, it will run for six months beginning Sept 23. It will feature rare artefacts as well as never-before-heard stories from World War II survivors, including Lim’s children.

Lim Bo Seng’s war diary is already displayed elsewhere, but this will be the first time his children have agreed to show his personal diary to the public. A digitised version of the entries will be available for visitors to read.

“The stories about our father have been well documented over the years, but it’s been some time since his story was retold so it’s quite important for the younger generation to know about the war efforts and what happened to the so-called pioneers of Singapore,” said 80-year-old Dr Lim Whye Geok, another of Lim’s children.

Written for his wife, Gan Choo Neo, Lim’s personal diary chronicles his life as he left Singapore in 1942. From Sumatra, he later went to India to help set up Force 136 to fight the Japanese. He passed away in 1944, a couple of months after being captured in Perak.

“There were accounts of when, while he was in India, he would remember us every time he saw young children, and wished we could be with him,” said Dr Lim, who added that one memorable entry chronicled his father’s first attempt to ride a horse.

THE CONTEXT BEFORE THE FALL Aside from Lim Bo Seng’s diary, the NMS exhibition will also present new artefacts from the national collection and those on-loan from 10 overseas museums, such as the Australian War Memorial and the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Another highlight is a 25-pounder gun, the standard field artillery weapon of the British and Commonwealth armies during the War. Recently acquired under the national collection, it will be displayed with a sound-and-light show.

Aside from the exhibition, there will also be an academic conference on the Fall of Singapore. War-time recipes will also be recreated and sold at the museum cafe.

While there are already other museums, as well as gallery sections within NMS, that deal with the war, the new show is angled as a historical prelude focusing on events and personal stories from the 1930s to 1942.

“It’s important to let visitors understand that the war didn’t happen just like that, so we are providing the context that leads up to the outbreak of the Fall of Singapore,” said museum curator Priscilla Chua.

The exhibition will also look at the different communities in Singapore prior to the war, and the personal stories by survivors.

“The Japanese community had come here during the late 19th century and was already thriving before the outbreak of the war,” said Chua.

Meanwhile, the Chinese community were actively getting behind anti-Japanese activities during the Sino-Japanese War. “There were many anti-Japanese resistance films that were brought in by the Shaw Brothers from Hong Kong, and they were screened in Singapore as part of fund-raising efforts.”

LIVING IN SINGAPORE DURING THE WAR Prior to Force 136, Lim Bo Seng, along with his wife, had actually been active in the fundraising efforts for the Sino-Japanese War in Singapore, which was the reason why he had to leave the country in 1942.

But his wife and kids remained behind – and some of his children will also be sharing their stories in the exhibition.

After their father left, Mrs Leow said they moved around, even temporarily staying at St John’s Island, before coming back to the mainland and staying at their father’s family house on Upper Serangoon Road.

Dr Lim was only four when his father left. “During the war years, it was difficult to get food and we all had to share everything – there were seven of us! But somehow we managed. My older brother would plant tapioca and papaya in the garden,” he recalled.

Ironically, near the end of the war, the Japanese army would use his father’s family compound as a camp.

“They were preparing for the British to come back and were digging trenches under the house. Every day, there were hundreds of soldiers in the compound,” he said.

COLLECTING WAR STORIES Dr Lim and Mrs Leow’s stories aren’t the only ones included in the exhibition. Long-time Pulau Ubin resident Ahmad bin Kassim will also be sharing his own experience.

Said Sarah Yip, museum manager for curatorial and outreach: “He grew up in Johor and was 10 when the Japanese arrived at their kampong. His father was stabbed but survived, and he later brought the entire family through the jungle, and took a sampan to Pulau Ubin.”

To help bring out even more stories, the curators reached out to students, and encouraged them to interview their grandparents and neighbours, who were also war survivors.

The result was 47 such interviews, which have been passed on to the National Archives. Six of these will be featured in the show as part of an archive booth. For Lim Bo Seng’s children, who had gone through the war as children, it’s a chance to connect the past with the present.

“The young ones today haven’t experienced war, so they don’t know what was life like when Singapore fell and how people suffered,” said Mrs Leow.

[theskyeandsea]

How We Survive || Erin & Skylar

Timing: May 11th, 2020

Location: Nic and Skylar’s Home

Tagging: @corpse--diem

Description: Erin helps Skylar get her things back from where she left them after the events of this chatzy. Grateful for the help, Skylar shares her secret with the other woman.

TW: Medical Blood

Shutting her laptop, Skylar forced herself to slide out of bed. The second her feet hit the ground, a spasm of pain traveled up her injured calf and she held back a yelp. Biting the inside of her cheek, she took a deep breath before putting pressure on her feet and forcing herself to walk from her room out to the entryway. She could feel fresh blood beginning to seep through the bandages around her leg, but she’d doubled up on the dressing after she’d bled through the initial wrapping the woman on the beach had applied. Walking to the front door, she unlocked the door before making a bee-line to the living room. Dizzy from the effort, Skylar collapsed on the couch and leaned her head against the armchair. A cold sweat had broken on her forehead, but she needed to be here. To make sure that Erin would come in and see her-- not Nic. She didn’t need him to know how poorly she was doing. She didn’t want to bother him with… any of this. When a knock came from the door, she raised her voice as much as she could, “Come in!”

The voice on the other side was one Erin was only just getting familiar with. Sounded like Skylar but it also… didn’t? When she flew into the home in a flurry and saw the young woman on the couch, pale and sweaty, her panic seemed wholly founded. “Jesus, Skylar,” she murmured under her breath, kneeling in front of the couch. She only felt a little awkward, fussing over someone she didn’t really know all too well. Knew enough that she was a good soul who was in a bad way right now. “What happened?” She asked, hesitant to do more than give her a proper glance over and touch her forehead to make sure she wasn’t running a fever. Infections could sneak up quick and that seemed like the last thing they needed to be worrying about on top of all of this. 

In one moment, Skylar was alone on the couch. In the next, Erin was next to her, pressing her hand against her forehead. A bit startled, she blinked as the woman began to speak, the words hard to hear. Without her hearing aids, it was difficult for her to hear the higher pitched tones. And, on top of it, her head was spinning as she tried to read the woman’s lips. Doing her best to focus, Skylar swallowed thickly, head lolling slightly. “I… I was at the river. I couldn’t talk. And…” She hesitated for a moment. Nic knew about her secret, but Erin-- she wasn’t a part of this, was she? She didn’t know what Nic did, right? But, she couldn’t think of any way to lie about this, her head was still spinning too much. Slumping against the back of the couch, she shook her head, “A hunter came after me. He wanted my skin. I’m… not, not human.” She said. “But, I need, I need my hearing aids back. I need my car. And… and… everything.”

Fuck. In her panic, Erin had nearly forgotten that Skylar didn’t have her hearing aid. But she sat back, confident she wasn’t fighting a fever at this rate, and listened. A hunter. Skylar wasn’t human. Her eyes grew wide as the questions started to pile up and something Marley said felt like it was screaming on top of all of that. Hunters would kill me without a second though. She didn’t know where to begin and could only nod slowly. Whatever Skylar was, above all, she was kind. And she needed help. “Alright,” she spoke slowly, keeping her own features as soft as possible despite the concern wracking her insides. “We’ll get them back. Don’t worry about that.” She gave her another glance over, trying to remain as level-headed as possible, then met her eyes again. “I can get them later? Is that okay? Or do you need them now?”

Fighting against the urge to close her eyes, Skylar did her best to keep herself alert and awake. The pain in her leg was keeping her awake, the slight jostling of Erin leaning next to her enough to make the wound in her leg yell in protest. “I need them. They’re… my car. They’re in my car with my phone and my, my teeth.” She said, her head hanging low as she avoided Erin’s eyes. She didn’t want her to see the teeth, her horrible, jagged teeth, their tips dulled from when she had tried to file them down as a child. The teeth that had ripped through that man’s arm, shredded it as though it was nothing. Swallowing, she could still taste the coppery, thick blood in her mouth. “I… please. Please don’t tell Nic. I-- I don’t want him to know about this.” She pleaded, looking at Erin with earnest, desperate eyes. 

Her teeth? Erin couldn’t help it, and her eyes instantly went to the ones that were definitely in her mouth already. Sharp ones. Oh. Of all the bombs Skylar had been dropping, this one still threw her for a loop. By this point, running in the opposite direction of a nonhuman species wasn’t her MO anymore, thankfully. But she’d definitely have more questions for her when she got back. “I’ll go get them,” she nodded, withdrawing and standing above her, crossing her arms against her stomach. “Where, uh--where did you leave your car? By what river?” She held her hand up, urging Skylar to stay. “I’ll go. You just stay here and rest, okay?”

Erin had seen her teeth, of course she had. Skylar grimaced, this time not out of pain, but of regret. This wasn’t how she wanted to tell her about this. In fact, she had honestly hoped not to tell Erin about it ever. But, she was here, helping her. Swallowing, Skylar gestured to the key ring by the door where her spare set of car keys were. “It’s parked out by the Whye River. Off the road, not far from the university. I… My things should all be there.” At the woman’s urging her to stay, she wanted to protest. But, just the effort of pulling herself out of bed to unlock the door had left her dizzy. “Okay. Sounds good.” She said with a nod. As she spoke, Dundee padded across the floor, jumping up onto the couch to curl up next to her. While she still didn’t like the dog, at least she’d have company until Erin came back.

Erin nodded, her instructions pretty clear. “And don’t worry--I won’t tell Nic,” she blurted out after she grabbed the spare keys. Remembered just now that Skylar had pleaded with her about that. Didn’t feel great, but when Skylar looked at her like that, entrusting her with something as big as this? She couldn’t turn her back on that trust. It didn’t take her too long to find Skylar’s car when she finally got there. The car would have to stay for now--it didn’t look like Skylar was in a state to drive anywhere just yet--but she bundled all of Skylar’s belongings into a bag, quickly and quietly. Doubted that the hunter was still around, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious anyway. In and out in less than a half hour, Erin was pulling back into the their driveway. “It’s me!” She called out loudly as she entered the house.. So far, no Nic. “Still doing okay?” She asked as she found Skylar still on the couch, the little dog saddled up against her. She couldn’t help but smile as she passed off her belongings, taking a seat across from her on the coffee table. 

Skylar hardly noticed when Erin left, she was already falling back asleep. The pain, it was searing and awful when she moved. But, when she was still, she was able to ignore it just enough to fall asleep. Dundee, for his part, didn’t bother her much. He was happy to just wedge himself next to her and the couch cushion, curled up in a little ball. In her dreams, Skylar could still see flashes of the man, staring at her. The gun, trained on her, pressed against her. And the blood. All of the blood. She wasn’t entirely sure what woke her, the dreams or the feeling of the door slamming shut behind Erin, sending a slight shockwave of movement through the otherwise still house. Staring blearily at her, Skylar blinked, not sure what Erin had said. But, it didn’t really matter. Her phone, the cases with her hearing aids and veneers, they were on the table. Leaning forward, she grabbed her hearing aids and immediately slipped them on. Sound. She could hear Dundee snuffling in his sleep, could hear the hollow sound of her case hitting the table. A sense of relief, the first in weeks, washed over her. “Thank you. I… I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t get my things back.” She said swallowing. “I’m sorry. For bothering you. For making you go to the trouble.”

“It’s no problem, really,” Erin insisted, offering a small smile at the very visible relief washing over Skylar at the moment. Those questions she had were still sitting at the tip of her tongue, but bombarding the injured girl with them right off the bat didn’t seem like the best move. So she watched her, a little more anxious than she was conveying. “Can I get you anything else? Water? Are you hungry? I can make something?” Her eyes moved to the area Skylar was nursing the most, no doubt where she’d been shot. Erin lifted the tote bag she’d brought over originally as well. “I brought some more bandages too, in case you need it. Just--say the word. Whatever you need. I’m here to help.”

A bit disoriented from the sudden return of sound, it took Skylar a little to process all the words that Erin was saying. Instead of immediately answering, she sat up and looked at her phone-- it had died, but at least she had it back. Her ID and credit card was still tucked into the pack of the case, which was another relief. She didn’t bother cracking open her case with her veneers, she wasn’t going to put those in right now. Looking at the tote bag, Skylar looked at her a little apprehensively. “I’m not hungry, but thank you. I… Do you--” Pausing, she mulled over her words, not sure how to ask this. She didn’t want to look at her leg. She didn’t want to see it again. But, she needed to change the bandages. And if Erin was offering them, she wouldn’t say no. “Thank you. I’ve… I’ve been running out. I,” She swallowed, very aware of her mouth full of sharp teeth. “I’m a selkie and, apparently we have a lot of blood. So… I’ve had trouble with the bandages.” Skylar said, not wanting to go into the details of her situation. Even if Erin worked at the mortuary, she didn’t want to share all that. 

“You should still eat,” Erin added on without thinking. Human, selkie, whatever--when you were bleeding like this, you needed to stay nourished. Obviously she didn’t know much about what Skylar was, but as a general rule for most life forms, that statement would hold true. “One sec,” she said and disappeared into the bathroom. Grabbed the first aid kit she bought Nic for his birthday, hoping he hadn’t used it up already. There was plenty to utilize still, but she couldn’t help but notice that he’d already dipped into it. Not shocking. She returned with warm washrags, just in case and gestured towards Skylar’s leg for permission. Knelt down near her again, glancing up at her warily for just a moment, then focused back on preparing the bandages. “So,” she cleared her throat, trying not to look at her teeth. Just the gauze and tape. “What’s a selkie?”

“It’s okay. I’ll eat later.” As kind as it was for Erin to offer, Skylar really didn’t want food. Not only was she not hungry, she didn’t want to deal with the awkwardness of explaining that she couldn’t eat anything that wasn’t meat. And she didn’t want to eat and show her teeth. She knew that they were awful to look at, she hated looking at them just as much other people probably did. But, she wasn’t about to put her veneers in after they’d been sitting in her car for days. When Erin returned with a familiar looking first aid kit, Skylar grimaced but nodded all the same. Sliding her leg off the couch, she showed Erin the bandages around her calf. They were dyed dark brown, with fresh spots of red bleeding through as well. She’d only just changed them this morning. “Um. So. They’re people who can turn into seals. Not like… werewolves do, but when they want to.” She said, not super willing to go into detail about her skin. She liked Erin and she was doing her a big favor by helping her out. But… she still didn’t like talking about the specifics of her situation.

Seals? Had Erin heard that right? She didn’t mean to be surprised by that, but of all the creatures she could’ve chosen to be able to morph into, seals didn’t even touch the list. From the way Skylar seemed to withdraw with each question. “Sorry,” she grimaced, getting to work with the bandages. She wasn’t squeamish, but Skylar hadn’t been kidding about the sheer amount of blood. “We don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to,” she assured the younger woman. “I’ve just--literally never heard of that. Of selkies.” It sounded like something that could’ve lived in folklore. Selkies. Bugbears. Hunters. Maras. Zombies. That was her world though, wasn’t it? Her’s as much Skylar’s. She suddenly felt very little at the thought. “But that’s why this guy came after you? Just because of--that?”

Glancing down at her leg, Skylar averted her eyes as Erin helped her with the bandages. She might not want to talk about… her selkie situation, but it was better than looking at her leg. Shifting slightly, she winced as the movement aggravated the wound. “Thanks. And, I get that… before I moved here, neither had I.” She said with a glum expression on her face. Just a year ago, she was still living with her parents. She was still in school, she was still talking to her family. And now… she had been stabbed, hunted, shot, was best friends with an actual zombie and was living with pretty much Batman. Her life was nothing like she thought it would be. Swallowing, she nodded. “He wanted something of mine. And when I didn’t… didn’t let him take it, he shot me.” Skylar said, a lump forming in the back of her throat. The hunter had meant to kill her. Even if she was still alive, she couldn’t shake the fact that he wanted her to die. If she hadn’t bit him, if she hadn’t fought back, she would probably… be dead. Biting the inside of her cheek, she looked at Erin again. “There are people out there who hunt people like me. I’d only ever met good ones before, but… he,” Skylar stared out into space, lost in the memory of him signing at her, “He was evil.” She said numbly.

A man wanted something, didn’t get his way, and reacted violently. Something tensed in Erin at the explanation. Not because of Skylar, of course. Anyone who could react that way to someone as kind as her was nothing short of a monster, human or not. “And you didn’t get a name? Could you describe him?” She asked, wiping some of the dried blood that had caked around her wound. It wasn’t as bad as she had been picturing, but it wasn’t great either. “You should tell Nic,” she added after a long pause, biting her lip. He deserved to know, and he could be more of a help than anyone in catching the bastard. Placed a fresh gauze pad down and glanced back up at her. “And if you can’t tell him, I have a friend who could probably help track him down too.”

Noticing the way that Erin reacted, the way her shoulders seemed to tighten, Skylar blinked. She didn’t expect that sort of reaction. But, before she could answer her question, the edge of the wound twinged and she let out a quiet hiss of pain. “Ah.. No. It was dark. I couldn’t get a good look at him.” She lied, looking at her hands in her lap. As much as she hated the man, as much as she hated how much pain and fear he’d caused her… she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. If he was a Hunter, raised like Rio, like Nic… She couldn’t blame him for giving in. For becoming the murderer his family wanted him to be. Not everyone could be brave enough, or strong enough, to escape the circumstances of their family. At the mention of Nic, Skylar shook her head. “I don’t want him to worry about me. He’s got enough going on. And I… It’s okay. I don’t, I don’t want anything to do with the man who did this.” She said. As Erin applied the new bandages, Skylar focused on keeping her breathing even and smooth, even though her heart felt like it was going a mile a minute. “Thank you, though. For the offer.”

Erin tried to be as gentle as possible as she finished up. It wasn’t a deep wound, a graze more than anything, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t going to hurt still. In her defense, most of the wounds she patched up weren’t on live people. She had to remind herself to work with a little more finesse. “He’s going to find out either way,” Erin raised a brow at Skylar’s argument. They lived together. And it had taken everything Skylar had just to get close to the door to greet her earlier. Had she told anyone about what happened? Had Erin finding this all out just been a matter of circumstance and luck? She shook her head, gently resting her leg back onto the couch and moved to the far end to give her space. “If there’s someone out there who’s just going to go around shooting people, someone’s got to put a stop to it.” Erin insisted again, finding Skylar’s eyes Didn’t feel right dropping it like this. “What if he does this to someone else? Because he will. If he could do it to you, he could do it to anyone. Don’t you want to stop that before it happens?”

As the bandages were wrapped back in place, Skylar felt the stress ease from her shoulders. She hadn’t even realized she’d been so tense. “Nic already knows that I got shot, I just… I don’t want him to go and do something that would put himself in danger. The man who did this, I didn’t know who he was. I’ve never even seen him before.” She said, shaking her head. She was sure Nic was more than competent at his job. But, she didn’t want him to put himself in danger because of her. As Erin slipped away, Dundee raised his head sleepily from next to her. With a small sigh, Skylar rested her hand tentatively on the dog’s head. The chihuahua let out a small yawn before going back to sleep, unaware of what was happening around him. “I don’t-- that’s not… I just…” She sucked in a deep breath, not sure how to explain her feelings. Who was she kidding? She didn’t even understand why she felt this way. The man had shot her, hurt her. She should hate him. She should want him dead. But… “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. And I don’t want anyone to die. Not even him.”

“I’m not saying we go run off after him with pitchforks, but Skylar--he tried to kill you.” Erin scoffed, baffled she had to actually say the words. “Someone’s already hurt, and I don’t care if this is what he does for a living--it doesn’t make it okay. There should be consequences.” Maybe Skylar was too kind to see it that way. And even if she did, and she was fighting it, it was too late for Erin to bottle those emotions back up. Not when she was sitting here after redressing her wound, watching her lay quietly on the couch. When the effort of doing anything else was too much for the young woman to bear. “Let me ask around, at least. Maybe see what I can find out. I know you can’t remember what he looked like, but someone’s out there telling a story about almost catching a selkie.” Right? Probably.

“I know.”  Skylar said, her voice firmer than she felt. And, the reality of the statement, it terrified her. But, the taste of the blood in her mouth, the way it had felt when her jaws clamped down around the man’s arm… that was even scarier to her. She had attacked him. She had bit him. And it had brought her right back to when she was a child, shocked and scared and so, so angry. And she didn’t want to be that way. She couldn’t be that way. Going after him, after he’d come after her? She wouldn’t do it. “I…” She said, but the words didn’t come. How could she possibly explain this to Erin? How could she explain any of this? Leaning back into the couch, Skylar looked at her with tired eyes. “What will you do when you find him? He shot me, like this. He doesn’t care if people look human.” Or if they desperately want to be. 

What would Erin do? That was a good question. If she could get Skylar to see some reason here, and speak to the police, they could get him put away. If Erin had her way, she’d sick Marley on him. Make the man cry from his own fears. She shook her head, glancing down at her lap, knowing either of those answers were unlikely to happen. “I don’t know. But I sure as hell don’t like that he’s out there.” She rubbed the side of her face before letting her head rest in her palm, elbow on the back of the couch. “I can’t make you do anything, but I think you should. That’s all I’m saying,” she watched her, a pang of guilt piercing her chest at Skylar’s exhausted features. “And… if or when you want to do anything, I’m here. Don’t forget that.”

“I don’t like it either. I just don’t… want anyone to die. Not even him.” Skylar said. When she’d stared at the man, when she’d seen him, really seen him-- she’d said the first words in nearly a week. That she forgave him. Not for what he’d done, not really, but for who he was. Who he had become. She forgave him for the mistakes he’d made. Mulling over the woman’s words, Skylar let out a sigh. “What do you think I should do?” She asked. She genuinely wanted to know what Erin thought. Because, in her eyes, there wasn’t anything she could do other than hide and look around every corner, trying to protect herself from an attack that could come from any direction. If she went to the police, they’d ask why she hadn’t told them sooner. They’d ask why she didn’t go to the hospital. And then she’d be subject to a whole host of questions that she didn’t even want to think about, much less answer. 

Erin mulled over her question for a long moment. There were plenty of things she’d do that Skylar likely wouldn’t agree to. Going to the police, for one, was at the top of the list. Going after this fucker with everything she had was also battling for first place. But that wasn’t realistic for Skylar she realized. “I think you should rest. And heal,” she nodded, leaning forward, wringing her hands together. Gave her a brief smile. “I know what I would do, but I don’t think you and I want the same things.” She stood again, crossing her arms over her chest, letting out a long sigh. “I’m hoping maybe you’ll change your mind once you’re feeling better but if you don’t, that’s okay too.”

Rest sounded good. Healing… The wound would heal, she knew it would. But the rest of it? Skylar wasn’t so sure how easily that would come. But, it was nice of Erin to say that, even if it wasn’t what she would do. “I think I’ll do those things. Or at least,” Skylar swallowed, thinking back to the images that haunted her every time she closed her eyes. “I think I’ll try.” She said with a weak smile. At Erin’s last words, her smile faltered. Even if she didn’t change her mind, it’d be okay? Blinking, Skylar looked at her hands. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had said that to her. That it was okay. For her to stay the same, that she didn’t need to change. “Thank you.” She nodded, not meeting Erin’s gaze. “For, um, for everything.”

Erin watched Skylar’s eyes dip, clearly avoiding her. She understood. She’d probably do the same if the roles were reversed. Accepting help wasn’t easy. “Hey, thanks for letting me help,” she smiled softly, watching Dundee move just enough to curl against Skylar a little more snugly. “Can I do anything else?” She asked, that empty feeling where direction action against that motherfucker should be shouting at her. “Are you sure I can’t make you anything to eat?” She raised her eyebrows hopefully. “Maybe watch a movie or something, if you want the company?”

At Erin’s words, Skylar offered a small, tight lipped smile. She didn’t want to flash her teeth at her, she knew how it looked. But, it felt… nice, in a way. To be taken care of. To know that, for the moment, she was safe and looked after. Even if it was coming from someone she hardly knew. “No, thanks. But… Company would be really nice actually.” She said. As much as she liked living here, she still wasn’t used to how large it was, how empty it felt with only her and Nic and the little dog in the house. Particularly now, when Nic wasn’t around. Reaching out to grab the remote from the table, Skylar handed it to Erin. “You can go ahead and pick, I don’t mind what we watch.” She said. Having someone else here, to help her feel less alone, less afraid, that was what really mattered. 

“You got it,” Erin smiled over at her, grabbing the remote from her. Gave Dundee a little pat on the head before taking a seat at the far end of the couch again. This was a little weird, they could both probably feel that, especially given the shiny, new information Skylar had tossed her way with this one visit. Weird how that worked out, too. Erin helped the living grieve. She was good at that. Knew what to say before someone could even whip out the tissues. Comforting someone like this? That was still taking some getting used to. But she was here now, so she would stay and do what she could.