Pulling Gods Asunder.
Day Two - Inside The Castle
Quinn Abercromby coughed painfully and gently sat up, careful not to disturb the sling of his wrist too much. The pain hurt bad, and he had nothing to relieve it except his mind. Carefully, he rose from his cot, leaning mostly on his good leg as he hobbled across the dark, cold room, leaving his makeshift crutch at his bedside.
He hadn't slept all night, in fact, he hadn't slept at all for the past three weeks. The incident was too fresh in his mind, his wounds too fresh. Every time he would close his eyes, he would see the beast again, coming at him, ready to eat. Then he would awaken to the pain.
He made his way over into the dugout in the wall that served as a bathroom, reaching over with his good hand to light a match from the book and light the mirror-side candle, flinching back at his reflection.
He looked like hell.
The gashes and small flecks of burnt skin on his neck had begun to fully heal over, tender pink skin showing against fire tanned flesh. His right forearm wound white with cloth, old blood soaked through and dead. The entire upper part of his torso was wrapped in a thick, handmade gauze, tucked beneath his armpits. And slung around his neck was his wrist, pulled tight to lay against the top of his chest for support and protection, burnt portions wrapped thoroughly. From his reflection, he looked pretty bad, bruising and gashes discoloring his skin into a portrait of pain. But other wounds lay beyond his vision of harm, his right leg, from the ankle up to his thigh was bandaged and held straight with a vertical board, wrapped with cloth to catch slivers.
He brought his hand up to touch his face, callused fingers moving over sweat-smoothed flesh and beard. He felt like hell.
There was a knock at the door, and he turned to face the reflection of Serena, standing ready in the doorway. A big pot was in her hand, tilted against her jutted hip, with towels thrown over her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" She asked, pretty, pale eyes nudging him. He was used to her coming in; after all, she had been the only face he'd seen for the past three weeks. Besides his own, and the dead.
He looked at her emotionless before bowing his head and shuffled back towards his bed. He sat down slowly, grimacing at everything that sang out in his body.
"Quinn?" She came over, shutting the door behind her, and laid the bowl down, catching her fingers on his forehead, then moving them down to touch the back of her hand to his cheek. He felt hot, but not alarmingly so.
"I'm fine." He whispered, eyes closed and head towards the floor.
She gave him another look before kneeling down in front of him, her hands on his knees, before lifting his chin with her crooked finger, bringing wet, painful eyes up to hers, before he pulled his head away.
She tucked her lips, rising to kiss him on the top of the head. "I'm sorry, Quinn."
Instead of leaving him to his state of mourn, she sat down next to him, waiting.
He knew why she was waiting, but he didn't want to do it right now. He didn't feel good. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, pulling a pair of scissors from the pouch about her waist, as well as a big role of dressing.
She raised her hand to stroke his cheek with her fingers, preparing him for what he knew was coming.
With a heavy sigh, he turned to her, eyes still closed, then opening them, but choosing not to see anything.
"Lay back." She said softly, carefully, she untied the sling from around his neck and put his hand back down to his side, hearing him sigh from the tight muscles in his arm. She then cut away his chest bandaging, uncovering a smell that took them both by surprise. Quinn raised his head, but Serena gently pushed it back down, thinking it better that he did not see it.
The smell of rotting flesh almost made her sick to her stomach, but she pushed it down and reached into her pouch, pulling out the iodine bottle Alex had given him a while back. The only sterilizer they had.
"Quinn?" She looked up to his relaxing face, about to break his mask. She stroked his hair from his eyes, looking him in the face. "I have to use the iodine." She watched his face fall slightly, before he turned away from her.
She remembered using the iodine on his wounds before, but then again, she had put him under with ether. Now she didn't have any ether.
Looking back up at the wound, she could tell why it smelled. Above the large, almost perfectly straight line of green, gray, and blue bruising was a buildup of puss from a puncture wound. One that curled the edge of his broken flesh into an almost cave for the bacteria to live in, which was now open with leaking bodily fluids, eaten away. The bacterium was consuming his flesh.
When the satellite tower had fallen, the metal struts had caught him right across the chest and legs, pinning him to the ground, smashing his left hand awkwardly, folded against his side. The puncture wound had come from the metal strut that had broken loose amidst the falling, coming like a dagger with the beam to breach his chest, right above his heart. Luckily, it had not pierced anything but his skin.
She took a fresh towel and unscrewed the bottle, pouring the iodine onto it, soaking her hand. It tingled, but that's because she had no open wounds. To him, this would hurt like hell.
She waited for him to take a breath before pressing it onto the foul smelling wound. He jumped, eyes clamping shut and jaw clenched tight, his good hand rolled immediately into a fist, fingers digging into his palm, wanting desperately to draw blood.
Working quickly, she drowned a towel and replaced the iodine laced one, the grip on his hand beginning to loosen. She looked up as he opened his eyes, seeing them hoard with tears. His jaw unclenching.
She stood from her crouched position at his side and put the another wet rag to his forehead. He closed his eyes again and turned away. "It wasn't that bad you big baby." She smiled.
There was a tiny knock at the door. Quinn turned to her, then the door.
Serena left his side and opened it, looking down to see little Madeline clutching her favorite book against her little body. The one Quinn had given to her after he'd found her hiding in the garden alone one night two years ago. "Can Quinn come out now?" She asked softly, peeking around the corner of the door, past Serena.
"I'm sorry Madi, but he's resting right now. Why don't you come back later?" Serena looked back at his resting frame, only to get a tug at her pants.
"But I'm scared of the dragons." Her big doe eyes were enough to bring a mountain to tears. "And besides, he hasn't read to me in a whole year! We always read!" She pulled her head back and threw down her arms, trying to make her overzealous point.
"Madi." Serena put a hand on her little brunette head. "He's not feeling well honey, he can't read to you now. Just come back-" but she was cut off by a voice behind her.
"It's alright. I can read." Quinn said quietly, but loud enough to be heard. Serena gave him a glance. "She's right," he said, smiling weakly, "I owe her."
Madeline jumped for joy, pushing past Serena's legs to run to Quinn, jumping up onto the bed. Bad idea.
Quinn cried out. Madeline froze.
"Madi, honey, you have to be careful." Serena came towards Quinn, gently touching him on the shoulder, but looking Madi in the eye.
"What happened?" Her little eyes suddenly were crowded with worry as she sat down carefully beside him; her hands folded in her lap. Trying not to move.
"Do you remember when the metal tower fell down?" Serena asked, helping Quinn up from his lying position, just in time, as Madi stood up and threw her hands out in mimic. "With the dragon?! And then it came at him and it smashed into the tower! And Quinn caught it and held it up!" Her eyes were aglow with excitement, getting a rise out of Quinn, one no one had seen in what seemed like ages.
"Well," Serena's smile softened, "Quinn got hurt."
Madi's face twisted.
"So you can't touch him."
She still seemed confused, before she sighed heavily, her little shoulders bowing sadly. "Okay." Her sadness went back to confusion as she looked back up to Quinn.
"I can't even touch you here?" She put a finger to the tip of her nose.
Quinn smiled slightly, "you can touch me there."
Madi smiled with new delight, raising her hand to touch his nose. "Good." She said, as if she was satisfied, then she held the book out. "Read now."
Quinn took the book from her, flipping through the pages to the dog-eared one, where they had left off last.
"So what book are you two reading?" Serena asked, going back to cleaning his chest wound, before rebandaging it. Luckily now the air smelled of iodine and not rotting flesh.
"It's a magic book." Madi said matter of factly.
"Oh really?"
Serena looked to Quinn, who tilted the book to see the front cover, which, despite being worn, still read that it was a wedding dress catalog.
"Each page has a different princess on it." Madi smiled, looking at the too thin woman dressed in a finely beaded, milk white gown of silk.
"So who's this?" Serena nodded to the woman, beginning to wrap the clean gauze around Quinn's chest.
"This is Belle. She doesn't fit in in town cause her dad is a crazy inventor. But she's really pretty cause this guy, Gastion, he loves her, but he's a bad man. And there's this prince on the outside of the town who didn't give food to this old lady, and it turned out that the old lady was really a magic, beautiful lady that casted a spell on him that he had to been in love by his twentieth birthday, or he would be an ugly beast forever." Madi smiled. "Quinn used to do them with Creedy, but I like them much better when he reads it to me."
"I see." Serena smiled. "Well, why don't you read some for us then Quinn?"
"Where were we?"
"Belle's dad went out to the fair and got chased by the wolves and then he went into the prince's magic castle and the prince didn't like it, so he threw him in jail. And Belle went out to look for him and she went to the Prince's castle too and found her dad." Madi leaned against his arm, then suddenly realized what she'd just done and pulled back.
"Can I touch you there?" her eyes were suddenly worried. Quinn smiled, "yeah."
Smiling, Madi laid back down against his arm, sighing lightly as Quinn talked, as Serena began unwrapping the gauze around his leg.
"There was a cough from the darkness, but Belle could not see who it was. 'Hello?' she called out 'is someone there?'. 'Belle' came a voice she recognized. 'Belle is that you?' 'Papa! Oh Papa you're alive!' she ran to him, guided by her magic candlestick-"
"She doesn't know it's alive." Madi whispered down to Serena, who faked surprise for the sake of the story. "Oh."
Quinn went on. "'Your hands are so cold. I have to get you out of here.' Belle took her father's hand and held it to her cheek. 'Belle, you must leave this place.' 'Not without you Papa' Belle said. 'I'm old, I've lived my life.' But a noise from behind like a mean wind stopped their talking. 'Who's there?' Belle asked, holding up her candlestick to see. 'Who are you?'"
"It's the Prince!" Madi smiled, informing Serena again. Who nodded.
"'Please, my father is old,' said Belle. 'He's sick.' 'Then he shouldn't have trespassed here!' came a deep, angry voice from the dark. 'Run Belle.' Her father tried to warn her. 'Please, take me instead.' She said. Both her father and the man from the dark were surprised. 'No Belle!' her father tried to stop her. 'You would...take his place?' asked the man from the darkness. Belle looked to her father then back into the darkness, his voice scary to her. 'Step into the light.' She was afraid as a great beast stepped before her. He was at least seven feet tall, covered in hair, with big, mean teeth and sharp claws. But her father was more to her than her own life. 'Yes.' She said."
Madi gasped in surprise.
"'So be it.' Growled the enchanted Prince, unlocking the gate to her father's dungeon and dragging him out by his shirt. 'Belle!' her father called after her, but it was no use. 'Papa! Wait!' she cried back, reaching out for him, but the Prince too fast. 'Please wait!' but soon both were gone. 'I didn't even get to say goodbye...'"
Day Two - Inside The Castle
Quinn Abercromby coughed painfully and gently sat up, careful not to disturb the sling of his wrist too much. The pain hurt bad, and he had nothing to relieve it except his mind. Carefully, he rose from his cot, leaning mostly on his good leg as he hobbled across the dark, cold room, leaving his makeshift crutch at his bedside.
He hadn't slept all night, in fact, he hadn't slept at all for the past three weeks. The incident was too fresh in his mind, his wounds too fresh. Every time he would close his eyes, he would see the beast again, coming at him, ready to eat. Then he would awaken to the pain.
He made his way over into the dugout in the wall that served as a bathroom, reaching over with his good hand to light a match from the book and light the mirror-side candle, flinching back at his reflection.
He looked like hell.
The gashes and small flecks of burnt skin on his neck had begun to fully heal over, tender pink skin showing against fire tanned flesh. His right forearm wound white with cloth, old blood soaked through and dead. The entire upper part of his torso was wrapped in a thick, handmade gauze, tucked beneath his armpits. And slung around his neck was his wrist, pulled tight to lay against the top of his chest for support and protection, burnt portions wrapped thoroughly. From his reflection, he looked pretty bad, bruising and gashes discoloring his skin into a portrait of pain. But other wounds lay beyond his vision of harm, his right leg, from the ankle up to his thigh was bandaged and held straight with a vertical board, wrapped with cloth to catch slivers.
He brought his hand up to touch his face, callused fingers moving over sweat-smoothed flesh and beard. He felt like hell.
There was a knock at the door, and he turned to face the reflection of Serena, standing ready in the doorway. A big pot was in her hand, tilted against her jutted hip, with towels thrown over her shoulder.
"Are you alright?" She asked, pretty, pale eyes nudging him. He was used to her coming in; after all, she had been the only face he'd seen for the past three weeks. Besides his own, and the dead.
He looked at her emotionless before bowing his head and shuffled back towards his bed. He sat down slowly, grimacing at everything that sang out in his body.
"Quinn?" She came over, shutting the door behind her, and laid the bowl down, catching her fingers on his forehead, then moving them down to touch the back of her hand to his cheek. He felt hot, but not alarmingly so.
"I'm fine." He whispered, eyes closed and head towards the floor.
She gave him another look before kneeling down in front of him, her hands on his knees, before lifting his chin with her crooked finger, bringing wet, painful eyes up to hers, before he pulled his head away.
She tucked her lips, rising to kiss him on the top of the head. "I'm sorry, Quinn."
Instead of leaving him to his state of mourn, she sat down next to him, waiting.
He knew why she was waiting, but he didn't want to do it right now. He didn't feel good. He watched her out of the corner of his eye, pulling a pair of scissors from the pouch about her waist, as well as a big role of dressing.
She raised her hand to stroke his cheek with her fingers, preparing him for what he knew was coming.
With a heavy sigh, he turned to her, eyes still closed, then opening them, but choosing not to see anything.
"Lay back." She said softly, carefully, she untied the sling from around his neck and put his hand back down to his side, hearing him sigh from the tight muscles in his arm. She then cut away his chest bandaging, uncovering a smell that took them both by surprise. Quinn raised his head, but Serena gently pushed it back down, thinking it better that he did not see it.
The smell of rotting flesh almost made her sick to her stomach, but she pushed it down and reached into her pouch, pulling out the iodine bottle Alex had given him a while back. The only sterilizer they had.
"Quinn?" She looked up to his relaxing face, about to break his mask. She stroked his hair from his eyes, looking him in the face. "I have to use the iodine." She watched his face fall slightly, before he turned away from her.
She remembered using the iodine on his wounds before, but then again, she had put him under with ether. Now she didn't have any ether.
Looking back up at the wound, she could tell why it smelled. Above the large, almost perfectly straight line of green, gray, and blue bruising was a buildup of puss from a puncture wound. One that curled the edge of his broken flesh into an almost cave for the bacteria to live in, which was now open with leaking bodily fluids, eaten away. The bacterium was consuming his flesh.
When the satellite tower had fallen, the metal struts had caught him right across the chest and legs, pinning him to the ground, smashing his left hand awkwardly, folded against his side. The puncture wound had come from the metal strut that had broken loose amidst the falling, coming like a dagger with the beam to breach his chest, right above his heart. Luckily, it had not pierced anything but his skin.
She took a fresh towel and unscrewed the bottle, pouring the iodine onto it, soaking her hand. It tingled, but that's because she had no open wounds. To him, this would hurt like hell.
She waited for him to take a breath before pressing it onto the foul smelling wound. He jumped, eyes clamping shut and jaw clenched tight, his good hand rolled immediately into a fist, fingers digging into his palm, wanting desperately to draw blood.
Working quickly, she drowned a towel and replaced the iodine laced one, the grip on his hand beginning to loosen. She looked up as he opened his eyes, seeing them hoard with tears. His jaw unclenching.
She stood from her crouched position at his side and put the another wet rag to his forehead. He closed his eyes again and turned away. "It wasn't that bad you big baby." She smiled.
There was a tiny knock at the door. Quinn turned to her, then the door.
Serena left his side and opened it, looking down to see little Madeline clutching her favorite book against her little body. The one Quinn had given to her after he'd found her hiding in the garden alone one night two years ago. "Can Quinn come out now?" She asked softly, peeking around the corner of the door, past Serena.
"I'm sorry Madi, but he's resting right now. Why don't you come back later?" Serena looked back at his resting frame, only to get a tug at her pants.
"But I'm scared of the dragons." Her big doe eyes were enough to bring a mountain to tears. "And besides, he hasn't read to me in a whole year! We always read!" She pulled her head back and threw down her arms, trying to make her overzealous point.
"Madi." Serena put a hand on her little brunette head. "He's not feeling well honey, he can't read to you now. Just come back-" but she was cut off by a voice behind her.
"It's alright. I can read." Quinn said quietly, but loud enough to be heard. Serena gave him a glance. "She's right," he said, smiling weakly, "I owe her."
Madeline jumped for joy, pushing past Serena's legs to run to Quinn, jumping up onto the bed. Bad idea.
Quinn cried out. Madeline froze.
"Madi, honey, you have to be careful." Serena came towards Quinn, gently touching him on the shoulder, but looking Madi in the eye.
"What happened?" Her little eyes suddenly were crowded with worry as she sat down carefully beside him; her hands folded in her lap. Trying not to move.
"Do you remember when the metal tower fell down?" Serena asked, helping Quinn up from his lying position, just in time, as Madi stood up and threw her hands out in mimic. "With the dragon?! And then it came at him and it smashed into the tower! And Quinn caught it and held it up!" Her eyes were aglow with excitement, getting a rise out of Quinn, one no one had seen in what seemed like ages.
"Well," Serena's smile softened, "Quinn got hurt."
Madi's face twisted.
"So you can't touch him."
She still seemed confused, before she sighed heavily, her little shoulders bowing sadly. "Okay." Her sadness went back to confusion as she looked back up to Quinn.
"I can't even touch you here?" She put a finger to the tip of her nose.
Quinn smiled slightly, "you can touch me there."
Madi smiled with new delight, raising her hand to touch his nose. "Good." She said, as if she was satisfied, then she held the book out. "Read now."
Quinn took the book from her, flipping through the pages to the dog-eared one, where they had left off last.
"So what book are you two reading?" Serena asked, going back to cleaning his chest wound, before rebandaging it. Luckily now the air smelled of iodine and not rotting flesh.
"It's a magic book." Madi said matter of factly.
"Oh really?"
Serena looked to Quinn, who tilted the book to see the front cover, which, despite being worn, still read that it was a wedding dress catalog.
"Each page has a different princess on it." Madi smiled, looking at the too thin woman dressed in a finely beaded, milk white gown of silk.
"So who's this?" Serena nodded to the woman, beginning to wrap the clean gauze around Quinn's chest.
"This is Belle. She doesn't fit in in town cause her dad is a crazy inventor. But she's really pretty cause this guy, Gastion, he loves her, but he's a bad man. And there's this prince on the outside of the town who didn't give food to this old lady, and it turned out that the old lady was really a magic, beautiful lady that casted a spell on him that he had to been in love by his twentieth birthday, or he would be an ugly beast forever." Madi smiled. "Quinn used to do them with Creedy, but I like them much better when he reads it to me."
"I see." Serena smiled. "Well, why don't you read some for us then Quinn?"
"Where were we?"
"Belle's dad went out to the fair and got chased by the wolves and then he went into the prince's magic castle and the prince didn't like it, so he threw him in jail. And Belle went out to look for him and she went to the Prince's castle too and found her dad." Madi leaned against his arm, then suddenly realized what she'd just done and pulled back.
"Can I touch you there?" her eyes were suddenly worried. Quinn smiled, "yeah."
Smiling, Madi laid back down against his arm, sighing lightly as Quinn talked, as Serena began unwrapping the gauze around his leg.
"There was a cough from the darkness, but Belle could not see who it was. 'Hello?' she called out 'is someone there?'. 'Belle' came a voice she recognized. 'Belle is that you?' 'Papa! Oh Papa you're alive!' she ran to him, guided by her magic candlestick-"
"She doesn't know it's alive." Madi whispered down to Serena, who faked surprise for the sake of the story. "Oh."
Quinn went on. "'Your hands are so cold. I have to get you out of here.' Belle took her father's hand and held it to her cheek. 'Belle, you must leave this place.' 'Not without you Papa' Belle said. 'I'm old, I've lived my life.' But a noise from behind like a mean wind stopped their talking. 'Who's there?' Belle asked, holding up her candlestick to see. 'Who are you?'"
"It's the Prince!" Madi smiled, informing Serena again. Who nodded.
"'Please, my father is old,' said Belle. 'He's sick.' 'Then he shouldn't have trespassed here!' came a deep, angry voice from the dark. 'Run Belle.' Her father tried to warn her. 'Please, take me instead.' She said. Both her father and the man from the dark were surprised. 'No Belle!' her father tried to stop her. 'You would...take his place?' asked the man from the darkness. Belle looked to her father then back into the darkness, his voice scary to her. 'Step into the light.' She was afraid as a great beast stepped before her. He was at least seven feet tall, covered in hair, with big, mean teeth and sharp claws. But her father was more to her than her own life. 'Yes.' She said."
Madi gasped in surprise.
"'So be it.' Growled the enchanted Prince, unlocking the gate to her father's dungeon and dragging him out by his shirt. 'Belle!' her father called after her, but it was no use. 'Papa! Wait!' she cried back, reaching out for him, but the Prince too fast. 'Please wait!' but soon both were gone. 'I didn't even get to say goodbye...'"