By Myself

Chapter Two

Mexican

The boy in the yellow shirt lead the way, quickly going to the door and opening it for the odd pair behind him. El was slightly amused at the idea of this boy wanting to help the corrupt Agent out. Maybe it was that the boy had a kind heart? or maybe, the boy did not know any better? It was most likely a combination of the two. Then again, El couldn't judge on who was helping the corrupt Agent out because he was in fact, doing that exact same thing.

El glanced around the room, his nose nearly running from his face from the pure scent. It smelt of strong beer and puke. A very nasty mixture of smells, that El did find it familiar from his many days of depression. The room was also in shambles from all the people who had used it prior to them. It was in a tacky green color with two, flattened and over used mattresses on two pipe framed beds. The comforter looked like it had been attacked by rabid dogs on more then one occasion. The pillows, well, looked like sheets of paper because of how thin they were. But, to all the draw backs of this small, cramped place, it did have a desk pushed against the wall with two chairs. That was plus. And a small bathroom, that looked slightly clean.

El put Sands down on the first bed. He turned to his young companion. "Bandaids."

The boy nodded and quickly went into the bathroom to find something that would help. While the boy attended to the request, El looked over Sands. The man who had brought this horrible mess to El's doorstep was laying, blacked out on a bed in front of him and near death. It could be ever so easy to end Sands' life and make sure the man never schemed against the El Presidente's life ever again.

Almost, as if acting on the thought, one of El's hands crept out and reached to wards the man's neck. El watched, almost as if he were watching a horror movie on TV, as his hand inches it way closer to the man's neck. El licked his lips, wanting to tell himself to stop. Wanting to tell himself it was wrong to harm this man. He wanted to believe so badly that this man could be saved, if he was patient enough. He wanted to believe that all men could become good. That maybe, Sands had a heart after all.

Sweat began to start on El's brows as the tips of his fingers brushed against the man's neck. Sands took a sharp intake of breath as if in pain. El ripped his hand back as if he had been burned. That look of pain that crossed Sands' face. He could never forgive himself if he caused such a look to cross over the man's face. It just wasn't in El to harm this man who had not done anything directly wrong.

El sighed as he finally felt like himself again. He was almost driven to harm the man he wished to help. Such a thing would be watched from now on when he was around the Agent. El noted, he pulled his hand back just in time as the boy returned with gauze. El took it from his hands and placed it on the bed beside the Agent. El opened the night stand and found a pair of scissors. He could use these.

El took a breath as he got to work on the Agent while the yellow shirted boy hovered over his shoulder the whole time.

Sands was pretty sure that the cartel had gotten to him. That had to be it. The pain surging through his body right now could only be brought on by someone who wished him harm. Even without eyes, Sands could see bright colors flashing in his mind and alerting him that not all was right in the world. It took Sands a full minutes before he finally let out the scream he was trying to hide from his captures.

As El finished all the wrappings on Sands' arm and legs, he reached his hands to his head. He removed the man's sunglasses. He almost dropped them in surprise. Of course El knew that the cartel had done things unspeakable and caused a lot of people to lose parts of their body, but this was unsightly. This... was inhuman. They had ripped his eyes balls out, none too carefully either, as they apparently removed his eyelids too.

El heard the boy take a step back wards from the startling view, but that was all. The boy apparently, had seen this before El had. El took a breath before he cleaned the Agent's face from all the dried blood, being careful not to tug on the skin which would open the wounds around the empty sockets.

After he had made a pile of clothes beside them, all of them covered in blood, he dipped the softest cloth they had, which was part of El's white shirt, into a bowl of water. He rung it out and gently moved in to wards Sands' sockets. He dipped a small corner into the empty place and preceded to clean the wounds. El was so intent on cleaning the wounds from dust and other particles that had found their way in there, that he jumped five feet in the air from the horrible, bloody scream Sands let out.

El also jumped back and he bumped into the kid. The boy fell back wards, nearly knocking his head onto the small desk in the room.

"Son of a bitch." El exclaimed as he felt his back hit the corner of the end table. He sat on the floor, continuously rubbing the spot until the bright colors stopped dancing in his vision. He shook his head and stood up, finding the boy on the other side of the bed, holding the Agent's hand.

"SeƱor.." The boy said in a small whisper. The worried expression on his face reminded El of a mother looking at a sick child.

Before his mind could drift into lost memories, El stepped up to the bed and grabbed the dropped cloth, which was laying across Sands' chest. He dipped it back into the water, watching it turn into a light pink color, before going back to work on the man's face.

El cringed as he saw Sands getting ready for another scream. He moved away from the Agent and looked around the room for something useful. El's eyes almost lit up as he grabbed an old book from the desk table.

"Sands... I need you to open your mouth and bite on this book instead of yelling." El explained as he placed the binding of the book near Sands' lips. Sands tightened his lips so the book could not slip into his mouth. "The cartel will find us if they hear you."

Sands seemed to think if over, before opening his mouth a little. El slipped the book in before Sands could change his mind. Sands teeth clamped down on the book as he visually showed the pain he was in. His teeth were already braking through the cover.

El knew he had to work fast, yet carefully. He moved as fast as he could without being sloppy over his work, as he dipped the cloth into Sands' eye socket again. This time, he hear the book crinkle under the pressure Sands was putting it in. The blood soaked into the cloth, slowly crawling up the fabric as El watched. The bleeding should have stopped by now. Something was wrong with the wound and El knew it. Even something as important as the eyes being gone, should not cause so much blood since the veins going to the eyes were small and would easily clot.

El turned on the small lamp on the bedside table and pointed it to wards Sands. This was as good as light as he was getting. He searched the wound with his eyes as he found a small piece of metal in each socket. It looked like it was jabbed into the vein, making it stay open so Sands would bleed to death without any help. Of course the cartel would assume no one would help the man, so he would have a slow death.

'May god forgive me.' El thought, before he reached it with his bare hands. His finger tips barely touched the object and it made Sands bite down so hard on the book, El was sure the man was going to brake his teeth. He took a breath and took the metal out of Sands' left socket as quickly as he could. Blood poured from the wound as a muffled scream from Sands mixed with the sound of the boy fainting next to him.

El looked at his hand as he saw the inch long metal piece a second before he tossed it away. He moved to the other side of the bed so he could see the other piece better. He reached down and instead of pulling out, he placed a hand on Sands' shoulder. "I have to get the other one out. I'll let you prepare for this one."

To Sands' surprise, it was El who was doing all the horrible things to him. This pain was beyond what the cartel had given him when they took his eyes out. It was surging pain. Then again, it only hurt worse because the drugs were starting to wear off. And the damn book tasted awful, but it was better then biting his tongue off.

And just what the hell was he pulling out? His brain?! It hurt like hell and he wanted to do that to his other socket? Sands was close to sitting up and beating the crap out of El. If only he had the strength, he would. He gave a nod and waited for the other half of his brain to scream in pain.

El saw the small nod and Sands' teeth ready to stifle the cry that was sure to erupt from his throat. El reached forward and as quickly as he could, got the metal piece out. He was about to throw it aside, when shuffling of many feet were making their way up the stairs to wards their room.

El cursed his luck as he tucked whatever was in his hands into his pockets. He would worry about everything later. Right now, he needed to get everyone out of there and fast.