Day5: She woke up swathed in bandages from her chest down, the pain that had been so consistent now gone with a cool sensation in its wake. She was in his room still but now fully cleaned and on his bed immobile. How long had she been out? She looked up as Pyramid head entered the room and sealed the door. Fear froze her as he came to sit beside her; he held a jar full of greenish liquid and offered it to her. Hesitantly she tried to sit up the mere motion making her dangerously dizzy; slowly she made it into position and weakly took it from him. She drank it; a part of her hoping it was poison but was instead rewarded with a burst of energy. She faced him, had he bandaged her? Pyramid stared back at her, her punishment had been served and now he began to help her through the healing process. He was amazed she had survived the session with him but then again Alessa more than likely had a hand in it. She looked away from him and finished downing the minty concoction before speaking in a wispy voice.
"Did you heal me?" A long drawn out hum was her answer. She faced him, the pain of turning her body minimal.
"I'm sorry I took off like that." He continued to remain still watching her. She had better be sorry, or he'd be sorely tempted to repeat the punishment he had inflicted earlier. Shlinda gulped and looked away shyly. Time to play the game; she thought as she whispered softly.
"I-I never want to worry you like that again." He tilted his helmet slightly. Worried? He hadn't been worried he'd been pissed at her sneaking off like that!
"I understand why you were angry, I promise I won't run off anymore." Wow that disciplining had really gotten through to her, but worry? Pyramid stood and went to the door lifting his blade away. He hadn't felt worry in centuries, why would he feel it now over a mere mortal? The girl would need new clothes. He stood waiting in the doorway for her. Shlinda frowned as she realized he wanted her to follow; she grimaced as she pushed herself to the edge of the bed and forced herself to stand. Whatever she had drunk was helping her immensely, the pain she knew greatly reduced. She followed him slowly all the way to the stairs. Her spirits fell instantly at the sight of the steep elevation the staircase took. Pyramid glanced over his shoulder at her knowing what her fear was. Turning he scooped her up against him roughly with his free arm and then began the long climb.
He was carrying her? Shlinda stared at him as they climbed further; how could a monster that had tormented her so much be so…considerate? She leaned her weary head against his chest, her eyes widening as she felt a steady heartbeat. Could she really save him? She blinked as she saw they had come to the hallway; slowly she lowered herself from his grasp and steadied herself. She followed close enough to feel the heat radiating off of him as they traveled through and left the hospital. They walked silently down Carroll St. before turning onto Rendell. Shlinda felt sick as they made their way onto Munson, the memory of Jacob's death twisting her stomach.
"Do you ever feel…bad about killing people." Pyramid stopped in his tracks. What kind of a question was that to ask him? Those that needed punishment received it, simple as that. If he could have laughed at that moment he would have, asking such a naive question from the monster that burned and raped you. He tilted his helmet to look at the sky. But…sometimes yes he did. Sometimes he had to kill innocents to punish the sinners. Shlinda watched as his helmet tilted again and he resumed walking, his thoughts lost to her. Eventually they turned on Katz St. passing two apartment buildings and a restaurant on the way to Neely St. Shlinda had to wonder why there were so many streets with no boulevards or lanes. Pyramid Head ignored her as she voiced this thought out loud as it didn't mean anything important in his mind. Finally he stopped and waited as Shelinda peered around him. 'Grand Market' read the sign on the titanic building. Before she could question she followed Pyramid Head as he entered. The place was well lit with sunbeams shooting down through the glass domed ceiling, giving it an almost melancholy peacefulness. Exclaiming in joy Shlinda rushed forward a little to kneel beside the small garden in the center of the main hall. It had been ages since she'd seen real life! She looked up as Pyramid head extended his arm pointing at a small store tucked into the corner of the building. 'Melinda's designers' So they had come for cloths.
As she made to go over to it Pyramid head stopped her pulling her back roughly by the shoulder and griping her tightly as he seemed to look off to their left. Suddenly a loud siren rang through the air somehow sending fear through Shlinda making her grip Pyramids hand with her own. The world seemed to flash in a series of bright lights, blinking rapidly her eyes adjusted to see the building was rotted and rust covered. The flowers she had celebrated earlier were wilted and dead, crawling with ants. What had just happened? It was like the world just morphed around them. A scraping sound similar to the way Pyramid head dragged his blade began to echo from the direction he had been facing. Shlinda watched as a tall man near on par with Pyramid emerged dragging a giant cleaver next to him. Half of his mutilated face was covered with metal plates doing little to shield his hideousness. Pyramid head stepped in front of Shlinda in a protective gesture. She noticed the butcher seemed to be more fluid and not as twitchy as her guardian, she began to worry. Pyramid removed his hand from her as the darkness from the floor seemed to spread over him in the shape of veins as well as the monster threating them.
The monsters went to meet each other. The Butcher moved faster than Shlinda thought possible charging at incredible speed making sparks fly from his cleaver but Pyramid charged just as fast if not quicker, there were points Shlinda thought he had teleported half way as he had seemed to vanish for a split moment. The cry of their weapons slamming into each other was deafening and brutal. Pyramid slammed his cleaver aside and went for his throat, his grip strong and steadfast as he seemed to crush it, Butcher retaliated by slamming his weapon into Pyramid's hip resulting in a spray of blood. Pyramid roared in pain and fury as he threw the Butcher backwards and yanked the humongous weapon from him with his spare hand, a sound of crunching and tearing making her ears ring. Pyramid stood hunched as he held both weapons, the veins on his arms growing thicker and darker. Butcher stood still and slowly raised his arms, the darkness around him spiking upwards and then descending revealing a monster that appeared to be two creatures fused into one with needles in place of their limbs.
The butcher and the monster beside him ran at Pyramid head making Shlinda cry out his name right before he lifted both weapons with new ease and impaled the two back with his great knife before cutting in two with the cleaver as he kicked the butcher in the gut. The butcher roared in frustration before summoning a gathering of strange humanoid crawling creatures all with sickles instead of hands. They attacked and swarmed Pyramid who fought managing to decapitate and even cut some in half. As Pyramid struggled Shlinda watched as Butcher seemed to disappear into the ground shocking her. Taking a step back she stopped as she felt a presence behind her, slowly she turned to see it was the monster that had just vanished before her eyes.
"PYRAMID!" Pyramid head turned in time to see the Butcher suspended the girl off the ground by her throat kicking and screaming the whole time. No, she was his to guard! She was his to punish! Ignoring the Lurkers still holding fast to him he charged for the Butcher watching as he stripped the girl of her bandages in one fell swoop. Pyramid raised the great knife to impale him as the Butcher reached to rip the flesh from her body, their speeds equally matched. That's when the siren sounded. The Butcher released the girl dropping her naked form onto the tiled floor of the building; slowly the Lurkers followed their master into the receding darkness relinquishing their hold, his cleaver disintegrating in Pyramid's hand. Shlinda watched as they vanished and the building returned to the state it had been in before. Pyramid and her both looked at each other, Shlinda's first instinct was to cover her body but upon noticing Pyramid still bleeding heavily she grabbed what remained of her bandages and began to wrap them around his hip. He watched her as he remained still for her; there was no need to bandage him, no point. Pyramid head couldn't die after all. He let her do as she pleased after all mortals needed a task to get their mind off the horrors they endured.
"There, now let's get me some clothes I'm cold." She muttered as she knotted the bandages and finally covered her breasts with her arms, she stood and hurried over to the clothing department. Pyramid glanced at the now blood soaked bandages, he couldn't decide to leave them or not before finally deciding they added to the look. He continued to watch her go from clothing rack to clothing rack, her pale skin showing the scabs, burn marks, and bruises he had left her. She should have been hating him, fearing him, not apologizing and claiming to be understanding. Seeing her grab random clothing he observed as she went to dress in one of the stalls. Alessa, why was she doing this to him? Making him waste his time on a girl. Pathetic. Shlinda walked out fully dressed in a yellow tank and camo pants, a bright smile plastered on her face. She felt like heaven being in new clothes. Slipping on a random pair of sneakers she walked over to Pyramid with her thoughts racing in her head. Fear and loathing coursed through her but she also felt some measure of pity, back to playing nice.
"Can you ever remove that helmet?" Pyramid mentally frowned. Yes he could, but only if she wanted to see the sickingly twisted mess she had witnessed on the mindless butcher. He had been attractive at one point, but his banishing had really twisted him. He turned and started walking with her following curiously. They walked in silence back towards the hospital before her words shattered the quietness of the air.
"Pyramid…do you care about me?" He stopped, his helmet shifting noticeably as he stared back at her. Did he care? Was she serious? He looked deep into her eyes; there was fear and something else…what it was he couldn't tell. He felt ownership over her he would admit, but as a monster; it wasn't in him to feel. His thoughts when she had been assaulted had raced he knew but he had been in the bloodlust as well. He continued walking, his thoughts were his alone.
Shlinda watched him shamble along; he had paused for a long time as if in contemplation. She smiled faintly, he had thoughts this she knew. Suddenly things didn't seem so hopeless. Maybe he could be saved… Maybe she could be the one to save him… Maybe just maybe…there was still a heart in there, even if it was slightly decayed.
I leave the possible conclusion up to my readers thanks for viewing! This was originally going to be a 7 day thing but I figured heck leave it as is.