Hello everyone :D
Yeah, yeah, I know. It have been a long time since I updated here. But what can I say? I have a stressful life. School is taking up all of my precious time at the moment (and probably also in the near future).
But I still came around to write this chapter :D Even though I'm not really happy with it, but whatever!
Enjoy the chapter and tell me what you think!
Disclaimer: Left 4 Dead isn't mine, but my OCs are
Chapter 10_Emotional pain
He couldn't sleep. And one of the reasons why he couldn't was lying right next to him.
Shark grumbled quietly while he regarded the sleeping hunter, who was still holding his little girl in his arms. He could just snatch his pup away from the bigger hunter and kill him in the process – now that he was asleep and vulnerable – but then he would wake up Chiara, who would be really upset about a certain dead hunter.
The small hunter didn't understand why that hunter was so important to his pup. The little girl didn't even know him! Or did she? But from where would she know him?
One thing was for sure. The hunter in the dark brown shirt couldn't be a hunter for too long. He was too clumsy and too weak for their kind and besides that he wasn't even wearing a protection against the light, like all the other hunters did, including himself.
If the bigger hunter would really stay with them then they had to change that. Shark didn't need another pup he had to look out for – and the other hunter was just that for him at the moment, an unskillful hunter, who reminded him more of a still learning pup rather than a full-grown, dangerous hunter.
Shark scowled and growled quietly to himself as he looked over his shoulder at the broken window that led to the balcony. And there was the second reason why he couldn't sleep.
Their den wasn't safe anymore. It was a risk to sleep in their nest while a gaping hole was right next to it, through that everyone could enter without any hindrance.
They had to find a new den, where they were safe and where it was comfortable to rest.
A barely audible whimper pulled him out of his thoughts, so that he looked back at his pup and the bigger hunter. His little girl was still sleeping peacefully but the hunter in the brown shirt was grimacing slightly in his sleep and seemed to get a little bit agitated. Either he had a nightmare or his wounds pained him even in his sleep. Or maybe both things applied.
Shark couldn't care less about that, but he was afraid that the bigger hunter would wake Chiara up with his motions and the quiet sounds that he uttered in his sleep.
The small hunter growled out of annoyance as he looked the other one over, whereupon the bigger hunter's wounded shoulder catched his attention. Besides the many cuts was the wound at his shoulder – which Shark himself had inflicted upon the bigger hunter – the worst and had to hurt the most.
Shark hesitated for a moment, before he leaned over and started to lick the wound at the shoulder clean. He knew out of his own experiences that this would lessen the pain somewhat and would help by the healing process.
Besides the blood he also tasted the fabric of the shirt, what had a weird taste to it.
He quickly grabbed the other hunter's arms in order to hold him still, as the other one started to squirm under his ministration. The small hunter stopped with what he was doing and looked slowly up, only to see how the bigger hunter's eyes fluttered open, who seemed to be confused at first.
As the hunter in the brown shirt realized what was going on, he bared his teeth at the smaller one and started to growl. The hunter in the dark red hoodie acted quickly and swiftly pressed one of his hands over the other hunter's mouth in order to silence him.
Shark bared his own bloody teeth at the other hunter, before he inclined his head in the direction of Chiara, whereupon the bigger hunter seemed to understand and quit his growling.
Satisfied that the other one would keep quiet, Shark grabbed the bigger one and turned him on his back, so that the little girl was now resting on the hunter's stomach, who was still holding her gently in his arms. In that position he could reach the wound at the shoulder better.
Shark gave the bigger hunter a last warning glare, before he knelt over the other one and bent down to resume his task of licking the wound clean.
Halfway through he faltered as he noticed something about the other one's scent. He hadn't really realized it before but now that he was so close to the bigger hunter he could smell it better.
In a weird kind of way the hunter in the brown shirt smelled a lot like Chiara. Sure, there was the smell of dirt, blood and death that clung to his person – which one could smell everywhere he went – but underneath all that was a scent very similar to Chiara's own scent.
While furrowing his brow, Shark started to smell the other one. At first he smelled his stomach, then his chest, only to end up pressing his nose into the curve of the brown haired hunter's neck, who squirmed uncomfortably and growled quietly out of displeasure about that – even though he didn't dare to do much more, afraid he could wake his daughter up.
Shark just didn't get it. Usually someone smelled like someone else if they were related in some way. Only then they would share a really familiar scent.
But this couldn't be. He was a hunter and his little girl was not, she was a survivor. So how could they be related?
The small hunter growled out of frustration as he slowly pulled back from the other hunter, before he looked between the hunter and Chiara back and forth.
It would explain why his pup was so attached to the bigger hunter.
Now that he was looking for the similarities between the two he noticed that the little girl had the brown haired hunter's eyes – they nearly were even the same colour – and she got her nose from him. This coupled with their similar scent could only mean one thing. They were related. Probably father and pup.
But even though Shark wouldn't give Chiara away again. She was his pup now, no matter if that hunter really was her real father or not. The bigger hunter hadn't been there for her but he had been! The other one wouldn't take his pup away from him.
Shark bared his teeth angrily and snarled softly out of defiance, as he reached for his little girl. He barely touched her as the bigger hunter growled loudly and batted his hand away, while he pulled the little girl closer against his chest and sat up slowly.
Shark wasn't amused about that – rather the opposite.
Chiara was his, she belonged to him – and only him!
Not thinking straight for a moment Shark quickly grabbed the little girl and wrested her away from him, before he launched himself at the bigger one, so that the both of them fell off the bed and on the floor. The little girl luckily landed safely on the pillows of the nest.
Shark snarled loudly as he propped himself up again on all fours and immediately lashed out at the other hunter, who reacted promptly and swiftly dodged the smaller one's attack, whereupon he yelped out of pain as his left arm couldn't hold his weight because of his wounded shoulder. The brown haired hunter's arm buckled and he tumbled to the floor in a heap, while he let a pathetic whimper slip from his lips.
Seeing his opportunity Shark quickly pounced on the other one and pinned him down on the floor. With a loud growl he grabbed the bigger hunter's head, that he had lifted to glare at the smaller one and that was missing a baseball cap on top of it, and slammed the appendage back on the floor, whereupon a loud thud could be heard.
The brown haired hunter whined and hissed out of pain and slight distress, as he started to struggle weakly – in the hopeless attempt to throw the hunter in the dark red hoodie off of him.
The small hunter just snorted about that, before he raised one of his claw-like hands to deal the final strike.
"STOP!", the sudden loud and piercing scream brought Shark to freeze on the spot – his claws just some inches away from the other hunter's throat – before he slowly turned his head towards the nest, where he could spot his pup, who seemed to be awake by now. She probably woke up as he wrested her away from the bigger hunter and carelessly threw her back in the nest.
"Stop that! What do you think you're doing?!" Shark flinched slightly as the too high-pitched words hurt his ears a bit. His little girl didn't look happy in the slightest. If he wasn't wrong then she was rather really angry with him – even though he could also smell her panic and disbelieve that she must be feeling at the moment.
The hunter in the brown shirt used his temporary distraction promptly to his advantage and shoved the smaller hunter roughly off of him. The bigger hunter growled angrily as he bared his teeth at Shark and slowly sat up in order to take the pressure off of his shoulder, on which he had lain on.
"Never... Never do this again! That was bad Shark! Why did you even... That's my daddy!", the little girl exclaimed loudly as her small body and especially her lower lip started to tremble slightly.
Shark whined lowly as he saw how his pup's eyes got glassy all of the sudden, before the tears were spilling out of her puffy eyes. He couldn't help himself but to feel regret about what he just had intended to do. He didn't want to make his little girl upset. He just wanted her all for him alone, so that he wouldn't loose her. He couldn't bear it to loose another pup.
A louder whine left his lips as he reached for his little girl, who was now sobbing loudly and staring at him with a hurt look. But before he could have even touched her the other hunter beat him to it.
The bigger hunter gently wrapped his arms around his little girl and picked her up, before he started to purr loudly. Shark had to oppress the instinctual reaction to flinch out of guilt as the other hunter glared accusingly at him, while he gently petted the little girl's back and ran his other hand soothingly through her hair, before he also started to rock her.
To look at the sight of the two together alone hurt the small hunter, who gritted his teeth out of slight anger – even though he could also feel the growing distress what made him even more angry. But what hurt the most was the fact that his little girl really calmed down and snuggled up to the bigger hunter. That was just pure cruelty to watch and just like a direct blow to his face.
The little girl didn't calm down that quickly when he tried to calm her down before.
She looked so at peace while she rested comfortably in the brown haired hunter's arms – like she didn't need anything else in the world but her father. Her real father. But that would also mean that she didn't need the hunter in the dark red hoodie anymore.
Before Shark knew it a loud distressed hiss coupled with a whine left his lips. He couldn't stand here any longer and watch that.
Without another thought the small hunter was up and out of the door of the bedroom. He barely heard a soft voice calling his name as he screeched loudly and leaped out of the glassless window in the living room.
How dare that hunter to snatch his pup away! Damn it! Chiara was his! She belonged to him and to no one else!
Shark snarled loudly as the emotional pain turned into white hot anger. He would have loved to go back and tear that damn hunter apart, but then his little girl would be upset again and he didn't want that either.
It was hopeless! If he killed that hunter he would loose his pup and if he didn't he would loose his pup anyway.
Shark growled out of anger and hopeless frustration, before he spotted a group of stupid ones, who were stumbling dumbly through the street below.
Perfect!
With a loud screech the small hunter jumped from the roof he currently was on and pounced on the unsuspecting commons below. He landed on some guy whose head cracked upon the forceful encounter with the hard ground, so that his brain and blackish blood splattered on the ground all around him.
But the small hunter didn't stop there. He shrieked loudly as he attacked the rest of them. The hunter in the dark red hoodie slashed wildly at them – his claws tearing their fragile bodies apart and spilling their guts. He didn't stop til nothing was left of them. Panting slightly he looked around him with a scowl. He stood in a pool of blood and organs.
Thanks to the stupid ones he calmed down somewhat – even though now that most of his anger was gone the despair and the pain came back full force. He hissed out of distress before he whined loudly and just curled up into a pathetic ball on the spot, so that his clothes got soaked with the blood he was carelessly lying in.
Shark didn't know how long he was lying there as something wet landed on him and pulled him out of his dark, miserable thoughts. Curiously he lifted his head slightly in order to look up. A raindrop fell on his nose, that was shortly joined by another one. The small hunter blinked a couple of times, before he looked further up into the sky, whereupon he saw a lot of dark clouds, which blocked most of the sunlight of the sun, that had shone so brightly before that day.
He wasn't such a big fan of water, so that he couldn't help himself but to disdain the rain too.
He swiftly sprung up on all his fours and jumped on the next best rooftop of a nearby building. There he faltered as he looked uncertainly around him. Where should he go in order to hide from the rain?
He couldn't go back to his pup and the other hunter just like that, or could he? He wanted to, but he was afraid that he would attack the bigger hunter again at first sight. He needed some more time alone. He didn't even want to think about the possibility that his little girl didn't want him around anymore.
Making up his mind Shark swiftly leaped to another rooftop and then to another one. By the time he reached his destination he was soaking wet – he hadn't anticipated that the rain would get that worse so fast.
Without another thought he darted through the door into the run-down looking house and from there he hurried up the stairs. He swiftly crawled into one of the rooms, where he stopped in front of an open closet. That was the place where he found Chiara.
Shark smiled bitterly as he bent down and pressed his face into the remaining contents of the closet. It was really faint, barely noticable, but he could still detect a fleeting scent of his little girl on them. He whined miserably while he crawled into the closet in order to lie down in the cramped space and to press his face further into the cloths.
At some point – after resting there for a while – he finally fell asleep.
It was a dark place he was in – even though he wasn't even sure where here was. He couldn't make anything out in this darkness.
Growling uneasily to himself, he slowly started to move along, hoping to find something – anything – in this ever lasting darkness. He crawled on and on but nothing changed. The persistent darkness, that threatened to suffocate him, didn't vanish.
What was this place?
A sudden, barely audible noise brought him to stop in all his movements. He strained his ears and listened closely. There, there it was again!
The small hunter furrowed his brow as he cocked his head. What was that sound? It sounded like a drippy water cock – even though he had no idea what that exactly was. The fitting comparison just came to his mind.
He slowly turned his head only to see a red drop falling down from a bloody hand and landing on the ground not far away from him. More blood was dripping from the clawed hand, so that a puddle of blood was forming at the stranger's feet.
A quiet whimper catched the small hunter's attention, so that he quickly looked in the direction from where the sound came from. His remaining eye winded as he spotted a small and bloody creature that was lying in a pool of blood not far away from the stranger. The little thing wore a blue hoodie and black pants, which were terrible torn and gave view to the gashes underneath that were bleeding nonstop.
No! That couldn't be! Not his pup. No, his pup couldn't be dead!
Horrified he could just stare at the lifeless body of his little girl. A heartbroken whine, followed by a distressed hiss left his lips as he doubled over and desperately clawed his own chest, where his heart was hurting like nothing else.
He stopped shortly what he was doing as the sound of footsteps reached his ears. Hesitantly he lifted his head, only to come face to face with a scary looking and grinning face. The stranger cackled darkly before he lifted his hand and plunged the appendage deep into the small hunter's chest, whereupon he wrapped his icy cold hands around his pained heart.
A last sadistic sounding cackle reached his ears, before the crazy grinning stranger ripped his heart out.
Shark awoke with a gasp, whereupon only more darkness greeted him. For a moment the small hunter started to panic, before he realized that he was still lying in the closet and that it was just nighttime by now.
He clutched his own hoodie at his chest while he wheezed slightly and tried to calm down again.
It had been just a nightmare – even though he couldn't deny that the picture of his pup, lying in her own pool of blood, wasn't just an image his wild imagination came up with.
He didn't want to be reminded of that again.
A choked sob left his lips as he squeezed his one remaining eye tightly shut in order to prevent himself from crying. It was still painful to think of the death of his little girl. He never really got over her death, he never stopped mourning.
Until he had found his other little girl. Chiara... That little girl had made him forget – even though it had been just some days. He had been happy with Chiara. It had been like his pup was back. He had had a purpose again in his life.
And now that was taken from him again.
He couldn't take this a second time.
But... she wasn't dead. Chiara was still alive. He didn't loose her entirely. He still had a chance to win her back.
That was if she still wanted him too. She had her real father now with her, who didn't like Shark that much and who Shark didn't like that much in return.
Nevertheless, he couldn't give up now. He couldn't live on if he lost his pup a second time. He barely clung to life the first time around.
With that decided Shark hurriedly jumped out of the closet, rushed out of the room, down the stairs and out through the door onto the street. From there he leaped on a nearby rooftop and started the short journey back to their nest.
It was still raining, but to his luck it had lessened a bit.
It didn't take him too long to reach his destination. He quietly slipped through the window into the living room, before he sneaked over to the bedroom. He carefully stepped into the room only to spot his pup and the bigger hunter, who were both fast asleep.
He didn't want to wake his little girl up – even though he would have loved to pull her out of the other hunter's arms, in which the little girl was resting again.
Shark looked at the sight for a couple of minutes more, before he silently turned around and crawled back into the living room, where he jumped up on the couch and lay down with a deep, exhausting sigh. He still had a good view at the bedroom from the couch he was resting on.
Tomorrow he would start his quest to win his little girl over, during that he hopefully could prevent himself from hurting the bigger hunter. That wouldn't help him with his task of gaining Chiara's trust and love again.
With another sigh the small hunter closed his eye warily and tried to fall asleep again. Without any nightmares this time, hopefully.