Ozzy Day 19 Till death do us part.

Dark, but I could see. Dead, but I could move. I followed the smell of something I lacked, warmth, life. I wanted to take it for myself. My body moved without thinking; thinking was not something my body liked doing. My body liked eating. It was the only reason I existed. To follow the smell of life and eat it. I was following this group of prey for a while. They were in a building that was hard to move freely in. My instinct told me it was a good place to attack them. They would not all be able to get away. I would be able to at least eat one of them. I went around the corner and saw the prey. The creatures looked at me, filled with the intoxicating smell of fear and life. My body was buzzing. I wanted to sink my teeth into them. But something about the way they looked stopped me. There were three creatures. A small one in the front and two bigger ones in the back. One of the ones in the back had a dangerous thing in its hand; I didn't know what it was, but it was hurtful to me. He pointed it at me. There was another smell in the air I did not recognize. They were shouting and making sounds. I don't understand them, but I could feel them somehow. Some part of me could recognize their sounds. The one in the front shouted again.

“I know you're still in there, James!”

The last sound this creature said sent pain through my body. I didn't know what it was, but I have heard the sound again and again. I wasn't hit, but I felt pain. I grabbed at my head.

“Graooww! Rough!”

Pain I hated the pain. I needed to end it. I'll eat these creatures, and then the sounds they make won't be able to hurt me. My body started moving forward; I got ready to pounce. The one with the dangerous thing made noises.

“Abby, he's gone; we should put him down. He is in pain. I can't look at him like this.”

The one in the back without the weapon made noise too.

“If you shoot him now, we will bring the rest of them on us in no time.”

The one in the front spoke up again.

“He died saving us, Mike. We can't repay him by killing him.”

“He's already dead.” The one with the dangerous thing was said.

“I want to believe in him, even now.”

The sounds they were making were filling me with agony. Not just the sounds they made. But how their voices sounded. It was digging into my head like it was trying to pull something out of it. I didn’t want to eat these ones, but my body did. It kept taking steps towards them. The one in the front rushed towards me.

“Abby, don’t!” The big one is in the back with no dangerous thing said.

I could not smell any hostility coming from it. It smelled strange. It was coming right at me. My body froze, unsure of what to do. It wrapped its arms around me but did not squeeze. Didn't bite me.

“Thanks for everything. I love you, James.”

The new smell was stronger when the creature made the ‘love’ sound. It was so strong that it broke through the smell of anything else in the room. It wasn't just coming from this creature but from the two in the back. And most strangely coming from me. I mimicked this creature's movements and put my arms around it. It was in pain. More pain than the other creatures I bit and ate. This was a pain that was deep, a pain I couldn't inflict if I tried. 

“Love.” I tried to mimic the sound it made. It was hard, making my voice sound like that. It gave me fulfillment and satisfaction; eating has not, cannot.

“Love you, Abby.” The last word I didn't understand but knew I should say.

All three creatures erupted into smells of pain and sadness.

I could smell the hunger and pain of more of my kind coming; I knew they would tear these creatures apart, and thinking about it filled me with anger. Anger, I forgot about that. But I feel it now.

“Danger.” I croaked and looked back the way I came.

The other two creatures walked up to me and also put their hands around me. The one with the dangerous thing was filled with so many new smells together I couldn't tell them apart.

“I'm sorry I couldn't save you, James.”.

His voice reminded me of how I should respond.

“Sorry, your mother.” I groaned.

He burst out into a happy sound that filled me with joy.

“I knew that dying wasn't enough for you to stop making jokes about my mom.” 

He was happy but sad water ran down his face.

The third one, who didn't make many sounds, also had water on its face. It was in too much pain to speak. I pulled away from them now. 

The big one with no dangerous thing was looking at me. Its face was also familiar. It was so frustrating. I didn't know how to communicate with these creatures. But I wanted to. I wanted it more than I wanted to eat. I reached out with my arm extended to the biggest one. Curling my fingers in. He came up and did the same, smacking it into my hand.

“Brawwshs!” I growled as I pulled my hand back. It just felt right to greet this one like that.

“Boom!” He said.

How can these creatures be so happy and so sad at the same time? But I understand. I also feel the same. This was more than my body was capable of feeling. But I loved the feeling. I didn't want to leave them again. I wanted to stay with these creatures. Learn how to communicate more. Learn why they make me feel like this. But I had to go and stop the ones like me from coming. I looked at the one with the weapon; the sound that left my lips felt right.

“Mike, love.” 

It bobbed its head.

“Love you too, man.”

I looked at the biggest one. It didn't make a lot of sounds, but I think it never did.

“Peter, love.” 

He wiped the water off his face and tried to answer but just made some grumbling sounds. My kind was getting closer, and I could feel it. I turned and looked in the direction they were coming. I looked down and saw the shiny metal on my finger. The smallest creature had one too. Maybe it wanted two of them. I took it off and gave it to her. The motion reminded me of a sound.

“Death, us part.” I growled.

“You already fulfilled that part,” the creature said. Its voice was soft and sweet.

I wanted to keep this one forever. I wanted to stay in its warmth. Not take it away. I wouldn't let the other of my kind take it away either. I took a step toward the approaching danger.

“Nooo, James, not again!” The small one screamed. It fell down to its knees. And the other two creatures tried to support it.

“Love, Abby.” I said as I marched away. The sounds it made were horrible, loud and filled with pain. The sounds also made me feel horrible. I hated seeing that creature like that. I wanted it to be happy. Happy. That's why I’m going to fight. I was filled with happiness that I got to go and fight for them again. Again? I don't remember, but this isn't the first time I've done this. They were still standing around. I growled loudly, trying to scare them away. They slowly left. When they were gone, I felt the sad water run down my own face. I don't think my kind is supposed to leak water.

I went to face my kind. They were walking past me to the smell of warmth. I wonder if they could smell the warmth the creatures left on me. I lashed out with my arms as they tried to move past me. They didn’t attack me at first. I was pushing them over, stepping on them, making them bump into one another. Soon they realized I was stopping them from getting to the creatures. They were mad and started attacking. One ripped at my arm, and two started biting my legs. I didn't feel pain, but I could feel my body start to slow down as more and more of it was torn off. I couldn't stand anymore and was lying on the floor as they tore into me.

“Love, Abby” 

Was the last sound I could make before my body got too weak. Thinking about that creature made my cold body feel incredibly warm.