27- Shape of Him.

"Leave mom alone!" The words echoed around the gleaming edge of a sharp kitchen knife. A loud scream followed by a blinding, searing pain.

Quayleigh shot up in bed clutching the left side of her face, sweat dripping from her brow as she panted.

"Fucking nightmare," she grumbled quietly, the old memories having wormed their way back to the surface; no matter how hard she tried, it just wouldn't stay buried.

Reaching back to locate Tau, her hand came to rest against an empty bed, the sheets long grown cold with his absence. Looking around the apartment, it was still dark, the stove clock reading 4:03 am. Hearing a light clanking noise, she looked to the patio, a cool breeze blowing in from the partially open door, a familiar shadow cast across the drapes by the security light below.

Crawling out of the bed, Quayleigh wrapped the blanket over her shoulders as she moved towards the open door. Pushing open the screen, she stepped outside to a strange and terrifying sight. Perched upon the railing, fully clothed, was Tau, and held within his hands, a scythe of black, its crescent blade reflecting the moonlight along its cutting edge, and the crown of spikes that adorned its heavy spine.

Her body tensed and quaked, instinctively stepping back as she swallowed the harsh lump of fear that had formed in the back of her throat. He was staring out over the parking lot and the buildings beyond, his nose in the air as if he were taking in the bitter scent of the decaying Downs.

"Tau…" she could barely speak, constrained by the fear of startling him, uncertain if he would fall, or if he would attack to her sudden appearance. "Tau," she said a bit louder, his name sticking on her tongue as his eye shifted in her direction, the kind and gentle nature often held within, now absent, "what are you doing out here?"

He returned his gaze to the sky as a gust of wind blew across them, causing her to pull the cover tighter.

"Sitting," he replied once the breeze had died down.

Lifting her trembling hand, she stretched out her finger and pointed towards his weapon, her uncontrolled nerves making it difficult to speak with any bit of volume, "where did you get that?"

"A gift, from Death. He was hungry," Tau replied, looking down at the scythe he was holding.

"Was?"

Abruptly turning to look at her, his eyes a light with splendor, a mischievous grin setting his teeth on display, "Quayleigh, he only wants a little taste."

Before his words could register, the blunt end of his scythes shaft had tapped at her left temple, sending a sharp jolt of intense pain moving across her eye. Throwing her hand against her face, she twisted herself towards the door, her knees giving way as she tripped over the threshold in a frantic attempt to flee. Colliding with the floor, she curled up under the blanket and tried not to scream as she bit down on the edge of it, and clutched at the side of her face, desperate for some relief. To her it felt as if he was trying to tear her eye from its socket. Even pressed against her palm, she could feel the tugging, the throbbing, and the strain of it being torn away.

"You can't have it!" she growled as his shadow moved over her writhing frame. "Why are you doing this to me?"

He dropped to his knees at her side, his scythe vanishing in a trail of black dust on the back of a gusty breeze.

"He said, it will let you see me," he explained as he slowly pulled the blanket back from her head and went to set his hand against her visible cheek.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted as she bolted back away from him, slamming into her closet door. "How could you do this to me?" she bellowed as tears poured down her cheeks.

"I didn't know it would cause you this much pain. I didn't know," he raised his voice as he crawled towards her. "Please, I just wanted to give you what you asked for. I didn't know it would hurt you! I wouldn't have… I won't ever do it again!" he explained as he leaned forward, pressing his forehead to the floor, his chest aching as he cried along with her, "forgive me. Forgive me. I never wanted to hurt you."

Tau continued to repeat, "forgive me," as she tried to calm herself, taking in the sight of him groveling against the floor.

Several minutes passed when she finally found the strength to speak. "I believe you, but you scared me," she replied still holding the left side of her face.

"You were scared of me?" he asked as he cautiously lifted his head.

She nodded, not wanting to say the words aloud once more.

"No, no, no, don't ever be afraid," he whispered as he crawled closer. "Never be afraid. I will never damage you." Reaching up he slowly slide his hand beneath hers, the warmth of his palm dulling the lingering ache. "I didn't know this was going to happen. I didn't know it would cause you pain, but the effect isn't permanent, and I will never do it again. Not unless you ask it of me. I swear it. I give you, my word."

Setting his other hand over her normal eye, she grabbed a hold of his wrists, preventing him from pulling them away.

"What did you do to me?"

"Uroxuz ate the life from the eye Death gave you, allowing it to slip back into the realm of the dead. But as before, your body will eventually reclaim it, and drag it back into this realm."

Sliding his hands down, he wiped her tears away with his thumbs, saying, "Now, see me for what I truly am." Shifting back onto his feet, he took several steps back before crouching down to wait.

As his hands slipped away from her own, she took a deep breath to quell the nauseous feeling welling in the pit of her stomach, before wiping her cheeks, and stifling her sniffles with the back of her hand.

Covering over her normal eye, she cautiously opened her other, a subtle gasp escaping her at the sight of her hand, a faint blue haze trailing around her fingers as she moved them. "How… I can see," she uttered.

Breathless she lifted her head, and she beheld what no other was capable. A sight for which she had never thought possible to see. For in the darkness of her apartment, crouched but a couple feet away, was Tauluthet, a faint, ghostly image, wrapped around the familiar form of Dylan, but visible as it had never been before.

Four vibrant eyes of bright lime green on black, peered from the shadow, a remorseful expression lingering in their depths. His broad muzzle lowered, strapped twice with bands of leather and cloth to hold what flesh remained from peeling away from his patinaed skull, its shape reminiscent of an elk. The nasal cavity, bare and exposed, was narrow and set forward, closer to the jagged front teeth more suited to the diet of a canine than a cervid. Muscles, dry and dark, peaked out from beneath what flesh remained; short, darkened fur still clinging to its surface. His cheeks were heavy and deep, and the bone of his lower jaw appeared strong and dense, capable of carrying more than just the single row of molars at the back of his mouth and the set of razor incisors near the front.

It was now clear to her why Dylan's body never felt as if it fit. His image was larger, spilling out at every point. Broader shoulders, covered in a thick heavy fur. Lion-like paws with grizzly bear claws for feet. The exposed muscles and bones of his legs were slender and long. His skin tied down to his thighs, clung loosely to his narrowed structure, as his tail of bone and sinew, rested unmoving against the floor, wrapped forward near his feet. His arms were equally as thin, muscles taut, clinging to the joints, visible from elbow to wrist. Tendons and ligaments held the bones of his hands together, and his fingers, longer than any she had ever seen, stretched over his knees as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"You do not look away," he said, his mouth unmoving.

She slowly shook her head as her hand sunk from her face. Leaning down she crawled out from beneath the blanket, making her way towards him. "How could I?" she asked causing his ears to perk up and twitch in her direction. "This is what I wanted."

His one ear was tall, covered in a thick greyish fur, and reminded her of a donkey's ear. Two silver hoops, pierced through its outer edge remained, while it was clear by the remaining tattered and split appearance of the edge, others had been forcefully torn away. His other ear had fared no better, as less than half remained, severed at an angle, the flesh slowly rotting away from the cartilage structure beneath.

"Does this not frighten you, seeing me as I am?"

"Never," she replied without hesitation as she stood up before him. Reaching out, she danced her fingers over the edge of his imagine, wanting nothing more than to feel it beneath her tips. "You are incredible," she whispered as she pressed her fingers through the thick, grey and black marbled fluff that covered the top of his head, imagining it to be coarse and warm.

Standing up before her, Tau stood taller than his human form, and was bent oddly as if it was attempting to align itself with its new reality.

"This must be so uncomfortable for you," she whispered as she stared at him, his chest directly in her line of sight.

The ragged edge of his skin, covered in a finer, thinner fur, covered less than half of his ribs, revealing a layer of muscle, covered in a silver hued membrane along his sides which had to be ripped and torn away from the center of his chest, making what remained of his organs, visible. He looked like a diagram from a biology textbook where the outer layers of the body are peeled away to show the subsequent layers beneath. Everything looked dried, dead, and unused, encased in a carcass, partially destroyed and decaying, but somehow still moving. Stepping closer, she lifted her hand, and reached through his sternum, placing her hand, directly onto his un-beating heart, only to feel the cloth of Dylan's hoodie pressed beneath her palm.

"I want to see you, one day in the light. I hope this lasts until we wake up, but even if it doesn't, the pain was worth it. As terrifying as it was, this was worth it, Tauluthet," she said as her hand slipped away, and her world turned to black.