Dying Pigs

The mid afternoon sun was warm and refreshing, a soft breeze rustled the green spring leaves, and one squirrel chased another across a tree thick tree branch.

Big C, still inhabiting Charlie's body, took a long deep breath. It was good to be alive. Especially after a fight to the death. The air smelled green and vibrant, floral, with strong overtures of mutilated corpse. Little Big C looked down at bloody mess that had once been George.

'I wonder what Goerge's last name was?' he pondered. 'Chesterfield maybe? He looked like a Chesterfield.' Now he'd never know, how sad.

Little Big C shrugged and stood up off of Goerge's chest. He wiped Charlie's brow with the back of Charlie's hand. It only served to smear the drying blood around some.

Big C felt a wave of nostalgia. It had been an extremely long time since he'd fought, stabbed, bludgeoned, or killed anyone. Even longer since he'd been physically hurt. It brought back a Iot of memories.

"Sigh..." He knew it was almost time return this body to Charlie. He didn't expect possessing a mortal to take such a toll, he felt almost as weak as he'd ever been. Feeling powerless in this particular body, the irony wasn't lost on Big C.

Little Big C lay down on the ground face up. Before he closed his eyes he heard the sound of uneven footsteps, still a distance off, but moving in his direction. "It must be her... well that's Charlie's problem."

Big C's phantom body drifted up and out of Charlie until they were completely separated. He had the same classicly handsome face, toned body, and piercing icy eyes but he no longer wore a farmer's work clothes. His body was drapped in a lightweight grey robe with no patterns or markings. It was tied at his waist with a threadbare sky blue sash. The sash had some kind of writing on one side but it was faded enough to be unintelligible.

Big C looked at Charlie's sleeping body with an inscrutable look. 'I'll need to rest my spirit to take form again, but no matter, we have all the time in the realms.' As he took one last look at his fresh murder scene Big C felt an unfamiliar emotion... regret. 'I guess I could have made it a cleaner kill, I just got so excited! No sense crying over spilled blood, just hope the kiddo isn't too traumatized!'

"Hahahaha." Big C laughed as his floating form began to fade. The next instant he was gone and neither person, ghost, beast, or immortal could find him.

...

The first thing Charlie felt was a throbbing headache. He tried to open them but his eyelids were covered in something sticky so it took a moment to force them free. When they did open Charlie saw daylight, filtered through a layered forest canopy. He felt the hard ground at his back. He was was lying down in the forest.

'The woods...no that's not right... I was up in the sky and then... I fell into a great red sea... Wait... that had to be a dream."

While lost in thought Charlie licked his lips. They were dry but he tasted something metallic and earthy.

'Blood? 'Blood!' The taste made some kind of connection in Charlie's mind and all his memories came flooding back in a terrible tide. He remembered meeting Big C in the fields, throwing the rock in rightous anger, his mad escape throught the forest, and then finally the overwhelming emotions he felt when he thought he was going to die.

'What happened after that!? I was trying to escape from Goerge and then Big C said he could help me... and I said yes. He said he would use my body, help me help myself, whatever that means.'

Charlie started breathing heavily, the blood rushed to head when he realized he might not be safe. 'Where is Goerge!?' he thought, panicking.

"Agghhhh.." Charlie groaned in agony when he tried to stand up. Everything hurt but the recent memory of Goerge's brutal beatings was all the motivation he needed to fight through the pain.

When Charlie got to his feet he felt slightly calmer despite aching all over. 'I haven't been attacked yet so I should be alone. Did Big C really take care of it?' Charlie thought, feeling hopeful.

Then, Charlie turned around. He turned around and stepped into another world.

There was a body at his feet.

A man's body.

A body with wasn't moving.

A body with a gaping hole where it's face should be.

A body wearing a familiar forest green uniform now splattered with partially dried blood.

A body of a man Charlie feared and hated.

George's body. Goerge's dead body...

Charlie's vision narrowed to pinhole and and started hyperventilating.

"That's what you get!" Charlie shouted at the corpse. "You would have killed me... This way is better!! I'm alive and YOU'RE DEAD!" Spit flew from Charlie's mouth as he yelled and bent over Goerge's still body.

When his face got close enough Charlie's senses were assaulted by the smell of blood and guts. He immediately started to gag. Turning to one side, he retched and puked up a mix of half digested barley tea and porridge. He got down on his knees and it spewed out of mouth until nothing was left.

Charlie groaned and grabbed his stomach. The taste of bile mixed with the taste of blood in his mouth. He spat out what was left of the puke but it didn't help.

'Why was there blood in my mouth?' As soon as he had the thought Charlie began to take stock of the condition his body was in. His work shirt and to a lesser extent his pants were soiled with blood splatter. He felt at his face and hair. The bruise was still there and he had what felt like a cut on his other cheek. His face was sticky and his hair was matted. He even felt wet bits of some unknown material stuck up there. He picked one of the bits up to take a look and saw a small piece of flesh, it was slightly warm to the touch.

Looking at this piece of gore Charlie got a good look at his hands for the first time since he woke up. They were dried crimson like he'd been crushing a bucket of berries.

Charlie started shaking. 'I did this, I killed someone...' he thought. He curled up on the ground in the fetal position and began rocking back in forth. Charlie's eyes were wide open but all he could see was blood. He tried to recall what how the immortal's light felt but the memory felt so distant. He was all alone, alone and swimming in a blood red sea.

...

Rebecca was angry... and scared, but much more angry. She was scared that she wouldn't make it in time before something terrible happened to Charlie but she was angry at a lot of things.

Angry at herself for actually going to meet George even after suspecting he was full of it, angry at herself for getting Charlie involved in her own mess, and angry at her foot for breaking at the worst possible time! Oh, and furious at Goerge for turning out to be a walking, talking, lecherous pile of s**t.

Rebecca was pretty much hoping on one foot through the woods and it was slow going. Even placing a little bit of weight on her left foot hurt sooooo bad. She had been following the trail through the underbrush left by Goerge and Charlie and the sounds of voices she'd heard not long ago, but now it was dead silent. Feeling even more anxious she hopped even faster.

In one hand she clutched a rectangular piece of paper covered in black, hand painted markings. Her grandfather had given her this talisman years ago and drilled into her head to keep it with her at all times. He told her a command phrase to use with the talisman if she was ever in danger. Yet another reason she was beating herself up, she'd totally forgotten about it before, but everything with Goerge and Charlie had happened so fast. It was the talisman that gave her the confidence to confront Goerge again instead of going back for help. She feared it would already be far too late for Charlie by the time anyone could make it back.

Rebecca stumbled through a thick bush and saw a sight that was immediately seared into her brain.

Goerge was laying on the ground, beaten to a pulp and nearly unrecognizable. Charlie was curled up beside him and her breath caught in her throat when she was uncertain if he was alive or dead. Then she saw that his body was shaking and heard faint, wet sobbing.

Rebecca let out a long sigh and collected her wits. She placed her talisman back into her pocket and made her way over to where Charlie was lying on his side. He was so wrapped up in misery that he didn't notice he was no longer alone.

Without a word and ignoring the awful smell and bloody clothing, Rebecca lay down behind Charlie and held him in her arms.

She felt him tense up so she spoke to him slowly and softly. "It's okay. You're okay. It's me, it's Rebecca..."

Charlie went slack in her arms and started to sob even harder. He turned his face towards hers. He looked like the most miserable creature in the world. His face was bloody, streaked with tears and snot, and his whole body was shaking as she held him tight.

"It wasn't... sob... it wasn't... me. I swear... it wasn't." Charlie could barely speak through his ugly crying. He looked at Rebecca with a mix of fear and shame.

"Or was it?" He continued. "It didn't feel like me but it was my body... sob... Did he have a family?... sob... children... they'll hate me... they'll come after me!" Charlie broke down crying once again.

"It doesn't matter," Rebecca said in the same calm tone. She took Charlie's head in her hands and looked into his eyes until his body stopped shaking and the tears stopped flowing.

"Pigs have families and I've killed so many I've lost count. Pigs I watched grow up. Pigs I fed every day. Pigs that were so smart I KNEW they could understand me. I told them my hopes, dreams, hidden fears... and then I killed them. I watched the light leave their eyes as I wispered kind words and stroked their backs so they'd feel as comfortable as possible."

In the midst of his overwhelming emotion Charlie recalled that Rebecca's parents had been the village butchers before they'd went missing.

"Goerge wasn't a pig, he was..." Charlie started to argue but was cut off.

"GOERGE WAS WORSE THAN A PIG!" Rebecca shouted. Her face twisted in rage. "I killed those pigs so my family could survive and you killed Goerge so that we could survive. He's more useful dead then he ever was alive." She looked at Goerge and spat. It hit the ground next to his body.

Rebecca took a breath to calm herself down and Charlie started at her, eyes wide. She smiled at him, "Thank you for being alive, Charlie. I'm so so happy that you are alive."

Charlie heard those words and cried a single tear. Then, he sat up and hugged Rebecca so hard her ribs started to ache. His body was also a mess so he quickly loosened his hold.

Rebecca stroked his back and they stayed in each other's arms, in no hurry to get up. Charlie felt so much lighter, like he let go of a weight he didn't know he was carrying.

Somehow he knew he was going be alright.