Chapter Text
The last hour is a blur.
A knock at your door late at night. A distressed girl with blue dyed hair - it takes you a moment to recognize her as your neighbour’s daughter. A frantic story about finding a hurt visitor on the side of the road.
And a teary-eyed request for you to take the creature in because nobody else would. The vet clinics and shelters in town don’t take visitors, the girl’s dorm won’t allow pets and the parents don’t want the creature in their home. Nobody else she’d asked was willing to help, so with no other option she came to you.
"Please", she begged, "if it goes back to the streets it will die tonight!"
And you, feeling bad for the creature and pressured by the girl, let yourself get talked into it.
You carried the creature from her car into your home and laid it on the couch - it felt so impossibly light in your arms, no doubt emaciated under its clothes.
And now that she’s left, taking the frantic energy with her, the living room is silent. It’s just you and the passed out visitor on your couch. In the background the movie you’d been watching is still paused. You take a second to turn your TV off.
Your subconscious is starting to panic. What on earth did you agree to? You know almost nothing about visitors. And this one couldn’t possibly look any worse.
You step a bit closer to it. It looks… ghoulish, for lack of a better word. Blue-gray skin and haggard features covered by a sheen of sweat. Its black hair is greasy and matted, the clothes it’s wearing are tattered and filthy. And it smells awful.
There’s fresh bandages covering both of its hands. They’re applied sloppily and way too loose, clearly by an amateur. The gauze has turned pink at almost all fingertips. You can’t even begin to imagine what this creature has been through.
… is its breathing supposed to sound so rattly? You really, really hope it isn’t dying right now.
No! Think positive. Visitors are notorious for being hardy. It probably just needs to rest so it can recover. You just have to wait for it to wake up. There isn’t really anything else you can do now.
So you try to distract yourself while you wait. You exit the living room but leave the door open. In the hallway you almost trip over a paper bag on the floor.
It’s food your neighbour’s daughter bought for the visitor. Two packages of ground beef. Next to the bag there’s a pair of shoes scattered on the floor. Rubber clogs of all things, caked in mud to the point you can’t make out their real color.
Are these the visitor’s? You didn’t even notice them fall off. They’re totally unsuitable for the season too.
You place the shoes next to your door, then go put the meat in the fridge. After that you sit down at your kitchen table you start researching visitors and how to take care of them. Your phone is shaking in your hands, you absentmindedly notice.
Almost an hour later you feel like you haven’t learned much. Online resources about visitors are very, very limited. A good chunk of them also make a point that visitors need harsh physical discipline to keep them under control… that kind of 'advice' doesn’t sit right with you.
Suddenly you hear rustling, followed by coughing and a weak moan.
Oh god. The visitor woke up.
You have to go check on it.
When you stand up your knees feel weak. You’re extremely nervous. There’s no telling how the visitor will react to waking up in an unfamiliar environment.
You inch your way over to the living room and hesitate in front of the doorway. Announcing yourself would probably be better than just walking in?
You audibly clear your throat. A moment later you slowly push the door open all the way.
The visitor is still laying on the couch but it’s eyes are cracked open slightly. Its whole body is weakly trembling.
You try to smile at it. Hopefully it looks more convincing than you feel.
"Hello…", you start. What are you supposed to say? "Um, do you remember what happened? The girl that picked you up? … you’re in my house now. To, uh, rest and get better."
The creature just wordlessly looks at you. You aren’t sure if it lacks the energy to open its eyes wider or if it’s trying to glare at you. With the state it’s in it just looks wretched and pitiful rather than intimidating.
It’s not saying anything either. You thought visitors can talk. You try to ask another question.
"How do you feel?"
Again silence. The visitor continues to squint at you, unblinking. It’s still trembling all over.
Alright… but there’s something you can do to win its trust.
"Um, you’re probably hungry… I’ll get you some food."
You exit the room. As soon as you’re out of sight of the visitor some of the tenseness leaves your body. It doesn’t seem aggressive so far at least.
You aren’t sure what’s a good portion size so you just eyeball it. Like you’re preparing a meal for a guest you ready a tray with the bowl of ground meat, a glass of water, a napkin and a spoon.
The visitor hasn’t moved in the time you were in the kitchen. You slowly, cautiously get closer so you can set the tray down on the coffee table in front of it.
"Okay… here’s your food."
This should motivate it to get up. You step back and wait for the visitor to move. Its nostrils flare a few times. After a moment of nothing else happening you hear a low, rumbling sound.
You freeze. Is it growling at you? Oh god.
Now on edge you keep your eyes on the visitor. It doesn’t look like it’s about to pounce on you. In fact, it’s still just laying there shivering. Then you hear the growling again, now louder. It’s coming from its stomach.
Oh. The smell of the meat must’ve made its stomach growl. It’s probably really hungry.
You think you standing here looking at it is keeping it from eating. You excuse yourself and leave the room again.
"Um, go ahead and dig in… I’ll, uh, check on you in a bit."
Now the visitor can hopefully let down its guard and eat.
For the next 15 minutes you try to busy yourself while you give the creature time to eat. You mess around in the kitchen, not really accomplishing anything.
Once the time has passed you get back to the living room to check if the visitor is done.
It looks like nothing’s changed since you left. The food on the table is untouched as well. Could it be the visitor doesn’t actually want it…? Unless…
Oh no. No way. What if it’s actually too weak to move on its own? And you left the meat right under its nose when it had no way to eat it. The visitor stares at you through squinted eyes, silently judging you.
Well, now you feel awful. You bite the inside of your cheek as you inch closer to the sofa. A few steps from the visitor you come to a stop. It’s still not doing anything but trembling.
"Um, hey… sorry, I kind of thought you could, like, eat on your own. Do you need some help?"
Again if doesn’t answer. It just continues staring at you through half-lidded, unblinking eyes. If it weren’t still shaking the whole time you’d think it wasn’t alive anymore.
Maybe it can’t talk? You creep closer to the creature before kneeling down in front of the sofa. This close the smell is really getting to you.
But the visitor still doesn’t try to get away from you or attack you. It must be extremely weak.
So far so good. You force yourself to stay calm as well. While keeping a close eye on the visitor you scoop up some ground meat. With your breath held you slowly guide the spoon to the visitor’s mouth. Your hand is trembling.
It takes a second for the visitor to react. Its nostrils flare again at the meat so close to its face. Finally it opens its mouth ever so slightly.
Good. You touch the spoon to its strangely tinted lips and slowly push into its mouth. The visitor closes it around the spoon. Good. It’s eating. Thank god. Relieved you pull the spoon away and ready another bite.
Watching it eat makes you feel more relieved than you would’ve thought. Gradually some of the tension leaves your body as you awkwardly kneel in front of the creature and spoon feed it. It’s a good thing it’s ground meat. The visitor doesn’t look like it would have the strength to chew right now.
You end up feeding it the entire bowl in no time. After it swallowed the last bit of meat you reach for the water glass.
But wait - it needs to sit up more or you’ll spill the water all over it. You need to prop its head up.
Trying to keep your voice calm and non-threatening you tell it, "Hey, I’m just gonna lift your head a little so you can drink…"
You don’t even expect an answer anymore. The visitors eyes are still focused on you. It hasn’t blinked once since it woke up. Really creepy.
Slowly you lean forward and draw your hand closer to the creature. You slip it under and cup the back of its head. Feeling its dirty hair against your fingers makes you shudder.
But also the visitor feels cold. Shockingly, unnaturally cold like it’s been buried under a pile of snow for hours.
That can’t be good. Unsure if you’re imagining things you touch your other hand to the bandaged one of the visitor. Cold. Your hand slides down to touch its bare wrist. Cold here too.
How can this be? Are visitors supposed to feel like this?
Next you slowly, carefully touch your knuckles to the creature’s hanging cheek. Clammy skin, covered in grime. And absolutely freezing.
From the way it looks you would’ve believed this visitor has a high fever right now. It’s mind boggling how something can be so cold and still alive. One more thing to research later, you guess.
Getting back to the task you lift its head up further. You ignore its gaze boring into you and instead focus on its mouth as you bring the glass of water to it.
"Here’s something to drink…", you quietly announce.
As soon as the glass touches its chapped lips it flinches ever so slightly. You tip it. It takes a second for the visitors lips to open as the water wets them. A small trickle runs down to its chin as it drinks.
It doesn’t stop drinking until there’s nothing left. When it’s done you lightly dab the napkin around its mouth, wiping up the water and some with it some dirt.
"There you go", slips out of your mouth as you pull away.
You lay the creature’s head down on the cushions again and take another close look at its face. It looks neither better nor worse than before the meal.
Did it eat enough? You’re gonna try offering it another portion to be sure.
Dark, narrowed eyes follow your every move as you get up from the floor and gather the dishes on the tray. It might just be your imagination but it feels less hostile than earlier.
"Um, I’ll get you some more. Be right back", you tell the visitor.
It wheezes out a breath in response. You’re reminded of the way dogs sigh.
The first thing you do back in the kitchen is wash your hands. The lather of soap turns brown with dirt. Gross. That visitor really needs a bath as soon as it gets some strength back.
You refill the water glass and the bowl of ground meat. This time you’re a bit less nervous going back to the visitor.
As you step into the living room again you immediately notice its eyes are now closed. Your heart stops. For a second you believe it’s dead.
… its chest is still moving. Thank god. With a sigh of relief you step closer. Even when you’re standing right in front of it its eyes don’t open again. Did it fall asleep?
You try to whisper, "Hey, uh… buddy? You awake?"
But the visitor doesn’t react. On a whim you hold the bowl of meat under its face. It doesn’t sniff it.
Okay… fast asleep it seems. You guess you’ll just leave it be for the night.
As you leave the room you turn the lights off. You hesitate for a moment in the hallway. Can visitors see in the dark? What if it somehow gets up at night and becomes disoriented?
You leave the door to the living room ajar and keep the hallway lights on. If nothing else it feels better on your conscience.
After you put the leftover meat in the fridge you go through your bedtime routine with all sorts of thoughts running wild in your head. You know you aren’t going to be able to sleep tonight.
Thinking about whether to lock your bedroom door or not leads to a mental dilemma. On the one hand what if the visitor gets better over night and decides to attack you? Locking the door would give you some peace of mind, even if it’s just the illusion of safety.
On the other hand what if it calls for help and you don’t hear it through the door? Equally dread-inducing to think about.
You take another peek at the visitor. Still out cold.
With that you head into your bedroom. You decide to leave your door open for now. There’s no way you can already try to go to sleep anyways.
You make yourself comfortable, get out your laptop and continue researching visitors until late into the night.