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Looking for a cavern
A place where she can stay
Waiting for the darkness
When she leaves obsessed to make her way to me
Because it’s getting to the time when she will need to feed
…
Ten waited (rather impatiently) for Fourteen to arrive. He sat on the couch, tapping his foot.
Fourteen didn’t come every night- but Ten was certain he’d come back tonight. He ran his hands over his mostly healed injuries from last time the other number had visited. He recalled, vaguely, a time when his arms had been smooth instead of covered in a mess of scars.
He heard a knock on the door. Fourteen, it had to be.
Ten found himself hesitating.
You don’t have to let him in.
You could stop.
Just..stop letting him in.
Ten wrenched open the door.
“You’re late,” he said.
…
And I am the willing victim of a cannibal
She rips out my bones just like I'm an animal
And right when I′m feeling like my blood is drained
She calls it a game
But the wound that she leaves is unmistakable
…
Fourteen gave him a sharp-toothed smile.
“Late?” He asked. “Were you expecting me?”
Ten shifted back and forth. “Sort of.”
“So,” Fourteen said, “time to eat your skin?”
Ten sighed. Straight to the point, then.
“Yeah, alright,” he said. “Let me go set up the tarp.”
~
The tarp wasn’t comfortable, exactly, but it got the job done. Besides, comfort was usually the last thing on Ten’s mind.
He watched blood trickle down his arm in a thin stream, pooling in his hand. It hurt, of course, but perhaps not as badly as it once did. Maybe Fourteen was gentler now, maybe Ten had built up a tolerance, or maybe he was just numb from blood loss. Probably a combination of the three.
He felt strangely detached from his body as he watched Fourteen claw at his skin with strangely sharp nails.
Ten felt an odd shiver of pleasure as he watched Fourteen’s happy face.
Wow, he thought, I really am sick.
…
I am not the only one that she has come to see
Dig up the skeletons of men who thought that they would be the one like me
Like they could be the ones to make her believe
But for now
…
Afterwards was the best part- at least for Ten. They would sit together on the couch and Fourteen would bandage Ten’s cuts.
It felt almost..normal.
“Hold still.” Fourteen said as he dabbed Ten’s arm with rubbing alcohol.
Ten stopped moving. Fourteen smirked. “You’re very well behaved, aren’t you?”
Ten stared at the couch- anywhere but Fourteen- as his cheeks grew warm. “Yeah, well..” He let the words hang in the air for a few moments. Then: “Have you done this before? With anyone else?”
He found himself looking up at Fourteen’s carefully blank face. “No,” Fourteen said.
Liar, Ten thought. He scowled.
“Are your arms hurting you?” The other number continued.
Ten shook his head. He didn’t feel much of anything. “Nah,” he said.
Fourteen’s brow creased in worry for a moment before he grinned at Ten, showing off blood-stained teeth.
Ten through a pillow at him. “Go brush your teeth.”
…
I am the willing victim of a cannibal
She rips out my bones just like I'm an animal
And right when I'm feeling like my blood is drained
She calls it a game
But the wound that she leaves is unmistakable
…
Ten didn’t leave his house as much as he used to. He felt as if the other algebraliens were watching him, taking in his bandaged arms, noting his difference.
It was like they’d seen his connection to Fourteen and decided he was a monster too- or, more aptly, a monster’s pet.
They found him to be a strange phenomenon. Or maybe just phenomenally brainwashed.
It sort of stung.
~
Ten sat in the Even Number Clubhouse with Eight.
He wondered what the other number thought about this. He was sort of scared to find out.
Ten hit the buttons on his game controller almost mindlessly as his thoughts continued to spiral.
“So,” Eight said, “you really just let him manhandle you like that, huh?”
Ten flinched. “I…don’t know what you mean.”
“You know exactly what I mean,” Eight sighed.
“No, I don’t!”
“I mean the fact that you let that monster treat you like a chew toy!”
“He is not a monster!” Ten shouted.
“Whoa, take it easy.” Eight put his hands up in a placating gesture.
“You don’t know him,” Ten said, fuming.
“And you do?” Eight asked.
“I hope so,” Ten answered as honestly as he could.
…
Hiding in corners disguised
She′s a phantom, a glimmer inside
She keeps on feeding while I am conceding
So, please won′t you tear me open wide?
…
“-Ten? Ten! Oh my goodness, Ten!”
“Mm..?” Ten said. His body felt warm and sticky. His head spun. “Ow.”
“Ten,” Fourteen said again. “You’re awake. Okay. Stay with me.”
Fourteen was covered in blood, Ten realized dimly. His own? Not likely. Then…
Ten managed to look at his arms. He almost immediately passed out. He couldn’t see any hint of his own orange color- just red.
“Stay with me,” Fourteen said again.
Ten was tired. Really tired.
What was going on?
“Fourteen..?” Ten choked out.
“I’m here. Hold on- where are the bandages?”
Fourteen darted out of Ten’s frame of vision. Ten shut his eyes. Tired.
“Ten!” Fourteen said again. Ten’s eyes fluttered open. “Please stay awake.”
Was Fourteen crying? No, that didn’t make any sense. Ten was tired.
He shut his eyes again.
…
I am the willing victim of a cannibal
She rips out my bones just like I'm an animal
And right when I′m feeling like my blood is drained
She calls it a game
But the wound that she leaves is unmistakable
…
Ten opened his eyes. He was staring at a rough wooden ceiling. He took in sensations one by one. Something soft under him. Bandages on his arms. Blanket on top of him. He tried to sit up.
Mistake. His vision went dark, and he had to lay back down. His head pounded.
He could hear talking.
“Fourteen?” He called as loudly as he could manage.
“Ten?! Oh my gosh, Ten!” Fourteen leaned over him. “You’re okay! Oh my gosh, you’re okay!”
“What’s going on?”
“What’s going on?!” Fourteen yelled. He sounded hysterical. “You passed out, Ten! I thought you were-” He broke off. “I was worried. You lost a lot of blood. Why didn’t you tell me to stop?!”
Ten shrugged. “I don’t know. Guess I just…didn’t think of it. Where are we?”
Fourteen pressed a hand to his forehead. “Right,” he said, a hysterical laugh bubbling underneath the word, “you didn’t think of it. We’re in Fifteen’s cabin. I’m a cannibal, Ten, I couldn’t exactly take you to a hospital! You’re lucky Fifteen knows so much about medicine!”
“Hey.” Ten reached out and laced his fingers in Fourteen’s. “I’m okay now.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you could have died, Ten! Then where would I be?!”
“Whoa, calm down. It’s okay.” He squeezed Fourteen’s hand. Fourteen squeezed back.
“I just- I need you, okay? You mean a lot to me.”
“Okay,” Ten said. “...you mean a lot to me, too.”