and the sky turned red. \\ o, joining?

[❝ TAPEWORM.]

✦ tapeworm; tags; location: mountains, 10 miles from lodge; tagged: nobody

tw + note: violent thoughts, semi-graphic descriptions; ic opinions! apologies in advance for how awful he is

xThe cold was unbearable.

xSalem cursed his own name as he struggled through the snow; his weakened voice strained as he screamed slanders every time his leg gave or he lost his footing in the loose snow. He'd been an idiot for leaving that small encampment at the base of the mountain; he'd been a fool for going upwards instead of downwards. Well, correction: he'd been forced out of that camp and he'd been chased up the mountain. He hadn't exactly the choice of going downwards; those men wanted him to head up here and freeze and be devoured upon by animals. Salem blamed the men for the choices they'd made; he'd blame them for decisions he coerced them to make, and he'd blame himself for acting too soon.

x"Bastards were keeping too much food to their damn selves," he thought, hissing another forbidden word under his raspy breath as he struggled to his feet for what must be the hundredth time. His twisted leg kept twitching from pain; his body needed a rest. However, Salem's own stubbornness refused to give in to his own pain, "I'm not getting eaten by animals today. Not my time yet, Satan," he said to himself, voice sounding as if it were grinding against itself shortly before he coughed from the effort of speaking after having yelled slanders for hours. Shortly after he spoke, he spat on the ground with such force it was as if he saw the face of Satan himself sunken partway through the dirt like a rotten apple, as if he could see in the first place.

xAs Salem continued to hobble forward, no idea what direction he was going, his mind racked itself for what could've been. If those men hadn't been patrolling so early in the morning. If those dogs hadn't seen him. If he hadn't distracted himself from the food by a young man who had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. That kid probably would've let him have the slip if he hadn't been so tempted to choke him to death.

x"It just seemed like the perfect time to. . ."

xHe dismissed the thought. It'd been forever since he'd killed someone, and it almost made him feel like he was becoming a better person. . . almost.

xAn unpleasant stinging overcame Salem's throat from the amount of freezing air he'd been breathing heavily for hours. Personally, he felt like he was strangling himself with it considering how harshly it filled his lungs and ripped its way out of his esophagus. He swallowed hard with what little of his spit hadn't been dried up, a vain attempt at alleviating the pain. He had no real hope of finding shelter out here; excellent echo-location skills weren't going to do him much good when all he was surrounded by were trees, and the cold, dead ground beneath his feet.