Chapter 5: Curse or blessing?
Adrian dropped to his knees in the snow, his hands already working. He took the fresh ingredients and quickly ground the herb material between his palms, the moisture mixing with his own blood and the snow.
The poultice was crude, but the herbs were right. He began to apply the icy, stinging paste directly into the deep, blackening wound.
He couldn't stop the visible shivers that wracked his body, not from the cold, but from the terrifying proximity.
His forehead was slick with sweat as he worked, especially each time the Gorgon snarled in pain.
Every time, he felt as if he might lose his life the next second.
When the wound was packed, he reached into his fur coat and pulled out a long, narrow strip of inner bark he had kept for cordage. He used it to tie a quick, firm bandage around her waist, holding the life-saving herbs securely in place.
' That should just about do it. Now all thats left is to let her body's immune systems kick in and heal the wound.'
He finally leaned back, utterly exhausted, managing a weak, relieved smile. The Gorgon was standing perfectly still, staring at him.
She had been staring at him in silence throughout the entire process, her expression unreadable now that the pain had been eased.
' Is she trying to thank me?'
He looked back at her, feeling a flicker of pride and connection, when she moved. It wasn't the tail this time. It was a swift, silent motion of her upper body.
Before Adrian could even gasp, a lightning-fast, excruciating searing pain erupted in his throat.
Her hand was pressed against his neck, her claws extended, sinking in deep.
" W-What are you?!"
His hands flew up, but it was too late. He felt the warm, metallic rush of his blood pouring out, soaking his coat collar.
" Cough..Cough.."
He stumbled onto his back, clutching his neck, his vision blurring and fading to grey. As his consciousness began to ebb away, he gazed up at her, the last image in his second life being that terrifyingly beautiful face of hers.
Her serpentine eyes were on him, and in that final, dying moment, he realized her expression looked oddly apologetic.
" Cough.. Cough.. well this seems oddly familiar...."
" B-But wait... If I die here... Who's going to take care of....."
Adrian's words faded when body went completely still in the snow, his life having been given and then taken in the span of less than 24hrs.
The Gorgon leaned over his corpse, her mouth opening wider than any human jaw could, revealing a frightening array of sharp, serrated fang-filled teeth.
She paused for a moment, then began to feast on his corpse, the spine chilling sound of tearing flesh was suddenly the only noise in the quiet forest.
After she had devoured him entirely, she looked down at the only remaining piece, his head, resting awkwardly on the snow.
She stared at it for a long while, a strange, profound emotion moving in the depths of her icy blue eyes, something similar to regret, or perhaps confusion, before she gathered her scaled body and slithered away, into the silent, white wilderness.
For awhile after she vanished, now long gone, the only sounds one could hear, where the wind whipping through the trees and, the creaking sounds of tree branches swaying in the wind.
Then, all of a sudden, without any warning, popped back into existence. Steam began to emerge above the snow, melting it away.
One moment there was nothing but cold air, the next, Adrian's body was rapidly reformed by the steam, from cells, to tissues, to muscles, skin, organs and all.
Unlike what one would expect, he was leaning hard against the rough bark of a pine tree from a safe distance away from where the gruesome scene had taken place, his body solid and whole again.
It was the weirdest, most terrifying feeling, like his soul was without a shell then flesh quickly surrounded it in the blink of an eye.
He stayed frozen there, pressed against the tree, trying to be as quiet as humanly possible. His ears were straining so hard he thought they might start bleeding.
'Is she finally gone?' he thought to himself, his heartbeat thumping higher than usual.
His brain kept replaying the gross, horrible scene of what just happened. he nauseating sounds of his flesh being torn, bones grinded between fangs, and the certain feeling of being dead.
He squeezed his eyes shut, but that just made the images sharper, in the end, he clenched his trembling fists to stop himself from succumbing to his fears. Eventually he did and the woods felt empty again. Not safe, but at least the Gorgon woman was no longer around.
" I'm finally safe." Adrian breathed a sigh of relief.
His legs felt like complete jelly as he forced himself to move. And then he saw it. Or, more accurately, he saw himself. His old body was just a messed-up pile of bloodied clothes in the trampled snow. His head was the only thing she left behind, the darn thing was sitting a few feet away, staring right at the spot where he now stood with his own dead, empty eyes as if foretold.
A strangled, gross sound got stuck in his throat, similar to a gag reflex.
" How is this even possible..." he whispered, his breath visible in the freezing air.
" This is the most strangest thing I've ever scene.... Who knew one day I'd get the chance to see myself die without actually dying." It made zero sense. Absolute zero. He had died. He had felt and watched it happen. And yet, here he was.
It took him some time to come to terms with this. Eventually, He realised he couldn't just leave it there, who knows what sort of trouble he'd get into if someone who knew him, accidentally stumbled upon it. The sight of his own head, just staring at nothing, was the most messed-up thing he had ever witnessed, and he had to make it disappear.