"Jacob. Jacob. Jacob!"

Jacob’s eyes slowly opened to the bright light of the day. He was sat up against the trunk of a tree, wrapped in fresh cloth. Maria was crouching down in front of him studying his face carefully. There was a rag sitting on his forehead that she took off and dumped in more water before laying it back in place. Jacob studied Maria’s graceful figure carefully before coming back to his senses.

"...Maria? Where am I?"

She held his face with her hand and looked into his eyes.

"Jacob? Is it really you?"

"I hope so. Is everyone okay? I hardly remember how I got here."

"I think you should stay still. Your body is still trying to recover."

Jacob tried lifting his head slightly and looking around at everyone around him. Sitting next to him was Slimo. He was extremely injured and seemed to be in a similar state to himself, still unconscious. Lidia was also laying down on the other side of Jacob, shivering under some makeshift blankets.

"Where’s Doc? Is he okay?"

Maria refused to meet his gaze for a few moments.

"He’s going to get some more water."

She walked over to a small fire that was roasting in front of them and grabbed a large piece of meat that was resting above it before bringing it over to him. She shoved it into his face with a stern expression.

"Eat."

Jacob hesitantly grabbed the meat and bit into it. It tasted delicious. In mere seconds, the meat was completely devoured. After finishing his small meal, he looked over at Maria.

"Is something wrong? It feels like you’re acting different."

Maria kept looking into the fire, her eyes cold.

"Do you really not remember anything?"

A small fear grasped Jacob’s heart.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about. The last thing I remember was carrying you all through a desert. You were all unconscious and I was getting really worried. It all gets foggy after that."

Maria walked over to him again and pointed at Lidia.

"So, you don’t remember attacking all of us? Nearly killing my mom and Slimo?"

Jacob felt like vomiting the meat back up.

"What? What are you talking about?"

Slimo started coughing and woke up from his sleep. He looked over at Jacob with fear in his eyes. Before Jacob could say anything, Slimo rolled away from him and took a fighting stance, heavily panting. Maria jumped in between them.

"Stop it Slimo! He’s back to normal! Everything is okay!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

Slimo kept staring at Jacob like a wild beast.

"You’re a monster. What the hell have you been hiding from all of us? When were you going to tell us?"

Jacob stared at Slimo in disbelief.

"I’m lost. I don’t know what you’re talking about! I promise!"

"It’s okay Slimo! Look at his eyes!"

Slimo studied Jacob’s eyes carefully before falling to one knee, continuing to breathe heavily.

"Sorry. This poison has been a pain in the ass to fight. I’m not in the right headspace."

’Poison?’

Maria looked back at Jacob sorrowfully.

"I’ll explain it to you. Just please, don’t be mad at yourself. I don’t think you were under control of your own body."

Jacob stared at his hands, shaking slightly.

"Please, just promise me that Doc is okay. He’s the only family I have left."

Maria walked over and wrapped her arms around him.

"He’s okay. He’ll be back soon, so you can see him."

Jacob hugged her back lightly before leaning against a tree while sitting upward.

"We all woke up in this dark forest. None of us remember you carrying us here, but it seems like you tied us all up to make your trip easier. We saw you laying on the ground unconscious in front of us, extremely battered and damaged. Doc and Lidia were the first ones to wake up. Thankfully, Doc was able to heal everyone back to a relatively stable state."

Maria looked over at Lidia for a few moments, studying her condition.

"We created a small camp here. We nursed everyone, including yourself, back to full health in the matter of a day. A few days ago, we finally saw you move for the first time. However, when you woke up, there was something terribly wrong with you."

Jacob leaned in.

"What was it?"

"Your eyes glowed with a strange sense of hunger. I was the first to greet you, but when I said your name, you refused to give me any attention. It was as if you didn’t recognize what I was calling you by. Slimo was the first to investigate. He walked over to you and started patting your back while thanking you for helping everyone escape the desert. However, when he started patting your back, you seemed to snap and lunged at him. Not only that, but your strength was also like nothing we had ever seen. You were keeping up with Slimo almost perfectly."

Jacob’s heart saddened more hearing the story.

"Eventually, you managed to bite directly into Slimo’s shoulder and consumed a piece of his flesh. When you did that, everyone started jumping at you to get you to stop. Doc broke all your limbs, but they miraculously healed themselves almost instantly. You managed to bite through about ten pieces of Slimo and three pieces of my mom before we finally stopped you. It didn’t even feel like we were fighting you, it felt like we were fighting an elder beast."

Jacob’s stomach couldn’t take the story anymore and he ran behind a tree before puking his guts out.

’I ate human flesh?! Not just any flesh, but the flesh of my own friends?! What the hell is wrong with me?! What kind of monster am I?!’

Maria walked over to pat his back while he got sick.

Jacob looked back over at her with fear in his eyes.

"What happened next? Why is everyone sick?"

"Well, it looks like your teeth were somehow able to poison them. We still have no idea how that’s possible. Doc tried studying your teeth when you were passed out, but they looked completely normal to him."

"Is there a cure? Are they going to be okay?"

Maria looked away slightly.

"That’s what we’ve been trying to find. Doc is going to look for more herbs when he brings the water back."

Jacob felt like the biggest failure in the world. Even though he somehow managed to bring all his friends to safety, he attacked them as soon as they were healthy. Not only that, but he poisoned two of them and can’t remember doing any of it. Just as he was finished running through his head, he saw Doc approaching with two large wooden buckets of water.

"How did we get those buckets?"

"Slimo made them. He seems to be very useful when it comes to crafting things from nothing. I guess that’s expected from someone who has lived alone for so long."

"I see."

Doc walked over to Jacob and studied his eyes carefully.

"Well, you certainly look different compared to when you attacked us. What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I’m sorry. I don’t remember any of it happening. I promise I’ll do anything I can to make up for it."

Doc sighed heavily and walked over to Lidia. Lidia was awake, but she seemed to be struggling severely with the poison in her system. Doc changed her cloth that laid on her forehead and poured a small bit of water on her face before holding the back of his hand to her forehead.

"She’s burning up even more. She doesn’t have much time left. We need to find a remedy for this and fast. Jacob, please come with me and help me look for more herbs."

"Yes, sir."

"I’ll come too."

Doc looked at Maria.

"What if a beast attacks them while we’re gone?"

"We have to risk it. My mom doesn’t have much time and there’s no way I’m letting her die on me. Please let me go with you all."

After a bit of hesitation, Doc finally agreed.

"Fine. But we have to be quick."

The three of them ran back into the forest, leaving Lidia and Slimo to themselves.

Slimo limped over next to Lidia and laid down next to her.

"Some situation we found ourselves in, right?"

Lidia took a few breaths before responding.

"You can say that again. When did that little shit get so strong?! He better not lay a hand on my daughter. I’ll kill him!"

She started coughing when she finished her sentence. Slimo chuckled lightly hearing her say this.

"For being in such a bad condition, you sure know how to keep your spirits up."

Lidia smiled.

"It’s because I know I’m going to be okay. There’s still much more I need to do before I’m gone. There’s no way I’m dying before I let it happen."

Slimo couldn’t help but notice Lidia was shaking slightly. She was afraid even if she never admitted anything. He slowly reached under her blankets and held her hand. Lidia jumped, a bit startled by the gesture.

"What are you doing?"

"You’re probably the strongest woman I’ve ever met. You carry all this weight on your shoulders, this pressure to protect your family, to help your friends and those you care about. However, I know how scary it can be deep down. Fear of failure is only natural. I’m sure Jacob knows more than anyone else what it’s like to fail. I don’t want to fail you all too. I finally found people who I can say are my friends and I would do anything to keep them safe. No one has to go through this fear alone. Please, allow me to share this burden with you."

Lidia stared into Slimo’s deep blue eyes, slightly blushing. She smiled brightly before looking back up into the sky.

"Thank you."

Slimo watched the clouds drift by as he firmly held Lidia’s hand.

’I wonder, is this how a father feels when he wants to protect his family?’