Nox

Safe? Safe? Yes, it seems so. He isn't attacked often, but they did something? What did they do? “Atlas-” he starts to ask, and “I don't know.”, he answers back. They move their heads back and forth, trying to clear it. Something is wrong. What is?

“Atlas-” He starts to ask, and “I don't know.”, he answers back. Nothing. Nothing is wrong. Blood? Why is there blood? Blood on their chest, bones on his chest. Only bones. Bones and dead flesh and blood. Why?

“I guess we-” They start to say, but the joke is lost. “I guess we- I guess, we- I guess we-” The joke. What joke did he want to make? “You are- haha, you are- you are-” Who is? Atlas, that was it. Atlas is beautiful. Is that what they meant to say? But the thought never comes out. Instead, they can only repeat the half formed phrase over and over.

“Stop that.” He snaps. Who snaps? Nox? No, no, no. Atlas? Where is Atlas? What happened? Why is there blood? Atlas? Atlas? Atlas?

Their heads snap back and forth, as if roughly being pulled by strings. He has to be forceful, or else long dead muscles refuse to move. Atlas? Nox? Atlas? Nox? Where are you?

“Jeez, you scared me!” “There you are.” Both heads say in unison. There you are. There you are. There you are.

Where did Nox- Atlas- Where did he come from? Something is not right. Their chest feels empty. Something is missing. Where are you? Where did you go?

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry.” The heads mutter. “I had to. I had to. I had to. I had to. I had to.” Again, they loop. What did they have to do? Why does it bring such sorrow and panic?

“Haha, I guess we, you blew me away.” A head says, but, no. That is wrong. Who said that? You're not the one supposed to say that. Something is wrong. What is? There is only bones. Bones and blood and dead flesh.

Why does it hurt? “Hunger.” A head says. Oh, that must be it. They're hungry. How can they eat when they're dead? It's wrong, all wrong.

They're not dead. They're alive. What else could they be? There's something on their mouth. What is it? “Food.” The other mouth answers. When did they leave? When did they hunt?

It hurts. They're scared.

“Atlas-” “I know.”