HEARING DAMAGE
TEEN NOLA - CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE !

IT WAS TO PRESERVE her memory, Stevie told herself, convinced herself. Something to remember her by. That was the excuse the young McClane girl had given herself when she stepped out into the freezing cold the morning after their insatiable feast of the flesh. The snow had crunched obnoxiously loud beneath her feet as she trudged toward the picked clean body of Jackie Taylor.

Not a single speck of meat was attacked to her bones. She looked as though she had been feasted upon by a pack of wild animals and in some ways, she had been. The stomach gnawing starvation they had all been dealing with had finally gotten the best of them, had taken over their rational thinking and tapped into their primal instincts.

It had occurred to Stevie later on that night, after they had all retreated back into the cabin, that they would most likely get rid of Jackie's body. She wasn't sure how yet but she wanted something, a little reminder of the girl and the sacrifice she had made for them all. Her mind then drifted back to the set of canine teeth she had ripped from the gums of the dead wolf that had attacked and nearly killed Van. She'd taken those as a keepsake, something to remind herself of what they had survived.

Her pale white fingertips, that were on the verge of losing all feeling due to the biting cold that was the harsh weather they now endured, reached forward and peeled open the already slacked jaw of the Taylor girl. With her skin and flesh completely removed, Jackie was completely unrecognisable. She was just a bloodied up husk, void of anything that resembled who she was before.

With little hesitation, Stevie quickly gripped onto one of the teeth that sat at the back of Jackie's mouth. Due to the fact that her body had been cooked, the muscle that ran through her mouth had loosened considerably allowing Stevie to rip the tooth from the root with only minimal effort. She did this a couple more times, always taking from the back of the mouth to avoid the missing teeth being noticed.

She had just barely finished obtaining the fourth and last tooth when the cabin door creaked open and out walked a disturbed and jittery looking Natalie. Fearing she was about to be caught red handed, Stevie quickly shoved the small collection deep into the fur lined pocket of her padded jacket as she shuffled away from Jackie's body for the last time.

Thankfully for her, Natalie had been far too preoccupied with stumbling to the steps of the porch, her eyes widened in an almost shell shocked manner.

It wasn't long until another girl exited the cabin. A tired looking Taissa made her way out, seeming relatively calm despite the gnarly events of the night prior. Her feet came to a sudden and loud stop once her eyes landed upon the picked apart bones only feet away.

"What the fuck?" She cried out, her voice cracking. Her gaze bounced wickedly fast between the two girls, both of whom stared at her in confusion. "Guys, what the fuck is that?"

            "What the fuck? What happened to Jackie?" Her breathing came out in rapid, fast paced pants. Both Natalie and Stevie were in front of the panicked Turner girl in under a second, stopping her in place and refusing to let her get near Jackie's body.

            She felt the weight of hands upon her, grounding her from heading into a full blown out panic attack. Natalie kept her voice soothing despite herself. "Tai. Tai, it's okay, it's okay."

          Van appeared at the cabin's now open door. She'd been on her feet the very second the terrified sound of her girlfriend reached her ears. She was by the Turner girl's side right away, pulling her away from Natalie and Stevie before gripping onto her shoulders tightly.

           "Something, s-something ate her. How ca—"

            "Taissa!" The redheaded girl suddenly yelled out, the sheet volume of her voice bringing Taissa's frantic rant to a standstill. Van's eyes were filled with confusion. "We ate her."

Taissa shook her head. Her bottom lip wobbled as she stuttered out her words. "No, I...I didn't, I wouldn't."

Genuine confusion fought its way upon Van's face. She didn't understand why Taissa was suddenly acting surprised about what they had done. "What are you talking about? You were sitting right next to me."

An intense churning of the stomach washed over Taissa who broke free of Van's hold, ran off to the side and gagged so harshly that her chest ached her throat burned. Van moved to sit by her as she gasped for air while lifting her head up from the ground. "I must have—I must have been sleepwalking. Was I asleep?"

            "But you talked to me. You were looking right at me." As Van spoke, her brows furrowed more than before. The scar that traveled all the way down the left side of her face grew taut with the tightening of each facial muscle.

            "No."

            "You really don't remember?"

            Natalie and Stevie shared looks of sympathy for the Turner girl who was very clearly guilt ridden. They listened as she brokenly mumbled out her words. "Um—no."

          The desire to lay it out all for her girlfriend caused Van to morbidly confess to Taissa's actions of the previous night. "Tai, you ate her face."

           Flashes of her teeth sinking into and gnawing at the cooked flesh of her dead friend's face assaulted Taissa's mind and suddenly she wasn't just gagging anymore but instead vomiting. Her mind couldn't handle what she had done nor could her stomach. She needed to expel the entire contents regardless of the sharp burn that attacked her throat.

           Through choked tears, Taissa desperately cried out. "No!"

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TENSION WAS THICK IN the air. It was suffocatingly thick, heavy as it settled upon the group of previously ravenous teenagers. Not a single person could look the other in the eye, no one was able to bite the bullet and bring up their late night snacking of human flesh.

No one except Mari, that is. "I guess...no one wants breakfast." As the young girl spoke, she glanced around the room at the faces of her friends. She almost sounded somewhat amused by the situation, though her face portrayed barely any emotion whatsoever.

With a half folded blanket in her hands, Lottie sighed. "I don't think anyone's hungry."

"We should move her." Natalie quite suddenly suggested to the group as she paced the room. Any longer and she would wear a hole in the floor.

"Where?" Travis asked as he rose from where he sat at the table next to Nola. With his hands buried deep in his pockets, he gestured them around through the fabric. "We still can't bury her."

Natalie thickly swallowed to sooth her continuously sore throat. Her voice was low as she tried to suggest their best course of action. "I'll take her body, or her remains, or whatever to the plane and... she can bury buried with the others when the ground thaws."

Her eyes darted over to the far corner of the room to the hunched over figure over Shauna Shipman, who had become incredibly still the last few hours, allowing grief to envelope her. "Shauna?" Natalie muttered. She felt the need to get Shauna's input on the situation.

The Shipman girl tore her eyes away from the random spot on the floor she had been staring at to glance up briefly at the blonde. Her voice was feeble as she spoke. "Whatever you think."

Coach Scott let out a heavy sigh that visibly shook his shoulders. "Well, at least if you bury her out there, it'll look like she died with the rest of them."

His implication was clear as day. They all knew what he thought regardless if he never said it. He hadn't taken part in the feasting like animals of the barbecued corpse. No, he'd retreated back inside despite his hunger and now his words were laced with disdain, disgust. Wasn't as if they could blame him, they all were thinking it.

            The desire to comfort the girl she loved in this horrid moment, Nola slowly raised from the table herself, sidestepping past her friends until she stood next to Shauna. "You okay?" She quietly asked as she lowered herself until she sat next to the brunette. When Shauna didn't reply, she spoke again. "Shauna?"

            Shauna's head shook as a frown sat upon her cracked lips. Her eyes lifted up from the ground once again, this time remaining up as she drank in the sight of Nola next to her. "I'm not. I'm really not."

            An awkward, short burst of laughter left Nola's lips though it quickly died off. She didn't really know what to say. What was there to say? "Yeah, it was a bit of a stupid question, now that I think about it." Her voice faded with each word.

            Shauna sniffed back her emotions as she glanced over at the girl beside her. She suddenly realised that she hadn't asked her how she felt about it all. "Are you?" She quietly questioned.

            Nola began to pick at the skin that sat around her fingernails at the question. "It all just seems so surreal. Like it didn't really happen but it did. Losing her was one thing, eating her...whole other thing. It's hard to wrap my head around it, to be honest." Her entire body shook as she let out the deepest sigh. "At least, she'll always be with us now."

            It was sick. Nola knew it. It was sick that she felt this way. Ever since she had taken that first bite, she could feel the sickness that had ailed her for nearly two whole months wash away. It slithered from her body like a snake, dripped from her like the condensation on a cold glass on a hot day.

            The two girls sat motionless for longer than either cared to admit. They both just felt so numb. After a moment, Nola decided that she needed to keep busy. She moved to her feet with a puff before leaning down and placing her cracked lips upon the crease that burdened Shauna's forehead. Shauna's eyes fell closed at the action, the girl relishing in the affection. As Nola pulled away, she sent a small smile Shauna's way before walking off and looking for something to do.

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            TRAVIS SLOWLY MADE HIS way over to the hunched over brunette that sat huddled by the fire. As he moved closer, he noticed a slight shiver that riddled her body regardless of the heat that enveloped her, courtesy of the burning embers that swirled in the air. He knew what she was feeling, all too well. He had lost Javi and she'd lost her best friend. Both of them had parted ways with their departed loved ones on the worst of circumstances.

            He stepped up next to her then moved into a crouch with a heavy sigh. He held his hands out close to the fire, mirroring the Rilke girl as he tiredly breathed out, "That was quite the night, huh?"

            A dry smile formed upon Nola's lips. "Tell me about it." She muttered lowly, glancing briefly over at the boy before turning her back to the glow of orange flames. Just then a slight rumble formed in her belly causing the girl to humourlessly chuckle. "Is it bad that I still feel hungry?"

            "Makes sense, I guess. We've all been starving for literally months now, it makes sense that our bodies are digesting it faster than normal." As he spoke, Travis continued to heat up his hands, occasionally flipping them around to warm up the backs before flipping them back once his knuckles began to burn slightly.

            A small smile of appreciation formed as the brunette stared at the boy next to her. She couldn't help but laugh. She leaned her body over just enough until their shoulders tapped while voicing her amusement. "Look at you getting all sciency to make me feel better."

            "Fuck off." Warmth began to swarm the Martinez boy's neck at the comment his friend made though he played it off by laughing along with her. He oddly felt glad that she was taking the piss out of the situation, out of him. She just seemed so much more like her old self when she did.

            Their laughter soon died off and the two fell silent. The sounds of the fire crackling and the muffled chatter from the rest of the cabin's inhabitants filled the silence between the two, allowing them both to just sit in front of the fireplace in comfort.

            After a few minutes, Nola decided to break the quiet. "I'm sorry about Javi." She murmured. A feeling of sadness washed over the pair at the thought of the young boy. "For what it's worth, we all loved him alot. He won't be forgotten, not by us."

"I'm sorry about Jackie." Travis quickly responded. It became apparent to him that while everyone had been walking on eggshells around Shauna over Jackie's death, no one seemed to remember that Nola had lost her best friend too.

            Tears welled up in her eyes before she could stop them. Her face grew hot, her throat choked up as the drops cascaded like a waterfall down her cheeks. They touched her cracked lips, seeped in and assaulted her tongue with the sharp saltiness. Hearing someone acknowledge her and the loss she had also suffered caused Nola to realise that she deserved to mourn as well. She shouldn't have to push aside her emotions so as to not upset Shauna further.

            Travis's eyes widened with shock. "Are you crying?" He quietly asked of the girl as he glanced awkwardly around the room, not knowing if she wanted the others to know she was crying. With a short, nervous laugh that died before it had truly left his tongue, he decided to point out, "You always crying when we talk."

"You're just so boring, Trav. Our conversations need some entertainment." Nola drawled out as she wiped away her tears, smearing them across her skin until she could no longer feel moisture.

            A sudden bark of laughter leapt out past the boy's pale, chapped lips. He reached out a hand and gave Nola a light shove that caused her to wobble for a moment. "Fuck you. If anyone here is boring, it's you." Travis uttered, his voice dripping with amusement. For just a second he was able to forget about everything.

Nola thought for a moment. "Let's meet in the middle and say it's actually Natalie."

          Right away, Travis nodded his head with a grin. "Deal."

          From where said blonde stood by the cabin door, stuffing her body tightly into her many clothes to stave off the icy bite of the outside air, she scoffed at the pair. Her voice came out low and only slightly amused. "I heard that and fuck you both."

"Sorry, Nat." The Rilke girl called out to the blonde who just rolled her eyes. "We love you."

As his laughter began to fade, Travis cleared his throat before asking, "You still feeling sick?" Like everyone else, he too had noticed that she was moving around much easier and wasn't completely bedridden like she was only a few days ago.

With a shake of the head, Nola exhaled out heavy. "No. I've actually never felt better, health wise I mean. I still feel tired and hungry but at least it's on par with everyone else."

            Her ability to hear all the Wilderness sent her way had also strengthened considerably. In fact, she was sure that the crunch of snow that continuously rung out in her ears was Travis' very own little brother, still alive and kickin' out there. It didn't seem right to keep what she knew to herself, but when she'd briefly caught sight of the scabbed up gash that ran along the expanse of Natalie's shin plus the bloodied up piece of Javi's clothes that Natalie had 'found' screamed at the brunette that perhaps it wasn't healthy or in Travis' best interest to think Javi was still alive.

And so she chose to keep what she knew to herself.

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jamielee's thoughts.
chapter thirty-one. not proofread.
i genuinely wonder what made me decide to make stevie so odd like who collects teeth? and she's not stopping at Jackie. she's getting the teeth of all the girlies who get merked (even javi) anyway i hoped you enjoyed :)