Bodied

Karl doesn’t reply, and the look in his dry, deep, bagged eyes doesn’t reveal much either…

“Didn’t mean to disturb you, Karl… I’m sorry… I’ll…” Londt turned to leave, visibly troubled. Karl snaps, grabbing the young mans arm, holding him there. “Y-y-yes…?” Londt grumbles anxiously.

“Sit-“ Karls deep voice croaks, muddied by bile and curdled saliva unrattled in days.

Londt closes his eyes briefly and stiffles a gulp, sitting on the tousled bed next to Karl’s desk. Karl doesn’t move, and his grip doesnt falter. “I need your help, would you be a good boy and do something for me?”

Londt’s peripherals flicker to movement on the other side of Karl, something was amis from the desk. He knew Karl knew he knew as he felt every swell of Karl’s pulse beat faster, harder through the hand around his wrist. Londt nods gently, not knowing what fate would befall unto him if he rejected the man who seemed… so unlike himself, almost- disturbed.

Karl’s eyes finally fluttered from Londts, a curl tugs at his unshaven lip, his other hand draws up from beside the desk to reveal an awkward, pointy, thin tube of metal with a small flask and bladder affixed at the end.

—

“Wake up, boy.” The sun hadn’t broken the sky yet, but one could make out the mountain line through a hazy, tired, city, the white cold winter wind bellowed through the room from the still-open shudders, Karl hovers sternly over the unmoving young man- waiting. Growing ever more impatient to see if it had worked.

Suddenly, footsteps, knuckles crack against his bedroom door, voices outside it call to Karl asking if he had seen Londt.

When Karl didn’t answer, the number of voices grew and began mumbling against each other, concerned fists begin to pound, rattling the only way in or out. Karl knew he had to move though his eyes didn’t want to, the moment he’d been anticipating dissipates fast as he realizes that the parts he didn’t plan for were coming for his head once they had seen what he had done… he attempts to lift Londt to pull at the bed sheets from beneath the limp body, once free he begins to anxiously tie the ends together, desperately looking to the stuffs that littered his desk, and then down out the window. Would he even make it?

“Karl… help m…” Londt’s voice whispered weakly, Karl turns, eye to eye with the young man, the knotted, sweat stained sheets hit the floor. All at once, foam dribbled from Londt’s mouth as he began to cough, his purple stained eyes spiral sickly in every direction, parts of him convulse as others shrivel and snap, he begins to wretch against his own screams, screaches, Karl covers his ears a moment as he seems to snap into wide eyed fear, the pounding and yelling at the door only got louder… He steadies himself, scoops up the sheets from the floor and flings them out the window, he grabs his bag and stuffs it with his belongings, and starts scaling the monastery.

Once down and cleared to the tree line, Karl looks back to his window, heart beating in his throat. “What have I done…” he stammered, his hands shaking as he reached for and ripped off the cross around his neck- emaciated fingers quivering in pain, tips burnt purple.

“Is this what you wanted of me…?” He stands there a moment, knowing he can never go back, then throws his cross into the snow as he begins a journey that is unsure there is an end to.

The other monks finally burst it into Karl’s room where the young man lay shrieking and writhing in pain, insides becoming outsides, outsides becoming insides as flesh rips into itself, resembling a hoard of maggots, some reach out to try to help Londt- only to find themselves wrestling with burning hot dissolving mush “What on God’s earth is…” The screaming tops out at a ear piercing pitch before it suddenly stops with a pop, what’s left of the body sizzles, cooking itself before crystallizing and crumbling into black dust... Some of the monks fall to there knees, dazed, speechless, the oldest of the monks had finally made his way to the room, but stops at what he felt brush past him, to spooked to cross the doorframe.

Karl wanders far and wide for a long, long time, bag always in tow across ocean, over farmland, old and fresh battlefields, through swamps and past towns, the days always seeming to draw him north. Always somehow finding what he needed when he needed it, things always wanting him when he was wanting them, yet, only one thing was ever on his mind was “… the ratios, the quality, the notes, the boy… what was it… why did it fail… why did I fail… I failed you… I fear that I will die before I bring you back to life… the quests, the time, the water, my blood… what am I missing…”

Eventually Karl made it as far north as man could survive, hunkered into an abandoned home on the edge of a tall wood. Only enough of his precious friends to grant him one more chance. “4 years, lord, since I last tried to resurrect you, since I tried to give you a body. You saved me, gave me a sign, you laid a path to me, you gave me everything… anything that would stop anyone else didn’t stop me- because of you, you want me to find you, you want me to bring you back so…”

A knock. Karl stands, dusts his knees off, and makes his way to the front door, locking his room behind him. “Yes?”

Weak chittering teeth, a voice from the dark cold, ice laced eyes glitter past him to the inside of his warm little house. “Sir, may I borrow a meal from you tonight? Maybe a corner to sleep in?”