Jim shivered as he was held tightly against Aisha’s big body. He pressed his face into her chest and held her tightly. He had been traumatized by his near digestion and needed Aisha to comfort him. All his years of trying to act like he was twice as old were ravelling away, the terror he felt inside the other Ctarl-Ctarl had scared him to the brink of madness. He hadn’t even had time to see the Ctarl-Ctarl move when she struck. One second she was standing there and the next something strong had his head in a vice. The feeling of being lifted up came next and then the sliding. He’d cried out when his thigh nicked one of the fangs leaving a diagonal cut down his leg. He was held tightly by the throat as it heaved and jostled him down in less time then it took for him to be swallowed. He knew what was coming next, but it was still a shock when the throat ended and he was dumped face first into a pool of what he thought at the time was stomach juices. When he was sitting inside that convulsing chamber of death, the first thing he though was how this wasn’t that bad. It was warm in the Ctarl-Ctarl’s belly and he felt strangely secure, like he was inside the womb instead of the stomach. The fear had only started to set in when his skin started to sting. At first it was only an inch at certain areas, but quickly the inching spread and the burning came in full swing. His screams had echoed around him and a wet gurgling sound was his response. He had squirmed and struggled as the walls tightened with every blow he gave. He could swear that when he started fighting back, the Ctarl-Ctarl had given a soft chuckle. In utter darkness and feeling his skin burning up, Jim had entered a stage of panic that he had never experienced before. Not when he was under fire, not when he had been captured, not even when someone point a gun to his temple and threatened to shoot. The fear that had done through him moments before Aisha got him out was unlike any terror he had ever experienced before. What had really traumatized Jim came after he was rescued. When Aisha ripped open the Ctarl-Ctarl’s insides, light had come streaming in. At that moment, the whole inner recesses were displayed for Jim to see and what he had been swimming in became clear for him to see. What he had thought had been stomach juices was actually the mashed up remains of some kid. Softened bones, liquated muscles, burnt hair and flesh, was what made up the inside of the stomach. If Jim hadn’t been so frightened, he would have certainly thrown up. The bitter taste of the poor soul that had been in the stomach before him was still in his mouth and he thought insanely if this is what Aisha tastes when she eats someone. He indignantly gave a mixed laugh/cry at the disturbing thought.
“Shhhhh, it’s okay. She’s gone, I killed her good,” Aisha cooed into Jim’s ear hoping to return him from his heartbreaking state. Seeing her long time friend so broken up distressed Aisha to a great extent. Where was here happy friend? Where was the boy she taunted for being so young, yet at time she wondered how he could act so adult? This wasn’t the Jimmy she’s been messing around with less then an hour ago. Aisha cast a hateful glance to the cooling corpse of her fellow Ctarl-Ctarl. She wanted desperately for her to still be alive, so Aisha could kill her more slowly then she had previously.
“Jim, please stop crying? We have top get out of here before someone comes.” After the fight she’d just had, Aisha had little energy left and could probably only take on a few more humans before succumbing to exhaustion. If another Ctarl-Ctarl wanted to fight, then Aisha was really sunk. She knew the odds of the slave traders having another Ctarl-Ctarl were slim, but she had been caught off guard by this one and wouldn’t underestimate this scum again. She gently tried to push Jim off her, but he only tightened his grip and refused to budge. Aisha sighed in resignation, Jim was not going to be moving on his own and needed her to hold him if he was going anywhere. Aisha mentally cursed herself for letting Jim out of her sight in the first place. How could she have been so irresponsible to let her little friend go wandering around on his own? She hadn’t been a good friend and Jim was paying for it.
“Jim, I’m going to be cradling your body against mine. We’ve got to get out of here before someone shows up. Do you understand?” Jim remained unresponsive for another minute, then he lifted his head up and looked at Aisha with his big tear stained eyes. Aisha’s heartbroken as she saw those tears, any regrets she might have had from murdering her own went away, the bitch deserved worse.
“Okay,” Jim uttered softly. His voice sounded even more crackled then Aisha and he seemed so tired that Aisha feared he would fall asleep in her arms. Nodding soberly, Aisha held tightly to Jim as she got to one knee and returned to her feet. Jim had to get his burns looked at and that was all that mattered to Aisha. She planned to open the door and run as fast as her legs could to the nearest doctor and get Jim checked out. Her hand went for the handle, when the door creaked open.