The panic, it consumed him, but there was little that he could do. His limbs were too weak to move, let alone fight, and his voice was gone. His chest heaved up and down, sweat dampened his hair, and he was certain that he was going to die. Her first tooth pierced his flesh. That's it. That's all it takes. He was already done for. He could feel the infection seep into his skin before her next tooth cut in.
A rock the size of a fist roared through the air like a missile and whacked her right in the temple. The force whipped her off of him. Baine, a frightful tank with red raging eyes, stormed into the garden. He leapt over Iggy and grabbed the woman by her snarled dark hair. He took the same rock that he'd thrown from the ground and slammed it against her face again and again until it crumbled in his palm.
After him, Nansen flew through the side door, clenching a near empty can of aerosol antibiotic in his hand. He slid down to Iggy's side, shredding the knees of his pants without care, and hovered over him. Nansen's golden eyes shimmered with warmth even though he trembled in crisis.
The pin needle holes in Iggy's face already started to swell. His shaking fingers reached out for Nansen's hand holding the medicine. "He… Help…!" he gasped.
Nansen's hand met Iggy's wet cheek and framed the bite between his index finger and thumb. "This will stop the infection… I'm going to try to block your eye. I'm going to try to save it." He rolled Iggy's face toward the sky and a blast of white powder sprayed directly into the swelling bite. It was uncontainable and fell into the crease between Iggy's eyelid, seeping into the eye socket. When the white cloud dissipated, all Iggy could see was the blurry darkness of the night sky. There were no more stars and the moon looked like a smudge of white paint. His vision was instantly a hundred times worse.
Baine thrashed that woman to and fro, then slammed her so hard against the ground that her body created an indent in the earth. He balled up her hair in a fist and dangled her like a bag by the straps. "Who are you,'' he roared in madness, "and why are you here?!"
She was bruised and bleeding everywhere. Her face was unrecognizable. Through her broken jaw, her words were barely audible. "Silgria... the Silgria house sent me! Help!"
Baine's leg pulled back and swung into her, cracking her spine. He bent forward to speak directly into her ear. "The Silgrias, you say?"
"Yes! They are in great danger!"
Nansen wrapped his arms around Iggy's neck and knees, then lifted him to his chest. The back of Iggy's head felt wet. His eye burned hot and tears were pouring out of the corner. The rest of him, numb.
Baine's hand closed around a larger mass of her hair, and he pulled her across the ground after himself. He halted at Nansen's side and spread his fingers through Iggy's knotted black hair, right where it had felt wet. The motion was gentle, like supporting the back of an infant's head, until his fingers felt the fluid and curled in on themselves. Iggy's hair pulled tight within his grasp without him even noticing. His face turned away from Nansen's chest and Baine looked closer at the scratches etched into the side of his cheek. Their eyes met and his nose inhaled the air in between them. The flesh around his green eyes darkened in complexion and his pupils dilated. His lips eased apart and the tips of his sharp teeth were visible. His tongue trailed along the edges and he swallowed dryly.
Nansen drove his hand around into Iggy's hair, and worked to pry Baine's fingers out from there. "Hey, let him go!" Nansen troubled. The muscles of Baine's jaw flexed hard and the dark shadow looming over his eyes darkened further. His eyes fixated on Iggy's reddened skin, obsessively, yet he still found the strength to resist going further. "This is Iggy!" Nansen reminded him. "Our brother, let him go already!"
Only then his hand wretched away, stubbornly.
As soon as they disconnected, Nansen rushed away with Iggy in his arms. The others of the house crowded the lobby and were watching through the windows. This increased the need for a speedy escape. They had even less self-control than Baine. Simply a few moments in Iggy's bloody presence could cause them to lose their minds and forget who they are. They'd be nothing more than moving shells for the virus controlling them. Driven to drink blood until the host is dead.
Iggy couldn't remember how they made it to the upstairs bathroom, but he did recall coming back into himself somewhat while in the shower. Still completely dressed, cold water splashed down on him from the shower head. The cleaner he became, the heavier he felt. His skin felt grimy, even though it wasn't. The violation was so dirty. He was numb inside and out with the exception of disgust. His shivering mouth felt sloppy and his speech was slurred. "I saw her by the wall…" he whispered. "She..."
Nansen peeked inside from around the frosted glass door. He inhaled the air and nodded. "Alright, now I can stand to be with you." He turned off the water and stepped inside. His fingers wiped the dripping wet hair away from Iggy's face and his hands pressed firm against his cheeks. The shock, sadness, and worry were all too visible in his eyes, even in blindness. "Why would she do that to you?"
"I… I…" Iggy couldn't clearly reflect on what had happened. He was in more shock than anyone.
"What were you doing outside?"
Iggy groaned and cupped his hand over his eyes, jerking his face away from Nansen's hold. "I wanted to see the flowers-"
"Flowers?!"
"I can't see their colors at night. I wanted to see them once in the light… and I saw them! The grass was so green. I could smell it. The birds! The sun!" His throat tightened. "I won't regret it… even if I lose all of my sight for it."
"You're lucky you're not dead," Nansen murmured. He pulled Iggy's hands away from his face and looked directly into his unclouded right eye. Tears dribbled out of his own eyes and a frown dipped the corners of his mouth. Then, he sniffled and looked up at the dripping shower head. "Hot showers always make me feel better… Maybe it will make you feel better, too." He straightened up in front and ripped off Iggy's damaged clothing. He turned the water back on and stepped out, leaving Iggy naked beneath the pattering waterfall of hot water. His back shadowed against the closed shower door. "When she attacked you, did you scream?" he asked.
"No…" Iggy covered his eye with his palm. "When I saw her, it felt like I had seen her a thousand times before, as if I knew who she was. Then, I awoke and she was on top of me…" He wrapped his arms around his sides and hugged himself tightly. "She was licking my face… biting." He cringed and became nauseous. In a flurry, Iggy threw himself out of the shower and heaved his guts into the toilet. Empty and wasted, he let his chin sit along the edge. He looked up at Nansen, barely. "She said, 'what a blessing it is to have such a flattering deformity.'"
"Iggy." Nansen sighed and dropped his chin. The tips of his fingers caressed the swollen lumps and cuts along Iggy's face. "Maybe there is something we can do. Maybe we'll be able to save your eye and you'll be able to see again. You never know." He flung a towel over him and lifted him up off of the bathroom floor.
Regardless, Iggy had no will or strength. "I'm scarred either way," he said. His heart beat rapidly, but he didn't feel any blood flowing through his limbs.