Page 156 of A Soul to Touch

Her teeth gnashed the cloth in her mouth to stem her scream throughout the whole process. She pulled the thread attached to it so she could close that section of her freshly bleeding injury. She tied the blood-coated string before cutting it.

She removed the cloth from her mouth and panted for a few seconds.

Drinking alcohol was thinning the blood that continued to seep from her, but none of her major arteries or veins had been sliced. In reality, the three-fingered claw mark spanning diagonally down her forearm could be much worse.

It was deeper near the inner part of her elbow than her wrist. However, more damage had been done near her wrist as it had less muscle to protect it.

I still can’t feel my ring and pinkie fingers.

Unsure if that was trauma or because the muscles and tendons controlling them were fully severed, she looked at them. They weren’t shaking like the rest of her, and they appeared to be permanently stuck in a semi-curled position.

No tears fell from her eyes, but they welled and pooled before she blinked them away.

This wasn’t the first time she’d tended to a wound she’d obtained. She had a pretty gnarly one on her thigh she’d patched up herself, but she thought this might be the worst injury she’d ever received.

Faunus had been gone for four days.

As much as she didn’t blame him for abandoning her when he knew it could have been dangerous, it would have been damn helpful had he been here.

Had I known he would leave, I never would have used such a large bait like the deer.And his way of killing things was to absolutely shred them to pieces, spraying blood and body parts everywhere.

Most of her kills had little bleeding, and she was sure had she baited the Demons by herself, she wouldn’t have made such a large mess that would have continued to lure more.

Rule fourteen: never get in over your head.

This wound could have been prevented if she had just been paying attention.

Only two Demons came last night. She could have taken them on easily by herself if it wasn’t for one minor detail she hadn’t considered.

Rule three: never be distracted.

I know this is why they kicked me from the guild,she thought as she took another gulp of booze and shoved the cloth in her mouth. Mayumi held her needle and thread again.A woman with her period on the field is a lure, is distracted, is a risk.

She’d started menstruating yesterday. The first day was always the hardest for her. At one point last night, while she was on the roof, she’d gotten a cramp so bad she thought her pelvis was on damn fire.

Once more, Mayumi shoved the cloth in her mouth, so she didn’t bite down on her tongue or ruin her teeth by gritting them. She purposefully screamed as she threaded the needle through her flesh again. She tied it, then did another, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible, all the while trembling terribly.

I never bait when I’m on my period.

She did what every smart woman did when she lived in the forest. She lit incense canisters to help mask the smell while burning whatever evidence she had collected in her pants.

Currently, she was wearing a belt of pouches that had strong herbs inside them.

But when she’d been inside while wearing her guild uniform and heard a Demon scuttling outside, she knew she needed to gofight it. Then she stayed on the roof, fatigued and in pain, so she could protect her home and herself.

It’d cost her, and here she was now, sewing her arm while she boiled food because she hadn’t eaten in hours. She had a pot full of hot water on her kitchen counter ready with herbal antiseptic cloths. She planned to wrap them around her arm before she bandaged it properly.

Once she was done closing her wound, she looked at the numerous wadded up pieces of blood-covered cloth on the table. She used another to wipe her forearm as she inspected it.

It was a pretty decent job if she did say so herself.

She touched her numb ring and pinkie fingers, her lips pursing tightly.Fuck. If these don’t get better, I’ll never be able to hold a bow properly.

It was also doubtable that she’d be able to hold it up with the lack of strength she’d have in her healing arm. She could be permanently shaking from now on.

I should still be able to wield my sword, though.

She took another large swallow of booze before pressing her forehead against her fingertips as she leaned her elbow on her dining table. Her head turned towards the kitchen window to stare out at the mid-morning sun with aching, puffy, tired eyes.

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