The Gnawing Hunger Part Four

For the rest of that night, the strange creature filled Bo's mind. The strange way it looked. How it just stared at him with those dead cold pale blue eyes. Like it were looking straight through him. There was this strange mixture when it had done that.

It had chilled him to the bone. And gave him an odd little thrill.

He wasn't entirely sure why he was feeling like this. It just made his insides twist into little knots. The strange creature had the weirdest draw. One that he hadn't ever felt before in his entire life. Even his transition didn't feel like this. Bo had no words for whatever the Hell it was. And as he ate dinner, Bo tried to not think of it. It couldn't have been real. Nothing like what he witnessed truly existed. He had to have been seeing things is all. The trip out of here had taken more out of him then he thought.

One good night's sleep and he'd be right as rain. That's what he kept telling himself as he finished dinner. Deciding to go to bed early. Sure, it wasn't even midnight just yet. But, fuck he was way too exhausted to stay up longer.

"G'night guys.",Bo stated. Giving his Mom a quick peck on the cheek. Then gave his Grandpa one on his left temple. Hurrying to his bedroom to grab up some old pajamas. Which were just an old pair of sweat pants and a ratty t-shirt. They were pretty much gone but, he couldn't bring himself to throw them out. With this, he hurried to the bathroom in the cabin. Quickly brushing his teeth before heading back to bed. He slipped under the covers as he yawned. Nearly instantly falling asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

Sometime later, there was an odd tapping noise. Slow at first, then it became much more rapid. To the point that it couldn't easily be ignored. And blearily sat up on his bed as he rubbed at them with his fist. Slowly opening his eyes as he softly groaned. What in the Hell was happening? He glanced around the room to see both his friends fast asleep. Neither seemed to notice the noise. It was sort of good they were much deeper sleepers then Bo. And he was a little more than glad for that. As Arthur would probably be panicking over what it was.

And they didn't need that this late or early or whatever. Especially, when it wasn't anything to worry over.

Soon as his eyes properly adjusted to the lack of light, he spotted the source of the noise. A window nearest his bed had something knocking against it. He couldn't see what was making the odd tapping. And for a second, he assumed it was probably just a tree branch. One that got caught up in the wind and was hitting against the window. All he had to do was get out of bed to check. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of.

Yet, a small part of him didn't want to. It warned him to go back to sleep. Pretend that he hadn't heard a damned thing.

It seemed silly to be so scared of a little noise. All it was after all was a tap on the window. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of. And he just needed to get out of bed. Get out of bed and walk over to the window.

Which the tapping didn't cease in the slightest bit. At least until a few seconds, then it stopped. Bo bit his lower lip as he debated if it even really had happened. Or if he had been hearing things in the first place. Then the tapping picked up again.

This time, he thought he saw a hand. One as pale as snow. Like the...like the creature he had seen from earlier. Bo pushed his covers off before slipping out of bed. Quietly walking over to the window in question. Eyes wide as he feared what he was going to be seeing just outside the glass. An image of the creature he had seen before flashing briefly. Though he hoped that it wasn't out there. That there was absolutely nothing there and it was just his sleep addled mind making things up. And when he got to the window there would be nothing there.

Then he could go back to his bed and sleep. Properly sleep since had come out here.

Just as soon as he got to the window, it had stopped. Like it hadn't actually happened. Or he was actually waking up from this whole thing. Then he got a proper look at what had been making that tapping noise. His eyes went wider as he stared at the thing. Outside the window, standing in the slowly falling snow...was a young man all dressed in rags.

From what little light he could see the young man was around his age. Looking so very thin. As if he hadn't eaten well in months. And this stranger seemed to be shorter than himself. The young man stared at him as he stood in a snow drift. A nervous smile came to this person's lips as he got closer to the window. And he asked,"Sorry to bother you but, may I please come in?"

"It's so cold out here, please?",the stranger pleaded. For a moment, Bo thought of refusing to let him in. Closing the curtains and going back to bed. As there was no reason for him to be outside. Not in this cold. And definitely not in what little he was wearing. That young man shouldn't be there. Yet, some part of him didn't like the idea of leaving him out there. Outside in the falling snow to freeze to death. Bo couldn't help the shudder that ran through him at that. Especially, if he had found this person's body frozen in the snow later. Or worse, the cops did. It wasn't right to just leave him out there and he knew it.

So, Bo carefully opened the window without saying anything. Deciding to allow this shivering stranger inside the place. While he did this, he kept an eye on his friends sleeping forms. Wanting to be sure that he didn't wake them up. As he feared what they would think. Or what they would say about him allowing a stranger into the cabin. Who was staying just as quiet as Bo was during the act. And once the stranger was fully inside, he silently shut the window. Fixing the curtains a second afterward.

He then helped the stranger to get to his feet. Wincing at how cold his flesh was from being outside for who knew how long. Then he silently took the stranger to the bathroom to clean up. Urging him to be as quiet as possible. As he didn't know if everyone was actually asleep or not. And he really didn't want to wake anyone up.

Not, with some homeless person in the house. Well, at least not right now he didn't want them to. They could handle what was to come later in the morning. Bo could think of how to properly explain why he did this. Even if it was really weird and really stupid.

Mostly stupid as he wasn't sure this guy wouldn't do anything wrong. Like hurting him, his friends, and his family. Or stealing everything while everyone had slept. Though, some part of him just wanted to believe he wouldn't do either. He had no idea why he wanted to believe it. Just why that he had felt like this. It was only a gut feeling that told him this. Bo hurriedly got the stranger some spare clothes. Which was just an old sweat shirt and sweat pants. They were going to be too big on the skinny stranger. He would have to pull the strings on it as tight as he could. So that they wouldn't fall off of his hips. And Bo wasn't even that big of a person. Confirming to him that the poor guy hadn't eaten well in months. Bo asked,"So, uh, what's your name?"

"My name is Hawthorne, what is yours?",Hawthorne questioned. Keeping his already soft voice low enough for only them to hear. It was a very unusual name and he didn't think he had ever heard of it before. Then again, his name wasn't all that popular either. So he had really no room to speak. Bo answered,"My name's, Bo."

"Tomorrow, we can talk about how you got here.",Bo informed. Yawning a little as he turned around to the wall. Deciding to give his visitor some privacy. Not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable. Then he added,"I think we both should get some sleep before we have that chat, Thorn."

"You can use one of the spare rooms we got here.",he stated. Hawthorne didn't say a word at Bo's demands. Or even complained about it either. Though he guessed that Hawthorne just too tired and didn't want to push his luck. And maybe he thought this was fair. Maybe. Bo didn't try to pry an answer out of him. Instead, he just slightly turned to look at Thorn. Briefly catching sight of Hawthorne's chest. There were a lot of ribs visible through the skin. Two pink scars similar to Bo's were on his pecs. Bo turned away and hoped that Thorn hadn't noticed his accidental peeping.

Or at least Hawthorne hadn't said anything on it. Quickly finishing dressing before he informed Bo he was done. Bo opened the medicine cabinet for the spare toothbrush and the tooth paste. Handing them to the thin man. Who promptly brushed his teeth as quickly as possible. From what he saw of Thorn's teeth, they looked a little odd. Almost like werewolf's teeth in Bo's mind. But, he ignored this as he waited for the other man to finish. They both hurriedly cleaned up the bathroom before turning the lights off. Taking Hawthorne's hand and noticed his hands were still so very cold. He ignored it to the best of his ability. Leading the other man to the spare room to sleep in. Letting him in first before quietly shutting the door.

Turning on a light, he checked the bed and was grateful it was made. Smelled a little musty but, it was alright. He fluffed the pillows and he stated,"Here we are. I think this'll be warm enough for you, Thorn."

"Sorry it's kind of stuffy in here.",he added. It was a little embarrassing for him how stuffy it was. Though he wondered why it was bothering him so much. The stranger showed up in the middle of the night. And had they really didn't have enough space. If he didn't like it, he could just leave. Though Bo had found himself utterly loathing that idea for some reason. A part of him feeling overwhelming guilt at the mere thought. Though, he couldn't entirely understand what for. Maybe it was just from being overly exhausted and woken up in the middle of the night. But he couldn't bring himself to linger on it at the moment. As he was way too tired to wish to. Hawthorne stated,"It's okay. Thank you so much for letting me stay the night."

"You're very kind, Bo.",Hawthorne added. In a tone that was genuinely grateful for what was given. It seemed like he hadn't had enough kindness in his life. Bo didn't let himself linger on this either. Instead, he nodded his head as he stated,"Thank you, Thorn. G'night."

"You're very welcome and good night, Bo. Pleasant dreams.",Thorn stated. Getting under the covers as Bo started to leave the room. Turning the lights off as he went. Slowly shutting the door behind himself to avoid causing a loud noise. Then went back to his bedroom as quiet as possible. Getting back under the covers and falling back asleep once his head hit the pillow again.