Blood Lust

"Oh honey!!" My mother came barreling into the room, knocking down every person in her path. Including the suspicious police officer, who brushed the dust off from his knees when my mother had run him over.

Our first hug in four years felt amazing. Especially when that was all I wished for every night.

"Oh baby, don't run away from me like that again." My mother joked. Her embrace was softer than I remembered.

We both laughed as we pulled each other closer. I took in the scent of my mother. She smelt like flour no matter what. I had to chuckle at the bits of flour that came off on me as we pulled away from each other. My mother loved to bake. "We've cleaned out your apartment, so you can stay with us till you get back on your feet. How nice would that be?" She pulled away to pull a bag up from the floor and stood up to start collecting the cards.

I had completely forgotten about the life I once had. My job, my apartment, and the friends I once had. Even small trinkets that had once littered my shelves. I wondered where they had been placed.

I stood up from the bed and helped gather up the cards. I glazed over a few as I handed them to her, none of the names looked familiar to me anymore.

"I think that's it." My mother said cheerfully as she packed up the last card. She seemed more excited than me to leave the hospital.

"Well, I'm ready if you are." I tried to match her exuberance.

I followed behind my parents sheepishly as we walked through the hospital. It felt like a dream as they took my bags from me and placed them in the trunk of the car. I felt like a kid being picked up after summer camp.

Dad was in the driver seat and mom in the passenger. It felt almost fake to be this happy. "Well kid, what are you feeling for dinner?" My father peaked through his rear view.

"Oh, um. Whatever. I'm not picky."

Liar.

My mothers' head snapped around and her face grew a look of concern, "Our daughter? Not picky?"

I lightly chuckled, "Yea, I kinda grew out of that." I wasn't going to tell her.

Food in bags, food that was expired. Humans being used as food and humans probably being fed to humans would make anyone lose their appetite.

"Well, why don't we just snack on some things? A light dinner?" Dad interjected with a good idea.

After the car ride back to my childhood home, we gathered in the kitchen to make our dinner. I missed my parents so much. The way they acted made me feel like nothing had ever happened. I had never left.

"We missed you so much." My mother cooed over dinner while my father nodded his head in agreement. Light conversation about family members, who got married and who had children. I never wanted this to end.

When the time came to go to sleep, I had to laugh just a tiny bit. I had absolutely nothing. I had no tooth brush or tooth paste to my name. My mother ran out of the house a little too willingly to grab a tooth brush from the store.

"Oh honey, I grabbed you a sleeper set as well!" My mother pulled out a generic pajama set from the bag.

It was an exact copy of the grey set we had on the island, "Oh... I'm okay." That tiny bit of shock had woken me up.

In my daze of happiness I had forgotten about the boat. Lee had disappeared on the beach. I had watched Martin and Dee sink to the bottom of the sea. I hadn't even seen R's body when the boats exploded.

"Hey mom, do you think I could borrow some money and just get a coffee by myself tomorrow?" My hands were tingling. I wanted to jump out of my skin.

"Oh, I don't think so. You have an appointment with your primary doctor tomorrow." She carried a hurt look on her face. "But I suppose after wouldn't hurt." She tried to cover it up with half of a smile.

The feeling of never being able to hug my mother crept inside the back of my mind. The only way I could think of that would rid me of that feeling was to swing my arms around her and hold on tight. "I missed you so much." I whimpered as tears fell on her shoulder. She squeezed me back.

In the morning, I was woken up to my mother humming outside of my bedroom door. I pulled the door back to see her in the hallway clearing the laundry from baskets.

"Oh good morning sweetheart. Did I wake you?" She stood up straight and gave me a giant grin.

"Just a bit." I stretched.

"Well, you've got an hour until your appointment. Why don't you hop in the shower?" She walked over to the hall closet and came back with a towel.

I took it from her, "That's not a bad idea."

Gladly, I stepped into the shower. The steaming water poured over me. Hot showers. How I missed those. My mother must've put new products in while I was sleeping. The bottles had yet to be opened. They smelled heavenly and felt so good as they washed over my skin.