[Firefly] Blood Makes Noise
Title: Blood Makes Noise
Author: telepathicpixie
Rating: PG13
Character: River Tam
Word Count: 361
Notes: 100_women prompt #26 - blood. Spoilers for the movie. Title from the Suzanne Vega song.
Summary: Some days all she could think about was the sound of blood in her veins.


Some days all she could think about was the sound of blood in her veins, flowing through arteries and filtering through capillaries. When she had been in space too long, she could trace the faint blue marks through her skin. Sometimes the lines were roots holding her together and keeping her grounded; sometimes they were cracks showing and she would swallow down screams until one escaped from her open mouth.

She could hear blood besides her own. Lying in her bed, she could hear them all, like the soft sound of distant oceans. Theirs was more comforting than hers; hers rushed in her head, around her brain, and made it hard to think. Theirs meant they were alive--blood was still flowing, hearts were still beating, lungs were taking in air--oxygen to blood cells, blood that would keep pumping…

Blood howled and screamed outside of bodies. When they were hurt, shrieking blood escaped--the more blood, the louder it was--and sometimes she stayed by the infirmary to make sure it didn’t all flow out in a deafening roar and sometimes she had to go as far away as she could, press her hands over her ears and listen to the din of her own so she couldn’t hear theirs escape its proper casing.

Skin was a fragile thing. The slightest puncture could let out blood--a puncture in the right spot would let out all the blood, certain vital places, arteries, and all that red life would spill out everywhere. Pinpricks were inefficient when dealing with large numbers; large numbers required quicker methods. Axes and knives cut cleanly--not cleanly, quite messily, but sharply and fatally. She danced and whirled and splashed their blood on the walls. It splattered on her face and hands, covering her in slick, slippery red. All their life came pouring out and on the other side of the wall, she heard the constant, comforting hum of the blood of her family--their blood stayed inside their skin, where it was supposed to be.

When the bodies were piled at her feet and the door opened, the blood in her head was so much quieter.


Table here.