( His ears recover again as her scream ends and Lydia comes to. It takes a second for her voice not to echo inside his skull, but her words finally make sense.

He shakes his head, remembers, and gets to his feet, facing the body and backing away. He rubs his mouth with the back of his hand. (14) clears his head. )

I - I smelled blood and found the dead body - he was already dead - and I - I couldn't stop -- he was dead, Lydia. I swear he was dead.