Chapter 7 – War Wounds

Annie sat in the little pink house on Windsor Terrace literally twiddling her thumbs. She hadn't realised people actually did that until now and she wondered what the definition of "twiddling" was. She'd already washed the dishes and made a cup of tea which she could never drink and then washed that up too and she was out of ideas to amuse herself.

"He said he'd be fine", she whispered to herself as she sat on the arm of the sheet-covered couch, "They'll both be fine". It was almost ten o'clock; they'd been out almost three hours, Mitchell should have been back already. She shook her head to try and shove the thought from her brain, "They'll. Be. Fine".

As she thought about emptying the kitchen drawer and washing the utensils Mitchell opened the front door and stumbled clumsily into the house. Annie was at his side in an instant and she helped him to the couch where he flopped like a ragdoll onto his back. The first thing she noticed was that he wasn't wearing a shirt. The second was the three huge claw marks across his chest.

"Oh my God! Mitchell! He scratched you!" Annie tentatively placed her cold and tingling hand on the vampire's chest.

"Ow! Annie!" He flinched back from her touch.

"Sorry", she drew her hand away quickly.

"Jesus! You don't just prod someone in a wound like that!" Mitchell examined his chest, keeping his hands in the air as he did so.

Annie scoffed, "Wound, pah! It's just a couple of scratches, don't be such a baby", she placed a wide, fake smile on her face but her forehead crumpled at the sight of all that blood.

Mitchell looked shocked and slightly hurt as the ghost spoke and his eyes seemed to be glazing over slightly. Annie darted into the kitchen and brought back a towel and a bowl of water; she began mopping at his chest lightly with the damp towel, "So will you become a werevamp now? Or is it a vampwolf?"

Mitchell smiled and relaxed a little on the sofa, "It doesn't work like that. You can only be one type of monster". Annie nodded and filled her cheeks with air before blowing it out slowly; she continued to wipe the blood from his chest and face and took a good look at the three deep gouges,

"So where's George?"

"He's in the woods-" Mitchell sucked in a fast breath as Annie fingered one of the cuts, she mouthed the word sorry and he continued with his recollection of the night, "He changed in the car".

"I know", Annie seemed nonchalant about the situation, causing Mitchell to raise his eyebrows and sit up slightly.

"You know? How do-"

"-I saw him. It's not like he had time to be shy Mitchell. And I have seen him naked before"

"What? No, he changed Annie"

"Oh, you mean he changed changed?" she slapped her forehead with the heel of her hand and made a "duh" face. Her face suddenly straightened as she understood what she had just said, "Wait. He changed? In the car?!"

Mitchell nodded and leaned back down, "That's how he scratched me"

Annie shot to her feet, knocking the bowl of water from her lap and onto the floor; the bowl rolled over and the water sloshed drunkenly over the sides, "You were still in the car? Mitchell, he could've killed you!"

"It's okay, I sent him to the woods"

"You sent him? What else does he do? Sit and fetch?"

Mitchell slowly sat up and swung his legs off the couch, "No Annie. I left a trail for him to follow. It should keep him busy until mornin'". Annie nodded in understanding and helped Mitchell to his feet; they sidestepped the puddle of water on the floor and made their way up the stairs to Mitchell's room.

Once inside the small room Mitchell slumped sideways onto the bed and started to take his boots off, to no avail. Annie closed the curtains and kneeled down beside him; she slid his boots off and fluffed the pillow. It reminded Mitchell of the way his mother used to tuck him up in bed when he was just a boy. He lay back and stared at the ceiling.

"Should I take your trousers off?" Annie stood at the end of the bed fidgeting slightly before turning a light red colour when Mitchell looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"I was thinking, because you're in pain and stuff, you might want me to take them off. Should I get your pyjamas? Do you have pyjamas?"

"I usually just sleep in my clothes"

Annie wrinkled her nose at the thought and sat down awkwardly on the edge of the bed. Mitchell ushered her to lie down next to him and she did, enjoying the pure closeness of another living, well another person. "What would I do without you?" Mitchell nuzzled the ghost's hair before lying back on the pillow. Annie watched once more as the vampire drifted into sleep; she was starting to think this was her favourite place in the entire world, next to Mitchell.

*****

At around ten the next morning George crept in the front door to the pink house only to be welcomed by a cup of tea and a very happy-looking ghost. She handed him the tea, which he took gingerly, and then gave him his glasses, which he placed on his face with the smooth motion of something he had done a thousand times.

"Nice choice of fashion this morning George", Annie eyed the werewolf from top to bottom, holding back a smirk. He was wearing an off-white nightie covered in tiny pink flowers, something that looked like it belonged to an old, demented woman.

"Yes, well. It was the only thing I could find at such short notice". He took a sip of the tea and glanced briefly into the living room. His eyes fixated on the dark brown blood stains on the white sheet covering the couch, "What's that?"

"Its blood"

"Yes I can see its blood Annie, but whose blood is it?"

"Mitchell's. You scratched him last night"

"Oh God, oh God. Is he okay?" George started to rub his cheek with one hand and he placed the cup of tea on the table near the door.

"He's upstairs asleep", Annie raised her hands as though calming a feral animal, "He'll be fine", she saw George physically relax like a deflating balloon, and looked up at him through her full lashes, "Do you remember what happened?"

"Er, I remember being in the car and starting to change. And I remember falling off the seat in the car because it stopped suddenly. Er, er, I remember-"George's face dropped, "-I remember being stuck in the car and changing", he turned to Annie, eyes wide, "But I'm not in the car now! I must have gotten out somehow. Oh God, what if I've hurt someone?"

Mitchell appeared at the top of the stairs; his hair was sticking out in all directions and his pale chest had large patches of red surrounding the large scratches that started at his collar bone and moved down to the top of his ribs. He looked ghostly and drawn as he leant against the wall, "I let you out George, don't panic. Nice dress by the way".

"It's a nightie actual-", George eyed the vampire and a look of horror painted his face, "Oh God. Did I do that?" he gestured towards Mitchell's chest.

"What this? It's just a scratch, right Annie?"

"Mhmm", Annie nodded unsurely and smiled quickly at George. Mitchell made his way slowly downstairs and into the kitchen and opened the cereal cupboard. From the hallway Annie and George heard a loud bang and, fearing the worst, rushed into the kitchen to see what was happening. Mitchell stood with a box of cereal in his hand staring at the floor. George moved around him to see what had caused the noise and there, lying in a pool of its own juices, was the reason for the carnage the night before.

Mitchell kicked the thing, causing it to roll unevenly across the linoleum, "Look George. I found your chicken on a string".

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More chapters soon including exciting storylines such as: Why is Seth back? Will Annie and Mitchell ever get it on? And much more!!