Thanks for your reviews Kelly & EC Brenway!

Kelly - Shock about Dipi, aye! Elly's gotta survive, what kind of ending would that be?

EC - Yashvi the cop may be able to help Chloe. It is actually Dipi that knows more than she's letting on, but that mean Yashvi is too?

The Chemistry In Darkness

Chapter Fifty-Six

Monday 16th December 2024 – The Night After The Full Moon

Chloe struggled against her husband as he held her back from tending to the dog that Pierce had just stabbed in the side.

The dog that had eyes that looked identical to Elly's, laid cowering on the ground of the lakeside, bleeding from the wound.

"Let me help her," Chloe begged.

"Absolutely not, I'm not risking you getting hurt because that wolf is looking for vengeance," Pierce insisted.

"Looking for vengeance because you stabbed her!" Chloe yelled at him.

Pierce turned to Rene, ignoring his wife, "Shoot her, now! I want this done."

"No!" Chloe screamed as she leapt forwards in protection of the animal that had Elly's eyes, pushing Pierce forwards too.

Pierce reeled in pain when Rene's bullet grazed past his arm, scrapping the skin of his forearm, "OW! What the hell kinda shot was that?!"

"Sorry, boss," Rene apologized quickly as he and Roman rushed to Pierce's side.

Pierce barely noticed as Chloe left his side, instead crouching down next to the animal who was still bleeding out from the stab wound.

Pierce gripped at his arm, wrapping his fist around where the bullet had grazed him, to stop the blood from dripping down his arm, "You idiot! You shot me!"

"It was an accident," Rene apologized once more as he tore part of his shirt off, tending to Pierce's wound by wrapping it around his arm to stem the bleeding when Pierce eventually lifted his hand from the wound.

Chloe ignored the three men as they huddled around the injured arm, trying to stop the wound from losing too much of Pierce's blood. Crouched by the dog's side, she reached out, petting its fur before its ear, trying to ignore the wound in its side dripping blood as well as the fact that its eyes looked so much like Elly's, "We gotta get you some help to fix that wound, can't have you dying on me."

WolfElly whined in pain from the stab wound yet was also overjoyed to see Chloe caring so kindly for her when Pierce was yelling and screaming about his arm being shot up.

Seeing Pierce and the men distracted, WolfElly struggled yet eventually managed to stand up, wobbling on her four legs. Chloe leant over, placing her hands to the animal's shoulders, like she was doing whatever she could to help it stand up.

"There you go, can you walk?" Chloe asked her.

WolfElly took several steps before almost collapsing again, caught by Chloe before she hit the ground.

Before she knew it, Chloe crouched back to the ground, scooping WolfElly into her arms and lifting her up from the ground, "How about we get you out of here?"

WolfElly found herself nodding at Chloe gently, surprising Chloe that it felt like the animal understood her and also trusted her.

Chloe surprised even herself as she managed to walk several meters away from Pierce with WolfElly in her arms before he even noticed what she was doing.

"Chloe, where are you going?" Pierce demanded, seething in pain from the gun shot would, "I need to go to hospital, you're coming with me."

Chloe turned to her husband, "No, I'm not. You got shot because you and your mates were stupid enough to go hunting an innocent animal. You hurt her and now I'm going to get her some help…to stop you from being charged with animal cruelty. I'm helping you. You've got your idiot buddies to take you to the hospital for a couple stitches."

I'm so not helping Pierce but if he sees it that way, it won't look like it actually is…I'd rather take this animal to get help than go with my dumb husband to explain to a doctor he got shot in the arm thinking he was hunting a wolf.

"You're choosing that thing instead of me?" Pierce realized angrily.

"She's got a stab wound and needs help. That bullet barely grazed you, don't be a baby," Chloe found herself teasing Pierce's overreaction.

With that, Chloe turned away from Pierce, struggling with the weight of WolfElly in her arms but managed to walk away as fast as she could.

Chloe overheard Pierce whimpering in pain that it was more than just a graze then yelling at Roman to go after her, to bring her to meet him at the hospital and shoot the damn wolf without missing.

In her need to protect them both, Chloe found herself feeling more strength than she thought she had, bolting towards the Lassiters complex with WolfElly.

Distracted by Pierce needing help stopping the gunshot wound from bleeding as Rene called for an ambulance, Roman spent an extra minute with the men before he turned around to follow Chloe.

Pierce glared in the direction Chloe had been crouched down on the ground with the injured wolf, "I will kill that bloody wolf…and get my wife back to the woman she was when she fell in love with me that would never choose anyone over me."

As Chloe heard Roman chasing after her, she ducked behind one of the buildings she was next to, seeing him walking past her a moment later. Chloe tried to calm WolfElly from her whimpering but was pleased to see the bleeding from the stab wound had stopped.

Chloe looked around the place, realizing that nobody had come to Pierce's rescue when the gun went off as the Waterhole had closed up fifteen minutes ago. Glancing down at the animal in her arms, Chloe smiled, "Do you think you can survive a little while longer before I need to get you help? I have a feeling Roman is gonna spend at least the next half an hour looking for us and I don't want him shooting you. Can't risk it."

WolfElly purred gently in agreeance, knowing she was already beginning to heal and while the wound wasn't going to heal up overnight it would at least stop bleeding out soon as part of the process of accelerated healing.

"I'll take that as a yes then. Good, because I have somewhere that we can hide…as long as the Waterhole staff have gone home," Chloe decided.

A moment later, Chloe stood at the entrance to the Waterhole. She'd had to let WolfElly down from her arms. WolfElly slunk to the ground next to Chloe's feet as Chloe pulled out her set of keys.

"Just between you and me," Chloe started to explain, even though she felt ridiculous talking to the animal like it understood her, let alone the fact she was trying to comprehend why the dog had Elly's eyes and that Pierce kept insisting it was a wolf when all she saw was a dog, "When Pierce got me to give up my job at Lassiters...nobody asked me to hand over my set of keys to all the buildings in the complex. I've had them on me the whole time. Pierce has never even noticed them on my key set. So, you and I, are gonna hang out for a little while in the Waterhole's store room. I don't want to risk leaving any lights on and Roman finding us too quickly. Gotta keep you safe."

A few minutes later, Chloe had helped to carry WolfElly into the Waterhole's storage room. She sat down with her back to the wall, smiling when WolfElly curled up on her legs.

Chloe leant forwards, gently running her hand to the wound on WolfElly's side, unsurprised when she growled softly but didn't attack her, "Is it my imagination that it's looking like it's healing already? It's certainly not spitting out lots of blood but the wound is still open and seeping some blood. You better tell me by way of dragging me towards the door if you need help for that wound."

WolfElly simply purred again, placing her face against Chloe's leg to rest on it, when Chloe grabbed a towel and begin putting pressure on the wound to stop it bleeding.

"Who are you really?" Chloe suddenly asked.

WolfElly's ears perked up at Chloe's question but she tried not to react any more than that. It's not like she could explain to Chloe in her wolf formation.

WolfElly watched as Chloe suddenly yawned then closed her eyes, her hand still keeping pressure on the wound.

WolfElly decided she felt safe enough to stay with Chloe. She knew it was a risk if it got to sunrise and she once more transformed back into the Elly that Chloe knew. She hadn't explained to Chloe the last time that had happened as she'd ignored answering her questions. She couldn't possibly get away with it happening again.

The least of all for the reason that WolfElly's stab wound would still re-appear on her human body until it had healed completely.

Plus, it's not like she could run away from Chloe if she tried, not for a few hours until the wound had sealed up. Then she would be able to run away. As long as Chloe let her back out of the Waterhole, seeing as though the front door was locked from the inside.

WolfElly knew the plan was simply to hide out there for an hour or so. She'd find a way to slink away from Chloe when Chloe was busy trying to get her to a vet clinic or similar for help.

As Chloe sat there with her eyes closed, her mind was racing. Even though she knew she should've been the responsible wife and gone to the hospital with her husband, she felt such a connection with the animal curled up to her. She needed to know why it had Elly's eyes, why Elly had awoken in the place that the dog had fallen asleep, why Pierce was insistent that it was a wolf and why watching her own husband stabbing the animal had broken her heart.

Chloe's mind then began thinking of all things Elly.

Chloe could easily have been distracted by thoughts of the past few days let alone those of a few hours ago where Elly and her had made love then held each other in a silent embrace for hours.

But Chloe's thoughts this time were all about the little things about Elly that she had noticed since Elly had returned from being missing for four years.

First off there was the fact Elly, along with Aster, went missing in the first place, taken in by a new family for four years. Elly's abilities to eat copious amounts of food, sneak up on her without Chloe having a single clue, her strength to outrun her every single day except one random day that Elly was not feeling herself, this sense that Elly sometimes heard things before she did, that she had somehow gotten the engagement party dress for her in an astonishing amount of time, that Elly had lifted her up like she weighed nothing, Elly's stamina, that Elly's ripped up clothes had been located meters away from the dog, that Elly's eyes matches those of the animal curled up against her.

Before they knew it Chloe and WolfElly had fallen asleep, lying in the storage room of the Waterhole, their comfort of being with one another enough to lower any fears of being found together.

Hours later, Chloe rustled awake, surprised to find herself having slept in the Waterhole storage room. She pulled herself up from the position she'd slept in, stretching her arms and back.

Chloe's eyes suddenly widened as they fell to the animal lying on its side on the ground near her. She missed the feeling of the dog curled up against her but figured the dog needed its own space whilst sleeping.

Chloe panicked for a moment, fearing that her inability to stay awake to protect her, had led to the dog passing away from her stab wound.

Chloe breathed a sigh of relief when she saw the animal's chest rise up and down in quiet breaths. Chloe looked at her watch, shocked she'd slept through the night, "Damn it, I need to get you some help! That stab wound must really be hurting you. We weren't meant to stay here the night; I was supposed to get you help hours ago!"

Before Chloe could stand up, she watched as WolfElly started shaking gently.

Chloe's eyes then widened as wide as they possibly could when the dog that laid there on the ground whined quietly before unexpectedly transforming from a dog into that of one Miss. Elly Conway.

Chloe took a sharp breath as she saw Elly curled up, naked, on the floor in the same position as the dog that was there just a moment ago.

Chloe's shock extended further when she saw the stab wound that the dog had in its side was now residing in Elly's ribs.

Chloe blinked heavily and shook her head, trying to comprehend what had happened before her very eyes.

Elly's a…dog…?

So close, Chloe, so close! ?￢ﾀﾍ ️

Next time - The truth is out...almost. Will Elly finally explain to Chloe the truth about everything that's happened to her life?