Chapter 21

Three days later, Cole returned Carol to Spaintown, the wolf pup in tow. The poor girl still has yet to come out from her unconscious state and had to be carried the entire way, but Cole didn't mind. He's the strong master of earth so carrying her was a piece of cake. In order to keep people away, Cole refrained from entering the village to avoid attention. He cut through the woods until he made it to the Dominez's land, where Victor and Rose waited out on the porch to await Cole's return.

The two rushed over, Victor taking Carol into his arms and cradling her as if she were a fragile doll, tears running down his face. Rose cried tears of joy and relief over having her niece back safe and sound. Even the triplets ran over to join in the relieving moment, forgetting their farm chores. They all made their way inside the house where Rose and the boys carried Carol to her room.

Victor pulled Cole into an embrace. "Thank you for saving my little girl. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."

"I don't expect anything in return," Cole said, "I'm sure Carol would've done the same for me."

Victor pulled out of the embrace. "I just can't thank you enough, Cole. I'm going to say this now. If you ever need anything, you just let me know. And I mean anything."

"Thank you."

"You are more than welcomed to stay here for as long as you need to. I'm sure you have a lot of other things on your mind right now."

Cole nodded. "That's true, but Carol's more important right now."

The village doctor was called over to the house to check Carol, see how bad her injuries were. Cole explained to him everything he knew about her physical and mental health, even some of the magical aspects, that recently transpired. Luckily, this doctor was an expert in normal and magical medicine and went inside Carol's bedroom to give a complete examination, Rose following. He exited the room an hour later alone.

"Carol will be just fine," the doctor said, "I've managed to bandage up the wounds that haven't yet healed. She just woke up a few minutes ago, allowing me to examine her mental state."

"Did you figure anything out?" Victor asked.

"It's questionable for now and, unfortunately, I'm not skilled when it comes to psychological treatments. But I'll call up an old psychologist friend of mine I used to work with back in medical school and have her come down and have a look at Carol. I'll see if the both of us can't return in a couple of days. I'll call beforehand to let you know when we'll arrive. In the meantime, just make sure Carol gets plenty of rest and keep a careful watch on her. Good day to all of you." He left the house and began making his way back to Spaintown.

Cole stood back, nodding to Carol's brothers and father. "You guys go on ahead. I'll wait and see if she wants to see me or not."

A few minutes passed, Cole only hearing murmuring coming from the room. Victor exited from behind the lavender colored door, staring straight at the master of earth.

"Carol wants to see you alone once everyone else stops fussing over her," Victor said, "Why don't you join me in the kitchen while I make Carol something to eat."

Which is exactly what Cole did. The two stood over the stove boiling water for beef noodles and grilled chicken sandwiches. Well, Cole watched while Victor made it. All Cole was allowed to make was hot chocolate in the microwave. After telling the mac and cheese story, Victor wouldn't allow Cole near the stove.

"You best be glad my Carol can cook," Victor said, "I've taught her everything she needs to know."

Cole chuckled nervously. "I don't doubt that for a moment, sir." After a moment's hesitation, he cleared his throat. "So how did Carol seem to you when you saw her?"

Victor sighed. "I will admit I saw something in her eyes. It was fear. Something has placed that within her, but what is still a mystery. What exactly happened to Carol? You were there so you should know."

Cole rubbed his neck, wondering how he should tell the father of the girl who's been missing for a whole year now. He sighed, telling Victor about the negative shadow who released itself after finally setting free the dark side of her heart.

"I have a feeling it may have something to do with her mom, but maybe it might be best if Carol told you herself. She may have her reasons why she bottled up those emotions, but only she can tell us what's really going on."

Victor nodded. "That is true. Let us give her some time. She will tell us when she's ready."

A knock sounded beside the doorway. Stephen stood there, his eyes set on Cole. "Carol wants to see you, Cole."

Cole nodded, taking the tray of food from Victor. He made his way down to Carol's room, opening the lavender colored door. The inside was decorated more for a seven year old girl than a woman who should be attending college.

Stuffed animals were piled in every corner of the room. Glass figurines of horses and ponies sat atop every shelf hanging from the walls. Beautiful paintings of fantastical creatures were hanging everywhere. A bookshelf filled with books sat next to a desk scattered with notebooks, sketch pads, pencils, pens and a stack of books.

Lying in the bed with a lavender colored comforter and propped up with cute pillows was Carol, a stuffed white rabbit cuddled up in her arms on one side, the wolf pup snuggled up with her eyes closed on the other.

Cole smiled, bringing the tray over to his girlfriend. "Figured you might be hungry. Don't worry, your dad made it."

Once he set the tray in her lap, Carol didn't hesitate to nibble her food and sip her tea. Cole sat on the edge of her bed, the baby wolf jumping up in his lap.

"Loba."

Cole wondered who said that and looked over at Carol, who gave him a smile.

"What did you say?" Cole asked.

"Loba," Carol said, "It means female wolf in Spanish. Plus it's the perfect name for a new friend. She's one of the reasons I'm home. I also have you to thank."

Cole chuckled. "I just wanted to make sure you were back home safe with your family. Also because I care about you. You know that, right?"

Carol nodded. "I know." She petted Loba's head. "It's better of she stays here away from the forest. If she goes back, she'll be killed. Animals there are known to speak from their mouths, not their minds. Here, she'll only look like a small dog even when she grows into an adult and it won't be difficult to feed her since her food has to be mashed up, anyway. That won't be a problem at all. And because she's a magic wolf, she ages just like a human. I hear they can live up to ninety years."

"Wow! That's amazing!" Loba exclaimed in Cole and Carol's heads, "I'll be around for as long as you guys are. Maybe even a little longer. I'm gonna love being here. Thanks so much for saving me."

" Aw, you're welcome," Carol told the wolf, feeding her a piece of her sandwich she mashed up with her fingers.

Cole smiled. "You really know about all this magical stuff. Better than what I'll ever try to understand."

"Well, if you stick around long enough, I'll teach you some of the basics." Carol sat there a moment, staring off into the distance. Shaking her head, she handed the tray back to Cole. "Could you take this for me?"

Cole took the tray, noticing the soup bowl was halfway full and only a quarter of her sandwich was eaten. At least she drank most of her tea. "Are you sure? It looks like you've hardly eaten."

"I guess I got full too quickly." She sank into the covers.

"If she's not planning to finish, can I eat it?" Loba asked.

"No, it's solid food," Cole told her mentally.

"Is there a way to mash it up?"

"There is. It's called a blender, but I don't know how to use it. Why don't you go find someone here that can make you something to eat. I need to stay here with Carol."

Loba nodded and headed out of the room. Cole set the tray on an empty spot on the desk, turning to face Carol. "Are you feeling okay, Carol?"

Carol nodded. "I'm fine. Just tired is all."

Deep down Cole knew there's more to it than 'just tired.' In some ways, that only has something to do with her physical state. In others, her mental state can become permanent damage if she blows it off by crawling away in her own little world. Her injuries were one worry, but the state her mind is in grows concerning by the minute. He wanted to beg her to say what was wrong, but doing so would only make things worse. Pressuring her to would also be a bad idea. Time and patience is what they all needed in hopes Carol will open up and say what needs to be said.

"Well, if there's anything you wanna talk about, and I mean anything, just let me know," Cole said, placing a hand on her back, "You know I'm here for you. And so is your family. Whenever you're ready, we'll be around."

Carol only nodded, sinking deeper under the covers until only the top of her head could be seen. She dragged her stuffed rabbit with her.

Sighing, Cole took her tray back to the kitchen. He spotted Victor there pondering at the kitchen table. Loba was eating mashed up fish and drinking water in metal dishes.

The older man looked up, smiling at Cole. "Ah, Cole, just the young man I've wanted to see. I was wondering if you could do me a favor."

"Sure," Cole said, "What can I do for you, Mr. Dominez?"

"Would you mind watching over Carol for the night to make sure nothing out of the ordinary happens? I need to go out tonight to find some herbal medicines that can help with the healing process of her injuries. It's a few hours there and a few hours back. I may not be back until the early hours of the morning."

Cole agreed. He's already made plans to stick around for as long as Carol wanted him there. No harm done. There was no way he would be able to sleep tonight, anyway. He worried too much about Carol's state than any fatigue he'll endure without rest.

Night time arrived and he sat up against Carol's bed, hearing her soft snoring as she slept peacefully the entire night away. Cole wished he had something he could do to keep him busy to prevent falling asleep. The only thing he had were his thoughts. And Loba snoozing peacefully in his lap.

He thought about finding something fun to do with Carol once she got better. Maybe he could take her out to the park. Or go see a movie. He remembered she was interested in fantasy and romance. Or he could take her down to the bookstore and let her pick out something she wanted. It's probably been a while since she's done something like that. Maybe even take her out for coffee or even dinner, perhaps. He knew she loved Mexican food, but she also enjoyed Italian. And she was a huge fan of Ninjian food and loved sweets even more than he does.

There was so much he knew about her. So why can't he say the three romantic words to her?

He must have dozed off at some point of the night and not realize he did. One moment his eyes were closed and the next he was jolted awake when someone grasped onto him. If it were an enemy, he would have fought them off, but after hearing the cries of fear, he saw it was only Carol, her head buried in his chest, tears soaking the front of his shirt.

"Save me!" she sobbed, "Save me, please!"

"Save you? From what?" Cole asked, bewildered, "You're safe now. You're at home. I'm right here for you."

"I saw her."

"Saw who?"

"The evil witch. She's haunting my dreams now. Keep her away from me, Cole."

Cole held her shaking body, gently rubbing the back of her head to bring her comfort. "It's alright. Everything's gonna be okay. She won't come after you. You're safe now."

Oh, Carol. I wish you would tell me what's going on. What are you trying to hide?

Translation from Spanish to English:

Loba = Female Wolf

HEY GUYS. SORRY I'VE BEEN GONE FOR SO LONG. I KNOW IT'S BEEN PROBABLY A COUPLE OF WEEKS SINCE I POSTED FOR THIS STORY, BUT I'VE RETURNED WITH A NEW CHAPTER. I JUST THOUGHT I LET YOU KNOW THAT UPDATES MAY BE A LITTLE SLOWER THAN USUAL. I'M WORKING ON THIS STORY DURING THE DAY AND ANOTHER STORY DURING THE NIGHT. ALSO, THE STORY I WAS RECENTLY WRITING, BROTHERS OF BLOOD, FUR AND FANGS HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED AND WILL NOT BE RESUMING. I'M SORRY TO jamiehernandez8888 FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO CONTINUE. ALSO, I WILL NOT BE TAKING ANYMORE STORY IDEAS FROM ANYONE.

THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS HAVE BEEN LONG RECOVERY FOR MY FAMILY AND I. WE'VE BEEN SICK BUT HAVE GOTTEN BETTER RECENTLY.

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