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Wolf's POV:
Blood and Bandages
I try not to lean to heavily on Scarlet as we go to her place. I'm not exactly light, and Scarlet is… well, she doesn't seem weak, but I still don't want her bearing my full weight. Even so, the longer we walk, the more I find myself putting my weight on her. I feel tired and sick, and the world keeps tilting. By the time we finally stop outside a tall apartment building, I'm pretty much using her as a living crutch.
"Home sweet home." Scarlet mutters bitterly as she practically drags me into the lobby. I have enough presence of mind to stumble a few steps of my own so I'm not entirely dead weight.
I blink blearily at the empty reception. I guess whoever usually works there has gone home by now. What time is it? It must be pretty late. The police at the station will be getting worried about me. Or they think I've actually joined Thorne's party. For some reason, I find this insanely funny. A chuckle escapes my lips
Scarlet groans. "Great, you're getting delirious. Figures that's what it takes to get you to laugh."
This only makes me laugh harder.
I feel the brush of Scarlet's hair on my hand as she shakes her head, though my jumbled thoughts can't figure out why she shook it.
We make our way to the elevator, Scarlet stooping under my weight and me sort-of walking. Once we're inside, Scarlet presses a button and the door closes. I shut my eyes as the elevator starts to move, allowing myself a quiet moan. This isn't helping my vertigo.
"Still think you could've made it to town?" I swear, I can hear Scarlet's smirk.
"Won't your dad be home?" I ask instead of answering.
She opens her mouth to answer, but I'm already shaking my head. "Never mind. Stupid question."
Scarlet frowns at me. "How do you know he's not home?"
I frown as well as I try to gather my wits. Damn it, why does everything have to be so fuzzy?
"I heard you yelling during your session a few days ago." I say finally. Catching her heated glare, I hurry to add, "I wasn't listenin' on purpose! It was just really hard to ignore!"
To my relief, Scarlet calms down a little and she looks almost sheepish. "Right, right, you're in the room next to us aren't you?"
The elevator dings and the door opens. Before carrying me out, Scarlet gives me a look out of the corner of her eye. "Look, can you not mention anything you hear to anyone at school? The last thing I need is everyone knowing about my daddy issues."
"Secret's safe with me."
"That would be a lot more convincing if you weren't delirious from blood loss." Scarlet sighs.
Scarlet's apartment smells like alcohol and fast food. I'm honestly not that surprised. From what I gather, her dad is hardly the responsible type.
With a groan, Scarlet lets me drop onto a greasy couch with seriously weak springs. I watch her as she walks into the adjacent kitchen. She opens one of the cupboards, revealing it to be full of medical supplies, and pulls out a roll of bandages. Then she grabs a washcloth and soaks it in water.
"I'm going to need you to roll up your pant leg so I can dress that leg wound." She calls over to me, not looking up from her task. I oblige, wincing in pain as the fabric peels away from the wound. The tangy smell of blood fills the air and I wrinkle my nose in disgust. My revulsion only grows with the realisation that less than an hour ago I would have delighted in that smell.
Scarlet comes towards me and crouches by my injured leg. I grit my teeth against the sting of the washcloth as she wipes away the blood caking my calf. Once my leg is more-or-less clean, she grabs the bandage roll and starts wrapping it snuggly around the room. I study her as she works. Her movements are sure and confident, her brown eyes narrowed in concentration. A lock of red hair slips into her face. With a growl of frustration, she tugs it back behind her ear.
Scarlet's obviously a fierce girl, that much I already know, but her hands feel achingly gentle as they brush against my skin wrapping them in white cloth. It feels weird after that fight with the wolf, to feel something so tender. But also… kinda nice.
I'm almost disappointed when she gets back to her feet. "I'm going to have to get a new washcloth for that shoulder wound. Maybe a fresh roll of bandages as well. Seriously, how have you not blacked out yet? I lost count of how many layers of bandaging that leg wound needed!"
I shrug.
Scarlet strides back into the kitchen and starts gathering supplies again. "I'm going to have to cut away your sleeve to get at that bite wound. I'm pretty sure that shirt's ruined anyway, and its preferable to having you-" Scarlet's mouth suddenly snaps shut and her face flushes the same shade of red as her hair. Wonder why?
At first, I have no qualms about this. Scarlet's right, my shirt is ruined now. Losing a sleeve won't matter once it's in the garbage. But when I take off the jacket I've been wearing, I freeze. I forgot about my tattoo. It seems to glare up at me as I stare at my now bare arm. Seriously, what was I thinking when I got this thing? All it's done is attract attention and get me a nickname! (though, admittedly, I quite like the nickname. More than my real name at least)
I force myself not to cover it up with my hand. She's going to find out eventually. Might as well get it over with now.
Even so, the ink feels as though it's burning into my skin as Scarlet makes her way back.
Her eyes widen a little at the sight of my bare arms. I flush, feeling vulnerable and exposed.
Shaking of her surprise, Scarlet comes to sit beside me and raises a pair of scissors to my sleeve. There are several jagged holes where the wolf's teeth had sunk into my arm, and the only thing concealing the blood soaking through the fabric is its dark colour. But the fabric can't hide the smell.
I wait for the scissors to slice through what remains of the fabric, but they remain open. I frown and raise my gaze to look at Scarlet's face, opening my mouth to ask if anything was wrong, but pause. Her eyes are wide, and not looking at my shoulder. She's staring at my forearm. At my tattoo.
I tilt my arm away from her gaze, pressing the inked picture into my torso. She blinks off her shock and her face flushes slightly. "Sorry. Though in my defence, it's pretty hard to ignore."
"Don't remind me." I groan.
Scarlet sniggers and finally starts cutting away my sleeve.
As Scarlet wraps the wound in bandages, I can't help but notice that she feels a lot closer to me this time. I don't think she's noticed, not yet at least. All her attention is on my bloody shoulder. Just like with my leg, her touch is as light as a feather. Her red hair has spilled over her own shoulder and is now hanging down my back. Occasionally she brushes a lock of it behind her ear, though it never stays back there long. I breathe in through my nose and get a whiff of her scent. She smells like moist soil and fresh greens and… wait, is that gunpowder?
Before I can puzzle out her smell, Scarlet gets up and heads back into the kitchen to put her supplies away. I glance down at my shoulder, surprised to see that it's already wrapped in bandages. It felt a lot longer last time.
"Why do you have so many medical supplies anyway?" I ask.
"My dad's always getting hurt in some way from getting into drunken fights with the other alcoholic idiots he hangs out with." Scarlet replies with a roll of her big brown eyes.
I should've guessed.
"Mind if I ask you something?" Scarlet asks. "And don't just say "You just did"."
"Wasn't going to."
"Good. Why did you get a tattoo on your arm when you don't want anyone to see it? Couldn't you have just gotten it on your back or something?"
I sigh and glare at the cursed thing. "I honestly don't know what was going through my head when I got this thing. If I can ever afford it, I'll get it removed."
Scarlet doesn't reply to this.
The silence continues for a few moments, with me sitting on the filthy couch and Scarlet leaning on the kitchen counter.
Scarlet's the one to finally break it. "Why do you always act so… empty all the time?"
I cock my head to one side. "What do you mean?"
"From what I can tell, you pretty much never interact with people. But you seem perfectly fine with making conversation with me right now. So, why do you act that way?"
I shrug. "I just don't like socialising."
"You're socialising with me right now!"
I frown thoughtfully. She has a point. Why am I talking to her? I barely know her! Maybe all that lost blood is messing with my brain or something? I've already burst out laughing for no reason.
In the end, the only answer I can provide is another shrug. Scarlet scowls at me but doesn't press the issue. Instead, she asks me a different (and also pretty weird) question. "You're not wearing coloured contacts right now, are you?"
I shake my head. "No, why?"
Scarlet turns her face away, but not before I see the slight blush forming on her freckled cheeks. "Your eyes are just… really bright is all. I was wondering if that was your natural colour."
"My eyes are bright?" I echo uncertainly. Was that a compliment?
"Yes, like… I don't know, like green torches. Or something."
"So you're saying they're weird?"
"No! Well, they're unique, definitely."
My shoulders slump and I sigh. Great. Just great. So not only am I tall, scarred, tattooed and muscular, I have freaky eyes. What's a guy gotta do to be just another normal face in the crowd?
"Hey." I turn my head around as Scarlet plops down beside me. "They don't look bad if that's what your worried about."
I give her a slight scowl. "I'm not vain. I just don't like drawing attention to myself. Having "unique" eyes doesn't really help my case."
Scarlet raised an eyebrow and looked me up and down.
"Yes, I hear myself." I sigh.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, they're very nice eyes." She assures me with a grin.
"Your eyes are nice too." I blurt out before I can stop myself.
My ears burn red-hot and turn away, but not before I catch a glimpse of Scarlet's flushed cheeks.
"Sorry." I mumble.
"Why are you apologising for paying a compliment?" Scarlet chuckles, though I think it's a little forced.
I don't reply. Anything that comes to mind now just seems wrong.
Come to think of it, Scarlet does have nice eyes. Very nice eyes actually. They seem almost warm, like a campfire. Which is pretty appropriate I guess, given her red hair. Her fiery, beautiful red hair…
I give myself a little shake. What's wrong with me? I'm turning into Thorne! Falling over myself just because of a pretty face. And Scarlet has a very pretty face. A pretty face that, if all this time spent with her is anything to go by, hides a strong, stubborn, incredibly kind person.
I rub my chest distractedly, feeling a slight warmth inside. I don't think much of it, not at first. But the warmth rises, becoming hotter and hotter. What was just a slightly uncomfortable ember inside my chest grows to a scorching heat, sucking away all my breath and burning at my ribcage. I imaging the bones turning from white to black to grey as they crumble into ash.
I start coughing sporadically, hacking up spit as my lungs scream for air. But I can't breathe. I can't around the pain.
Fingers touch my arm. The touch is light and soft, but they seem to burn into my flesh like red-hot pokers.
"Wolf?" A worried voice speaks. It sends needles piercing through my eardrums. "Are you alright? What's wrong?"
I grit my teeth and shut my eyes tight. This is a seizure. That much I know. But it's not like any of the others. I can't hide the agony of this one. It feels… random. The pain only spearing certain parts of me and leaving the rest alone. Somehow, that just seems to make the pain even worse.
The fingers on my arms move to my back, sending bolts of fiery lightning coursing through my spine. The voice continues to speak, relentless as it tears apart my ears.
In an effort to block it, I clamp my hands over my ears. I jerk my body away from the torturous fingers. I bring my knees up to my chest and hunch over them, desperately gulping down air. Now all I can do is wait for the seizure to pass.
It feels like years before I can breathe normally again. I slowly uncurl my body and remove my hands from my ears, blinking open my eyes.
"Wolf?"
I tense, half-expecting the spoken word to attack my ears like before. But nothing happens.
Cautiously, I turn my head to the source of the word.
Scarlet's face has turned pale. Her eyebrows are creased with worry and concern. She has one hand reached out, hovering mere inches from my arm like she wants to touch me but is afraid of what I'd do.
"Are you alright?" Her voice is soft, gentle. "What was that? Are you sick?"
I look away. "It's nothing."
"It didn't look like nothing. Do you want me to call a doctor?"
"No, I'm fine."
I stand, wincing as my injured leg throbs with complaint. Forgot about the wolf bites. "I'd better get home. They'll be getting worried about me."
Scarlet's already outstretched hand grabs my arm. "You're not going anywhere! You could barely breathe a few moments ago! Plus, you're going to end up reopening that wound if you walk! This apartment has a spare room for guests. You can sleep there for the night."
I force myself not to frown. I'm pretty sure that spending the night at Scarlet's house is a pretty terrible idea. But I can hardly tell her that!
"All my school stuff is at my home." I say instead. "Same goes for all my clothes. I can't exactly head to school tomorrow covering in blood with my shirt and pants all ripped up."
"I kinda doubt you'll be going to school in the first place." Scarlet replies. "Look, I'll wake you up early in the morning so you can head back to your place in time to change and get all your stuff. Right now, you need to rest and give your body time to recover from that fight with the wolf and…" She hesitates. "whatever that was just now. Do you have a phone on you?"
I nod.
"Call your folks and tell them you're staying at a friend's house for the night and that you'll be back in the morning."
Scarlet stands up. "I'll just go make sure the sheets in the guest room are actually clean. Meanwhile, you're going to make that call."
As soon as Scarlet's out of sight, I sigh. That seizure woke me up. I let myself go for a bit, let myself think of Scarlet as more than another face at school. Let myself like her even. But I can't. It wouldn't be fair to her.
But I can't shake the feeling of her hands tending to the gashes on my leg and shoulder. The concern written all over her face after my seizure. I hate it. I hate myself. But it's too late. I like her. A lot.
I've got to hide it. I can't let her find out. Because I'm not human. I'm the same as those wolves that attacked the party, the same as the wolf who attacked me.
I'm a werewolf.
A/N: AT LAST, we find out what the whole "I'm not human" thing is all about! And we find out about those weird wolves that attacked the party a few chapters ago! And werewolves aren't the only supernatural creature that will be appearing in this story.
Let me tell you right now that I'll be putting my own spin on the supernatural creatures included in this story, so it's probably best you forget everything you know about them when they're introduced. I have nothing against their traditional forms, I just made them like this for the purpose of the story (and because I can).
Now let's get to the most important thing in this chapter: WOLFLET! FINALLY THE FOUNDATIONS HAVE BEEN LAID OUT FOR WOLFLET! THEY ARE MY #1 PAIRING! (Not that I don't love all of them)
How will Wolf deal with his newfound feelings for Scarlet? Will his concerns about his seizures and his species really be enough to ignore them?
Please review!
