This took a lot of patience to write, I can only do short bursts before my eyes get blurry and tired, so if it's a little disjointed that's mainly why. I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think; I love to hear everyone's input and ideas!
Chapter 14
I tried to lift myself up off of the stake; however I just couldn't muster the strength in my arms and legs. It hurt, searing pain ripped through my stomach. My mind went crazy with questions, will this heal? Will I die? I only vaguely kept an eye on the fight happening right in front of me, as Quint and the Lycan swiped at one another, snarling and roaring, Quint using his incredible size and strength to throw the other Lycan around like a rag-doll. I wanted to break it up, it was ridiculous, but I couldn't even help myself.
Dr Lane suddenly stepped into the doorway, a face of thunder. He stepped towards the two Lycan's and snarled.
"Stop this, now!" He shouted aggressively. The two men obeyed, Quint turned first, painfully his bones shifted back into place, something I'd never seen before, the fur retreated over his body revealing bloody, sweaty skin. It's a good thing he was turned away from me as he was completely naked. The other Lycan began to turn back to its human form, its fur too retreating over its muscular body to reveal the bloody ebony skin of Benedict. Both the naked men lowered their heads as they prepared for a bollocking from Dr Lane. "We are not wild animals; you will respect the rules of this house!" Jacob bellowed. Spotting me he walked over slowly, bent down to his knees and hauled me off of the chair leg. I could already feel the gaping hole in my stomach healing up as he held me in his arms. "I'm not all that surprised by your monstrous behaviour, but you Benedict, I am shocked," Dr Lane said disappointedly.
"I was only trying to protect the girl," Benedict explained breathily, shooting a dirty look at Quint.
"Well you did a bloody good job," Dr Lane said, looking down at my bloodied, holey shirt. Beneath the hole in my ruined shirt was no longer the sight of intestines, but instead porcelain white skin. But even though I had healed fully, there was still a dull painful itch where the table leg pierced my back and stomach. "And what about you, any excuses?" Dr Lane asked, directing his question at his son. Quint said nothing as he grabbed a nearby pair of grey joggers, they were ripped but still wearable, he slipped them on quickly, ignoring his father's question.
"I thought not," Jacob spat, "Benedict you're excused I'll be speaking to you in the morning," Dr Lane stood aside, with my limp body still in his arms, Benedict left without delay. "And you," Dr Lane glared into his son, "You will take Victoria, clean her up and tell her how sorry you are. Then you will clean this disaster up, and I mean spotless, do you understand?" Quint grunted again, averting his eyes. Dr Lane stepped forward, passing me into his sons' arms like family passing around a newborn baby. Jacob said nothing more; he glanced around the room, disgusted by the sight of it and left.
Quint carried me to my room in silence, not even a grunt or a growl. He kicked open the door and trudged over to the en-suite, placing me down on the toilet lid surprisingly gently. Silently he stepped over to the glass cased shower and turned on the hot water. I looked down at myself and realised why, I was caked in blood, my clothes, my arms, my stomach, chest, everywhere. It looked as if I'd been murdered, well if I was human that probably would have been the case. Quint leant up against the wall, reaching his arm in to check the temperature. I wasted no time, standing up shakily and pulled the ruined shirt over my head to reveal my equally wrecked blood soaked bra. I discarded it on the cold marble floor. I peeled off my bloody leggings and threw them into the pile, the pile of clothes I will never, ever, ever wear again. Quint drew back his arm from the shower, shaking off the water.
"It's hot," he said monotonously, stepping back. I nodded and stepped close to the shower, positioning my back to the man. I unhooked my bra at the back and slipped the straps off my shoulders and threw it into the pile. I could feel Quint's eyes burning into my back as he leaned up against the bathroom wall. I sighed, getting the gist that he wasn't leaving, and shed my underwear, which too was of course blood stained. I stepped out of the panties, tossing them over by the other clothes. I stepped into the frosted glass shower, the hot water hit my aching skin and it felt amazing. The water ran red down my legs as the blood rinsed away. Grabbing the body wash I scrubbed my skin hard. I rinsed myself off, running my hands over my red blotchy skin softly, and sighing as I stepped forward and dipped my head under the shower head, running my hands through my wet locks.
All of a sudden I felt a cold breeze on my back and bum; I looked over my shoulder to see Quint stepping in, he was almost covered in as much blood as I was. I wanted to shout at him, tell him to fuck off, push him away. But I just let him in, I don't know why, especially after being almost murdered, but there was just something stopping me from kicking him out, and it wasn't the burning ache between my legs.
"Where's my apology then?" I asked my voice slightly shaky as I wrapped my arms around myself. Quint stepped closer, reaching for the body wash. He squeezed some into his palm, snapped closed the lid and popped it back on the shower shelf, as I just watched helplessly. I tried to keep my eyes up as he lathered the violet smelling wash up between his hands. Hesitantly he reached out, rubbing the silky body wash up and down my back, over my shoulders and down the back of my arms which were clamped securely to my chest.
"Here it is," he whispered in my ear as he leaned in closer, pressing his chest and something else entirely up against me. I twirled around as he lay his hands softly on my waist, my arms and hands still protecting my modesty. Looking up into his eyes I saw something I hadn't seen before, I saw guilt, sadness and regret. Climbing onto my tippy-toes I kissed Quint softly on the cheek.
"Goodnight Quint," I whispered, slipping passed him and out the shower and into the cold evening air.
I wrapped myself in the nearest fluffy towel and headed for the walk in wardrobe. I pulled on fresh underwear and an oversized rolling stones t-shirt. I kept a sharp ear out for Quint, and always had an eye glancing over my shoulder, but he didn't follow me. I could hear the shower still sprinkling away in the distance. I walked over to the bed, plaiting my damp blonde locks, and climbed in. I waited with my eyes peeled painfully open in the dark for the shower to stop, it wasn't keeping me awake, far from it, and the sound of the water was soothing and sending me into a comfortable paralysis. I wanted to wait, I felt rude falling asleep with him still in there, or at least that's what I told myself. Almost an hour went by before I nodded off, I don't remember the exact moment I dropped off, but I know the shower was still steaming away.
I awoke suddenly, bolting upright in the bed, my forehead laced with sweat. Monty had perched himself at my feet, fast asleep. I reached out for a cuddle and a stroke, but he awoke suddenly, his eyes wide and fur on end. He hissed and swiped at me, followed by a retreat to his safe zone beneath the arm chair. My ears pricked up as I noticed the shower was no longer running. I pushed the plush duvet back and clambered out of bed and tip toed over to the connecting bathroom. Nothing, not even my pile of dirty, bloody clothes. I proceeded with my usual boring human routine of getting ready for work.
As I climbed down the creaking wooden staircase I spotted Benedict waiting by the front door, his hands clasped respectfully behind his back. Flashbacks to the night before flickered in my mind.
"Morning," I smiled, trying to keep my eyes on his face, not allowing them to wander anywhere else knowing what lay beneath his well pressed suit.
"Good morning miss, it's nice to see you in one piece again," Benedict half smiled, there was something off about him. I looked down at my torso and pressed a hand against my intact stomach with a smile.
"Yes I'm quite lucky I think,"
"Very lucky, the same fate wouldn't have befitted me," Benedict said, I often forgot how I wasn't like the other Lycans.
"Thank you for last night, I know you probably got in a lot of trouble for it, but I really appreciate it, I don't know the full extent of my healing, I could've died, I don't know, but thank you anyways," I rambled awkwardly.
"Don't worry, it was worth the punishment, but when I jumped in there I didn't expect Quint to be as he was, I probably would have pussied out otherwise," Benedict chuckled. All of a sudden I saw his eye line shift from me to the tip of the stairs; I glanced over my shoulder to see Quint descending them slowly. He narrowed his eyes on the pair of us as he reached the foot of the stairs.
"Morning," I coughed. My instincts told me he wasn't in the most sociable of moods, and they were right, he just grunted in return and headed towards the kitchen.
"You should grab some breakfast miss, we leave in twenty," Benedict said suddenly, his formal and professional side snapping back. Dr Lane descended the stairs behind me, a thunderous look on his face.
"Good morning sir," Benedict and I chimed together, it wasn't planned honestly.
"Good morning, how about some quick breakfast Victoria before we set off?" Dr Lane smiled, his question sounded more like an order. I followed him like a dog on a lead into the kitchen where George was sizzling up some bacon for Quint, who was slumped at the very end of the breakfast bar.
"Good morning sir, madam," George smiled as he turned the bacon in the pan.
"Good morning George," Dr Lane greeted the chef as he hopped up onto one of the bar stools, completely blanking his son. I gave a small awkward wave to George as I plonked my bum in the seat next to Jacob.
"I hope you got a good nights sleep after that hiccup last night, I have a stamina based test for you today Victoria," Dr Lane said, making conversation as he reached for his morning paper, all ready prepared with a hot cup of coffee.
"Yes I did thank you," George served the bacon into three separate sandwiches and presented them on gold rimmed plates. I'd almost forgotten the taste of bacon; it didn't exactly fit into my monthly budget. I tucked into the sandwich and gulped it down, finishing first. I thanked George and waited patiently and politely for Dr Lane to finish his breakfast and head for the door, neither of us waited for Quint, who still silently brewed at the other end of the room.
The drive to work was pleasantly less awkward than I imagined. Dr Lane spoke of the gala and who was coming, and about some of the experiments happening at the lab and how much he was looking forward to presenting his findings to the other board members.
"Subject two is fascinating; you really should take a look. She was the backbone of our work on Quint, so essentially you are a product of her," Dr Lane explained. "Dr Lida is her carer, the human doctor you met yesterday,"
"I remember her; you have a doctor just for the care of a child?" I questioned, slightly confused.
"She is no child, yes she is young in years, but she is highly dangerous, very smart and extremely complex, she is neither Vampire nor Lycan, she is not even a result of the two, both her parents were hybrids, one of vampire origin, and one of Lycan," Dr Lane explained enthusiastically.
"So she was born as she is? Like out the womb?" I wondered aloud, I know I probably sounded really stupid but I hadn't even realised Vampires and Lycans could have children, I'd never even thought about it before, and pop culture had always said otherwise.
"Yes, Vampires and Lycans give birth to their young," Dr Lane said snippily, as if it was common knowledge.
"So I could still have children? And the whole agelessness, would they stay a baby forever?" Dr Lane snorted at my question, chuckling to himself.
"You're full of so many questions today Victoria, yes you will bare children, and they will grow to a full adult and then their eternal life begins," My ears pricked up at the first part to his answer, I will?
"Will bare children?" I repeated slowly, cocking my brow.
"Yes of course, it's vital for my work that we mate two hybrid Lycans' to create something to rival Subject 2," Dr Lane scoffed.
"Do you mean Quint by any chance?!" I asked, raising my voice at my boss. I could see Benedict's sorry eyes shift to me in the rear view mirror. Dr Lane didn't answer; he simply licked his teeth and pursed his lips in defeat. "Is that why you were suddenly okay with Quint turning me? Because you'd have a hybrid baby maker?!"
"Victoria please calm down, you are over reacting, I hadn't planned it from the beginning but it came to mine and Dr Stevenson's attention that a product of the two of you with some genetic tweaking could be the ultimate Lycan," He explained casually as if he was planning brunch and not my insemination. Dr Lane was lucky we pulled up to the lobby entrance, as I was about to kick off, steam was practically fuming from my ears. Dr Lane climbed out of the car and began his little waddle towards rotating doors. I glared after him, at that moment in time I'd never hated anyone more. With all the tests I knew I was another new guinea pig, but I didn't think Dr Lane would be so out of touch with morality that he would expect something like that of me. I signed up for blood tests, not birthing.
"Come Victoria," Dr Lane called over his shoulder like he was shouting for his dog. I sighed dramatically, clenching my teeth and grabbing my handbag roughly.
"Did you know about this?" I asked with a plateful of attitude. I saw Benedict's slight nod in the mirror. "And George?" I questioned further, Benedict nodded again. "And Quint?" my voice quivered. Benedict gave one last nod.