~Paige~
"No! Nooo!"
The screams echoing through the woods were tooclose for comfort.
Gunshots echoed followed by hollow screams.
My heart raced.
I picked myself up off the ground and walked backwards away from the screams.
I wanted to run but I didn't want to turn my back towards the screams.
I didn't want any more surprises.
Hearing a rustle in the bushes just a few feet away,
I picked up a stick and turned my head side to side, trying to make out the shadow coming from the bushes.
A dog, maybe?
I saw bright ambers glaring at me from the shadow as it got closer.
My heart pounded in my chest as the shadow got closer.
It was a wolf!
I thought about the wolf in my dream, so is this the wolf I have dreamed of?
This looks just like the wolf from my dream.
I knelt down on one knee and laid my stick down, not taking my eyes off the wolf.
I tried to steady my breathing but fear was taking over.
"I won't hurt you" I whispered to the wolf.
"I won't hurt you either," said a husky voice that came from the wolf.
I'm losing my mind—this is the wolf from my dreams.
Fog surrounded the wolf and he was gone.
I swallowed hard at what air I had left in my lungs.
Taking a step back, I collided with what felt like solid, cold, stone.
I turned around to see Adrian, covered in blood.
"Are you real?" I questioned as I reached to touch his face.
My mind has deceived me so many times, I couldn't be sure if he's real this time.
"I am," he said as he wrapped his arms around me.
"Are you okay?" he asked as tears swelled up in my eyes.
"What happened to you?" he said as he reached towards my swollen eye.
"Are you hurt?" I asked him, trying to find out where his wounds were, w
here the blood he was wearing was coming from.
"I will be fine, mon cheri. This is not my blood." He put his head down as if ashamed.
"I don't care who's blood it is as long as it's not yours!" I said as I squeezed him and sobbed into his chest.
For the first time in a long time, I felt safe.
"Let's go home," Adrian whispered and kissed my forehead.
He held me tight and kicked off from the ground, and into the sky.
I closed my eyes, unable to believe what was happening.
"Open your eyes," he whispered into my ear.
"Can't" I said, digging my face tightly into his chest.
"Can't, or won't?" he asked.
"I'm afraid of heights!" I shrieked.
He kissed me on the top of the head again.
"We are about to come down," he said.
I steadied my breathing and squeezed my eyes shut as tightly as I could, finally
feeling my feet touch something solid. At last we were back to earth, I thought.
I opened my eyes to find that we were on a roof, the roof of the club.
"What are you?" I whispered, looking up at Adrian.
I already knew the answer but I needed to hear it.
He said it wasn't his blood and I ignored it, but we just fucking flew.
"Can we get down?" I whispered in fear.
"Afraid of heights or me?" he said in astonishment with a smile, as he held out his hand to me.
"I am not afraid," I said as I took his hand.
We walked to the door of the roof and made our way down the stairs. Then we went past the floor of the empty club, and further down to a ground floor that I had never seen before.
"Why are we at the club?" I asked.
"Only for a moment, plus my car is here." he said.
"Paige!" I heard from down the hall.
I looked up to see Nicole in front of me right before my eyes. She wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me with a bear hug.
"You're alive?" I asked.
"I'm here, aren't I?" she answered.
She sniffed at the air and I put my head down. I smelled terrible and I knew it.
"I thought I lost you forever!" I sobbed.
"You can't get rid of me that easily," Nicole said as she backed up from the embrace of our bear hug.
"What's wrong?" I asked Nicole.
Her eyes looked as if she was holding back tears but she kept stepping back.
"Nothing is wrong, Paige. You are alive, all is well in the world," she said sadly. David approached and took her hand.
"Stay strong, you can do this," he said softly to Nicole.
"I love you, Paige, and I am so sorry I let you down. I have to go away for a while. You won't understand now, but you will. It is for the best, and I hope one day you will forgive me," Nicole said as a single bloody tear rolled down her face.
"You never let me down, there is nothing you could do that I could not forgive.
Where are you going Nicole?" I pleaded with her to tell me more but she kept walking hand in hand with David.
There was so much weirdness surrounding me I just felt like this was all a dream.
I pinched my arm. "Ouch." Nope, it's real. This is real.
"I'm sorry Paige, I promised her she could say goodbye before she goes away. Let's go home and get you cleaned up," Adrian said as he grasped my hand.
"I don't have a home," I thought out loud.
"You have a home with me, Paige. Nicole's house is no longer safe for either of you," he said.
"Will you tell me everything? Why are you covered in blood, why can you fly, why is my only friend leaving me?" I felt the tears well up in my eyes as I spoke.
"I will explain everything, mon cheri," Adrian said softly as he pulled my chin up to meet my eyes.
"We are both filthy, we both stink, and I'm sure you must be hungry. Let me take care of you and I will tell you whatever you need to know," Adrian said just before kissing me softly on the forehead once again. I was beginning to think that my breath smelled worse than the rest of me.
"I do need a shower. And I'm
gross, I have pee on me!" I sobbed into my hands with disgust.
"It's okay, many people have accidents when they are afraid," he said while stepping into a room we were near.
I heard the jingling of keys and felt relief that we were driving instead of flying.
"After what you went through it is understandable," he added once he returned by my side with the keys.
"It isn't my pee," I admitted. As the words left my lips I could feel my skin crawl. I could puke again.
I gagged in disgust, and puked the moment we made it out the door.
Adrian turned to me as the color in his eyes changed to a brighter blue. He gritted his teeth together and breathed hard, like a lion stalking their prey.
"Are you saying someone pissed on you?" heasked in a low growl.
I nodded.
"The bald one?" he asked with anger as he opened the car door for me.
"The other one," I answered, getting into the seat.
Adrian walked behind the car and kicked at the ground, letting out angry growls, sounding more animal than human.
He came around after a moment and got in the driver's seat.
"He dies next," he said with intent, as he cranked the motor.
He peeled out of the parking lot and onto the road.
"Did you kill Vince?" I asked with hope.
I saw anger build in his eyes.
"That one got away," he growled.
"But he will meet the same fate as the bald onethat took you in the first place."
I could see the fury boiling up inside him. I wanted to comfort him but at the same time I had so many questions. For now, I'll just make peace with the fact that I am alive and Nicole is not dead. However unreal my escape seemed did not matter at this very moment. Adrian saved my life, and he needed to know how much I appreciated it. He didn't have to get involved in this mess for me; much less kill for me, but he did. And damn it I love him for it. I wondered if I could tell him. I told him once in a dream, but this is reality and truth be told I have never used that word with any man.
I put my hand on his leg.
I felt engulfed by warmth and I dozed off to sleep.