Werewolves and Vampires

Chapter 15: Something

A part of me wanted to giggle, while another part of me just wanted to groan and hide under my bed covers and never ever come out.

I had looked so much worse than I had originally thought. My tanned skin was pale and sickly, and I had scratches on my face from being whipped in the face by branches. My hair was no better. I had found a twig sticking out of it and it was so badly knotted that I almost cried when I had tried to brush it before. Needless to say, I gave up quickly.

Turning away from my terrifying appearance, I hopped in the shower (after I removed the twig of course. Actually, after I removed several twigs). I let the burning hot water wash over me, relaxing the muscles in my back and washing away the little amount of blood on my face and the dirt, amongst other things, out of my hair.

By the time I finished washing, I was almost completely relaxed. I towel dried my hair, but was too tired to brush it. So I dressed quickly and headed into my bedroom, flopping onto my bed to wait for my pack to arrive. I had already text messaged them all to ask them to come over tonight and they all sent back their confirmation.

Now it was just a matter of waiting.

I drummed my fingers along my thigh as I sat on my bed, my eyes darting anxiously around my room. I kept looking at my window, and kept expecting to see a face there, so I finally got up and closed the blinds so I wouldn’t scare myself as much.

Ivy and Dad were talking downstairs, but I really didn’t want to hear what they were saying. I decided to play some music to keep my mind occupied, so I played some music, figuring that was bound to keep my mind occupied. Quietly singing to myself, I sat on my bed and let the lyrics take my focus. I heard a knock at my door about halfway through the song and called, “Come in!”

Matt, Dakota, Mirah and Jared all filed into my room silently. I picked up my remote and hit the stop button, and my stereo went just as silent.

Jared leaned against my computer desk, Matt snagged my computer chair next to Jared, and Mirah and Dakota flopped onto my bed with me. I noted that they closed the door behind them. Good. We wouldn’t be overheard.

“What happened?” Matt asked quietly after a moment of silence.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly, leaning back against my pillows. My head still hurt a bit from crying, but the hot shower had helped. “I was doing that stupid treasure hunt and I just kept going deeper and deeper into the forest. It felt like someone was watching me."

Dakota’s eyes were wide with fear, and Mirah’s fingernails suddenly dug into my arm.

“Was there anybody there?” Jared asked, frowning.

“No. It wasn’t somebody, it was something.” I shook my head, blinking furiously to keep my tears back again. I felt the same panic as before rising up again, as if it was preparing to rip me apart from the inside out.

“What do you mean?” Matt asked.

“I mean, I smelled that whole area. What ever that thing was, it wasn’t human."

“Are you sure it wasn’t an animal?” Jared asked, looking skeptical.

I nodded, “The scent was all wrong. It wasn’t an animal, but it wasn’t human either. What ever it was, it's the one that’s killing all those teenagers. I’m sure of it.”

Mirah's nails dug in deeper into my arm, and I winced. She yanked her hands away and gave me a sheepish smile, “Sorry.”

I shrugged. A few nail marks weren’t important. After all, I had far worse scratches all over my face already.

“How do you know it’s killing people?” Dakota asked, then suddenly looked like she really didn’t want to know the answer.

“Blood,” I said simply, grinding my teeth together as I tried to keep down the bile that rose in my throat. “I found it after I felt someone watching me. It was human blood.”

“Oh my God!” Mirah said, grabbing one of my pillows and digging her nails fully into the fabric.

Her green eyes were wide with fright, as were Dakota’s. Jared and Matt only looked grim, and for some reason their reaction seemed worse than Dakota’s and Mirah’s.

“Did you see it?” Matt asked carefully.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I thought of the dark forest; the shadows that seemed to move on their own all around me. And that voice, that soft whisper that made the hair on my neck stand up.

Death.

“No, but I heard it,” I said, suddenly fighting back tears again. “It kept saying 'death'.”

I shuddered, pulling my knees up to my chest and rocked myself back and forth, “It was so close, so close. But I couldn’t see it. No matter where I looked, it was always there, but hiding from me.”

“I couldn’t see it you guys, but it was everywhere. It was watching me, but I couldn’t see it,” I said, feeling the panic well up inside me again. I felt a sob burst through my lips and I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to quiet down.

Two warm arms wrapped around me, but I wished for cold arms, those familiar cold arms that made me feel protected.

Instead I felt myself being pulled into someone’s lap. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know who it was, my sense of smell told me. Matt.

He cradled me in his arms as if I were a child, until finally my sobs quieted. Matt continued to stroke my hair and rock me back and forth even after I calmed down.

“I think she’s had enough, guys,” Matt said softly, and I clutched at his shirt tightly with my fingers.

I was exhausted. I hadn’t slept since this morning (that is, if you didn’t count me passing out after running out of the forest), and my sobbing had given me a throbbing headache.

So I curled up into Matt’s arms and fell asleep.

 The last thing on my mind was Wyatt’s face, smiling sadly at me behind my closed lids.

------------------

Short chapter, so I'll update again later. But right now, I gotta jet so TTFN!

Much love, good vibes, and pumpkins,

xxLaura <3