Nobody is stupid enough to venture into unknown territories, except for Ilya. Don't get him wrong! He never meant to enter that mysterious village.
Fate led him there to save, or be saved.
"Peekaboo!"
Beast is a cruel creature that used to be human...
Surprise! This week's chapter has been published a day earlier as an apology for last week's delay. Enjoy ;D
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
There it was. That strange name again. Ned. Ilya was confused as to why Charlie and Beast would call him by that name.
"What?"
Ilya finally spoke in a trembling weak voice that if it weren't for Beast's high sense of hearing, no one would have caught it.
Beast was merely inches away from the boy's face. If it wasn't for his grip, that innocent face wouldn't be that close to him, and certainly wouldn't have stayed there, allowing him to stare indefinitely at those beautiful eyes.
"Huh?" Beast snapped out of his trance. "Oh, nothing."
Beast let go of the poor boy and scratched the back of his head, thinking of an explanation for his weird behavior.
Once freed, Ilya retreated to the back and hugged himself. The cold shivers running through his petite body made his teeth chatter. Then he stared at Beast. Something was happening to him.
Beast was not the beast Ilya knew anymore. He was calmer, yet he still made his skin crawl.
"I was just..." Nervous, Beast looked at Ilya's eyes again and sighed. "By the way. What's your name, kid?"
Ilya's eyes were downcast, half-asleep. His long thick lashes drew shadows on his pale cheeks. His head fell on his shoulder for a second before he caught Beast's question and straightened himself.
"Il—"
Ilya's eyes bulged when he almost revealed his Russian name, remembering Charlie's words:
"Don't tell 'em your name or they'll rip you to shreds."
Only now Ilya realized that Charlie meant that literally. Beast was a werewolf, and werewolves would absolutely rip humans apart.
"Umm." He looked Beast dead in the eye and lied, "Elliot."
"Elliot?"
Ilya quickly nodded.
Beast half-smiled as he picked up a sudden beat from the boy's heart, recognizing that he was lying about his name. Beast didn't care. As long as the boy had a name to call him by, instead of just referring to him as kid.
"Well, nice to meet you, Elliot. I'm Billy."
A spark of curiosity ran through Ilya's mind when he heard Beast's new name, Billy. But he was too tired to give a damn.
Ilya avoided eye contact. Suddenly, a thick warm coat covered his half-naked body. A gesture too nice to be true took Ilya by surprise and made him gasp.
"Here." Beast tightened his fur coat around the boy. "To keep you warm."
Ilya must be either hallucinating or dreaming. After all, his body had been running on fumes and nodding off for a while. He couldn't remember the last time he had a break.
Beast brought his fingers to the boy's hair, attempting to stroke it, but the boy balked.
Beast stopped, realizing that the boy was still scared of him. He had to earn his trust. Then he remembered the bleeding wound.
"Now, about this." He carefully pointed at the kid's eyebrow, earning a hint of a flinch from him. "It definitely needs stitching."
He got up and said, "I'll be right back."
Beast walked out of the room, and before closing the door, he said, "Don't leave this room. It's not safe out there."
The door closed.
Ilya let out a sigh of relief, then he started rubbing his eyes. He hadn't slept or gotten a decent rest in what felt like an eternity. He was about to fall asleep when the door opened quickly, startling him.
"And don't fall asleep until I get back!" Beast added. "I think you might have a concussion. I'll see what I can do."
Bang!
The door closed again. Hopefully, for a longer period this time, Ilya prayed.
The air felt lighter without Beast around, staring like a maniac at his face, calling him by another person's name, and arguing with himself out loud.
Man, it was quieter here. Ilya felt he could finally relax.
He fought the instinct to sleep, but the more he turned it away, the harder it came back. Then he started seeing and hearing things that he couldn't tell were real or not. Lights dimmed. Winds howled. The room warped. The whole world started to melt around him.
He flipped his wrist to check on his glucose-level monitor, but the numbers were too bright and blurry to tell.
His eyesight. His hearing. His breathing. The numbing of his fingers and toes. Something didn't feel right.
His body was shutting down. Yet he smiled. To finally rest forever, even through death, was better than living through this nightmare.
Ilya wiped his eyes. He had finally stopped crying and was taking shaky short breaths. All his body was shaking. His head felt heavy and drowsy. He barely kept his eyes open.
And there was this annoying liquid streaming down his face.
He rubbed his eyes again and felt the liquid staining his fingers. Raising his hand to his eye level, he saw it.
Purple blood?
This time he was sure that he hallucinated it.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Weird silly Beast. What the hell is going on with you? 🤨
Is this Billy another personality or just a nicer version of Beast??
And guys, I think our boy Ilya's gonna die if Beast doesn't take care of him 😢
