The Underling || Bruno Mars (Discontinued)

7.

7.

Isis could not see a thing. And from far out in the distance, a wolf gave a hauntingly, beautiful howl.

She moaned and covered her face with her hands. She was so scared she could throw up again. Her shoulders ached from when the wolf had pinned her to the ground. Her hands burned from splinter cuts. They were all painful reminders that she fought a wolf and sort of won. That was the kind of story you told in a circle of drunken friends, and smiled like a liar when they dismissed it.

When Isis removed her hands, they came away wet with tears.

The vampire continued to sleep beside her. Yes, beside her. Afraid out of her mind, she had closed the distance between them when night fell. She could hear his breaths, even and slow. The attack must have drained him badly-Isis sat up a little straighter. Bruno was a vampire. If he could hear things from miles away, why hadn't he heard the wolves coming? Unless he had lied about being powerful.

More questions pressed against her as fierce as the darkness.

Why had she cleansed the blood from his skin? Why couldn't she stand the thought of him dying so much that she jumped seven feet out of a tree and attacked a wild beast ten times bigger than her?

And she had used the M word. Twice.

So much more had happened that Isis did not want to think about. She held her wrist to her chest and strove for sleep. When she couldn't, she opted for keeping her eyes open until sleep tugged them down but alas, she kept jerking awake until the forest flooded with sunlight. Isis tried blinking back her exhaustion. She turned to look at the vampire and found him staring back at her.

"Are you hurt?" His voice was hoarse, full of pain.

Isis, head against bark, shook her head.

"Good." His eyes shut again, and Isis could not believe it, but he returned to his slumber. She sat up straight. She figured, perhaps if she knew Bruno, if she found out his every strength, every weakness, she could find a way to use it against him and escape from this madness.

Isis swallowed and managed, "Wait."

Blearily, Bruno surveyed her.

"Those wolves. . . where'd they come from?"

"Werewolves. And I don't know." His eyebrows furrowed slightly. "They hadn't turned human."

"You didn't hear them either. They came and they surprised you."

"No, I didn't, and yes, they did."

Confusion and frustration shot at Isis. Yesterday he urged her to speak and now he was doing a poor job at keeping her wanting to by his abrupt and nonspecific speech. "Are you going to warn the other vampires? You said wolves don't attack unless you were on their territory. You told me that, or was it just a lie?"

"It wasn't a lie." He shifted. "What do you care, if I warn others or not?"

"I'm wondering why you aren't doing anything; this seems like a big deal. . ." Her sentence trailed timidly. Was this a big deal in a life of a mythical creature?

He produced a low, rough chuckle. "I haven't slept in days, Isis. It's all catching up to me."

Isis would never admit it aloud, but he seemed too handsome and clean-cut to look like a man who hadn't slept in days. Or one who recently fought a pack of savage animals. "Why?" she pressed.