Under The Skin

C h a p t e r N i n e t e e n

Song>>"Amsterdam" by Daughter

C h a p t e r N i n e t e e n >

Nick needs a minute to process what he's seen.

A dazed and bloody man stands in his yard, his house guest is unconscious on the ground with blood all over her face and he's pretty sure he saw her choking this man minutes before. He blinks rapidly as he reaches up to run his hand roughly through his hair. This has to be one of the weirdest nights of his life by far.

"I didn't know" the man mutters, more to himself.

Nick is already on his knees in the dew layered grass of his yard kneeling over Poppy. He can see her chest rising and falling harshly but he still reaches out to check her pulse, which is pounding so hard he swears he can hear it.

"What didn't you know?"

The man's almost luminous eyes go wide as he meets Nick's narrow eyed gaze, "I did not know she was...herself."

Nick rolls his eyes and scoops Poppy up in his arms. He can already feel her back bleeding again and he scowls as the thought of bringing her to the hospital enters his mind once again. He had been thinking it ever since he found her but her nearly overwhelming fear at the mere mention has been holding him back. Still, the amount of blood she's been losing is to say the least, worrisome. She has to be near shock or something like it, at this point. The constant passing out can't be a sign of anything good.

"You're nearly as cryptic as she is, you know that?"

"Are you really her..."

Nick stops at his doorstep and quirks an eyebrow, "Her what?"

The man steps back and dips his head in almost a bow, "I promised I would not say."

Nick steps into the trailer and deposits Poppy on his couch before turning back to the man. He crosses his arms in front of his bare chest and stares him down, "What can you tell me then?"

"I..."

"Perhaps starting with who the hell you are and why the fuck your on my property and getting in a physical fight with a girl to the point of bleeding? I mean if I were you that's where I would start."

"I am called McKavern. She and I are from the same people, I heard she was in this area and decided to check on her."

Nick's posture slightly relaxes, "You're her family?"

"In a way."

"And what way is that?"

"Distantly."

Nick smirks coldly, "Sounds like bullshit."

"She will say the same, you'll see."

"I really don't give a shit about what she has to say because as I see it, you took advantage of a clearly injured woman. Man, you're lucky I don't get my shotgun and finish what you started."

"You don't understand."

"Tonight, I think you'll find I simply don't give enough of a shit to even try to understand. So, do us both a favor and get your ass off my land before, I make another useless hole in your face."

McKavern steps back, hands up as a slight smile pulls at his lips, "The fates really do make the bests of matches."

"What the hell are you--"

The man is suddenly yards away and nearly faded into the blackened midnight before him. He goes back into the house and shuts the door before locking it for good measure. Poppy nearly makes him jump out of his skin when she suddenly makes a heaving noise and falls to the floor before dry heaving painfully. He grabs her awkwardly and rushes her into his bathroom before placing her before the toilet.