Lovely Dark Things

TWENTY-SEVEN (ISELEN POV)

"Shit! Calm down, babe, it's just a dart..." The Assassin takes a look at both ends of the corridor before kneeling down in front of me to check my wound. I don't understand how this has happened, I felt nothing at first while she was fighting till I looked down and realized that my pants were stained with blood because something was deeply buried in my leg.

"It hurts..." I whisper gritting my teeth, trying not to scream: the truth is that, now that I know it's there, it hurts even more.

"Of course, Iselen, what were you expecting? You're wounded but don't worry, it's not a poisonous dart, otherwise you'd be dead already. Let's go to our bedroom, I'll remove it and clean the wound..." The Assassin gets up gesturing at the corridor impatiently and I stare at her in disbelief, sweat runs down my forehead even if it's cold here and there're tracks of tears on my cheeks. And yet, I don't dare to disobey her and try to move one step but her arms have to catch me when I almost fall on the floor.

"It hurts..." I repeat out of breath and my bodyguard sighs, frustrated.

"Damned humans," she growls before sheathing her knife and putting her arm around my waist. "Come on, lean on me and walk, the sooner we arrive to our rooms, the sooner I can remove the dart..." I clench my jaw trying to hold back my moans, even with my mind clouded over by pain I know it's not wise to cry out loud and give away our location and, besides, I don't want to disappoint Ruby... She thinks I'm a pathetic and weak creature, like all the elves in this kingdom, but I'm not: I've gone through hard times and survived and I'll gone through this one too, I'll succeed even if I'd love to drop my body on the floor and cry calling my mom right now. "Don't fight against it, baby, embrace the pain..."

"I don't know how to do that," I growl angrily feeling a painful burn that travels from my thigh to my brain, I think the dart is going deeper in my muscle every time I move and I don't know if I'll be able to stand it.

"Focus on the rage that will push you to keep moving on, on your pride... focus on whatever but not on your weakness, it hurts because you're wounded and that's normal, deal with it. Breathe, focus on my voice, come on... One more step, it hurts... and this is how it should be... Breathe, one more step..." I obey the Assassin because there's nothing else I can do, closing my eyes and letting her guide me, gritting my teeth every time I lean my foot on the floor and I feel some kind of terrible electric current that goes from my muscle to my head even if she's supporting most of my weight. "One more step, you can do it..." Minutes tick by, son long they feel like hours, but I focus on her voice, her perfume and on keeping walking till it becomes an a automatic movement and, even if it still hurts like a bitch, I believe I could keep standing on my feet for kilometres. "We're here, babe, lie down on the bed..."

"Fuck!" I growl while tears run down my cheeks again and I gasp trying to bring fresh air to my lungs.

"You've done well... to be a human." Ruby chuckles while grabbing her bag of medicines, so beautiful that seems not real and so cruel at the same time. Damn it...

"I fail to see the fucking humour, it still hurts a lot..." I complain angrily and the assassin nods while sitting on the mattress next to me, she takes my boot off and tears my pants.

"And it's going to hurt even more... Here, bite this leather strap and try not to cry like a kitty, take a deep breath and get ready." I sink my teeth deeply into the leather when a sharp pain runs up my spine for a second although I manage to stay quiet before collapsing on the mattress, breathing heavily and bathed in sweat. "Well done, baby, I removed it... you're such a good girl..." Ruby chuckles again when she applies the antiseptic ointment and hears me cursing quietly, although after bearing such an intense pain a minute ago, this burnt doesn't bother me.