Can you heal old scars?

Chapter 18

Xander was true to his word and contacted the Lunar Council the very next day. He made Quin an appointment with one of their Shamans for the following week, giving Quin enough time to build some semblance of inner strength back together so he could face the outside world.

Xander had stayed with Quin the whole time, explaining to the studio that Quin was sick and needed some time before returning to work.

He answered Quin's phone, made him food and drinks for the first 2 days whilst Quin was almost catatonic in bed, and let Kat and the rest of the band know he was safe.

Quin finally braved the shower on the morning of his appointment with the Shaman, the level of hatred for that repugnant scar seemingly ramped up tenfold.

It took half an hour of back and forth with himself before he could remove his top, then he quickly ran passed the mirror and straight into the shower. When his fingers touched the rough and bumpy surface with the soap, he had to stop the gagging feeling in his throat. He scrubbed angrily at it before throwing the soap at the wall and getting out.

He quickly dried himself and dressed, a black high necked sleeveless t-shirt, and a black biker jacket, paired with ripped grey jeans and black boots.

He scooped his hair up into a messy pile holding it in place with a large metal pin, before putting on the necklace his Father had made for him, the arrowhead from his first big kill.

He only briefly looked at his reflection before making his way downstairs, Xander was busy watching TV with his feet up on the coffee table.

"Hey, get your big boat feet off my table you!" Quin said, nudging Xanders legs with his foot.

"Well good morning to you too sunshine!" Xander joked, sticking his tongue out at Quin.

He moved his feet down anyway, and they sat for a while in silence. Eventually however, time betrayed Quin and they had to leave for the appointment with the Shaman.

Quin fiddled with his necklace the whole way, his anxiety was still sky high after everything that had happened recently, and the thought of having to talk to a complete stranger about it all was terrifying him.

It was only desperation that had forced Quin to talk to Xander in the first place, now he had to do it all over again with no clue how the other person would react.

He knew it was paranoia, maybe even the influence of the bite that had him cowering in the car for 10 minutes once they arrived, but it was so difficult to will his body to move. In the end he focussed on the fact that this was just another way of Callow to still have control over him, and pushed himself to leave the car, rushing inside with Xander as quickly as he could.

They wandered up to the main desk, looking over the department signs. Xander pointing to the 'Births, Bonds and Bereavements' sign.

"5th floor, c'mon." He said as he kept his hand wrapped around Quin's bicep, afraid Quin would bolt at any moment.

They got to the desk where a young woman sat, twiddling a pen in her fingers as she watched some chat show on TV. Quin cleared his throat, very aware of how many people had been looking at him since he had been here. The receptionist dropped her pen as she saw the both of them, gawping as she checked them both out.

"I have an appointment at 2:30 with Soraya, could you let her know I'm here please?" Quin asked, the woman's expression becoming way too curious for his liking.

She placed her hand over her mouth in an overly dramatic way, the other now sat on her heart.

"Your here to dissolve your bond?!" She said in a mock upset voice that did nothing to hide the glee she obviously felt. Xander grumbled next to Quin as he felt him begin to pull away towards the exit.