Mine, Bitten

Chapter Thirty-One

            Your father will look for you in the obvious of places-he growled and she caught the languidness in his tone.

            Yes, she knew that much but the vision of Charlie, abandoned and seeking food, made her heart squeeze uncomfortably-Ruby had given Charlie to her with the intention of nurturing and she wouldn't fail her friend.

            I'm going.

            Lily-an enraged growl resonated in her thoughts but it was quickly doused by the pressing sun that forced him to sleep.

            Her unkempt apartment was in shambles. She didn't linger in the doorway, fearful that someone may be watching the place; so instead, she picked her way through the mass of cluttered furniture scattered along the floor.

            When last she remembered, the apartment hadn't been so hopelessly wrecked.

            Someone had ransacked the place.

            Her heart skipped at the notion followed by a rising fear-where was Charlie? Surely whoever had destroyed the place wouldn't harm or take a helpless kitten?

            "Here Charlie-" she murmured softly, peering over a turned-up table.

            She moved quickly through each room, peeking in places that deemed suitable for a hide-a-seek but the more she came up empty-handed her heart sank further in her chest.

            It wasn't until she found herself back in the living room that she caught a small sound.

            Mew...

            Her heart jolted and she whirled towards the kitchen.

            Charlie had plotted himself right in the middle of the floor, peering ever so cute-like but she knew better-her devious little kitten.

            "You brat. " she laughed cheerfully, moving to pluck him gently from the floor. His furry little head nudged her chin and she smiled. "I missed you too."

            Carrying her bundle of fur, she made a dash for the stairs to the bedroom. She set Charlie on the bed and wagged a finger before him, "Don't you move."

            Mew...

            She smiled and turned to seize some clothes from the closet, her fingers froze when she reached for a jacket, her face paling intensely as a noise from downstairs erupted through the desolate place like a clash of thunder.

            Her heart accelerating with a bolt of fear, she grabbed Charlie and crouched by the door, pressing her body against the wall to peer down the stairs.

            Someone was moving through the living room-her eyes caught a waver of a shadow cast against the opposite wall and she stiffened.

            Charlie wiggled in her grasp and she tightened her hold.

            "Shh..." she consoled softly, rubbing his little skull with her forefinger.

            Her eyes remained firm on the wall where the shadow had been and then suddenly a man appeared and she reared back against the wall, her heart lodging tight in her throat.

            She clenched her eyes and focused on tuning out the fierce pounding of her heart to listen for the intruder.

            She'd never seen the man before; she would have recognized a man of that size with hair as black as coal and eyes as equally dark.