It Lives In The Woods [BxB]

XVI

Video of "Shuffling", dance used by Seven in the chapter.

Seven

My eyes slowly blink awake in the warm light of the autumn morning shining through my bedroom window. For a moment, I tense...but my muscles relax as memories of last night's battle peer through my mind. It's actually over...

Lucas stirs slightly beside me, he rubs the sleep out of his eyes before facing me.

"Buenos días, hermoso," his voice rasps with sleep as he gives me a light peck on my lips. 

"Ew, you have morning breath," I joke, giggling. Lucas playfully jabs me in my ribs, chuckling. 

I jump at the sudden weight on the mattress. Jet hops on the bed, striding towards us as she mewls in delight. She curls inbetween us, purring. Hilda tramples behind, barking at us in greetings as she roughly jumps onto the bed. 

I cradle Jet in my arms, scratching her stomach lightly as Lucas plays with Hilda briefly. 

"You have a zoo in your house, mi amor," he says.

"I can't help it, they're my babies," I coo as Jet continues purring in my grasp. The little critters leave us in privacy, scurrying downstairs to do God know's what. Lucas plants a deep kiss on my lips, his tongue swiping at my bottom lip as we make out. I straddle his lap, we pull apart for a moment.

"It's nice to just relax, knowing Mr. Red is finally sealed away," His hands run absent-mindedly on my thighs as I give him a nod.

"It's strange, in a weird way. All this time, I'd half-expect us to fight against him forever. But now that the nightmares are over, it's time to focus on bigger and better things," I respond.

"Oh, yeah? Like what?" He questions.

"Like, laying here with you..." His eyes glint mischievously as we both close the distance between us, our lips coming in contact with each other. Lucas grips on my waist, cupping my cheeks as our mouths dance on one another. He gentle squeezes, earning a gasp out of my lips.

"Oh no, mister. We're not doing any of that until after Homecoming," I scold him playfully as he pouts. "I don't want to have to explain to everyone why I end up walking funny," Lucas chuckles, we lay in bed for about an hour or so, not talking, but just enjoy each other's presence. I lay on his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat. 

Time pass by as Lucas leaves to get ready for homecoming. I calm my nerves by doing a bit of household chores. After cleaning the house from top to bottom, I decide to dye my hair to kill time. Another hour goes by, as I remove the foil wrappings from the tips of my hair, revealing a purple pop of color on it. I decide to pay Morrighan a visit, in the shed. 

Morrighan flies on top of my head, as I enter the shed, cawing in delight. 

"Glad to see you're fully healed," I say to her. I gasp in surprise as I see a final letter clenched in her talons. She obediently hands me the letter. I unravel it, my heart suddenly drops at the sight of old blood staining the paper, it's texture the same as the parchment.

"Ugh, is this Goddard's blood?" I question to Morrighan, she only cocks her head to the side in response. The faded print strains my eyes as I try my best to comprehend the writing. I gasp in shock, it's revealed that Filleus was Douglas Redfield, after all! The bottom portion of the letter is drenched in blood, so I can't read any further. I pin Redfield's last words on the cork board, stepping back to look at all the evidence I've gathered, re-reading each and every letter one last time.