Finally I'm putting out another update! I've been working on this one for a while because I couldn't seem to find the right way to execute this, but now I'm happy with this. I didn't want Nolan to stray from his human instincts for the sake of romance blossoming and I wasn't going to have Silas change himself for another. Hopefully you'll see strength in Nolan and find heart elsewhere in the story. Enjoy :)
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I let out a gasp for breath once my body gained consciousness, though my head was yet to wake. I turned my head from side to side, allowing it to endure the comfort from the softness that it was surrounded by, feeling as if I were sinking into a cloud. Minutes after allowing myself that brief moment of comfort, my eyes snapped open and I bolted upwards.
I was upon a bed. I looked down upon myself. Same clothes, thankfully, though the blood was washed from my fingers and I felt fresh. Well, fresher then I had been. I no longer felt plagued with drowsiness or drunk with fatigue, the lids of my eyes felt like anchors no more.
But something wasn't right. I looked to my right. A window. It overlooked the familiar sight of my town, only far more beautiful than ever. The moon remained present up in the sky, so I presumed my slumber had gone on until early morning hours. Where was I?
I slid my legs over the side of the bed, discovering that my feet were bare when they met the cool flooring of this simple yet wonderfully furnished bedroom. From what the moonlight allowed me to see, there were paintings hanging up upon the walls. If I hadn't been so scared, I would have taken the time to admire then. I tiptoed over to the door, cautious to be heard.
What kind of kidnapper puts you in a bed? The kind that drugs you after you'd been used. Although I didn't feel like I had been. I mean, I was fully dressed, wasn't I? But that could mean anything.
The door was open just enough to allow me to peek into the next room, only a small gap but enough to see a living room, dimly lit only from the moonlight that I presumed shone from another window in the house.
"Nolan?"
I heard my name being called in that thick British accent, and I almost stumbled a few steps back. I'd let out a startled gasp and my heart was racing frantically, but what had eventually put me at ease was the gentleness to the tone in which my name was spoken in. But that feeling of ease didn't last for very long. I remembered everything.
What was it that I had seen? Such horrific disturbing sight, an experience one would wish to forget. If it weren't for being so intoxicated with the poison I'd supposed to put in the other male's drink, I wouldn't have been so mentally stable now.
Never the less, I opened the door further and stepped out into the living room. I looked to my right again and as I'd presumed, there was a large window to the wall. Silas stood in front of it, his face consumed by shadows as it was directed towards me, though.
The light just hit me perfectly. Oh great.
Silas' eyes had begun to burn, a fiery yellow colour that glowed far brighter then the moon behind him or the lights of the town. My entire body stiffened and my hands clenched into fists. As soon as the other had taken the slightest hint of a step forward, I cried, "-don't."
And immediately, the killer in front of me putting his hands up, as if to say he surrendered. Why was he stopping? Not that I wasn't glad that he had. But the animal I'd seen tonight... That beast... Well, he would've torn my throat out.
After a few moments of silence I turned, just glancing over my shoulder at first before darting towards the first exit I came into sight of.
"Nolan, stop!"
I tried the handle but it wouldn't budge. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Silas approaching, and when he was near enough, I grabbed the first object I could fashion for a weapon. Within my hand was a closed, wrapped umbrella, the end's point just touching the dip in the killer's chest.
"It wasn't my fault! He knew that I'd put it in his drink. Look- I did what I had to do, now please don't hurt me!"
"If I wanted to hurt you, don't you think that I would have done it? God knows I'm capable of it," He reasoned, though despite my tense muscles and provoked skin, there was no threat hinted in his voice. "I don't mean you any harm."
For a split second, when he moved, every one of his words had been swept aside, and only did I properly endure them when Silas' fingers only clasped the end of the umbrella and pushed its point downwards till I eventually let go.
"Please, calm down," Once again, he surrendered. He put the umbrella down and took a few steps back, though his hands gestured in the direction of a sitting area, modern couches around a glass coffee table. Simple, but stylish.
Why was I thinking of furnishing? I was in the home- or what I presumed to be the home of, a killer. Silas' eyes had stopped glowing yellow and that had stopped me from seeing the animal that had become of him. Now I just saw the animal I'd originally seen him as.
"Why can't I just go home?" I asked, sitting down upon the couch. He'd tried to sit next to me, but as soon as he'd viewed my expression, he took another step back. I respected him for that. But it wasn't enough to make up for everything else.
"You are allowed to go home. When you're better... Look, I wasn't expecting you to wake up so early. Or heal. I'd imagined I'd have you here overnight," Silas explained, walking to the opposite side of the coffee table to myself.
"What is it that you want with me now? I've done what you asked of me!" My head slowly began to ache, though I tried not to show the struggle in my expression.
"Please, just a moment of your time to allow me to explain everything that you saw. I hadn't planned on you seeing all of that, and,"
"I don't want you to explain anything to me, don't you understand? What I want is to stay far away from you. You're a killer, a monster, a..." I didn't know what he was, but what I'd seen wasn't human. It was far from it, and it terrified me.
I calmed down. Shouting at a psycho killer who kills psycho killers for fun wasn't going to get me anywhere but rotting in a ditch.
"Perhaps this isn't the best time to talk," I'd heard him say, a quiet mumbled voice in which he spoke in this time, as appose to the cocky confident one I'd previously had the displeasure of hearing.
"Alright then, if home is where you wish to be then I shall take you."
I was surprised, overwhelmed by this act of kindness. Despite having just woken from a deep sleep, I was tired, and my headache was pounding hard. I couldn't response, nor argue. Home was just where I wanted to be.
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Silas had taken me home in his obviously expensive, but not so impressive that it appeared douchey, car. I tried to avoid the front mirror, and it appeared that so did he, but every once in a while my eyes landed upon it and every time I caught his watchful eyes upon me. What was he thinking? I guessed he was planning what he wanted me to do for him next, considering technically I'd failed to go forth with his plans.
He got out of the car when I did. I told him that I was okay to go up on my own but yet again he insisted. He guided me up the stairs as if this weren't my own apartment building, and when we arrived, I unlocked the door.
Or at least I tried. Every time I tried to plunge the key into the hole it skidded upon the metal around it and kept doing so. Eventually I felt a warm hand upon my own, that smoothly brought the key to its place and forward. I looked up, and Silas' eyes were engaged upon mine.
Seeing the key thrust into place only reminded me of tonight, the way the blade of the dagger had inserted itself in that monster, the painful twist as the sharp tip caused a greater pain.
I brushed his hand off, letting go of the key too, letting it remain lingering in the lock for a little while longer.
"I didn't mean to hurt you tonight, and I apologize for the inconvenience... perhaps it would be best if we discussed it over coffee or tea or..."
"Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden? Hours ago, you wanted to murder not only me but my best friend."
The other man let out a brief sigh, as if it were a substitute for him having no words to respond to my question, "I also saved your life, didn't I? At least give me credit for that."
He avoided the question, but I was brought to realization that this was the man that had saved me from being skinned alive by some catfish psycho. Guilt swelled within me for the way I'd been treating him, but I remained scared of him and I refused to let myself trust him because of what I'd seen.
"Look, I am so grateful for what you did for me. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead, but you used me, blackmailed me, put not only my life at risk but threatened to take my friend's. No amount of kindness can make that forgivable, don't you understand that?"
Silas nodded, his eyes looking down at the floor, unable to meet me own, as if he were a child that had done wrong, getting told off my his parents. "I just don't know how to make it up to you for," He paused all of a sudden, "For..."
I let him trail of his sentence. I knew what he meant. It had all come back to me at the apartment, mostly in my hazy visions though as I wasn't physically or mentally in the right state at the time.
I'd saved him. I'd been the one to plunge that dagger into the monster, breaking the skin and draining the huge thing of its life...
I'd killed somebody. I was just as bad as Silas, despite the monster's disturbing intentions, and that didn't deserve making up for.
"You can make it up to me by leaving me and Dalia alone, for good."
Silas and I remained in silence for a little while longer, but eventually, the older man lifted his head, wearing a smile.
"It was a pleasure to have met you, Mr Parker." I gave him a respectful nod, though it was empty of most of its respect. About a minute later, Silas had left, and finally, I was home.
Away from danger.
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Silas kept his eyes upon the road, though his vision was not focused upon the journey ahead. He was speeding, putting all force into making this as fast and as thrilling as possible. Anger boiled inside of him, fury and rage brewing along with it. He needed to get to that hell hound fast. He wanted to drain it of its contents, spill its blood and guts out onto the street and destroy his outer shell.
He wasn't normally like this. He never put much thought into his kills as most of them came with ease and he had swiftness to him. But he had to place his anger somewhere.
He understood why Nolan wanted nothing to do with him. He was a monster after all. The way the younger male had spoken to him, the bitterness and disgust in his voice... he'd heard it all before, but only this time did it mean something to him. Fuck, why did he have to care so god damn much?
Never had anyone saved him before. Never once in his life. No one had protected him or killed for him because it was seen as weakness among the pack if so. Not even his own brother. Revenge was different, but the wolf inside of you was too proud to not fight back until the kill was finished.
After Nolan had fallen, he'd abandoned the hound to get the boy to safety. His head had been banged up and there were cuts and bruises all over him. He'd gotten the boy into bed and only did he leave when every one of those cuts and bruises were replaced with smooth and tender pale skin. Then he left to wait while the effects of the poison wore off on him. He'd been anxious. What if the poison didn't exit his system? What if it killed him? The hound's system would only be weakened but a human would surely die. All this worry had gathered in him, nervousness, and his mind became devoted to the boy.
The only reason he remained hopeful of the boy's recovery was because he'd already shown signs of healing.
It all became clear to him now, but it was too late. Nolan didn't want to ever see him again and there was nothing he could do about it, because even if he went to him, he knew it would be hurting the other. But the longer he stayed away the more he hurt himself. His only options were to wait and hope that the other would come to him, or hope that this feeling was temporary. The more the boy consumed his thoughts the more he doubted that last option would ever come.
He'd been taught plenty of times about this feeling. It was used in the old myths that he gained most the inspiration for his paintings from, or at least they did as a child. The old tale of the one person your wolf bows down to strips it of its pride and brings out its vulnerability. The reason Nolan hadn't died was because of the bond that had tethered them when he'd saved him that allowed him to heal the boy.
It was now his job to protect the boy from any harm and heal him through sickness and injury whether he liked it or not, because as of now, Nolan Parker was his mate.