As I turned to face my inevitable death I could vaguely make out a gigantic set of gray eyes staring back at me. The dark, smoky orbs were all I could see in the darkness that encircled us. The color was unlike any I had ever seen before; they were gorgeous. So beautiful in fact that it almost made me feel guilty for wanting to live, surely those cloudy eyes disserved by death. I expected the creature to pounce or at least move, but we sat there, staring at each other, motionless for what seemed like eternity. "Its okay, I give you my permission to kill me, Zabulus."
Mr. McConeal had promised me for four years that Latin was going to come in handy at some point in my life, I just never assumed it would be at the end of it. This was really it; this was how I was going to die. Eventually the Towns would find my mauled body out here in the middle of nowhere, or at least some of it. Somehow I was content with the idea of dying. Even an hour ago I feared death, yet now, staring death down into its striking gray eyes I wasn't scared.
The creature advanced towards me and instantly my body went numb. I could feel the blood draining from my face with every step that it took. I decided then to count down my death from five, closing my eyes on three. Five...there was so much more I wanted to achieve before I left this planet. Four...who would tell the Towns of my death? Three...darkness. Two...there was no one left on this planet I loved anyways, no one would miss me.
One...its time I see my mom again. "Leann, where are you?" Instantly my eyes fluttered open. The smoldering gray eyes were no longer in front of me. I was confused as to why it had chose to spare my meek and unimportant life.
I tried to make out the image coming towards me but my eyes were blurry with tears I hadn't realized were falling. "Leann, is that you?" Suddenly Liam stood where the creature had been only seconds ago. "Oh my God that is you!" He hurried towards me and to my surprise threw his arms around my body. "Oh, Puella, you're freezing!" If I had been paying attention I would have caught that he had called me either a damsel or his sweetheart. However, there were more important things going on at the moment and it slipped past me completely.
There was no logical reason for his body to have been so warm. I couldn't decide if he felt like a furnace because I was so cold or if he was actually a hundred and ten degrees hot. "Hhhh-oow dddd-idd..." I tried multiple times to ask him how he had found me, but I couldn't get the words to come out of my mouth in a coherent manner, no matter how hard I tried.
"Shhh Leann, don't talk. Just let me warm you up. I promise, you are out of danger now." Again I should have caught the mistake in his dialect but I let it slide subconsciously, he should not have known I was in danger of being eaten alive. We sat there for I don't know how long; me shaking like a fool with his arms wrapped tightly around me sitting on the forest floor.
Once I was sufficiently warmed to Liam's standards he released me and moved away from my body. Instantly I missed his touch and had to resist moving closer in order to close the unneeded space between us. I didn't know why my body was reacting the way that it was to this man but I chalk it up to the warmth that he had been providing me.
"How did you find me? What time is it? What was that out there? How cold is it outside? How hot is your body temperature? Where is your bloody shirt?" The questions came one after another, like word vomit that refused to stop. Liam had been correct when he stated that I was now warm enough to function somewhat properly.
"None of that is important, can you stand?" I meekly shook my head up and down but I was not entirely sure that my body would allow me to stand. Sure, it was warm now, but it was definitely in shock. As I slowly raised my body started to shake yet again, this time not from the cold but from the trauma that I had just encountered. I tried to take a step forward and instantly fell to my knees. I suddenly became embarrassed, not only had he been forced to find me in the woods and uncomfortably warmed my body; he now got to watch me fumble around like an idiot.
"Here let me help you." He grabbed my elbow in an attempt to help me up, but I pulled away. I couldn't forget that he didn't like me. I had heard him talking with his parents only a few hours ago. He did not like me and I certainly did not like him. I could not allow him to get into my head.
"I'm fine, I can do it." I tried again to stand up but I instantly fell with the weight of my body mass. I didn't want him to touch me any longer. I needed to be able to walk by myself because I was stubborn and he had rejected me just like every other family I had ever been placed into. However his unenthusiastic attitude towards be hurt more than it ever had before.
"Stop trying to injure yourself." He then pulled me to my feet with one swift motion. He was incredibly strong and probably left a bruise on my upper wrist. I took a few steps forward while rubbing the stop where his hand had been only seconds ago. It looked similar to a foal taking its first steps only moments after being born into this world. I couldn't believe that I was having so much trouble with a skill that I had mastered by the time I was three.
"wh..." he cut of my pathetic attempt of speaking only to inform me that it was like eleven thirty at night and his parents would soon be worried about me. He held out his hand to help me up. I took it graciously, but my body was not quite ready to move from its tightly wrapped cocoon. I couldn't even manage to get off my frozen butt. This made more tears fall from my surly puffy red eyes.
"Leann, its okay, don't hurt yourself please." I probably looked ridiculous, curled up in a ball shaking and crying pathetically. He on the other hand looked like a model, shitless and all. He still had no shoes on and didn't even look cold. I was freezing out here! The kid was either half crazy or just not showing how cold he was.
My flimsy sweatshirt was no match for the strong winds in Willa. I lost feeling in my body only God knows how long ago and had not been able to move since. So why I thought I could stand up in one clean motion was a mystery to me. My brain was not functioning properly and Liam's close proximity was not helping. His deep and musky scent was surrounding me and causing me to lose focus.
I hadn't realized that I was crying again until I felt the tears freezing to my cheeks. I must have looked like such a pathetic mess. Snot was running out of my nose like a fossett and the tangled mess that was on my head was getting stuck in both the tears and snot. I knew that I was an ugly crier, which meant that my eyes were probably swollen shut and my face was bright red.
I looked up at him from the ground and noticed that he was now fidgeting with a huge gash on his leg. I instantly panicked and started squawking about his wellbeing like a parrot. "Oh, my God! How did that happen? Let me help you! Wow, you're going to need a doctor and stitches!"
"Stop freaking out Leann, it looks worse than it actually is. I bleed really easy, it's just a scratch." It looked like a lot more than a scratch but every time I tried to get a better look he turned it away from me. "Are you ready to go yet?" The caring voice that he was using only seconds ago was gone and the cold sound of hatred was now back. He reached his hand down again in an offer to help me up and I accepted this time.
I tried to take a few steps forward but stumbled like a child learning to walk for the first time. Apparently Liam was now in a hurry and was not as patient as before because he quickly picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. "Put me down, you're hurt and I am not a child!" However, it didn't seem to matter just how much I pounded on his back or screamed like an idiot, he refused to set me down.
I was again reminded just how hot his body really was, in both ways. I was starting to warm up and had an incredible view of not only his muscular back but also his incredible butt. "Are you sure you're not sick or something? I don't think it is healthy for your body temperature to be so high."
"No, I am not sick. You're body is just so cold that anything would feel that warm." I knew we had been walking for over an hour yet he showed no sign of being tired. His breathing was constant and so was the rate in which he walked.
"How is your leg, are you sure you're alright?" I knew that the gash I had seen earlier had to be causing him pain. Although I wasn't particularly heavy, it couldn't be easy to carry me over his back for so long.
"Will you stop worrying about me? You're the one that almost died tonight, I will have the town doctor come and look at you when we get back. I don't want you to get sick or have frost bite or something." I could tell that he was trying to play his concern off as if it was nothing, but it meant something that he cared if I died or not.
We continued to walk for a few more minutes before the silence started to get to me. I did not want to annoy him, because he obviously did not want to talk, but the monotony was killing me. "Can you put me down for a little bit? You have to be getting tired and all of the blood has rushed to my head."
He obliged by setting me down gently on the ground. "You might need a break but trust me I am not tired." I didn't know if that was his way of being macho or something but he was right, he did not look tired. "I wish that I had a jacket or something to give you, I'm sorry."
He sat together silently on the frozen ground for a while until I started to shake again. He quickly threw his arm around my body and I scooted closer to him. I had never "cuddled" with a man before and this was definitely not how I imagined it being. "How old are you Liam?"
"I am twenty-two." I could tell that he really did not want to be having this small talk conversation with me, but I needed something to fill that awkward silence.
"I'm seventeen, almost eighteen. That's when you will be able to get rid of me by the way, in a little over a month. I know there were ways for me to get out of the system before I turned eighteen but my grandmother left Jim in charge of me and I really haven't had a choice...I also realize that you don't care about any of this, I just need to fill the silence."
"I know that you don't like me and that you do not want me here. I am sorry that somehow I ended up here in your home, it is not what I wanted either, trust me."
He turned away from me before responding to what I had said. "You are right, I don't like you and I do not want you here. So after tonight lets make it easy on each other and just pretend like the other isn't there. Like you said, it wont be long until you are out of here so lets just leave it at that." Although that is the response that I was expecting, it stung a little more than I had anticipated.
"I wouldn't want it any other way." However, that was a lie, I wanted for once to have someone accept me. Whether that meant making a friend, or just having someone tolerate me without hating my guts.
He turned to face me with a small and unexpected smile on his face. "That means no more following me into the woods alright?" I let out a faint laugh and he started to chuckle along with me. It wasn't funny at all but I had to laugh at the situation I had found myself in.
"Oh, I can promise you that I wont ever do that again. The woods here are a lot more confusing than I thought. Plus, I wasn't following you, just exploring." I didn't want him to get the wrong idea. Although I had been following him, it was only because I was curious, not because I was actually interested in him.
"Are you ready to get going again? We are only a few minutes away from the house." I shook my head slowly and tried to get up on my own. After he could tell that I was struggling he helped me quickly and kept his arm around my shoulder. I couldn't tell if it was to keep me warm or to make sure I didn't fall or both, but it was appreciated.
"Thank you for helping me Liam. Since I know you don't like me, it means a lot." He nodded at me before we emerged from the tree line and I could see his house in front of us.
As we approached the house he yelled out to whoever was in the house. "I found her!" Then he quickly tore his arm away from me and walked into the house in front of me.