When I woke it was to a continuous knocking. I opened my eyes and stretched, immediately regretting it when my ribs screamed at me. The door creaked slightly as it opened, my hand grasped for my gun, instinctively switching off the safety and pointing it at the intruder.
An elderly man, with a full head of white hair and aged skin, walked airily into the room with a smile on his face and a brown case in hand; it was like he didn't even notice the gun pointed at him.
"Now now dear, don't be pointing that thing at me when I mean you no harm." He had a slight drawl to his voice, like that of a farmer, but it was warm in its timber tones. The man ambled over, swinging the door shut behind him then stopped at my side to set the case on the edge of the bed. He raised a particularly fluffy brow at me, "The recoil from that would sure hurt your ribs." He said disapprovingly, gently placing his hand on the gun and pushing it away. I looked at him confusedly, his eyes glinted knowingly. I put the gun down to my side.
"Now then, I'm Doctor Fred, Fredrick if you want to be formal." He chuckled to himself, now searching through the contents of the case. "Joseph tells me you had a scuffle with some vampires, got pretty roughed up didn't you?" he teased, whilst pulling out a blue pack and slapping on his hands, he passed it to me with instruction to put it in my lip- which by now I'm sure looked as swollen and bruised as it felt. The icepack cooled down my skin until the throb became a numb ache.
"As did they." I replied.
He laughed at my disdainful emphasis. "I'm sure you gave them hell. Right off with that shirt." He said now holding a reel of bandages.
"Excuse me?" I looked at him aghast, having visions of Edwick. He rolled his eyes at me.
"Your ribs, my dear, by the way your sat I can tell I need to bandage them soon. Don't be shy now; I've seen everything out there from scars, cysts and an extra nipple a couple times."
I made an 'o' in realisation.
I put the icepack down to lift my shirt off, I was wearing a bra underneath anyway and this old man didn't seem like a threat at all, nevertheless I'd had to wear less in company before.
Fred let out a whistle, his eyebrows ascending up his forehead. I looked, for the first time myself, at the blue black mark on my torso it looked fairly unsightly but not the worst outcome from many.
Fred came closer, with surprisingly hot hands poked and prodded at the skin occasionally mumbling under his breath or apologising when he hit a particularly tender spot.
"Put your arms up in front of you, we'll have to get the good stuff on this." He turned back to his case and pulled out a pot of unfamiliar cream of sorts as he unscrewed the cap a tangy smell just on the other side of spoiled swam about the air.
"What is this 'good stuff'?" I asked, trying to breathe a little lighter but also starting to relax in his presence and willing the flow of our idle chatter.
"Werewolf speciality, top secret I'm afraid." Fred tapped the side of his nose in a 'hush hush' action. Once again he leaned over prodded around some more before he started to apply the cold viscous liquid along my side. We continued rambling between ourselves as he bandaged me up, I learned he had a mate called Martha and three children, already grown with children and partners of their own, he seemed to have had a good life despite the interference of the war, in which he had served as an army doctor, he even gloated about his good looks back in the day.
I could tell he was a soul that could get on with anyone.
When he was finished he left with instruction to keep hydrated and not to do anything too strenuous, then bid me a good day.
Once he had closed the door I raised to change into a new set of clothes; just after I had managed to don my outfit, with little mishap other than feeling slightly winded, there was another knock at the door. Joseph walked in only to stop and take a casual pose against the door frame
morning, or afternoon really, I trust you slept well?" he asked.
"Yes thank you."
"I see that Fred's patched you up." He cast his eyes to the bandage peeking out from the shoulder of my shirt; I nodded. A borderline awkward silence followed until Joseph turned, started to walk down the hallway not stopping to call over his shoulder "We'll talk over lunch."
Realising it had been a while since I had eaten, lunch sounded like a good idea.
Walking through the house didn't fail to intimidate me, as soon as I entered a room all chatter was muted leaving me under the scrutiny of the burley men and soft-faced women who loitered around. The windows offered an occasional peek outside into the wooded surroundings and clouded sky – which was a refreshing reprieve from the sun that blazed down on the base as I was used to.
Soon we descended some stairs and ended up in a kitchen. A women, with a well rounded belly, greeted us as we arrived; she approached Joseph with a hug and received a kiss when she reached up on her tip toes, then settled at his side one of Josephs arms curled round her waist to rest on the bump.
"This is my mate Catherine, Catherine this is Lydia. The one I told you about last night." Joseph introduced. Catherine in reply gave a blinding smile as she faced me.
"It's nice to meet you, please just call me Cathy, Catherine is such a mouthful." I felt somewhat drab in comparison; it was like she was glowing, not a single imperfection on her skin. Whilst I knew for a fact I looked like I'd been dragged through a bush backwards, the bruise on my lip probably a ripe brown purple colour by now.
"The pleasure is mine." I simply replied.
Cathy waved her hand and looked at me with teasing disproval "Don't be so formal, we'll be getting much closer soon." She giggled.
"If she decides to help us." Joseph said in a reprimanding tone. Her smile dampened and she casted he eyes to the ground, after a few tense moments, suddenly the smile was back on her face- leading me to believe Joseph had said something to her through the link.
Cathy ushered us towards the table, which sat inside the kitchen, and handed us plates of sandwiches and drink once we were seated.
Around two sandwiches in Joseph started to talk.
"So, I guess by now you want to know what happened back there?" he started, I nodded and swiftly finished the crust of my sandwich. A cloud passed over the sun, the room suddenly took on a colder air and Joseph's face looked set in stone. "The Vampires have been trying to close in on us for a while now, because of your position you probably already know that the Vampires are looking for more resources and I'm sure you've noticed how uncultivated our land is." He paused to let the words sink in, it had already clicked in my head to where this conversation was heading. I nodded for him to continue. "Our land is fertile, we have uncontaminated water sources, our mines yield precious materials and we're surrounded by oil. Edwick's been negotiating with Sindel for some time now, he's been brainwashed into thinking we're a threat. Trust us, trust us in believing we want nothing to do with another war, we have no reason to." Sindel- so that's the vampire's name.
"What about lycans?" I asked, Cathy's face turned sad and she shuffled closer to Joseph.
"They are a branch of werewolves- you could say. However they are near to extinction and too few and far between, I can't say they aren't dangerous, but as they are they're not a threat." I couldn't help but feel the answer was cryptic, he was leaving out information. Joseph took a moment to read my face, my movements, my body language. I mirrored his actions.
His features just as schooled as my own.
I hesitated before asking my next question, having the feeling it might be a touchy subject, "And your alpha?"
Joseph opened his mouth, before the first syllable could be spoken a great shrieking scream pierced through the air from within house.
"Chrissy." Cathy stumbled out of her chair in a panic, Joseph had already sped off at a terrifyingly fast speed, I felt a prick of worry seeing the pregnant woman try and move so fast to the door.
I caught up with her, in sympathetic worry slung her arm over my shoulders so she could move more easily, she spared me a glance of thanks and directed us deeper into the house. When we neared another set of downward stairs I could hear a bustle of voices and commands being shouted. I balked at the sound of growling and snarling, it was like nothing I had ever heard.
"Cathy, maybe we shouldn't-" Seemingly so deep in panic she continued to waddle down the stairs unperturbed, even pushing away the people who blocked her path. The further we went down the more the noises grew.
It was chaos. Everyone had gathered in a prison-like cellar, the walls were silver and there were no windows, the only light came from a couple dim overhead bulbs.
"Chrissy!" Cathy launched herself towards a woman cradling a blood covered arm next to Fred.
A roar of anger pulled my attention to the other side of the room, instantly my hand went to my gun. A creature I could not recognise, mostly hidden by the lowlight, stood at a towering height swiping and snarling blindly at the men that were attempting to subdue it. I spotted Joseph at the front of the group, instructing the men. He turned and immediately paled when we met each other's eyes.
Suddenly it silenced. Like all of the gears had suddenly stopped turning, the whole room seized into a standstill.
Joseph's lips formed words but they were censored by a bone-rattling growl.
I felt it before I saw it, the jarring pain it caused when it swept me from the ground made my eyes roll back into my skull. The last thing I remembered was crashing of glass and the thuds of its footfalls.
AN: Finally the romance will ensue...
I kinda have a love-hate relationship with this chapter, please let me know what you think in the comments and remember to leave a vote. xxxx