by Toni Goode
He knew he only had one shot at doing this and so he pulled the lock up from the window and opened it slowly as he kept his eye on the door. The guard didn’t move. He took one more look out the window before he jumped. He attempted to land on his feet, but the drop made him bounce as his ankle snapped and he let out a strangled growl at the pain coursing up his leg now. He could feel the broken bone in his ankle but there wasn’t time to worry about that now. He began to run towards the woods that lined the back of the hospital. It was then that he caught the scent in the air. Those blood suckers were close. They were waiting for him and he knew that in this condition he wouldn’t last long at all. He would have to try and hide out, but he needed to cover his scent first. He grabbed some of the dirt off the ground and he rubbed it against his bare flesh. He tossed the hospital gown onto the ground and quickly worked on covering himself in dirt. It wouldn’t last long but possibly long enough to get off their radar. He couldn’t tell how far they were from him, but he knew the second they caught wind of his scent that they would be on the prowl.
He had to stay in his human form for now because the scent would be that much stronger once he changed and so he began to run even with his broken ankle. Every thrust of his foot sent an excruciating pain coursing up his leg, but he tried not to think about it. What he tried to think about was his father. His father had always pushed him since he was little. He thought of the time that he had fallen from the great big oak tree in his back yard. He had hurt his arm and he refused to use his arm for days after that.
“You’re only making it worse on yourself Johnny, use that arm and it will heal in half the time.” His father’s voice coursed through him as he ran. Granted a hurt arm and a very broken ankle were different but he used it to run through the pain. He only needed a little bit of time. Just enough to get a head start. The scent of something familiar hit his nose as he ran. It was faint but so familiar that he couldn’t help but run towards it. The closer he got to it the more his body reacted to the scent. It was as if he needed it to survive. He came to a small clearing in the woods and he stopped as he saw a small house sitting by itself. The scent was stronger now as he got up to it and then his eyes went to the car sitting out front. Images of it flashed in his mind. It was the car from earlier, he inhaled deeper. Images of her bright blue eyes staring back at him. It was the girl from the hospital. He picked up a different scent too and it made his head turn from right to left.
It was those damn blood suckers. He could smell one close. The sound of buzzing made him glance at a window on the side of the house. He moved over to it quick. The smell of those blood suckers was strong. Was one inside with her? He didn’t wait to find out as he got to the window and pushed it open and then he was jumping inside with a crash as his body crashed not only into a table but one that had a god damn cactus plant on it. The thorns dug into his flesh and he let out a growl.
Briana heard the crash and it jolted her awake as she jumped up. Looking around she fumbled with her phone that was buzzing over and over. It was Chris calling again, she silenced it as the sound of a growl was heard and she gasped. Her phone fell to the ground and skidded against the floor. At first, she thought maybe she had been dreaming and heard the sounds in her sleep, but the growl made this all too real as she quickly ran to her closet and grabbed the .22 pistol she had hiding there. The reality that an animal might have gotten into her house made her feel sick. Her father always warned her about living this far out from town and knowing that there was something out there mauling people like that man from earlier made her incredibly anxious.
She could hear something moving in her living room. It sounded large and it was knocking into things. All she could imagine was a big bear making its ways through her house. She quickly began looking for her phone only to see it had skidded half way under her bed. She heard something moving closer to her door and she knew she couldn’t be a sitting duck like that, so she ran to her closet and got inside. Her breathing was labored as she tried to calm herself in the closet. She heard a door opened and she heard footsteps. Suddenly the idea of it being a person breaking into her house was more frightening then an animal. She held her gun as she heard someone fumble around her room. She could see a large shadow moving through the moonlight but then it stopped, and she tried to hold her breath as she stood there shaking. The next thing she saw was the closet door being ripped open and she let out two shots from her gun. A loud growl filled the room and she went to yell but the next thing she felt was her body being pulled hard from the closet. She fell onto the floor, smacking her head on the way down as she let out a yelp. Then she felt a huge weight on her. The weight of a man and when she went to let out a scream, a hand came onto her mouth and much to her shock and surprise she saw a pair of very familiar green eyes looking back at her.
Chapter Three
The green eyes that looked back at her belonged to the man at the hospital. She wouldn’t forget those eyes for anything, but he had a crazed look in his eyes and fear washed over her. He was in her house! He was holding her down! She did the first thing she could think of and that was to ram her knee upwards but as she did she realized a very important fact, he was naked. Completely naked. Her knee slammed between his legs and he fell to the side with a groan. As she scrambled across the dark room she felt his hand grab at her ankle.
“Let go of me, Let go! “She yelled as she kicked at him, but she slid against the floor on something and when she reached to try and push herself off the floor her hand got into something wet. As she looked down she saw something dark on her hand. Realization came across her that it was blood. She yelled out as she kicked some more and now he yelled out, startling her.
“Enough! Stop kicking!” He yelled as he yanked her body back towards him.
“Help! Somebody help me!” She yelled out, but she knew no one would hear her. She wasn’t around any other homes. She began to wonder if this was how it would all end? Would she die here?
“I said Enough!” He slid her body across the floor and then his weight was on hers and his hand was back over her mouth. “I’m not here to hurt you, stop yelling.” He yelled out at her as tears began to stream down her face and she tried to yell against his hand. He was just too strong. “I said I’m not going to hurt you!” He yelled out again. “Just relax ok, If I remove my hand will you not scream?” he lowered his voice now as he looked at her. She quickly shook her head yes. “Ok, I’m going to move my hand.” He said as he slowly moved his hand off her mouth.
“What do you want?” She said with tears as she laid there, his weight still on her.
He went to speak but he caught the scent of one of those blood suckers on her. He quickly grabbed her arm as she yelped, and he inspected the tiny scrape on her forearm. He brought it to his face and inhaled as she trembled.
“Who did this?” he said as she shook her head. “I said who did this!” He yelled now as she yelped.
“I don’t know, some guy. Just some weird guy!” She finally yelled out as he let go of her arm and quickly got up and looked around. Briana looked around for her phone on the ground but saw her gun instead. He walked out of the room quickly and she took the opportunity to grab her gun and aim it at the door. She could hear him moving around and she looked down at the ground and then down at her own body. There was blood everywhere. It was on her legs. It was on her hands. The sound of something crashing onto the ground made her jump and then she heard a groan.
Slowly she walked toward the door and stared down the darkened hallway. She could make out a foot on the ground and that’s when she realized that he had fallen but she also realized that is where all the blood was coming from because down the hall was even more blood. He groaned again, and she quickly began to head down the hall. She held the gun in her hand as she got closer to his body which was face down on the ground. He was bleeding out on her floor and she began to panic. “Oh my god, oh my god, stay here. Don’t move. I’m going to call an ambulance” She yelled out fr
antically and then she spun around to find her phone.
“No... Don’t.” He called out as she got halfway down the hall. “Don’t call.” He attempted to get up, but he fell back down as she ran over to him. She nearly fell from the blood on the ground. “Just don’t call.” He said with a groan as he tried to get up, but he currently had an abdominal wound from one of the gunshots. It stung like hell and he was losing blood fast.
“Your bleeding out, everywhere.” She said quickly.
“Just… Just help me up.” He said as he tried to push himself up some. “Shit!” He yelled as he fell back down and groaned.
“Ok, ok. Just stop bleeding everywhere.” She said as she grabbed his arm. She tried not to stare at his naked body because even though it was dark there was still moonlight coming in that silhouetted his body. He pulled himself up some with her help. “Just get over to the couch, ok.” She said as they moved slowly over to the couch and then he fell onto it with a grunt.
Briana stood there just staring at him. He was completely naked on her couch. He was beautiful, even covered in blood he was beautiful and then the reality of the situation came rushing back. He was bleeding bad! “Oh my gosh, ok I have to call an ambulance.” She finally said as he shook his head no with a groan. “Your bleeding, everywhere!” She yelled out as her voice trembled.
“I’m fine.” He said with a groan.
“No, you’re not. Oh my god I shot you. I shot you and your bleeding bad. Oh my god.” She began to hyperventilate as she stood there. “Why are you even here? How did you get here?” She rambled on.
“Can you sew?” He groaned.
“What? Yes... No… How did you.” She began as he cut her off.
“Damn it I will do it myself!” He snapped as he tried to sit up but the pain in his abdomen and ankle stopped him. “Shit!” he yelled out.
“Ok, Ok, your going to be fine.” She said as she ran to the bathroom and began opening all the drawers as she looked for a first aid kit. Under the bathroom sink she found one but it was covered in an inch of dust. She ran with it back into the Livingroom and she quickly put on the light though she immediately regretted it when she saw his body illuminated in all its naked glory. “Oh my god.” She quickly looked away.
“Can you sew or not?” He groaned as he jumped some.
“You really need a doctor.” She said quickly as he tried to sit up with a groan. “Ok never mind, just don’t move your making it worse.” She said honestly as she rushed over to him. She swallowed hard. She grabbed one of the rectangular throw pillows and she nonchalantly placed it over his groin area.
“I need alcohol.” He groaned.
“Alcohol?” she asked with confusion.
“Yes, get me alcohol!” He yelled, and she ran into the kitchen. All she could find was a bottle of whiskey, but it would be good to disinfect the wound. She ran back in and opened it up as she got next to the couch. She went to pour it on the wound, but he grabbed it from her before she could. He then took a large swig of it and then he poured it on the wound as he yelled out. “Damn it... Shit!”
“Are you crazy, because you look crazy.” She said quickly as she shook her head. Ans removed
“Get a towel.” He ignored her question. “Hurry, damn it I’m bleeding out here!” He snapped as she quickly ran into the kitchen and grabbed a kitchen towel. By the time she got back into the Livingroom he was trying to sit up but to no avail. “You have to do this quick, but you need to dig the bullet out and then cauterize the wound.” He said she stood there in shock. “Time is wasting, just use a tweezer from the first aid kit.” He snapped.
“I don’t think I can do this, you need a doctor.” She said honestly but he grabbed the kit from her.
“I need you to sew, here.” He said as he handed her the sutures kit, it contained a needle, thread and a tweezer. “First reach in and get the bullet out.” He said with a groan. “Don’t think, just do it and hurry.” Briana’s hand shook as she held the tweezer in her hand and she looked down into the bleeding hole in his stomach. “Please I need you to do this. You can do this.” His voice was lower now as she swallowed hard and concentrated as she pushed the tweezer into his body and he tensed as she dug around. Tears began to pool in her eyes as she fished around and then she hit something hard. Her heart began to race as she pulled at the metal piece lodged in his stomach and as it came out she wanted to yell in victory but the amount of blood now pouring from him doubled. He quickly pushed the towel against his stomach. “I need you to get a spoon and get it hot really fast with either the stove or a lighter.” He said as he held the wound.
“Why?” She almost hated to ask as he groaned in pain. “Ok ok... a spoon, a lighter, got it.” She ran into the kitchen and began opening the drawers and throwing things onto the counter. She grabbed a lighter and then she grabbed a spoon. She hated what she was about to do because she had a bit of an inkling of what to do. He had said that the wound needed to be cauterized and she knew that meant that it would have to be burned. The thought made her sick, but she pushed it aside as she ran back in the living room. He looked like he was about to pass out as he laid there.
“Ok get it really hot.” He said as she flicked the lighter and held the spoon over it. If anyone would have told her even just an hour ago that she was about to do this barbaric task, she would have never believed them. “Ok that’s good, just push it down into the hole.” He said as he removed the towel. “Just do it!” He yelled out and she did just that as he yelled once more. “SHIT!” He yelled as the sound of sizzling flesh filled the room. Briana thought she would pass out from the sound alone. “Now sew quickly.” He said with labored breathing. He was turning white as he laid there.
She didn’t wait for him to bark the order as she grabbed the needle and she pushed it through his skin. He let out a strangled groan and then he got quiet. For a moment she thought he had died but then she saw his chest moving. He had passed out. She was actually relieved that he had because she knew that the pain alone would knock a grown man out. She continued to stitch him up and she was surprised to see that the cauterizing had begun to work, and his bleeding was lessening. She wasn’t a stranger to medical procedures but the only people she had ever done anything to were dead, like when she had done clinical training at the town morgue but working on the living was much different. The final stitch she got in him and the wound was finally closed, and the bleeding had stopped.
She was covered in his blood and her own sweat though as she ran her hand across her brow. It was then that she really looked his body over and without him watching. She felt almost ashamed at how she was ogling his passed-out body, but he was too beautiful too look away. Every muscle and line across his body was like a piece of art work. He had numerous tattoos she could see now. There were too many to focus on just one. Everything about him was impressive and not just what was between his legs because that went without saying.
Her eyes went down to his ankle and she gasped when she saw how swollen it was. It looked broken and she couldn’t imagine him walking on it being broken. There is no way anyone would do that, right? It was then that she realized he had absolutely no sign of clothing. Had he left the hospital completely naked? She almost felt like she was being set up for a joke and if she hadn’t just stitched his skin closed then she may have really felt like someone was pranking her. She looked over his body once more and she realized just how much blood was on him. She used the opportunity to grab a fresh towel and to wipe him down.
As she wiped down his body she wondered where the heck he came from? She wondered if someone was looking for him? Hell, she just wanted to know what his name was? She had no answers and part of her felt like she probably never would. He didn’t seem like a person who liked to stick around for too long. She wondered if he was a convict? Maybe he was dangerous? The thought nearly made her laugh because she almost hoped he was dangerous, or at least a little bit. He surely looked the part.
Briana hadn’t been one for
danger. She was always going the straight and narrow way of life. She had never even skipped school as a teenager, she had genuinely liked school and she loved college even more. The riskiest thing she had done was work in a bar but then again it was her hometown bar and she knew everyone that went there. Now she had a strange naked man in her house that she just stitched closed from a gunshot wound that came from her gun. Her eyes got wide as she realized that all of this was actually happening, she had shot a man and stitched him up! She quickly backed up from her couch as she tried to figure out what she should do. The logical side of her knew she should call an ambulance or the cops at least but then how would she explain the situation in her house. How had he known where she lived?
It all began to feel very very weird to her as she stood there. It really made no sense at all. She headed back into her bedroom and she quickly retrieved her phone from under her bed. She gasped as she saw the broken screen. “Shit” She said under her breath as she tossed it onto her bed and then she remembered that she had her laptop in the trunk of the car. She could at least message someone from it and get an ambulance or something. She quickly ran for the front door and swung it open. She ran to her car and opened the trunk, retrieving her bag from it but as she spun around she gasped at the person standing in front of her. It was the man from the hospital. The weird one who licked the blood off of her arm. He smiled big at her and she stumbled backwards as she was greeted with two very sharp fang like teeth.
“I hope your not planning on running away sweetheart, that wouldn’t be very nice of you.” He grinned even wider as she let out a scream and tossed her backpack at him as she ran to the front door of her house but before she got to it, the man seemed to have jumped in front of her. He blocked her way as she let out another shocked scream. What the hell was happening? “Oh, I don’t think so.” He reached out and grabbed her by the throat as she went to run. His hand held her throat tight and she gasped for air but there was none. “I was going to take my time but now I think I am just going to finish you off quick.” He grinned as he pushed her dangling body against the house and his mouth opened wide as he moved his face to her neck. She couldn’t yell, she couldn’t breathe.