“Does it hurt?” Andrew asked nodding towards my hand on my stomach.
“Nah, just a bit itchy.” I mumbled rubbing it at the same time.
“It will be.” Mark said. “But try not to itch it.”
I nodded moving my hand away from it. Out of the corner of my eye I saw an all black cat walk into the lounge and lay in front of the fire.
“Oh my God!” I exclaimed diving of the chair and sitting in front of the fire before pulling the cat into my arms.
For some reason that completely escaped me they all started laughing and Dom asked.
“Is that the cat you were talking about?”
I shook my head confidently. “Nope, my one looked exactly like this, but this one is smaller.”
“You have a cat?” Mark asked curiously as I rubbed the cats head making him purr.
“No, but I have one that basically stalks me so I decided he’s mine. There must be a whole family of them somewhere because this one looks almost identical, yellow eyes and everything.”
They were still laughing, which confused me so I just rubbed my face against the cat’s fur as he let out a meow.
“Don’t you think the other cat might get jealous?” Dom asked before he seemed to grind his teeth together.
I chuckled and lay down in front of the fire with the cat pulled against me. “I doubt it, if he cared that much he’d be here letting me cuddle him instead.”
“Well, I think I saw him out back, do you want me to get him for you?”
“Dom.” Mark said in a warning voice which confused me.
I glanced at Mark as I sat up to determine if it made him angry or not before nodding. “Ok, then.”
He stood up and stretched and I couldn’t help eye him up as his t-shirt stretched over his muscles. Quickly I looked away when Dom relaxed again before saying.
“I need to go up and do the work my Dad left so I’ll let him in on the way up.”
“Ok, thanks.” I murmured disappointed I wouldn’t have him to keep stealing glances at.
To my shock the cat I had in my arms jumped out of them and followed Dom out of the room. Moments later I heard a door open and close, then the sound of someone walking up the steps and within seconds my cat strolled in and rubbed itself against my arm.
“He was right, it is my cat.” I murmured before lying back down and pulling him into my arms.
“What’s so funny?” I asked seeing amused expressions on everyone’s faces.
Mark just shook his head before Andrew said. “We never thought you were a cat person.”
I shrugged before rolling over and staring into the flames of the fire as the cat curled up against me and purred in my ear. Every now and then I rubbed my stomach as the irritation became too much to ignore, but eventually the heat of the fire lulled me into sleep before dinner.
Pain in my stomach and a low rumble of voices around me woke me up.
“How long has she been asleep now?” Andrew asked.
“About twenty five hours.” Mark answered and the tone of his voice suggested he had been answering the same question a lot.
The cat was now gone from my arms and I rubbed at my stomach before letting out a groan. Was it normal for it to hurt this much? It took a moment for me to realise that my hand was getting wet. Wondering what the hell was going on I pushed myself up on my elbow.
“Cayla, you’re awake!” Andrew exclaimed before coming and sitting next to me.
I ignored him and lifted my hand from my stomach to find it covered in blood. Now that couldn’t be very good.
“Mark she’s bleeding!” Andrew all but yelled as he caught sight of my now red hand.
When I was pushed onto my back I glanced around the room noticing that Mark and Andrew were the only ones in there. Without warning Mark pulled the t-shirt up over my stomach to reveal my now bloody cut.
The moment Mark touched it I groaned. “Ow!”
“Sorry.” He said quickly. “It looks like some of the stitches have come out.”
“Can’t you put them back in?” Andrew asked.
“Sure, but I’m going to have to put her to sleep again and she’ll be back to square one with the weakness.”
I sighed. “Just do it without putting me to sleep.”
He raised an eyebrow. “That’s going to hurt a lot.”
I shrugged. “I’ll live, but I’m not starting again with the weakness.”
He groaned. “Dom is going to kill me for this.”
I gave a little laugh. “I’m pretty sure he’s not going to be that angry if you put one of his friends through a little pain to help them.”
He shook his head as if he wanted to say something, but instead just said. “Ok.”
Clearly when I had agreed to this I hadn’t known what I had been letting myself in for the moment the needle touched my already sore skin I was in agony. Andrew let me squeeze his hand as I tried not to scream and when Mark was almost done I couldn’t help the cry that escaped my throat at a particularly painful part. Immediately after that the sound of the front door opening echoed throughout the house and Andrew muttered.
“Oh shit.”
“We’re home from the stupid shopping trip!” Dom shouted out as we heard his footsteps followed by another pair in the hallway.
“Hurry up.” Andrew hissed at Mark.
I bit my lip hard enough for it to bleed as Mark hurried to finish off the last part. He just managed to finish before Dom appeared in the doorway, I saw his face turn into a mask of fury as I let go of Andrew’s hand and lay back panting.
“Why the hell is she bleeding?” He yelled.
God why did he get so obsessive about protecting me, I knew he was my friend, but Matt and Andrew never acted like that. He walked over to me quickly just as Mark said calmly.
“Some of her stitches came out, but they are all good now.”
“Why the hell didn’t you put her to sleep?” He growled as he knelt down next to me.
Instead of listening to them argue I decided to answer. “It was my choice Dominic ok? I know you’re my friend and you worry, but as you can see I’m fine.”
“Your friend? Right, of course.” Before I could even respond he got up, walked out the room past Matt who was standing in the doorway and then we heard the front door slam.
I sat up and stared after him in shock. “What the hell?”
“What was that about?” Denise asked walking into the room moments later.
“My stitches came out and Mark fixed them so I’m fine, but now your son is acting like a damn two year old.” I muttered. “Never knew friend was such an offensive word.”
Pulling my t-shirt back down I got to my feet shaking Andrew off when he tried to help me feeling really annoyed I pushed my sore stomach to the back of my mind.
“Do you mind if I take a shower?” I asked.
“I’m not sure you should yet.” Mark said.
I groaned. “Please, I’m covered in blood, I’ll be quick.”
He sighed and nodded.
“Come on sweetie, I’ll find you some clothes.” Denise said trailing me out of the room and up the stairs.
I stood by what I said and had a quick shower before getting dressed in the jeans and t-shirt Denise had found saying they were her niece’s from when she had visited and she was closer to my size. They were still a little big, but only by about one size. Although they were closer to my size they didn’t feel half as good as Dom’s t-shirts had felt and certainly didn’t smell anywhere near as good.
Denise was waiting outside when I exited the bathroom and wanting to be alone rather than actually wanting to go to sleep I asked.
“Is it ok if I go to bed?”
She smiled. “Of course dear.”
She led me to the same room I had first woken up in and opened to door for me to walk in.
“Do you want anything to eat?” She asked me.
I shook my head and smiled in response. “No thank you, I’m just wiped ou
t.”
“Sleep well then.” She smiled again before closing the door.
My smile disappeared from my face as soon as I heard the click of the door. I felt guilty for not crying about my parents for the past few days, I hadn’t forgotten them, but there had been no nightmares and no crying, which was a good thing except it was just another part of them I was losing. I would never be forgiven for Toby’s death, how could I even forgive myself when I knew that somewhere out there my Uncle hated me for it?”
Walking over to the window I looked out towards the trees, I really wanted to visit that clearing again so that the good memories of them could surround me just like they had on that day. It was stupid and I probably shouldn’t even think about going out there in my condition, but I was just starving for memories of them at the moment. Before I made the stupid mistake of sneaking outside and heading towards the clearing there was a knock at my door.
“Come in.” I called keeping my gaze towards the window assuming it was Andrew or maybe Denise again.
I heard the door open before he said. “Hi.”
At the sound of Dom’s voice I looked towards the door in surprise. “Hi.” I murmured unable to look away from him.
“Can I come in?” He asked.
I just shrugged before looking back out of the window. The sound of the door clicked before I heard his footsteps moving towards me.
“Cayla, I’m sorry.”
He put his hand on my shoulder making me shiver and I turned towards him.
“I’m just not sure why you were so angry and what was wrong with calling you my friend, don’t you want to be my friend?”
His face was really close to mine and he shook his head. “That isn’t what I meant Cayla, of course I want you as my friend.”
I looked at him for more explanation, but he kept quiet before looking at the floor and shaking his head. He looked back up at me then. “I’m a guy and we aren’t good with words, can I just show you?”
I frowned in confusion before shrugging. “Ok.”
Before I even figured out what he was doing his lips were on mine. It shocked me so much that I didn’t even have time to respond before he pulled away; it was only a gentle kiss and didn’t last very long.
“Oh.” I breathed putting fingers to my lips where they still tingled.
He was staring into my eyes as if to determine if I was going to scream or run away from him, but when I did nothing his eyebrows drew together. Unable to find any words to say I decided to take a page out of his book and just show him. Sliding my hands up around his neck I saw his eyes widen before I pulled his face down to mine. That was all the encouragement he needed before he slid his arms around me and locked my lips with his. I tangled my fingers in his hair and this time I kissed him back opening my lips up against his as he slid his tongue into my mouth. Groaning against his mouth I kissed him more desperately running my tongue over his lips.
He kissed me gently once more before pulling away a bit resting our foreheads against each others.
“I guess that made a bit more sense now.” I breathed.
He smiled and ran his fingers down my face. “I probably didn’t really go about it the right way.”
“Not really.” I admitted.
“I should let you get to bed anyway.” He said lifting his forehead away from mine as I pulled my arms from around his neck.
“Ok, but I want to go for a walk first.”
He looked hesitant before saying. “Can I come with you?”
I blushed before saying. “I kind of need to be alone for a bit if that’s ok? And the trees help me relax.”
There was a look in his eyes as if he knew exactly why I needed to be alone, but there was no way he could. The only one who knew what I did in those trees was my cat.
In the end he nodded and walked me down the stairs and to the front door. It was getting dark and would soon be pitch black, but now that Matt had reminded me where the place was I didn’t even need to see to find it again.
“Get back soon ok?”
I nodded and he kissed me once more before letting me walk outside and disappear into the trees. I hadn’t been walking for long before my cat took up walking next to me without a sound.
Chapter 7
It didn’t take long for my thoughts to fade away and be replaced with the memories that I so desperately wanted to forget. Despite the fact I had just had the most amazing kiss of my life I was still convinced that I deserved to suffer for what had happened and spending time with Dom and my friends was definitely no form of suffering.
By the time I reached the clearing I had sufficiently gathered enough memories of that painful day to have tears running down my face. I sat down close to the lake and the cat rubbed himself up against me again. It was probably about time I gave the cat a name, but I didn’t really have the energy to bother with it at the moment. The tears began to slow down a bit as happy memories of days by this same lake pushed away bad ones. Eventually when the sky was about as black as it could get I lay down muttering to the cat.
“Lay down with me for a while, then I better get back before Dom goes crazy.”
The cat happily curled up against my chest as I let my body relax. Before I was even aware that I was getting tired, I somehow cried myself to sleep.
A low growling sound bought me to my senses immediately putting me on high alert before I even sat up and looked around to take in the scene. The first thing I saw was glowing eyes from within the trees surrounding the area opposite me. I jumped to my feet quickly as I made out the form of a wolf in the moonlight after it took its first steps into the clearing. It wasn’t until I heard a responding growl that I scanned the area a little closer to me. In fact the creature was so black that it blended in enough that I missed it twice until it turned around and I took in its bright yellow eyes.
I took steps back so fast that I almost fell into the lake, but I managed to regain my balance. The wolves I could believe, but what was really sending my brain into confusion was the black panther before me. I hadn’t even known there were any around here, in fact I didn’t even know anything about where they were supposed to live, but I had a feeling he was a little far from home and he looked well fed and strong so clearly he wasn’t afraid to kill when the meal arrived and I had a feeling that tonight that meal was going to be me. Well, unless the wolves overpowered him and took me.
The pack of wolves began stalking towards me and I was surprised when the panther stepped in front of me and gave a low threatening growl its ears going back flat against its head. It only took me a moment to remember I was its next meal and of course he would protect its food. The fear running through my body seemed to have made me lose my mind a bit in order for me to have done the next thing when I looked around and couldn’t find my cat.
“Oh my God! You ate my cat!” I yelled before picking up a branch and hitting the black panther with it.
Yeah, I had definitely lost my mind I realised gripping the branch tightly as the panther turned towards me. I thought it was just going to kill me in that moment, but instead it let out a hissing sound that had me almost wetting myself. When the panther returned its gaze to the approaching wolves I realised they were much closer and if I didn’t get away from here now I was going to be someone’s dinner. Everything I had heard about never showing fear or running away from wild animals completely fled my mind as I dropped the branch and ran towards the trees as fast as my feet would carry me.
The pain of all of my injuries suddenly came to the forefront of my mind as the exertion of my body made me realise how much my stomach, ribs and throat still hurt. Stupidly I glanced behind me to see if I was being followed only to make out the eyes of one of the wolves before I went sprawling onto the forest ground after tripping over a branch.
I scrambled to my feet, but I knew I hadn’t been fast enough when an intense sting ran down my back ripping a cry from my throat. Hearing the hiss from the panther close by was the only sound I needed
to know who was now struggling with the wolf when I heard it whimper behind me. Hoping that the rest of the wolves were gone as I left the panther preoccupied with that one I increased my speed ignoring the pain that tried to slow me down. The journey back to Dom’s house seemed so much further than when I had come here, but I think I may have taken a few wrong turns in the pitch black and my desperation to get away from the wild animals so quickly. Whichever way I had come it definitely wasn’t the shortest and right now I really wanted to get back to his house as fast as possible.
When his house finally did come into view I actually cried in relief and even though my vision was now so blurred with tears that I couldn’t even see I managed to make it to the front door and knock as hard and quickly as I possibly could. The minute the door opened I practically fell through the open doorway and I would have hit the floor if I wasn’t caught by Matt.
“Woah, Cayla what’s wrong, what happened?”
I didn’t even have the energy to say anything instead I collapsed against him sobbing. At that moment I would have fell into anyone’s arms I just desperately needed a hug and Matt just happened to be the one who had opened the door, which he probably wished he hadn’t by now.
“It ate my cat.” Was all I could keep gasping out repeatedly.
I didn’t know when I had been taken into the lounge with everyone trying to get some sort of sense out of me and I didn’t know how long it was before Dom arrived, but when he did I collapsed into his arms and started sobbing all over again. Having no idea what time it was I wasn’t even sure when I eventually calmed down and now that I was my injuries began to ache again.
“There’s a damn panther in there!” I burst out when I could finally talk again.
Everyone looked at each other and it looked to me like they were trying to figure out if I was crazy or not.
“It was in there!” I insisted trying to get out of Dom’s arms on the couch, but he refused to let me go so I stayed there. “It was all black with yellow eyes and well, it looked exactly like those black cats, but really big! It was a panther!”
One Of The Enemy (Hidden Descendant Series, Book 1) Page 7