by Jenna Aileen
“Feel better?” Conan asked as I walked out with a towel on my head.
I nodded and crashed on the bed with a sigh.
“I got some stuff to wrap it in.” He came over and sat down next to me. “And I got you another shirt too. There’s probably less of a chance of you getting an infection if you’re wearing cleaner clothes.”
I just sighed and sat up, pulling off my shirt which did feel rather dirty. I couldn’t look him in the eye like this. My stomach, though it had gotten smaller from all the traveling we did, was still something I was self-conscious about.
“I got this antibacterial stuff to put on it.” He said, pulling out a little tube.
“That’s fine, can we just get this over with?”
“Yeah, sorry.”
“Dammit, that stings,” I hissed.
“Sorry.” He was incredibly gentle as he smeared the ointment on. But the closeness plus my lack of clothing made my heart race--and not in a good way.
As soon as he was done, I pulled my shirt on and rolled over to face the wall so I didn’t have to look at him. The silence was heavy with all the things left unsaid.
*~*~*
I woke up a little after six the next morning with a growling stomach and pounding head. Conan was dead asleep, completely sprawled out on the other bed. I decided to seize the opportunity to go out and buy the items I was in dire need of, but couldn’t bring myself to ask for. I slowly reached over, grabbed the wallet off of the night stand and cautiously rolled out of bed.
I tiptoed over to the door, grabbing my coat on the way out, cringing when the door clicked shut behind me. I bolted down the hallway over to the stairwell and almost tripped and fell to my death because I was taking them three at a time. My heart was racing and I was out of breath but I tried to compose myself as best I could when I finally reached the bottom.
I walked briskly out of the hotel and down the sidewalk, trying to find a drug store where I could get what I needed.
In less than ten minutes, I was on my way back to the hotel. Yes, I had a chance of escape. Call me stupid but I really wanted to figure out what was going on. I should have taken the chance when I had it and made a run for it. But I didn’t.
I hid my purchases in my coat and zipped it all the way up. Hopefully Conan wouldn’t notice. He was way too observant for my taste.
As I walked back, I realized the one major flaw in my plan. I never grabbed the room key and had no way of getting back in unless Conan opened the door for me. If he opened the door for me, then I would have to tell him why I went out and what I got. I felt my face get hot at the thought of that and cursed under my breath. He was probably already aware that I was gone anyway. At this point, he was probably out frantically looking for me. The man’s already seen me half naked for crying out loud, I wasn’t sure why saying the word ‘period’ was such a big deal to me. I guess I was just trying to preserve the last shred of dignity that I had.
I stopped to think outside the hotel for a minute, trying to think of an excuse for leaving. My mind was blank. I heaved a big sigh and was about to walk in the front doors, when I saw the phone booth across the street. I almost jumped up and down with excitement. Abel! I could call Abel and tell him that I’m still alive! I ran across the street as fast as I could and almost got hit by a car. The driver beeped at me but I hardly noticed because I was so intent on talking to Abel.
My hands shook as I put three quarters in, dialed his cell phone number and prayed that he would pick up even though he wouldn’t recognize the number. It rang four times and I was just about to cry with despair when I heard him pick up.
“Hello?” Abel asked, sounding slightly hostile. My heart melted and just the sound of his voice brought tears to my eyes. It all seemed to hit me just then.
“Abel?” I whispered, choking up. I hated to be such a baby and did my best not to actually let the tears fall down my face. I commanded them to stay in my eyes or go away completely.
“Oh my gosh, Kathryn! How—where are you? Are you okay? Oh my gosh—”
“Abel, I’m okay. Not hurt. Much. You’re never going to believe this but the men who kidnapped me are—”
“Werewolves, I know, Kathryn. Listen, I need you to tell me exactly where you are.”
“Wait—how did you know? Never mind. I’m not sure where we are exactly, we were chased by rogues? Or something, Conan had a weird name for them—but we’re out of their territory now and—oh my gosh, Abel! Are you okay? I thought you were dead!” I heard him talking to people in the background, then a muffled banging sound that sounded like someone was grabbing the phone.
“Kathy, baby?” I heard a deep, gravelly voice on the other line; one I hadn’t heard in almost nine years. Time seemed to halt as I stood there in complete shock.
“Dad?” I whispered. “Oh my gosh…dad what are you doing with Abel? Never mind that, what the hell is going on?”
“Kathryn, it’s been so long. God, I’ve missed you so much! I know that this is all really confusing right now, and I’m sure you’re scared but I promise, I am coming to find you alright? Just hang in there.”
“Okay, why does everyone but me seem to know what is going on? How are you going to find me, and how do you expect to get me away from here—these are werewolves we’re talking about.”
“I know baby, I know—”
“What? How—”
“I can’t explain it all now sweetie, I’m sorry. Just stay calm, okay? Where did you say you—” I felt a hand gripping my shoulder and someone yanked me away from the phone.
“No wait—”
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Conan asked, shoving me up against the outside wall of the phone booth.
“You idiot! That was my dad! Let me go—” I screamed at him, trying to pull away and get back to the phone, which Conan quickly hung up. I stood there in shock for about thirty seconds before launching myself at Conan and trying to punch him in the face. He easily blocked it and clamped his hand over my mouth to muffle my screams.
“You’re making a scene. Stop screaming now,” he said, his voice low and threatening. I licked his hand in defiance, but he just growled and dug his nails into my arm. Part of me wanted to struggle more as he dragged me back to the hotel. Conan pulled me into the elevator, and shoved me against the back wall. As soon as the doors closed, he whipped around and gave me a dangerous look.
“What the hell were you thinking? Do you want the police knocking on our door?”
“Maybe that would be a good thing seeing as you freaking kidnapped me!” I said, pulling his hand off of my mouth. He shushed me and yanked me out into the hall and to our room.
“You scared me half to death Kathryn! What were you doing?”
“Oh, nothing, you know, just calling my dad until you pulled me away from the phone!”
“That’s bull crap. Give me my wallet back, now. What did you buy?”
“I didn’t buy anything Conan, and technically this isn’t your wallet! Its Charlie Mooch’s wallet.”
“It’s Charles Muchnik, and I need it back now.” He grabbed me and unzipped my coat, causing my bag of…merchandise to fall on the floor.
“What is this?” he asked.
“Don’t—” Too late. Conan had already dumped out the bag and my erm, stuff fell out. He paused for a minute, then looked up at me.
“Oh. This explains a lot.”
“You’re a freaking idiot—what do you mean that explains a lot?”
“I mean it explains why you’ve been acting like a complete...”
“Dick.” I grabbed the bag and my stuff and marched into the bathroom with what little dignity I had left.
“I’m sorry Kathryn, I should have known—”
“Yeah, you probably should have, but you didn’t. Stupid wolf man,” I muttered under my breath, slamming the door shut behind me. I attempted to shower again and forced myself to stand under the warm water long enough to wash my hair and quickly scrub my b
ody. The cuts stung the entire time, I hoped that was a good thing. They looked a little better today, I think. Stills scabbed over and looking kind of gross but there wasn’t much I could do about that.
I spent over an hour in the bathroom however, playing with my hair and trying to cool off a bit about the whole situation with Conan. In the end, I figured he would have found out somehow anyway, but I was still pissed at him for hanging up on my dad. I mean, the conversation was just getting good. I was still having a hard time processing what he had said. Had I heard him correctly? How did he know about the werewolves?
He had to have something to do with all this. This had to have some connection with the reason why they wanted me. What was he going to do to me?
I burst out of the bathroom and ran over to where Conan was on the bed.
“So I guess you’re over it now, hmm?” he said, not even looking at me.
“What does this have to do with my father?”
“Kathryn, we’ve been over this before,” he replied, still keeping his eyes on the TV. I jumped on top of him and grabbed his shoulders.
“Listen, my dad knows you’re werewolves. Does this have something to do with you kidnapping me?”
Conan raised his eyebrows for a moment and studied my face. He let out a low growl and picked me up off of him and placed me next to him. He grabbed his coat and the wallet. “I have an idea, let’s go shopping. We’ve still got a ways to go before we reach the others, and we’ll need supplies.”
“Conan!” I huffed in frustration and threw myself back on the bed. “Why do you keep avoiding this? I’m going to find out sooner or later.” I whined.
“Yes, and I’d rather it be later rather than sooner so just come on.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me up.
“Ow! That hurt you moron!” I exclaimed.
“Oh you’re such a drama queen.” He rolled his eyes in a very dramatic exasperated manor.
“You probably made the scabs on my stomach crack open now, thanks, genius.” I groaned, hugging myself.
“We’re being a bit cranky now, aren’t we?” He made a pouty lip and I had just about had enough.
“I hate you!” I shouted, trying to punch him.
“Oh just shut up and get your coat,” he said, easily blocking my fists from hitting his head.
“We can get something to eat along the way. You get very angry when you’re hungry.”
“Thanks, captain obvious, you’re not the first person to tell me this.” I shoved him, but grabbed my coat. As if on cue, my stomach growled and Conan smirked. I mumbled some choice words under my breath as we walked out of the hotel room. *~*~*
We found a little strip mall not too far from the drug store and went shopping there. When it came to buying
unmentionables, I sent Conan off to do his own shopping, though it didn’t take long. I always thought it was so annoying that men could just a grab a shirt and hold it up to them to see if it would fit, whereas with us women, it depends on the length and style and fit and cut and color and it’s too complicated and in my opinion, completely unfair.
I didn’t get too much, just another pair of jeans and two shirts. Then it was time to shop for more supplies, although Conan said it would only take about another week to get to where Vladimir and the others were. We both forgot that we had to walk back to the hotel and had to cart way too many bags.
Once we were back at the hotel, I dropped the bags and threw myself on the bed.
“I’ve got an errand to run, but it won’t take long. I promise I will be right back,” Conan said, shortly after we had gotten back. “If you try to run away again, I will not hesitate to duct tape you to the bed, understood?” I knew he was probably serious about duct taping me to the bed, but it’s not like I had the energy to go anywhere. Shopping had completely drained me and I was starting to feel a bit hungry again. I just grunted and he seemed to believe that I wasn’t going to move so he left. True to his word, he was back in about five minutes with two pints of chocolate ice cream.
“I figured this might be getting hungry.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked defensively. I could only resist for so long though, and soon I was gobbling down the ice cream. I killed half a pint in under four minutes immediately felt sick to my stomach.
“You’re the worst,” I groaned.
“Hey, it’s not my fault you ate it that fast.”
“Well you were wolfing it down too! No uh, pun intended.” Conan chuckled and rolled his eyes. It was a pretty uneventful night. Well, that is until I fell asleep.
*~*~*
I had the same dream. It felt even more real this time, to the point that I swore the faceless man whose hands were all over me in the dream was hovering over my bed when I awoke.
“Kathryn, it’s okay, you were just dreaming,” Conan comforted, rubbing my shoulder. My wounds stung as I started hiccupping.
I whimpered, trying to calm myself down. I felt dazed; in some sort of in between dreaming and awake state of mind. Conan sighed and sat next to me on the bed, wrapped his arm around my shoulder and tried to calm me down. I was terrified of falling back to sleep. I hated feeling like this, so vulnerable and afraid. Especially in front of Conan.
He had been such an evil jerk when he had first kidnapped me but all of the sudden, ever since I got hurt, he was unbearably sweet and almost protective. If this was some kind of trick, I was falling for it.
I caught myself settled down, allowing myself to react to his comfort and closeness. It was hard not to believe he actually cared and wanted to protect me. He seemed so genuine, especially now, he was holding me while I cried. His thumb was gently rubbing my shoulder and I buried my face into his shirt.
“It’s alright, I’m not going to let them hurt you,” Conan said softly, trying to wipe away the trail of tears. He sounded so sweet, so genuine. I decided right then and there to trust him. My dad didn’t say anything about not trusting my
kidnappers…I mean he did say he was coming to save me so I guess that could mean anything, right? I was going to trust my instincts. Maybe I hadn’t felt this way at first, but right now I felt that being with Conan was the safest place to be.
Chapter Twenty, Conan
I felt almost guilty as I comforted Kathryn, knowing that I couldn’t really protect her. From other wolves yes, but I was about to hand her over to Vladimir, and Lord knows what he has in mind for her. It wouldn’t be long now until Vladimir got his revenge. Although I hadn’t wanted to get in the middle of it all, I found myself stuck dead center.
Torn between my loyalty to my friend, and the innocent girl who had somehow managed to change my way of thinking. There was no doubt in my mind that Kathryn knew nothing of the history between her father and Vladimir. She had me convinced, but I wondered if she would be able to convince Vladimir.
I woke up and she was still asleep on me, breathing slowly, her head still snuggled into me. I felt her chest slowly rise and fall in rhythm with the soft sound of her breathing. She looked so sweet and peaceful. Which was kind of surprising to me, seeing as the past few weeks it seems she had tried to make my life a living hell.
Although she acted all tough, I knew she was still afraid. Kathryn stirred a bit, then sat up. Her eyes got wide when she realized she had fallen to sleep lying practically on top of me.
“Uh,” Her jaw dropped “I didn’t mean um, were we like that all—never mind uh, I think, I’m uh sorry I mean, uh—I’m going to go um,” She shook her head and quickly rolled out of bed.
She adjusted her shirt and practically ran in the bathroom. I had a hard time not laughing at her wide-eyed expression as she stumbled over her words.
We stayed at the hotel for three more days before we went out, bought more supplies and started to make our way towards the rest of my pack. I knew it wouldn’t take long, probably less than a week before we’d reach the others.
*~*~*
“How long will it be until we get there?” Kathryn asked
about two days after we started traveling again. We weren’t traveling at the break-neck pace that we were before. I knew she couldn’t travel at that speed—she was having a hard enough time just walking with the backpack that she insisted on carrying.
“A day or two, at the most. We’re not very far now, why?” She was silent and I turned back to make sure she was okay. Her cheeks and nose were rosy from the cool air, and her mouth was twisted to the side in what I recognized as her perplexed look.
“Here, let’s take a break,” I said, stopping and dropping my backpack. She did the same and sat beside me.
“What’s bothering you?” I asked, sensing her distress. She just shrugged and wrapped her arms around herself.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “I just want to…” She paused for a moment, staring down at her feet. When she finally looked up and met my gaze, her eyes were filled with both fear and determination. “I want to know why, Conan. Why did you drag me into this mess? None of it makes any sense, and I want to know—deserve to know what is going on. Conan, please.”
“I can’t tell you Kathryn! For the hundredth time I cannot tell you!” I shouted at her, completely exasperated. She shivered as a cold wind blew and she impatiently brushed her brown hair out of her face growling at it as if it were alive and attacking her. The sun gave it golden and reddish highlights, making her look almost like she had a halo.
“Is it because of this Vladimir guy? Does he not want you to tell me anything?”
“No, well—”
“Ugh that bastard! I hate him too,” she grumbled.
“Don’t say that Kathryn,” I warned, glancing around where we stood. Depending on where exactly Vladimir had planned on running into us, he could be close by and in earshot of our little argument. I could just be paranoid, but I didn’t want to take a chance with her pissing him off well before they finally met.