Of Wolf & Man

Chapter Six

Rachel didn't know how long she was asleep. Her injured arm burned with pain.
She didn't bother open her eyes again. She had enough fainting for one day. Rachel wasn't sure how she got them in the first place. Yesterday seemed like a dream...a nightmare to be exact.
Her friends are dead. Both killed by a pack of mutant wolves. It amazed her that there were wolves in California to begin with. Rachel's heart ached thinking about Felicity and Tina. Her head hurt from falling to the kitchen floor when she fainted.
Rachel decided to finally open her eyes but what she saw was strange. She was back in the bedroom. Rachel didn't remember how she got back to the bed. She knew for a fact that she doesn't sleep walk. Rachel looked over at the chair where Liam was the last time she had awakened but he wasn't there. Her heart sunk, and she started to worry that she was stuck here alone but Rachel heard movement and saw Liam next to her. She sighed in relief and watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful while he slept, compared to how he looked when he was awake. He looked years younger now and not so worried. What was he so worried about to begin with?
The pain in Rachel's arm peaked again and she shrieked with pain. Liam's head jerked up so fast that Rachel hardly saw him move. He had a look of panic on his face and he searched the room before setting his eyes on her face. Rachel must have had the same look of panic on her face as Liam had because he relaxed a bit and settled back into the chair by the bed.
His features went blank when he saw her arm and the pained look came back to his eyes. It made Rachel want to reach out to him. Rachel lifted her hand and her heart started pounding, the burning in her arm got stronger. Rachel winced and put her hand back by her side.
"Are you alright Rachel?" Liam's voice shook, and he grabbed a glass of water off the table and handed it to her. Rachel took a sip and it burned her throat. She started coughing and Liam took the glass from her.
"What was that?" Rachel coughed, and her throat burned more than her arm did at the moment. His face had the tortured look on it again.
"It's going to help with the pain. We need you healed before we head back to Salem. Helene doesn't need to see you like this and we don't have enough time to have you fully healed but I'd like to keep my life if you don't mind." He looked down at his hands and Rachel's heart started aching.
"That doesn't explain what it is! And what does Helene have to do with any of this?" Rachel felt so confused. "None of this is making sense!"
Liam didn't look up or answer her questions. They sat in silence and Rachel saw him shiver at whatever was going through his head. He sighed and finally spoke, "When I walked through that door you were laying on the floor in the kitchen, blood pooling around your arm. I thought he had found you and succeeded in his mission...then I saw you breathing and I relaxed but saw your bandages were full of blood. You lost a lot of blood lying there. You've also been sleeping for hours since I found you and I'm not sure how long before. The serum is to help bring vitamins back into your body to help you heal and produce more red blood cells. You won't fully heal but it'll be enough, and yes, it tastes disgusting, but you need it."
Liam handed Rachel the glass without saying anything further. She took a sip and again her throat was on fire. After another bout of coughing Rachel asked another question.
"What is Helene's part in all of this?"
"Helene is my...employer, of sorts. I'm to keep you safe and unharmed and my legs stay intact." Liam looked up at Rachel's arm and shivered. Rachel looked at her arm as well and the bandages were fresh. No blood had pooled up on them, but she knew it was a mess underneath. Her arm tingled again with pain.
"How long is it going to take for these to heal? And you're supposed to be my bodyguard or something?" Liam looked into her eyes just then and she felt her face get hot.
Embarrassed, Rachel looked away. When her face cooled she looked back and Liam's eyes were on his hands again. Rachel wondered what was so interesting about his hands that he had to constantly look down at them, and why he made her heart flutter every time he looked at her.
"I don't know how long they'll take to heal. But hopefully you'll be healed enough for us to drive to Salem." Just then Rachel remembered something extremely important that she didn't realize until that moment.
"What's your name?" Rachel felt childish asking him what his name was, but it was something she needed to know. He had her at a disadvantage and she didn't like it. Not knowing more things about the person she was talking to than they knew about her was one of her pet peeves.
"Liam." Liam's voice was so strong when he spoke his name. Though he knew he shouldn't tell her he felt he had to.
"Liam? Do you only have a first name?" Rachel didn't feel like being rude, but he wasn't answering any questions so maybe he'd answer if she pushed the topic further.
"Grey. Liam Grey. It's short and not very cool but that's what it is." Liam looked into Rachel's eyes and both their faces turned bright scarlet. Rachel noticed how much more handsome he looked when he was blushing. The thought made her blush even further red, Liam noticed, and his heart started to pound in his chest. "What do you remember from yesterday Rachel?"
Rachel didn't know how to answer. She didn't even want to think about yesterday.
"All I remember is Tina telling me that Felicity was attacked and-and the wolves and then being alone and nothing else until I woke up here." Liam's face showed nothing of what he was thinking about and that was good for him but irritating for Rachel. "It all feels like a dream. Even now I feel like I'm in an extremely vivid dream, but I can't wake up, so I must already be awake."
"This is real Rachel. This cabin is real, the attack yesterday was real, and as much as I wish they weren't, the scratches down your arm are very real. Even me..." Liam mumbled the last word and looked back at his hands, trying with all his might not to look at Rachel.
"What's going on then? Tell me everything."
"I can't tell you everything. I'm not even supposed to be talking to you, but I am."
Liam looked up at Rachel and the pain was in his eyes. So much pain that Rachel could hardly look into his eyes without wanting to reach out to him.
"There must be something you can tell me that you aren't already forbidden from speaking." Liam opened his mouth, and nothing came out. He was holding his tongue because he couldn't figure out how to put his thoughts into words that she would understand.
With a sigh Liam looked past Rachel and said, "There are things in this world that you are completely ignorant to and most of them are completely dangerous. Like yesterday, you were exposed to something that you shouldn't have been able to see. You are an extraordinary woman Rachel."
"What dangers are you talking about? Is it the wolves that I saw yesterday? Tina couldn't see them. Are they what attacked Felicity?" Rachel's head was swimming with her revelation.
"The wolves weren't the dangers. There are other "beings" in the world, as I said, that you are ignorant to. What killed your friends yesterday was someone you don't understand or could even dream existed. As for the wolves, they did the best they could to keep you alive.
You are their main priority and the target. You are the most wanted being in the supernatural world at the moment." Liam's voice rang with truth, but Rachel didn't want to believe any of it.
"How can this be? Do you know how insane you sound?" Liam's eyes burned with an intensity that Rachel didn't understand. Why was he so protective of the wolves and blaming it on things that only existed in movies and books?
"The wolves you saw yesterday are your protectors," Liam said. "The scratches down your arm are from the battle between the wolves and their enemy who was sent to kill you.
You're lucky you only received only that." Liam gestured to her arm. "It could have been your life you lost!"
"I didn't realize..." Rachel's words came out slowly and felt strange on her tongue.
She didn't know what to say. "How exactly did I get the cuts down my arm?"
Liam didn't bother to look at Rachel as he spoke. He was purposely hiding his eyes so as not to betray any information to her. His eyes said more to her than his words, but Rachel still didn't understand that he was the monster that hurt her yesterday. "It was an accident."
"How exactly did it happen?" Rachel wasn't a fan of repeating herself. Liam sighed and didn't look up. He didn't speak for what felt like five minutes. With another sigh Liam looked up and Rachel's thoughts filled with the beauty of his eyes. The beauty of them told wordless tales and tragedies, for lack of better words. For a split-second Rachel saw the crescent moon reflected in his eyes.
Before she could distinguish it, Liam blinked and looked away. Rachel felt hot. She didn't understand why she was feeling this way about someone she had just met and knew nothing about. She rarely flushed scarlet these days and now she was more than ever. All types of unnamed emotions were flowing through her and her heart began to race. Liam's head shot up and he looked at Rachel again and her heart pounded faster than before. His eyes burned into hers and she was the first to look away.
"Please tell me." Rachel tried to keep her voice soft, but she could hear a quivering note beneath it all and she was sure Liam had heard it as well.
"I can't tell you the full story. I'm forbidden, but I'll tell you as much as I'm able." Liam looked up at Rachel and she saw they were full of sadness mixed with longing. Liam took a deep breath and spoke, "The wolves, werewolves to be exact, fought the vampire to keep him away from you, but you fainted and the vampire was closer to you than the wolves so one of them risked his life and jumped in front of your body to protect you and his claws accidentally raked your arm and because of this distraction his brothers were able to take on the vampire while he pulled you to safety and that's when I found you and brought you here to clean up your arm. This serum," Liam pointed at the bottle of chartreuse liquid. "Will help your arm to heal and help you to produce new skin cells to help you regain all the blood that you've lost. Helene won't be too happy but hopefully it'll be healed enough for us to get to Salem."
"Wait a minute! We're going to Salem? I thought Helene was here." Rachel wasn't very happy with going back to Salem faster than she needed to. "And why do we need to hide my injury?"
"Helene won't be too happy with me if she sees you've been injured."
"That makes some sense but what doesn't make sense is why I'm being stalked by vampires and-and werewolves..." The word werewolf sounded like a growl in Rachel's head. The thought of it made her want to...attack.
"Sadly, I can't answer that. Even if I wanted to, I can't." Liam's eyes were so full of sadness that Rachel couldn't bear to look too long. It made her want to comfort him and she wasn't sure why.
"Why are you forbidden from telling me certain things? This is all absurd. I don't understand why we need to see Helene either." All this news made Rachel dizzy and slightly disturbed. Rachel wasn't used to angry outbursts or being told she wasn't allowed to know things about her life.
"Helene will be able to tell you everything. I promise." Liam's eyes once again burned with the truth of his words. "Helene being my employer, I can only tell you what she has permitted me to speak."
"When do we see Helene? I want this whole ordeal to be over with already. I want answers now."
"You need your arm healed and the blood replenished before we leave for Salem.
You were hardly able to walk to the kitchen without losing consciousness." Liam sounded as if he wanted to laugh and it made Rachel angry.
"Actually, I fainted when I poked my arm and the blood pooled up on the surface of the bandages."
"Why'd you do that? The healing process must not be interrupted!" Liam's voice shook. Rachel had the feeling that Liam was worried about something, but she couldn't figure out what exactly.
"How was I supposed to know? You didn't tell me anything before you left! Now, everything you have told me hardly makes any sense at all. Besides, I was curious as to why my arm was bandaged!" Rachel was starting to get irritated.
Liam sighed, "Just finish the serum Rachel." Liam picked up the glass and held it out to Rachel. "When your arm is well enough we'll leave. It should only be a couple days 'till then." Rachel took the glass and took a sip of the serum. Again, it burned her throat, but she kept drinking. Liam turned and left the room, the burn in Rachel's throat was worse than the pain in her arm and it made her light-headed. Rachel decided it was best to lie down.
Not realizing how fast she was falling she hit her arm against the mattress and stifled a groan. Laying there her eyelids started to get heavy. Rachel didn't feel like sleeping but she felt it was better than looking at her makeshift prison.
Before long, she wasn't sure if she was dreaming or awake. Wolves were advancing upon her and she felt the need to protect herself. She felt strong and ready for the fight. Ready to attack she snarled at the wolves and shifted into a crouch. With a grin on her face Rachel pounced...