Wickers Manor

--14--

The sun shone through the curtains and illuminated the room. I rolled over to see Tristan who was still sound asleep on his side. The bandages on his back was slightly stained red from the blood but it didn't look like fresh blood so hopefully it is almost healed. I headed to the bathroom, grabbed a pair of joggers and a oversized t-shirt to change into. Once I was in the bathroom I brushed my teeth and tied my hair into a messy bun. I peeled the bandages off of my shoulder unsure of what would be underneath but turns out my wounds had fully healed. No sign of any injury at all. I got changed and went to wake up Tristan.

He was stood up when I walked in, his hands reached for the bandages.

"Stop, stop. Let me get that for you." I came closer and slowly pulled each bandage off. The claw marks weren't completely healed, there were three jagged marks which were still slightly open running down his back. I went and got some more antiseptic solution and rinsed the wounds again which caused Tristan to gasp. I muttered an apology as I re-dress them and stepped back.

"Thank you Essie. You are truly wonderful. How about I go and make us some pancakes?" A soft blush covered my cheeks as we went to the kitchen.

Tristan flipped a perfect pancake into the air and caught it again effortlessly. He added it to the small stack on my plate and then placed the pan down. He grabbed the golden syrup from the cupboard and drizzled it all over my pancakes.

"Wow Tris. You are a brilliant chef." I moaned slightly as I continued to shovel forkfuls into my mouth.

"Essie I think we need to talk about what went wrong yesterday. I cannot thank you enough for saving my life but we never should've gotten into that situation." I nodded in agreement. I knew deep down it was my fault.I didn't react quick enough and for that Tristan almost died.

"It was my fault Tris. I should've done something quicker. He had you pinned down and I just froze. I am so sorry."

"No. Don't you dare blame yourself. This was your first hunt and you were only meant to have watched. I am an experienced hunter, so whatever happened last night was on me." He scooped up my empty plate and gave me a soft smile.

I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

"It's both of our faults. We should've fought together, but it doesn't matter anymore. We are both alive and on the mend." I felt the vibrations of his laugh as he turned around in my grip.

His calloused hands grabbed my cheeks and his eyes were trained on my lips. His head dipped slightly as he leaned in. My eyes shut as his lips brushed mine.

The shrill of his phone shattered the moment as we quickly pulled away. My cheeks felt as if they were on fire and he groaned.

"Excuse me." His voice was slightly gruffer than usual as he turned away from me.

"What do you want?---No----I can't right now---Ugh fine fine---I will be there in two hours---okay bye!"

His shoulders were tense and his breathing was heavier.

"Tris, are you okay?" He turned to face me.

"Yeah it's fine. I just need to leave for a bit."

"Are you sure? You didn't sound fine." His eyes darkened slightly.

"I said It's fine Estelle! Leave it!" I stepped back at his sudden burst of anger and he took a deep breath.

"Look I am sorry. I didn't mean to snap." I told him it was okay and he came closer.

He planted a soft kiss on the top of my head and then left. He never even told me where he was going. I decided not to dwell on it an cleaned up the plates along with the mess from last night.

Once I had done that I then went to the office and started to research what happened to me last night. I saw those three rogues before they attacked us. It was almost like a vision. But in the Wickers book there was no mention of any other Wickers having visions. After hours of searching I found a book with an interesting passage from another Hunter called Camille Jenkins.

18th May 1805 ~ Camille Jenkins

It happened again. I blacked out and saw him. His eyes were blood red and his teeth were sharper than any I have ever seen. The rogue king. He stood tall among a pile of bodies, their eyes all open and blood streaming from their throats. My brothers eye were wide opening, staring into my soul. He was dead just like everyone else.

20th May 1805~ Camille Jenkins

The rogue king is dead. My family is dead. The vision was right. He stood there atop my brothers body smiling down at me. I slew him but I couldn't save them. I failed the Jenkins bloodline.

I read more and more of that book to find out anything I could about Camille Jenkins. Three weeks after she killed the rogue king she took her own life. The guilt of knowing what was coming but not saving her family was too much for her. There is no other passages containing visions from her or any other hunter.

It was late afternoon by the time I had finished reading. I placed the books back into their allotted spaces and went outside to train. I needed to blow off some steam so I practiced knife throwing, getting bullseye every time.