BLOOD DREAM (Ongoing)

10.2: Postcards From The Doghouse

The intensity of Sadie standing before him after her attempted murder of him—after she really murdered Patrick—almost knocked him down. Theron couldn't move his feet, even after she started carving a path across the parking lot. When he saw the pocketknife in her hand, he caught his breath and snapped from his trance, fumbling backward.

Sadie clenched her teeth, her wounded arm limp. "Where are your buddies hiding?" she growled.

The anger in her voice tickled his old, sleeping demons. Theron tried not to look nervous. Or excited. "What buddies?" He kept backing away.

She glanced at the pharmacy doors. He did too, expecting to see her new boyfriend walk out. "Don't waste my time. I know they followed us," she said, snapping back to him.

"The hunters?"

"Yeah. The ones that smelled a little like you," accused Sadie.

Theron reached the last venue at the end of the strip mall and took refuge behind the corner. "That's because they caught me and I escaped. They're after me too." He raised his hands as a barrier. "What happened?"

Sadie snarled and pointed the knife at him. "They shot me."

"They shot me too," Theron reassured her. As if that was reassuring.

"I wish they shot you in the fucking head," hissed Sadie.

Her malevolence stung. She rounded the corner and swung at him. Theron gripped her wrist, then grabbed her just below her injury. Sadie yelled and thrashed but now that they were one-on-one, Theron had the upper hand. He squeezed her wrist until she dropped the knife then booted it away.

"Fuck! Fuck you!" she said.

Theron turned her against the wall. "So your boyfriend's in there grabbing painkillers?" he asked, looming close.

Sadie leered. "Among other things."

"Just for you?"

"It's none of your business."

"It is my business," said Theron. She fired him up. He didn't feel so helpless now that he had somebody to impose on. Sadie was asking for it, the way she came at him like that. "When you start killing my packmates, it's my business."

Sadie flashed her teeth. "I didn't know you cared."

"I do."

"Oh, did you care this much about Oliver?"

What the fuck did that matter? "You think I wouldn't care that you're out here fucking murdering people?"

"It just wasn't the reaction I expected from a selfish prick," Sadie cut.

Theron showed his teeth too. "You didn't see my reaction to Oliver." The whole thing was a mess. "Kinda opened my eyes. I'm trying to be better."

She laughed in his face. "You're wasting your breath if you think you can convince me you're anything more than trash. It's too late, Theron. We're done!"

"I'm not doing it for you!" Was that a lie? He didn't know. He let go of her just to prove what he said, blue eyes darkening.

Sadie flattened against the wall. Then her eyes went big, focusing on something behind him. Theron turned and saw the hunters' car drive past, pulling into the parking lot of the strip mall. When Sadie lunged away from Theron, he grabbed her shoulders and rocked her back into place. "They'll catch you before you make it to your car."

"Get your fucking hands off me!" She stomped on his shoe and he reeled his foot away, scowling.

They both fell silent, peeking out to watch the hunters circle Sadie's vehicle. They parked a few cars away. And then Peyton appeared, blissfully unaware with a bag in his hands, walking toward the car.

"Peyton! Peyton, stop!" Sadie tried to pull free, only for Theron to cover her mouth before she got Peyton's attention.

"You're going to expose us," said Theron.

"I'd rather expose us," said Sadie, pushing him away.

The hunters emerged from the car. Only Hector and Nora. They approached Peyton and he froze, panicking when he realized he was cornered and Sadie was gone.

"No! Let me go, please!" Sadie fought against Theron, but he couldn't justify letting her run headlong into danger. He should have just let her go. He should have let Sadie intervene and watched the chaos unfold from afar, but if anything happened to her, and he saw it...? If Theron played witness to Sadie getting hurt, could he handle that?

Evidently not, since even after everything she did to him, Theron was still fighting to keep her out of sight while Hector and Nora surrounded Peyton. They took care not to show they had guns, but Theron knew they did. They guided Peyton to the car and he got inside. Then Nora got out and into Sadie's car. Then both cars drove away, Peyton with them.

Sadie stopped struggling as she watched them disappear into traffic. "You bastard!" she yelled, slamming a fist into Theron's chest. "You fucking bastard! I could've helped him! I could've driven away!"

"They would've tracked you down! They obviously know what they're looking for," said Theron. His chest hurt.

She pushed him away, and this time Theron gave her the distance. Sadie stared with the sun's plasma boiling in her eyes. "You did this. You planned this, somehow!"

Because Theron was the easiest person to blame. "I had nothing to do with this!"

"I lost him because of you!"

"You didn't have to get out of your car and try to knife me!"

Sadie swung her fist. "I fucking hate you!"

Theron caught her fist and threw it away. "I know!" His throat swelled as he once more confronted the contempt of somebody he loved. "I'm sorry. I thought I could help you."

"Just go!" Sadie snarled, cupping the wound on her arm.

She didn't want him. He was an idiot for getting involved. Theron ripped away, clutching onto his last mental image of Sadie with a glisten in her eyes, her face up close, her hands, her hair, overwhelmed with loss yet again. He marched halfway across the parking lot before he turned, hoping somehow that she followed him. But when he looked, she was already gone.

It was futile holding onto his feelings for her, but Theron couldn't stop even if he tried. He'd always been weak to his heart's demands.