Dead Bite

chapter 4

   I pull the covers up to warm my feet and the tips of fingers, tingling. Damien could warm me up so I roll over; however, Damien is not there. I pull the covers further up onto my face and pat the bed so Rubble will cuddle up to me. He does not come. I open my eyes and is blind by the light of day. Black spots screw up my vision so I rub my eyes as I sit straight up and scan the room. At the end of the bed is a neatly, folded pile of clothes. The rest of the room is empty with no signs of anything moving. I swing my legs over the bed and push around the pile of clothes. Where did all my knives go? Flustered from my knives being missing, I begin slipping into my clothes. If this was Elizabeth that got me these clothes then she must be fashionable. She got me a black tank top, a pair of ripped black skinny jeans, a black scarf, a sleeveless leather jacket, and a pair of short black combat boots. Man, I feel like a little girl again where I would wake up late in the afternoon. Now I needed to find everyone else. Too bad I didn't have my knives; I feel so much safer with them. I open the door to Damien's room and peer out. Not a single person. I walk out of his room and look out the window. Outside; however, there are many people. I head down the hall to where I thought I remembered we came up the stairs from. I feel someone grasp my shoulder and slam me against the wall. I look straight into Luke's eyes.
   "Well hello there darling," he gleams and smirks. I squirm in his grasp.
   "Luke, let her go!" A voice boom. I turn to find Jacob, Damien's dad. Luke lets me go and I run behind Jacob. Jacob looks towards me and smiles then he got all serious.
   "Luke, go!" He booms again. I tuck my head into the folds of his shirt. I hear someone's footsteps dissipate away. Jacob sighs and wraps his arm around me.
   "I'm sorry about Luke. He will be having a talk with me," he still looks mad but then his face softens. "Damien is downstairs in the courtyard. Since you don't know where the courtyard is, I'll take you there," he smiles. He starts walking away so I ran up beside him.
   "So," he asks as we descend down the stairs," where did Damien find you?"
   "Um, an apartment building on the seventh floor," I answer.
   "What apartment building?"
   "I don't know. They are just south of here," I answer meekly. He nodded. He asks me a series of questions about myself. Some odder than the rest. He takes me outside into the bright sunlight. There is not a single cloud in the sky and a few birds are chirping.
   "Ah, isn't this weather beautiful?" He asks.
   "Yeah, very." I smile. Then I notice people staring at me.
   As I walk beside Jacob, people stare at me. I huddle up to Jacob. Why are they looking at me like that? I hate when people stare; although, I haven't seen a lot of people. Jacob stops in front of a big gate covered in mossy vines. I see Damien and he looks towards us. He is wearing a pair of black shorts with a superman shirt. He smiles at me and then gets serious when he sees Jacob. He marches over to us.
   "What happened?" He asks. How did he already know?
   "Luke," Jacob replys. I see Damien's eyes glow with anger.
   "What did he do to her?" He asks wrapping his arms around me.
   "Pinned her up against the wall." I hear Damien growl and then he starts storming off. Jacob grabs Damien's shirt collar and pulls him back.
   "No, I will take care of it. For now, you take care of her," he points straight at me. Then he smiles. "It was nice talking to you Kaylee," he walks towards his house and Damien turns me around to face him.
   "Are you okay? Did he touch you or hurt you?" He asks examining me.
   "I'm fine," I reply. Damien sighs and wraps his arms around me.
   "I'm never leaving you alone." He starts petting my head. I move his hand so he is not petting me anymore.
   "Stop petting me," I growl softly but not in a mean way.
   "But you remind me so much of a kitten," he laughs. " You even sleep like a kitten."
   "Hmm, that's weird because my parents used to say that too," I smile. "Where is Rubble?" I ask.
   "He is at someone's house where they will take care of him until he has more fat," he smiles as he grabs my hand and pulls me through the court yard.
   "I want to show you something. This is our garden," Damien explains," this is where we grow our crops and flowers. We have all sorts of flowers all the way from water lilies to white roses and a single black rose."
   "A black rose, is there such a thing?" I ask
   "Yes," he turns me around. Right in front of me, was a single black rose. All the rest of the roses are red, pink, or white. I walk up to the black rose and run my finger across its silky petals.
   "Why is there only one?" I ask.
   "Because it is the black rose. The black rose is a very rare flower to find and it can't grow with other black roses." I pull my finger away and watch as the flower starts to bloom. I look back at Damien with amazement.
   "That's odd. It has not bloomed since it started growing," he smiles.
   "Are you saying that I made it bloom?" I ask pointing at myself.
   "No, it's just odd," he smiles. How could I make the one black rose bloom? I am not special or anything, right?
   "Well, let's go," he smiles holding my hand. I continue to gaze upon the mysterious black rose. Damien pulls me away.
   "Where are we going?"
   "To meet some people." I shake his hand off.
   "No, I hate people. They all stare at me," I whine. He sighs.
   "Fine, you only have to meet four or five of them," he grabs my hand and pulls me along. The first person he brings me to is a man. This man is in his fifties maybe sixty's. He has a short white beard and is very tall. He wears camo pants and a plain white shirt.
   "Kaylee, this is George. George this is Kaylee. George works in the hospital and sometimes goes on runs with us."
   "Hello Kaylee, nice to meet you," he holds his hand stretched towards me. I cling onto Damien's hand. I cuddle up against Damien's arm.
   "Sorry, she's not too keen on people," Damien smiles.
   "Ah, it's fine. It is nice meeting you Kaylee," he walks towards a white and red building. I take a deep breath.
   "I hate people," I murmur.
   "I know darling," he pulls me along to a group of guys.