Daughter of Blood and Nightmares

35.0: She's An Objective, Carden. Remember That

Getting to the complex and the moment that Ashton leaves my side is blurry. I remember her telling me she's never driven a car before, threatening to run some kids over, calling her adorable which she took with a grain of salt, and kissing her. I didn't know what I was thinking, besides the tug drawing me closer to her. She was there, so close, so flustered and worried and I couldn't help it.

But she recoiled.

My inflicted wounds don't hurt as badly as her shock. Is she appalled? Just taken by surprise? Nothing cuts deeper than her narrowed golden eyes staring at me horrified. From what I'm not sure. My sudden closeness or the fact that she had her hands all over me and no nightmares were present.

The doc hops to his feet startled when we barge into his room. There's no questions, no surprise to see a bleeding soldier being carried in. I'm guided to the couch by the two men that brought me here. With a wave of the doctor's hand, they leave.

"Shirt off." He demands and I oblige with stiff limbs and hitches of breath. His fingers poke at me, inspecting each stab wound. "I think we can stop the infection before it gets fatal. You should thank whoever it was that got you here so fast." He steps away to dig in his bag.

"It was Ashton." I reply, which has his head whipping around to meet my eyes. Like a true soldier I instantly explain, "she got me here after we were attacked."

His mouth drops open, eyes blinking as if he didn't hear me correctly. "You went out with Brit today. Where is she? Is she okay?"

I shake my head, "She was the one that attacked me. She was romantically involved with a demon," I hiss through my teeth as the doc cleans the wounds, "or wanted to be romantically involved with him. She had to get the knives from him and she was more than willing to prove that she would use them for him too."

Doc wastes no time plucking a bright white feather from his stash, a feather from his very own wings. The doc isn't cast out like the rest of us guardians are. He's more or less our keeper. He speaks freely as he tears into the thick spine of the feather extracting a very potent liquid. "And this is the same demon that has an obsession with the nightmare girl?" He asks.

I nod, because I can't seem to be able to say the words. The question is why. Why does he want her? Is it just for obvious reasons, to unleash nightmares upon the world? Or is it something more? I saw the way he looked at her. It makes my stomach turn.

With one drop of the feather's fluid perfectly placed into each of my wounds the dull ache burns with an iciness. All the questions, accusations that I want to toss out into the room are trapped behind clenched teeth. Oliver has been here plenty of times, laid up on the doc's couch, infused with pure angel serum. His mouth has led him to some very undesirable situations.

A small puff of laughter slips through my lips as I think about an encounter we had with a small demon child. It was his kindness that got him bit. The doc looks at me, but quickly goes back to work without asking. I'm sure he remembers it clearly.

We were completely unaware of what that kid really was. Such a thing shouldn't happen, exist, but the small boy was found in a den of demons, several stupid women providing for him. Oliver bent to his knees looking the child in the eyes, holding out his hand. He was innocent or so we thought. Without warning the boy bared his teeth and jumped on him. Instinctively, Oliver fought to get him off, but the boy was stronger than he looked. Things got real when his teeth sank into Oliver's shoulder.

It was amusing to watch, but the aftermath was horrific. We never really found out what he was, but we did learn that his bite was infectious.

The doc's words cut through my wandering thoughts, "the cuts are already healing. I would say get some rest, but I know who I'm talking to," he jokes.