The Beast Across The Lake

Chapter 24

                                      

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***
I woke up in the middle of the night from a painful soreness coming from my arms. I lifted myself off of the mattress that was on the floor and tripped over a piece of broken wood. I stumbled into the bathroom, well aware of Caleb's absence and turned on the lights. I would have gasped if I had the energy. In the horror filled reflection of the mirror above the sink, I caught the sight of bruises that decorated my neck, my breasts and my stomach. I looked down at my legs to see that they too bore a couple dark purple spots as well. The pain that had woken me up was from my shoulder, it hurt to try to move it. I was afraid to look down at my vagina that also hurt. I decided to run a hot bath instead in an attempt to soothe it. While the tub was filling with water, I walked past the broken bed, and shrugged on one of Caleb's white tees that stopped right above my knees. I headed down the stairs in search of my phone. It was almost pitch black, I stepped on something near the kitchen counter and realized it was my cell phone emerged in coffee from the spill earlier. I wiped it down and turned it on.

There were missed calls from Matt who was really Kyla and more than double from Holden. There was one from my mom asking where I had been for the past 48 hours and I even stumbled upon a text from my father who was asking me out for a coffee. I couldn't even summon a response in my head if I wanted to. Instead, I scrolled through Holden's text messages and halted at the last one that read;
'I heard everything.'

What does that mean? I thought, what could he have heard?

Fear and realization jolted down at me, beginning in the pit of my stomach and I navigated the screen to my call history.
Just a few hours ago, I had been on the line with
Holden for thirty-eight minutes, except I wasn't.

I suddenly remembered, right before Caleb and I had gone upstairs that someone had called me. It was Holden and I must have accidentally answered when I spilled the coffee.

For a moment, a guilty and panicked conscience hovered over me and then I realized that I had almost forgotten the very thing that led me to Caleb's bed.
Rage took over as I typed back to Holden; I know everything that has been happening between you and Kyla.

I immediately turned my phone off after that. I took a moment to release the stress, I felt myself rising with anger and jumped up at the sound of something moving in the living room. It was too dark to see what it could have been. I struggled to find a light switch and settled for a lamp that was on a nearby table instead. With the little light it bestowed, I was able to make sight of Caleb slumped on the couch. He was fully clothed, although I was just realizing the rips on his stained t-shirt and black jeans. I tried to keep as quiet as I could but it didn't matter because when I stumbled into the corner table, the sound of it hitting the wall didn't wake him up. I slightly panicked that he might be dead but his chest had risen. On the ground beside him was a crushed plant that he must have hit just a few moments ago. I placed my palm over my mouth at the sight of the wound on his chest with fresh blood. He looked as if he'd been attacked. I recalled the rogue meeting and realized it obviously did not go so well.
The sight of Caleb hurt and wounded felt like a strain on my chest. I wanted to reverse things so that he had never left the house in the first place. I never wanted him to ever be hurt again.
I sat myself beside him and gently whispered his name until he began to stir awake.

"Where am I?" his hands immediately shot to grip his temple.

"You're home, you passed out on the couch."

He peered down at himself," shit."

"Your leg is bleeding too much, you have to come upstairs so I can wash the cut before it's infected-"

"No, I can't go up to the room, I hurt you-"

"You didn't hurt me, I'm fine-"

"I didn't go up there so I wouldn't be able to hurt you, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist-"

"Trust me Caleb, right now you couldn't if you tried."

We stared at each other for a moment and he chuckled," alright."

I helped him up and we stumbled up the stairs. It seemed as if my own pain had pushed itself aside to make room for Caleb's.

Is that what love is?

I hoped that in the dark my bruises were hidden. The last thing I wanted was for his guilty conscience to double.

In the bathroom, I drained the tub and stripped his clothes then had him lean against the wall in the shower while I used the hose to spray him down.

"Ouch, that's too cold," he complained.

I could have smiled but the sight of the blood at the bottom of the tub was making my stomach turn. Back
inside the bedroom, Caleb took a moment to study the bed.

"I'm fine," I mumbled since he seemed lost for words," your bed is just crap."

He chuckled again and then coughed like it hurt. I laid him down on the bed and used the rubbing alcohol I had found in his bathroom cupboard to clean the cuts. He winced with pain every time but didn't stop me.

"So I guess the meeting didn't go as planned," I finally said just to break the silence. I had just managed to stop the wound on his chest from bleeding.

"Rogues don't like to negotiate," his tone was firm," but they didn't say no."

"What did their leader say?"

"Aurora wasn't there, she sent some pups to collect the information. I should know soon what she thinks."

"Then what happened to you?"

He winced as I placed a wet napkin over a cut on his forehead," A fight broke out between one of the rogues and someone from the Sheriff's pack and we all eventually got involved."

"I knew this would happen."
He didn't respond.

I released a sigh " your leg is losing too much blood. I'm going to have to wrap it."

I moved to search for something to wrap it with but his firm grasp pulled me back," hey."

"Yeah?"

He reached with evident effort to place the wandered hair behind my ear and said," I love you."

I could have melted. I could have been swept by the next lightest breeze. Words weren't needed but I said it anyway whilst my heart skipped beats," I love you too."

I searched his closet for a scarf and found a bandana instead and decided that it will do. I found that Caleb had drifted back to sleep and thought that rest is best for him for now. I leaned down and watched the blood drip from below his knee.

The rogues will never go for it, I thought, his plan is naive. They slaughtered his entire pack, what's to stop them from killing him too?

I suddenly reached for an empty glass that had fallen on the ground when the bed smashed. I held it down against Caleb's legs so that the blood was dripping into it and hoped that he wouldn't realize.

How much of his blood would I need, I wondered.

One drop, two drops, three...

I counted until 100 and firmly pressed some gauze and wrapped it with the bandana forcing the cut to halt its bleeding.