Wolfed Out (Discontinued)

Chapter 23: Tattoo

It didn't matter who passed by them or whispered comments as they slept by a restaurant with their crumpled backs hunched against the wall. Their faces were hidden inside the dark warm room of their folded legs, their older shirts as wrinkled blankets over their icy shoulders.

The glass door beside Jake swung open and stopped just inches from his hard body. Their ears were completely muted of the angry man's shouts as they dreamt of being back home. With only one other option, he dropped down equipment at their torn out shoes.

They finally awoke with swelling toes. Jake immediately used his arm as a barrier for Layla and looked up at the angry old man.

"I'm done with you two sleeping on my property! You're driving my customers away!" he whined as his voice deteriorated. Both of them stared down at the bags on their feet.

"That better be enough. Sleeping bags and water."

Layla zipped open the bags and found exactly what he mentioned to them. "Thank you."

"Good. Now off my property!" he said shakily. The both of them squirmed up and started down the sidewalk.

All the windows were down, letting the air blow his perfect hair around in a frenzy. As Taylor drove he sung to songs, ignoring the strange looks he got on the sidewalk.

"You're like gold dust! Oh don't ever change, no don't change." he sang at his best. "There's a hollow in this house whenever you go."

He parked by the sidewalk just in time to pick up Allison. She skipped to the car, her skirt blowing in the wind.

"I can hear your music playing from the entrance." she said as she got in. Taylor didn't hear a word she said and kept singing, his hands dancing in the air.

"Taylor!"

He mumbled an "Oh." and turned down the volume. "Sorry about that."

They drove away, Taylor humming to the song.

"We should do it. It's the best we've found in weeks." said Layla. The two of them stared at a small river, the calm water flowing down the hill. Layla dropped her bag onto a large rock and began to take out her dirty clothes.

"There's no point. It's just water."

"Even if it doesn't clean thoroughly, we can at least wash off the dirt and mud."

Jake sighed and dropped his bag down too.

They scrubbed their muddy clothes down in the river. It was freezing outside, their breath fogging their sight. The water was even colder, practically ice. Their hands and finger nails were blue and purple, their hands so numb they couldn't even clench into a fist. But they didn't shiver or complain about it.

Jake removed his shirt, exposing his warm hard torso, releasing steam into the air. Layla glanced at his movements, realizing he was going to wash his shirt. Just before she turned away, she caught a mark on his left bicep. It was a tattoo.

"You never told me you had tattoos."

Jake paused and caught her staring at him. It almost made him happy knowing she was looking. "Yeah, I do."

He showed her his bicep with the tattoo, his arm slightly twitching. The tattoo was black, shaped into a circle with a smaller circle in the center. The outer circle was covered in patterns that looked like a maze. Inside the center circle was an upside down pentagram. It gave her an uneasy feeling.

"Why would you get a tattoo like that?"

"I never wanted it. I didn't even ask for it."

She frowned. That didn't make sense.