Soulless

Eleven | Insufferable Hospitality

Lunden Evergreen

He stood examining me, and as he stepped forward, he pulled down my hood. The rain droplets splashed against my soar face. He slowly pushed my hair back and lifted my jaw to examine the damage to my face.

I should've killed him.

That's what I'll always tell myself, but for some reason, I can't bring myself to do it just yet. But now I needed to because he was officially a bad guy.

"I'm sorry to show up here like this; it's I just..." He shook his head quickly and widened the door to his home. I stepped inside, and I was worried she'd be here, especially just hours later.

I felt my arm being clutched, and as I looked at it, a purple welt slowly formed. I looked back up at him, Atlas. He stared at me, scared, something I had yet to see in him. But quickly, it changed as his face reddened.

"Lunden, who did this to you?" His voice trembled with anger, I just hugged my coat silently as I felt my body shudder.

"I don't want to talk about it; I just wanted to be safe" Sucking in a sharp breath, I close my eyes. I was imposing on this man's life.

"Okay, but when you're ready, I'm here." I felt his hand placed against my shoulder, and as I looked at him, his nose hovered over mine, and a solemn expression remained. My lips began to tremble again, and tears filled my eyes.

It wasn't like me to do this, but I wasn't the same as I was minutes ago. The world had just become ten times more uglier, and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

His arms wrapped around me tight as I began to sob. I squeeze my eyes shut as the tears sting the sides of my face. He gently held the back of my head as I whimpered into his chest, ruining whatever shirt he had on.

"Shhh, you're safe here." He steps away for a moment, and I hear the lock click on the front door. Then he steps back, his arm wrapped around my shoulder, and he guides me further into his home.

My body is placed against a sofa as he tells me to hold on for a moment. I reach for the fuzzy blanket sprawled across the couch, and I pull it over me. My body rests for the first time in an hour, and my feet sting.

I hear shuffling upstairs, and then something tumbles down the stairs. The sound comes closer, and soon, the little spaniel comes into view as she jumps onto the armchair in the corner. Pepper sits still, staring across at me as her little tail wagged.

She barks and I look to see him coming back into the room, his shirt destroyed by mascara. He looks at me, confused, and then down to his shirt.

"I guess we are even for that sweater then, huh?" He jokes softly, and for the first time in hours, I find a smile slowly forming.

"Absolutely not," I whisper back, and he rolls his eyes. My eyes follow him as he steps over into the open kitchen. He grabs a pot, places it on the stove, and then grabs some milk.

"You aren't lactose intolerant, right?" He questions me.

"No?"

"Good, then I'd have to give you a lesson about how it's time to grow up." He shuts the fridge behind him as I sit even more confused.