Till the Star Blooms

Chapter 18 - Icy Blood

It was well and truly autumn; although the days weren’t too cold the nights were a completely different matter. Wrapping my jacket around me I took off on my late night stroll. It was the only time I had for myself now. The cooling weather made washing take forever to dry.  I took the road out of town to where Jessie’s farm began. I looked out across his empty field. Only a few days ago he had several cows grazing about, but Jami had put them in the barn for the night. This side of the field was a lot rockier then the rest of the farm, and as the field was on a slight incline it was only good for livestock. I climbed onto the fence and looked out across the fast empty space.

I wonder what it would be like to be a farmer. Probably a lot harder that a cleaner, and with a lot more risk and responsibilities. As Jessie told me, you never knew if you would have a good harvest or if the prices of crops were sufficient enough to keep them going. But I suppose there were plenty of rewards, like you would never go hungry, except maybe in the winter where you would be more reliant on your livestock.  And you got to see the cute baby animals grow. Aww.

“Hello beautiful,” I jumped tumbling off the fence to the ground for the second time; and just like last time I found myself in a daze. Sitting up I looked up at Twinkles. Why did he always have to disturb my daydreaming, well night dreaming? No that would be just dreaming wouldn’t it? I looked up again to find him crouched in front of me. “Sorry for startling you,” he mused. Why did he always have to laugh? He held out his hand to me. I slapped it away and pulled myself up.

“Ah…aa…ahh,” I cringed, pressing my hand to my back as I reached out for the fence. Aching all over I glared at him. “What do you want?” I dared to ask as I took hold of the railing to hold myself up. Pressing my hand to my head I felt something warm and wet, a shudder went through me. I looked down at my arm holding the fence and saw my scrapes begin to seep. Pulling my hand away from my head I took in the dark shiny liquid. “I’m bleeding,” stating the obvious. I could feel my legs weaken as I felt the wetness slide down my forehead. “Jayce?” I wasn’t sure if I sounded angry or scared, perhaps both as I turned to face him. He quickly grabbed a hold of me just as my legs were about to give way. “Do something,” I wailed.

“It’s just a little blood, calm down,” he replied, his own voice failing.

“I can’t stand the sight of my own blood! I’m Hemophobia!” I shrieked, everything was starting to fade to blackness.

“You’re probably going to hate me for this,” he warned his face faded into the darkness. Before I could ask, I felt my body being lifted and carried away, before I felt it released to gravity. I regained my site the instant the icy cold water encased my body. As a natural reaction I inhaled only to receive a mouth full of muggy water. Splashing about I sat up coughing only to find myself in the water trough. Jumping out I scowled at Jayce.

“What the bloody hell you do that for?” I snapped attempting to push my hair away from sticking on my face. “Do you want me to get frostbite or something?” I coughed a few times.

“Ice cold water will cause the blood vessels to constrict, which should slow down the blood flow and help allow clotting to occur.” He lectured in a monotone, far from his usual smooth pleasant voice.  “Now we’re even.” Oh yeah, I almost forgot I had slapped him for being a jerk. The wind that now wanted to show itself picked up making me even colder.

“Fine,” I chattered, noticing the bleeding had actually stopped, but I didn’t expect it to last long Feeling my hairs stand up, I decided leave Jayce to his victory and return home. Turning I made my way back to the fence.

“Where are you going?” he asked walking along side me.

“Home,” I shivered, and continued through the rails. He grabbed the back of my jacket. “What?” I snapped, water flinging from my hair as I flicked my head around. He pulled my jacket off, and offered me his.

“A gentleman would never leave a lady out in the cold.” When I didn’t take it, mostly due to the fact that I was almost frozen solid, he wrapped it around my shoulders and led the way back to town.  I didn’t bother to object, I had no energy for that and quite frankly I was beyond caring at this point.

Once in town he led me through the back alleys out of sight. Typical. We reached the path that lead to the mansion.

“You can g…gg…go now,” my teeth chattered. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me forwards down the path. I tried pulling away but he held me firmly so I couldn’t bend my arms.

“Just as I would never leave a lady out in the cold, I would never leave a lady to walk home alone. There are thieves around,” he laughed softly.

“So I…I…I’ve heard,” I stuttered, now being able to see the door in the wall. Walking through it, there were only a few more steps till I got to my cottage. I took my keys out of my pocket, jingling in my shaking hand. Jayce in a blink had taken them and open the door and lead me inside. I was about to object to him being in my house when he pushed me down onto the chair, my arms suddenly feeling colder where he had held me.

“Stay still,” he commanded. When did he get so bossy? He found my first aid kit and went about bandaging up my lower arms. He looked up after he tied the bandage together and smiled, his silvery eyes staring into mine. His hand reached up brushing past my cheek and pulled my hair tie out. My wet hair fell down my back in a heavy tangled mess. “Much better,” he said pulling a few strands through his fingers. I could feel my face flush a darker shade. He laughed and stood up to attend to my head wound. I glanced at the clock; twenty past one! “So you have Hemophobia?” He said more than asked.

“Only with my own blood,” I commented, hoping to change the subject. He stroked my cheek again.

“Well good night my dear Cameo,” he took his slightly dampened jacket and tossed me back my keys. “Can’t have any thieves trying to sneak in, during the night can we,” he laughed again, knowing he didn’t need keys to get in. Closing the door behind him, I was once again alone.