The Shadows of our lives

Chapter VI

The night was just the right amount of chilly. It eased my headache and helped me to forget about every part of my body aching. Stars blinked at me from above as the sky started to clear. I couldn't bring myself to rush my walk, the breeze felt too nice and the silence of the late hours felt as if the world froze. I was at peace, or as close as I could get to it.

But alas, before I knew it, I faced the wooden door of a cozy house with white facade and a dark roof. A small garden with neatly cut grass and 2 small rows of plants and flowers bordered the sandy path which led to the entrance.

I rang the bell once and leaned my forehead against the small glass part in the upper segment of the door. My head spun and my body ached with pain, exhaustion and hunger. The need for a comfy bed and bloodlust fused together and I couldn't tell which one screamed at me more.

Soon, I heard footsteps rapidly approaching and somebody descended the stairs of their home. Not long after that the door swung open and I nearly collapsed onto the woman in front of me.

Her emerald green eyes stared at me for a moment, as if she needed to make herself believe I was indeed in front of her. "Do you know how late it is?" she scolded and wrapped her white knitted blouse around herself, clear pajama shorts and a pink tank top peeked under it.

"Late?" I smirked, my eyes narrowed with sleepiness.

Her brows furrowed, clear how much she wanted to cuss me out, until she focused on the center of my face and her gaze softened with worry. "Gosh, Ciel," she sighed, "I'm praying for the time you'll appear at my doorstep just to say hi." She stepped away and let me in, pulling some of her mahogany brown hair behind her ear.

I passed her and entered the corridor. Besides the shoe cabinet and hangers, multiple framed pictures decorated the yellow-colored wallpaper. I paused to look at one I didn't recognize. Two women in their 30's smiled back at me, both in tank tops and shorts. Erica was one of them. They sat together on the sand in a lovely embrace. It must've been windy on the beach, some parts of their hair floated in the air and Erica held firmly onto her straw hat.

"This was a month ago, I finally had the time to hang it," Erica explained and smiled, lost in the memory.

"How is Olivia?" I asked.

"At a party. One of her colleagues is retiring. You're a lucky bastard I didn't go," Erica rebuked and shook her head dismissively.

I snickered. "What would I do without you?"

But Erica's gaze grew serious. "You're starving, aren't you?" she mumbled in realization.

I ran my tongue over my teeth and understood immediately. She must've seen my fangs when I smiled. I fell silent and looked away, ashamed. It was infuriating when I couldn't keep myself intact, like a damn animal.

Erica took me by the arm and practically dragged me towards the stairs. "How did you even get here? There was no bike," she asked, turned the light on and descended the stairs into the basement, with me close behind her.

We didn't always tend to these matters in her home, she had an office in The Golden Tower, but she had basic hospital equipment in the basement for situations like these. It wasn't exactly illegal, but we both vowed not to talk about it in the open.

I frowned and blinked, my eyes adjusting to the sudden sharp light. "Got a taxi," I murmured and sat myself on the hospital-like bed in the middle of the room.

"Don't lie to me," Erica said firmly, her back towards me as she looked through a drawer for the stuff she'd need. I didn't have to see her face to guess she was scowling.

I chuckled and took a deep breath. "I got a lift," I admitted.

"By who?"

"Maybe I have a lover you do not know about," I teased.

"Ha!" Erica blurted out, "If there comes a day when you get a stable relationship, I'll dye my hair purple."

A color she hates the most.

I smirked. "I'll hold you up to that."

Erica turned to me. "So who was it?"

"My new boss."

"New? You switched squads again?"

I nodded.

"Are they the reason your nose looks like a Picaso painting?" she asked, put some equipment on the table next to me and pushed a hand mirror in my face.

I looked damn right awful, it surprised me that Erica even recognized who I was. My nose was visibly dislocated. Red, blue, green and purple bruises spread wide around my baggy and tired eyes.

I sighed and put the mirror away. "No, that was my colleague," I explained.

Erica came up to a small fridge in the corner of the room and took a blood sack out of it. "A colleague, huh?" she mumbled, shut the fridge door and stepped in front of me. "Lay down."

I did as she said.

Erica put on medical gloves and sat down on a small white plastic chair next to the bed."And the car ride?"

"I didn't take a bite outta him, if that's what you're asking," I chuckled. Erica smacked my shoulder and I corrected myself, "I alerted him, nothing more."

"Does he know?" Erica asked. She took my arm and positioned it. I felt as she touched around for a good vein, before spraying the disinfection.

"Of course he knows." I closed my eyes as the i.v. got in, my eyebrows twitched at the discomfort.

"And did he believe you?" She hung the blood up and I watched the deep red drops drip in the i.v. system, showing me the slow rate under which it entered my body.

"What? That I can't for the life of me consume blood? I'd be more surprised if he did," I replied.

Erica looked from the blood sack to me. "Well, did he?" she asked curiously.

I fell silent and Erica left it at that. "Alright, show me the abomination on your face," she spouted.

Thankfully, Erica could move my nose back in position with a hand technique, no operation needed. That was my luck. What wasn't my luck, was the pain of the process.

"Do you want me to count?" Erica questioned, my nose in her grip.

My brows were furrowed in discomfort and pain. "Probably not–"

CRACK.

"Fuck!" I yelled out and grunted, gritting my teeth, my nails pierced into the bed. A new set of blood streaks ran down my face, which got immediately stopped as Erica pushed two cotton balls in each of my nostrils. "Holy– fuck..." I breathed out.

"Good job, I hope whatever happened between you and your colleague was worth it, you maniac." Erica patted my shoulder.

It wasn't. It undoubtedly wasn't.

By the time the blood sack emptied, it was nearly 2am and although I protested, Erica prepared a guest room for me. The room was smaller than the one at my house, and yet it felt somehow warmer, cozier, safer. I wasn't at Erica's that often, but a part of myself never wanted to leave whenever I paid a visit.

"Take some rest," Erica said as she stood in the doorframe.

I laid on my back with the blanket thrown over me and my eyelids threatened to close. "Thank you for everything, Erica," I hummed, "you saved my ass."

Erica smiled warmly, I could barely see it in the darkness of the room. "Don't I always?" The door creaked shut and just like that she was gone.