Blood Pact: The Embrace

New in town

Hey there! Sorry for the long break. Let me know what you think about this chapter. Oh, and in the first chapter I posted a picture of Olivia and now here's a picture of Nathaniel...enjoy.

 I could hear movement around me, but I wasn't very willing to wake up. The pillow was so soft; I just wanted to dig my face in it, and, with my cloak wrapped tightly around myself, I had no reason to face the world. But with an unexpected rush, images of the last few days invaded my mind, and I realized this was no time to oversleep. I opened my eyes, alarmed, and rose up quickly, trying to focus my blurry vision of my surroundings.

To my surprise, I noticed a very bright room with a very busy Nathaniel in it, packing away for the trip. With a shock, I realized he was shirtless, and, to my embarrassment, the sight of him took my breath away. I could see his muscles working in harmony on his back, while doing menial things like picking up objects and stuffing them in his satchel. I assumed he had just washed, because I could see tiny drops of water falling from his hair locks, landing on his chest and back, racing each other towards the ground on his skin. It was difficult to grasp the fact that this apparently normal stranger was everything but normal. Remembering the ferocity he showed last night brought a palpable sense of danger, and made my heart race madly inside my chest.

 Unnoticed, I stared at the stranger in front of me, engulfed in the mystery that surrounded him. I couldn’t say he had perfect features, but it felt like his charm came more from his small imperfections. It was a lie to say I was not attracted to his toned body, and I couldn’t help my eyes from following the water droplets' journeys across his sun kissed skin. All of it was very troublesome, for I could not afford to have any emotional connection with Nathaniel; I knew nothing of his background or his plans.

 Suddenly, he stopped packing and raised his head, looking straight at me, allowing me to see the warm, playful glow in those deep, dark eyes.

“Morning,” he said with a smile, warming me a little on the inside.

 “Mornin’," I replied, surprised.

 “Stalking much?” he asked, returning to his packing.

 I blushed heavily from the awkward situation, finally looking away.

 “I didn’t mean to. I was spacing out, you see.”

 “Sure you were,” he chuckled, and grabbed his shirt that was resting on the chair.

 After that, we didn’t talk much. Seeing as Nathaniel was almost ready, I hurried a bit to be ready as well. I washed my face in the basin with cold water, combed my hair with my fingers, and put my boots on. Since there was no mirror in the room, I just had to assume I looked relatively decent.

While getting ready, I had trouble clearing my head. I just had too many thoughts and questions for Nathaniel that came to mind, but I managed to push them all away, considering it was too early to bombard him with "why"s and "how"s. I’d just have to find out the information I need one step at a time.

  After leaving the cabin, we proceeded to walk at a light pace towards the village. The weather was rather chilly, but I didn’t mind, as I was enjoying the fresh air. The forest seemed calm—no animals in sight, nothing to disturb the peace but our footsteps, trotting over dried leaves and twigs. Without the overwhelming darkness and eerie moonlight, the wild territory seemed much more peaceful. I was very grateful for the warm sunlight, and tried to soak it all in.

 “Where are we going, exactly?" I asked, removing the hair from my face, the wind blowing through the leaves.

“I wanted to stop at a pub first to chow down a bit, and then visit a friend. Is that alright with you?” he said, still looking forward.