Of Wolf & Man

Chapter Ten

Rachel began to wonder what was taking him so long. She was getting tired but promised she'd stay awake until Liam returned. She didn't want to finish her serum and decided to wander around the cabin to try and figure him out.
There wasn't much. The bedroom wasn't really a bedroom; it reminded her of a hotel room. The table that she stood on while she was having her nightmare was probably where he ate every day. The two chairs were where they had been when he left. One next to the table, one next to the bed. The bedside table held the lamp and she opened the drawers and found nothing, they were empty. She closed the drawers and got up from the bed. Her body felt sore, mainly in her arm and her legs. There was some tenderness in her skull from when she fainted the day before. She decided to keep exploring, slowly she walked around the cabin.
In the bathroom were cabinets that held medical supplies and some clothes. She rifled through them and found only jeans and t-shirts. She shut the cabinets and wandered down the hallway and checked the rest of the cabin. There was a closed door and when Rachel opened it, it was another bedroom, more barren than the one she woke up in. She shut the door and wandered to the kitchen.
The blood on the floor was cleaned up as were the bloody bandages that littered the counters.
She checked the fridge. Empty. The cabinets. Empty. She wondered how often he ate. Or if he ate out a lot. He looked fit enough so maybe he worked off all the fast food. Oh gosh, why was she thinking about his body? It made her flush thinking about his arms. How strong they were and how they flexed when he looked down at his hands, she kept thinking about the crescent scar on his bicep. She knew there was a story behind it, a story she wondered if he would tell her.
With a sigh she walked back to the bedroom and got back into bed. Rachel grabbed her glass off the nightstand and finished it off. The serum burned more than most alcohol. And tasted worse. Rachel wondered if her arm was any better. It didn't feel better, but it didn't smell so bad anymore either. She sat and wondered if the police were looking for her. What if they thought she killed Felicity and Tina? What if Alan told them she was in a hurry to get away from the sound stage? She wished she didn't leave. Since whoever killed her friends was after her, they could've killed her and let them be and they'd still be alive. Still be smiling and laughing.
Thinking about Tina laughing brought tears to Rachel's eyes. She let them flow. She was mourning and alone. There was no point in being ashamed of her feelings. Her trickle of tears turned into sobs and into a deluge of tears and she gasped for breath. Rachel did her best to curl into a ball and comfort herself without hurting her arm. She lay there awkwardly with her knees pressed to her chest and her right arm dangling over them crying her eyes out. Crying for her parents, crying for her friends and crying for herself.
Rachel's life had gone downhill fast and she couldn't cope anymore. Couldn't hold it all in. She cried herself hoarse and just lay there numb staring at the table. She couldn't figure out how she moved while she was having a nightmare. The table was a meter away from the bed. As far as she knew she didn't sleepwalk or even talk in her sleep. How could she have jumped up and climbed onto the table and tried to scratch Liam? Why was she dreaming she was a vampire?
She didn't even believe in them, or werewolves. Yet they were fighting over her. And she wanted to know why. Why Rachel? That's what she couldn't understand. What was her part in all of it?
Liam had told her she was the most wanted being in the supernatural world. What did that mean?
Was she important or something? Were her parent's vampires? Is that why she was acting like one? Why their murders were never solved? All this information hurt her head and exhausted her. She wanted to sleep, and the crying didn't help any. Rachel wished Liam would hurry.
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Liam finished unlocking the door and opened it. The cabin was quiet again. He decided to check the kitchen first just to be safe. Nothing. He walked down the hall and could hear a heartbeat. He let out the breath he was holding, relieved that she was still there. He hoped she was awake still. At the doorway to the bedroom Liam saw Rachel curled up in a makeshift fetal position. He watched her, watched her wipe her eyes and sniff her nose. She was crying. Not that he blamed her. She lost her freedom and her friends in one day. His relief turned to guilt.
Liam cleared his throat and Rachel sprung up in the bed and wiped her eyes. Her eyes and nose were red from crying. He wanted so badly to comfort her but kept his distance. With Russell outside he knew better than to do anything stupid.
Rachel's cheeks flamed red at being caught crying. Because she moved so fast her arm flexed and she could feel the blood staining the bandages. She looked down to confirm. Blood was slowly creeping into the bandages. It looked strange and beautiful at the same time. She looked back up at Liam and said "I'm sorry about the bandages; I didn't mean to move my arm." She looked away from him and felt like crying again. How was she supposed to heal if she kept moving? She looked back at her arm and watched the blood and felt woozy.
Liam stayed in the doorway and said "It's all right. This is kind of a good thing."
"A good thing? I thought you said I had to heal?"
"You do; I have a tiny favor to ask of you."
"What is it?" Rachel said with suspicion.
"I contacted one of my colleagues for help. He's a healer. He's better at wounds than I am. He can help you."
"How is this a favor?"
"Uh...I guess it's not. I just wanted to give you a heads up. I didn't want you to think we were gonna hurt you."
"If you were gonna hurt me you would've done it already Liam."
Liam gasped and turned away. He bit his lip and cleared his throat again. "I'll uh-I'll go get him.
He's waiting outside." Liam left the room without a backward glance.
Rachel didn't understand his reaction. What did she say that could cause it? She sighed and tried to keep her arm from touching the bed. She didn't feel like staining the bed sheets. She didn't see another set while she was snooping.
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Liam walked down the hallway mentally kicking himself. How could he be so stupid?
When he opened the door, Russell gave him a peculiar look. Liam just shook his head and turned back around. Russell locked the door and followed Liam down the hall. When he reached the bedroom, he saw how pale Rachel was and rushed to the bed. She was losing consciousness fast.
Russell laid her back and gently lifted her arm up. He looked into her glossy eyes and knew he had to work fast. "Rachel, Rachel, look at me." When she turned her eyes to him he said "Keep your arm up. Above your heart. It'll slow the bleeding while I get set up." Rachel nodded blankly and kept her arm up.
Russell quickly opened his medical bag and pulled out rolls of gauze and more bottles of serum. He turned to Liam and said "Get me some hot water Liam. I need to flush the wounds. There's something besides the lycovirus that's keeping them open." Liam turned and left the room and Russell turned back to his bag and kept pulling supplies out. He pulled a bottle with a long nozzle out and some type of ointment Rachel had never seen before. When Liam returned with a steel bowl full of water. Russell grabbed it and motioned for Liam to clear off the nightstand, so he could get to work. After Liam cleared everything he placed the bowl onto the table and filled the bottle. He grabbed out some absorbent pads from his bag and placed them on the bed underneath Rachel and pulled out some scissors.
"Rachel I'm going to touch your arm, so I can cut away the bandages and clean your wounds. I need you to be as still as you can, okay?" Rachel nodded, and Russell put on some vinyl gloves pulled her arm down to him and set to work.
He cut the bandages slowly and carefully, making sure not to touch the wound with the scissors. They were soaking so fast that he was sure she was gonna lose a lot of blood before he could figure out what was in there. Reaching her elbow, he made the last cut and the bandages fell in a damp lump onto the pads. The wound was worse than Russell thought it would be. The flesh looked like raw steak. Liam did massive damage to the arm, but he had seen worse. He grabbed the water bottle and began pouring water straight onto the wound. Rachel screamed and started to move away from him, her arm flew up and her hand caught him off guard hitting him in the cheekbone. "Restrain her! Quickly!"
Liam jumped up and ran to the other side of the bed and held Rachel's shoulders down with one arm her legs with the other. He felt warmth in his face at being able to touch her and knew it was wrong to be feeling like this when she was hurt. He turned his face to the ceiling and started to breathe through his mouth, keeping his heartbeat down, knowing that in this proximity she could hear it.
Russell rubbed his cheekbone with the back of his hand and kept working, he used his right hand to hold down her forearm and the left to work the water bottle. He kept flushing the wound, the blood was coming less frequently now and that's when he saw it. He quickly put the water bottle back into the bowl and grabbed a large pair of surgical tweezers. "Liam I'm going to need you to hold her down firmly. If she moves I could push the object deeper into her flesh."
"You found it?" said Liam and he jumped up, letting go of Rachel's shoulders in the process.
"Liam!" Russell shouted. But it was too late; Rachel had the discarded scissors and was off the bed faster than they could register. She was standing on the table again with eyes closed.
"She must've passed out from the pain." said Liam. He was slowly inching toward the table.
"You think! Don't move any closer." Russell said. He was watching Rachel intently, wondering what she'd do if Liam kept moving.
"I have to brother. She's going to bleed to death if we don't get her back down."
"Go slowly, and watch out for the scissors."
Liam inched closer and Rachel's head turned, and she sniffed in his direction. He stopped, and she hissed at him. He backed up a step and she cackled.
"I can smell you Lycanthrope. Your stench is all over this place. I will have my revenge for what you did to me. I will cut your heart out and watch the light leave your eyes." An eerie voice came from her mouth.
Liam gasped and turned to Russell. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. It didn't even sound like Rachel, she sounded like Nicolai. His blood was in her body but how could he control her? This had never happened before.
"How much did you tell her about us Liam?" asked Russell.
"I never said Lycan. I didn't even think she knew the word. It's the vampire blood that's doing this to her."
"I know. This is most worrisome. We need to get the object out of her arm now."
"How do we do that?" Liam said and looked back at Rachel. She was still sniffing the air and holding the scissors at the ready.
"You distract her, and I'll inject her with a sedative."
"Will it work?"
"We'll just have to try, unless you think you can wake her."
"I'll try. And if that fails, sedate her." Liam looked at Rachel again, at the blood flowing down her arm, at the scissors in her hand. He did this to her. She deserved to cut out his heart. It belonged to her anyway. He pushed back the morbid thoughts and said "Rachel? Rachel can you hear me?"