Obliterate

four

A TREMOR SHIVERED through Wolfe's body and his eyes pinched shut. Sophie flinched and retracted her hand, watching anxiously as his body tensed. "What's going on?" she asked both him and Eli. Her gaze flicked back and forth between them. "I think we need to call for a nurse. There should be a magic button around here somewhere."

"No."

Sophie's gaze shot back toward Wolfe. "What do you mean 'no'. You're obviously in a lot of pain. The nurses can help you. Let us help you."

His body relaxed, a strangled sigh escaping him. The skin on his forehead wrinkled and he lifted a hand to rub at his temple. A moment of silence passed. Sophie scanned watched him carefully. Pain swam through his various expressions. "My head...it hurts," he whispered.

"Wolfe, tell us how can we help you," Eli pressed. He moved to the other side of the bed and placed a hand on Wolfe's shoulder. "Is it like a normal headache? Or is it something worse. We just want to help you."

Wolfe grimaced. He lowered his hand back down to his side and sunk back further into his pillow, closing his eyes. "I don't know. It just hurts. It's throbbing, almost like a headache. But the medicine doesn't help. I don't want the medicine. Don't make me take it. Please."

"Why not?" Eli frowned. He and Sophie shared a concerned look.

"It makes things fuzzy. Hard to remember. Like clouds," Wolfe mumbled. His head moved, angled toward Sophie, and his eyes popped open. His half-lidded gaze just stared, focused intently on her face. "Bad clouds. Big clouds. Foamy-mouth clouds."

Sophie tried to hide the emotions that shot through her. Wolfe groaned, and then half-giggled. Another sigh escaped him and he twisted his head away from her, toward the window. "Mean clouds. Bad, bad, bad clouds."

Eli placed a hand on Sophie's shoulder. "What bad clouds, Wolfe?"

Wolfe stared out the window, at the storm clouds that rumbled in the distance. His gaze clouded over and his body relaxed. His words escaped as mere whispers, half concealed behind the whirr of machinery and the air-conditioning. "Bad clouds. Mean clouds. The clouds are coming for you."

Another heavy sigh, and then his whispers faded away. Sophie flinched as a snore shattered the somewhat silent room. She watched Wolfe's chest rise and fall, the movement becoming slower and slower as the lulls of sleep whisked him away. Then she tore her gaze away and looked at Eli. His expression seemed troubled.

"Mean clouds?" she reiterated.

Eli shrugged. "Remember, his mind has reduced to that of a child. Sometimes little kids don't make sense when they are half-asleep."

"That wasn't a babbling child," Sophie grumbled under her breath. "That was the words of insanity."

Her gaze refocused on Wolfe's sleeping form. The side of his face was illuminated in the faint moonlight. From what she could see of his face, his expression was void of any emotion, his muscles relaxed. He looked so peaceful. An aching sensation pooled at the base of her stomach. Sophie reached out and brushed her fingers against his hand. Then she turned away from him, toward Eli.

Eli held a hand out. His fingers curled around hers and squeezed tightly. "He'll get better," he assured her as they started toward the door. "We have some of the best doctors in the world here. He'll be okay."

Sophie glanced back over her shoulder, her expression twisted. "I hope so."

Flickering lamps lined the hallways, dancing in a nonexistent wind. Sophie stayed close to Eli's side, their hands intertwined. Her thoughts whirled like machinery. The encounter with Wolfe had transformed into a distant memory, slowly fading, and Sophie desperately searched for the misplaced puzzle pieces. Bits and pieces just didn't make sense. Clouds couldn't be mean. Or attack her in any way. They were nothing more than puffs of evaporated water.

Unless Wolfe wasn't really talking about a literal cloud.

But that notion only made her brewing headache worse. The idea that there was something out there, something that was planning to attack them...it all reminded her of Headmaster. It reminded her of the rebellion, and the pain, and now the tattoo.

The tattoo.

Sophie's free hand lifted. Her thumb absently brushed over the stained skin. It felt slightly raised, still somewhat swollen, which was ridiculous since she'd gotten it so long ago. It hurt. It constantly hurt. The pain had grown easy to ignore, until she thought about it.

"Does it bother you still?" Eli asked softly.

Her hand dropped back to her side. She focused on ignoring the pain, ignoring the tattoo. The further she cemented the idea that it did not exist into her mind, the less it hurt. When it didn't hurt, she looked at Eli and said, "Not at all."

He pursed his lips and squeezed her hand again.

The door to their shared mini-apartment grew closer. Unlike when she had last stayed in the academy, Sophie now roomed with Eli in one of the old teacher's apartments. Most of the apartments had been reworked, given newer appliances and nicer decorations. Eli stepped forward and pressed a palm against the door. A small green light blinked above his middle finger and the lock unlatched. He pushed the door open and held it open, stepping aside so Sophie could enter.

Their apartment was small. It immediately opened into a kitchen area, with a messy common area located beyond it. Their single bedroom was situated just off to the side, behind a small white door. Sophie wiggled her hand free from Eli's and started toward the fridge. Cool air kissed her face as she rummaged through it in search of a packet of B- blood. It was partially buried behind a mountain of O+, Eli's preferred flavor.

She snagged it and started toward the bedroom. Eli beat her to the bathroom. Sucking on the corner of the plastic bag of blood, she quickly changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She neatly ripped into the bag and started to drink. The cooled liquid slithered down her throat.

When the bag was empty, she folded it up and set it aside on the nightstand. Eli emerged from the bathroom, took one look at it, and scrunched his nose up. "Do you have to do that?"

"Yes," Sophie responded absently. "It's part of my ritual."

Eli grunted and crawled into the bed beside her. He turned toward her, half of his face pressed into the pillow. "I guess I shouldn't complain. It's not like you get it everywhere."

"Exactly," Sophie said.

A sleepy smile spread across his face. He swiftly sat up and leaned close, pressing his lips to hers. A smile spread across her face as butterflies flitted around within her stomach. His lips moved against hers, slow and gentle. She pulled away and giggled. "I'm sleepy."

He kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, love."

She laid down, burying herself within a mound of pillows. It took her a moment to get comfortable. Neither she nor Eli needed much sleep, being vampires and all. But when the urge hit...it hit hard. Sophie rolled over onto her side and curled up. Movement jarred the bed behind her, and an arm snaked around her waist.

"Love you," she whispered to Eli. He mumbled his love back, already half asleep. Another smile tugged at her lips as she drifted off to sleep.

That was the first night that Sophie woke up covered in blood.