Vincent Albright was at the top of his game. He had achieved fame, fortune, and the love and adoration of thousands through his artwork. After a falling out, however, he sought haven on Charlie's Isle, a small, low populated island off the coast of...
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Ivy
The walk back down the mountain was tough. In panther form it could've been done in a half hour, but unfortunately the sun had risen and it was almost noon by the time we got back to town.
Vinny insisted on walking my sisters and me home. They ran and jumped ahead of us, somehow completely okay after the incident they had witnessed, while Vin and I held back to talk.
"I hope those fishermen in your tavern didn't get hurt last night." I said. They hadn't occurred to me until I spotted the Brown Horse down the road.
"I'm sure they're fine." Vinny said reassuringly.
We came upon my house and we stopped as the Three Musketeers ran through the picket gate and into the house.
"You gotta get some sleep." I said. I hadn't gotten the opportunity to take a good look at Vinny's face until now, and the bags under his eyes were deep purple and he looked plain exhausted. He wore a white tee shirt with paint stains here and there (and it smelt like hell) and his dark auburn hair was disheveled as always. It must have been days since he'd shaved last. He had a solid beard and mustache coming in.
"I will..." He trailed off.
"I mean it. Don't even look at those murals when you get home. Just walk past them and take a nap." I said, "God, I'm starting to sound like you."
I got a snort for that one. Normally I was the idea person and Vinny was the realist/borderline pessimist. He had to look over all of my hunting plans before we did them to weed out the flaws. It was a good system, really.
"I'll take a nap if you promise me one thing."
"What?"
"Keep out of this."
"What?" I repeated.
"Stay away from what happened last night, alright? Whatever it is isn't safe and none of us want you to get hurt." Vinny responded, worry filling his milky eyes as he gestured to my house and then his own.
I squirmed a little under his intense stare and my lack of wanting to promise. Whatever happened last night wasn't an accident and something told me it was going to happen again.
"Promise me, Ivy." He persisted.
I thought for a second more before sighing, "Alright."
His worry broke into a smile as he patted my shoulder, "Thank you. I'll see you later." Then he turned to go.
I watched Vinny walk away until his body was a blur in the summertime haze and barely made out his figure as he disappeared into the tavern.
Without a second thought I turned from my house and jogged down the street in the direction of the hospital.
