Breathe Blueprint (GxG)

Chapter 1 - Distrust

Layla's POV

It's been a few hours since The Council got back from that awful place. A gruesome display of females fighting each other to death just to survive. How is that even entertaining? I look over the paperwork in front of me. It's more than usual. What am I talking about? Of course, it is. I stepped in when I was told not to by the Priestess.

"Lady Braxton." I turn to look at the intercom on my desk. I sigh and rub my face before clicking the mic on.

"Yes, Kathleen?" I asked. Kathleen sounded nervous. She was always nervous, but this sounded worse than usual.

"Well, um, your guest. She is um awake." I stood up abruptly, knocking my desk chair over.

"She's awake already?! She still has three more hours until the healing process is complete!" I ran my hands through my hair, my mind racing.

"I thought I would let you know. Also, she's trying to take her I.V. out and trying to detach the monitors." I roll my eyes.

"And why didn't you stop her?"

"She threatened me and to tell you the truth, Lady Braxton she is quite intimidating." I let out a sigh. I'll need to keep her preoccupied long enough to reduce the chances of the wound opening. This should be fun.

"I'll be right over Kathleen. Don't approach her please."

"Yes, ma'am." The light died from the intercom signifying that the call ended. I quickly scan the paperwork. I'll do it later.

I bolted down the hallway barely missing the other employees. Finally, skidding to a halt, I reach the medical room. I stop to take a deep breath and adjust my clothing, so it didn't seem I was panicked.

"Damn it!"

The voice came from my patient inside. I slowly open the door and walk in. The room was decent sized. It held six hospital beds comfortably with cabinets in between each one. In bed number four, sat my patient. She was small for her age, my medical examination confirming her height at exactly five feet in height. She had wavy dark brown hair that reached mid shoulder blade. On the right side, a french braid kept her hair back. I believe humans call it 'Viking style.'

"Don't take that out! You're running low on fluids as it is!" I order. Was this girl dense? I walked over and sat in a swivel chair. I replaced the needle she ripped out and started a new I.V. while cleaning the blood that came from the hole she made. After I had finished, I looked her up and down, scanning for more self-inflicted mishaps. "You shouldn't be up! Lay back down." I reached out to lay her back down gently.

"Who the hell are you?" Her ice blue eyes bore into me with intensity, so much that I stopped from attempting to lay her back down. I can see why Kathleen said she was intimidating.

"Layla Braxton."

"Where am I?" The girl never broke her gaze, and I don't think I could have broke the eye contact if I tried. Her eyes kept your attention.

"A medical treatment room in the building that houses the Council of Lycree." She finally broke eye contact and looked around. She was thinking hard. It was evident how she glanced around the room.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. This girl had a lot of questions.

"Giving you medical treatment." My eyes drifted to the bandage on the girl's neck. Blood was seeping through. Not surprising, she did get an awful laceration. "You lost your fight before it even started," The girl's eyes snapped to mine. "Don't you remember? The fight in that arena," I lifted my arm towards the bandage. It needed to be replaced. "The girl you were fighting, she-" Before my hand could get any closer, it was swatted away.

"Don't touch me." She demanded. I felt a sigh of frustration leave my body. I lift my arm again.

"I need to change that, so the cut doesn't get-" This time my arm wasn't swatted away. Instead, she grabbed my wrist in a firm grip.

"Don't." I looked into her eyes. Her tone changed. Instead of demanding, she sounded insecure, maybe even hurt. I can't bring myself to pull away from her grip. I can feel the warmth radiating off of her.

"What's your name?" I asked softly. The girl hesitated slightly. "You can tell me."

"Why should I trust a bloodsucker like you?" Bloodsucker? How did she know? Only so many know that the Council of Lycree is occupied by vampires.

"How did you-"

"The pit owner. He told all his fighters about the Council. We've been avoiding you knowing that you'd shut down his business." I finally pull away from her grip, almost forgetting I was in it. I stood up and went to the cabinet.

"You should trust me because I'm giving you medical treatment free of charge and I defended you from the other council members. They're not keen on the idea of caring for a human here." I started searching for clothes that would fit her. Everything seemed too big.

"Then why did you help me?" She asked. I could feel her gaze on me as I searched.

"Because I couldn't let you suffer like that." I finally found the shirt that would fit. "But I do have an offer for you." I walked back over and placed the clothing on the end of the bed.

"I don't take handouts." The girl averted her gaze from mine.

"Then look at it from a different angle. I'm offering you a job. In exchange for hard work, you get to stay here. I'll cover all the things you need. Food, clothes, anything." I smile as I see the girl's body become less tense.

"What kind of work?"

"Protection, maybe even your company." The girl nodded along. I'll take that as a maybe. I then place my hand on the pile of clothes. "Here are some decent clothes. Since you woke up in time, dinner is in ten minutes. Kathleen will be in here to help detach you from the monitors. Be nice. She's terrified of you. At dinner, we will discuss the details of the job." I smiled and got up. I walked to the door and wrapped my fingers around the door knob.

"Nyx," I turned to look at the girl in the bed. "You asked what my name was. It's Nyx."