I stayed completely motionless while Angus pulled the first aid kit I'd brought with me and found something to keep my arm immobile.
“You heal fast. Fractures should only take a few days, maybe hours to heal.” He said, giving me a reassuring pat on the back.
“Like vampires.” I wound up, trying to smile at him for his… kindness. I ended up frowning to the still present pain in my shoulder.
“Yeah, but not entirely. It takes them seconds.” He reminded. “At least you're the only witch who can…do the least.” His eyes reflected dark amusement.
“What about healers?” I asked, unable to understand the difference I had or was, from them.
“You heal fast and naturally, they use spells.”
“Wait, that's—so you mean that Sean knew the spells?”
“If his gift was healing, he might be pretty skilled.” he answered, simply.
“His heart is still weak, I'm not sure he's that skilled. The spell they casted him might've been powerful.” I felt a wave worry rush inside of me.
“Sleep, you need to rest.”
I closed my eyes and rested for a long time on his chest. He continued to stroke my hair and soon, a warm sensation accompanied each of his touch; each time, his skin brushes gently on mine. It makes me think.
I realize that this is the first time we've ever been really alone since the day we met—the time there's been a door (a door of a tent to be exact) to close between the world outside and the two of us. Alone in the middle this vast forest and I'm surprised, almost shocked that I'm in the arms of Angus Humphrey, a boy—or man I couldn't stand to be near a few months ago. I realize again, that this is the first time I've seen him in days, since I brought that forest down to ashes. Was he afraid of me? Of what I could do?
No. He'd pushed you, remember.
It is different. If he was afraid of me, I wouldn't be here, tucked against his side and quite frankly, it would be ridiculous.
I scooted closer, his warm breath hitting my cheeks and making them burn. His heartbeat was even and peaceful in his chest. I raised my eyes and stared at his face, at how serene and calm he appeared. The complete opposite of my reaction to Duncan's words a few hours ago.
I wince and he notices.
“You okay?” Angus immediately asks. I nod shutting my eyes, tight.
“How old are you?” I ask, partly curious and partly desperate to avoid further questions.
He stiffened, looking shocked and confused by my question.
“What?”
“Why do you want to know?” he looked disturbed.
“I'm just curious, jeez. Nobody ever asked you before?” I asked, actually surprised by his reaction.
“No.”
“Okay” I didn't know what else to say to that. An ordinary person wouldn't mind asking but I was actually shocked that no witch ever did.
“What's your real age?” I enquired again. I had a suspicious feeling he wanted to elude the subject because it took him long enough to finally grant me an answer.
“A couple of hundred years,” he said and I almost chocked on my saliva. “No kidding!” I gasped, my eyes wide. “Nine hundred and a few, I stopped counting a while ago.” he smiled, amusingly at my gaping face. It took me an eternity to recover from the shock.
And you thought Anthony was an antiquity!
I was speechless for a while. He waited patiently until I recovered and regained the control of my mouth.
“I'm sorry,” I apologized, feeling ashamed now. “It's okay.” he reassured. “Um, you look young, actually but — I mean, I know y-you're elder.” Again, I stared at his beautifully perfect face, astonished and amazed at the same time.
He appeared as young as myself yet he was old and wiser. Over fifty times older than me. I suddenly felt like a kid and benighted besides him.
“Are you okay?” I raised my eyes to look at him. He seemed worried by my long silence. “No-It's just… you're old.” I breathed, unable to believe it even now. He stared, impassively at me. “It's okay ” I assured him, not wanting to make him feel uncomfortable, though he showed no sign of feeling so.
“Are you okay?”
“Err, I'm not sure,” Everything rushed back to me and I shivered.
“Does your arm still hurts?” he demanded and I shook my head. It didn't hurt… not as much as the pain. I sniffed, feeling tears fill my eyes again.
“I'm here… safe. Duncan's not, my mother's not, …Sean's not.” I whispered. I shook my head. “No, I'm not okay, Humphrey. It hurts, ceaselessly.”
He said nothing. He didn't have too. The silence in the tent felt sufficient enough and calmed my nerves slowly.
After a moment his cold fingers tug my chin up. My heart throbbed when our eyes met. He was being surprisingly gentle, though all his movements seemed a little calculated.
“I'm not sure what happened in this little head of yours but I have to remind you to be careful next time.” I nodded, “Okay”
“Good,” he pulled my hair away from my face and whispered softly in my ear, “Now I want you to close your eyes and sleep. Everything is going to be okay… I promise.”
_______________________________________
a
: As always,thank you very much for reading! And I'd really much like to known how you like the story so far.
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Venom
Fantasi"You almost got me" he admitted. "Good to know." I breathed. "Yes, but you're still too slow and too aggressive. You should let your opponent attack first." "Oh, really" I raised my eyebrows, annoyed. His chest pressed hard against mine and our...
