The Rarest One

Hidden Palace Inn Part 17

(Crystal)

A chorus of objections interjected after my confession.  I sat silently until they were willing to listen to me.

"Didn't you tell us we had to leave to protect our family and now you want to involve your own family?" Hugh snapped, eyes lit with anger.

"You can't go to your family," Victoria snorted, rolling her opal eyes.

"You don't drag your family into this world.  They become collateral damage," Kira leaned forward.

"Oh," I raised my eyebrows and met her eyes in the rear view mirror.  "And what if she is already part of this, 'world'?"

"Your aunt knows?" Adrian asked, ice blue eyes narrowing.

"Yes," I confirmed, nodding my head, as I stopped at a red light.  

"And she will help us?" Kira inquired, grey eyes with suspicious.

I nodded, mumbling underneath my breath, "Yea, but I never even knew she existed until seventy-two hours ago."  Scott's head whipped toward me, and I put the car in motion as the light turned green.  "Yea, right before everything went to dirt, I had just found out my father had a sister, Melanie Mason, younger than my father, reads minds, and from what I heard from my contacts, she can dream scape, which is a rare ability, like mine being a tellie.  Looks like multiple abilities run in the family line."

"We better find a place to crash for the night," Scott tapped the screen, and directed me to an hidden inn outside of the city.

"This is perfect,"  I gazed at the inn, which was called Hidden Palace Inn,  tucked out of sight by a forest where not many people would stay, and was very low key.  "Let me do the talking."

"Oh," Kira raised her eyebrows, and clipped back her bobbed hair.

"Sorry, but I am taking the boys with me," I still didn't completely trust her nor her sidekicks, and I grabbed my bags off the floor and handed them to Scott.  "You can do whatever you wish with your sidekicks."

Victoria's eyes grew red with anger, "You little-"

"Victoria!" Kira scolded, holding up a hand. "Okay, whatever you wish."

"Kira, don't let this little-" Victoria insisted, but once again she was shushed by Kira.

"Let's go boys," I ordered, and they scrambled out of the car.  I tucked the keys into my pocket, and entered the building right behind me.  It door dinged.  A portly, grey-haired lady at the desk jerked to attention and gave us a smile.

"Why hello," she moved to the cash register.  "You are our first customers for at least five days.  Are you cousins?" 

"Yes, we are," I smiled at her.  "How much for one room and one night?"

"Well, that would be seventy dollars and that covers the food cost as well," she tapped on the cash register, and stuck her hand out.  I handed her the cash, while she asked, "I take it you will need three cots."

"Yes, that would be great, and would you deliver the food to our room?" I smiled at her.

"Yes of course, and my husband will get the cots ready for you in your room, which is room 18," the lady handed me the receipt, and directed us to our lodging.    We hand just thrown the bags on the bed when a knock sounded on our door.  Hugh went to answer it but I waved him back, hand on my gun.  Scott glared at me, but I ignored it, and looked though the peephole.  I opened the door and let the older man in.  He rolled the three cots in, and then picked up the trays off the floor, handing them to me.  

"Thank you," I said awkwardly, since he did all this in silence.  He did something with his hands, and my brow furrowed in confusion.

"He says your welcome, and have a nice stay," Hugh told us.  Hugh did some signs back, and the man smiled and left.  We looked at him in shock.

"Dude, where did you learn sign language?" Adrian smacked his shoulder.

"My grandfather  was deaf, and my mom taught me sign language to be able to speak to him," Hugh said, sitting in a chair and turning on the TV.

"Huh," I brought the bags into the bathroom.  "Scott, take your shower first and clean those wounds." 

"No, you go first," Scott waved me off, watching the TV intently. "I have to watch my show."

I stared at them for a second, and then sighed, murmuring, "Whatever."  I locked the door, and pulled off my jeans, shirts, and my socks.  I unwrapped my ribs, and carefully looked at it in the mirror.  I nod, pleased, "Looks good." I turned on the shower, finished disrobing and stepped in.

(SCOTT)

"Oh burn," we sang together, while watching our show, Gifted, which we had made an annual hang-out day to watch the new episode every Monday.   The shower turned off, and I heard a thump followed by a quiet curse.  I stood and walked to the door.  I knocked softly, saying, "Crystal, are you okay?"  

"Come in, I need your help," the door opened and I could hear her rummaging about in the cabinets.  

I stepped in, and immediately looked away, my face red and heated.  She was only wearing a pair of black yoga pants that showed off the curves of her leg muscle, and..... a sports bra. 

"Scott McCall, are you blushing?" she wrapped the towel around her shoulder length hair, and looked up in my face. "Have you never seen a girl in a sports bra?"

I cleared my throat, and she laughed.

"It is just like a swim suit," she pointed out.

"Can you just put on a shirt, please?" I mumbled, head still turned away.

"No," she replied bluntly, digging in the medical kit.  She pulled out a tube of wound care, put it on a pad, and turned, her back facing the mirror, her hand holding out the white wrap. 

I reached for it and stopped, staring at her back in the mirror.  It was covered in scars.  Some jagged and red, others were straight and white.  They didn't look old either, but it is hard to gauge how old wounds are on a werewolf because of their incredibile fast healing.

"Are you going to do it or not?" her impatient voice broke into my thoughts. I met her gaze as it dawned on her.  Her eyes showed her mistrust and horror, on what I had just seen.  I was in motion, grabbing the wrap, and taking the pad with the medicine, placing it on the puckered skin from the piece of glass, before she could push me away again.

"Arms up," I ordered, starting with the wrap on the pad, and reaching around her with the other hand to grab it and I heard her sharp intake of breath.  "Sorry if this hurts."

"It doesn't hurt; just unexpected that you know how to do this," she stared at the wall behind me.

"I don't know if your know this or not," I laughed, "because you seem to know everything, but Adrian and I are certified medics." 

"What?" her yellow eyes shot to mine.

"Yea, my mom's a nurse, and when we were fourteen she began giving us the crash course of medical emergencies, mostly because we were always getting hurt.  She gave us more advanced training though the years, and made us keep up with it." I made sure that the wrap lay even, by running my hand over her rib cage, and around her back, before I gently tucked it into the top of the wrap and taped it there just in case it pulled out.  "Okay, this looks great." 

"Thanks," she pulled on a light blue t-shirt, and shrugged on her grey hoody.

"No problem," I turned to the door, hand on the door handle.

"Scott," her fingers on my leather jacket stopped me.  "Thank you....for not asking questions that I'm not ready to answer."  Her yellow eyes bored into mine with trust and......something else.

"You're welcome," I turned to the door and opened it.  "When your ready to talk, I'm here to listen."   I stepped out, allowed her to pass, and went back into the bathroom for my shower.