PANDORA - Book 1 (NWC's 2nd place winner)

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER TEN

            We reach the town proper and the first thing we do is find a place to hide. The sun is up but the clouds are still too thick for its rays to penetrate. We pick up an abandoned house, hoping it’s not a hemophage nest. Vaughn parks the car beside the house so if Rohan comes, he’ll figure out we are inside.

            I destroy the locks on the front door. Behind me is Vaughn who carries Jillian on his back. We inspect each room of the house and deem it safe. There are grills over the windows and the locks on the doors are intact with the exception of the one I broke.

            The storm resumes and it becomes harsher. We stay in the house’s living room and lit a few candles I found on the cupboard while listening to the wild howling of wind outside. All that’s left to do now is to wait for Rohan which is kind of harder to tolerate than shooting vampires’ heads. The longer I hang around, the more nervous I become. What if Rohan failed to save himself? Will I be able to bear it? What am I going to do without him?

            “Settle down, will you? You’re making me dizzy,” Vaughn says. He’s slumped on the floor and Jillian is sleeping on one of the couches.

            “’Sorry.” I sit down across him. “I can’t help it.”

            “He’ll be here. If you saw how he beat the crap out of me last night, you’ll know how much willpower he has just to be with you,” he says nonchalantly. My cheeks burn. I’ll never get used to these kinds of topic. Vaughn grins upon seeing me blush.

            “What did exactly happen last night, by the way?”

            “Well, I asked him few questions about the two of you.” He grins wider at the memory. I try not to appear squeamish. “I noticed he’s dropping his guard whenever there’s an implication that I’m interested on you. So I played along and the next thing I know, he’s taking the punches personally. Of course, I fought back. When we’re done, he told me to not even think about it because you already like someone.”

            “So, basically, you pushed him,” I say, suppressing a blush.

            “Well, you can thank me later.”

            “Yeah, I’ll take that under advisement.”

            A clang on the grill sends us ducking behind the couch. And a voice yells, “Hope! Are you there?” I run to the main door before Vaughn can even blink. Outside, Rohan is leaning on the bars. He’s soaking wet and judging by his appearance, he got more injuries.

            Vaughn comes and helps me push away the furniture we used as barricades. I unlock the gate and let Rohan in. He drops his bag on the doorway and he collapses on my feet.

            “Oh, my God. Rohan!” I plunge down on my knees and cup his face. He’s half-conscious. I suspect he spent all of what’s left of his energy just to get here.

            “Let’s get him inside,” Vaughn says and he helps me lift Rohan to his feet. We drag Rohan’s worn out body in the living room and lay him on the couch. Vaughn turns to leave and tells me, “I’ll get his things. ‘Better find a way to fix him up.”

            And fix him up, I will. I ease Rohan out of his wet clothes. If this is a different situation, I’ll surely turn away and blush at the sight of his body but he needs my help right now and not my nervousness. I’m about to pull his pants when I noticed the scorched fabric. Burns. I take a knife and cut away the lower part of his pants which reveals a badly burned right leg. There’s just one big problem. I don’t know how to treat burns.