Souls' Collision | ✔

R I D E

~ Chapter Twelve ~

Red and Liz stood outside the door to her apartment; she was unlocking and he was watching her back.

"My roommate's not home, so this should be pretty easy."

"What? You have a mate?"

Liz realized her mistake as she felt him near her back. "No. Relax. I just share a two-bedroom with her."

The door slid open, revealing a small space filled with plants and colorful fabric. Red decided that he liked it, mostly because it smelled like synthetic coconut and dirt.

Liz drew a deep breath, clearly loving it as well.

"And this is my home," she announced, stepping inside. Her eyes narrowed as he stayed in the stairwell.

"What?"

"Do I have to invite you in?"

He stepped through the frame, gave her an odd look as she snapped her fingers. "Right!" she said, mostly to herself. "That's vampires."

Once again he could only manage a flat, "What?"

Liz crossed her arms and smiled, a little dissapointed. "Awh, man. Are you telling me vampires don't exist?"

Before he could answer, she was already heading further inside. She walked a few steps in then dissapeared into a room to the left. Red was left alone in the hallway for a second and he took the time to resonate with a strange realization that had settled in his body; he already liked the cramped burrow more than his castle.

"You there?" Liz called from inside the apartment.

Red was almost instantly by her bedroom door, keeping an eye on her.

She stood in the middle of a square little hideout barely big enough to be called a room. In the window hung a star and on the walls were pictures of her alongside family and friends, smiling widely.

He almost lost himself in the photos.

Until Liz shoved a gun in his face.

"I should bring this, right?" she asked, weighing it in her hand. It was small, just like her and most other things in the apartment. A gift from her parents when she moved out. She'd never used it before but always kept it in her bedside table just in case.

She got to wondering if the bullets were silver.

Red gave it a fleeting look and mumbled, "Sure," before looking back to her room.

Liz stuffed it down the bag she'd hauled up from underneath her bed and noticed how he looked around. "Sorry it's so messy," she offered but couldn't say it was ever any cleaner.

"Who's that?" he asked, ignoring her apology and pointing to a poster on the wall.

She followed his gaze and laughed a little. Slinging her bag across her shoulder she joined his side, eyeing the photo. "That's my favorite band, Awolnation. I went to a concert of theirs once."

"And that?" he asked, pointing to a little doodle on the side of the poster.

"Oh, that's an autograph. Cool, huh? Why? You've ever heard them?"

"No."

"Really? Here come the runts?"

He gave her a look, envying the way her eyes glowed when talking about the scrappy men on her bedroom wall. "Runts usually don't make it," he felt obligated to say.

"That's why it's cool," she retorted but didn't explain further. Instead she walked out, knowing he would follow.

"Are you done?" he asked while trailing behind her.

"Yeah. But I've been meaning to ask, how will we get to Akra?"

"Through the woods."

"Wait..." She turned around. "We're gonna walk?"

"No. We'll run."

"I can't race a bunch of wolves. Absolutely not," Liz said firmly.

"You won't." He walked past her, out into the stairwell, feeling a little claustraphobic. Maybe his castle was better after all. "I'll carry you."

"You'll carry me?"

He nodded.

"But how're you... Shit. You're not gonna be human, are you?"

"I'm never human."

He caught her look.

"But no. I will not... And we must go now."

×

Liz stood in a meadow amongst wolves; snarling, prowling animals that were sneaking around her, watching her every move but avoiding her gaze every time she looked their way. There weren't more than eight of them but they moved so closely, in a watchful heap, that she felt trapped. It was like she was stuck in a tornado of fur.

Only one body never moved.

A dark wolf, bigger than the others and almost taller than her as well, stayed rigid by her side. He felt the wolves pass but seemed pretty content by the closeness of the others. His eyes sneaked to his human, watching to see how she was holding up in the midst of it all. He wasn't sure what he'd expected to see.

She was petting one of the wolves — scratching its chin with a careful smile. The wolf itself looked like it was adamantly enjoying itself.

Red didn't know what to do, he'd never seen anything like it. So he decided not to dwell in the meadow anymore. The sun was setting and while darkness was a good advantage for his pack, he wanted Liz to feel as safe as could be expected. He switched his body language almost unnoticeably — his ears flicked a bit and his tail tensed — but the wolves noticed and immediately got into position, each watching the forest from a different angle and undeniably guarding the human between them.

"What now — what's happening?" Liz quickly questioned, looking worried. She waddled in a small circle in her thick jacket, looking to the woods, much less graceful than the pack.

Red stayed still, patiently waiting.

She pulled her hat down to cover her forehead and groaned. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit, maybe this isn't a good idea?"

A brisk wind tousled the animals' fur. Liz watched the strands on Red's back with a grimace. She slowly reached forward, pausing a few times to see if he'd against all odds attack her. He didn't.

Her red fingers were swallowed by his fur, and she whisked them around. She glanced at his ears laying flat against his head. "If you bite me I'll kill you."

A few heads snapped her way.

"I'm kidding!"

She swung her leg across his back and shimmied on. Surprisingly he didn't fold and even took a few steady steps. Liz put her palms against his shoulder blades and leant forward, adding just for him, "I wasn't kidding."

With a flick of his tail, Red commanded the other members, and they took off into the woods. The sudden movements made Liz waver a little but she found her balance while the wolf — her wolf — remained patient.

"Alright," she said more to herself than him, steadying her grip. "Let's go."

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