wilderness | paul lahote

{22}

The morning had come and the night had been dreamless for once in a long while. I remembered last night and a smile crept onto my lips as images of Paul in the moonlight, sitting in my room flashed by.

I still wasn't certain if it had been a dream or not. I was afraid to let go of the dream, if it was. I hesitated to open my eyes. Somehow I felt that my heart wouldn't handle him being gone again. And if he was, it would be my cue to leave this place.

I rolled over, my eyes still shut, and touched the side of my bed where I was certain Paul had fallen asleep at. My hands frantically touched around the sheets, the pillows.

It was empty.

I sighed and slowly opened my eyes as something warm grabbed my hand. Paul sat down, my hand still in his.

"You're here." I mumbled.

He nodded. "I told you I'd stay."

I quickly sat up, my eyes still on him. Afraid he'd disappear into thin air.

He chuckled. "Are you okay?"

I moved closer and sat in front of him. His eyes full of confusion, yet a smirk played on his beautiful face. I raised my hand slowly and touched his cheek.

"Your hands are cold." He said as he pulled a face. I pulled my hand right away.

"I was joking. It was soothing." He said as he grabbed my hand and placed it back against his cheek.

His skin was soft, burning under my palm. If I didn't know better, I'd be fooled to think he was having an awful fever. But I knew that wasn't the case. And I was sure to get my answers to what the actual case was today. In a way I already knew.

"Okay, seriously Ariah, you're starting to scare me? Are you sure you're okay?"

I nodded. "I was just making sure you're real."

He chuckled loudly now. "I'm so handsome you think I'm not real, huh?" He raised one of his eyebrows and smirked.

A blush grew on my cheeks. "Don't flatter yourself, pretty boy."

I got up from the bed to grab some clothes and take a much needed refreshing shower.

"Nice butt." He said as I walked over to the dresser. It was at that moment I realised I had been wearing nothing more than a T-shirt and panties. I quickly grabbed my hoodie and pulled it over my head, thankfully it was long enough to cover my bum.

"What?" He laughed. "You called me pretty, I can compliment your ass."

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed my stuff. "The pretty boy wasn't meant as a compliment."

He sarcastically nodded his head, letting me know he wasn't taking it as an insult either. "I know you meant it."

"I'm going to take a shower and if I don't find you here when I get back, you're in big trouble."

I watched as he laid down on my bed, with his arms behind his head, flexing his muscles, he winked.

I rolled my eyes once more before closing the door behind me and going into the bathroom to do my daily deeds.

I tried to be as quick as possible. Every minute counted as I spent my time. I had never in my life taken a shower as quick as I did then.

After everything was done I quickly rushed out of the bathroom, only to collide with Sam. I ran head first into his chest. It felt like running into stone.

"Jeez, you should work out less. You feel like a rock." I mumbled as I rubbed my forehead. He chuckled.

"Where are you in a hurry to?"

I tried to hide my eagerness to get back into the bedroom. But I had always been a bad liar. All I did was stammer on my words. Paul had said he was not on great terms with Sam and I was not sure if he'd like me to tell Sam that he had spent the night. I didn't want to take the risk.

"I-uhm-I... I'll see you at breakfast." I quickly nodded and ran back into my bedroom, slamming the door behind me a little too hard. I sighed.

Paul was still there, flicking through my sketchbook, lying on his stomach, on my bed. I smiled softly at the sight of him as he gazed at the pictures on the pages.

"Did you draw these?" He asked, not taking his eyes off the sketches.

"Yeah."

I walked over to the bed and sat down next to him, cross-legged. The book was opened on a drawing of a wolf. Large, grey. Its eyes fierce, yet holding so much passion. Its teeth were showing as it stood in the stance of being ready to jump.

"This was done before." He said as he looked confused.

"Before what?"

"Before everything went down. This was done a few days after we found you that first time." He looked over to me now. I took the book from him, closed it and placed it on the corner of the bed.

"I draw things I see in my dreams," he sat up now, listening. "I guess I must've had a dream of that wolf then." I shrugged.

He frowned before raising an eyebrow. "You don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"Look at that picture again." He said as he reached over me and opened the book up on the same drawing again.

"Paul, it's a wolf." I said as he pushed the book into my lap.

"Look more."

I sighed, confused on what he was on about. As I looked at the picture I realised what he was trying to say. The same wolf that looked back at me from the page, had been the same wolf that had taken over Paul's body that evening in the backyard. I gasped.

"Do you also dream of Victoria?"

I closed the book again. I looked over at Paul, confused.

"Victoria?"

"The leech... The woman in the forest."

"You mean the lady in red? Yeah, I see her sometimes."

A slight wave of anger took over his face, before his emotion softened again.

"You're safe now, okay. I promise." He caressed my cheek with his hand, before leaning in and planting a kiss on my forehead. Butterflies raged in my stomach. Which in turn also decided to rumble at that very moment.

He laughed. "Let's go get some food in you."

"But Sam?" I asked as Paul got off the bed, pulling me along.

"He'll know I've been here anyway. I can't really hide it. And I've got to face him eventually."