The Ritual To The Beast | ✓

Chapter 8: Speedy Recovery

Chapter 8

Those darn mosquitoes. Every minute I drew closer to sleep I had a new itching spot. Being this close to the forest I could hear every crook, creak and flutter of the hundreds of insects crawling about in the bloodcurdling darkness beyond the trees and into the unnerving forest.

It wasn't the bugs, arachnids, arthropods, the chilly night air, the pessimistic itching or even the hard soil and tree bark I lay against that I was afraid of. It was the lurking creatures that may be trudging through the forest behind me.

I may have insulted Thane and left the house willingly but I didn't expect the guy to just leave me out here...alone...in the dark.

Note to self, don't let pride get in the way of my sleep.

I sat out here for so long that the cool night air turned into a frosty midnight. My kidnapper didn't even have an ounce of chivalry to get me a blanket. I guess the saying was true, chivalry fell on its sword. I felt as if the frost bites were giving me hypothermia.

No matter how much blood suckers bit me or how much I froze my ass off, nothing stopped a girl from sleeping.

It must have been way after midnight when I finally fell into a deep slumber.

The last thing I remembered was hearing a low growl near me then the sensation of someone lifting me up.

~~~

I jolted awake by the itching in my nose and the feeling to sneeze.

Rattled by the softness I was laying on, I sat up. I seemed to be confused each time I'm in this room.

I had a feeling Thane doesn't take no for an answer as I laid here on his bed.

I felt a fever on my skin and my crazy sneezing acting up again. I looked upon the night stand for some tissues and I couldn't believe what my eyes landed upon.

Sitting primed, proper and framed on the bedside table was the picture of my family. Thane must have found it last night and framed it for me.

Grabbing the picture frame and looking down at their smiling faces. I was washed over with the feeling of nostalgia and homesickness. The fond memories and sentiment this piece of paper held, brought tears to my eyes.

That didn't help because my nose just became stuffy. I placed the picture frame back as I got off the bed.

As I placed both feet on the ground and took a step forward, my foot caught on something.

More like someone.

I went tumbling forward as I heard a loud yelp of pain.

I screamed as I landed on my right side on the floor with a loud thump. That's going to leave a bruise, I thought as I felt my side light up in pain.

"Emery! Are you okay?" Thane quickly scooted towards me to check for casualties.

I looked up into his eyes and saw worry as clear as day written all over his face, but of course I had to scream at him.

"What the hell were you doing there?!" I yelled at him. "Are you trying to kill me or get yourself killed?"

"Hey, hey I'm sorry." He honestly said to me. "I didn't think you'd have woken up so early. You really gave me a good kick there though." He smiled.

For some unknown reason I couldn't help but laugh at that. I must be mentally unstable.

"Aww," I yelled in pain as my side hurt when I laughed.