My King

Chapter Thirty-Two

Arlo's PoV

      The muscles in my legs burned as I darted through the streets. I could hear footsteps and a pounding heart chasing after me. I shriek of agony tore from my throat as fire grazed along my side. I whipped to the side and lunged my way up a building. My claws slid and scraped against the wet brick. I was galloping along the roof. Hunger gnawed at my belly as I jumped rooftop to rooftop. I skidded to a halt as the scent of smoke hit me, along with another scent. There was a human down there! Perfect, my stomach was snarling more than I was. Slowly and silently I made my way down the fire escapes. I had to be quick though, and I didn't really get a good look before I attacked. All I saw was that they had grayish hair, and pinkish eyes before I sunk my teeth into its neck. They dropped some kind of stick that was emitting smoke. They yelled and a red ball of energy formed at their side. I snarled and sunk my claws into the human's chest, reveling in how easy it was to slice through their flesh. Blood splattered over my face and I licked it off.  They collapse to the ground, ball vanishing. I was about to sink my teeth in when a searing pain hit my back. I howled in pain and whipped around. Snarling I lunged at the fire weiling human only to be struck in the face. My vision was damaged and I needed to get away. I wasn't going to be able to eat anything while this human was still after me. Especially not in this weakened state. I turned tail and fled. I ran out into the street and dove into an alley. I needed to hunt, badly. My long tongue reached out and licked more blood off my face as I ran, but that only made it worse. I was once again on a roof, jumping and running and climbing. Everything became a blur, but for some reason I couldn't feel my heart pumping. Normally after running this much my heart would be beating in my ears and my breathing would be ragged. Shouldn't it? Why isn't it? Why would I even think about something like that? It didn't matter right now, I needed food. There was no sign of the fire human so I quickly found and ate another one of those pathetic mortals. Mortals? Whatever. I ate and yawned. Now was no time sleep now though. If the humans had shown me anything it's that they were stubborn creatures. It wouldn't stop until I was either back in those wretched chains, or dead. My body screamed in protest as I started running again. The forest should be a safe place to sleep for a while, I doubt they can use scent tracking. I slowed down as the tree line got closer. Finally standing upright I walked among the trees. It was quiet here and the air was fresh, I especially welcomed that cool breeze after all the fire I dealt with today. I found a rock that was leaning up against another rock hidden by some densely packed bushes. I slipped into the little 'cave' the two rocks made and lied down. It was pretty comfy, for a tiny cave in the forest. Better than under those horrid smelling dumpsters and hot concrete. I finally allowed myself to relax and fall asleep, listening to the birds as the sun rose.

      My eyes snapped open and I shot up. I hissed in pain as I imediatly regretted this desision. My back hurt like a bitch and I laid back down, trying to steady my breathing.

      "You ok love?" John asked softly, pulling me against him. I took a deep breath and rested my head against him.

      "Yeah, I'm fine," I muttered and he hummed.

      "You where twitching all night," he commented, kissing my forehead. I yawned and smiled up at him.

      "That must've been a bad dream, can't remember it at all now," I lied. He believed me though and smiled. 

    "Good," he said and kissed my head again. I smiled but frowned when I saw him getting out of bed.

      "Where are you going?" I asked and he glanced back at me.