The Beast of Fox Hill

Twelve

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at the tall dark haired man that stood before me. The first thing I noticed though was not his figure, but the emeralds holding concern that looked back at me. 

"Hey, Cassander. What are you doing here?" I asked, the confusion evident in my words. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, still looking at me with emeralds full of worry. 

"Yeah why wouldn't I be?" I questioned while raising an eyebrow. He visibly sighed in what I assume was relief. 

"It's going to sound crazy but I just had a feeling you weren't mentally okay or hurt somehow," he answered honestly. I nodded my head lightly before running my tongue against my top teeth, awkwardly looking down. 

"Well I appreciate the concern, but it's kind of late. You should probably get home," I said with a light smile. 

"Could I stay here for tonight?" he asks abruptly. I give him a look of surprise and confusion, but he clearly understood my inner thoughts because he then gives me an explanation.

"Like you said, it is late and I think I heard something growling in the woods nearby. I think it could be safer for both of us if I crashed here for the night," he pushes with seriousness etched into his features. I sigh and roll my eyes and a smile crosses his face as he knows I would not tell him no. 

"Fine but you're sleeping on the couch," I relent, stepping aside for Cassander to step in. He flashes me a victorious smile and I once again roll my eyes. 

He slips his boots off, setting them to the side on the small mat where I have my own shoes set when I come in for the day. He stands awkwardly, looking at me as if I am supposed to tell him what to do. 

"Make yourself at home. I'm going to grab you some blankets," I tell him while I walk away, heading down the hall and to my bedroom. 

I walk over to my closet where my spare blankets are kept and reach up to pull one down. I stand on my tip toes, trying to stretch and reach the blanket. Having trouble reaching, I take a step forward, stretching my arms as far as they could reach. I stumble on my toes, letting my arm drop and suddenly a pain scrapes down my arm. 

"Shit," I cuss under my breath. I look at my arm to see my shirt is ripped and a two inch gouge is bleeding through the material. I hiss to myself as I pull back the sleeve on my forearm to examine the wound. Seeing it would be fine without stitches, I look up to see what had caused it. 

On the metal rack where the blankets are held, a sharp metal point sticks out beyond the rack. I shake my head and turn to walk out of the room, but I almost run into a large chest. My eyes trail up to Cassander who looks worried out of his mind. 

"Where are you hurt?" he demands. My eyes gaze up to his but there is something off about them. They are not bright emerald green as usual, but now almost black. 

"How did you know I was hurt?" I ask, confused as to how he got his knowledge of my fresh wound. 

"So you are hurt?" he asks impatiently. His eyes begin to search my body but quickly land on my bleeding arm. 

"It's just a cut. There was a sharp wire on the shelf and I cut myself reaching for a blanket," I explained. 

"I see. Which blanket did you want?" he asked with a smile and what I would explain as relief. 

"The top one that is thick and red," I tell him, pointing to the blanket. He reached his arm up, not even to its full length, and gently pulled down the red blanket. He went to set the blanket on my bed, but I stopped him just before he reached down.