Dakini's Hope

Chapter 15

Chase catches where my gaze has now strayed and he immediately goes into slow motion; his breathing becomes heavy and his ears flatten as he sees the gun aimed right at his chest. He slowly puts the first aid kit on the table with his right hand while lifting his left hand up above his head.

Mum narrows her eyes at him, but then she glimpses a pale me on the sofa. "Dakini!" She cries, her eyes flying wide as she catches sight of my leg. She pushes the front door shut, her gun and gaze still trained on Chase, then makes her way over to me.

As Chase lifts his right hand to join his left in the same position, it's coated in my blood and my mum visibly tenses; her grip on the gun becoming tighter. She takes one look at my wound again, looks back at him - then her ears and tail make an appearance as she lets out a snarl.

"You sick bastard! I'll make you pay for hurting my daughter!" she snarls, her finger reaching for the trigger. Chase takes a few steps back and I can see he's prepared for either fight or flight. As fast as I can, I put my hand on Mum's pistol; lowering it towards the floor slightly.

"N ...no.......w-w...wasn't him.." I whisper faintly. "H...he....trying...help.."

My mum studies my face and eyes through the scarf, then looks back up at a very frightened Chase. She lowers her gun, then turns her attention to me.

"You!" She addresses Chase without looking up at him as she rips a large hole into my leggings around the wound. "Go into the cellar. There's a shelf on the left-hand side wall. On it, there's a tall, clear decanter filled with dark purple liquid. Bring it to me. Now."

Chase disappears around the corner, somehow knowing where my cellar is (probably from the smell of the different potions) as my mother prepares a bowl of water mixed with antiseptic.

"Shit, Dakini." She mutters as she removes Chase's first aid bandaging (which has been rippled almost completely clean off) and then applying the water-antiseptic mixture once it's prepared. "What the fuck have you been doing?"

"L...long story...e...explain...later..." I reply, fighting the urge to close my eyes; despite the fact I could sleep for the entire season.

I can barely feel the sting of the antiseptic as Mum keeps cleaning out my wound while waiting for Chase to come back. Once my leg is clean and she's sure there's no fibres in there, Mum starts cleaning the bite on my arm.

Chase returns holding the decanter my mum talked about, but my vision is so out of focus that I can only see a dark purple blur. Mum takes it from him without a word and removes the cork - the smell of lavender explodes into the room, almost bringing me back from the brink of unconsciousness. She grabs a new piece of cloth and pours some on to it, then squeezes the liquid into the wound - to which I grit my teeth and hiss at the muffled feeling. Mum does this twice more, then makes me open my mouth and makes me drink some. It tastes as good as it smells and I drink quite a bit before Mum takes it away from me.

"Will...be ...okay?" I barely hear Chase's voice as he asks my mum something.

"Should be...potion.....help with...may...a few hours...but...fine..." This is all I can make out from my mum's response before the potion's effects drag me into the hungry darkness. I lose all sensation and all my senses.

Once more, I awake to blurry red surroundings and I forget for a moment where I am. Chase's not touching my head this time, at least - and I don't think there's a knife in my leg for him to pull out. The scent of coffee attracts my attention and I know exactly where I am when I smell Pippin's scent coming from where she lays at the foot of the couch. I'm home.

I'm safe.

I lift my hand to rub my eyes clear underneath the blindfold and I realise that any trace of my hands being injured is completely gone. Mum's La Vie Preservatacious potion is really strong. Now I know how Chase felt after waking up in first-aid except two times worse. I rub my vision clear, then try to prop myself up. I wince as faint pain comes from my leg and I can't help but let out a grunt. Guess it's not as strong as I thought.  A shadow clouds my vision in the shape of a person; their details aren't clear yet but scent tells me that it's Chase.