Chapter 32
2032 Words
She was all alone. Leila was hiding, scared of the bad man and of the ugly thing they put around Zoe’s neck. It hurt when she tried to touch it. There was a lock on it but she didn’t have a key. The old lady said she would talk to Nick but she never came back. Nick never came. Or Kate. Or Grams.
Zoe deserved it. She was a bad girl, she didn’t wait for Emmet after school as she promised. She deserved to be locked up in this tiny windowless room where she could hear all those people crying and making scary sounds all the time. She cried too, asking them to stop but it only made them scream louder.
She knew she should be brave and fight and try to escape. But she was just so afraid all she could do was curl up in the corner and sob quietly, covering her ears with her hands to at least muffle the noises coming from behind the door. She never saw who was making them but her imagination filled the hallway with scary monsters.
The lock clicked and Zoe sniffled, too frightened to look there. She knew it was him, the bad man. She knew he was going to pinch her shoulder with something sharp, drag her up the stairs, and force her to watch him hurt her friends. Hurt Nick badly. And then she would be falling and falling and-
“WakeupwakeupWAKEUP!” Leila didn’t use words much, mostly she just sent her images or pushed feelings into the girl’s head but this time she screamed out loud, pulling Zoe out of the nightmare before the bad part even started.
Zoe squinted as she looked around, confused. There was a picture of a tall man in sports clothes with a ball in his hands hanging above the bed and photographs of some pretty ladies in swimsuits on the wall. Zoe didn’t recognize any of the scents around her. There was a faint trace of Kate but it felt hours old. Where was she?
Her arm hurt when she tried to roll over. Right, something snapped there when she-no. She shuddered. No thinking about that. There was a bathroom behind one smaller door. Everything was a bit dusty but Zoe managed to wash herself a bit and drink some water from the tap. Leila was hungry and Zoe must have been as well, because the images of dead mice the kitten was sending to her mind made her stomach rumble and not twist in disgust as they normally would.
There didn’t seem to be anyone in the hallway but Leila’s improved hearing caught some noise from behind the hallway. Zoe carefully tiptoed over, peeking into the room only to see an older man pouring milk into a bowl. Her heart fluttered over seeing a box of sweet cereals on the table. The girl only hesitated for a moment before entering the room. She remembered the man. He was the doctor. He helped Nick and he was nice to her. Not like the bad man.
“Hello there, little one.” His smile was wide and honest. “You slept well?”
Zoe nodded, not wanting to talk about the nightmare. “Can I have some? Please?” She nervously pointed at the cereals, not knowing whether the doctor wouldn’t get angry. Where was Kate when you needed her?
“Of course, sweetheart. Here, take this one, I’ll make another one for myself.” He handed her the bowl and turned around, rummaging through the cupboard to find another one.
The cereals were crunchy and super sweet. At school, they tried to teach them about good food and bad food. All of Zoe’s favorite things were apparently the bad kind of food. Even pizza! This was no doubt another bad food but whatever. Miss Rogers couldn’t see Zoe here and the girl was starving. “Are those swimsuit ladies your cousins?” she asked between bites.
The doctor started coughing violently, something probably got into his breathing tube instead of the eating tube. “Oh, god, are those posters still there? No, those were just some images my son liked. It used to be his room.”
“Did he die in the war too?” Lots of people did. And the room looked like it had been deserted for a long time.
“The w-no,” the doctor's eyes widened and he shook his head rapidly. “No, Zoe, he is not dead, he just moved out. He lives with his wife in a different city. They had a baby a few months back.” He pulled out his phone and showed her a picture of a young man, a pretty lady, and an ugly tiny creature wrapped in a blanket. “That’s my grandson, Richie. Isn’t he just adorable?”
Leila made a puking sound in their mind and Zoe giggled. “He’s so small,” she quickly said, not wanting the doctor to think she was laughing at the baby. Even though she was.
“That he is,” he nodded with a kind smile. “But with our genetics, he’ll grow up fast.”
Zoe wasn’t sure what ‘genetics’ were and it reminded her too much of what the bad man was doing. Kate and Nick talked about genetic something a few nights back, didn’t they? And mutants. And that was not a good thing. She quickly finished up her cereals and headed downstairs to see Nick. The doctor said he was doing better but she wanted to make sure herself.
Munching on a chocolate bar the doctor gave her as a snack, she wandered into the room where Nick was resting, stopping immediately. Leila jumped up and hissed, her fur bristling upon noticing an unfamiliar scent. “A werewolf,” she growled.
Zoe could see him inside, sitting on the ground next to Nick, their arms connected by a red tube. He looked big and strong, exactly the type of a stranger she should not be talking to. But he was there alone with Nick. What if the other werewolf hurt him? Nick had already been through enough, Zoe needed to protect him.
The man’s eyes were closed, his head resting against the wall. Zoe strode in as confidently as she could manage, trying to mimic the frown that settled on Kate’s face every time she got angry. “Who are you?”
“What?” The werewolf flinched and tensed up, his eyes quickly searching the room for threats before they landed on her. “Uh. Creepy. You look like a younger version of the psycho cat. What are you doing here, child?”
Zoe stepped closer, putting her healthy hand on her hip. “Me? What are you doing here? And what are you doing to Nick?”
“Easy, kid. I’m helping him. I’m giving him my blood.”
So that’s what the red tube was. Cautiously watching the stranger, Zoe walked to Nick’s other side and knelt down, gently touching his hand. He was so cold it almost made her cry. People were not supposed to be cold. “Are you from his family?”
The man’s head tilted to the side as he watched her and he shook his head. “No. Never met him before. You know his family?”
“They’re morons.” Nick said that they didn’t like him anymore. How could anyone not like him? Even Kate liked him. And her cat. And Fatim didn’t like anyone! “Will that really help him?” Sending blood through a tube seemed like a weird way to help people.
The werewolf shrugged. “I hope so. He does look better than when I arrived, so it’s definitely not hurting him.”
“Thank you.” If he didn’t even know Nick and still came to help him, did that make him a good guy? “You want some chocolate?” She broke a couple of pieces off her bar and handed it to the stranger who accepted it with a wide grin. “What’s a psycho cat?”
“f*****g hell, Luis, can’t you keep your stupid mouth shut at least around children?” Kate’s annoyed voice sounded from the door.
The werewolf rolled his eyes. “You’re the one to talk. Are you even listening to yourself?”
Zoe had to giggle. The man had a point, Kate did use a lot of bad words. The swear jar in their apartment was almost full. “Do you want a piece of chocolate?” That always seemed to have calmed Kate down. “The doctor gave me some.”
“For breakfast?!” Nope, it didn’t work this time. “Has everyone in this damn house lost their minds? Anders!” she shouted at the doctor who was just walking down the stairs. “I thought you had a kid. Shouldn't you know what to give them for breakfast instead of sweets?”
The doctor didn’t look afraid. “Oh yes, I was a very strict parent. But now I’m a grandfather and I’m definitely going to be the type who spoils the children rotten.” He winked at Zoe and walked to the werewolf, pulling the tube out of his arm. “I think that’s enough. I know you regenerate fast but still, you need to take a break.”
Regenerate, Zoe mumbled to herself. She knew that one. It was a good thing. She also regenerated fast. Her friend from school Pete told her that when he had a broken arm, he had to wear a cast for weeks. Zoe’s arm was almost completely healed not even a day later. Nick also regenerated fast but he still didn’t wake up. That’s how badly hurt he got. Because of her.
Leila stirred, she didn’t like it when Zoe blamed herself. But she was just a kitten, she knew nothing about the world. Zoe remembered. How she was falling, too frightened to even scream. How Adira jumped and caught her, wrapping her legs around the girl, the warmth and sense of safety enveloping Zoe for a split moment before they hit the ground. She felt the wolf’s bones cracking and breaking. The searing pain in her own arm as she rolled over the ground overshadowed everything else for a few seconds. But then she heard Adira’s tortured squealing, quickly replaced by Nick’s moaning and crying. And then it was quiet. Which was the most frightening part of that entire day.
Her finger traced the lines on his cold palm. The adults were bickering about something but Zoe wasn’t listening to them. They always had some petty conflicts. No better than the kids at recess. And they call themselves the grown-ups! Yes, they might be bigger and older and know a lot of fancy words but those were probably the only things that have changed.
“I’m sorry,” she leaned forward to whisper into Nick’s ear. Kate and the werewolf must have heard her because they’ve stopped arguing. “I know you are angry with me. I am angry with me too.” Tears rolled down her cheeks and Zoe hated them. She should be strong, like Kate. Not cry like a little baby. Like the doctor’s tiny grandson. Yes, she would bet that he cries a lot. “It’s all my fault,” she sniffled, “and I’m sorry. Just please, don’t die.”
Kate’s arms wrapped around her from behind. “He’s not going to die, sweetheart. He’s getting better every hour, he just needs to rest so that Adira can heal him. And,” she leaned to the side to look into the girl's face, “I’m one hundred percent certain he isn’t angry with you.”
Zoe frowned, Kate could not possibly know that. She opened her mouth to argue but stopped upon feeling Nick’s fingers move. There was a weak smile on his lips as he looked at them. “I love you.” His words were just a hoarse whisper but he was awake! “Both of you.”
***
Next update: Sunday
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