Hound

Victor and Cecilia

West of creeper`s woods

06: 30 A.M.

The sky was grey very early that morning. The tall trees swayed from side to side with the motion of the strong wind. The sun didn’t give light and the stillness of the clouds gave the whole scene a dreamy view. For a moment it felt like a nightmare. Everything that Cecilia was put through the previous night was unfair. Maybe Victor was trying to get back at her for marrying his best friend. Cecilia slouched back in her seat in silence. She hardly looked at Victor since they started driving. He sensed her resentment but he didn’t care if she hated him, as long as he kept her safe. He reached out and turned on the radio. Her favorite song started playing. She didn’t remember ever telling him that. But she remembered that he always took time to remember all the small meaningful things.

Victor had always been there for her. When she first had her heart broken by some undeserving teenager, he was there. She ran into his arms that night, back in high school. He sat her down and shared her pain. It was her who leaned in and kissed him that night. He begged her to stop but she kept going. She wasn’t drunk and they both knew that she was just using the breakup as an excuse to do what she had been meaning to for a long time. He knew because he had caught her a few times in class staring at him with lustful eyes. And she was extremely protective whenever other girls infested his space. It didn’t take long for him to realize that she liked him. Then one night she confessed to him. She confessed her feelings for him, against all odds. He led her to his room and they made love to each other. She got pregnant. She remembered telling him the news. The look on his face. The next day he came to her, telling her that he would take responsibility. He gave her a drink. A drink that made her loose her unborn child. She tried to hate him. She tried avoiding him but he always found his way to her heart.

Victor's heart ached a little bit now that he thought of her being married to another man. Not just any man but his best friend. The car slowed down as he turned to her blaming himself for the pain she was handling.

“I could have never let those priests hurt you. I am trying to keep you safe. There are a lot of things going on right now that you don’t know about. You just have to trust me,” he said. Her eyes demanded an explanation. “I know you must hate me-”

“I don’t hate you,” she interrupted. “I am upset yes, but I don’t hate you” she said. She turned to her side and whispered quietly, “I have never hated you.”

A few seconds of silence went by.

“I have never been with any other woman other than you”

“Stop it,” she begged, “just stop. You know I have a husband.”

“That doesn’t make it any easier. You don’t know what it`s like to dream about someone so much and to wake up to reality, alone in bed.”

“I do,” she reposted, “Once upon a time I had feelings for you but you broke my heart. Whatever we had, it`s gone.”

Victor pulled over on the side of the road and turned off the engine. He turned to her, breathing loudly, “Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you feel absolutely nothing for me?” his eyes stared steadily at her. Deep down he knew that she was lying. He leaned over slowly and he could feel the heat in the car and the look in her eyes begging him to have her. He reached out his hand and opened her door. She cursed a little bit inside. He returned to his seat and opened his door. She watched as he jumped out and jogged around the car to her side. He rested his elbow on her open door frame and leaned into her uncomfortable zone.

“Jason`s car is about half a mile ahead. I must go on foot from here to look for him, he shouldn’t be too far off into the woods unless….”

“Unless what?”

“Never mind that I want you to drive back home. Stay with Sam until I find your husband.”

“I am coming with you” she declared.

“You’ve been through too much already. I don’t want to put you in harm`s way. I`ll go and look for him.”

She pushed him out of the way as she stepped out of the car. “If anything has happened to Jason, I should know. I am not leaving until I find him and you can`t stop me.” She walked past him to the front of the car as she squinted over the light of the rising sun, “Besides, I can`t let you go alone either” she continued.

Victor felt his heart leap with melodious rhythms. She actually said that. He walked to her slowly. He had failed at convincing her to go home but he was going to keep her safe. He touched her gently as her eyes absorbed him. “Ok, fine, I can`t stop you.” He pulled her other hand, “You`ll have to listen to every word I say. You are not to stray from me at any point. You shouldn`t leave my sight, the woods are a dangerous place. You should always stay close. You should never let go of my hand.”

“I understand,” she spoke softly. “I will never let you go.”

Her voice meant every word. The calmness in her voice made his mouth water. He couldn’t keep his eyes off her. The morning sun illuminated the side of her face as a stray strand of hair flew to her face. She moved her hand to her face to tuck the hair behind her ear as he watched with unbridled amazement. She timidly turned to meet his brown eyes. He always made her feel special just looking at her. He watched in silence. His eyes drifted to her soft red lips. He couldn’t help imagine what it would be like to take her in his arms and assault those lips to the fullest. To push her against the bonnet of the car and put his arms and his entire solid frame on her until she begged for the pleasure. He imagined the joy of feeling the warmth of her body against his chest. To just let her rest her back on the car as he gathered the material she was wearing into his hands and continue with the attack. He ran his tongue over his lips as her chest rose and fell. Her maroon shirt was unbuttoned low enough to make him see deliberately.

The wind blew a little bit. Just enough to add flavor to the scene. A little bit more of his staring and she was going to give in to temptation. She withdrew her hands from his and let out a small purposeful grunt to ease the atmosphere. She swung around and traced her eyes over the thick cover of giant trees.

“So, were do we go from here?”

He stepped forward and assessed the endless labyrinth the were about to head into.

“We go this direction” he pointed out. “I must also mention that there have reports of snake attacks I creeper`s woods.”

“If you`re trying to scare me into changing my mind, it`s not working.” She grabbed his hand and squeezed a little, “You said I shouldn’t leave your side.”

He fought the urge to smile. He just looked straight ahead and walked. “Try to keep up” he said. They trailed off the road into the woods as the smell of a rotting elk carcass rushed to their nose. His eyes ran as far as he could see to look out for any approaching danger. He assured himself of safety with the pistol hidden in the fold of his jacket.

Just then, Cecilia stopped. She pulled his hand only hard enough to force him to stop and face her.

“Who is Darius?” she asked with a stern tone. She remembered hearing that name the previous night. It sounded like he had everything to do with Jason`s disappearance.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Yes”

He breathed in and out as he inched closer to her, “I hardly knew the guy. I was only introduced to him when I found out that the people I worked for where in an entirely different line of work. They weren`t merchants like I thought they were. They are bounty hunters. People who believe in supernatural things.

Those priests, last night, they are among them although we don’t call them priests. We call them Merliths. So, Darius started studying these weird books that messed with his mind-”

“weirder than believing in the supernatural” she interrupted. Clearly being sarcastic.

“These books were f*******n. They contained spells, charms, ancient demonic writings that would drive you crazy. They warned him to stop but his mind was hell bent on using those books to become invincible he said. The magic involves offering pure bloods as sacrifices during the crimson moon.” “What are pure bloods?”

“Children, undefiled. The spell however would e*****e him to the moon. To lose control of his human nature. To become, a werewolf. He however thinks he can control it.”

“Can he?”

“No, he is just deluded and insane. He kills anyone who gets in his way and he has mastered spells for demon possession.”

“For a moment there I thought you said werewolf”

“I did.”

A/N: sorry for the late update, are you enjoying this story yet?