Ira walked ahead of the company, his eyes analyzing the bleak land.
From what he could see, there was nothing out there, at least, no Underworlders.
Ahead of them was a small house where a man and a woman stood shivering in the front yard. The man was trying to break through the ice with a rusty pickaxe, but to no avail.
Vanessa, who walked at Ira's side, looked on with sympathy in her eyes when she saw the woman held holding the small body of a child, no older than eight years of age.
Sobbing reached their ears the closer they came to the couple. Everything in Ira longed to turn the other way, but this was the only road for miles, and the bears would not be able to get the heavy carts through the unforgiving wasteland.
'Oh, Ira...' Vanessa breathed, reaching for his hand.
'Just keep walking,' he muttered.
She bit her lip and then whispered, 'They need our help...'
'Vanessa, no,' Ira grunted, 'After this you're not coming on another expedition.'
She looked at him. (pleadingly) Describe what kind of look she gave. A simple stare, puppy dog eyes, resentment…
'You cause too much trouble,' he grunted, 'I don't want you to be killed, too.'
She swallowed and looked away from the couple, trying to put away the images of their emaciated (nice vocabulary) bodies and hollow faces.
Ira gave her a sidelong glance and shook his head at her. She was too kind, too soft-hearted. She made him sick with her acts of compassion. But that was what drew him closer to her every day.
Once the couple was out of sight, Ira breathed a relieved breath Picky comment, but it might sound better to just say ‘Ira let out a sigh of relief.’ I don‘t know. I mean, when you‘re relieved you usually let out a long exhale, not an intake of breath. This is such a technical comment sorry x). But Vanessa was quiet, which only drove him into a wall of guilt. love this sentence She never failed to make him feel like a monster. But that was what he was, he was all too aware of it.
They trekked further up the road in silence.
The sounds of the wheels grinding on the ice, boots tramping on the ice repetition of ‘on the ice is a bit jarring , carts rattling and creaking under the weight of their load mixed together in a familiar cacophony (again, great vocabI‘m actually using my thesaurus for this chapter!). Ira had grown up to that sound. Travel across the wasteland back then, however had been much more of a struggle Another picky comment- rephrase this to ‘However, back then travel was much more of a struggle.’. Attacks on their caravans were made often by Wolves and Vampires and other Underworlders. Until five years before, things were taking a turn for the worst for the Eradicators. But then, he gained control and broke them down until they were like dust under the foundation of his empire.
His thoughts turned suddenly to Louis. For the first time since his betrayal, he was consumed with memories of his elder brother. He swallowed, feeling guilt chewing at the pit of his stomach.
He snapped out of thought when the ice beneath his feet was suddenly scarlet. He stopped, and looked up.
Bodies of fellow Eradicators were strewn across the ice, all of them lying in a pool of frozen blood. One had his face torn off, as well as his arm. Another's throat had been ripped open. Tendons prickled from the wound like coarse hair. Most of them had their throats slashed open, the wounds were clean and precise.Uck!
There were tracks in the blood. Wolf tracks, and the tracks of bare feet, smeared and distorted around the scene.
They all laid around a trap set to capture Wolves. Beneath the cage was a large pool of blood, where all the tracks connected, and then led away together.
Ira stared, his face expressionless.
A few of the men behind him vomited and gagged.
Swallowing, Ira stepped over the frozen corpse of one of his commanders and marched toward the sets of tracks that led away fro the scene.
He turned to look at his men, 'They went East... Let's go get them.'
Ah! That must’ve been where Louis and group had been the day Violet was murdered.
'...And that's when I found you...' Zayn whispered, hugging his knees to his chest.
He told them. Everything. Before his encounter with Ashé, he felt as though it was his burden to bear, his past and the future. But now, they knew everything, about Them, about Siobhan, even his time spent with Ira and the Eradicators.
The only detail he kept to himself were those of Ashé himself. Ashé truly was his burden, and his alone.
Louis and Eden stared at him unblinkingly for a long while.
Louis pressed his lips together, his brows bunched in thought.
'I always thought Underworld was just... Here...' Eden remarked, 'I never thought there was another World they came from...'
'Why are you telling us all of this?' Louis asked.
'You need to know,' Zayn said softly, 'Things are about to take a turn for the worst...and you need to be ready for it...'
'What are you talking about?' Louis asked.
Zayn began to speak, but cut himself off, and stood up, sniffing the air. He was always listening to things Louis and Eden could not hear, but not once before had anything grabbed his attention so easily. Seeing him so abruptly alert sent a shiver up Louis' spine.
'Eradicators...' Zayn whispered.
Louis was on his feet in a moment.
'We need to go...' Zayn whispered, 'Before they come any closer.'
He banked the fire, and the room was blanketed in darkness.
They slipped out of the room, Zayn half-carrying Louis. Eden stayed behind them by only a few paces.
'There's another exit ahead,' Zayn whispered.
'I thought you said this place was empty,' Louis breathed.
'It was,' Zayn snorted, helping Louis up some steps.
The place was pitch dark. How Zayn managed to navigate through these tunnels was a mystery to him. He looked at Zayn, and saw his blindfold had been removed. He had never seen such eyes, especially not eyes that glowed in the dark.
Eden put a hand on Louis' back when digs lol I think you mean dogs began to bay behind them.
'Shit...' Louis breathed, glancing behind him, though it was too dark to see, 'I hate dogs...'
'Hmph...that's kind of ironic,' Zayn grunted, and then added quickly, 'No offense...'
Louis looked at him. So, the Shadow had a sense of humor.
'None taken...' Louis muttered.
He tripped over his own feet and dropped to his hands and knees, panting.
Zayn helped him back up again, 'Careful.'
'They're gaining on us,' Eden breathed.
Louis looked back and saw lights flashing and the silhouettes of dogs sniffing the ground.
'We're almost there,' Zayn assured them, 'Just a little further.'
'How can you be so sure it hasn't been iced over like the entrance?' Eden asked, 'You had to break through it, remember?'
'I'm not,' Zayn replied as they came to a crossroad.
They turned left there and then stopped at a ladder.
Zayn eased Louis to the ground and then climbed up the ladder to a hatch. Metal squealed and ice cracked as he turned the handle, and rammed his shoulder into the door all at once.
'Well?' Eden breathed.
'It's frozen over,' he grunted.
The dogs were closer now, Louis could hear their claws scraping the ice and the growls rumbling from their throats.
Zayn gave the hatch a desperate jarring, and another after that. this part is good too.
Eden hunkered down beside Louis, 'Louis...'
Six dogs slid into the center of the crossroad, sniffling and snorting. One of them approached the lefthand corridor, and began to snarl, his hackles raised.
The company came sliding to a halt at that moment. Ira noticed the dog stalking toward the shadows.
'Leash the dogs,' he ordered, shining a light into the hall. Nothing was illuminated.
He heard something crashing just inside the darkness.
A man came up to the dog with a chain, but the dog barked and bolted into the dark. Briefly afterward, there was a yelp and a snap.
It was quiet.
Ira readied his gun, and waited.
The dog came sliding back to his feet, its back ripped open so that the severed spine was exposed, and its was throat torn.
A vicious roar thundered out of the shadows and rumbled into nothing.
Ira fired into the darkness and the rest of his men followed suit. The patter of gunfire filled the halls, shattering the silence that had reigned Underworld for over two hundred years.
When they ran out of ammunition, that same quiet fell again.
'Reload!' Ira shouted.
The corridor echoed with metallic clicks as cartridges were expelled from the chambers and replaced with new ones.
There was another crash and a shatter of ice. The shadow gave way to light. Ira saw silhouette of a Wolf female by the looks of her, disappear into the light pouring from the hole in the ceiling in a single leap. And then, another Wolf, obviously male considering his massive stature. He was wounded, Ira could tell by how he struggled up the ladder.
'Oh fuck no,' Ira growled, raising his gun to fire at him.
Just as he pulled the trigger, a force like the wind of a hurricane came crashing into him.
He hit the floor and looked up to find it was that thing from the Underworld. Zayn.
Zayn caught the gun by the barrel and the stock, using it to pin Ira to the ground.
The Wolf at the ladder paused and looked at Zayn. He began to climb back down the ladder.
'Fucking kill the Wolf, already!' Ira shouted at the others.
'Don't be stupid, Louis!' Zayn shouted at him.
Ira's eyes shot suddenly to the Wolf, his eyes wide.
Louis hesitated, but then was spurred into action when bullets and buckshot began to ricochet off the walls.
'Louis, go!' Zayn roared above the gunshots.
Louis nodded, and then vanished through the hatch and shut it behind him.
One of the bullets grazed Zayn's shoulder and he released Ira, falling back in attempt to get away.
Ira slammed the butt of his gun into the creature's face for good measure.
'You!' the Eradicator shouted, his face purpling with rage, 'You!'
Zayn glared up at him, his eyes the only thing visible in the darkness.
He rammed the end of his gun into Zayn's face again, and then screamed as he hurled it across the corridor, 'Fuck!'
A cold barrel of a gun pressed against Zayn's temple. A man stood beside him now.
'You want me to kill it?' asked the man, drawing back the hammer of his pistol.
Ira was quiet. He looked at Zayn.
Was it merely a coincidence that Wolf's name was Louis? Or was it really who he thought it was? A cold feeling came over him, when he considered that this might be his past coming back to haunt him.
'No...' he said finally, 'If anyone knows where those Wolves are heading... It's him.'
Louis and Eden stopped when they were a mile away from the scene. He groaned as he phased back into his human form and collapsed on the ground, gripping his hip and gritting his teeth.
'Louis!' Eden cried, dropping down beside him, 'Are you okay?'
He nodded, his breath shuddering, 'I'm fine... Just wasn't ready for that...'
He struggled to his hands and knees, and tried to stand only to falter again.
She ran her fingers through his hair, 'What are we going to do?'
'We can't do anything...' Louis whispered, 'I'm hurt. You. You're not going into their camp alone...'
'He saved our lives...' she whispered.
'Twice,' he grunted, 'I know... And I wish I could return the favor... But I just can't...'
She pressed her lips together, and he closed his eyes.
'We'll go after him,' Louis whispered, 'But first... Let me rest awhile...'
He rested his head in her lap, trying to regain control of his breathing. The pain from his wounds spread into his chest, burning like wildfire.
'Is there anything I can do?' she asked.
He only phased again to keep the cold away, and he closed his eyes.
His eyes popped open again when he heard howling, not far away at all. He knew those howls, somehow, he just failed to recall where from.
He looked up at Eden, who was still as a statue with her ears pricked forward, listening.
Louis struggled to his hands and knees, 'How long have they been calling?'
'Hours, now,' she whispered, 'They keep getting closer.'
'We're coming. We're coming.' Louis could hear the voices saying.
He pointed his nose into the air and howled, his voice stronger than theirs despite his condition. Whoever was coming their way, they were not alphas.
Eden joined in his song, her voice two octave higher then his and far sweeter.
They stopped and waited. Louis felt fire in his veins. Before then, he had always refrained from answering the calls of others, from joining their night songs. And now, here he was, doing everything he had always avoided. Calling other Wolves, allowing them to come close.
He saw them approaching.
The first one was a Wolf with shaggy steel colored fur. A number of scars stretched across his features.
Behind him came four others, smaller in comparison. One was black with a notched ear, another, soft gray, that was smaller and younger than the rest. The next was a stocky creature, with thick reddish brown fur and a black face. The last was dark brown, with one eye missing.
Louis recognized them now. They were the Wolves that had attacked Eden.
She pressed herself close against him, her ears flattened against her head.
He struggled to stand, and moved himself between her and them.
'You may be one who is able to ignore your own nature,' said the steel colored Wolf 'But you can't expect that from us.'
'How long have you been following me?' Louis asked.
'We tried to go,' said the Wolf, 'We made it to the Arizona state-line before we turned back... It was like a chain was around our throats, tightening with each step. So we turned back and started tracking you.'
Louis swallowed.
The light gray Wolf approached him, tail tucked between his legs, ears drawn back. He was whimpering softly, pleadingly.
Louis stepped back, 'I'm sorry...'
'We're not asking you to accept us,' said the wolf missing an eye, 'We're telling you, you have no choice. You're our alpha, we are your pack, like it or not.'
Louis felt a burning in his blood and a throbbing in his head. Their presence was beginning to affect him, mentally and physically. His wounds were starting to heal, he could feel the tissues and bones trying to reconnect. Another benefit of having a pack.
Eden stood breathless at his side, clutching his arm.
They waited, their eyes fixed on Louis.
He did not want these responsibilities again. He tried to lead before, and he was betrayed by everyone. But there was no way out of this, unless some other Alpha challenged him and he lost, or he was dead.
'I suppose I don't have much of a choice,' Louis breathed finally.
The Wolves snorted and shook their fur.
'You think we're jumping at the opportunity to run with you, Eradicator?' grunted the steel colored Wolf, 'Fuck, I'd rather cut my own throat.'
'That can be arranged, Nero,' snapped the one eyed wolf, approaching Louis, 'Be careful what you wish for.'
He turned to Louis, 'Name's Winston.'
'I'm Sam,' said the light gray Wolf. He was only a boy, hardly older than fourteen.
'George,' said the stocky reddish brown Wolf.
Winston pointed at the black Wolf, 'That's Perry... Eradicators ripped out his tongue and singed his vocal chords back when they started fighting Underworlders in Detroit.'
Louis swallowed. He was relieved he had nothing to do with those rings, but then again, he was embarrassed by his brother's actions over the past few years.
He cleared his throat, 'I wish I had the time to stay here and undergo these formalities. But I have a debt to repay.'
Gone
Louis handed the cartridges to the orc in exchange for a bottle half full of rubbing alcohol and three dented cans Louis could only believe were peaches and fruit cocktail until he opened them to find out for himself. He stuffed the newly purchased items in his bag and nodded to Eden, who was sitting on a barrel beside Violet near the stalls, just within his sight. They stood up and hurried to him.
He caught Violet off her feet and tossed her playfully into the air before setting her on his right shoulder and turning to Eden, ‘Ready?’
She looked around nervously at the Wolves looking her over you repeat ‘looking’ so I would say something like ‘she glanced again towards the Wolves who were ogling her as though she was a piece of meat,‘ as though she was nothing more than prey, and then nodded, folding her arms across her chest. Louisglanced around andnudged her ahead of him as they started for the main road leading out of the city.
‘Wolves are less common in the East,’ he assured her, matching his pace with hers, ‘There are more Eradicators there, though.’
‘Sometimes I wonder which is worse...’ she muttered, mostly to herself.
He was quiet at that. She suddenly remembered his past, one that he was not proud of.
‘Sorry...’ she said quickly.
‘It’s okay,’ he grunted, shrugging as he placed Violet, who seemed very restless on the ground beside him, her hand in his, ‘I’ve heard worse things...’
'That’s right, keep walking, Eradicator,’ a Leech sneered as she passed them.
An Orc brushed his shoulder on purpose, knocking him off balance.
‘Leech-Lover!’ someone in the crowd shouted just before two jagged rocks of broken concrete came flying through the air. One struck him in the jaw, and the other in the temple. He faltered a step, and then dropped to one knee, gripping his jaw.
Eden screamed with shock and covered her mouth with both hands. He worked his jaw and Violet peered worriedly over his shoulder, ‘Louie?’
He spat blood on the ground and patted her hand as he stood back up, ‘I’m fine...’
He swept by ‘he swept’ do you mean ‘he swept by’? It’s a little unclear. the cluster of gawking bystanders and then continued walking, his shoulders squared and his chin held high, his eyes flashing this is just me, but maybe it would sound better like ‘his shoulders squared, his chin high, and his eyes flashing. . He was challenging them now.
Three Orcs did not seem to take him seriously.
One of them looked down at Violet with faux admiration, his breath reeking of rubbing alcohol and cigarettes, ‘How cute...Been a long awful time since I last saw me a little Leechling.'
Louis went rigid and Violet hid behind his leg, hugging her arms around his knee. Eden held her breath.
The Orc's mottled yellow-grey eyes raised to Louis and he straightened his back, ‘You're a mighty big Wolf, aren't you? Bet it takes a lot to feed you, eh big boy?’
Louis’ face was an expressionless mask of stone, but his eyes blazed golden wildfire and his hair was raised. It was as though he knew what crude joke was about to be made next.
‘I bet it does... and it certainly can’t be easy walking around with this little morsel here hangin’ on your arm all day...You take a big nip out of her arm there, bub?’ asked the Orc, chuckling as though he had cracked a joke, ‘Cause from where I stand, it certainly looks that way.’
The Orc grabbed Violet by her shoulder and pulled her away from Louis, ‘Did the Big Bad Wolf take a chomp at’cha missy? Well did he? Did he now!’
Violet gave a scared cry and tried to go back to the safety of Louis’ arms, but the Orc held fast.
Louis caught the Orc’s arm in one hand and snapped the bone back in a direction that it was never meant to bend so that the grimy hand released its hold on Violet. The Orc screamed in outright agony and dropped to his knees as Louis ground the bones, forcing the Beast inside of him to remain behind those bars.
'You’ll apologize to her if you want to keep the arm, asshole,’ Louis said through his teeth, appearing to grow twice his normal size.
'Fight! Fight! Fight!’ the cheers arose from the crowd now closing in around them, while the other two Orcs, who had been laughing before now pressed back into the crowd, their eyes round with fear.
'I-I’m sorry!’ the Orc cried, gazing pleadingly up at Louis.
'Don’t look at me, dipshit! At her!’ Louis shouted, punching him in the nose and then pulling his head back up by his hair.
The Orc looked at Violet, who was hiding behind Louis again, tears streaming down her face as she choked on frightened sobs.
'I’m sorry!’ the Orc told her, sobbing as well, 'I’m sorry!’
Louis punched him again and then kicked him to the ground, trembling all over with the strain to keep from phasing. He picked Violet up and wrapped her arms around her her what? and caught Eden by the wrist muttering, 'Let’s get out of here before I do something else I’ll regret.’
'... So where are we going?' Eden asked, watching Violet build a tower out of stones Louis had given her after he built the fire.
They were out in the open tonight, only ten miles outside of Mesa. Louis had chosen a small space between a few cars to keep them hidden from sight. She could still see thethecity between a gap between a truck and a mini van, lit by the blazing, luminescent orb above them as well as the fires warming the locals that lived in those dangerous streets. Louis had said very little since the incident in Mesa.
He gazed into the flames intently, his brows furrowed with thought. His eye had nearly swollen shut where the rock had hit him and there was a dark bruise on his jaw. He looked so fiercely lost in thought this sounds like you‘re repeating yourself because you‘ve said nearly the same thing in the first line of this paragraph. . She did not think he had heard her until he said simply, without looking at her, 'Manhattan...'
'Louie's taking me to see the Green Lady,' Violet chimed in, looking at her with bright red eyes.
She had just fed from Louis's own vein, something that Eden found personally disturbing, yet at the same time an open display of Louis' affection and a small glimpse of the strong bond that had grown between the two. Louis really would do anything for that child.
'The Green Lady?' Eden repeated.
Violet reached into her jacket and pulled out a posted card creased in several places with one of the corners missing.
She held it out to Eden, who accepted it and looked it over.
On the front was a photograph of a green-blue statue of a Woman in a long flowing gown standing on a pedestal, holding a golden torch in one hand and a tablet in another. There was a pointed crown resting on her brow, and white, winged creatures flying around Her. The expression on her face was quiet and stoic, yet seemed to hold a certain power. She reminded Eden of a queen. omg I never thought the green lady was lady liberty! xD
From the corner of her eye she saw Louis was watching her now, his body tense. His eyes jumped from her to Violet and back again. Ever since the night in the trailer, he had not allowed Violet near her. He tried to make his efforts of keeping her at a distance casual and unnoticeable, but she knew she had unwittingly caused him to shut her out. He would never trust her again, not with Violet, his whole reason for living.
Eden smiled and gave the picture back to Violet, 'She's very pretty.'
'Louie's seen her in real life,' Violet said, and turned to Louis, 'Isn't that right?'
He grinned a little, his eyes briefly flashing with amusement, 'It is.'
She flashed a beaming smile at him, and then knocked down the tower she had been building and began to rebuild it, humming the sing song he always sang to her.
Eden hugged her knees to her chest and looked at the fire, wondering if perhaps she could see the same thing he was watching so carefully in the flames.
'How do you feel?' he asked her after a long silence.
She shrugged, 'I haven't really noticed anything different...'
His golden eyes flickered over her, 'Your injuries are healed.'
He turned back to the fire, taking a cigarette out of his boot.
'Is that a bad thing?' she asked.
He shook his head, 'No...' and leaned forward, lighting the cigarette in the fire and then taking a swift drag from it.
She looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
'It just means the Change is close,' he replied, exhaling a cloud of smoke. He crushed out the cigarette and tucked it back into his boot.
She glanced down self-consciously at her arms and touched the place where the scar was on her face. Instead of the rough scab she had been expecting she felt only the mottled skin of a deep scar that would most likely never fully fade. Wolves never left a mark that faded away.
She pressed her lips together.
'You'll be alright,' he muttered, his voice holding a gentler tone than before.
Wolves howled in the distance.
Violet knocked down her tower again, this tine time abandoning it to the Wolves I don‘t get what ‘abandoning it to the wolves‘ means. , and picked up her bear, 'Louie...'
She stood to her feet and hurried to the safety of his lap. He wrapped his arms around her, 'You're alright, honey.'
Eden returned her gaze to the flames, but continued to listen to the Wolves in the city.
Besides the sounds emanating from the city comma all was quiet, especially around the campfire. Eden hugged her knees closer to her chest, feeling loneliness creeping up on her. She had never felt more alone than she did then. It was hard not to feel so when someone like Louis was paying her no attention, and would not have cared at all if she stood up and walked away right at that moment. He had managed to make that a clear fact, though he had never really said it out loud. She had no place there.
Before long, Violet had fallen asleep in Louis' arms. He sighed and stood up carefully as to not wake her up, and opened the back door of the sedan behind him. He set Violet inside gave her a blanket from the duffle bag. After tucking her and her bear in, he cracked the door shut and paced once restlessly across the small space before he sat back down again.
'I don't know how you've managed...' she remarked after a long while.
He looked at her quizzically.
'Taking care of her and yourself out here for so long...I mean...' she added softly, biting her lip nervously.
He snorted, shaking her his head, 'That's about all I can do anymore...manage...'
'Most can barely even do that,' she reminded him.
He nodded, 'I know... I know.'
'Can I ask you what's in Manhattan?' she asked.
He pressed his lips together and grinned a self-mocking smile with a huff of laughter as he shook his head, 'Exactly what you saw...a statue...'
Eden blinked, 'Just the statue?'
He nodded and gave another laugh, running his hand over his face, 'Violet fell in love with Her when I found the card in someone's mailbox when we were passing through Phoenix. I didn't see the harm in taking her there to see Her for herself.'
'You really love her...' she sighed.
He only nodded, his gaze troubled.
'What is it?' she asked.
'Nothing...nothing at all,' he sighed, lying back on the ground, 'I just have a lot on my mind.'
She knew better to pursue.
'I don’t like to feel helpless...’ he said softly, laying his arm over his eyes. The lump in his throat bobbed when he gulped, 'I hate that there’s nothing I can do about it... That’s how I feel in the cities when people stare at Violet. When they make fun of her arm. If it would make any difference at all I would kill anybody who looked at her sideways, but what good would that really do? They would just talk when I wasn’t around...when I really could do nothing to stop them...’
Eden was quiet.
‘Sometimes...I just wish it would all just...stop...’ he continued, rubbing his temple, ‘All the hatred and the death and the sickness and the noise... I want it all to just stop... Even when I was an Eradicator, I just wanted time to stand still for a minute or two just so I could find some sense of peace...’
‘When I was little I had a book of pictures,’ she whispered after awhile, ‘All the pictures of Before... I still wonder what it was like to live in a world like that. With a blue sky at day and stars at night. I wonder what grass feels like and what it’s like to ride in a car like one of these... My mama always told me one day we’d see it all again. She always told the best stories...’
‘My mama had a whole book on houses,’ he said softly, his voice distant, ‘She clipped pages out of old magazines my daddy found when he and a few others from El Paso when scavenging... She kept her favorites in this book and she was always telling my daddy one day she would have a big yellow house with white shutters and a porch...and the inside would be blue...and she’d have nice soft carpet through the whole place so her feet would stay warm...’ He pressed his lips together. Eden could see tears welling up in his eyes.
'My mama always wanted dresses,’ she said, smiling to herself, 'And she loved to look at pictures of the ladies that lived Before and tried to make their faces in the mirror on the wall... She taught us how to read and tried to be sophisticated around all the other women in our tribe. Papa said she’d been born in the wrong time but he thanked God everyday that the mistake had been made...’
Louis grinned and swallowed, and she continued, ‘Sometimes I used to pretend to be asleep at night when my daddy was late coming home...When he did come home he’d take my mama up in his arms and dance with her... I always liked to see that for some reason... It felt good, knowing they loved each other that way...’
He nodded his agreement, ‘Yeah...’
Tears burned in her eyes now, and she sniffled, hugging herself tight, 'The things you miss when you don’t have them anymore...’ right here I was kinda sorta getting teary xP
He looked at her then, and then sat up on his elbow, his brows furrowed into a “v” of concern.
'I’m sorry...’ she muttered, wiping her eyes free of tears before they could fall.
'What for?’ he asked, sitting upright.
She sniffed, 'I’m being stupid...’
‘I don’t think so,’ he assured her.
Her chin wobbled and she turned away from him, covering her mouth with a trembling hand. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment.
‘Eden...’ he said gently.
‘Why me!’ she nearly shouted at him, ‘Why did they let me live? Why didn’t they shoot me too?’
She covered her mouth again and doubled at the waist, no longer able to hide her pain from him.
Louis could only stare at her for a moment as she sat there, shaking with silent sobs, drowning in wave after roaring wave of sympathy and understanding. He was unsure of what to do, whether he should leave her alone, or go and attempt to comfort her. How many times had he seen his mother crying when she thought she was alone or that he and Ira were sleeping, and done nothing? Would it have made any difference at all if he had?
He swallowed again and moved toward her, cautious as he reached out to touch her arm. She leaned into his hand and then curled against his side, hiding her face against his shoulder. He swallowed, trying to ease his rigid body. He was unaccustomed to this.
'I’m sorry...’ she whispered again.
'Don’t be sorry...’ he said softly, running his hand over her short cropped hair, 'There’s nothing to be sorry for...’
She sniffled again, closing her eyes as she inhaled a deep breath, exhaling shakily. Her tears began to subside after awhile, and quiet fell over them.
Louis felt her body tense and looked down at her when she winced.
'What’s the matter?’ he asked, running his hand over her hair again.
'Nothing...’ she muttered, 'Just a cramp...’
He bit the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. It was probably more than just a cramp. It had been nearly two weeks since she was bitten. The Change had to be coming soon.
'Louis...’ she whispered.
He looked down at her, dragging his mind out of thought. Before he knew what was happening and how to stop it she placed her hand on his cheek and rose half up on her knees and pressed her lips tentatively to his.
He did not kiss her back, but instead withdrew and moved just out of her reach, his eyes wide as he stared at her with a mixture of shock and disclosure. I don’t think disclosure is the right word here.
All at once he was distant from her again, period or semicolon here instead she could almost feel him slipping out of her grasp.
She covered her mouth with both hands, fresh tears welling up in her eyes.
He turned his gaze back to the fire, pressing his lips together. She knew just by looking at him that he was gone from her, completely gone.
‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered, ‘Louis...I’m so sorry...’
She pushed herself to her feet, faltering a little, and then she straightened again, ‘I’m so sorry...’
Without another word, she turned and climbed over the hood of the sedan and began to run.
Louis only sat where he was, staring listlessly into the blaze.
‘But why?’ Violet asked again as she and Louis walked along the empty road.
Louis sighed and kicked an empty can across the road, ‘I already told you why, Vi... Eden couldn’t stay with us anymore.’
‘But why not?’ she persisted.
‘Because she had to go find a pack of her own,’ he replied, ‘Sometimes Wolves have to do that.’
‘Why?’ she asked.
‘Because sometimes the first pack they go to isn’t the right pack for them to stay with,’ he replied.
She pursed her lips and then huffed, ‘She doesn’t like us?’
‘That’s not it, Vi,’ he assured her, ‘Just don’t worry about it. People come and go all the time, it’s part of living out here.’
‘Will you go?’ she asked, looking up at him.
He grinned and took her hand, ‘I’m not going anywhere, Vi, that’s nothing you gotta worry about, either.’
He picked her up and placed her on his shoulder as he walked, the snow crunching under his feet. When the wind picked up he could smell Eden’s scent. She was ahead of him, not more then a few miles south of the road. He felt a strange sense of worry, but ignored it and continued walking.
He had Violet to protect, and there was no room for anybody else. Not a pack, not a friend, not a woman. Violet was all that mattered to him. Violet was the only one he could trust with his whole heart, the only one he knew would not betray him.
This was the way that it was supposed to be, just him and her, traveling to see the Green Lady, the way it had been before Eden came crashing into their lives. Eden had made her choice. She chose to walk away. She chose to be alone. She chose to leave him. Louis’ brows furrowed as that thought crossed his mind. She was gone.
) He’s shocked and freaked out and for crying out loud he’s called her Vanessa a few times. He would never have kicked Eden out for the kiss, I don’t think, but things would’ve just been so tense that it would’ve been impossible to concentrate on anything else x)
I honestly don’t have anything to complain about with this chapter, I absolutely love how you did it and I really wish you had the next chap up because I’m dying to go on!!
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