Begin Again

Scene 5

"Help!"

A female's voice tried shouting, but her voice came out as only a whisper. Yet, it was loud enough for Kieran to hear from where he stood. Kieran had just stepped out through the gate's entrance when he heard her. For a second, he brushed off her cry for help as he thought it was all in his mind until he heard her again.

"Help... please!"

Kieran quickly yanked the horse's reins to follow him. He tied the horse's strap to the first tree before he entered through the trees. He found her only a few seconds after running inside the woods. His eyes slightly widened as he saw her lying on the ground, flat on her stomach with a chunk of skin ripped from her left ankle. He was instantly on his knees, checking if she was still alive. Once he turned her over, he stared at a beautiful woman, dark hair, tanned skin, and plumped nude lips. It was Skylar. She had her eyes closed and Kieran faintly heard her beating heart.

"How did you get here?" He said aloud to himself.

He looked at her shoulder, then her ankle and took off his shirt. He ripped his shirt in half and wrapped one half of it around Skylar's ankle to stop the bleeding, the other he tied around her shoulder and underarm. Kieran didn't know what else to do, either leave her in this spot to die or take the chance of bringing her inside to try to save her knowing how the Lycans would get if they sensed someone that wasn't one of their own. He was hesitant in choosing to try and save her because of the fears ingrained in him since childhood, but Kieran wasn't a heartless man. So he shook her gently by the shoulders to try to wake her.

"Hey, wake up. You have to wake up."

Kieran placed one hand on her cheek and Skylar's eyes slowly fluttered open. Kieran held in a breath for just a moment at seeing her deep brown eyes. He didn't know why, but he felt like if he knew her even though he knew he had never seen her a day of his life.

"That's it, stay with me."

"Help," Skylar whispered again as she stared into his eyes for only a second before she closed them again.

"I got you." Kieran said as he put one arm under her knees and his other on her back, lifting her off the ground.

He held her against his chest and quickly made his way back to the horse. He placed her on her stomach, atop the horse, untied it from the tree, and pulled him towards the gates. Once he was through the gates, he looked at the courtyard and was relieved when everyone was still in human form. He quickly and quietly led the horse to the stable house and placed Skylar over his shoulder. Once the horses were securely locked, he stepped out of the stable and came face to face with Kate.

"I thought you left?" Kate instinctively sniffed the air and gasped at the smell of blood. "Kieran, what did you do?"

"I found her out in the woods like this." Kieran placed his hand on Kate's shoulder to get her to focus. "I need to get her into the temple before she dies. So I need you to move everyone away from the entrance." Kate nodded and went running to the courtyard. 

"Everyone, Kieran needs you all to clear the courtyard. This is an emergency, we all need to move into the forest. Lets go, lets go!"

Everyone starts scattering through the trees as Kate clapped her hands to hurry them up. Once Kieran saw everyone gone, he ran through the courtyard at almost lightening speed and into the temple. He brought Skylar into his room and placed her on his bed. He began to quickly rummage through his small storage chest where he stored his herbs and liquid vials made from plants used for treating sickness or wounds. He placed the items next to Skylar's legs and grabbed a vial with liquid made from wintergreen plants. He gently grabbed Skylar by the back of her neck and lifted her up so she could drink it.