Heroes and Wolves [book 1]

Chapter twelve

Layla

Maylock turns the watch on his wrist and dark grey armour opens and folds out of it a second later. I am taken aback as the bits of metal lock onto his body, enveloping every limb in a perfect fit. He is covered in armour; nothing is left bare apart from his hands and head. He then presses his watch and two white wings whip out either side of him. They are nearly as tall as he is. Arching above his shoulders as the tips fold from touching the ceiling. Individual feathers layer one another symmetrically. What a sight this is.

A sword and shield are engraved on his torso and outlines of hexagons are etched around his abdominal area. Some overlap and mark over to his arms and legs. On his arms, the hexagons merge into tally marks. There are many bulks of five scattered around and a tally of three. Whatever this is counting, its active.

     "Happy now?" He chuffs sarcastically.

     "I was just making sure." I am quick to respond to his snide comment "You could have been anybody"

     "I guess you were. Self-defence?" his eyes twinkle with humour as he smirks.  

He turns his watch again and his wings lower and crinkle up until they disappear. At the same time his armour silently folds back into his watch. 

     "Self-defence" I nod, smiling slightly. "Why didn't you just tell me that this was medicine in the first place?"

     "Because I am used to people just taking it without questions" he calmly yet arrogantly responds.

     "Oh, I bet you are" I quip.

     "Sorry, that came out wrong"

     "Well if you are so used to people taking it and you say that this isn't poison, then why don't you eat some?"

     "I can't Layla" he backs away.

     "So, it is poison?"

     "I need to be hurt for medilac to work. It is not poison"

     "You keep saying that but you completely avoided my question and you physically backed away"

     "I didn't avoid it because I just explained why I can't take it. That was the truth. It is medicine Layla"

     "Well I am still not consuming it" I slide it back into the wrapper. "Just because you are a Guardian, doesn't mean that I have to instantly trust you and abide with everything you say"

     "Well it's clear that you are ignoring every one of my suggestions to help you but fair enough so I shall prove yet another thing. I'll just get a scalpel - to cut a slice off the medilac" he corrects himself, quickly realising what he said as he laces his hand through his hair.

He goes to the same cupboard as before and takes out a clear plastic package that he rips open when he comes back to my bed. He takes a scalpel out of the hygienic wrapper and opens another medilac packet. He then pricks his finger, tips the bag to his mouth and swallows his cube.

     "See. I am not dying." he grabs a tissue to hold over his finger. "So take it Layla" he's adamant that I consume this cube and it annoys me. "You need it for the pain"

     "I am not in pain" I pursue. 

     "Well why have you been clenching the duvet so hard that your knuckles have turned white?" At his words, I look down and I am gripping the duvet.

I release my hand instantaneously, feeling the duvet fall back into place and my knuckles are now a pinkie pale colour from the fresh blood nourishment.

     "Now, you wouldn't be doing that if there wasn't something bothering you. That's your bodies way of distracting itself, taking your mind off of a feeling, a feeling of pain maybe?" he arches a brow obviously feeling proud of his deduction.

     "Alright smart arse" I roll my eyes and as much as I don't want to admit but Maylock is right, I am in pain and he isn't dead to the floor from taking it so I tip the cube out of the wrapper and onto my palm again. 

I look at the cube one final time before consuming it. Regret hits me instantly as the cube is hard at first but then turns squidgy and it tastes horrible as all medicines do. 

     "Yuk" I squeeze my eyes shut, reacting to the disgust as the bitter taste of this vile substance swirls around my mouth and disintegrates my taste buds.

     "Medilac is an acquired taste" he empathises. 

     "You're telling me" I swallow the last remaining bits of horrid medical squidge and hope my taste buds recover.

Maylock glances at his watch and frowns. 

      "Checking the time" I joke as the numbing feeling subsides from my mouth. 

     "No not exactly" he picks up the wrappers of medilac and the plastic wrapping from the scalpel and puts them in a bin at the end of the bed. 

He looks at his watch again. He is waiting for something. 

     "I want to show you something." He beckons with his hand. "The medilac should have kicked in by now so you won't have any pain" I still get up off the bed warily but no pain greets me so I stand beside him.     

He walks over to a cabinet but doesn't open it. Instead, he lifts it completely off the wall and places it on the floor. It was a decoy. It covered an unusual circular clock but there are no numbers or hands to tick by. Five slices are equally spread around and each section has a variety of swirls and lines engraved within. Not one slice has the same pattern. It's been precisely cut and so much thought has gone into it.

Maylock presses a button on his watch which makes the circle spin clockwise and a piece of the wall itself pushes in and moves to the side, creating an opening.