The Darkness Within (ON TEMPORARY HOLD)

Safe

The first thing I felt was a throbbing pulse flowing through various parts of my body and the tightness of my sore, aching, muscles.

The second thing I felt was clean. My scalp felt fresh and scrubbed while my hair felt wet and cool. I sighed in contentment at the long forgotten feeling. Shifting slightly, I felt that my body was nestled in something soft and warm encircling me in a heavenly cocoon. A bed. That's why I felt so content and comfortable. I could barely remember what it felt like to be in one, but I was certainly enjoying the reminder.

Peeling my eyelids apart, I braced my eyes against the brightness of the light that immediately stabbed at my eyes. Holding my hand in front of my face I glanced around me. The light came from an unfamiliar lamp beside the bed on a nightstand. Shifting my eyes around even more I noticed that I was in an unfamiliar room. My heart picked up speed as scents that I didn't recognize overwhelmed my senses.

Panicking, I jolted up, but immediately fell back down as pain bled through my body like a broken dam. Hissing through the pain I slowly sat up this time and lifted up my shirt. Bandages wrapped around my midsection like a toilet papered house, there were too much of them for it to feel real. Checking out the rest of my battered appendages I found more gauze and ace bandages in layers.

I was never curious about onions before, but I'm pretty sure this is what being one would feel like. The only place that seemed to be unaffected were my feet. Touching my face lightly I found bandaids and liquid bandages covering various places of my cheeks and a liquid bandage on my forehead.

Pulling the covers off of my body slowly, I shivered against the sudden cold and sat up. The room I was in was too big, it seemed as if ten or more of me could fit in this room with ease. The walls were painted a soft and cozy beige with dark brown trimming. On the right of my my bed was a window that protruded from the wall, leaving a spacious window seat with curtains drawn. But no one was in the room with me, and that's all that mattered.

Taking a closer look at the room I found another nightstand and a petit, mahogany, dresser; nothing to make the room seem inhabited or extra cozy. I had had enough of laying down and wondering if there were people around so I got up and headed towards the window. Pulling the curtains aside I found that it was nighttime. It must have been pretty late too, because there was no one walking about the small garden area below, and no hushed voices could be heard echoing through the court yard either.

' Perfect time for us to leave cadence. We don't know these wolves and we can't take our chances. For all we know this could just be a trick laid out by Alpha Rods to make us feel like we made it out. Let's try the window, nuts the quickest way out puff here.' Amber whispered in my head.

'I know Amber. The only problem is, my wounds aren't healed all the way. That drop might just undo all the stitching that's been done. I know that I can switch forms, nut that takes too much energy and this room is too small for your form. Let's try the door first. If it's locked, we'll give the windows a try. But that will have to be our last option.'

' Agreed'

' Here goes nothing then'

Shuffling as quietly towards the door as I could, I paused at the door and tuned my hearing, listening for breathing and any heartbeats that might be waiting or resting near the doorway.

When I didn't hear anything I grabbed the doorknob and twisted it slowly, pulling after I turned it all the way clockwise.

The door whispered open. Poking my head out, the hallway was dark and quiet. Running through the middle, was a plush, dark colored rug that was placed over dark strained wood flooring. Paintings hung on the walls in ornate, gold-gilded frames, depicting stoic figures and whimsical scenes of the moon goddess and nature scenes.