Into The Woods

FIFTEEN

It was true, Dominic had known the entire time that something had happened to Isobelle's parents while she was under his care. He just couldn't bring himself to tell her before she walked out of his home. Something inside of him was starting to change, especially with how he was beginning to perceive Isobelle. Never in his long life had he ever had a feeling of care for someone. Though he took good care of his people in the underworld, his emotional connection to those still living was nearly nonexistent. 

As they appeared in front of Saint James, the city's hospital, Dominic couldn't help but feel guilty. Isobelle gasped beside of him due to the transportation, and it took her a moment to catch her breath as she lightly leaned against Dominic's shoulder for support. He didn't dare to push her away. When she finally caught her breath, Isobelle felt her heart skip a beat as she realized where they were at. Turning to face Dominic, she shook her head in his direction. "Why did you bring me here? What did you mean when you said we were running out of time?" 

Taking a moment to collect his thoughts, Dominic cleared his throat. "I want you to understand that this wasn't my doing. There's more to the lives of mortals than what you can see. There are timelines, lifelines. They all end at one point or another. Whether it is natural, or some kind of foretold intervention." The more Dominic spoke, the harder Isobelle was finding it to breathe. "Your parents, Isobelle. They're here." Pointing towards the front doors of the hospital, Dominic watched as Isobelle looked towards the doors.

Tears started to fill her eyes again as she let go of Dominic and took a few wobbly steps forwards. Disbelief was written over her features as she clenched and unclenched her hands into fists. "How?" She mumbled, shaking her head in disagreement. "How did they end up here? What happened? When did this happen?" Stepping forward to join Isobelle, Dominic shook his head. "While you were with me, after we had found Macwood, your parents were in an accident. They were out looking for you. They were afraid you had gone back to where Jinx had disappeared in hopes of finding her. They thought you'd been taken, that you'd disappeared just like she had." Reaching up and running a hand across his thick hair, Dominic looked down at Isobelle who was silently crying in the gently falling rain. "I wanted to tell you, but you left so quickly that I didn't really have the chance." Though it was an excuse, it was partially true. Isobelle had left so quickly after finding out that he had killed Macwood, that he didn't even try to stop her. 

"You had every chance," Isobelle blurted out, "You had every chance in the world to say something, you could've brought me here yourself instead of letting me go home, but you didn't!" Holding her face in her hands, she spun towards the hospital doors before rushing inside, leaving Dominic out in the rain.

Dominic couldn't blame her for her angry reaction, in fact, what she had said was true. He had every chance to say something, but he chose not to. To be honest, he'd never had to deal with a situation quite like this one. Usually, his mark only appeared when he wanted it to, not by chance. It only took a moment of anger and the touch of his fingertips to scar Isobelle's skin. Not only that, but he had never had to deal with someone who wasn't terrified of him, that didn't hesitate to bend to his every command. Being emotional with a living mortal wasn't something on his bingo card, in fact, he didn't know how to be emotional at all unless it was anger. Having to deal with someone like Isobelle, who was full of every emotion known to man, was proving to be difficult. Another reason he hadn't said anything to Isobelle about the accident, was because he wasn't looking at it from a mortals perspective. Death didn't scare him, loss didn't really affect him like it did others. So the fact that Isobelle's parents were on the way to death's door step, didn't seem important enough to bring up in conversation.

Shaking his head, it didn't take long for Dominic to follow after Isobelle through the hospitals glass doors. It was obvious that he was going to have to start changing his perspective when it came to this woman. Maybe that was the whole point of their bond, to change him. That thought alone made him shiver as he removed his wet coat and walked into one of the many elevators on the first floor. This day was far from over.