Satan's Kitten

Chapter Thirteen

The screams left my lips as I was sat down in a chair, and Chris crouched down in front of me. He put his hands on either side of my face as he ran his thumbs over my cheeks and spoke to me. Although I couldn't hear a word over my own screams and even if I could hear him I knew the only thing I could focus on was the unbearable pain that shot through my body, starting with my leg. I had never felt pain this bad, and all I wanted at the moment was for it to be over. I almost wanted someone to kill me just so I wouldn't be in pain anymore.
The pain worsened as someone put their hands on my leg, causing Chris to lean in closer to my face in an attempt to get his words through to me. I could see his lips moving, but I couldn't hear him until my screams quieted for a split second so that I could suck in a ragged breath.
"Baby, focus on me, okay? It's mind over matter. Just focus on me." His tone was soft but held a bit of hurt in it. I tried to do as he said, but the pain was unbearable, and I couldn't help but scream again.
Suddenly, moments later, it was like most of the pain had lifted as my attention was drawn to Chris rubbing shapes over the mark on my arm.
"I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner." He smiled, seemingly proud of himself. "It's almost over, baby." He spoke to me, as he used his other hand to smooth my hair back. The pain still lingered in the background, but with his touch on my arm, it was nothing more than a nagging burning feeling.
As I calmed my breathing and focused on Chris, I could almost ignore the fact that this whole ordeal had become a scene as a few people stood nearby, and people passing by the room watched and stared. But I had no control over it, and my relief was only found in Chris, so I couldn't let my attention wonder.
It could've been hours that passed by for all I knew before Chris stood up. The pain worsened as his fingers left my skin. He patted a man on his shoulders as he stood from being crouched at my side. I hadn't even noticed him the entire time, but he was dressed in a black shirt with a white doctor coat over it. The only conclusion I could draw was that he had been fixing my leg, and I had never noticed before due to the pain and trying to keep my mind on Chris.
"She'll need a bit of rest, but it should be good to go." The man spoke, shaking Chris's hand.
"Thank you. I appreciate it." Chris spoke before the man headed off.
"So?" I heard a familiar voice from behind me.
"Not now." Chris growled. "I don't have time for this, alright?"
"I think now seems like a perfect time, actually." Josh's tone was firm, and I could tell an argument was about to happen.
"Guys." I groaned. "Can we just not? Now is not the time to fucking bicker." Those two were always going at each other. But I just wanted peace.
"I just want to know what happened, No." He stood in front of me now as his eyes took me in.
"I don't know." I sighed, still unsure of how everything had went down. It all happened so quick that even I was lost.
"Hound." Chris spoke simply, running a hand through his hair.
"But that means..?" Josh trailed off and Chris nodded his head.
"It was definitely sent for. Someone did it on purpose."
Even though I had been here for ages now and I was his counterpart I still was lost in their conversations and terms half of the time. This was no exception.
"Come on, Noel. Let's get you up to bed so you can rest and heal." Chris spoke, putting an arm around my waist.
"Someone's out for her and you're just going to put her in bed?"
"Josh, please. No one's getting in this place and even if they do they'd never make it into our room. She's fine."
"I mean, perhaps. But does she even feel comfortable being alone after this?" He cocked an eyebrow at me as he questioned Chris.
"For fucks sake. Would you just cut it out? Nows not the time for your bullshit." And they were back to bickering, causing me to speak up to shut them both up. But with that came both of the boys deciding and agreeing that it was best if I stayed in Chris' office with him while he worked. Chris helped me up to his office and laid me down on the couch next to the fireplace. Only as I laid on the couch did I get a glimpse of how bad it was. The deep wound took over half of my lower leg and the skin around it looked like it was burnt and dead. I could've thrown up just looking at it.
"Chris?" I spoke, looking over at him as he sat in his office chair. He hummed a response, turning his attention to me. "I don't understand anything that just happened." I admitted. He seemed to hesitate, probably debating between telling me or not before speaking.
"I suppose since it is your kingdom now you deserve to know the truth." He started. "That dog that got you, wasn't just a dog. They're called hellhounds and not just anyone can create or summon them. They're usually used for guarding purposes but can also be sent to attack."
"And I was the target, why..?" What had I done?
"I don't know yet. Over the next few days we're going to try to figure it out and track down who did it. My only guess at the moment is that someone is rebelling against the kingdom being complete."
"I thought everyone was on the same page here." I was confused. The whole time I had been here it seemed as though everyone was unified. I mean there wasn't any wars, hardly anyone ever fought.. it had seemed pretty peaceful despite being hell. Chris chuckled, shaking his head.
"For the most part but.. there's definitely people here who don't like me, or just aren't done causing trouble. It's not heaven Noel, we're not all buddy buddy." He went on to give stories of people who had been executed in the past for rebelling against the king or causing too much trouble before speaking about the things to watch out for.
"-Really besides the hounds there's only wraiths, but they're far less common and can only be created of summoned by someone of great power. And even then they aren't used often.
This place isn't all that dangerous. It's just occasionally people hide out in the crowd that only have ill intentions and it takes us a while to find them and take them out but.. I suppose that's not much different than past life." He shrugged, turning back to his work.
"Wraiths?"
"Yes. For lack of better explanation, they are spirits that torment. We use them to track someone down and execute them. It's not pretty, but it works." My eyes stayed glued to him, drinking in every word out of curiosity. This place was interesting, that's for sure.
"Get some sleep. You'll heal quicker." He spoke after moments of me silently staring.
"I'm not tired and I feel fine." I shrugged, moving to put my feet on the floor. There was still a dull ache but apart from that I felt fine. As I stood to stand I was proven wrong by pain shooting through my leg, causing me to fall down. Luckily I had fallen back on the couch and Chris sighed.
"You're not going to be walking today, might not even be tomorrow. You've gotta take it easy." He got up from his desk to come over and help me put my legs back up and lay down, despite me telling him that I was able to do it all on my own.
"Stop." He spoke sternly, cutting off my words about how I could take care of myself. "We're a team, it's not just you anymore and I'm going to take every opportunity I get to help you with anything and everything.  So get use to it." He kissed my forehead before straightening up and heading back to his chair. "You're so stubborn." He mumbled, an amused look on his face. I was perfectly capable of taking care of myself and had always been independent so this was going to take some getting use to.
The room went silent for hours as he got back to his work and I dozed off into a nap.
When I had woke up he still was seated as his desk and we made small talk for a while, until I could tell something was bothering him and he finally reluctantly put it out there.
"You're not scared of this place now, are you? I mean maybe I shouldn't have dumped all of that information on you earlier. I just figured since you rule here too now that you should know."
"I'll admit that it's a bit unsettling that someone purposfully sent something to hurt me, but.. what am I supposed to do? Live every second in fear over it?" Chris grinned before looking at me with a look of adoration.
"If I didn't know it before, then I surely do now. I made the right choice."
"Huh?"
"You. There's no one better fitted for me than you." He got up from his chair and came to my side, crouching down next to me as he placed his lips to mine. "I've waited so long for someone like you, you have no idea." I gave him a small smile, though his statement brought back my question from weeks ago; why me? I mean, why had he chosen me specifically anyway?
"Am I worth all of the trouble you went through to drag me here and make me a part of all of this?" I asked, my words being harsh, but my tone cushioned them.
"I'd do it all over again if I had to. I know I didn't make it easy on you, and maybe I'd go back and change that, but everything worked out for the best."
"Why me anyways?" I asked, unable to hold back any longer.
"I mean, first of all, have you seen yourself?" He spoke, looking me over. "You're what my dreams look like. And of course, there were the qualities in you that I knew my counterpart had to have. The strong will, determination, a bit of a devious side, but someone who has compassion and is understanding."
"You just described a billion girls, Chris."
"But they're not the one. You are. It was a personal decision. While I needed someone who would do the kingdom good, I didn't want someone who didn't actually interest me.. and well, you're everything I've ever wanted." He pressed his lips to mine, and I was quick to kiss back.
Afterwards, he helped me downstairs to have dinner before we called it a night. Well; it was more like he made the decision, and I just went with it since I knew I needed to rest my leg.
And even with everything that had happened in the day, it didn't make me feel any different about this place or about Chris. I mean, everything had its pros and cons, I couldn't expect hell to be any different.
And it all just settled it for me. I was actually finding myself being happy here, and I didn't want anything else anymore. I no longer had a will to escape. This was my home, and I wasn't mad at that.

Just wanted to say that I have added this book's playlist/ soundtrack link to the first chapter! Feel free to check it out and going forward it will be linked at the end of every chapter. Thank you 💜