Immortal Awakening

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

I didn't bother to take my clothes with me into the bathroom when I took my shower. One long, cold shower. Long enough for my fingers to turn to prunes and go numb. That's what I got for letting my thoughts consume me in the shower.

Wrapped in a towel with my wet hair over one shoulder, I went into my bedroom. I stood in front of my floor length mirror looking at my body wrapped in a short towel. I was paler, thinner since my parents' death. My eyes looked dull and like I hadn't slept in forever, with faint circles under my eyes. I reached up to touch my collar bone that was more evident than usual.

I knew I wasn't taking care of myself. I had lost two of the most important people in my life. I stopped taking my anti-depressants among other medications, and I refused to see my therapist anymore. There was nothing wrong with me, and I didn't need to talk about it. I was mourning the death of the only parents I ever knew in my own way.

Running my fingers through my hair, I watched the sun set in the background of my reflection. My mom loved my hair. It was getting wavy and reached past my hips. I remembered the weekends when she didn't have to work and we would have our movie marathons. I'd just lay there while she braided my hair any way she wanted.

My lips were pale instead of their usual pink tint. I seriously needed something to change the state I was in. My therapist said that I needed to make friends, find something good in my life and hang on to it. Maybe that was why I was so tenacious with Daniel and Damian. They were my... friends and I wanted to hang on to them so I didn't lose my mind. If I didn't have any happiness to hold onto, I was going to lose it, and I didn't intend on being admitted to the psych ward of a hospital.

"You should really close your window when you're standing in your room half naked like this."

I turned towards his voice and hugged the towel closer. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "You weren't here when I got back home." He was leaning against the wall of my room rather weakly, arm around his belly. Something was wrong. A smell, sweet and tangy, filled my room.

Daniel picked up my robe from my bed and put it around my shoulders. "I'm sorry," he said simply. He stumbled a bit and winced. Because of his close proximity, I could hear his ragged breathing and I started to worry. I wanted to focus on what was wrong with him, but the smell was beginning to be distracting. Sweet, alluring.

"Wh-"

"Help me, please," he begged; closing his eyes, he slid to the floor. The moonlight shone on his back and then I saw it. The blood through the hole in his shirt.

I fixed my robe and knelt beside him. "What happened?"

"My brother stabbed me when I pissed him off earlier," he croaked out. He saw my facial expression and touched my face even though his fingers were tinted red. "It doesn't hurt as much as you think," he said weakly.

"We need to get you to a hospital," I said quickly and moved to get up but he stopped me.

"The splinters are in my back and I can't pull them out. What he stabbed me with, broke inside of me," he said clutching my arm tightly. There was blood on his hand, too. "I can't go to the hospital, Nina. Promise me you won't call for help."

Was he nuts?! The thought was crazy, but I promised anyways. He moved his hand and I saw more blood and a huge hole in his shirt. With great effort, he sat up and tore his shirt open. I looked away then remembered the ink of a tattoo that I had seen when he gave me his shirt that time in the locker room.