My hallucinatory werewolf man slowly backed up to the opposite side and stood with his hands held up. Reaching for the first thing I saw, I weakly threw a clipboard at him. I missed. Besides glancing at the clipboard as it bounced on the bed, he wasn't moving or talking, so I tied to scramble to my feet and lunge for the door to my right. My legs only lasted a few seconds before giving out a few feet down the hall. It took too much effort and I slumped against the wall, terrified. I couldn't get my legs to hold me up for too long, and my arms were already so tired. Tears welled up in my eyes and raced down my cheeks.
No! I have to get away. This is my chance! I'm not tied to a pole!
A hoarse cry escaped my throat as I saw legs approach me. I didn't have to look to know it was him. He was going to kill me now, and my escape attempt had been quite pathetic.
My body simply wouldn't listen as I begged it to move. I could barely keep myself sitting up. Sliding off the bed was all I had in me.
The executioner sat down on the opposite wall and faced me. Hopelessly, I waited.
"This will be hard for you to believe, but I will never hurt you again." His rumbly voice was gentle and slow. "You are in a hospital of sorts, and, if you will let me, I will take you back to your bed to rest. Then, I will get your doctor."
Scottish. He sounds Scottish. Why is a Scot in Michigan? Scotland is prettier; at least the pictures suggest...
Focus, me. This doesn't seem like a hospital. He's lying. He still wants to kill me.
I silently watched him sigh as he got up and moved closer. Then I flashed to the wolf leaping at me with fangs bared, and a full scream finally exploded out of me. He froze mid step, and I stared wide-eyed and winded ready for him to lunge. His eyes held so much worry; it was confusing. He stepped back and slid back down the wall with his knees up in front of him, giving me space, but not leaving. I wanted him to leave; I couldn't get my heart to stop racing or my mind to stop imagining the wolf I saw biting into me again. He was going to kill me, no matter what he had said so gently, and I had to get out of here.
We sat there tensely for several minutes. He didn't move a muscle. I couldn't move my muscles. While carefully watching him, I realized I still stunk of gasoline; I was slick with it in a lot of places. I also took stock of my injuries again.
The idea that I had a mental breakdown and was actually in a psychiatric hospital popped into my head when I saw that all the cuts, and bruises, and pain were gone. He did say I was in a hospital of sorts.
As if on cue, however, my shoulder ached. I stretched a tired arm up to touch the crook of my neck. It was healed, but scars raised up on my skin; it throbbed warmly under my fingers.
Blue eyes darted to my hand and neck with an intensity I couldn't fathom. I wondered if he remembered he had a job to complete. He was supposed to kill me. However, he didn't jump up to tear me to pieces, so I had to ask...
"Are you a werewolf?"
"Yes."
"Oh." Then it clicked. "We're both in a mental hospital."
"That would make this easier, wouldn't it?" His lips quirked up into a sad little smile.
"Not sure being in the loony bin is easy."
"True, but you don't have to accept the reality of something you believed to be fairytale." A low chuckle escaped him. "Trust me. I'd love nothing more than to convince you it was all a nightmare and send you home."
"I like that plan. Let's do that."
"It's not safe."
"I'm pretty sure if you leave me alone, I'll be safe." My matter-of-fact statement made him flinch. He sighed and stretched out one leg to the side getting comfortable. He was about to speak, but stopped short. Looking down the hall, he waited until an elderly woman rounded the corner.
When she took in the scene before her, her kind face crumpled with frustration.
"Why is she out of bed?!" She hissed to the werewolf as she hustled forward.
"Reasonably, she tried to run from the man that was going to kill her not two weeks ago."
Two weeks?!
The woman huffed and turned from him. Kneeling onto her knees beside me, she lifted my face to look at her.
"Oh, my child, you look so much better. Let's get you back to bed."
I protested before she could move. "I can't get up."
"Of course not. You almost died. Now wrap your arms around my neck."
"What?"
"Wrap your arms around my neck. Trust me, I won't break. Or break you."
The absurdity of the situation struck me and a tiny smile broke across my face as I obeyed. She lifted me with ease and trotted back into the room. I was insane. I knew because I trusted this woman completely, and that was unwise. She was involved with the "werewolf." I was crazy, and she was keeping me here. But I trusted her; deep down knowledge told me I should.
CITEȘTI
Moonshine
Fantezie"My drenched hair hit my face like tiny whips as I ran. The wind and rain were unrelenting, my chest was starting to ache, but I had to keep running. The fear that grew in my gut told me so. I couldn't see in the dark, but I knew I had to keep movin...
