• Watched


    I was gripping onto my shoulder that was bleeding twice as much as it did before, when the wolf bit me. “Here.” Shade handed me the coat he was wearing and I placed it over my wound. “I can’t believe I let this happen to you.” “Shade it’s ok, I should of gone inside with you instead of staying in the car, it’s my fault.” When he parked in front of the hospital he started dialing on his phone. “You're not calling my dad are you?” He shook his head. “I’m calling Chase and Cody.” He lifted me up with one arm and walked inside. “She needs immediate attention.” “Yes sir right away,” the nurse said. She put me down into a wheelchair and took me to a room and shut all the curtains around me. I struggled onto my feet and collapsed on the bed. She tied me up to a bunch of monitors and took off my clothes. “I’ll go get you a doctor right away.” Shade came through the curtains and quickly shut them, quickly pacing back and forth. “Shade I’ll be alright, don’t worry about me.” “Cryss you don’t know what they were planning on doing to you, the thoughts they were thinking.” I forced my body to sit up. “Thoughts, you can read minds or something?” He bit his lip, “There thugs Cryss I know what those kind of people do to young girls.” I guess I can believe that. “Did the doctor say anything?” “No I haven’t seen him or her yet.” An old man with silver gray hair came through the curtains. “Hi my name is doctor Shullton.” He examined my body, checking every part that was hurt, broken or torn open. “Well looks like she broke her leg and she got struck twice in the shoulder.” “Twice?” Shade asked. “Crysstal what happened in the woods?”

    I bit on my lip, “Nothing just an animal bit me that’s all.” He glared down at me then turned to the doctor. “Can you please excuse us for a minute.” The doctor nodded his head and walked out. I sighed, “Shade there’s something I need to tell you.” He sat at the foot of the bed and crossed his arms across his chest. “I’m listening.” I bit my lip like I always do when I’m nervous. “You were wondering why I was so freaked out to go alone right,” he nodded. “Well the reason for that is I met some people in the woods and they kind of were looking at me like I was a meal.” His muscles tensed and I could hear a growl. “But not as much as that wolf did, I believe Lestat was his name, anyways there were three other people there, Louis, Samuel and Jordan.” His growling got worse and he was gritting his teeth. I reached out and placed my hand on his shoulder, he flinched at my touch. “Shade we’re here.” Cody peeked his head through the curtains and Shade got up and quickly left. I got to my feet and stumbled over to listen to their conversation. “We were to late, they got her.” I heard Shade; I could hear the growl in his voice. “We can’t do anything but watch over her now.” Cody’s voice was comforting, probably trying to calm him down; he was in such an uproar. “I should have watched over her, I should have protected her, I’m such an idiot!” “Shade no you’re not.” I opened the curtain and I saw the boys standing in a circle. “It’s my fault I ran off in the first place.” Shade spun around and pushed me back a little. “Cryss you should be in bed.” I gripped onto his wrist and pulled it away. “Did Heather get on your mind?” Cody asked. I nodded my head and walked up to Shade and placed my head against his chest. He put his arms around me and stroked my head.

    “Well she should be alright, just don’t walk around to much.” Shade released me and looked at the doctor. “We’ll make sure she takes it easy.” He lifted me on his back and naturally I rested my head on his shoulder clinging my legs and my arm around his waist. Shade walked me up to the door when Cody dropped me off, “Well I don’t know what I’m going to tell my dad about this.” The door flew open and I was pulled into a hug. “Cryss honey are you ok?” My dad let me go and I looked up at him. “I’m fine dad.” “Thank you so much Shade for saving her before she got killed.” Shade bowed and ruffled my hair. “Just watching out for my little girl.” He smiled and went back to the car and quickly drove off. My dad was nagging me all night about how I could be alone in a bad part of town. After his raving I went up to my bedroom and collapsed on my bed, quickly falling asleep. Shade decided to pick me up for school; it was kind of difficult to get dressed with the brace and bandages. “You feeling better today?” he asked when I shut my door, “Yea much better.” It was raining that day; the rain hitting the windows was like music to me. When I got out of the car, there I saw passing by out of the corner of my eye. I recognized one of the boys known as Louis but the other had my mind in a blur. I saw them staring at me and I shifted my eyes and looked at the ground, walking quickly to my first class. “Cryss where are you going?” “Sorry Shade I got to go now.” I ran so quickly that I slipped on the tile floor in front of my class and hit my head on the door. I quickly got up and opened the door.

    My body froze and my breath was still. Sitting in the seat next to mine was the boy I saw with Louis. I bit my lip and quietly walked over to my seat without saying a word. “Class we have a new student today, the young man sitting next to Crysstal is Lestat Jones.” Mr. Vanderbosh announced. I bit my lip harder that was the same name as the wolf that bit me. When the bell rang at the end of class I quickly got out of my seat and headed for the door. Lestat caught my shoulder and spun me around, “Where are you going in such a hurry?” His emerald green eyes were staring down at me, his well-muscled body just a few inches away from me. “I-I’m sorry Lestat I have to get to my next class.” Something caught my arm and pulled me away from my conversation, I could hear a low growling noise. “You ready to go to P.E. Cryss.” Shade was glaring at Lestat, slowly backing away as Lestat just grinned and chuckled. Once he safely escorted me to the gym he went off to his math class. “Wonder what’s eating him.” Today’s sport was basketball the coach separated the boy’s and the girl’s out of the girl’s I was the best since I participate a lot, but this time was a little hard because of my leg. At lunch I decided to eat in the third quad outside, luckily the rain had stopped and I settled under a tree. My phone started to buzz and the caller I.D said Shade. “Hello,” I said with my mouth full of egg salad. “Cryss where are you?” He sounded alert. “I’m eating in the third quad, why?” My phone went dead and it shut off before I could hear his answer, I put it back in my pocket and finished my lunch. The rain started up again and I was drenched when I reached the door. The kids were laughing at me till my seventh period class, when my cloths dried off.

    Louis ended up being in my seventh period art fundamentals class, but I kept quiet and ignored. Once the bell rang I quickly got out of my seat and got out the door before Louis could catch me. Shade was already standing at the door and I sighed in relief as he put his arm around my shoulder and led me to his truck. He opened the passenger side for me and then went around to the driver’s side, he put the truck in gear and I could see his hands trembling on the steering wheel. I reached out and brushed my fingers on one of his hands, I thought he would flinch from that like last time but his hand gripped mine before I managed to pull it away. I looked out my window and saw Jessica passing by and she waved at me, I smiled and waved back with my free hand. “Cryss, did they do anything to you?” my head snapped to look at him, and I smiled to assure him nothing did as I shook my head, “no Shade, they didn’t touch me.” He let go of my hand to put it back to the steering wheel and pushed on the gas pedal. We drove a long while in silence, every now and then Shade would shift his eyes to me then to the road and back again, and I just stared out the window and watched the rain falling. I knew we reached my house because I saw the old beaten up Sedan that was soon to be mine when I get my drivers license, parked in the driveway. The paint was faded, blue colored, but I was planning on getting it redone once I earned it. I stepped out of his truck and smiled and said thanks, of course being the gentlemen he is he walked me up to my door, “you want to stay for a while? I’m sure my dad wouldn’t mind.” He shook his head, “sorry Cryss I have something to do tonight,” he kissed the top of my head and left. I waited till he disappeared into the night mist.

    “Dad I’m home,” I called in as I stepped in the front door. My dad was passed out on the couch. Couldn’t help but laugh a little to myself as I limped up the stairs to my bedroom. I settled down on my bed and I snatched my sketchbook from underneath it, I always drew when I was bored. My room felt hot and stuffy so I decided to open the window to my room. The forest seemed quiet and peaceful; the crickets were chirping their sweet melodious sound and I heard the faint fluttering of wings of the birds of the night. I didn’t know what it was but something about the nighttime just made me calm down. I leaned on the windowsill, the cool night air sending chills down my spine, but it also felt good. After a bit I turned back to my bed and started sketching in my notebook. It wasn’t long after that I heard heavy footfalls outside of my window. My body stilled for a few moments, my breathing ceased, what if it was Lestat again, what if he’s after me? I gulped and staggered towards the window and stared out in the darkness. There was nothing at first, but then I saw them, liquid gold eyes that stood out in the darkness, and then another pair, ice blue eyes and another pair of reddish eyes. They were out there, surrounding the house; my body trembled wondering if they were looking for their next meal. But after a while it quieted and the animals disappeared. I shut my window and closed my shades, laying under the covers of my bed and after an hour of being alert, fell asleep.