Chapter 23 Paranoid
2511 Words
[..]
“She is waking up!” Bella called out, as Chase and Cathrine came running back into the room, while Stella began to open her eyes slowly.
“Hi sweetheart! How are you feeling?” Cathrine spoke, as she gently cherished her arm.
Stella sat up, as she tried to recall what had happened.
But as everything began to come back to her, she immediately tensed, as she thought of Armaros.
“Where’s Armaros? You haven’t done anything to him, right, dad? I promise, he really hasn’t done anything,” Stella blurred out, as Cathrine tried to calm her down.
“We know, sweetie, no one has done anything to him.. He is waiting outside, okay?” Cathrine stated, as Stella started to calm a bit.
She glanced at her father, who seemed angry, worried, and sad, all at the same time. But she wasn’t sure if he was mad at her, or on top of everything that had happened.
“Dad, are you mad at me too?” Stella called out, as Chase's eyes softened by the sound of her broken voice, and he walked over and gave her a hug.
“No, I’m not angry with you honey, you are not to blame for this,” he spoke, as he took a hold on her hands when he pulled away.
“Carl said everyone would hate me for what I did.. Even you.” She spoke, as tears fell from her eyes, as they landed on her hands.
“Carl, Kyle and Hunter will get their punishment, you don’t have to worry about them, they won’t hurt you ever again, I promise.” He stated, as he was very serious about his words.
Then the door suddenly opened and Drake walked into the room.
“Chase, we have a problem.” Drake spoke, as he stopped halfway through the room.
“What is it, Drake?” Chase asked, as he rose from his seat next to Stella.
“It’s about Kyle, he’s..” Drake started, but when his eyes met with Stella’s he paused for a second.
“Oh, Stella is awake.. How are you feeling?” He asked with a gentle smile, as Stella returned it.
“I’m fine, thank you..” Stella replied, as Chase cleared his throat.
“You came to tell me something,” Chase interrupted, as Drake turned back to him.
“Uhm, yeah right.. Should we go out and speak, or..?” He continued, as Chase looked at Stella for a moment, before he nodded and walked with him out to the hall.
“Now.. Tell me what this is about.” Chase asked, as Drake looked at him seriously.
“Kyle is dead!” Drake stated, making Chase frown.
“Dead? How did that happen?” Chase asked.
“I’m not sure, Vlad just told us he accidently killed him.” Drake replied.
“That doesn’t sound right.. He is not the kind of guy that makes mistakes like that. I need to speak with him now.” Chase replied. Drake nodded.
“Right, he is waiting outside..” Drake replied, as Chase walked with him outside.
“Vlad, what’s going on?” Chase asked, as he stopped in front of him, as Vlad just shrugged.
“Well, I accidently killed Kyle, if that’s what you are referring to,” Vlad replied carelessly, making Chase narrow his eyes.
“Yes, I heard that already, but it’s not what I’m asking.. What I wanna know is; what happened?” Chase asked again, this time more determent.
“Nothing really.. Kyle admitted that Hunter was inside Stella’s room because Carl had asked him to finish off what he couldn’t..” Vlad spoke, making Chase frown.
“Finish what?” He asked, making Vlad roll his eyes.
“They intended to kill her, Chase.” Vlad specified, making Chase’s eyes widen slightly.
“No.. He.. He wouldn’t go that far.” Chase spoke as he shook his head slightly, while he was trying to process the information he was given.
“He would and he did, Chase! If you ask me, they shouldn’t even be alive right now!” Vlad exclaimed.
“No, Vlad, that not how the laws of the werewolves work!” Chase growled, as Vlad took a step forward and glared at Chase.
“Then maybe they need to be changed, 'cause when you thought it was Armaros, you didn’t seem to have a problem with it.. Had it been my daughter..”
“But it’s not, Vlad! It’s mine, so stay out of it!” Chase cut in, as he turned around and walked away.
[Stella POV]
As my dad left the room, I turned to look at my mom.
“Mom, how did you all figure out, that it was Carl, Hunter and Kyle who did it?” I asked, as she looked at me while she was stroking my hand gently.
“I saw what they did to you.. Through your memories.” She spoke.
“I’m deeply sorry you had to go through all that. Though it might not make any difference right now, then I want you to know that I understand what you are going through.. And I want to make sure you know that I’m here if you need to talk to anyone about it.” My mom added, as I closed my eyes, and pulled my hand away.
I just wanted to get rid of the thoughts clouding my mind, so I forced a smile.
“You don’t have to worry, mom, I’m completely fine, okay?” I tried to reassure her, while she looked at me, as if she was trying to figure out if I was telling the truth, but none of the less she chose to let it go.
[..]
“Okay, Stella, but just remember I’m here, if you change your mind.” Cathrine spoke, as Stella nodded her head.
“I’ll make sure to remember that, mom.” Stella replied, as she cleared her throat.
Then she began to step out of bed, but Cathrine quickly stopped her.
“What are you doing, Stella? You shouldn’t get out of bed before Dr. Canis has cleared you out, sweetie.” She spoke.
“Please, mom, I really need to see Armaros,” Stella begged.
“As soon as Dr. Canis has been here, okay?” Cathrine stated, as Stella sighed, as she proceeded to throw herself back on the bed.
“Fine..”
A little hour passed by, before Dr. Canis finally showed up, and checked Stella's vitals.
“So doc, am I cleared?” Stella asked, as Dr. Canis grinned.
“You seem to be in a hurry.. But yes, you are seemingly as healthy as a horse.. But I would like you to come by my office in a few days or at any time if you start to feel out of the ordinary, okay?” Dr. Canis explained, as she nodded.
“I will.” Stella promised, as she jumped out of bed and hurried out of the door.
“I recommend you keep an eye on her. After what she has been through, there is a chance that it will affect her mental health.. Which I guess you already know..” Dr. Canis spoke, as Cathrine nodded with a sigh.
“I know she’s already trying to deny everything that has happened, and how she feels.. I just hope she is able to work it out.
[..]
The day before, Vlad had made sure Armaros could take a bath and was given some clean clothes, as well as he had borrowed him the guest room in his house.
If anyone had seen him walk around in bloody clothes, he would probably have been sitting in the dungeon again.
Not that it bothered him, that people knew because he wasn’t embarrassed by his actions, and he wouldn’t hesitate to do it again if he got the chance.
Early that morning, Vlad had stopped by, and told Armaros that he would go talk to Chase. Although Armaros told him that he didn’t have to do it, Vlad kept insisting on doing it.
The next couple of hours, Armaros spent observing his surroundings and waiting for news about Stella.
He found himself standing by the window, as he watched people interacting.
He had always wondered what these tribes were like, and it had surprised him a bit how well the different species were seemingly getting along with each other.
But then he turned around, as a knock fell on the door and a blond-haired woman came through the door.
“Hi, you must be Armaros, my name is Lumaura.. My husband, Vlad, asked me to make sure you got everything you needed.” She explained.
“Hallo.. I’m fine, thank you very much.” Armaros replied, as Lumaura nodded her head.
“Not to be rude, but.. You aren’t a vampire, are you?” Armaros asked, as Lumaura smiled, and shook her head.
“You’re right, I’m not.. I’m a Lux Blanda.” She replied, as Armaros nodded in understanding.
“Well, that explains a lot..” he stated.
“Great, then if you need anything, you just ask.” Lumaura explained before she turned around and walked towards the door again, but stopped for a moment.
“Oh, and one more thing.. I was just told that Stella is awake.” She revealed, before she left the room.
She was in no need to tell him twice, as he immediately walked out and headed directly towards Stella’s parents’ house, where he met Cathrine and this other man who was wearing a white coat.
“Oh, hi Armaros, I guess you’re looking for Stella.” She stated, as Armaros gave a reassuring nod.
“Yeah, I was told that she is awake, how is she doing?” He asked, as she nodded.
“Better I guess, Dr. Canis here, just cleared her, but she had already gone out looking for you actually..” Cathrine replied.
“Okay, I’ll see if I can find her.. Thank you.” He stated as he then turned around, and headed towards the pack house. He soon spotted her, but as he observed her from a distance, she didn’t seem fine to him.
She almost looked scared of her surroundings, as she seemed like she was trying to get away from something.
“Stella wait!” Armaros heard someone call out and saw that a guy was running behind her, but she either didn’t hear him or she chose to ignore him, as she continued walking with hasty steps.
But then this guy had the audacity to grab a hold on her, making her flinch.
When Armaros saw the fear in Stella’s eyes, he immediately knew what was wrong - she was having a panic attack.
And that numbskull in front of her clearly didn’t get the hint, so Armaros ran over there.
“Don’t fücking touch her!” Armaros growled as he pushed him away, and he realized it was the same guy from yesterday.
“You don’t get to tell me what to do! Look what you have done to her.” He snapped, but then Armaros glared at him and took a step forward.
“Don’t test me, or I’ll show you what I can do to you, if you don’t!” Armaros warned him, making him step away, in fear.
[Stella’s POV]
I walked out of the house, and headed down towards the pack house.
There were a lot of people and I immediately felt like everyone was staring at me, which made an unsettling question nag me – did they all know what had happened?
“Why didn’t you wanna leave?”
I shook my head, as I tried to ignore it, as I was looking for Armaros, but it was like everyone was silently judging me, and it made me feel on edge.
“..and why did you defend that bastard?”_
I tried keeping my eyes on the ground as I walked faster, in an attempt to block it out.
“What do you think your father would say, if he found out his sweet innocent daughter isn’t that innocent anymore? - did you like all the things he did to you?”
I tried covering my ears with my hands, but then someone grabbed my arm and I immediately flinched. I pulled away as I went to defense mode.
“Calm down, Stella.. It’s just me.” Nathan said, but somehow I couldn’t, seeing him here made everything come crushing down.
“You are a threat to the tribe, acting like the enemy’s personal slut, while my son and everyone else were risking their lives, and for what?”
“Please, just let me be.” I spoke up, as my heart was hammering away. I was feeling the panic spread inside of me.
_“Tell me! How does it feel to be a personal bedwarmer to the one threatening to kill everyone you care about?”_
“What’s wrong? I just wanna talk to you for a moment?” He asked again, as he took a step closer to me.
“No.. Just.. Don’t touch me.” I blurred out, as I felt like I was ready to lose it.
“I’m only trying to help you, Stella.” He spoke, but I shook my head, and put my hands out in front of me.
“I just need a little thing in return..”
“No, I don’t need any of your help, please just go away!” I yelled, as I walked backwards, but then I stumbled over something and fell.
I felt like I almost couldn’t breathe and people had suddenly paused and were staring, which only made it worse. I closed my eyes, as I heard someone run towards me and then a familiar smell hit me, as two hands touched my shoulders.
“Stella, look at me!” I then heard Armaros' voice, which somehow helped me calm down. Tears were running down my face as I looked into his eyes, and then he pulled me close to him.
“Everything is okay.” He soothed, as his hand moved up and down on my back.
“I thought I could do this, I thought.. If I just acted like it didn’t happen, then I would feel like myself again, but I can’t, I..”
“It’s okay, you don’t have to prove anything, and no one’s gonna hurt you again, I’ll make sure of it.” He whispered into my ear, as he was just letting me cry.
Then we just sat there on the ground for a long time, and though numerous people were still staring as they passed by, it somehow didn’t bother me anymore, all I needed was just this moment and Armaros.
As strange as it may sound, I felt like he was the only one there who wasn’t judging me.
- Writer
