Chapter 21

What the hell was going on here?

Carlise charged towards the attacker, ready to attack, but before he could get there, I got off the ground and hugged him from behind.

“Come on! Let's leave! Please, it's enough!“ I cried into his back, not wanting him to get hurt on my behalf.

He was fuming with rage, it was the first time that I had ever seen him act this way.

Unwrapping my hands, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and tucked me into his side, shielding me from the attacker's view.

“Try and touch her, and I will kill you!“ he threatened, his voice domineering and intimidating.

I nestled into his embrace, and found my nerves getting calmer just by inhaling his scent. After a while, when my breathing was finally stable, I stuck my head out of his embrace, and peeked at the attacker.

But there was nobody there.

“Where is that guy? We have to call the police!“ I spat out, still very much shaken up by everything.

“He got away. But don't worry, he won't be following you anymore.“ He said, almost certain of that.

But why?

“Hey, you're hurt. Let's get you some help.“ He said, completely changing the subject. He lowered himself into a squat, lending me his back. “There's a pharmacy close by, let's get your wound dressed first.“

“What? I'm fine. It was just a scratch, and besides my legs are working perfectly. I can just walk there.“ I knew the pharmacy he was talking about, and it really wasn't that far from here.

“Peyton, don't be hard-headed, you can walk back home after you get checked up.“ He insisted.

“Come on-ouch!“ I winced from the stinging sensation I was feeling from the exposed wound.

Carlise made a face, he got up and approached me, “Peyton, I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no other choice.“ before I could ask what he meant, he swooped in and lifted me off the ground, into a bridal carry!

“Oh my gosh! Let me down!“ I kicked the air violently, “This is so embarrassing!“ I looked here and there, hoping no one was around to see me getting coddled.

But he carried me like I was a feather and made his way to the pharmacy.

I must've weighed so much, but he was too much of a gentleman to tell me otherwise. I buried my face in his chest the entire time, my cheeks burned with embarrassment until we reached the pharmacy.

“Okay, you can let me down now, we've gotten here safe and sound.“ I said into his chest, refusing to show my face until my feet were firmly planted to the ground.

He complied and let me down, I sighed in relief and straightened my shirt, glad that I lived through that episode of embarrassment.

“Thank you-” I turned my head to thank him, but he was already gone.

How was that possible? He was just there a minute ago? And I didn't even hear him leave.

My thoughts were interrupted when someone stepped out of the pharmacy, and bumped shoulders with me. I mouthed them a sorry and charged straight into the pharmacy.

“Please Sarah, don't tell my parents about this, they'll freak out.“ I said to the pharmacist, as she bandaged my arm. All my volleyball wounds and concussions were handled by her for as long as I could remember.

And she was the sweetest lady…when she wanted to be.

“Peyton, this isn't something you can hide, and neither can I. You said you were attacked right? You have to take this up with the police.“ She lectured, wearing a worried expression.

Leaning in closer, she whispered loudly, “Was this his doing? That stalker of yours?“

Oh damn!

They had heard about it all the way out here?!

“No! No! No! There is no stalker, I swear it. He's a friend of mine-”

Sarah frowned, “This friend doesn't sound very friendly to me. Following you around, making threats, I think you should avoid him. He's a strange one.“

“Strange? What do you mean?“ I questioned, knowing it was wrong to ask about him behind his back, but I needed to know why everyone was so in edge about him.

Sarah finished dressing my wound and sat down next to me, it was late and I didn't think she'd have anymore customers visiting. The place was practically empty, save for her dog, which was asleep in its bed.

“I worked at the Red lake foundation back then, they were short on hands and my dad needed someone to run errands.“ She started off, mentioning her late father, who passed on the pharmacy to her.

“And well, that boy, Carlise never once took any tests, he had no previous medical records, and never checked into a hospital.“ She said with all seriousness carved on her face. “Screw all that, he's never fallen sick either. He looks gloomy, but I've never seen him sneeze from a cold, and his body temperature always remains the same.“

I felt anxious.

How does a person never fall sick?

I nervously brushed it off with a laugh. “Come on, there's no way that's true. He probably didn't want to bother anybody.“ I tried to make sense out of the conversation, but Sarah wasn't buying it.

“And he had this phobia for blood.“

I immediately looked at my hand. He had carried me here no problem, I had even stained his clothes with my blood.

“That's not abnormal, lots of people are scared of blood.“ I defended him.

But Sarah had this look in her eye, “Most people are scared of seeing blood, but when I watched Carlise, I didn't think he was scared of the blood itself.“ She rambled, trying to make sense of everything.

I reached for her shaky hands, I could tell this was stressing her out. “Then, what do you think he was scared of?“ I looked her in the eye, letting her know I was here.

She looked me back, and said, “I think, he was more scared of himself.“

I blinked twice in disbelief, “Of himself? You think he wants blood?“

“Yes! There was this primal hunger in his eye whenever he saw my dad treating wounds. Even the nurses noticed it and banned him from going near the health center.“ she looked so shaken up I was almost starting to believe that she was onto something.

We talked a bit about other things to get her mind off it, however our conversation was cut short when my mom and dad pulled over by the pharmacy.

I scoffed, “You said you wouldn't tell them.“

She looked at me squarely, “No such promise was made.“

I rolled my eyes, and went off to get an earful from them about me leaving the house and getting hurt.

As expected, I was grounded for a week, my mom was 'kind' enough to not let dad confiscate my phone, said it was important to have it on me all the time.

Dad read me the riot, like he wasn't the one who charged off to pick a fight with a high schooler.

“I don't want you seeing anyone after school until the ban is lifted! And don't worry, tomorrow at your school I'll deal with that stalker once and for all!“ Dad hollered as he descended the stairs.

I groaned into my pillow out of frustration! No one was listening to a word I said, and now Carlise was going to get blamed for it all.

I took out my phone and tried to call him, but it fell out of my hands in front of the bed. I nonchalantly reached down to pick it up, my eyes pointed downward.

As I picked it up and raised my gaze, I saw the same pair of boots!

“Ahh!“ I screamed and crawled backwards, until I was out of bed space and fell on my ass!

“Get away!“ I flashed my phone, my eyes tightly shut in fear. “I said get away from me!“ I cried, pleaded and begged.

But even when I closed my eyes, all I could see was the crimson red eyes and the pointed fangs jarring my head!

I was so shaken up that I didn't realize when my parents came shuffling into my room, and hugged me tightly.

“Peyton! Peyton what's wrong?!“ My mother spat out, hugging me to her chest, trying to get an answer out of me.

When I heard her voice, I opened my eyes and looked at where the attacker was meant to be, but I saw nothing there.

I pointed nervously, “H-He was there just a moment ago.“

“Who was here? Tell me,” my mom's soft voice rang in my head.

“The person who attacked me. Who hurt me, he was in here just now.“ I explained, knowing how crazy I must've sounded.

“Whose in here?! Show yourself now!“ My dad shouted, holding a wrench in one hand and a hammer in the other.

All of a sudden, the lights in my bedroom flickered and a strong cold breeze came in through the window. My dad hurried to the window to check if anyone was there, but he saw nothing. He ran out of the room, down the stairs and out the door to find whoever it was I saw.

“Peyton, you're safe now, there's no reason to be scared. We'll fix this mess, and everything will go back to normal.“ Mom whispered into my ears, as she stroked my hair and hugged me tighter to her chest.