Chapter Five_ I knew he was right

Elliot.

The fire in the living room crackled softly as I knelt beside the unconscious man, cleaning the gashes on his chest with as much care as I could muster.

My mind still raced as I tried to piece together what had happened in the woods.

The creature behind us, the way it seemed to disappear once I was out of the woods.

I glanced up at his face, pale and slick with sweat, as I worked on bandaging a particularly nasty cut on his side. Only something as horrible as what was in those woods could have done something like this.

As I finished wrapping the last bandage, his body stirred. His eyes fluttered open, bleary, and unfocused.

“Hey, take it easy,” I murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him from moving too quickly. “You’re safe. Just… try to relax.”

His gaze darted around the room, panic flashing in his eyes before they landed on me. He flinched, trying to sit up, but I gently pushed him back down.

“Where am I?” he asked, his voice rough.

“My place,” I replied. “I found you in the woods. You were attacked. Do you remember what happened?”

Perhaps it was too soon to ask...

His jaw clenched as he looked away, refusing to meet my eyes.

"I need to leave." He muttered, his voice tight with pain. He tried to push himself off the couch, but his body betrayed him, weak and shaking.

“Whoa, whoa,” I said, holding him down. “You’re not going anywhere in this condition. You’re bleeding all over the place.”

"I'm fine." He snapped, more forcefully than I expected. His hand moved to his side as if trying to hide the wound there.

I narrowed my eyes. “You don’t look fine.”

"I don't need your help." He insisted, becoming stupidly defensive. His eyes were wild, desperate.

"Look, I'm not asking for thanks, alright?" I started against my better judgement. "But you were half dead when I found you, and I won't let you waste my efforts. What did this to you?"

He didn't answer. Asshole.

Instead, his eyes flickered toward the window, avoiding my gaze again. I followed his glance, half expecting to see something watching us in the darkness outside, but the night was quiet.

"You need to speak." I pressed. "You were in the middle of nowhere, bleeding out from wounds that don't look like anything a normal animal could've caused. What attacked you?"

"I don't know," he muttered, but there was hesitation in his voice. "Just.... leave it alone."

"Leave it alone?" I scoffed, leaning back against the wall. "You were almost ripped to shreds. I'm trying to help you here, so I deserve some kind of explanation."

He shifted uncomfortably, grimacing as his hands brushed against the bandages. "I didn't ask for your help."

“Well, you sure as hell needed it.”

His eyes shot to mine, a flash of anger there. "I told you. I don't need your help."

I clenched my jaw, trying to keep my cool. "I dragged your sorry ass through the woods. You were bleeding everywhere, barely conscious. And you expect me to believe you're fine?"

He didn't respond.

Instead, his breathing came in ragged, shallow gasps as he struggled against the pain. Despite his attempts to seem unbothered, his body betrayed him as his face screamed in agony.

"You're lying," I continued, watching him carefully. "You know what did this. Why won't you tell me?"

He pressed his lips into a thin line, his fingers curling into the fabric of the blanket covering him. "It's not your business."

“It became my business the moment I saved your life.”

He turned his head away again, staring at the fire as if it held the answers. Silence stretched between us, thick and uncomfortable. I could feel the tension radiating off him, the walls he was putting up to keep me out.

"I saw something in the woods," I said quietly, breaking the silence. "Some sort of creature. It's still out there, isn't it?"

His jaw clenched again, but he didn’t speak.

“Is it coming back?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “Am I in danger here?”

For a moment, I thought he wouldn’t answer. But then, finally, he turned to look at me. His eyes were dark, guarded. “You don’t want to get involved.”

I let out a frustrated breath.

“Too late for that. I’m already involved. What was it? A wolf? A bear? Something else?”

He didn't mean to, but I saw the way he flinched at the word 'wolf', and my suspicions flared. I leaned in closer, narrowing my eyes. "A wolf. It was a wolf, wasn't it?"

"No," he said quickly, too quickly. "It wasn't."

I raised an eyebrow. “You’re a terrible liar.”

His lips parted as if he wanted to argue, but no words came out. Instead, he just stared at me, his expression hardening into something unreadable.

“Fine,” I said, throwing my hands up in frustration. “Don’t tell me. But whatever it was, it almost killed you.”

He winced, his body trembling with effort as he tried to sit up again. “I need to leave. I can’t stay here.”

“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on,” I said firmly. “You’ve already said too much for me to just let this go.”

His eyes flickered with something... fear, maybe? But he quickly masked it. “You have no idea what you’re getting into.”

I crossed my arms, leaning back slightly. “Try me.”

For a long moment, he just stared at me, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His hand rested on the bandage covering his chest, fingers twitching slightly.

“You don’t want to know,” he finally muttered, his voice low and strained. “You think you do, but you don’t.”

“I think I’ve earned the right to know.”

He shook his head, wincing as the movement caused him pain. “It’s not safe. For you. For anyone.”

“Safe from what?”

His lips pressed together in a thin line, his eyes dark with something I couldn’t quite place. “If I tell you, you’ll wish you’d never asked.”

I stared at him, waiting for him to continue, but he didn’t.

What could be so dangerous that he’d rather die than talk about it.

Before I could ask another question, I noticed something strange. His hand, the one resting on his chest, wasn’t trembling as much as before. In fact, the colour in his face seemed to be returning, albeit slowly.

“What the hell…” I muttered, leaning closer to inspect the wound I’d just cleaned and bandaged.

The deep gashes across his chest were still there, but something was off. They didn’t look as raw as they had before. The skin around the cuts looked… different.

As if it was already healing.

“Impossible.” I whispered under my breath.

His eyes snapped to mine, and for the first time, I saw panic flash across his face. “What are you doing?”

“You’re healing,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “These wounds… they’re closing up. How is that possible?”

He pulled the blanket tighter around himself, trying to hide his injuries from my view. “Stop.”

“Stop what? You’re...”

“I said stop!” His voice was sharp, cutting through me like a whip.

I starred at him in shock. His eyes were wild, wild with fear, and for the first time, I realized just how terrified he was.

Of something I couldn't see.

“What are you?” I asked, my voice barely audible.

His chest rose and fell in rapid, shallow breaths. “It doesn’t matter. You need to stay out of this.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but the words died in my throat. The fire crackled softly in the background, the only sound in the otherwise tense room.

“I can’t just....”

“I’m warning you,” he cut me off, his voice low and dangerous. “Don’t dig any deeper. For your own sake.”

I stared at him, heart pounding in my chest. Whatever he was hiding, it was big. And dangerous. But I couldn’t walk away now. Not after everything I’d seen.

“Whatever this is,” I said quietly, “I’m already involved.”

“Then you’ve made a mistake,” he said softly, his voice laced with warning.

I knew he was right.