DEVON
My phone rang, probably for the millionth time in the evening. I didn't want to pick Karla's calls especially since I knew that I would feel guilty about not attending her birthday party which was supposed to kickoff in a few hours. Theo was still sick and I couldn't leave him all alone by himself to attend Karla's birthday party. So when my phone rang again, I let out a loud groan. Theo coughed, his eyes fluttering half open."You should pick her call, Dev" he croaked.
"I feel like a horrible friend, you know. I promised her I would go to her birthday party no matter what. But, I can't leave you on your own and I don't want to have to explain anything to her" I said.
"You should go to the party, I'll be fine. It's not like I'm dying" he said.
"How can you tell me to leave you here while you're this sick? Even if I go there, I wouldn't have any fun, I'll keep worrying about you" I said.
He coughed again, clearing his throat.
"It's just a cold. Luke will be here the whole time just in case I need to be given a CPR?" he said, giving me a sheepish smile.
"That's not funny, you know" I said, giving him a pointed look.
"Karla is going to be upset if you don't show up at her birthday party, I'll be fine, love. You you don't have to worry so much"
The door opened and Luke ambled in, shirtless."What's wrong?" He asked.
"Tonight's Karla's birthday party" I said. His eyes widened.
"You should go. I can babysit our baby Teddy" "Shut up, Luke. I am not a baby" Theo hissed at him."Ooh, baby's throwing a tantrum. Looks like he's hungry"
"Theo, are you sure about this?" I asked, brushing his hair out of his eyes. He held my hand and pressed his lips to my knuckles. "I'm sure about this"I sighed, my palm resting on the side of his face."I'll see you later, then. I won't be long. Oh, And Luke?" I said, turning to look at Lucian."Yeah, princess?" He replied."If things get bad, call me"
"Sure thing, ma'am"
I rolled my eyes and pressed a kiss to Theo's forehead. I grabbed my hand bag and left the house.
.....
THEO
I opened my eyes, looking around my room, cautiously. I was sure that something had awakened me. I slowly sat up, running a hand through my hair. "Luke?" I called out, grimacing at how hoarse my voice sounded. I got no response from him. Frowning, I moved the blankets aside and started to move out of my room. That was when I heard it. Someone was tapping on the back door. "Luke? Is that you?" I asked.
The tapping on the door stopped for a second before it continued. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a movement behind me."Woah, woah! Sorry about that. Didn't mean to scare you like that" Luke said and I glared at him. I noticed that the tapping on the door had stopped."Where were you?" I asked. "In the sitting room? Listening to Spotify music?"
Tap. Tap. Tap.
"Wait, do you hear that?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.
"I can't hear anything apart from the frantic beat of your heart. It's probably just your hearing going haywire"
I narrowed my eyes, turning to look at the door. There was no way he wasn't hearing the sounds coming from the door.
"Luke, there's something behind the door"
"Theo, I suggest that you should just go ahead and lie down. I'm sorry I'm saying this but I think your illness is making you delusional"
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A shiver ran down my spine and I slowly opened the door. To my surprise, there was no one there. The tapping had ceased.
"See, there's nothing there" Luke said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Right...." I mumbled, shutting the door behind me.
"I'll be right back" Luke said and left the passage way.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A shiver ran down my spine.Was I in some sort of horror movie? The tapping grew louder and just as I opened the door, I saw a blur of red heading towards me. Pain hit me and I looked down at my torso, the sight of the bleeding claw marks across my stomach making me feel light-headed. I let out a pained gasp and slowly faded into black. I was awoken sometime later by the cold water splashed on my face. Luke was hovering over me, looking very worried. "I leave for a minute, then you pass out. Not cool, man. Not cool" he sighed, helping me sit up.
I opened my mouth to tell him what I'd seen but as soon as I noticed the absence of the claw marks on my stomach, I changed my mind. Perhaps Luke was right. Maybe I was indeed delusional. We both went to the sitting room and as soon as we sat down, there was a knock on the front door."I'll get the door" Luke said and rose to his feet. He opened the door wider and a familiar female walked in with a smile on her face. She looked flustered, her hair a bit messy."Lucy?" I said, hoarsely. "Hello to you too, handsome" she said as Luke shut the door behind her. "Liam said you weren't feeling well. So I thought I could stop by and see how you're doing" she said, smiling coyly. Lucy was Liam's receptionist. She flirted with me at every chance she got and it was annoying. "You didn't have to" I sighed.
"I wanted to. Gosh, you really look like you're going to pass out. Have you seen a doctor yet?" She asked. "Not yet" I said through gritted teeth. She reached out to touch my forehead but I swiftly avoided her touch."Who's this gorgeous creature?" She said, her gaze resting on Luke who was staring at us with amusement in his eyes.
"The name's Lucian" he said and her eyes widened. "I'm Lucinda, I prefer Cynda though" she said, beaming at him. "Nice to meet you, Cynda" he said. "Nice to meet you too. Oh shit, I've got to go. Shea, you should drink lots of water, stay hydrated, I mean it. Get well soon, handsome. I'll see you some other time, Lucian" she said and left. "She's something else" Luke said, shaking his head."Trust me, she's usually worse than this"
A wave of dizziness suddenly hit me. I was forced to lay down on the couch due to the abruptness of the light headedness. But then, the cold vanished altogether but I was burning hot. I was literally on fire. The worst part is, my muscles were screaming. I was in pain. It felt like my bones and muscles were being ripped apart. I vaguely heard Luke's voice. I choked out a cry, my head pounding hard. I let out another cry of agony and sank into unconsciousness.
****
DEVON
To say that I was worried would be an understatement. I wasn't enjoying the party since all I could think about was what Luke had said to me about Theo's transformation. So, as soon as I got a call from Luke, I knew something was wrong. "Dev, you have to come home right away" he said, the urgency in his voice making my heart sink."Okay, I'm on my way" I said and the line went dead. I quickly approached Karla who looked absolutely stunning in her golden dress. "Look, Karla. I need to go. Theo's really ill and he needs me" I said.Her eyes widened. "Oh Crap. You should've told me, Dev. You should get going quickly. Thanks for coming to celebrate with me" she said, embracing me.
"You're welcome, Karla. Goodnight, bestie" I said and she grinned.
"Goodnight, BFF" she said and I hurried outside. I was just about to get into my car when I heard a loud whooshing sound. A thick metallic rope was wrapped around me, tightly. The rope was burning the skin of my arms and it stung really bad. Alarmed, I tried to free myself but it was of no use. I called out for help but whosoever had trapped me was coming closer. All of a sudden, I heard a loud monstrous growl that sent shivers down my spine. My captor released me and fled. When I turned to see what had saved me, I was shocked speechless. It was a wolf but it was as big as a horse. It's fur was crimson with a reddish smoke around it's muscular body. It's eyes were glowing a bright neon green, fangs and claws in full display. It didn't take long to realize who it was.
"Liam" I breathed, tears filling my eyes. The wolf began to shift back to human form. I quietly closed my eyes.
"You can look now" he said and when I opened my eyes, he was fully dressed.
"You followed me here" I said and he shrugged.
"Someone had to keep an eye out for you" he said."Thank you" I whispered, embracing him.
"You're welcome. Come on, let's get you home"
....
"Can't we do anything to make it less painful for him?" I asked as I brushed Theo's damp hair away from his face. "You don't get it. It wasn't supposed to hit him all at once. He's going through the second and third phase at the same time, it's not normal" I whimpered as Theo curled into a ball, unconsciously letting out small groans.
"Let's get him into the bath tub and we're going to have to fill it with ice. He's burning up too badly, he's most likely to set the whole place on fire" Luke said. Minutes later, Theo was lying in the bath tub, stripped of most of his clothes except his boxer briefs. The birthmark on his temple was back and Luke was preparing to put the chimaera tattoo on him. "Will it hurt really bad?" I found myself asking Luke.
"I'm not going to answer that. You should get into the bath tub and hold him. Things might get rough" I swallowed hard and removed my dress. I put on my black night dress and moved my hair to the side.Taking a deep breath, I got into the ice cold water and took Theo in my arms. "I've got you" I whispered, caressing his hair which was growing longer by the minute."I can't do this" he choked out, burying his head in the crook of my neck. "It hurts too much" he croaked, sniffling weakly.
"You can do this. I'm right here with you. You can cry if you want to. You can scream if you want to. But, I'm right here to hold you" I said.
"Okay" he whispered, his timbre so low it was almost child-like. It made my heart ache. Luke brought the hot golden pencil-like stuff to the skin of Theodore's back. He hissed in pain, screwing his eyes shut. When he started to draw the tattoo, Theo's fingers dug into my hips, his hot tears falling onto the skin of my neck. I didn't care if he was hurting me, I just needed him to be okay."I-I can't-" he choked out. "Sh-it's okay. You can do this.... take deep breaths" I said. He cried out in pain, his nose brushing my skin. "Look into my eyes-"He suddenly moved away from Luke, his eyes wide and frantic."Don't... Don't move.... Don't come any closer" he said to Luke who held up his hands in surrender."Theo, please-" I said.
He shook his head firmly.
"No! I can't....It hurts.... I can't ..." He sniffled.
"You're doing this for us. For the people you love. You need to do this to stop the silver beast, remember?" I said. He shook his head, his body trembling hard. "M'scared" he whispered, tears filling his gold-green eyes over again. "What if all this is in vain? What if I'm unable to save everyone? What if I fail?"
My heart was breaking as he said that. My Theo was afraid of failing. Tears filled my eyes and started to roll down my cheeks."There's nothing to be scared of, baby. You trust me, don't you?" I asked. He hesitated before nodding.
"That's good because I trust you too with my life. Take my hand, Theo. I won't let you go, ever" I said.
He stared at my outstretched hand.
"Take my hand, my love" I said. He slowly took my hand, a small crease in his brows. My gaze met Luke's concerned ones and I nodded. He took it as a sign to continue what he was doing. "Open your eyes, baby. I want you to look into my eyes" I said when he squeezed his eyes shut again. He slowly opened his eyes and I gasped when I saw that his eyes were now completely golden. His hair which was hanging over his left shoulder had grown to it's full length. "Just a bit more" Luke whispered and I pressed my lips to Theo's, capturing his soft lips. His eyes slipped close as his fingers found their way into my hair. When we pulled away, Luke gave me a thumbs up. The water had mostly become a bright red color and Theo looked exhausted. I unplugged the drain, holding an exhausted Theo in my arms. I don't know how it was even possible for him to look even more beautiful at that point. "He'll be fine" Luke said. I nodded, watching Theo the way I would admire my treasure because that's what he was. He was my treasure.