• CHAPTER 30 - TAKEUCHI'S MISTAKE

    No matter who you are or how trustful you truly are, there's always something that will slip out of your mouth unintentionally, and then it could be all over. Putting yourself and the ones you love at risk.

    "Takeuchi, what's wrong?" I asked, alarmed. He was back early and it must have been something major for him to leave his pregnant girlfriend so quickly.

    Takeuchi leaned against the wall in silence for a moment to slow down his panting and gather his thoughts. The silence was irritating me and I was on the verge of screaming. I had never seen Takeuchi panicked before, so something must really be wrong.

    "I'm sorry. I told them." he whispered.

    "Told who what?" my voice rose a couple of octatives.

    "My other friends. My Werewolf friends. I told them about your blood and now they--"

    Takeuchi was silenced quickly after Kai pinned him against the wall, but not nearly as much force as he did with Kira. Kai glared at Takeuchi, his eyes almost as purple.

    "You told them?" Kai hissed.

    "I thought they already knew!" Takeuchi's eyes widened.

    "Apparently not! What did they say?" Kai demanded.

    "They only looked at each other and smirked and I heard what was on their minds right before they left. They're going to kill her." Takeuchi panicked.

    My heart skipped a beat but I was already frozen from when Kai held Takeuchi against the wall. Kai didn't growl, but he kept glaring at Takeuchi. I knew Kai would never hurt Takeuchi intentionally, Takeuchi's only a kid.

    "They're coming for her, tonight. During the full moon." Takeuchi still wasn't completely calmed down, "I think they're on their way now."

    Kai released his grip on Takeuchi's shirt and his feel dropped about a foot onto the ground and it made me finally realize how high Kai was really holding him up. Kai glided towards me and tried to pick me up. I pushed him away gently and wrapped my arms around my stomach.

    "I might get sick again," I warned.

    "It's either you get sick or you nearly get eaten alive again by a Werewolf, it's your choice," Kai hissed.

    The tone of his voice really gave me no choice but to let him lift me up, which he did swiftly. I didn't feel so sick, but I was worried, worried about that same night a month ago where I was lying with broken bones, looking into Kai's murderous eyes. Would the same thing happen tonight? I looked back at Takeuchi and he looked up at me with apologies written all over his face and Matsuda stood in front of him to talk as Kai and I headed up the stairs. Kai set me down on the bed gently but he slammed the door hard and turned towards me with maroon eyes.

    "Kai?" I was feeling woozy again.

    "We're not going through this again," he growled, "That stupid mutt can't keep his mouth shut."

    I threw the blankets off of me and ran myself into Kai, only hurting myself and shaking up my stomach, "Shut up, Kai! He made a mistake!"

    Kai ignored me and started hunting through the dresser and threw back some of my clothes, "Hurry up and get dressed," he growled.

    I quickly dressed myself, not wanting to protest against Kai's anger. I didn't want to leave the house, I didn't want to fight the Werewolves again, especially if they were Takeuchi's friends. Kai glided towards me and started adjusting my clothes.

    "We're going to be leaving now. Get your shoes on."

    I paused after slipping on my socks and shoes, "Now? It's not even nighttime yet."

    "But it's sunset," Kai added, "Takeuchi just left because he's on the verge of transforming right now. The other Werewolves will be here soon."

    No, Takeuchi can't transform now. I wanted to talk to him, forgive him for his mistake. I was angry at Kai for thinking Takeuchi did this on purpose; it's not like he knew his friends would want to kill me. He probably thought they were like him and didn't care about immortality.

    "Kai, please forgive Takeuchi. He didn't know any better." I pleaded, feeling queezy a little bit, "He's just a kid."

    Kai ignored me and grabbed my hand and we headed down the stairs, only to be stopped by Matsuda when we reached the bottom, "Do you want to meet up with Akatsuki again?"

    I looked up at Kai and when I did, he shook his head, "No. We can't have Arisa stressing out about more people getting hurt. She's sick enough as it is. She's not even supposed to be walking right now."

    I was going to protest, seeing as Akatsuki was a Necromantic Hunter and would be helpful against the Werewolves again, but Kai was right. I would stress out too much and it would only make my condition worse. But who else would be with us besides Takeuchi, Kai and I?

    "We'll be fine," Kai answered my thoughts.

    And for the first time, I doubted that promise. Somebody always ended up getting hurt or nearly killed. Matsuda folded his arms across his chest and sighed and frowned.

    "Takeuchi headed out to a forest. It's not incredibly far away, but if you leave now, you might be able to catch him."

    It all seemed too sudden. Just about twenty minutes ago, I was eating my food and enjoying an immature conversation with Kai, and now my life has been put in danger...again. It felt too soon to leave right after Takeuchi told us about what the other Werewolves were planning to do, but I only assumed they left either right before or right after Takeuchi did.

    "I--" I started, but was soon interrupted by Kai standing up perfectly straight and it seemed he was sniffing the air.

    "s**t," Kai swore under his breath.

    "They're here," Matsuda confirmed as quiet as Kai did. Matsuda turned towards us, "Get leaving now." he declared.

    Without hesitation or protest, Kai picked me up into his arms and headed out the door without another word to Matsuda, only making me worry more. It had gotten darker than I had thought when Takeuchi came. It was almost twilight already.

    "Close your eyes," Kai emphasized.

    I shut my eyes after shivering from the cold and shivered more after Kai took off in a sprint. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I heard growling and barking following close behind us. The wolves really were right at the house. They managed to find where I was. It almost sounded as though the Werewolves would be able to bite off Kai's ankles at any second, but the barking soon faded and the only thing I could hear was Kai's feet pushing against the ground and the sound of the icy wind blowing into my ears.

    "Where did they go?" I asked Kai, not opening my eyes or looking up at him.

    "I don't know. They strayed away."

    "What about Takeuchi?" I asked again, even more worried.

    "...I don't know that either," Kai answered honestly.

    I had that feeling, that feeling of total consumption of doubt in my head that this wouldn't turn out well at all. Kai's reassurances only made me even more worried and doubtful, knowing he usually only says that so I wouldn't freak out so much, but I knew better when Werewolves were surrounding us. And speaking of Werewolves, something clouted into Kai from the back and sent us crashing into the ground. Since we were traveling at such a great speed, I tumbled far away from Kai, maybe about fifty feet or so, my body being thrown like a rag doll. As soon as I was albe to halfway straighten out my vision, I leaned over into a bush and vomited several times.

    I looked back and my eyes were trying to readjust, but I didn't need readjusting to notice the two huge Werewolves that surrounded Kai. The area where Kai landed was now a small crater since his figure was hard as stone. Before I found my voice to call out Kai's name, Takeuchi, I assumed, appeared next to me as the giant wolf I first saw last month. Without any notifications or hints, I climbed onto his back with a little help from him and gripped onto his mane. I looked over at Kai again and took a deep breath.

    "Kai!" I called out.

    "Takeuchi, get Arisa away!" Kai declared without looking over at us, his attention still on the two Werewolves standing in front of him.

    "No!" I cried out, hopping off of Takeuchi, "I'm not leaving without you!"

    "Get going, Arisa!"

    With no warning, one of the Werewolves pounced at me and Takeuchi blocked his way in the nick of time. The black-haired Werewolf growled and snapped his canines at me, making me inch my way back in fear. Takeuchi turned aggressive and bit into the Werewolf's neck, spilling blood on the ground and I turned around right away and ran, just like Kai wanted.

    ~*~*~*~*~*~

    I was alone again. Running away from wolves to try to lengthen my life again. This was too much of a déjà vu. I could hear so much barking and growling and shouting going on behind me as I distanced myself from the chaos. I stopped after a couple minutes of nonstop running to catch my breath, and I heard an ear-aching shreik from one of the Werewolves and my heart stopped for a moment. I heard more profound shouting from Kai, amazed that he could shout so loud.

    I refused to turn around, afraid I would see either Kai or Takeuchi seriously injured and I was hoping deeply it was one of the enemy Werewolves crying out in pain before death. I would never forgive myself if it were any of us. Everything that's happening now is my fault.

    "Kai?" I breathed shakily.

    I walked while supporting myself on tree trunks and still catching my breath. I didn't know how far I walked in my daze, but I couldn't hear anymore shouting or howling anymore. I sat down on a snowy rock when I knew it was save and placed my head in between my knees and breathed deeply; in through my nose and out through my mouth. I tried to concentrate on relaxing, on making my nausea go away before the Werewolves would find me.

    Arisa? I snapped my head up at the familiar voice of...Matsuda?

    Arisa, is everything all right?     Matsuda asked in my head.

    I took a deep breath and answered in my head, I don't know, honestly. I ran off from Kai and Takeuchi. I heard a cry from one of the Werewolves that sounded like death, but I didn't know who it was.

    I'm coming to find you and take you away, Matsuda declared seriously.

    I'm fine. I'm away from all the fighting, I can't even hear it anymore. I panicked, afraid to leave Kai and Takeuchi, Just go and help the others, please.

    I know it sounds wrong, but you're more important right now. It's our duty to protect you at all costs, even the cost of our lives.

    Before I could say anything again, Matsuda interrupted, I'm on my way.

    Help Kai and Takeuchi!!     I shouted at him in my head, but he didn't answer.

    "Dammit!" I panicked.

    From a distance, I heard ferns rustling and deep panting but it faded quickly. I shook my head, thinking it was all in my imagination. I stood up once again and weakly continued my way deeper into the forest, still sweating even though it was below thrity degrees. I was getting dehydrated and was on the verge of eating snow as my last resort for water. My nature instincts got the best of me and I lowered myself onto my knees and one thing confused me in the next sliver of a second. As soon as I had kneeled down, the ground in front of me drowned in blood. The next thought running through my head said that I didn't want to taste that snow, and that's when I felt the pain.

    I barely turned my head to my right and there was the big black-haired Werewolf that Takeuchi was fighting earlier, his cuspidate fangs buried deep in my right shoulder and part of my chest. The wolf growled a deep-throated growl and his jowls twitched and he glared at me with red eyes that were nearly black. It took me a second to notice his fangs punctured my skin and that's when I shouted out in pain and tried to thrash myself free. The pain was horrible, worse than when that wolf boy from last time snapped my ribs and my arm.

    "No!" I kept thrashing, unaware of the threat that this wolf could easily rip my arm or my head off.

    I looked down at the snow and I was sitting in an ocean of blood and snow, crimson-stained diamond flakes. I heard my blood drip onto the snow and it was melting the snow slowly with every drop. I could even feel large streaks of blood trickling down my cheek and my neck; it had gotten all over, even on the tree next to me and the Werewolf. That was more than enough blood to have given immortality, but the Werewolf didn't drink it so he was going to start from scratch and the swigs began slowly.

    "Kai! Takeu--!" I was stopped short by a new form of pain that began, a pain I hadn't felt before.

    The Werewolf clouted his paw onto my back, knocking me stomach-first onto the ground and his teeth drug out of my skin. He stood above me with his enlarged right paw pressed against my back but it was nothing compared to what I hadn't expected. The wound in my shoulder throbbed and more blood oozed out with every beat of my racing heart.

    And that's when the burning began.