Status: Read, Stay with me... Please!
Look at Me
15.
Paige hadn’t even noticed the congealed liquid on the dog’s back until her friend spoke. Looking at it she tried to figure out what it was. It was dark, almost black…
Motor oil, maybe? She tried the sniff test and it smelled rusty…like old nails and something oddly familiar. Something human?
Frowning, Paige finally said, “I probably don’t even want to know. So I’m giving this thing a bath. Mom would want me to anyway.”
“But what if it’s like…ya know …like…,”Terry trailed off awkwardly as she bit at her frayed nails.
“It’s not shit… if that what you’re trying to say!” Paige laughed as she led the shepherd gently toward the first floor bathroom. It was still limping a little.
***
Warm water rushed around Hayden’s toes as he watched Paige grab a towel and the shampoo. She rushed back to the side of the tub like she was afraid he’d jump out. He probably should.
The sane rational part of his brain was screaming, What The Fuck are you doing? Emotions make you shift. Letting Paige Brinkley give you a bath is bound to stir up a few of those genius!
And it wouldn’t necessarily be the more carnal emotions either. Having her wash the blood off him would be more soothing then anything else. It would be like she was wiping away the last few hours of his miserable life. It would be like she was undoing the things he couldn’t remember and really making it all just a dream.
But whatever emotions he felt would make it even more difficult to retain his shape. To stay like he was, Hayden really needed to either be in a neutral emotional status or be completely numb…
But when he looked at Paige, it was impossible to feel numb. It was impossible to ignore the emotions coursing through him as she dumped warm water over his back. It was also impossible to ignore the way the water went crimson.
***
BLOOD. Oh Jesus, it was blood. Paige’s eyes immediately started to scan for an open wound. When she didn’t see one, she lifted the dog’s head in her hand and said, “What’s wrong pup? How’d this happen?”
Shock jolted through her like a lightning bolt as she noted the color of the eyes looking back. Bright green with small gold flecks.
They were beautiful eyes, familiar eyes, Hayden’s eyes…
WEREWOLF.
When the word appeared in Paige’s mind, her body went completely stiff with fear or shock. Maybe both. Fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she stared into eyes that held more intelligence then any animal she’d ever seen. Then Paige remembered the scratches on Hayden’s cheek and she remembered the way he’d limped…
And what about when he ran off? Was he changing? Did he not want her to see?
But didn’t it have to be a full moon when a werewolf changed? That was always how it worked in the horror movies Paige had seen. Maybe it worked differently though. And he didn’t really look like a werewolf. He looked like a freaking dog.
“Oh God,” she whispered helplessly as she looked into the crimson water and then back into his eyes. “Hayden is that you?”
After she said it Paige couldn’t believe she had. Bad takeout pizza combined with a completely strange boy, and reading the book Twilight one too many times was making her nuts. Of course it wasn’t Hayden! It was just a dog, just a dog with the same disturbing eyes as him. Paige cradled her head in her palms and wondered if she was really so desperate to have him with her that she would resort to make believe…Probably.
***
Why had she asked that? Why the fuck had Paige asked him that!
Hayden tried to back up, but the tub wouldn’t let him. So he stared at Paige as every muscle in him went painfully tense. He watched the play of emotions on her face. The look of understanding, confusion, and finally disbelief…
Then her expression crumbled. Her face went in her hands and her body hunched in on itself where she crouched on the bathroom floor.
Did Paige know already? Was she having some kind of episode? Hayden felt his shape tremble as panic spread through him like a disease. He felt the edges of himself blur. He felt…
“Paige! Are you in there,” a female voice shouted as that person knocked loudly on the door.
Motor oil, maybe? She tried the sniff test and it smelled rusty…like old nails and something oddly familiar. Something human?
Frowning, Paige finally said, “I probably don’t even want to know. So I’m giving this thing a bath. Mom would want me to anyway.”
“But what if it’s like…ya know …like…,”Terry trailed off awkwardly as she bit at her frayed nails.
“It’s not shit… if that what you’re trying to say!” Paige laughed as she led the shepherd gently toward the first floor bathroom. It was still limping a little.
***
Warm water rushed around Hayden’s toes as he watched Paige grab a towel and the shampoo. She rushed back to the side of the tub like she was afraid he’d jump out. He probably should.
The sane rational part of his brain was screaming, What The Fuck are you doing? Emotions make you shift. Letting Paige Brinkley give you a bath is bound to stir up a few of those genius!
And it wouldn’t necessarily be the more carnal emotions either. Having her wash the blood off him would be more soothing then anything else. It would be like she was wiping away the last few hours of his miserable life. It would be like she was undoing the things he couldn’t remember and really making it all just a dream.
But whatever emotions he felt would make it even more difficult to retain his shape. To stay like he was, Hayden really needed to either be in a neutral emotional status or be completely numb…
But when he looked at Paige, it was impossible to feel numb. It was impossible to ignore the emotions coursing through him as she dumped warm water over his back. It was also impossible to ignore the way the water went crimson.
***
BLOOD. Oh Jesus, it was blood. Paige’s eyes immediately started to scan for an open wound. When she didn’t see one, she lifted the dog’s head in her hand and said, “What’s wrong pup? How’d this happen?”
Shock jolted through her like a lightning bolt as she noted the color of the eyes looking back. Bright green with small gold flecks.
They were beautiful eyes, familiar eyes, Hayden’s eyes…
WEREWOLF.
When the word appeared in Paige’s mind, her body went completely stiff with fear or shock. Maybe both. Fine hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she stared into eyes that held more intelligence then any animal she’d ever seen. Then Paige remembered the scratches on Hayden’s cheek and she remembered the way he’d limped…
And what about when he ran off? Was he changing? Did he not want her to see?
But didn’t it have to be a full moon when a werewolf changed? That was always how it worked in the horror movies Paige had seen. Maybe it worked differently though. And he didn’t really look like a werewolf. He looked like a freaking dog.
“Oh God,” she whispered helplessly as she looked into the crimson water and then back into his eyes. “Hayden is that you?”
After she said it Paige couldn’t believe she had. Bad takeout pizza combined with a completely strange boy, and reading the book Twilight one too many times was making her nuts. Of course it wasn’t Hayden! It was just a dog, just a dog with the same disturbing eyes as him. Paige cradled her head in her palms and wondered if she was really so desperate to have him with her that she would resort to make believe…Probably.
***
Why had she asked that? Why the fuck had Paige asked him that!
Hayden tried to back up, but the tub wouldn’t let him. So he stared at Paige as every muscle in him went painfully tense. He watched the play of emotions on her face. The look of understanding, confusion, and finally disbelief…
Then her expression crumbled. Her face went in her hands and her body hunched in on itself where she crouched on the bathroom floor.
Did Paige know already? Was she having some kind of episode? Hayden felt his shape tremble as panic spread through him like a disease. He felt the edges of himself blur. He felt…
“Paige! Are you in there,” a female voice shouted as that person knocked loudly on the door.