Daughter Dearest...Why Is There A Werewolf In Your Bed...?

It took me a few seconds to get over the initial shock of having someone fall into my arms and knock me down with them. So I stayed under an unconscious Miles for about five seconds before I turned him over so that his back was on my chest. I peered over his shoulder at his face and placed my hand on his chest.

I let out a sigh of relief as it rose and fell, meaning he was still breathing. You know, it’s a lot different when it happens outside of the classroom. Your mind gets all muddled from the abruptness of it all and it takes a few minutes to sort everything out. I shook his shoulder gently.

“Miles? Miles, are you okay?”

Step one of dealing with unconscious victims was to check if the surrounding area was safe. Well, since I was in the room when he fell, I can say that it is safe. Step two is to ask if they are okay. Step three was to call an ambulance, but I had something better.

I closed my eyes and kept my hand on his chest, splaying my fingers as I felt the warmth spread through my hand. I could envision the light coming from my hand as I tried to sense for any internal injuries. I felt nothing so it must have been exhaustion. But then, the rise and fall of his chest was getting weaker.

Step four: Check if they are breathing.

I slipped out from under him and laid him on his back. Putting my cheek near his mouth, I felt his warm breaths on my skin as I counted to ten. I looked down his body to see the rise and fall of his chest again. His ribs and skin expanded and became taut during each inhale, but I had to concentrate on keeping him breathing instead of his pecs.

I felt my face heat up. That caught me off guard. There had been many suitors who had come to the castle and this was the first one who made me blush. And he was unconscious. Damn, I still must have been in shock from him fainting on me. Yeah, my mind was still muddled.

Step five: Rescue breaths.

But he was breathing, so thankfully I didn’t need to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Step six: Put the victim in the recovery position.

I put his left arm over his chest and straightened out his right arm so his hand was above his head, pulled his left leg so that the knee was bent, and rolled him onto his right side. I scooted to the other side of him to keep an eye on his face, while I waited for him to regain consciousness.

It only took a few minutes before his eyes scrunched up and he opened them slowly, as if he had a really bad headache. He looked around the room that was identical to my own, expect for the navy blue walls and comforter, and then his grey eyes rested on me, sitting cross-legged in front of him.

“Do you need water?” I asked as I cocked my head to the side. He grumbled something that seemed like an agreement, so I hopped up and walked to the bathroom and got him a glass of water.

I walked back into the room to find him sitting on the bed with his head in his hands. My stomach tightened for a second before I shook myself. He looked up at me and took the glass of water, gulping it down. He didn’t look at me as he set it down on the bedside table. So I stood and waited for him to ask for aspirin or something.

When he didn’t, I made my way for the door, kind of tip-toeing. He seemed lost in thought.

“Where are you going?” I froze. It wasn’t as if he sounded angry or hurt. Just that he was curious. I turned and looked at him. He had stood up and was walking toward me. I kept my eyes on his face as he stared me down. I fought the color that was rising to my cheeks for no apparent reason at all.

“I was going to watch a movie. Why?” I kept my voice innocently surprised. An unidentifiable emotion flickered across his face as he looked toward the floor. “Do you want me to stay here, in case you fall again?”

His eyes shot up to mine and for a split second, I thought he would agree. But a smirk came across his face. “Can’t stay away from me, can you?”

I turned on my heel and walked out of the bedroom, slamming the door on the way out.

Men...

I had been watching Howl’s Moving Castle for about a half an hour before someone entered the room. I didn’t turn around, I ignored it.

The person walked down the small aisle and took the seat to my left. Out of my peripheral vision I saw my mother sitting next to me, her eyes not focused on the movie. So we sat there and watched the movie pan out.

We were at the part where Sophie’s city was being bombed and Howl had come back to see her.

“I always liked the way Miyazaki illustrated his wings. They just seem to fit,” my mother commented. I nodded in agreement. It was my second favorite Miyazaki movie next to Princess Mononoke, that movie displayed a brilliant world of gods and demons.

“You know that Miles is sick right?” my mother added nonchalantly. I did my best to look mildly surprised as I murmured,

“No I didn’t. What happened?” My mother turned to look at me, her face solemn.

“I was hoping you could tell me.”

Damn, I was caught. Usually I didn’t care if the suitors got hurt. I scowled at myself.

“He annoyed me so I left him out in the rain.” Truth was better than a lie in this case. She could have gotten my father to go and search through Miles’ mind to get the information.

“How did that happen?”

I sighed and relayed the journey to Aunt Shylah’s and the events after. Including the part where I left Miles’ out in the rain for an extended period of time.

When I was done my mother simply turned her attention back to the movie. I watched her, gauging her reaction, bracing myself–

She giggled. She turned to me and giggled. I watched in mute horror as my mother lost it. She couldn’t be sane anymore.

“Stay here,” I told my mother carefully, “I’m gonna go get Dad. Everything will be alright...” I stood up and walked past my mother, but she grabbed my wrist.

“I’m sorry. It’s just the way you told it. When you said that you left him out in the rain like he deserved it. It just reminds me of myself a long time ago. When I first met your father.”

I looked at her for a minute before I shuddered. She smiled again.

“Just wait...you’ll like him...” And with that she got up and left me with a feeling along the lines of: What the hell?

I lost interest in the movie after and began to wander down the halls. It was too cliche...way too cliche. Air. That’s what I needed...air.

The gardens didn’t seem to cut it, so I decided to walk into town. I hadn’t been there in the longest time and the lengthy walk would clear my head of all this suitor talk.

I didn’t notice that I didn’t have a guard with me until I was on the cobblestone street and the people were stopping and staring at me. Freezing on the street I looked around me quickly before ducking into a café.

The back corner booth seemed to be the best bet. I sat on the bench and was looking carefully through the front window of the café. This had been a bad idea...a very, poorly thought out idea. I was cursing myself slightly as I watched the people start to walk into the café and peer around curiously. It was only a matter of time before the paparazzi appeared from the cracks.

I couldn’t make a run for it, it would draw too much attention, and Father was restricted to the house until sundown. That complicated things considerably, but at least I had time to think.

At what cost...? I thought sulkily. I sighed and put my chin in my hand and my elbow on the table, willing the sun to move faster.

I saw someone approach me. I held in a sigh, expecting it to be a person asking for an autograph. But something stopped me.

When I was pulled out of my thoughts I noticed that the café was silent. I stayed perfectly still and looked out of my peripheral vision. There were only a few people in the café and it seemed like the sign on the door said “OPEN” side of the sign faced the inside of the café.

My breath hitched as I turned my head and stared into a familiar face. A face I had seen on the news. A face that had stared up at me from so many newspapers that said he was in prison.

The face had crystal-like green eyes and blonde hair.

“James...”