Cerberi

Heath was easy on the eyes. He had prickly blonde stubble around his mouth that extended along his chiseled jaw toward his ears. His eyebrows were thick over deep, dark blue eyes that reminded me of stormy oceans I had only ever seen in pictures. His hair made me think of a lawn that hadn't been mowed in a few weeks; not quite long and overgrown, but not cropped short, either. The pale locks were tousled about and flattened in the back like he had been sleeping only a short while ago. His features were slightly angular, softened by the roundness of his nose and the way his cheeks filled out when he smiled. He was solid muscle from the four long years he had worked as a Cerberi, and his hand wrapped around my bare knee felt rough and calloused.

When he glanced down at me for the third time, letting out a slight grunt and furrowing his brows, it finally dawned on me that I was gawking at him. I hastily turned my eyes down to my pale legs, trying to ignore the burn in my cheeks and the profound ring in ears. My own flaxen hair was a disheveled mess that clung to my bruised neck from a mixture of sweat and muddy grass. My green eyes were dulled with exhaustion, and I was pretty certain that the blood running down the right side of my face wasn't attractive. My clothes were wet and my long legs were layered with goosebumps from the frigid night air that swallowed us in a cold gust of wind.

"Why were you out here so late?" I inquired softly, lifting my eyes to see where my savior was taking me.

"Couldn't sleep," he grunted.

I suddenly began squirming in his grasp when I noticed where he was headed, ignoring the groaning protests of my aching, tired body. I felt a tight squeeze of panic in my chest and shoved against his shoulders. He was taking me back to my apartment, where the very people who had drug me out here in the first place were, probably lurking around the windows to see if the job was done.

"No, no, I can't go back there," I hissed, "My roommates are the ones who brought me out here. I can't go back in there. They'll probably just kill me in my sleep."

Heath paused to look down at me, and I could clearly see the internal debate he was having with himself written across his face.

"Just take me to the infirmary," I offered, though the prospect of spending a lonely night in a dark building and being entirely vulnerable to another attack didn't sit well with me. Still, it was far better than sleeping down the hall from my traitorous roommates. Heath finally nodded and veered toward the building, which was set back from the rest.

As expected, it was dark except for the solitary glow of a lamp in one corner. It was a moderate sized building, wider than it was long. To the left side, there were two rows of cots, six to a row. Only two were occupied. To the right, there were cabinets and storage containers filled with medical supplies. Typically, people only used the infirmary to restock their own stash of first aid goods. It was most commonly occupied by those injured and on a medical absence so that the mere three doctors we had staffed could keep an eye on them.

Beyond the supply cabinets were three doors. One room housed various medical paraphernalia. Behind the next door was an operating room, though most people who needed surgery never made it back inside the wall. The third room was a morgue.

On the back wall was a door that led into the room the doctors resided in. To the left of the door was a short row of filing cabinets that held all the information, medical and otherwise, to every Cerberi that had ever passed through our camp. Next to the cabinets sat a wide desk with various papers strewn across it, and one of the physicians napped in a chair behind it. On the other side of the desk was an open doorway that led back to a few showers and a bathroom.

Heath carried me deeper into the shadowy expanse and set me down on one of the cots. He glanced over my head at the two other patients sound asleep across the room before his eyes dropped back to my face.

"Why don't you go rinse off while I get a few things for those cuts on your face?"

I gave a small nod and climbed to my feet, walking through the doorway and turning right to head back to the showers. I did my best to rinse off the mud from my skin and hair before I grabbed a towel and dried off. I twisted my blonde locks into a bun on top of my head and then I dabbed at my damp clothes, brushing off the grass that clung to them. Not entirely satisfied, I finally dropped my towel into a hamper and walked back out to the main portion of the building.

Heath was sitting on a cot next to mine, his head hung between his shoulders like he was as exhausted as I was. Various supplies were piled next to him and his hands were clasped together between his knees. I felt guilty.

Tentatively, I touched his shoulder as I sat down in front of him, resting my hand on the edge of my cot.

"You don't have to stay and help me," I said quietly, offering him a small smile. He shook his head and waved up a hand like he was dismissing my words.

"I don't mind," he murmured, reaching back to grab a small cloth. He soaked the corner in hydrogen peroxide and then leaned forward, beckoning for me to do the same. I did, and he surprised me with his light touch. He didn't seem like the kind of person who was gentle; I'd watched him take down mutant wolves. I flinched slightly at the sting of the disinfectant on the corner of my mouth, and he risked a small smile in response.

He moved on to my split eyebrow once he was done with my lip. After a moment, he picked up a small tube and spread something onto his fingertip before smearing a jelly on the gash. I dug by bare heels into the cold floor to keep from twitching my brows at the sharp sensation. Heath quickly covered the wound with an adhesive bandage before leaning back to look at me. The cut on my lip had already crusted over with a scab.

His eyes dropped to my arm and he frowned slightly, "I should probably look at that, too." I nodded, carefully unwinding the gauze from my injured limb, the dried blood attached to it pulling at my skin. When the cloth was removed, it was revealed that the long, branching wound on my arm was healing rapidly. Several of the stitches had popped apart during the attack, but the injury didn't even need them anymore. My skin was already kitting itself back together. It was pink around the edges and still an angry red in some particularly deep or wide areas, but other than that, it was mending itself rapidly.

"I'm a fast healer," I offered, though I was a bit stunned at how quickly the curative process was occurring. When I lifted my eyes, Heath was staring at me, his dark eyes narrowed slightly and focused on my face.

"I know," he murmured, the words sounding slightly distant as he continued to study me.

"What do you mean by that...?" I trailed off, leaning away from him. He seemed to snap out of his trance when I spoke, looking a little unsettled like he had just revealed some strange, pertinent information. I shifted uncomfortably, and he cleared his throat before reaching out to grab my hand. He extended my arm toward himself and dabbed away any dried blood before he wrapped gauze around it again.

He glanced up at me, giving me a warm smile, which eased the stiffness that had settled into my spine. "There. You should be good for the night."

"Thanks for helping me," I said quietly, returning his smile. I watched as he gathered up the extra supplies, lying back on the cot as he returned them to their proper places across the room. To my surprise, instead of heading for the door, he came back over to the trundle next to mine and laid down, pulling the thin blanket up over his legs.

"You can go back to your room," I whispered over to him, turning my head his way.

"Knowing you, I'd have to save your ass before the sun was up if I left you unattended, Cassie," he retorted, a small smirk tugging up the corners of his mouth. I grinned at his response and turned my eyes back to the ceiling, ignoring the dull throb of my battered ribs.

I drifted off to the realization that he had called me by my actual name.



I cracked my eyes open to someone gently rousing me, a warm hand on my arm. It was still dark but I had the strong sense that it was nearly sunrise. My tired eyes landed on Heath, who was standing over me, hunched at the waist so he could reach my shoulder. He smiled down at me when I looked up at him and I knew that my confusion was scrawled across my face.

"You should go take a shower and get some clean clothes before they call us out."

I sat up, wincing at the ache in my abdomen. "No alarms last night?" I asked sleepily.

Heath shook his head, offering me a hand to help me stand. I took it, dragging in a breath through my teeth at the cold sting of the floor against my warm bare feet. I pulled my arms behind me, stretching out my sore muscles as we headed for the door.

Heath gently grabbed my shoulder, stopping me before I could walk outside. "It's almost sunrise, so I don't think your roommates will try anything, but come get me if they do. I'm in building one, second apartment."

I nodded, giving him a sheepish smile, "Thanks. I'm awake now, though, so I don't think they'll be as willing to try anything." Heath nodded before pushing the door open and holding it for me while I stepped out into the crisp air. It was colder than it had been last night, affirming that it was almost dawn.

We parted ways as we reached our separate buildings, and I filled my lungs with a courageous breath before I headed inside. My heart began to pound against my sore ribs as I walked down the main hall and came to a stop in front of my apartment door. My hand shook as I wrapped my fingers firmly around the handle, jerking it around and pushing open the door. I almost expected for Anne and Danielle to be waiting for me, hovering in the shadows like a pair of feral animals.

I was faced with a dark, silent hallway. Letting out a long breath that I hadn't realized I had been holding, I slunk silently across the cold floor and slipped into my room. I felt the fingers of panic squeeze around my heart, a feeling that was becoming far too familiar, as I saw the rumpled sheets on my bed strewn across the floor. I hastily grabbed a change of clothes and headed across the hallway to the bathroom.

The first thing I did was snap the lock shut on the door.

After scrubbing the layer of grime off that I had been unable to earlier, I tugged on a pair of slim black cargo pants and a thick green sweater before I laced up my boots. I pulled a brush through my hair and twisted it up into a French braid, the plait brushing between my shoulder blades.

I stared at the fading mark around my neck and the fresh scabs surrounded by speckled bruises on my face. The corner of my mouth was distended and bright red. My brow was swollen as well, and the dark bruise around it cascaded down over my right eye. I had hesitated when I put on my sweater, staring at the patchy dark spots that covered my ribs.

The panic that had bubbled in my stomach simmered down to anger.

I grit my teeth as I opened the bathroom door, stopping short as I faced Anne. Her auburn hair fell to frame her face, hanging loose around her shoulders. She stared back at me with a mixture of shock and something else that I couldn't quite discern. Her brown eyes were wide, and her thin lips fell agape.

My fingers twitched into a fist, curling into my palm as my nails dug crescents into the soft flesh.

The woman suddenly tossed her arms around me and yanked me into a crushing hug that aggravated my bruised torso.

My fist tightened painfully.

I shoved her away and silently stepped around her, heading into my room. I grabbed my door and made a move to slam it in her face just as she raised a hand to stop it.

"Cas, wait!" she pleaded.

"It's Cassie, you bitch," I spat, the acidity in my voice causing her to physically flinch.

"Okay, I deserve that," she muttered and I rolled my eyes, moving to shut the door once more. She stopped me, her face desperate, "Just let me explain."

"Oh, do explain why you two drug me out in the middle of the night to have me fucking gutted like a pig."

"I had to, Cassie. Okay? I had to. I didn't want to, but it was you or me. I had to save myself."

I narrowed my green eyes to deadly slits, taking in restrained breaths to keep myself from slugging the shorter woman. I wouldn't sink to their level.

"What the hell are you talking about?" I snapped.

Anne shook her head, "Just know that I'm sorry. I didn't want to. I never wanted you to get hurt. I'm just glad that you're alive."

With a furious huff, I slammed the door, nearly crushing her fingers in the process, but she jerked her hand back before that could happen. I spun toward my bed and hastily pulled the blankets back up to cover it, patting everything out evenly before I sat down on the edge of the mattress.

Did they really try to have me killed because of the new law passed by The Council? What the hell was going on around here? Heath seemed to know far more about the ins and outs of the Cerberi camp than I did and I wanted answers.

I stood up quickly and paced out into the hall, blatantly ignoring Danielle as she gawked at me from her bedroom doorway. My feet carried me out of my building and into Heath's before I even registered the sliver of sun rising above the horizon. I rapped my fist on his apartment door, hoping that he answered and not one of his roommates.

The wood was pulled open from under my knuckles, revealing Heath halfway through pulling on a gray long-sleeved shirt. Upon seeing me, he took a partial step into the hallway and glanced in both directions, looking to see if anyone was after me. The tenseness his shoulders had locked up with melted away and he cast me an easy smile. He didn't at all remind me of the rough man I had first met a few days ago. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his gray cargo pants and moved so that he was standing perpendicular to the doorway, allowing me in.

I moved past him and glanced down the hallway, afraid that I had awakened one of his roommates. He seemed to sense my unspoken question as he shut the door.

"My only other roommate is James and he sleeps like the dead," he chuckled, whispering despite his words. He cleared his throat, becoming far more serious, "Are you okay? Did something happen?"

I turned to face him, shaking my head, "I'm fine. Nothing happened. Anne tried to apologize." I looked up at him then, my brows knitted over my eyes, "She said that she had to protect herself, that it was her or me." I shook my head, still unable to understand her words. "Do you know what she means?"

Heath cleared his throat, and rocked back on his heels slightly, "They tried to kill you because The Council ordered them to," he said quietly.

I frowned, knowing the surprise I felt was etched across my face as I ran my tongue over the edge of my swollen lip thoughtfully. "And why the hell would they do that?" was the only question I could come up with.

Heath sighed, "They're trying to make us out to be reckless and dangerous."

Something about the way he spoke seemed evasive, like he was only telling me part of the truth.

"Why--"

I was cut off by the low bellow of the alarm sounding, alerting us to a threat approaching outside our walls. Heath visibly relaxed as he lifted his head toward the sound, as though facing the mutants beyond our gates was less stressful than speaking about why I had nearly been killed.

He tipped his head back toward the door, and I followed him wordlessly out into the hallway.

I would get my answers soon.