Coalescence Book I - Chapter 30 - Revelations
Chapter 30 - Revelations
-H-
When I woke I was met with eyes staring down at me, a little startling to wake to. Enough that I jumped and adrenaline surged through me, though it was unneeded as I realized it was just my wolf leaning over the back of the couch watching me. My heart took a bit to catch up with what my brain was telling it, slow to calm down.
"Dude.. do you have any idea how creepy that is?"
The big wolf just tilted his head to the side a little, lifting a brow at me. I grumbled and sighed, rubbing at my face and reaching up with my other hand to push his big muzzle away so I could sit up and wipe the sleep from my eyes.
"Watching people sleep is for angsty vampires.. you don't have to stare at me till I wake up. Gonna give me a weak heart if I have to wake up to a jump scare every morning."
He winced some as I pushed his face away and I felt bad, looking at his shoulder and frowning at the blood that had seeped through some and stained it.
"Still hurts to move huh? Sorry, I'll be more careful. We gotta check on that and change it again though. Let me wake up a little first."
He gave a stoic nod, not seeming overly bothered by the pain. I think I was bothered more by seeing him wince. How long did I sleep? I didn't think I got anything done yesterday.. I don't even think I had dinner. I'd fallen asleep on the couch and the rest of the night skipped by. That cat. He'd gotten dinner.. Was he still here? Had my wolf seen him? My heart began racing again, looking at the wolf and trying to figure out if he'd found the cat creature or not. No way he'd be so calm if he had.
So was the cat still here? Should I tell my wolf? Warn him? I mulled over the pros and cons.. I hated to keep something that crucial and important from him.. but I was genuinely worried he'd hurt himself getting worked up over it. Little movements pained him. Going after the cat monster would get him killed. I'd keep quiet for now, think about it. Once he healed up a bit more I would tell him.
He was still staring at me. I apologized for drifting off into my own thoughts and got up to grab some fresh bandages and things to wash his wound. He followed me almost uncomfortably close, if I stopped he'd knock me over. Guess he still was missing that connection we had. The connection I broke. My hand slid down to grasp his, leading him into the kitchen and giving him a little sense of that closeness at least. Maybe I needed it a bit too. It was strange treating a big wolf monster like this, I felt like I was leading a little kid to put a bandaid on their knee after falling off their bike. My wolf didn't seem to mind me pampering him.
When I peeled the old bandage off we both winced.. but once I rinsed the wound I was a little in shock. It had partially healed over. It was definitely smaller than it had been yesterday. I didn't know about the damage done inside, and I am no nurse.. but I did not expect it to look like it did.
"We'll damn... do you heal quicker or something?.." I looked up at him curiously.
He shrugged, a gesture he'd most certainly learned from me. It was exactly the wrong gesture to do with a bullet wound in his shoulder. I patted and comforted him through the pain that he was clearly trying not to show, and tried to finish cleaning him and changing the bandage as quickly as I could.
"There.. fresh and new. If you do heal quicker then maybe this isn't as bad as it looked.. guess we'll have to see."
Do I tell him? No, not yet.. but the cat had given me information. As little as it was. I could talk about that. Maybe twist it in a way that made it seem like I was inferring things about where he came from, or making good guesses. Even if he saw through that, even if he realized I knew too much to be a coincidence, he wouldn't be able to ask me where the information was coming from anyway. He can't talk.
"So.. I've been thinking. Trying to figure out where you came from and what all this is... And if you are real." I mumbled the last bit a little begrudgingly.
"You are real.. right? I'm not going crazy. You are physically here.. you ate my food. You can interact with stuff I am nowhere near.."
He stared at me rather expressionless. I was unsure if he was getting what I was saying. What I was asking. Then he reached a large paw out and knocked a plastic cup off the counter, sending it clattering noisily to the ground.
"Smart ass. Alright..I know it was a dumb question but give me a break, if I was really losing it.. maybe I was making all this stuff happen.." There was a lot more fatigue in my voice than I realized, I tried to perk myself up a little, clapping my hands together.
"Okay.. so then. I was thinking. You came out of me.. does that make me like a uhh... gateway?" I chewed my lip a little. That was not subtle at all. Way to go playing my cards close.
He cocked his head some, staring at me again. He seemed to be thinking, mulling over my question, before giving a short nod. Okay, progress. So maybe he did know some things. He didn't seem to know before, or maybe I just hadn't asked the right questions. Now I had a better guide on what to ask about.
"I'm a gateway to.. where?.. I know you can't really answer.. okay. Okay. Yes or no questions. Do you remember the place where you came from?"
There was some slight hesitation, his head bobbed around a little uncertainly before eventually nodding.
"Were there others there? Could others come through.. like you did?" All subtlety was out the window.
His fur bristled up and stood on end a little. His eyes flicked towards the hallway, towards my room. Shit. He's no fool. He's much more intelligent and sharper than I thought. Those golden eyes narrowed at me and a short huff escaped his muzzle.
He knew.