I look around my room to see my clean bath towel and quickly grab it before returning to his side to apply pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding and another curse word comes out of his mouth. "Cole, we should call an ambulance, you're bleeding too much," I said, but he flicked his hand at my wrist while shaking his head frantically. "No! Don't call them," he whined. "I can't - I can't go to the hospital." His eyes met mine, a flicker of hazel flashing across them, and I sighed as my mind began to connect the dots as to why. "All right..." I said, and he let out a sigh of relief before pulling his hand back. "Stay here and try not to make too much noise or my parents will wake up." He nodded and I stood up. I don't know why I felt the need to protect him, but right now he looked so helpless, so desperate, that if the only thing I could do was tend to his wounds, I would. I quietly opened the door, poked my head into the hallway before stepping out, then closed it behind me. I

I quickly ran across the hall to the bathroom, opened the sink, and grabbed a pair of gloves along with a bucket, sponge, and disinfecting wipes. When I returned with everything in hand, Cole was on the phone. "Yeah, I'm sorry... No, I'm fine. I'm sorry for worrying you..." I made sure to lock the door again and put all the cleaning supplies on the floor. "I'll be home soon, I promise... Okay, I love you." He hung up and put the phone down, watching me as I tied up my hair. "That's my mom." "Ahh," I nodded. "Is she worried?" "Yes. She's afraid I won't come home." "Well, that's understandable," I said as I knelt down and started piling the blood-stained towels next to his torn clothes. Then I reached over and grabbed his jacket, and when I lifted it, I saw there was a hole in the back, two large cuts down the middle. But he had no injuries on his back. I took the cloth and ran my fingers along the holes. "Are you trying to find out?" His voice sounded low and I jumped slightly, pr

I put a large pot of water on the stove and turned it on. Then I turned to the cupboard and waited for the water to boil. As I started chopping vegetables, I heard footsteps coming from the stairs, and when I raised my head, I saw Cole walking toward me with sure steps, his face full of excitement."Hey, you can't move yet!" I yelled as I ran towards him, but he stopped me with a confident smile."Don't worry, I'm fine," he said, but I was still worried."Are you sure?""Yes, I heal faster than humans." He walked over to the table, and I went back to the cutting board as I repeated his words over and over in my head. He said human, which meant he didn't consider himself human, which might have dispelled the idea that he was a mix of human and something else, or something. But what?"Don't think too hard, or your brain will explode," he said, and I snapped out of my sea of thoughts with a laugh, then continued cutting. Wow, I guess he can read minds too, it seems."Can I help you?""No

Rayline I walked up the stairs to the room. I could hear the cars pulling out of the driveway, which meant that Cole and I were going to have the whole house to ourselves for a couple of hours. I felt a mixture of excitement and anxiety about this. I knocked on Cole's bedroom door, but when I called his name, I didn't hear an answer. I turned the doorknob and found it unlocked. I walked in and saw that my balcony door was open. I could see him leaning against the railing. Maybe he opened it just in case he didn't hear me from outside. Fortunately, there was no sign of my parents coming upstairs. I put the plate of food on my desk and went to the balcony. It wasn't until I stepped out that I noticed he was shirtless, a large incision scar was visible on his side, and the bandage that had previously been wrapped around him had now fallen off his lower body. "Hey," I called as I walked over, and he looked over his shoulder. "Oh, hey," he said, looking back at the forest. "What are

Somehow I managed to get Darren to say less without going into detail. Basically, what I said was that I ended up spending a lot of time with one of my classmates, and I spent the whole weekend hanging out with him. But I told him that when I confessed to him, I was rejected by him. Even though Darren kept asking me who it was, I refused to say, and I think the only reason he didn't try harder was because I was so upset. It was the first time I really liked someone, so he was very understanding. I couldn't sleep that night. My mind couldn't stop running through all my thoughts, no matter how hard I tried. Part of me wanted to take Cole's advice and forget about it all. But how could I? He can't just tell me that he had a good time and then throw me away like a piece of trash, can he? It's almost the end of class and he hasn't shown up. Maybe he knows I'll try to catch up with him, so he thinks it's better to just skip class. But that pisses me off even more because it means he means