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As D half drug half carried her to the abbey he could feel her shaking as she clung
tightly to him. Pulling her into the safety of the stone walls he sat her down in the relative
corner. It was then that he noticed a few trails of blood ran down her throat from healed
cuts from the blade. Still clinging tightly to him D was forced to stay kneeling beside her
and he looked down at her and in a reassuring voice said,”You’re ok now...”
She nodded her head and mumbled an answer of ‘I know’ but barely lessened her
grip. Finally as she struggled to calm herself she lessened her grip a bit and D quietly
brushed the hair from her face, pulling back slightly but not letting go of her.
“I was just so scared back there.... I couldn't even fight back to try and save myself
or do anything......”
Her voice trailed off and D simply said, emotion hidden beneath his voice but
somewhat noticeable,”The villagers won’t trouble you anymore, don’t worry.”
She looked up at him, into his eyes, her face relatively calm as she simply stated,” I
told you they wanted to burn me.
As she said it a tear rolled down her cheek and she shuddered again, thinking of
what would have happened if D hadn’t interjected and saved her again. D pulled closer to
her and said again in a reassuring voice,”You’re safe now.”
“Thank you again... for saving me yet again,”she said as she gave him a warm
smile to which D merely nodded.
Suddenly though she had a burst of confidence and got closer to him, moving her
arms from holding on to lightly hugging him as she whispered to him,”Without you I’d
probably be dead by now.”
D was silent and after a moment tentatively placed his arms around her lightly.
She tightened the hug a bit as she once again realized how close she came to death, the
torches flickering again in her mind’s eye. She shook a little bit and in response D held her
a little closer, as if trying to stop her shaking.
“I almost died today,”she whispered extremely quietly, so quietly that even as
close as he was to her, D could barely hear it,”And you saved me.”
She lessened her grip and pulled back a bit, looking at him with a questioning look.
D turned to look at her, his eyes staring into her own.
Quietly she asked him,”D. Please answer honestly. Why did you risk yourself in
there for me? You could have been killed like they planned for me.”
D didn’t say anything in response, merely continuing to stare into her eyes and
without warning or conscious thought she suddenly took a bold step. Kat leaned forward
and gently brushed her lips across his in a short kiss. Pulling back a bit once she realized
what she’d just done she looked down and blushed, becoming extremely self conscious,
unable to find a thing to say in her defense or for an explanation.
Much to her surprise though D slid his hand around the back of her neck and
pulled her face gently up to look at him. He then leaned forward and kissed her deeply,
finally giving in to the emotions that he fought so well to hide. She gently laid one of her
hands on his cheek as she responded to the kiss whole heartedly.
D gently pulled away, looking down into her eyes as her hand remained on his
cheek, laying there gently. She just looked up at him, quietly regarding him, waiting for
what she thought would come next. Her guess almost coming completely true she slowly
pulled her hand away, her eyes going downward as D was silent.
He started to speak at one point but stopped,”I...”
She mumbled quietly in response,”Sorry... I shouldn’t... I..”
She trailed off into silence and looked up at him againfor a moment trying to see
what he was thinking. D stared down at the ground though, well hidden behind his hat.
Kat just looked down again and whispered quietly, her voice thick with emotion,”D..
I’m... I’m sorry... I shouldn’t have........ I’m sorry”
As she finished saying this she went to pull away from him and shrink back into he
corner more when suddenly to her surprise D’s hand reached out to her, resting gently on
her shoulder. She looked up at him in surprise.
“D.. I..”
He sat silently contemplating and after a moment of the silence she sighed quietly
and went to move out of the corner and stand. In response D stood himself and took a
half step back, still close to her now standing form. As she wrapped her arms around
herself tightly she asked quietly,”So... What now?”
“We prepare,”D stated simply.
Kat merely replied with a quiet,”Allright...”
She turned to walk out of the abbey ruins, her back to him as to help hide her
emotions which threatened to spill over any moment. D walked to a corner of the ruined
abbey, pulling aside a soaked canvas cloth and retrieved his supplies.
As she slowed her walk to a stop she suddenly felt a pair of ghostly hands wrap
around her and she felt D behind her. She turned her head sideways as much as she could
to look up at him, tilting it back to account for the height difference. Looking down at her
D’s eyes met her own finding understanding as he pulled her closer to himself. With a
smile she snuggled closer to him in his arms.
As they cuddled D’s face suddenly melted away, a haunting laughter filling the
grove. Strange tendrils of darkness reached out and took hold of her, holding her tightly
to the body that had moments ago looked like D’s as they quickly flew up into the air.
Letting out a terrified shriek she looked for D but only heard the sound of footsteps
running through the leaves incredibly fast. The thing holding her pushed it’s way into her
mind, speaking in a raspy voice,”I was the Mayor. I was D. Perhaps now I’ll be you.”
Letting out a bloodcurlding scream as she shrieked,”LET ME GO YOU
BASTARD! D! HELP!”
Clearing the treeline another voice was heard.
“Perhaps not,”D said in his same cold monotone.
“Hunter,”the thing started,”If you kill me, she will fall and die.”
D was silent and the thing’s faceless head turned towards D as they stared at each
other for what seemed like an eternity. Then with lightning fast motion they sprang at
each other and Kat was dropped. With the ground coming into view much much to fast
for comfort she let out a scream and D flew past the thing with lightning speed, diving and
catching her seconds before she would have hit the ground. He caught a branch and
swung to the safety of a nearby tree.
She looked at him and with a sigh of relief said,”Thanks.”
D looked down at her, his face a mix of worry and sorrow as she looked up at him
her own face lost the scared look and a relieved one took it’s place.
Silence permeated the air for a moment til D spoke up,”I... should have protected
you.”
“It’s allright,”Kat said then explained,”You’ve been protecting me all this time, I
should be able to protect myself better.”
She looked down a bit, embarassed at her seeming lack of ability to take care of
herself. Suddenly D pulled her close to himself and jumped down from the tree. They
landed arm in arm on the ground below where she looked up at him and smiled. Looking
down at her he gave her a slightly confused look and she simply continued smiling as she
reached out and hugged him. Returning the hug after seperating again they both glanced
up to the trees. The creature was gone by now and D simply said,”One of the counts
minions. A shapeshifter.”
“I have to find it destroy it... to protect us,”she whispered as she took a step
towrads the tree.
“We will destroy it together,”D suggested to which Kat nodded and simply
replied,”Very well.”
She looked at him and asked,”Do you have a weapon I could borrow for now?”
He nodded in reply and went over to his horse, reaching in and retrieving a well
polished short sword. She walked over to him and looked at it as he held it.
“Nice,”she said with a smile.
D examined it for a moment then handed it to her, asking,”Is this suitable?”
She tested the weight of it and got comfortable with it as she replied,”Yes. Quite.”
Smiling she turned back towards the trees and looked to where the thing had been.
Letting out a sigh she said quietly,”Dammit.. You’d think these monsters would
have a little backbone.”
When D remained silent she continued, shaking her head a little, her hair fanning
out a bit.
“Then again, I’m no better. Relying on someone else to keep saving my ass,”she
muttered as D readied the horse for travel.
She sheathed the sword then and hung it at her side off a piece of her dress rope
belt. She turned to face him as he led the horse over to her. Looking up at him her eyes
met his that were mostly hidden under the hat and he glanced at her momentarily then hid
under the hat again.
“More of the count’s minions will arrive here soon. We should go,”he stated
calmly and quietly.
“You're right,”she said,”Where to now? I don’t think I’m ready to go to the castle
yet. I still don’t feel like my old self. Sorry.”
“Training grounds. We will be safer there,”D stated simply.
“Allright,”she replied as he pulled the horse over to her and climbed on. He
extended a hand down to her and she got on the horse behind him with his help. D
glanced once over his shoulder at her then took off into the woods, the early morning
mists hiding them from any would-be followers.