in the Shower

[De'Ryanna Aybara]

Water beat down on her from the shower head above, it's warmth not doing anything in the ways of providing comfort as it had done in the past. Still, she needed it. Needed to feel the water beating down and touching her skin to remind herself that she was still here and what had happened was real. Forehead was resting forward against the damp tiles on the wall and her wet hair clung to cheek and neck before dangling off as it would and water coming off the edges. Her breathing was shallow and if it were not for the water already on her face then the drops rolled on closed eyes and fell of the tip of her nose could have been mistaken for tears.

Both hands had been pressed against the wall before her as they took on a dual role to calm and support her. Now her left hand left the wall and pressed down upon her upper left thigh and for the umpteen time she had thought to tear off the binding and see what was underneath.

Her thigh, the singular part of her body that was bringing her a well of pain and she didn't even know why.

A couple of days ago she had gone to the Market to pick up the order she had placed: a few handmade items she had crafted as a way of saying 'thank you' to someone. She liked going out but she was always a little apprehensive in a place with many people she didn't know, the many smells of items and different people, coupled with the sounds, often made it hard for her to focus and contrate easily so when she went her mind was usually focused on her objective. Because of this she had not known someone was closing in on her until it was too late. She had been struck in the back and all the world went dark. Some hours later - the exact time unknown - a caustic amount of pain shot through her and caused a brief moment of awareness where she saw herself in a dark cave with a familiar presence bending over her.

Then she was unconscious once more.

When she came to again - under her own power - she was in her room, laying on the bed, donned in dirty clothing that was torn in places and a well done and clean wrapping on her left thigh. How she had gotten there could only be attributed to the male whom she saw sleeping on the floor next to her bed. Just as dirty as she assumed herself to be he looked just as tired and worn.

She tried to move but the action was sloppy and he woke up, none to happy that she had actually tired to move about.

It was only logical for her to ask what had happened to her, but he did not tell. He did not even tell her what happened to her thigh as he said it was better she not know. Once he was gone she could have easily taken the wrapping off and saw what was underneath, but she didn't. Perhaps he was right and she did not want to know.

Due to her fathers gift of the Lycan ability her leg should have healed by now, or at least been better off, but it felt just as bad as it had when she first woke up. She had been told something about her disappearance and it was that her package had been delivered with a message of it's own and that scared her.

Sometimes a persons pain was real, brought on by physical damage and visible to any eye, and sometimes it was psychological.

And sometimes it was hard to tell the difference.