Chapter 14

This chapter is going to switch POV's between Moon and Julius a bunch so be prepared for that. Sorry it's not the best :(

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~Moon's POV~

"You're coming to work with me by the way." Julius tells me, brushing me to the side so he can scrub his teeth.

"I've barely been to school." He scrubs a fang while cocking a brow down at me, the brush hanging limp as he smiles.

"You really want to go to school?" He turns back to the mirror, spitting the frothy contents down the drain. "What type of sorcery is this?"

"Look," I roll my eyes and lean coolly against the blue countertop, flinching a bit as the chill surface hits my back. "why do I need to come with you?"

"My coworkers want to see you again." Julius shrugs and wipes away the rest of the froth, rubbing a towel against his wrists while turning to face me. His towel hangs lower on his waist when he juts his hip out, resting a hand on it flamboyantly. "Plus, I can take you out of school whenever I want. School policy."

With a low growl I comb out the knots in my hair, throwing my backpack and completed cake recipe spell back on the couch. Julius hugs me from behind, an icy chill snaking around my hips while a frosty breath nips the tops of my ear. Twisting to greet his lips with my own, he beats me to the motion and jogs out the front door with a jacket.

I climb next to Julius in the front seat, twirling my ring nostalgically between my thumb and forefinger. "What is that for?" Julius breaks my thoughts, grabbing hold of the hand with the ring.

"It shows i'm bounded." I reply quickly before staring through the reflective glass of the car window. The stomach pain returns and I hastily push it to the side as the car rolls into a parking garage.

•••

"Then I said-" I cut off the blonde's speech in my mind, the excruciating pain in my stomach becoming unbearable. My feet curl up on the Tiffany blue couch and I bury my head between the couch and the back of Julius's arm for comfort and protection. The white carpet looks all too comforting at this point as I dizzily excuse myself from the blue and white room. Tripping on the carpet down the hall I stay for a while, examining a stain on the pristine flooring. Eventually I gain the strength to drag myself into a single stall bathroom but barely muster enough to climb up and lock the door.

Collapsing between the toilet and counter I grip the pain in my abdomen and push my legs against the wall to keep from screaming out in agony. My hand gingerly slides to my side and rests on my tag, the numbing pain creating dots of light before my eyes. As I drag my hand out from under my shirt the color floods from my face. A crimson liquid with black dots drips onto the cool white tile. My blood. Another abdominal pain arrives but I'm too weak to do anything about it.

~Julius's POV~

Hannah is quite the story teller! I rest my glass on the mahogany table ahead of me, leaning back into the lightly colored couch with interest. "Then what?" I press for details as she recounts how she caught her husband cheating. She's such a strong woman. I admire her really.

"Well, I told her straight to her face that she is a terrible friend and that I never want to see her again." She shrugs it off nonchalantly with a victorious smirk, sipping away at her sparkling water. She'll be running to the bathroom if she keeps up the pace. I glance to my empty side at the thought of a restroom. Moon has been gone fifteen minutes...

"Has anyone seen Moon?" I question the employees on the couch.

"No, now that I think about it. Should you go check on him?" Hannah questions as I rise from my seat on the plush couch.

"That is where I'm headed." I head off to the bathroom down the hallway, taking my time to give him some privacy. Maybe he just wanted to get away. As I knock on the white wooden door no one replies and a small part of me begins to panic. The door is locked I discover with the failed turn of a knob. Knocking louder and faster I began to call his name until a rustle from the other side becomes audible.

"Julius?" He breathes.

"Moon? You alright?"

He takes a shaky breath, surely shaking his head right now. "No..."

"Should I call-"

"No."

"Do I-"

"No."

"Moon, please let me in." I beg. There is a click of a lock before a hand drags me into the darkened room. "Moon, is-"

"Lock the door." He pants out of breath.

"Fine." Locking the door behind me, I flip the light switch but quickly turn it back off at the sight of him covered in blood...or something. "What the total hell?!" I pant, backing against the wall even further. "What the hell?! How did this-no what is this-no wait...what?"

"Turn the light on and keep quiet." I follow the demand, sinking down to his level on my knees. Moon rests between the toilet and counter, his head resting on it's cover. I peek into the bowl but instantly regret it.

"Is that...?"

"Bloody vomit? Yeah..." God he is so pale.

I slide his shirt off to examine the wound but there is only a massive deal of blood. Even when wiping it off there is no visible wound that it is coming from. "There is nothing here." I state the obvious.

"I'm scared." He whines, staring down at the bloodbath with wide eyes. "It hurts and I'm scared." His teeth chatter and he throws his head into the black porcelain bowl. The most I can do is awkwardly pat his back and hold his hair as he vomits up nothing but blood. A few drops leak from his nose and mouth but he merely wipes them away.

"Do you love me?" He asks with a defeated chuckle. "No matter what?"

"Moon, yes. Just tell me what's going on!"

He exhales deeply. "Can you see it now? Because I want you to?"

Moon's side gives way to black ink that isn't ink, sort of like his chest. A pattern of swirls almost like a tribal tattoo with something resembling a dog jumping, or maybe on it's hind legs, in the middle. A large crack in his skin resides where the figure lies, blood pouring out by the gallon. "I'm sorry!" He cries with tears.

"I don't know what that is..."

His tears stop for a moment. "You don't?"

"No! What is going on?!"

"I'm dying, Julius."

My heart stops. No, my world stops. "What?" I cough out, not sure of what to do, what to say.

"I'm dying." He repeats, eyes burning a hole in the tile.

"From what?" This just can't...

"Starvation. I haven't eaten what I'm supposed to for so long, Jules. My body can't go this long."

"Then i'll get you food? Pancakes?!" Moon gives a weak laugh and slumps against the toilet. "Steak?!" His eyes glaze over for a moment while tears escape mine.

"Can I trust you?"

"Yes." I cry, holding him in my blood stained hands. I wipe away a coal colored lock with a trembling smile. "Yes."

"I'm a shifter." His voice breaks halfway, adverting his eyes in shame.

"What is that?" Eyes widening, he breaks into a true smile that fades all too quickly. "What do you need? How do I make you better?!"

"Bring me another shifter..." His voice trails off, body slumping weakly.

"Will they fix you? Bring you the food you need?"

"I'm a shifter, Julius, they are the food I need." He becomes deadweight in my hands as I sink in his words. I'm going to have to kill a man for my cannibal of a...servant not boyfriend. Defiantly not boyfriend. I rise quickly and turn off the lights, locking the door with a key and placing an out of order sign over it.

"Is he alright?" I slam my bloody hands in my pockets as Hannah glides by.

"Perfect. He couldn't get the sink to work. Turns out it's broken! I'm fixing it when I get back so tell everyone to stay away from there."

She nods and i'm hurtling out the door faster than Usain Bolt in an Olympic dash. Where the fu-heck do shifters live?! What the heck is a shifter?! Some breed of werewolf or something? No, I would've smelled it on him. I make a bolt for the center of the Magie, using my speedy car to my advantage.

Meat shop? I break open the doors of the small and bloody shop to find a middle aged woman cutting up something...meaty. "Do you sell shifter meat?" I rush out of breath.

"Isn't that illegal to sell in shops?" She asks me, wiping her stained hands on her apron.

"Please," I beg with tears at bay. "my Blood Servant is dying. I just found out about three minutes ago that he is a shifter. I don't know what a shifter is, I'm just going with what he told me before he passed out."

She sighs heavily and goes to the back, returning with a gun, bayonet, and one bullet dark as night. "You'll need this if you're going to catch a shiffy. I'd give you a vial of blood but I see you can take care of the scent part yourself." She nods at my bloody hands and tosses me the items. "You've got one shot. Make it work."

"What type of bullet is this?" I ask, curious even when I'm on a rather serious time crunch.

"Obsidian. Kills shiffys on contact just like ruby bullets for a vampire."

The blood on my hands sizzles and smokes as I roll the bullet around in my palm. "Where do I go to catch one?"

"To the woods outside the Magie, find a cluster of trees arranged in a circle, investigate for claw marks on any of the trunks, wait for a while then shoot. Good luck!" She waves me off and I throw the junk into my car in record time. This is going to be harder than I thought.

•••

I wait in a group of bushes outside a circular gathering of trees. Luckily, there are claw marks on at least three of the trunks. Loading the rifle I jump at every rustle, every noise that could save Moon. I drag my bloody hand across the grass in the middle of the clearing, running back to my shelter as an animal charges in.

A mountain lion? Really?!

The big cat eyes me and pounces, hissing as it leaps on top of me. It swats me into the center of the circle, far away from my weapons and protection. The golden fur of the beast twinkles in the sun, it's eyes surprisingly animal but something inside tells me this is what I've been waiting for. Jumping up, I sprint back to the bush, scooping up the weapons and circling the cat. Another paw sways at me but I avoid it thankfully.

The beast is moving too much for me to shoot safely and guarantee a hit and it seems to know it, teasing me until I just choose to walk forward. Bad idea. Terribly bad idea. The cat springs, teeth barred and bloody, snarling, ready to take me as a meal. I'm thrown on my back, the sharp pain of teeth in my shoulder becoming overbearing. The forest turns to black, blacker than the night, blacker than the bullet, blacker than black.

~Moon's POV~

This is it. The blood flows thicker from my mouth and floods the bathroom floor. It's scary waiting to die. I wish I had Kai, or Julius, or Andrew, or Jewel, or anyone but the bathroom floor of a place I'm not familiar with. This fucking sucks. Though the pain in my abdomen has decreased severely. Hell, I barely feel anything! I've reverted to laying down on the floor, my feet near the toilet and my head near the ending of the counter where it blends into the wall. My eyes flutter. This is it. This is goodb-

There is an impatient knock on the door until they think better of it and use a key. "How the fuck did you carry a mountain lion in here without being seen?" I laugh suddenly full of hope until I eye the damage done to his arms. "I can heal that." I point as he shuts the door and locks it, dropping the animal at my feet.

"Eat away." He grunts, jumping up on the counter next to the sink with his legs criss-crossed.

"Leave."

"No."

"Leave!" I growl more stubbornly. I don't like being watched but the ache in my head and stomach tell me to not care. "Fine..." I grumble, ripping open the body with my fingernails. Oh the sweet smell of food. I bury my face into the blood and guts, oblivious to the fact I'm being watched. I swallow each and every sweet and juicy bite of the shifter, the color and warmth returning to my body. Who knew cannibalism could taste so good?

"Moon?" Shit.

"Mhm?" I advert my attention to the brunette on the blue counter.

"Are you all better?"

I crack a smile at his innocence. "Yes."

•••

I treat Julius's wounds (with magic), clean up the room (with magic), and dispose of the carcass (with magic).

"You know you have a ton of questions to answer for me tomorrow, right?" He laughs, leading me into the parking lot.

I buckle my seat belt, flicking some vein out of my hair. "Bring it on."

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