𝖆𝖚𝖌𝖚𝖘𝖙

Blood.

As soon as I stepped foot in house, the scent of freshly spilt blood overwhelmed my senses.

The smell confused me at first. There was only one other person staying with me inside this house.

This couldn't be anyone else's blood besides Heaven's.

The thought sent me directly into panic.

I raced up the stairs at record speed, and followed the smell to the guest bedroom, where she had been staying.

I swung open the door, nearly slamming it into the wall in my haste to get to her.

The sight that my eyes met would undoubtedly be in my nightmares for the rest of my life.

There stood my beautiful mate, surrounded by shattered glass, a broken mirror, and a sickening amount of blood dripping from her hand, pooling onto the floor.

For a moment, I couldn't move as I watched the blood continue to fall from her hand.

Then, a movement broke me from my trance.

Heaven turned her head from her gaze on the destroyed mirror, and fixed her blue eyes on me.

In all of my years of living, nothing has ever scared me as much as the look swimming in her irises.

Her azure eyes held such a defeated look, one that constricted my throat and made my heart shatter.

I haven't felt anything like this before.

Heaven's eyes stayed focused on me, and a soft smile graced her lips, contradicting the tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"August," she whispered, her voice cracked and quiet.

"Heaven," I answered, barely containing the extreme emotions leaking into my voice.

I make my way slowly over to her, my feet crunching over the shards of glass surrounding where she stood.

"It hurts," Heaven sobbed, suddenly breaking into tears.

The sight was too much to bear.

I couldn't take it anymore.

I scooped her small, quivering body into my arms, hugging her as if she would disappear; because in that moment, I thought she might.

"Shh," I whisper, pulling her closer into my chest, "It's okay."

She was still shaking, so I began running my hands through her ebony hair in an attempt to soothe her.

After a few more moments, Heaven's sniffles began to quiet, and her shaking became less erratic.

Slowly, I pulled her back from my chest, still keeping her tucked in my arms.

"Sorry you had to see that," she fake laughed, another strangled sob escaping her throat, "And I'm sorry about the mess."

She's worried about the broken mirror, of all things?

"The mess is the least of my concern," I answer softly, gently wrapping my arm around her waist to guide her over to the conjoined bathroom, "Now let's get a look at your hand."

Once in the bathroom, I grab her hips, lifting her effortlessly onto the flat countertop of the sink.

Reaching into a cabinet, I found a first aid kit.

Now with the better lighting in the bathroom, I could fully take in the extent of Heaven's injured hand.

I sucked in a breath at the sight, careful to control my emotions at seeing her hurt.

"You don't have to tell me what this is all about," I begin to talk, trying to distract her from the pain as I clean the wound, "You don't need to talk if you don't want to."

"No," Heaven sighed, seemingly not even dazed by the peroxide I just poured onto her hand, "I think I wanna talk about it."

I nod my head for her to continue as I stay focused on mending the cuts.

I hear her scoff lightly, and I look up quickly to see that she's looking at the ground with an exasperated look on her face.

"Now that I think about it," Heaven begins to speak, "I guess it wasn't even a big deal."

"Nothing that makes you feel like this is insignificant," I counter her.

She lets out a small, humorless laugh.

"Anyways," She continues on, "Antonio had found my phone and gave it back. And I, for whatever reason, decided to call my friend Malia. I guess I just wanted to see if she noticed I was gone."

I listened intently as she continued.

"She didn't," she chokes out, and it seems like she might cry again, "Or at least, she noticed and just didn't care."

I finish bandaging her knuckles, and stand up, pulling her into my chest as I wrap my arms around her shoulders.

I could feel the despair rolling off of her in waves, and it was killing me.

After a few more long moments, I pulled away just enough to see her face.

Her eyes were drooping slightly, and she looked completely exhausted. The emotional turmoil of the day was finally catching up with her.

"Let's get you to bed," I whisper, lifting her small body into my arms bridal style.

I carry her over to her bed, careful to avoid stepping on the scattered glass shards.

I laid her gently onto the mattress, pulling the blanket gently over her to tuck her in.

After I made sure that she was comfortable, I turned my attention back to the mess of glass and blood currently residing on the floor.

I made quick work of sweeping up the remains of the mirror, and wiping up the floor.

I gave Heaven a lingering looks as I made my way to the door. I wanted to stay with her, but I'm not sure that she would appreciate me crawling into bed with her.

As I began to turn the doorknob, I heard a small rustle from the bed.

"Wait," her soft voice, groggy with sleep, stopped me in my tracks, "Will you stay with me?"

My eyes widened at her words, and I couldn't help the excitement that coursed through me.

"Of course," I answered, trying not to let my enthusiasm show.

I made my way slowly over to the bed as Heaven timidly moved over to make more room for me.

I crawled underneath the blanket, painfully aware of how close our bodies were.

Unable to control myself, I roll closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Is this okay?" I ask, referring to our intimate position.

She nods once, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.

Then, she lets out an adorable yawn. And soon, her eyes are drooping closed as her breathing began to even out.

I admired her for a while longer, until my eyes began to close as exhaustion took over me.

I soon succumbed to unconsciousness, and only one thought played in my mind:

Nothing could be better than this.