Nusac

Chapter 14

Faith’s POV

Oh fuck this hurts. At least I’m not dying. Well that’s, what they tell me anyway. If it would stop this hurting I think it would be an option. One I could live with at that. Well not live with, I would be dead. Ok shutting up.

Nam is fluttering around other wounded people, we did really good considering the numbers we were against. The moon thing worked like a treat. You should have been there, the first wave of vamps came rushing out forgetting that it was night, soon as they stepped into the moonlight… poof. Well not so much poof more screaming agony then turning to stone and giving everyone some cover from the wildly flying arrows. One of which is lodged in my shoulder. Which is what is causing so much pain.

I didn’t notice it at the time. I just kept pressing forward. I admit I got a little caught up in the slaying. Went a little further in than I intended. Luckily not many people followed me. The ones who did didn’t fair as well as me. Well I am a slayer and they are… were just farmers. So once again here I am having caused a death. I think I should just stop existing. I can stop causing deaths this way.

I roll onto my back and instantly regret it. The arrow didn’t manage to go all the way through me. But it’s pressing against my shoulder blade. It’s a little tender. I’m such a wuss. My shoulder jerks and I roll back onto my side. Which isn’t too comfortable. I think my arm has gone to sleep.

Namine comes into my line of sight and squats next to me to look me in the face. “How are you feeling?” Did she just ask me that?

“Like there is an arrow sticking out of my shoulder.” What? Don’t look at me like that. I didn’t snap and it is the truth. Not what I imagined it to feel like but I’m leaning.

She looks over at the offending arrow. “Yeah we’re going to have to get that out.”

I feel myself whimper against my better judgement. “Is it gonna hurt?” Okay I suddenly feel about six years old again with a splinter. Which I think you could class this as a splitter. A huge one, but still a splitter.

She smiles and nods at me. “Yes it’s going to hurt. I need you to sit up.” She couldn’t have sugar coated it? No lets just lay it bare for the slayer in pain. No biggy.

I push against my slab, which is kind of working like a bed. With my arm that has fallen to sleep better than the one with a huge splitter it kinda makes it difficult.

She cuts the thick leather jacket around my shoulder. She pulls my shoulder toward her to look at the back of it running her fingers over where, by all rights the arrowhead should be. “It hasn’t come right through.” She says more to herself than to me.

“That’s a good thing right? I mean no exit wound means no bleeding out right?” I ask hopefully.

She releases my shoulder and takes a very long poker and pushes it into the small fire a few feet away from me. “Not really if I pull it out like this I’m going to do more damage.” Her gaze is now fixed on the entry wound. Running her fingers lightly over where wood meets skin and disappears inside me. “I’m going to have to push it out the other side.”

I can actually feel all the blood drain from my face. “Now that’s really going to hurt.”

She takes this moment to look up in my eyes. “Yes.” Again with the sugar coating couldn’t she have said something along the lines of ‘only for a moment’?

I take a few deep, soothing breaths not something I do very often but there is a time and place for everything. “Ok Nam. I can do this.”

Her warm hands encase my face. “You don’t have to do anything. Well you can scream if it helps.”

I have to laugh at that comment. “I’ll keep that in mind.” I’m just glad that I can laugh without jolting the shaft in my shoulder. Her fingers wrap around the shaft of the arrow and she looks to me to see if I’m ready. I take another breath and nod.

The pain rips through my shoulder blade as the arrowhead pushes through my skin and the screaming advice. Good advice. The scream rips through my vocal cords and my hand balls into a fist at my side around the side of the stone plate beneath me. I hear something crack and have to assume it’s one of my bones.

The pain subsides to a dull ache as she stops pushing. I open my eyes and suck in a few needed breaths. Bringing my hand up to my line of sight I seams to a ripped the side off the plate. Guess I don’t know my own strength. “Woops?” I drop the hunk of stone to the floor as Namine gets to work at cleaning the blood from around my twin puncture wounds.

I suddenly feel a jolt in my shoulder and hear a loud snap. When Namine comes back into view she’s carrying the bloodied arrowhead and drops it to the plate next to me. “You did not just do that.”

She smiles at me and shakes her head. “Don’t be such a baby.”

“A baby. Have you ever had an arrow in the shoulder?” I ask trying to stop myself from shaking.

“No.” Well don’t call me a baby. She takes hold on the shaft and braises herself. “Ok. I need you to grit your teeth. And when you feel it come out keep gritting. You get that?”

I nod at her. “You’ve done this before right?” I really wish that wasn’t a question.

“Yeah of course I have.” She looks over at me planting her feet. “Once.” What? I don’t get time to ask this question as she begins to pull.

I grit my teeth so I don’t bite my tongue off. “Fuck.” The end of the shaft slides out of my shoulder and she drops it’s quickly next to the arrowhead. I keep my teeth gritted like she said wondering exactly what’s going to happen next as she swoops and picks up the large and now red hot poker from the fire. What the fuck is she going to do with that thing?

Both my question and my fears about this situation are answered as she pushes it into the open wound and my skin sizzles as it fuzzes together. I’m in too much shock and pain to scream at this.

She removes the intrusion and drops the poker to the floor. Taking a rag she begins to wipe my face from the new droplets of sweat, which have accumulated there. “Well that... was fun.” My breathing hitches as I try to talk.

“Shhh it’s done now.” She takes my neck gently in her hands trying to guide me back to a lying position. “Just go to sleep let your healing do the rest.”

I nod still trying to control my breathing. I feel warm as a bearskin is thrown over me. At least I can lie on my back now. I let my head roll to the side and surrender to the darkness.


A gentle movement over my face wakes me from my deep sleep. I crack one eye wondering who put weights on my eyelids. My shoulder hurts like fuck. It’s the weak one as well. The one that keeps popping out at very inappropriate times. Well having an arrow pass right through it isn’t going to make matters any better.

“Hey.” The softly spoken word draws my attention to my side and the sight makes me smile. “You’re awake.”

“Seems so.” I answer. I would much rather be unconscious. Least my shoulder wouldn’t hurt so much. “How is everyone doing?”

She looks around for a second as if only just noticing anyone else was around. “Everyone who made it out is going to be fine. They’re all walking around, well apart from you anyway.”

The gentle stroking sensation leaves my cheek as Namine puts the rag in the water at the side of my head and squeezes it out. She returns to my face wiping away my sweat caused by the pain. “How many died?”

She doesn’t answer right away but when she does her voice is low. “Half a dozen maybe.” Six people. In one night I’ve managed to take six peoples lives and destroyed countless others that they would have touched. “It wasn’t your fault.” I feel a confused look pass over my face before I remember our earlier conversation and my hand reaches up to see if my amulet is still around my neck. “I can’t feel it, it’s written all over your face.”

I let out a sigh. How is it that she knows me so well even when she can’t feel what I’m feeling. I thought I had the whole hiding emotions thing pegged. Not so with this woman. No it’s like she’s taken my fake bravado and stomped all over it. “They would never have died if I hadn’t decided to play hero for the night.”

“Which part of ‘vampire army threatening to invade’ do you not understand? If you hadn’t done anything everybody would have died.” Her voice is hard and gives no room for argument, which is strange considering how gentle her hands are being. She sees me go to argue this point and just jumps in before I can even start. “It is better to act and end some lives, than to stand idly by and watch as countless are taken.”

“Wish the Scooby’s had your views.” I say without even thinking.

She looks at me confused and asks. “Scooby’s?”

“Some people back home.” She gets this look on her face, which I’ve noticed she always does when I refer to Earth as home. I don’t know why but it’s almost pained. I don’t know what to do about it. So I just go ahead and plough on as if I hadn’t noticed. “I killed this guy by accident and one other guy. Not so much an accident.” Her look has changed. She looks thoughtful. Maybe I shouldn’t have told her this. I basically just said. ‘Hey I’m a murderer. Lets be roomies.’

For some reason I’m really hating the part just after this where the rejection comes. I don’t handle rejection at the best of times. But now? I can freely admit right now yeah I like this girl in a more than ‘fuck and run’ kind of way. More like a ‘lets see how this turns out’ kind of way. So I’m not going to give her a chance to reject me. I’m just going to leave. Right now.

She puts the flat of her hand to my good shoulder pushing me back onto my back. “Where do you think your going?” Is she smiling at me? Now is not the time to smile. I just told you I killed two people.

“Leaving.” I say. What more of an answer does she want?

She tilts her head to the side. “Why?” Why? She’s asking me why.

I feel my eyebrow lift. I didn’t even tell it to. It’s like it has a mind of it’s own. “I just told you that I’ve killed two people. And murdered one of them and you want me to what? Stick around? That’s just stupidity.” I realise I’m getting defensive but I’m sacred this works for me.

“I judge someone on what I see them do. Not what someone tells me to think.” Her voice is harsh as if she’s scolding me for feeling so guilty for what I’ve done. “What you did before I met you is irrelevant. All I’ve seen you do here is just and good. Last night you took on an army of vampires with nothing but a few farmers with swords and you won. Because you had to.”

I think I might actually cry. I’m trying really hard to keep them back but that lump in my throat keeps pushing and something’s gotta break. I just hope it’s not the dam behind my eyes. No one has ever believed in me enough to say anything like that before. No one has ever said ‘yeah people got hurt and killed but how many more did you save.’ I know I’ve said it, you can stop looking at me like that. I never meant it, never believed in it enough.

So I go ahead and do the stupidest thing I could have done. I can’t take rejection so what do I do? I’ll tell you. I reach up threading my fingers through those dark blond locks and pull her lips down to mine.