Strings of Fate by Kit Bryan
Chapter 90

90- Fury and fear

I lean down and pick up my slippers from the floor. I give them a good shake and a few shards of glass fall from them. I run my hands through the insides and once I’m fairly certain they’re safe, I slip them on my feet and stand up. I grab my phone and carefully make my way to my bedroom door, tiptoeing my way around the glass as well as I can in my slippers which are really not made for tiptoeing. I pause in the doorway and look back. My bedroom looks. like a crime scene. Glass everywhere and smears of blood on the blankets, my bedside table hand and lamp. I look at my feet and realise my slippers are also covered in blood from my where I touched my arm. Pulling myself together, I head straight into the kitchen and grab a hand towel. I dampen it and wipe at my arm. I don’t think there’s any glass in it. I get another towel and press it against my arm. I hope I don’t need stitches. I’m wiping the blood off my phone so that I can call Bellamy when the banging on my front door starts. I immediately drop to the floor and hide behind the counter, my heart racing until I hear Bellamy yelling.

“Ryann! Are you in there? Are you okay?” I know I need to answer him and get up to answer the door. But my voice seems to have left me and my legs just won’t support me. I can hear voices murmuring behind the door and the sound of a key in the lock. Aaron must be here. He took a spare key in case of emergencies when we set up the security system. Bellamy bursts in and it takes him about half a second to zero in on me behind the counter. In an instant he is there scooping me up into his arms. Shaun and Aaron step into sight, but as soon as they start to approach Bellamy lets out a sound somewhere between a hiss and a growl. His arms tighten around me and he moves me behind him. I have no idea what’s going on but Shaun and Aaron seem to understand because they both take a few steps back and lower their eyes

to the floor.

“Uhm, Bellamy?” I start. He doesn’t answer but instead looks around, his eyes darting around the room, pausing on Shaun and Aaron before focusing in on my bedroom. He surges to his feet, taking me with him. Before I can so much as blink, he lifts me into his arms and carries me to my room, keeping himself between me and the other guys the entire time. He snarls with agitation as he sees the mess in my bedroom. He carries me into my bathroom, the crunch of glass under his shoes as he passes through the glass. He checks the bathroom thoroughly before closing the door and locking it. He sits me on the bathroom counter next to the sink but doesn’t step away. Instead he begins checking me over. He quickly replaces the cut on my arm, pushing away my hand and the bloody towel to examine it properly. Once he’s determined it won’t kill me, he continues checking me over, even going so far as to roll up my

1/4

90–Fury and fear

Pyjama pants as far as they’ll go, running his hands up my legs and pushing my top up. I keep a hand over my chest stopping him from pushing it any further. He seems frustrated butt doesn’t force it. He is breathing heavily and his attention returns to the cut on my amm

“Bellamy” I try again. This time he meets my eyes and I can see his eyes look wild. He’s still not talking and I have no idea what to do. There’s a light knock on the bathroom door and Bellamy whirls around to face it, keeping me behind him, pressed against his badt.

“It’s just me. Are you okay in there?” Shaun calls out. I breathe a sigh of relief.

Uhm, sort of? I have a cut on my arm that probably needs some medical attention. Also Bellamy is acting weird, he’s not talking.” I call back. Bellamy barely even reacts to his name. all his attention is focussed on the door.

“If you’re injured that would explain it. His protective instincts are in overdrive right now. They’ve kind of taken over. He’s taken you to a defendable area and is keeping you away f all potential threats, including us. He needs to calm down before we can come im there safely. Try to talk to him, reassure him. If it doesn’t work then just call out and we will think off something else. In the meantime we’re going to have a look around and check for threats.“1 can hear glass crunching as Shaun moves away from the door. I quickly leam over and use the sink to rinse the blood off my hands. Then I wipe them off om my mostly–dean pajama pants and grab the sides off Bellamy’s face, forcing him to look at my eyes care them olmersively checking me for non–existent injuries.

“Uhm. Bellamy? I really am okay, it’s just a little cut from the glass. I promise you I am completely okay. You can bandage me up and I’ll be good as new in no time.” I try to reassure him. He continues to stare at me. I can see him smiming at the air. Att fist I think it’s mot working, then he finally speaks.

“You’re scared.” he grunts out. I frown and shake my head

“No, I WAS scared. Now that you’re here, I feel perfectly saw

won’t let anything

bad happen to me.” I state firmly. This seems to be exactly when he needed to hear because

the tension slowly drains out of him. His posture softens and intend of searching me for injuries, his hands are now resting lightly on my wHIST

“You’re okay?” He asks. I nod my head and confirm again.

PAC

90- Fury and fear

“I’m really, really okay.” I press myself closer to him so I can lean against his chest. His arms wrap around me, careful of my injured arm and I rest my head against him.

“Thankyou for coming.” I murmur. Bellamy sighs and buries his face in my hair. After a minute he pulls away.

“Do you have a first aid kit? Bandages?” He asks. I nod and point down to the cupboard underneath the bench I’m sitting on. Bellamy crouches and opens the door just enough to get the first aid kit without moving me. He spends the next few minutes fussing over my arm, cleaning and bandaging it.

“We really should take you to see a doctor, just in case.” He grumbles. I shake my head adamantly.

“No way. Absolutely not. It’s just a cut. If it gets worse or something I’ll go see a doctor, but until then, I’m just fine.” I glance down at myself and wrinkle up my nose.

“I could use a shower and a change of clothes though. Maybe we should have waited to bandage it until I cleaned up.” I stare at my pyjama pants and wonder if the blood will wash out, they are my favourites. I mean, as a woman I have gotten blood out of plenty of other clothing items, usually pants. It’s worth a shot.

“What about a bath?” Bellamy suggests. I raise an eyebrow.

“Bellamy, do you see a bathtub in here?” I gesture around the room. His brow furrows and he

stares at me.

“You can’t possibly think I’m going to let you stay here after this.” He stares pointedly at my arm. I cross my arms, ignoring the burning pain.