Page 16 of Inhuman Natures #1

Rake

There was a bee in Rake’s room. He cracked an eye open to see if it was anywhere near him, but he couldn’t spot it. DJ shuffled beside him on the bed, burying himself deeper under the covers.

For a few seconds, it was silent again. Then, bzzt .

It was the front door. Rake checked the clock on the bedside table—not even six in the morning.

The students in the flat opposite them had already forgotten their keys twice before, and if this was them, Rake was going to have some choice words.

He trudged out of bed and to the door, which buzzed another time before he put the receiver to his ear.

“What?” he demanded.

There was a beat of silence before a familiar but tinny voice spoke. “Please, Rake, Sir—Can you, um, would you be able to let me in?”

Rake wiped the sleep from his eyes. “Shaun?”

“Oh, yes, it’s Shaun. Please, it’s a bit urgent, and—”

“Come on up into the flat.” Rake pressed the button.

He’d only just pulled the front door open and Shaun was there, slipping past him into the flat and turning to face him, eyes wild and body shaking.

“Thank you,” Shaun said as he slid to the ground in the middle of their small hallway, arms going around his knees.

Rake only managed a quiet, “Uh,” once he’d processed Shaun’s appearance. His hair was in knots, the curls plastered across his face. It looked like he hadn’t washed in days. Deep gouges, oozing blood, covered his arms. A few long cuts on his face—less than an inch from one eye—appeared fresh.

Shaun looked like he’d been dragged backwards through a particularly aggressive hedge. Twice.

“I’m so sorry,” Shaun said, sounding wretched.

Rake stood there, not knowing what on earth he was supposed to do. “ Who? ” he asked. “Did Lawrence do this to you?”

Shaun’s eyes lifted. They were sunken, ringed with deep purple bruises. He swallowed. “I’m sorry,” he said again.

“Don’t be,” Rake said in his softest tone, realising he’d been too strident. He’d find out who did this to Shaun after he’d been properly looked after. “Do you mind if I touch you, sweetheart? Some of your cuts need cleaning up.”

“I can clean myself up.”

“If you’re open to being touched, it would make me feel a lot better to do it myself.”

“Oh. Okay. You can touch me.”

“Stay there,” Rake said, before finding their first aid kit in the bathroom cabinet. They didn’t have much, but it would be enough for now.

Supplies in hand, he went back into the hall and stopped short. “Shit, your eyes,” he said, taking an involuntary step backwards.

Shaun’s face wasn’t just red from the dripping cuts. His eyes bled .

Shaun pressed a fingertip under one eye, wiping the blood away. “Ugh,” he said as he looked at his finger. He sounded almost frustrated, not horrified.

“I need to take you to a hospital,” Rake said, feeling unsteady on his feet.

Shaun shook his head. “No.”

“Your eyes are leaking blood. I don’t need a medical degree to know that’s not normal.”

“It’s fine,” Shaun said, wiping at the other eye. They’d stopped leaking, but it worried Rake how little it bothered Shaun.

Once Rake had tamped down his shock, he knelt beside Shaun and gingerly took hold of his arm. “This might sting,” he warned. He dabbed at the cuts with an alcohol wipe, pleased to see that the scratches weren’t as bad as they’d first appeared.

He did one arm and then the other, cleaning them to the best of his ability.

Afterwards, he carefully tilted Shaun’s face up so that he could get at the cuts there.

Shaun didn’t seem to breathe throughout the whole thing.

He was preternaturally still in a way that had goosebumps breaking out all over Rake’s forearms.

“There,” he said. “All clean.” The urge to continue touching Shaun had him flexing his fingers. Rake never usually wanted to touch anyone other than DJ. But Shaun had slipped through his natural defences, and Rake found that he didn’t mind.

“Thank you,” Shaun said, his voice stronger than before.

“Is there anything else I can do for you right now? I’ll dab some Savlon on the cuts and we’ll be done.”

“Can I… Can I stay here until tonight?” Shaun sounded so pitiful that Rake wanted to ask him to stay forever.

“Of course.” There was no way Rake would let Shaun leave in the state he was in. He needed to speak to DJ so they could figure out what they should do.

As if Shaun could sense the direction of his thoughts, he asked, “How’s DJ?”

“He’s all right. Still in bed. Deej is not an early riser.” Rake snorted. “Unlike someone ,” he added, injecting as much humour as possible into his voice so that Shaun could tell he was kidding.

Shaun managed a quirk of his lips. Rake set about dabbing the healing gel over the cuts with a bit of cotton wool. Shaun didn’t so much as wince.

Rake scrutinised Shaun. “Do you have any other injuries?”

Shaun seemed to consider the question before shaking his head.

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you. If you’re hurt elsewhere, let me see. At least let’s get you up off the floor.”

Shaun acquiesced, letting Rake lead him to the living room. Before going in, Shaun paused at the doorway, staring towards the closed curtains.

After a bit of prompting, Rake deposited Shaun on the sofa before wrapping him up in DJ’s favourite cosy blanket. He didn’t miss how Shaun pressed his nose into the material.

“Do you want any water or a cup of tea?” Rake asked.

“No, thank you.”

“I feel like I should get you some water.”

Shaun smiled softly. “If you want. ”

Now that he was more awake, a few things occurred to Rake as he ran the tap.

Shaun had made it up two flights of stairs in a few seconds flat, a feat which was impossible.

Shaun’s eyes had bled, and he didn’t seem to find it unusual or disturbing.

And—this one the most concerning out of a list of things that were, on the whole, rather alarming—Shaun hadn’t been to their flat before.

Neither Rake nor DJ had given him their address at any point.

And yet, here Shaun was.

Rake scrutinised Shaun, who’d thrown his head back on the top of the sofa and was staring at the ceiling. “How did you know where we lived?” he asked.

Shaun turned his head. “I’m sorry.”

When Shaun said nothing more, Rake sighed. “Look, Shaun, I have no issue with you being here. I’m glad you came to us. But you can’t deny there’s something strange about this whole thing.”

“Why don’t we wait until DJ gets up? I promise I’ll explain everything. It’ll be easier only having to do it once.”

Rake brought the water over and placed it on the coffee table. “Drink,” he ordered.

Shaun eyed the glass like it might jump at him.

“I haven’t done anything to it. If that worries you, then why would you come here?” Rake couldn’t help but let his frustration show.

Shaun’s eyes widened. “No, I don’t think anything like that!” he protested a little too loudly for that time in the morning.

“Then you ought to drink the water. I should put some toast on, too.” Rake needed something to occupy his hands .

“I’m okay. Thank you, though,” Shaun said. “And again, I’m so sorry for waking you up.”

“What happened? You ran from the club, and now you’re turning up like this?” Rake gestured to Shaun’s… everything. “Something is going on, Shaun. I’m owed even a partial explanation.”

“I’ll tell you,” Shaun said, then tilted his head. “DJ’s awake.”

Rake couldn’t hear DJ moving around at all. He went into their bedroom, seeing DJ stretching his arms out and searching the empty half of the bed.

“Rake? Why are you up so early?” DJ’s voice was rough from sleep. “Come back in. I want my turn at being the little spoon.”

Rake sat on the bed, DJ grabbing at him and trying to pull him back under the duvet. “Shaun’s here,” he said.

“What?” DJ asked, blinking lethargically.

“He’s hurt, but he’s not saying much.”

That got DJ sitting up. “Hurt? How badly?”

“He’ll be okay, from what I’ve seen.”

“Where is he?”

“Living room.”

DJ threw the duvet onto the floor in his rush to leave.

When Rake entered the living room right after DJ, Shaun had a guilty expression on his face. Rake assumed it was because he’d been eavesdropping. He didn’t mind. There was nothing he’d said to DJ that he wouldn’t want Shaun overhearing.

DJ hurried to Shaun’s side, setting himself down on the sofa and opening his arms in invitation. “Hey,” DJ said. “I’m glad you’re here. I missed that face of yours.”

Shaun fell into DJ’s embrace, the tense set of his shoulders relaxing as DJ held him. “It’s good to see you too,” Shaun murmured.

DJ gently pushed Shaun back, holding him at arm’s length whilst he looked him over. “You look like shit.”

Rake rubbed at his brow. He’d been going for tact, but DJ apparently hadn’t got the message.

Shaun, however, let out a bark of a laugh. “Yeah. I don’t doubt it.” His face wasn’t looking as bad as Rake thought it had even ten minutes before, but he still looked rough.

“What happened?” DJ demanded.

Shaun gathered the blanket closer around him as he stood up, teeth gnawing at his cracked lips. “If I tell you something, you can’t tell anyone else, okay?”

DJ nodded. “Of course we won’t. You can trust us, Shaun.”

Shaun’s gaze bored into Rake. “You have to promise, too.”

Rake pursed his lips. “I promise I won’t tell anyone anything without your consent, as long as it won’t put you in harm’s way.”

Shaun gave him a flat look. “No caveats. This information cannot go further than this room.”

DJ stood up and came over to Rake, taking hold of his hand. “Rake, let him set his boundaries,” he said softly.

Rake understood, though it still rankled. But with both DJ and Shaun pleading with him, he was helpless. “I’ll respect your wishes.”

Shaun nodded, casting the blanket onto the couch and muttering to himself under his breath.

“Shaun?” DJ prodded after a good few seconds had gone by .

“I’m a vampire,” Shaun announced.

Right. So Shaun was going through some sort of mental break because of the assault. This meant they really needed to get him to the hospital.