Chapter 7

The small trip ended up being a two day walk to a small town in the country. Leaving the majority of their luggage back at the hotel they each set out with a backpack that they borrowed from the hotel. Chloe had packed a few articles of clothing and was hoping the summer nights would be warm for she didn’t think of bringing anything warm.

     Chloe was content with walking even if it meant they would have to sleep under the stars. The country side made her feel more at home and she loved the way the wind blew the sweet air around her face. She could feel the tension melting from her body and she could easily forget the reason for their journey.

     They had stayed one more night at the Cardinal Inn opting to spend a night alone in their respective rooms. There was no sense in trying to repair the day and they had both needed to recuperate their energy from the previous day’s perils.

     The first half of the day’s journey was spent in silence. Chloe found herself staring at Phillip and he was so deep in concentration that she couldn’t bring herself to break it. So she resolved to admire the trees and fields of the countryside. Thus far they had not come across any houses since leaving the city and that suited Chloe just fine.

     Eventually a badly weathered stone wall began to line the right side of the road and seemed to stretch on for miles. Some of the once sturdy stones had fallen here and there but they still served their purpose, to keep the animals in or people out. Even though it was there for a purpose they had yet to see any cows or horses and Chloe thought it was more to keep people off the grounds than to keep any kind of animals in.

     As they walked on in silence Chloe finally let out a loud sigh trying to break Phillip’s silence. Looking over at him she was disturbed that he had seemed to miss the obvious sign and she let out another loud sigh. This time she stuck out her bottom lip and let her breath blow her bangs out of her eyes. Looking at Phillip she was pleased with her success. The corner of his mouth was losing a battle to keep a smile off his face and she let out a giggle.

     “You can be quite childish you know? When you set your mind to it you seem to have this way of getting what ever you want from me.” He had stopped and turned to her but there was a large smile on his face.

     “Yes, I am starting to like it a lot. And I am not sure how you are going to fair in the end my poor Phillip.”

     They both broke into a laugh and taking Chloe’s arm into his own Phillip led her down the road again.

     “A little distance after we pass the house, we will leave the road to find a camp site that I think you will like.”

     “What house?”

     “We are coming up on it in a few minutes. It is just past that grove of trees up there.” Pointing to a small grove of five or six trees Chloe could make out the outline of a structure but it was so faint she wouldn’t have noticed it from this distance if he hadn’t pointed it out to her.

     Squinting her eyes she tried to make out the features of the home but could only see a gloomy white color from behind the over grown trees. The side of the road to the left was beginning to thicken and Chloe was eagerly searching for the campsite. Phillip was watching her with fascination on his face.

     “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

     “I enjoy watching you. You really enjoy the wonders of life and it just makes me remember my past. I really love your unique take on life. I mean just the other day we had a horrible evening and today you are smiling and enjoying the walk. I just love that about you. Nothing seems to faze you for that long.”

     They had stopped walking and stood there in the middle of the road smiling at each other. Chloe arched her head back so she could look at him better and studied his expression with a lopsided smile. He was very handsome and she yearned to touch his face again. She had felt drawn to him from the very beginning and she was no closer today to understanding the pull than she was that first night.

     He just stood there allowing her to study him. He watched her with a gentle gaze and when she took a step towards him, for god knows why, she saw the subtle change in his eyes to that familiar hunger. Something was different about this look though. It wasn’t as overbearing as it once had been. Instead of looking like we wanted to devour her he looked like he was going to kiss her. Chloe’s eye grew as she realized a little too late that she was right. He took a confident step towards her, placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pulled her to him. He paused for a moment staring her in the eyes as if he was checking for signs of protest. Seeming please with what he found in her eyes he took her face in his hands and bent down and with such delicacy he lightly kissed her lips.

     Her body began to warm from the kiss and as it grew deeper it also grew in intensity and Chloe could feel the hunger in Phillip. It rose from somewhere within him and when Chloe let out a moan, expressing her pleasure, Philip’s grasp tightened on her cheeks. Mistaking this for his desire for her Chloe reached up and laced her fingers in his hair trying to pull him closer. Closing her eyes she pushed her own body into his and felt the pounding of his heart in his chest.

     A sharp electric shock surged through Chloe’s body and her eyes shot open. Phillip’s eyes had lost their color again and the same icy blue had replaced it. Chloe was startled from her passion and as she tried to create distance between herself and this terrifying version of Phillip she found that he had not release his grip on her face.

     Phillip stood there staring at her with a ravenous look in his eyes. Chloe was frozen in place. She couldn’t move when he gazed at her with those eyes and she knew that even if he didn’t have a tight grasp on her she could not have moved from where she stood.

     “P-Phillip, please you are hurting me.” Barely able to get the words out Chloe tried to reason with him. The last time he was like this he had begged her to run but the man she knew was not found in these eyes. They were eyes of a wild animal and she was terrified of this beast.

     Something felt right about her thought. There was something wild about Phillip when he was like this and beast was the only explanation. Shaking her head Chloe was not willing to give up on him like that. He was inside there somewhere and she had to bring him back. Running from him in this state would not be the best idea. She was sure that this version was going to like the chase more than anything.

     “Phillip. Look into my eyes Phillip. It’s me Chloe. You don’t want to hurt me. Phillip?” Searching his face for recognition she was startled to find his pupils had fully dilated and the blue color was just a small ring at the edges. When she had shaken her head his grip had moved from her face to her shoulders once again.

     Chloe began to tremble and tears filled her eyes as she knew he was too far away for her to reach. Phillip furrowed his eyes and wrinkled his nose. It almost looked like he was snarling at her except he didn’t make any noise or bear his teeth.

     As a last ditched effort Chloe reached her hand between Phillips relentless arms and placed them on his cheeks like he had done earlier to her. Taking one last look into his eyes she pulled his mouth to hers and gently kissed his lips. He simply stood there still holding on to her. He had tensed up when she had first kissed him but she could feel the tension release from his shoulders and eventually he loosened his grip on her. His lips parted slightly and it was then Chloe knew she had brought him back.