"Actually Sam, I am safe to touch my own blood once it is out of my system and wiped off me, I have an immunity to it for a few months and it can't affect me again until that wears off. So, I am perfectly safe from this drug for a while. I am shocked he used that drug knowing what it will prevent in the near future. I am now pretty much impossible to knock out. We all know how hard it is to take me anywhere when I am awake and ready for the challenge." I replied with all the knowledge that I knew at the time. I am not sure why I was trying to impress Sam, but it felt important at this time.
Sam looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face. "It seems that you know what that stuff is. Care to enlighten us to what the hell that stuff is and what it can do. It is on Josh after all."
Shaking my head with a smirk, "It is a sedative that they have been making that comes from a rat. It has the ability to knock a person out. I had it used on me when I was with the bad man whenever I misbehaved so I have a high tolerance to it now. Now that I was injected with it again, I will be immune to most poisons as it can prevent other toxins from affecting to body by countering them like an antitoxin. It was originally used at an antitoxin for people poisoned by wolves or boars, so I was told when I was younger. It won't hurt Josh but depending on how long it was on his skin will determine how long he is out cold for. It is strongest when injected but will absorb through the skin quite fast. Yes, yes I know I sound like an expert but trust me I know all about it other than how exactly it is made."
Thinking to myself, 'Sam is so cute when he is fretting over Josh.'
"Ok, so he will be fine that is good to know. So care to fill me in on what the hell is happening? The wolves haven't come into town for a while now and now here they are surrounding this bakery. Why are they so fixated on us? I know we were pretty much the only ones outside but still they came right to where we were as if they were lured here or something." Sam said confused.
"He," I shuddered and stuttered, "H, he has wolves as pets. He used them to punish anyone that tried to hurt his property. Anyways, we will want to get some water for Josh to drink ready as he will be dying of thirst when he wakes up."
Glancing around I noticed a woman I didn't know standing on the other side of the room and next to her was a bowl of something with steam coming from it. I smiled at her and then realizing my state of undress I quickly covered myself up to make sure my shirt didn't shift. I was actually clothed respectfully with my pants now being jeans, my legs wrapped in bandages and the front of my shirt fully intact, but the back was barely attached to the front by my shirt collar and the hem of the bottom of the shirt. I couldn't feel anything actually across my back cloth wise at least.
"Hello my dear, I am the baker's wife. You must be Marie. Josh has told me a lot about you lately." She said extending her hand towards me and taking a few steps closer.
I walked around the table carefully, I realized that my legs hurt but other than that I was ok. I went to reach out and glanced at my hand to make sure no blood was on it and then I shook her hand.
"Marie, I made you some porridge that you can eat or not over on the table. It is safe to eat, and I can take a bite if you need me to, so you know it is safe. You said bad man like you have been mistreated before, so I just want to make you feel at home. There is no telling when those wolves will leave here so you can head out from here. Also, we have a little girl out here that has a sack that only made it in the bakery because the wolves were fully focused on you three. Her name is, Cindy I think, and I was told that the sack is yours Marie. She won't give it to me and says she will only give it to you."
I looked over to Sam, "Can you go down and check who this Cindy is? I know there is a little girl named Cindy, at the orphanage but I would be shocked if that is her. I will look after Josh for you!!!"
Sam nodded, glanced at everyone, lingering on Josh a touch longer and then headed down the stairs. The baker's wife also headed down after him without even slightly looking back. I took a few deep breaths and prepared for Josh to wake up. He will come to one of two ways... Either he will be ready to fight and will take a bit to come to his senses or he will be super submissive and terrified about what happened. I am hoping that he is calm, but I don't need him scared of everything. On the other hand, if he is ready to attack, I am not a match for him and if he hurts Sam, he will deeply regret it when he comes too. Somehow, I need to keep Sam away from Josh for the time being.
Josh started to stir and shift around, quietly a moaning sound was heard from him and then the next second, he exploded off the floor with his eyes wide open. Glancing around he shifted into an attack stance the moment he looked at me. I thought about yelling for Sam, but I could hear what sounded like yelling already coming from downstairs and did NOT want to get involved with that as well as my current situation.
Taking a deep breath, I turned and took a step away from Josh. Trying to remember what I used to do when the others came out from under the influence of that drug. Never taking my peripheral vision off Josh I walked the few steps to the table and grabbed the bowl of porridge and the spoon. Moving away a touch from the glass of water I sat down and took a VERY small bite of the porridge. I did not mean for the bite to be so small, but I didn't want to look at the porridge when I was eating it as I was worried about what Josh would do and did not want to look away from him.
Josh started to tremble a bit and took a step towards me. At an almost whisper tone of voice I heard Josh say, "Marie?"
I relaxed and set the food down and turned around to fully look at Josh. Apparently it was too fast for him as he flinched and backed against the wall and then got this look of pure panic in his eyes. The moment I saw that I knew he was not going to be aggressive, and my heart sank to my feet.
Sighing, I walked slowly over to the door to the stairs, I saw the baker standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Mr. Baker, sir, could you do me a favor and make sure no one comes up here until I say they can? I need to clean up the blood before I risk anyone else getting infected with it. I will close the door up here and when I am done I will open it back up. Will that be ok, sir?"
He nodded at me and turned back around to deal with whatever needed to be done down there. I knew Sam would not like this situation but if he scared Josh, he would never forgive himself for it. Closing the door carefully so as not to seem like I am trapping Josh up here, I turned and looked at him.
"Josh, yes it is I, Marie, you are safe here. This is your home and you are SAFE." I said calmly and quiet but yet also firm so he knew I meant what I said. I walked over to the glass of water and took a small sip, making sure he saw me swallow fully. "Would you like a drink of water? I know that stuff can make you really thirsty."
Josh looked at the closed door then the door that lead downstairs to the outside and then back at me. I could tell that he was thinking of fleeing rather then staying put. Slowly I walked towards him with the glass of water stretched out in my hand as far as I could go without hurting myself. I made sure to walk around the table I was laid on and move closer to the door to the outside while approaching him. Thinking that I would rather he run into the bakery instead of into the wolves that I could still hear outside howling from time to time.
"Marie, what is going on?" Josh asked in a small voice. "What did you do to me? I thought we were friends and that I was going to be your bodyguard. Why was I on the floor? What is going on?"
I relaxed further as it seems that he was willing to talk rather than just run without saying a word. This I could work with for sure.
"Ok, Josh, first here take this water so I do not spill it and then maybe we can sit down and talk. I will explain it all, BUT I do want to make it clear that I did nothing to you. The only thing I did was sweat out the drugged blood out of my skin in my back and you got it on your skin. I would never hurt you; I hope you know that at least."
Josh took the glass of water and sat in the chair in the corner. I could tell he was still tense and ready to run but he at least he sat down. Was that the submissive part or was that actual reason on his part, it was unclear, but I would take what I could get. Moving carefully and slowly I came closer to him and sat in the other chair there.