Jules' pov
I squeezed my eyes tightly, heart pounding against my ribs while I silently prayed for mercy. It felt like my stomach had been turned upside down, like my blood had turned into ice from fright.
It shouldn't surprise me that he's about to strike now. Ever since I knew what he was capable of, I had been unconsciously expecting the moment he'd corner me to punish me for walking in on him that one night.
Everything rattled in me and I didn't realize when tears pooled in my eyes until the sound of a helpless sob filled the empty restroom.
Blaze felt like an extremely wide animal right now, one which had me ensnared and cornered, and I felt like a mere fly. The feeling of his hot breath hitting the side of my throat once again almost made me fall to the ground.
It felt like he was about to rip my throat out with his teeth and I trembled helplessly in the same spot.
His long fingers were digging into my hair after a fleeting second, jerking my head backwards until I was blinking up at him from an upside down position. Pain shot through the root of my hair at once and I whimpered as I tried averting my gaze from his at once, because his dark eyes made me more frightened right now.
He looked furious, anger making his dark eyes even darker and the thought that I was the one who had made him this angry made me wish I could be given the opportunity to fall to my knees and beg for his forgiveness, at least that would be better than him killing me right now.
"Why don't you smell like you normally used to?" He growled in a low tone, one which made the nervous knot in my stomach tightened up even more. I had no idea of what to make of his question and I tried to blink away the tears clinging to my eyelids.
What did he mean by that question?
"You smell wrong. very wrong." He continued in a low timbre before his grip slowly loosened from my hair. I darted away from him at once, eyes wide as I held my hand out while my back remained plastered against a wall.
The hands which I held out shook comically. If that was supposed to keep Blaze away, then it certainly wouldn't do much. Blaze regarded me for a few moments, lips twitching before returning to wash his hands, and then he made to exit the restroom. I followed every movement of his with wide, panicked eyes while wondering if he was still gonna kill me today or if he was saving it for another day.
"Don't smell wrong again." He murmured, eyes dark and voice husky, before he exited the restroom.
Once he was gone, everything rattled in me and I felt myself crumble to the ground, limbs shaking as I burst into tears. I buried my face in my knees as I let the tears flow, everything in me was still shaken up and whenever the recent encounter resurfaced in my mind, I'd be back to sobbing all over again just when my tears had begun to slow down.
Taylor found me in there, crying my eyes out. His eyes widened and he hastily rushed into the restroom to crouch beside me, eyes filled with worry as he quickly looked me up and down. His fingers settled in my hair and I couldn't help but flinch away because that instantly made me remember Blaze and I was back to sobbing all over again.
Taylor tugged me into his arms and held me tightly as I sobbed. I clung to him tightly as the force of my sobs wracked through my entire body.
By the time it finally turned to sniffles, Josh was present as well. He had a worried look on his face as he stared down at me.
"What happened?" Taylor asked softly. I swallowed slowly and unconsciously, my hand moved to the side of my throat which Blaze's hot breath had fanned against. Taylor's eyes followed it and I noticed as his eyes widened for a fleeting second before he hurriedly grabbed my hand and tugged it away. A gasp left his mouth almost immediately.
"Was Blaze here w- with you?" He whispered frantically. When I glanced at Taylor, he was sniffing the atmosphere.
"I knew I smelt him in here, just wasn't sure if it wasn't before you arrived here." Josh explained and when I glanced back at Taylor, he was biting on his bottom lip worriedly.
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"I thought he was going to kill me." I whispered and I felt my heart start to race from fright once again.
"Oh, Jules." Taylor whispered, eyes filling with sympathy, and I couldn't find the strength to be angry at that right now.
My hand unconsciously moved to the side of my throat, which felt a little itchy now. Taylor stared at the spot worryingly.
"H- he said I smelt wrong." I whispered after a little while.
Taylor and Josh exchanged a glance.
"He said that?" Jules inquired tentatively and I nodded numbly, hand unconsciously moving to the side of my throat again.
"What exactly happened between you two?" Taylor carefully asked and I tried my best to explain the entire thing as best as I could.
By the time I was done, they were both staring at me like I had just committed a forbidden crime.
"Do you think…?" Taylor said to Josh whose mouth was now set in a thin line.
"Let's help Jules to the infirmary for now. We can talk about this later." Josh suggested and I shook my head.
"No. No infirmary. It's embarrassing enough that I've visited there twice so far. I'm not hurt, I think I just need to sleep it off."
They both looked like they wanted to argue but ended up deciding against it.
~~~
I fell asleep almost as soon as my head met the pillows. The sleep was thankfully dreamless.
I ended up being awoken by the ringing of my phone.
As soon as I answered it, Andrian was speaking at once.
"Great news, Labrinth! We now have a lead! And, guess what? His son goes to your new school!"