Time off

"I see an edge there," Luisa pointed out and looked at Gideon. "Do you trust me?" she added and Gideon stared back in puzzle.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just trust me," she continued and this time, she just pushed their bodies downwards.

They landed on the steep edge, their heads hitting a flat large rock that Luisa didn't see before. They both groaned in pain, Luisa felt as if all her bones were broken.

"Roll inside," she managed to say to him and he finally noticed a small dark cave and so he did as she said.

She bit on her lower lips at the pain of just rolling with this broken body. Soon, they were inside and concealed from the monsters. Luisa felt herself slipping in and out of consciousness and before she finally gave up to the darkness, she thought about the other boys and hoped they were alright.

...

.

"Mmmm," her eyes tried to accommodate the light from the sky that poured into the room through the window. It looked like noon, her eyes took in the high ceilings.

Slowly, she look around the place, it looked familiar...Looked like...Zeke's room- How did she get here? She tried to get up from the bed but the immediate pain from her head and back stopped her.

"Ouch," she responded to the pain.

"Don't move, unless you want to reopen your wounds, shortie?" Zeke said and Luisa's eyes fell on him.

He started walking towards her from the bathroom door, he was only on his robe, his hair was still damp and steams evaporated his body as if he had just finished a hot bath, which he just did.

Luisa's gaze lingered on him even after he leaned on a drawer close to the side of the bed she was lying on. She cut the gaze and forced herself to sit up, biting her lower lips to the pain.

Zeke opened the drawer and brought out a packet of cigarette and a lighter. She didn't know he smoked, she hasn't seen him smoke before and he never had that cigarette stench on him, maybe he doesn't smoke that often because he had perfect teeth.

He collected one and gripped it with his lips and lilt it with the lighter, before he put the packet and lighter back to its place. He drew in the cigarette so slowly and puffed it out, the vapor lingered in the air around him.

He took another go and he shut his eyes as he puffed it out so purposely slow which was followed by a long deep sigh of relieve.

His eyes opened slowly and it met with hers, looking at him right now, he looked more like a sardonic devil with the way he looked at her, he looked like the vicious no nonsense king of all witchers.

She watch as his gaze moved lower away from her face, she followed his gaze and...HOLYSH*T!

"Oh my god..." she grabbed the blanket immediately to cover her bare chest. Zeke smirked, amused at her little actions.

Sh*t, she can't believe she has been baring her developing bosoms to him this whole time, wait! She looked under and let out a sigh of relieve, she had a clean pair of trousers on, Zeke couldn't help but laugh at his little shortie's actions.

"It's not funny, okay? Why am I not wearing a shirt?" she frowned.

"Relax," he replied, he put out the cigarette and walked towards her, squatting close to her when he got to her.

"After I finish bathing you, I treated your wounds," he started.

Luisa finally realized that a bandage was wrapped around her head and also at her back across the valley between her bosoms, then around her stomach and abdomen.

Wait! Did he just say after bathing her, that means he saw her nakedness.

'Oh this was so embarrassing,' she thought. She felt like melting into a puddle again. "Then I wore you the trousers before realizing I needed a hot bath," he continued.

"You could have just finished dressing me up before having your hot bath," she replied and he flicked her bandaged forehead.

"So bossy!" he uttered.

"The way you acted..." he continued and leaned closer. "Were you expecting something else?" he teased her and blood rushed to her cheeks, he just keeps making her feel more embarrassed.

"Besides there's nothing to be ashamed of already, there's nothing there," he added with a mischievous grin.

"Of course there is and it'll get bigger," she defended immediately, her eyes widened realizing what she had just said.

Zeke started chuckling, 'Oh this little shortie,' he thought.

The room suddenly felt hot for Luisa despite the cold, she looked down in total embarrassment and then she noticed the medallion was still on her neck and all the bad memories started rushing in.

She looked up at Zeke, her eyes already watery with tears. She can't believe he actually made her to forget all of that in that few minutes.

The tears started trickling down her cheeks, this was what he was trying to avoid since, he didn't want to see her cry ever again.

"Hey, hey...Don't cry," he said softly as he sat on the bed facing her, he held her cheeks with his hands.

"You did well, shortie?" he tried to comfort her. "Wait how did we get there? Was it a dream? Some sort of mage magic manipulations? Where are the others? Are they okay?" Luisa questioned and Zeke shook his head.

"It wasn't a dream Luisa, mage magic manipulations, yes...Because that's what we used to teleport you people there when you guys were asleep, to do the third stage which lasted for two days.

"Everything was real, if it weren't you wouldn't have been injured. Only four of you made it out alive including yourself, the others are at the infirmary receiving treatments," he told her.

No! That means...No! They can't be, right? They can't be dead. She cried even more; "Why?" she asked him.

"I'm sorry," he replied softly.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all that, especially after what happened to your parents and clan, I'm so sorry," he apologized even more.

"But this is necessary or else you will never be able to kill, you will never be able to learn how to survive no matter the odds.

"There are rules that must be obeyed in witchery even as far as to the training level and every witcher went through these rules and are still going through the rules," he explained.

"Why don't you change these harsh rules to something a little less brutal?" she asked him and he smiled at her.

"Oh, shortie? It's not that easy. This is an organization with various leaders and board of directors, you can't just change things that easily, some things are just inevitable and those things are better left untampered with.

"You want the best, you have to go through the worst, that's how it is. Maybe some day you would understand" he responded.

She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, knowing he also had to go through such hell hurts her even more. She held the blanket on her chest very well and hugged him.

Zeke didn't expect the hug but he hugged her back and they just hugged it out for minutes.

...

After they both got fully dressed, they began to have dinner together.

"Do you want to go back to your cot?" he asked her once they were almost done. She didn't want to, she wanted to stay here with him. She shook her head.

"Okay." He responded.

After they were done and the tray was taken out of the room, they both lied on the bed with a little distance from each other.

Luisa so wanted to close the distance, she wanted to sleep so close to him, her head on his chest as she took in his amazing scent just like how her parents slept.

They both turned sideways to face each other, a small smile on each other's face as they stared into each other's eyes.

"I'm going to take you out of kimoira tomorrow," he started.

"What? Why?" she asked.

"Well, due to the severe injuries you guys sustained, you guys have been given a time off. So, I want to treat you to something tomorrow, take you out so that you can breathe fresh air that's not kimoira's," He elaborated and Luisa chuckled.

"Thank you," she replied.

"Now go to bed, we have a long day tomorrow," He added and turned his back at her to sleep.

Luisa's gaze lingered on his wide back and broad shoulders, she smiled and it took a while before she dozed off.

...