CHAPTER EIGHT - CRAWL WOUNDS.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Isabella groaned, turned to her side and pulled the duvet over her head. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Isabella let out a low cry, pressing the duvet down on her ears. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BE... Flinging the duvet off her in frustration, Isabella reached for the alarm clock on the side table and smashed her hand on it heavily. The alarm went off and she slumped back on her pillow with a huff. Turning slowly to look at the clock, Isabella eyes went wide all the sleep vanishing from them. 9:00am! That was what the clock showed. How had she slept until now. Rosa had driven her back around 6am in the morning and she had definitely set an alarm for seventy thirty am. How was the alarm clock ringing by nine am in the morning instead. Flying off the bed, Isabella hurried into her bathroom shredding her clothing piece by piece as she went. She hurried into her shower cubicle, but her reflection in the mirror she hurried past caught her attention. Slowly, she stepped out of the cubicle and came to stand in front of the mirror. The image that greeted her made her gasp. Isabella placed her hands over her mouth, a sob leaving her lips. Her skin was in disarray. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as her breathing became fast and shallow. Isabella leaned forward, placing her hands on the walls beside the mirror as her heart pound fiercely against her chest. There were dark and purple patches all over her skin; at her wrist, upper arm, waist and around her breast area. Slowly, Isabella brought a hand to her shoulder; to the four crawl marks there. She ran her finger across them and winced, tears billowing in her eyes as pain seared through her. What the fuck? The black and purple patches I understand, could happen from someone holding you tightly while you guys have sex. I mean, you do have delicate skin and he's a hunk! But the crawl sounds? Nahh, beats me, too. Strange. The wounds were not that deep, but it looked as if someone brought the talon of an eagle and crawled it down her shoulder. She glanced down at her thighs to find another claw wound on her right thigh, this one looking deeper. Her alter ego whistled. He likes laying his claims, doesn't he? " He doesn't own me! He doesn't even know me" Silence. Is he even human, Isabella thought. Which kind of human has nails so sharp that it creates this severe injury. "God! I need to get to work or I would be in big trouble," Isabella muttered to herself. Walking back into the shower cubicle, Isabella turned a faucet on the wall to change the water to hot. Standing under the shower head, she turned the faucet and the hot water cascaded down. The moment it touched her shoulder, Isabella let out a cry. She bit down on her lips, trying to muffle her cries. The last thing she needed right now is Beatrix or Natalia walking in to see her like this, she would not hear the end of it. So, she gritted her teeth against the pain and allowed the hot water to soothe the wounded skin. She lathed herself slowly, making sure to be extra careful with the tender skin. Even in-between her legs felt tender. Sore. After lathing herself, Isabella allowed the water to wash the lathe away. Once done, she stepped out from the cubicle, grabbing her towel on the hanger just beside the cubicle. Opening her medicine cabinet, She brought out the first aid kit that she kept there. Moving to sit on the bench in the bathroom, she inspected the wounds. The angry red line that ran down her thigh and shoulder looked better. She unzipped her first aid kit and rummaged through the contents, searching for the antiseptic wipes. Finding them, she carefully dabbed at the wound, hissing at the sharp sting. Moving to her shoulder, Isabella gingerly applied the antiseptic wipe to her shoulder, gritting her teeth against the pain. As the stinging subsided, she reached for the gauze and medical tape, wrapping the gauze around her thigh and shoulder to protect the wounds. The pain was still there, a dull throbbing that refused to relent, but she knew she had to keep moving. Packing up the first aid kit, she took a deep breath and forced herself to stand, steadying herself against the wall as she tested her weight on her injured leg. Not bad to walk on, no one would notice the difference. Few minutes later, Isabella stood frustrated in front of the mirror again. She had been trying for minutes now to conceal the black and purple patches on her wrist and upper arm, all to no avail. Reaching for the concealer, she gingerly dabbed it over the bruise on her wrist and upper elbow again, trying to mask its presence. She stopped, and looked at what she had done. Tears formed and rolled down her cheeks. No matter how heavily she dabbed the concealer over the wound, it still felt like it was visible. Glaringly obvious. Especially with the mismatched coloration of her skin that it caused. Unable to bear it anymore, Isabella flunked the bottle of concealer against the wall and it's brownish, semisolid content spilled all over the floor. Isabella stomped back into her room and flung the door of her wardrobe open. She thumbed through her clothes, searching for one in particular. " There!" She brought out the black, long sleeved, turtleneck that she just found and for the first time since waking up, Isabella smiled. She raised her hands slightly to slip into the top, wincing at the pain that blossomed all over her shoulder. She locked her jaw as it only became worse the more she tried to pull the turtleneck down, but she persisted. Isabella bent over after successfully pulling the turtleneck on, panting with tears clouding her eyes. She blinked them back and reached for the A-line pencil skirt that she was wearing the top with. She found a scarf and tied it stylishly around her neck. Who cares if it was Summer and one eighty degrees out there. She would just chalk it up to a sudden fashion steeze burst. Putting on her heel and throwing her hair up into a messy bun, Isabella hurried out of the house like the hoards of hell write after her. Luckily enough for her, Beatrix and her daughter, Natalia were no where in sight. This meant that she could leave the house without any further delay. Jumping into her convertible, Isabella drove like she never had before. Even as she weaved in-between cars and overtook others at dangerous corners, she could feel the blood draining from her head and her plans getting sweaty with panic. But she didn't stop. She had to get to the office as quickly as possible and see if she could savage the bad situation she knew she was already in. Just as she parked her car in her usual parking space, her phone rang. She fished it out from her handbag even as if she ran into the building. It was Rosa.