Chapter 5- Trauma
*RUMBLE*
"Mmh..."Blake jerked in his sleep as he heard the windows rattling.
He couldn't remember where he was or what he was doing before he fell asleep. After parting his eyes he even had problems discerning what he was....only to remember that he had transmigrated.
"Fuck!" Cursing aloud Blake rushed out of the room. He had been thinking so much earlier than without realizing he had fallen asleep.
And because of that, he nearly missed a major plot point.
*CRACKLE*
The whole living area was illuminated just for some moments because of the lightning as the figure of Blake marching toward Catherine's room became visible.
Without hesitation, he pushed the door open and found a trembling Catherine curled up in a corner of the room.
Blake heaved a sigh. Thankfully she hasn't tried running away or harming herself.
He took his shoes off to not make any noise and approached Catherine who was facing the other side and trembling like a lost child who has faced abuse.
Crouching down, he wrapped his hands around her shoulders and heard her gasping.
"LET GO OF ME!" She exclaimed and flailed her body to get away from him.
Blake tried to keep a hold of her which resulted in him feeling a sharp pain in his wrist.
"Ss..." He winced in pain as he felt Catherine biting his wrist without holding back.
However, he didn't let go of her. He can't do that since she would start harming herself.
And Blake cannot allow that.
Originally, Catherine gets extremely injured tonight by inflicting damage to herself. And all the original Blake does is to enjoy the show with an evil grin on his face.
More so, he gives her a knife with which Catherine cuts her face and scars herself all over to keep Blake away.
As one could guess, Catherine is traumatized and the night when that incident occurred, it was raining heavily that day as well.
That's why whenever it rains, there is a room in the church that is completely isolated and soundproof. Catherine lives there when it rains and walks out only when the rain goes away.
*SQUILCH*
Blood poured down his hand and coated Catherine's lips as she separated her mouth from his wrist and dug her nails into his arm.
"Agh...." He groaned and naturally so. Her nails were long and she was not holding back at all. In her mind, harming anyone who touches on a rainy night is an instinctual impulse.
Catherine stopped clawing him and bit another part of his arm. However, this time the intensity was a little lower and her teeth only dug a little inside his skin.
Blake was no longer reacting to her violent attacks and even started patting her head calmly.
Realizing that her actions weren't inflicting any damage, she shouted at him,
"G-GO AWAY!"
"No, I won't. And until you don't calm down, I will keep holding you like this." Blake calmly told her while his uninjured hand kept on caressing her head.
The action brought tears to her eyes as she felt helpless, "WHY YOU NOT LET GO?! LET GO! LET GO! "
She swayed his injured arm and even dug her thumb deep inside the wounded section which drew a sharp grunt from him. However, none of it was enough to make him stop.
Blake received her onslaught and sat down right there
He somehow pulled her into his lap and hugged her fondly in his arms.
He swayed left and right and whispered in her ear like how a mother coaxes her child, "I know you have suffered. I know you have gone through something that no one ever should face. But I also know that Catherine is a very brave girl who wouldn't let her past dominate her actions."
The fierceness of her clawing and bites receded slowly and large droplets of tears began to form in her eyes.
Blake fondly cradled the girl in his arms like he used to do with many children of his town in his previous life.
Catherine is just like a child who craves attention and love. She has been snatched away from familial love at a very early age and the poor child has to see her parents being tortured and physically abused with her own eyes.
No child should go through such an experience.
"Waaaaaahhhhhh....mama..... Maaamaaaa...." She clung to his arm and wailed loudly while calling out to her mother.
Blake held her tenderly and allowed the girl to wail all her sorrow. He could somehow relate to her that's why that tender look in his eyes never disappeared.
Slowly, her crying subdued, and her body
began to turn limp.
Blake patiently waited until Catherine was completely asleep before he got up on his feet with Catherine in his arms.
Although he wasn't as strong as his previous life, lifting such a lightweight girl as Catherine wasn't much of a task.
Laying her down on the bed, Blake intended to cover her with the blanket and leave.
However, "Mmm...mama...." She mumbled under her breath and clung to his arm like her life was dependent on it.
Blake feared that if he struggled against her, then she might wake up. Left with no option he took out one of the pillow covers and wrapped it around his wounded arm. The potion vials were stored in a different room, as such this make-shift first aid was the only thing he could rely on.
Resting himself beside her, Blake was slightly surprised when Catherine in her sleep snuggled close to him.
He allowed her to wrap her leg around his waist and with minimal movement of her hands, she clutched his shirt.
'Hmmmm....' Seeing how barely she could move her hands, Blake came to a decision, and not so long after he also fell asleep with Catherine held protectively in his arms.
Tonight he broke the oath to not touch Catherine but at least she gave him half consent. Blake was content with it.
*********
The next morning Catherine found her natural biological cycle kicking in.
Slowly opening her eyes, she instantly covered them because of the sharp light falling on her face.
'Huh?!' Suddenly she realized something odd.
Her hand...why was she able to move it properly and without any restraint?
Slowly she tried to move her other hand....and as expected, it was free as well!
'How....? ' As she straightened her back, she looked down at the bed and found her eyes widening.
With his clothes disheveled and his complexion a bit pale, Blake lay there with his hand still on her waist.
Catherine panicked....not because she found Blake on the same bed as her, but because the memories from last night began to pour down.
Everything that happened after she heard the round rumbling of clouds...the fact she experienced one of those seizures again and the person who came to her rescue was someone she hated...
Catherine bit her lips as she felt anxiety welling up again....only to taste something like dried blood.
Catherine frowned, and then all of a sudden her eyes went toward his arm which she had mercilessly attacked last night.
'Oh my god...' The whole thick fabric of the pillow cover was painted red—that much blood he had lost last night.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she slowly removed the fabric that had dug inside his wound—making her heart wrench at the scene.
"I suggest you stop." Catherine shivered to hear his voice and turned her eyes to look at his half-lidded ones.
"Y-Your hand...." Catherine stuttered as tears threatened to spill out any moment now.
"I know but don't worry. I have some potions with me which I...*thud*" Blake got up and walked toward the door to fetch some potions to heal himself.
But after taking three steps his vision got blurry and he fell to the ground with a loud thud.
....it seems, he first needs work on his weak-ass body.
**********
A/N:- Weak....you say. Well....