If I Die Young

D'artagnan ran his hands through his slicked back golden hair for the millionth time today. He had changed several different times and still didn't like his appearance. He carried a bottle of wine under one arm and a bouquet of wild flowers in the other. D'artagnan had been excited when Misha had called to invite him out for lunch. He had been so busy with work lately that he hadn't had a lot of time for her. The end of the quarter was fast approaching which meant study and teach with little time to do much else. But today was his off day and he planned on spending the entire time with his little human.

Tilting his wrist slightly he gazed at the time, he was a few minutes late, he blamed the florist for not being able to arrange the flowers correctly. In the end he had simply summoned up his own flowers which turned out better than he had imagined. Normally D'artagnan didn't bring gifts to dates. Yes he was a romantic man, but only to those who deserved to be romanced and in his eyes Michelle deserved every bit of romance he had in his body. He gazed around the park with his famous mix matched eyes. He didn't see her, but then again she had told him it was in a special place. So he decided to walk around until he found her.

The hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood on end, there was a creature of dark magic near by. He didn't like that at all. Quickening his pace he finally stumbled upon an empty blanket, the contents of the basket had been turned over and tampled on by something rather large. "Misha..." D'artagnan quickly looked around the park for his little human nun. "MICHELLE!" his dark baritone voice bellowed as he frantically searched for her.

His ears picked up a faint scream from the forest, dropping the flowers and wine he took off as fast as his legs could carry him his form shifting for his human appearance into a very pissed off fae. The scent of blood hung in the air like a veil which only drove D'artagnan to run faster. He could see them, the massive hell hound hovering over Michelle. A blue light wrapped around his balled fist, without stopping his rammed his fist hard into the snout of the deadly hound, the light caused a small explosion which knocked the creature off of Michelle and several feet away from them. The beast crashed through four tree's before landing on the ground with a loud sickening thud.

"Michelle, Michelle can you hear me?" there was so much blood, and her poor arm was bent in an awkward angle which could only meant that it had been broken. Pulling his cape from his shoulders he wrapped it around Michelle's small form and picked her up as gently as he could. The hell hound was once more on it's feet and bolting towards them at neck breaking speed. D'artagnan sneered at the beast and vanished in a poof of purple and silver smoke right as the beast lunged at him, causing it to land face first into the truck of a large maple tree.

He appeared in his room and laid her down gently on the silk blankets no caring on bit about the blood that began staining it. "WIMBLE!!" D'artagnan yelled cutting through the fabric of her dress and tossing the ruined remains on the floor. "WIMBLE!" Winkle quickly ran into the room his chest heaving up and down from running so fast. "Master needs something yes?" the creatures eyes fell upon Michelle and a startled gasp escaped his mouth. Tugging on his ears he began to dance from foot to foot worriedly. "Wimble, I need you to go get some of my herbal tea ready. Also contact Evelyn and tell her that there was another attack." The creature nodded quickly and ran out of the room leaving D'artagnan to do his work.

Rolling up the sleeves of his overly poofy shirt, he summoned a bowl of warm water and medical supplies. He gently removed the dirt and debris from the wound, grimacing slightly at the pearly white bone that peaked out from under the flesh that had been removed. Pulling his glove off with his teeth he placed the palm of his hand over her wound, "Michelle, this is going to hurt but I need you to stay still." Tiny sparks of electricity shot from his hand and began to create new skin over the wound. Tiny beads of sweat began to form on the fae's head. Normally this would be a very easy job, but for some reason, he found it difficult to use his magic on her. As if something were pushing him away.

Removing his hand he saw that he had made enough for him to stitch up the wound. Digging through the medical supplies he pulled out a nettle and surgical wire. As gently as possible he expertly sewed up what was left of the wound, his magic was able to make enough that it would only leave a small scar compared to what would have happened if he had took her to the hospital. Once he was finished he put a small brace on her arm and wrapped it tightly. His mix matched eyes gazed at the broken woman who laid on his bed. If only he had gotten there sooner, he would have been able to prevent this.

By the end of it all his hands were covered in blood as well as most of the bedding. Wrinkle waddled into the room softly carrying a tray of tea and small sandwiches on his head his oversized ears holding onto the sides to keep it balanced. D'artagnan looked at him with tired eyes. He leaned back in the chair very ungentleman like. His hands limp on the arms of the chair, his hair hung on his face hiding the depressed look in his eyes. He blamed himself, blamed himself for not getting their on time, blamed himself that this perfect woman would now be scarred for life because of the hell hound. He wanted nothing more than to find the moron who released them and make him pay slowly and painfully. But the odd thing was, hellhounds were drawn towards supernatural creatures more than humans. As far as D'artagnan knew Michelle was human. He sensed no powers or special aura's from her.

It was also strange as to why his powers didn't fully work on her. Normally it would have healed instantly leaving nothing behind but for some odd reason it was as if Michelle's body was fighting off his magic. He'd have to look into it later, sighing her rubbed his eyes lightly and took the offered cup from Wrinkle with a nod. He had stopped the bleeding and mended the bones. She would be alright more tired and sore than anything but at least she was alive. The thought of her lying there dead made his blood run cold. If he had been just a second later she would be gone. Forever. He didn't like that thought it made him nervous and dare he say it...lonely.

"Master made Ms.Misha better he did..." D'artagnan felt something wet on his hand, looking down he saw the little forest creature washing the dried blood off his hands. He offered the little creature a smile and sipped his tea. "Only time will tell Wrinkle." Wrinkles head shot up to D'artagnan when he said his name right. It made his chest puff out slightly with pride that his master knew his name. "Ms.Misha will be alright she will...Wrinkle knows it." The forest creature looked over at the resting woman on the bed, his large eyes watching the glowing white aura dance back and forth over her body. An aura only few could see and only few who knew what it was.

D'artagnan had recently fallen asleep in his chair, a loose blanket was across his lap as well as a large black book with golden italic letters written in Latin. Several note pages littered the floor. The fae slept peacefully his dark lashes resting gently on his cheeks fluttering lightly as his eyes darted behind their lids. He had stayed up all night to make sure she was still breathing and had fallen asleep gathering information on hell hounds. By all accounts Michelle should have been dead moments of getting her here. But she was fine, perfectly fine it as if nothing had really happened. It made no sense. No sense at all.

He heard movement from outside his dreams. Taking in a deep breath he opened his eyes and stretched. When he looked at a now awake Michelle he was instantly on his feet, the blanket and book falling to the floor without a care. "You're awake." he said hoarsely with a smile, his fingers gently combing through her hair. "Had you not awakened soon I would have taken up prayer." He smiled sweetly at her and called in the little forest creature who came in with a tray of tea and food. "Here love, drink this. You must be famished." He ignored the twisting in his gut telling him that he himself was also hungry. Michelle came first, he could see to his own needs later.

D'artagnan instantly wrapped his arms around her small frame and sat on the bed laying her head on his chest. "Shh, love...shh" He rocked back and forth slowly careful of her wounds. His fingers gently moved over her hair smoothing it over gently. "I'll always protect you." he whispered softly in her golden hair. Wrinkle shifted back and forth nervously between his two feet unsure of what to do. Suddenly a thought occured to him. Hurrying down to his little room he pulled out a medium sized box and carefully carried it up to her room. Bouncing onto D'artagnan's bed he opened the top and slowly wound the little handle on the side.

A tiny unicorn slowly rose out of the box and began to spin in a small circle with the [Only admins are allowed to see this link]. D'artagnan stared at the little creature the smiled softly at Michelle, Wrinkles raspy voice humming along to the tune. In all the years that D'artagnan had known the little forest spirit he had never seen him warm up to anyone other than himself. But Wrinkle had taken a liking to Michelle and was doing his best to cheer her up. Clearing his throat he started to add words to the melody his voice deep and seductive a gift he received from his siren father. Wrinkle smiled softly to himself, it had been a few centuries since his master had sang anything. Especially to a woman, he could see that his master cared for the woman beside him. The forest creature's large eyes continued to watch Michelle careful, it wouldn't be long now...a few days at best.

Wrinkle lowered the lid of the box and slid it towards Misha and happy smile on his lips, "Everything be alright, it will, it will. he patted her hand and leaped off bed and made his way downstairs to make something to eat for Misha. His master would be very surprised when her secret was revealed, the gods only know how it will work out in the end. Still it would be interesting to watch to say the least.

D'artagnan continued to hold Misha, her tears had finally stopped, he had to give the little forest creature credit for his fast thinking, then again he was always like that. He hated seeing someone upset, such a strange creature. When he left he leaned back and gently wiped away the stray tears that still clung to the beautiful woman's face. "One such as you have no need tears. They don't belong in your eyes." Leaning forward he kissed her forhead softly and poured her some tea that was still warm while the forest creature prepared lunch down stairs. "And you have nothing to apologize for, you did nothing wrong." He offered her the tea and sat back in his chair crossing his legs comfortably.

"I'm perfectly fine love." he would never admit that he was scared shitless when he found her. He was more scared for her than of the annoying beast. He would like nothing more than to find that creature and show him the meaning of pain. But Michelle came first, once she was better maybe he would go look for it and shove his fist so far down it's throat it would be begging to return to hell. Then something caught his attention, she thought she outran it? Hell Hounds would be on humans in seconds and they weren't known for letting their meals get a head start. Leaning forward slightly he arched a brow, "You out ran it? How did you out run it?" Hell Hounds were notoriously fast, humans wouldn't stand a chance. "There is no need to repay me love, I'm going to take care of you until you feel better. I promise." and then he would figure out just what exactly Misha was...because the more he thought about it. There was no way his little nun was a human.

"Misha love you were attacked by a Hell Hound, a giant demonic creature who kills on a whim. Anyone would have broken down as you did. Even Khalid." He had no doubt that Khalid would have had a break down just like Misha if he had had a chunk taken out of him. But it still nagged in the back of D'artagnan's mind how exactly Misha had survived. No one, unless given the cure, could survive from blood loss and it's infectious bite. Yet she did. He wanted to believe it was divine intervention but he knew better than that.

When she explained to him that she simply ran his brows furrowed more, humans no matter how fast could out run a hell hound. It would be upon them by the time they took a couple of steps. Now that D'artagnan thought about it, Michelle had been pretty far in the forest, much farther than a normal human could have made it. Rubbing his chin softly he ignored the annoying prickle of his five o'clock shadow and thought hard. "Humans can't out run Hell Hounds Misha...no matter if they have adrenaline or not. Do you remember anything that might have seemed out of place?" there were of course fae creatures in the forest that might have helped. But he highly doubted it.

Perhaps he should speak with Tristian, she might have a spell to see if there was more to Misha than what was on the surface. It made him nervous not knowing if the little human he had grown attached to was actually human or something else entirely. D'artagnan detested not knowing things. "You're not an inconvenience love. You're too weak to walk let alone take care of yourself. So, until you are better you're staying right there in that bed." his voice was stern, leaving no room for arguments. When it came to things he cared about D'artagnan put his foot down quick. "The little ball of fur is fine, he's down stairs will Windel, as for this Mia, I have no idea who she is but I will see to it that she is alright." Oh the things D'artagnan will do for Michelle.

"Probably." Khalid was an ass but deep down D'artagnan knew that Khalid liked Misha. He'd lay off the jokes, at least till her bones healed. Then not so much.

"Yes, a Hell Hound, a giant beast from hell. We're not sure how it was released but we're looking into it. Three students have already died from it." He wouldn't tell her that complete effects of how they died. Two of them were supernatural so their deaths were prolonged. The human got off easy. He had put the human out of it's misery when he found her. One thing was for sure, when D'artagnan found out who let the beasts loose there would be nothing in this world to save them from his wrath. No one hurt Michelle...he didn't care about anyone else but Michelle was not someone to fuck with when it came to D'artanan.

D'artagnan continued to ponder on Misha's escape from the Hell Hound. Her body resisted his magic, she purified the poison in her, out ran the beast, without the help of any other supernatural creature. It just didn't add up. There was no possible way that she was human. "Michelle...hell hounds can move in a blink of an eye, you wouldn't have stood a chance...if you were human." He didn't want to upset her, she was easily startled over things like this but he wasn't going to lie to her. If he thought she was supernatural he was going to do everything in his power to find out.

As if on cue of her asking for the little fuzz ball, Puddle came scrambling into the room bouncing excitedly on the edge of the bed. His little eyes staring up at Michelle. Reaching down D'artagnan picked up the small dog and sat him next to Michelle. "He's been keeping Wiggle company downstairs." Mainly because the dog had ran all over the house looking for Michelle that if the forest creature hadn't taken him D'artagnan would have turned him into a stuffed dog. "As for this Mia person I shall make sure she is fine and I might have Tristian stop by...I have a few questions to ask her." Mostly about whether Misha would be alright or not.

D'artagnan grunted lightly at her comment of God having mercy. In his opinion, God had no mercy but then again he didn't believe in Michelle's God so he really couldn't bash the man...woman...supreme being. Yes, we'll go with that one. If this God had any mercy he would kill the poor bastards that got attacked instead of prolonging their suffering. Sighing heavily he rubbed the top of Puddles head and sipped on his tea. However, after finishing his tea he decided on something a bit more strong. Snapping his fingers a large cabinet opened in the corner of the room and a crystal glass floated to his hand, a dark amber liquid spinning slightly as it moved.

"Honestly, Michelle. I don't think you are." he said bluntly tapping the crystal glass with his index finger. There were too many coincidences for her not to be fae. Too many for even him to look over. The only thing was to pin point what kind of fae she was. A powerful one was for sure to fight off hell hound poison and push away his magic. The fae's eye couldn't help but twitch when she mentioned having faith in her God. It was always good for someone to have faith in something but this God had nothing to do with saving her. He did and whatever magic she held inside of her. Tipping the glass back she downed the drink in one fell gulp and summoned the bottle to fill it again.

A part of D'artagnan lit up when he heard her laugh, she had a musical laugh that brought out a side of him that he hadn't seen in a long time. Pointing at the dog he narrowed his eyes, "You behave. We don't need you opening any wounds." The little dog look at him for a moment and laid down by Michelle's side his front two paws and head were resting on her stomach. Giving a curt nod he looked to Michelle. "Honestly Michelle. I do believe we are beyond last names. Call me D'artagnan." Pulling out his phone from his pocket he sent a text to his favorite little wicca to come to the house as soon as possible. If anyone could find out what Michelle was it would be Tristian. Besides Michelle trusted her more than any other witch in the city.

"I don't believe you are." he said bluntly offering her a soft smile. He didn't want to sugar coat it, but at the same time he didn't want to upset her anymore than he probably already had. He apologized for startling her with his magic but he needed a drink and was currently too lazy to get it himself. He liked his name coming from her lips. It was very intimate. Rising from the seat he finished his drink and kissed her softly on the forehead. "Of course, you rest I'll be downstairs. Call me if you need me."

Turning he magically dimmed the lights and made his way out of the room. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his phone and down the stairs. Typing in a number he brought the phone to his ear while magically filling his glass again. "Tristian...it's D'artagnan I need a favor."

Tristian was at D'artagnan's house within minutes of his call. She and Khalid had been watching some old movie while she silently cursed his cats for their annoying habit of laying on her chest and playing with her hair when she got the call. However, the fae had failed to tell Tristian that her best friend had been attacked by hell hounds only that he needed a favor. Needless to say, Khalid wasn't happy that she told him that they had to go. So here she stood, in her pajama's carrying a bag full of magic supplies and a giant grimoire full of magic spells. Wrinkle pulled open the door and Tristian looked down at him as he coward back from her. The forest creature never liked witches, for he was almost dinner for one.

D'artagnan was lounging on the couch one arm tossed over his face with the glass of alcohol balancing by his fingers. "Crazy fae..." walking pass the little forest creature she walked up the stairs leading to the D'artagnan's room. Pushing open the door she dropped her bag on the floor, her hands covering her mouth at the sight of the bed. The sheets were stained with blood and the lingering scent of magic and poison still lingering in the air. Turning on her heel she hurried down the stairs where she slapped D'artagnan hard on the leg. "Care to tell me why my best friend is currently laying in blood stained sheets!" She was gonna ring this fairy boy's neck by the end of the night.

Wrinkle shook his head slowly at the fae who called him a hobbit. He had never seen the Lord of the Rings Series and the poor thing couldn't read but for as long as he could remember Khalid had called Wrinkle a hobbit. "Wrinkle not hobbit...Wrinkle Aru'nika....forest creature he is...he is." he shook his head slowly and closed the door before following Tristian up the stairs. Just because he didn't trust Tristian didn't mean he was going to leave Misha alone. After D'artagnan called the only witch he trusted to be around Misha he tossed himself on his couch and continued to drink until his face was numb. He was through his fifth glass when Tristian arrived with Khalid.

The old fae didn't even look up when they came in the door knowing Khalid would come and badger him and Tristian would go to check on Misha. Once Khalid spoke to him he peaked out from under his arm and groaned. "Other than having to save Michelle for a giant brute of a hell hound and watching her slowly bleed to death on my bed I've had a very interesting day. But the best part was..." Before he could finished Tristian had come back down and hit him hard on his leg. Where he sober he would have probably blown her to hell and back but drunk he could really care less. He mentally slapped himself for not changing the sheets before the girl arrived.

Slowly pulling himself up he blinked a few times to clear his head and sat his drink down, "Michelle was attacked by a hell hound a few hours ago. When I got her here I did my best to heal her wound but for some reason her body was pushing back my magic and she also healed herself against the poison."

Tristian was fuming. Her best friend was laying in her own blood passed out on D'artagnan's bed and he was down here drinking! Wrinkle coward back away from her the scent of her magic making him extremely nervous. He didn't like the idea of the witch doing magic on Misha she was too pure for someone like this Tristian to be around. He would watch her and make sure nothing went wrong. Misha was already wounded enough, he didn't want anything else bad to happen to her.

The witch shook her head slowly running her fingers through her hair. "No, if she had been bitten by a hell hound she would be dead. No human can survive an attack." she took a seat on the couch and tilted her head to the side. "So this is why you asked me here. Michelle survived on her own, with no antidote which means that she can't be human." Michelle not being human was like someone saying the Pope was actually a Muslim or something. The girl screamed human, and she held no scent or aura of a supernatural creature. But, from what D'artagnan was describing to them...it would seem there was more to their friend then they originally thought.

D'artagnan groaned and rubbed his temples as the effects of his alcohol started to dwendle. Michelle was upstairs recooping, Tristian was still yelling at him and Khalid was being his overly smart assy self. Wrinkle brought him a nice cup of tea, though in all honesty he wanted more alcohol but knew that if he drank anymore he would be of no help to any of them. The fae cared for Michelle, more than he let on. Yes he flirted with her, complimented her, protected her, but in truth he loved her. And that was a big thing for D'artagnan. Love didn't come easy for him, yes he was good looking, a gentleman, a wonderful lover, but to be in love was never easy. He had never felt it's embrace or it's heartache. He shied away from such things to protect himself.

But the thought of losing Michelle hurt more than any wound ever could. In those few moments where she lay bleeding and in pain, D'artagnan felt his world start to break. The world, his world wouldn't be the same without her. She was a bright light that illuminated his gray world, a warmth that he had never felt before. He was a greedy man and wanted to keep her as long as possible. Opening his hand he showed it to Khalid and Tristian, a large black burn mark mared the flesh of his palm. It would be gone in a few days but it was still very clear at this moment. "I tried to heal the wound on her side where she was bitten, something in her pushed my magic out and it rebounded. Burning my hand. The poison isn't in her system. It's completely gone and she didn't have the antidote."

Tristian paced back and forth nibbling angrily on her black polished nails. So Michelle wasn't dead, that's always good, but she was possibly a very powerful supernatural creature, that was bad. The girl had panic attacks over other people and their weirdness if she went up there and told her that she was something else other than human the poor girl would have a heart attack. Not to mention Tristian liked the fact that Michelle was human, it gave a sense of balance to their little motley crew. When she had gone into the room there was a strange feeling in there, like old magic. At first she passed it off as D'artagnan but this was a different form of magic.

"Ok...ok...if Michelle is a supernatural thing then it's obviously powerful. Very powerful and by the way I am not happy with the fact that you let her get made into hell hound puppy chow!"" Summoning her grimoire she had the giant book float in front of her as she quickly scanned the pages looking for supernatural creatures that could fight off hell hound poisons. Demons were one, but Michelle was nothing like that, real angels could fight it off as well but they hadn't been seen in years and even as innocent as Michelle was she was no angel. She continued to flip through her book but found nothing. Taking out the spell for "Revealing the Truth" she closed the book and made her way back up the stairs. The sooner they found out just what Michelle was the better.