I always feel like somebody's watchin' me

Hunter knew that she was supposed to stay in the shadows, not be noticed, but it was hard when she heard him shuffle around, starting to descend from the tree. His movements however stopped rather quickly, she could almost smell the uncertainty in him before he declared that he was stuck. "Close your eyes," she told him, not coming forward before he had done so. "Promise you won't peak," it was important to her, "if you peak, I'll get hurt," she elaborated, which wasn't really a lie. If he promised, she stepped forward, her arms reaching up to grab his feet, placing them on a spot on the tree that looked stable enough.
Guiding him down the tree with her hands, he was eventually on the ground once more. She stood behind him, a bit smaller than him, but it was fine with her. "Whenever you're stuck again, you don't have to worry ... I'll always be here, I promise you," her words so genuine and yet she had to move fast, hiding in the shadows as she made herself unnoticeable to him. "I'm your shadow," which wasn't really the truth, but not really a lie either. She would always be there for him.

The small hellhound was quite certain that if she said much more it wouldn't go well for her. So even if Freddy continued to ask, she wouldn't reply, just humming before heading in to hiding again. Right on time the teacher appeared, and safe to say she wouldn't be able to spot the girl hiding in the shadows.

Hunter coughed, grabbing firmer on to her mug of warm water before trying to drink it. She was shivering a bit, the sickness having spread a little, but thankfully it would be contained within her. Her body was rather good at handling this sorta ordeal, but it wasn't pleasant, that was for sure. Her first priority would always be Freddy, but she found herself thinking of Gaspar and how she had promised to come home before he woke up. Safe to say, the sun was dawning and a night had passed. She felt horrible, not only from the bite, but from the fact that she had let down two promises tonight. The first was keeping herself hidden from Freddy, the second being returning to the shifter.
"You should get some sleep," she told him, wanting to encourage him to get some rest. Maybe then she could slip out of sight. Maybe he could forget her again, sum all of this up to a strange drunken night.

She had expected many things from him, a great many things in the future at least, but him carrying her to bed right now was so strange. Was he actually looking out for her? While he probably would never understand the feelings she had in this moment as he carried her, her body seemed to relax, allowing herself to just be close to him this once. Just once and then when she was healed she could go back to the shadows. But who could really blame her when he was her sun? Her whole world at least most of her waking hours?
The bed felt soft against her back and far from the couch she had been sleeping on when Vinnie didn't have night shifts. He left briefly, only to return with her mug, nodding as a way to say thanks, but it wasn't quite as easy to express herself when she felt her throat hurting as she fought back showing how emotional she was right now. He threw her a shirt and she got out of her clothes a little slowly, not wanting to move too fast and fall over. Once she had gotten out of it she pulled on the shirt he had thrown her. It was rather big on her, but it smelled so nicely of him. As she was tucked in to bed she had her last sip from her mug before laying her head on the pillow. Looking at him, she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, but it was clear she had never felt this way before, this looked after and protected.

Hearing his voice was something that seemed to calm her body down, though with his small pats he would feel how warm she actually was. And with the fever, he was practically burning even through the shirt he had given her.
She slept through to the next morning, actually finding herself curled up to Freddy, even if he didn't have an arm around her. Maybe it was her subconscious who played a game with her, but she laid still, listening to his breathing, hearing his heartbeat that she fought for every day to keep beating. There was something so beautiful about this still moment. Even if she was feeling the sickness in her, she felt aware of the fact that it was Freddy she was next to. Perhaps she was a bit too brave as she reached out to touch a loose strand of his blonde hair, looking at it with big eyes as she couldn't recall something ever feeling so soft between her fingers.
But alas, the morning was not meant for peace. A guest had snuck in, coming up the stairs with a tray of coffee and food, and as she opened the door she snuck over to Freddy's side, not noticing Hunter just yet as she was hidden under the duvet. "Good morning Freddy-bear," she said, giggling as she was wearing a rather cute outfit. It was a girl he had been seeing for a little while. Nothing too serious, but she thought so. "Did you have a hard night out? Awe, you want me to - What the fuck!?" Slamming the tray down on the bedside table, she pullet the duvet off, seeing Hunter curled up next to Freddy in nothing but a big t-shirt and then there was Freddy who was only wearing sweat pants. The girl grit her teeth, "who the fuck is she?" she demanded to know, Hunter being a bit surprised, moving away from Freddy, trying to signal that she wasn't doing anything with him. However her voice was gone, a side effect of the infection and trying to speak she only let out small moans and groans. "Speak up, bitch! What the fuck are you doing in bed with my boyfriend?"

The girl grit her teeth, watching as Freddy got up to leave, "don't meddle in my plans, dog!" the girl's jaw unhinged, black matter of goo spilling from her mouth as Hunter stumbled back. Freddy had gone downstairs, her chest heaving for air she wasn't really in a state where fighting was a good idea. But she had to. Grabbing what she could to throw at the girl that was slowly morphing in to a mess of dark creatures that seemed to tumble over one another to get ahead.
Hunter grit her teeth, hearing the clinking of glasses downstairs, she had no choice. Normally her transformation wasn't pleasant, but being sick meant that she was awfully weak to begin with. Not only that, but she needed to change fast. The shirt she had been sleeping in tearing from her beastly body, getting scorched and landing on the floor with small smoke clouds rising from the burnt fabric. Once her transformation was done, she lunged at the former girl, diving in to the dark mess. Already being infected had its benefits, one of them being that she couldn't get infected a second time. Her jaws were snapping, ripping the dark creatures apart and returning them to ash on the floor. However she couldn't hold her footing for long, slamming in to a wall as some creatures got a hold around her body, making her growl before yelping as they squeezed her tightly. A few cracks being heard before they finally let go. "The boy," the creature muttered to itself, staggering forward, falling over itself to move as if it was a giant sentient pile of shadowy creatures.

Hunter whimpered, yet no sound came out from her throat. Her vision flashed black spots, but she decided to keep going. There was no way that she would let that thing near Freddy! With a few broken ribs and her body weak from infection she took one last jump, managing to land on the creature, chomping down on what seemed to be the head of operations before it finally disappeared. Hunter collapsed on the floor, alone and rather weak, not to mention she couldn't just shift back now that she was in this state. Her body had to recognize that it needed the camouflage and shift back - which would be rather painful and would leave Hunter naked, broken and bruised on the hallway floor. She remained on the floor, shivering and shaking, her ribs having punctured in to one of her lungs, making her sound raspy. She could heal, but she would need help now, and not from any doctor. No, from someone who knew about her race.

She was grabbed, of course she knew who it was by the smell, but she felt angry that they intervened now. She had done so much to stay hidden, well, except yesterday. She was placed down in the other apartment, whimpering without sound as a healer came to her, checking her wounds before focusing on her throat where the infection was. Likewise she was covered up with a blanket, however she wasn't too worried about her own nudity.
The healer had managed to calm down the infection with a small brew that she swallowed, making her able to talk, albeit rather painfully as her lungs were still fucked. "You say that as if I don't know already," she said in spite of her throat hurting like hell, her lungs making a small whistle sound. "I couldn't have taken out the creatures yesterday without him noticing ... besides he'll forget me soon enough, like he did last time and the time before that, and the time before that," sometimes she wondered if she wasn't memorable enough for him, but she also knew it had to do with the protection he was under. "But how about you lot? What happened to don't worry about the creatures, don't worry about the man in the suit?" She grit her teeth as the healer inspected her broken ribs. "I might've been born and bred to protect him, but before this world I would've been able to be around him all the time - Liam says it's normal, why are you saying it's not?" Liam was her mentor. Or well, his real name wasn't Liam, but it was what he went by in this realm.

In her eyes they had done jack shit since she had gotten here. Where were they when she really needed them? Always trying to say they did something, yet she was the one being berated all the time. As the seated one slammed his fist against the armrest she made a small jump, only ending up groaning and the healer scolding her before they continued their business. This world was stupid. Liam had told her all about how wonderful it had been back in the day, how hellhound and master had a special bond. Now it felt like she was being scolded for following her instincts. "And what if that day never comes?" she asked. Frankly she was losing faith in the watchers, feeling like they were clinging on to something that had been lost for so long that would never return. "I'm supposed to know him, understand him, and you refuse to let me - I'm just trying to make all of our jobs easier and here I am being scolded for something that didn't happen! I changed back before I was picked up by you; I saved him in there, I did that, and now you are telling me that I did a bad job?" She shook her head, feeling her neck a little better, but her voice was still worn out.
"Whatever ... I'll return to the shadows like I always do, and he'll forget me, and that's that," she said. She needed rest, needed to heal and be prepared for the next time.

The questions just kept piling up, but she wouldn't reply because they didn't want to answer any of her questions either. It ended up with her in a room with the healer, being fed some food to help her heal, and yet it seemed that the infection wasn't going away just yet. Her ribs had been fixed, her lungs slowly recovering. All she could think about right now was Freddy. Was she really stupid for wanting to be near him? There was just this pull to be with him, be at his side at all times, and while she knew she could always be there for him from the shadows, it just wasn't the same. When she closed her eyes she could still remember his scent and how he had taken care of her. She felt so alone in this world. Liam's stories had filled her with hope at first, but as time went by that hope had turned to loneliness and she was feeling quite hopeless right about now.
Eventually she was given some clothes, told to go home and rest, but she felt like she couldn't leave Freddy now. What if someone near him had been a creature after all? So she sat up in a tree outside his apartment, hiding away from the mortal realm and just looking at the small light up there. He would forget about her before nightfall, and by then he would return to how he always seemed to return; A normal guy with normal memories.

Hunter waited until he exited the apartment complex before following him from the shadows. She knew the watchers had told her to go home and rest, but the healer had done wonders for her already. Instead of heading their words she felt determined to do her duty, keep an eye on him and protect him. Of course she hadn't forgotten about Gaspar, but Freddy was more important, even if she didn't like putting it that way.
Some of Freddy's friends had invited him to a simple house party, the booze was flowing and the music loud. A few guys and girls had already gotten wasted, dancing on tables and making out in the corners. It seemed like no matter how old you were, things like this still happened. Hunter went in to the party, keeping herself unseen which was fairly easy in a dimly lit house. She kept her eyes on Freddy, watching and perhaps yearning to still be close to him. Yet she strayed from her instincts, staying put in the shadows.
"Yooo, Freddy-Fredster!" a guy greeted him, wrapping his arm around his shoulders, pulling him in. His scent reeking of vodka and orange juice. "So glad you could make it! I heard you left Johnny's party early last night," he grinned in a tease.

"All good man, all good - we were talking about heading out later," he chuckled, joining the friends in the kitchen. Hunter kept her distance, but she felt that hunger in her again. That need to be close to him. It wasn't as in she wanted to be his girlfriend and all up in his face, but more like wanting to just stand there with his friends. Maybe have a beer herself, laugh along with something he said. Anything he said really. She had been deprived all her life, taking care of him like she was now, watching over him and making sure he was safe, and yet she kept doing it because it was in her nature. If she could just have him look at her like he looked at his friends she could die happy, but alas things were not meant to be. It didn't stop her from listening in to their banter.
"Dana's cousin is back in town; I swear someone needs to start dating that bitch before I go mad," one of the guys complained about their girlfriend's cousin. "She needs to just get railed, you know what I'm saying, get all her fucking frustrations out instead of taking them out on me." Toxic masculinity, what a concept!