CAN'T fight the Moonlight(Isaac/Terry)

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There were times when Isaac just needed to get away from it all... times when the visions of that horrid night nearly two years ago were too much for him to handle. He had spent the last several months nearly perfecting his immunity to his own emotions, or at least perfecting the wall that he was building around himself. But for some reason tonight, when he had caught his reflection in the rear-view mirror of his pickup, the eyes that stared back at him hadn't belonged to Isaac... they had belonged to his brother, Chris.

It was all he could do not to soil the dashboard and steering wheel with vomit, guilt and anguish searing through him until it felt absolutely painful. He managed to pull over and with a quick jerk of the door handle, practically stumbled out of the truck before losing what remained of his dinner in the snow. Isaac remained doubled over even after the vomiting had subsided into dry heaves, catching his breath. Ever since that night, he had barely been able to stand looking at himself in a mirror, and there were times when he did that his similarities to his older brother astonished him... but never had there been a reaction such as this one. He wasn't quite sure what had thrown him off-kilter tonight.

The door of the blue truck squeaked as Isaac slammed it shut and then wandered around to the truck bed and climbed inside. There was a cooler kept there that he liked to keep pretty well-stocked with soda and bottled water, considering how much he traveled. It was always good to cut back on time by not having to make restaurant stops whenever he was thirsty. Isaac lifted the lid to the cooler and pulled out a bottle of Mountain Dew just as a slight gust of wind blew by. Immediately he looked up, his nose wrinkling up at the sharp scent of blood that assaulted his nostrils.

Closing the lid to the cooler, Isaac hopped down out of the truck and unscrewed the cap to the drink, tossing back a third of the liquid. It burned a bit at the back of his throat, which was a bit raw from the vomiting, but it also did the trick of washing the horrible taste out of his mouth. He sniffed at the air again and realized the scent was coming from the thick growth of trees off the side of the road. Isaac wasn't normally one to get involved in something like this but he was still a bit too dizzy to drive and, admittedly, was at least a little curious as to what he might find. So he began his wandering through the trees.

He caught sight of the trail of blood in the snow before anything else, and following that was even easier than following the smell, of course. Isaac's gaze flickered left and right, on the lookout for some sort of predatory animal that might attack at any second. But no attack came, and as he continued moving through the trees he found that the trail of blood led to a young woman who looked to be in quite a bit of pain, and was bleeding rather heavily. Isaac frowned and watched her for a moment, trying to decide his best course of action. All instincts told him not to approach her, that it was best that he stay out of her way, but she looked as though she really needed help, and he couldn't turn his back on that.

"Hey," he called to her, approaching slowly and carefully so as not to startle or scare her. "You need help?"

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Isaac clenched his jaw and moved forward to the woman at her acknowledgment of needing his help. Every instinct told him not to get involved... to just leave her there because if he did too much to help her, she might think of him as some sort of hero, and that was the last thing that he needed. If it weren't for the fact that she reeked of blood he might have passed her on by without a care in the world, but the fact was that he wasn't sure that she would survive if she had to rely on her own legs to get her somewhere safe. He was surprised that she could even stand as it was.

He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and held it up at different angles, trying to get reception but had no luck. Isaac cursed under his breath and made a mental note to change plans as he shoved the useless phone back into his jeans pocket. He would just have to get her to the road, call an ambulance, and then he wouldn't have to worry about her anymore.

He thought briefly of asking the woman if she could walk but realized that if she could walk there fine on her own she wouldn't much need his help. So he put one arm around her back gently and bent his knees, preparing to lift her into his arms but not wanting to do so without her permission. "I'm going to lift you up, alright?"

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Isaac sighed, rolling his eyes as he lifted the woman up into his arms. Great. No hospitals? What in the hell did she expect him to do with her then? It wasn't like he was a medical expert and she was bleeding profusely. He honestly couldn't understand why women had to be so damn stubborn. It was one thing he definitely did NOT miss about being involved in the dating scene.

He cradled the woman close to his chest as he began moving through the trees again. The curse that had been put on him gave him a slight increase in speed and stamina, though not enough to make him seem too out of the ordinary. He glanced down at her face now and again, noticing that she looked to be fading away out of consciousness. No way he was going to let her die on his watch. He had to keep her talking.

"So uh... what's your name?" he asked, the words coming out between breathless pants as he picked up the pace. "What happened to you anyway?"

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Isaac frowned and picked up the pace, glancing down and noticing that her blood was trickling down his arm as he supported her against him. He couldn't imagine how she had ended up in the middle of the woods if she had been in a car accident, especially with injuries as extensive as these.

"Terrence, I'm Isaac," he told her, trying to keep her talking still. "You've got to stay awake, alright? Just keep talking to me... stay awake. Tell me about yourself. Where are you from?"

He wasn't really interested in knowing anything about this girl. Not that he didn't think she might be nice, but getting to know someone only encouraged them to try to get to know you. And the last thing he wanted was for an innocent girl to try to get to know him. He didn't want to put her at risk... Isaac knew from experience just what could happen to the people that he cared about. And he didn't care how much she begged, he was going to get her safely to his truck out from beneath the heavy trees, and he was going to call an ambulance. There was nothing that he could do to heal her injuries, and denying her the proper care that she needed would be the same as leaving her to die in the woods.