40 ★ Keep you safe

                                    

                                          
𝔹𝕣𝕠𝕤 - 𝕎𝕠𝕝𝕗 𝔸𝕝𝕚𝕔𝕖
                          
"Are your lights still on?
                          
I'll keep you safe
                          
You keep me strong"






                          
Cedric POV

                          
     I stare up at the graffiti stained brick building with something akin to horror. The stench alone made me insist Savannah recheck the address to make certain I'm in the right place.
                          
     Suffice it to say, it's somehow the correct address.
                          
    My body is frozen in disbelief. I can't even begin to imagine how Hendrix had ended up in an apartment building such as this one. On the outskirts of town, hidden in the shadows like a bad dream.
                          
     It reeks of alcohol and drugs, the sounds of drunken laughter fills the wretched air. Cracked pavement that's littered with cigarettes and beer cans. Barking dogs and overgrown, brown grass.
                          
     The area is dangerous, and filthy. 
                          
     And my little human mate is living here. By herself.
                          
     The idea of her being in this place seems wrong on every level. Hendrix is all skirts, grins and laughter. I try to picture it in my mind, her standing outside this apartment complex, and fail. It doesn't seem right.
                          
    When I park, I survey the parking lot for her new car to see if she's home, if you can even call this place a home. I demanded that Savannah and Ezra stay in the car while I go up to her apartment. This is a private moment, and I don't honestly know how it's going to go down.
                          
     I don't actually like the idea of breaking into her apartment while she's not here, but maybe it's best if I don't get the door slammed in my face when she opens it to find me standing on her welcome mat. 
                          
     So, I head into the building after a few minutes of uneasy hesitation. 
                          
     There's no locked door to enter the place, which drives my anger up the wall, but I push it away and slowly make my way up the stairs. 
                          
     I take my sweet time paroozing the hallway for Hendrix's apartment number. The sound of a big dog barking through the peeling wall grates on my dwindling nerves. This place is not safe. Any idiot could get in and do whatever they damn well please. That doesn't sit well with me.
                          
     As soon as I reach the golden number 23, I lean against the door frame and deeply inhale. The scent of my mate fills my whole body with ease.
                          
     It's as if the building strain of being separated from her disintegrates at the faint whiff of her irresistible fragrance. I've waited months to be with her. I can't wait any longer. 
                          
     I stay here for a while, bathing in the reality that I'll see Hendrix tonight after so many painful days and nights of missing her.
                          
     This is real. This is actually happening. The day is here.
                          
     Excitement sizzles you my spine, and I'm reminded of the first time I met my mate. Every time I saw her was an explosion of new emotion. Something I never experienced.
                          
     I finally kneel down and make short work of the feeble little lock screwed into the the tan door. I angle two pins into the keyhole, positioning them until I hear the precious sound of a click. 
                          
     I silently thank Savannah and her hair pins. 
                          
     As soon as I stand, I twist the handle and push it inward. The smell of Hendrix intensifies, but something about it seems different. Sweeter, more pungent, more alluring. Maybe it's just the time spent away that's making her scent so much more appealing to me.