Leah felt her stomach sink and her eyes widened, and if she didn't know she was alone she swore the whispers in her head would be from other customers.

The shopkeeper, Mike, lifted what could be the village's local newspaper and on the second page, there was a photo of Leah in a crowd of journalists.
Jason raised an eyebrow at her,

"That was you?"

She didn't want to say a word but after a nod, her eyes met theirs.
"Please don't tell me the whole village knows who I am..."

Mike adjusted his glasses with a crease in his brow, before taking a deep sigh.

"Unfortunately Lass everyone knows of the events but I doubt they've all seen your picture, probably didn't read your name either."

Jason added to Mike's conversation,
"There's no need to worry about it, besides no one will bother you with me around remember? So what are we shopping for?"

Leah lifted her head and recalled what her mother had asked for looking towards a stack of firewood in the corner of the shop, the amount on the sign beside it was a little alarming but it was better than nothing.
She could feel their eyes on her back as she lifted a few logs, Jason reaching for them.

"Here, lemme carry them."
"Thank you."

Looking at the prices for pretty much all the food seemed to only make the pit in Leah's stomach grow denser until deciding to grab a few chocolate bars and placing them on the till, holding her mum's card in her hand tightly.

"Is that everything?"

She glanced up at Mike, fumbling to smile earnestly.
"Y-yup!"

When the card beeped she grabbed the bag with the chocolate bars and Jason carried the logs, waving back at Mike with thanks. Taking a deep breath once the door closed behind her and started to walk back down the long road, Jason waited a few moments before speaking up.

"So we're just gonna pretend you actually got what you needed?"
"What?"
Leah faced him and he shook his head, a serious glint in his eyes.

"We both know that chocolate bars were not what you were after."
"How would you know? I'm sorry but you've barely known me for an hour."
"You had a grim face whenever you looked at a price."

Internally she felt herself groan, once again her face had betrayed her. She shrugged,
"Okay, so what?"

For a long moment, he stayed silent and Leah started to worry if she had somehow offended him when she felt her body being dragged towards a different path, seeing Jason with a determined face holding her hand and in his other arm the logs.

"Where are we going!?"
"You'll see, trust me!"

She wanted to throw her hands into the air and scream but instead just reminded him,
"I barely know you!"

For about five minutes they almost marched towards where ever they were headed, that's when the smell hit her. It was so strong that it took a moment to register what it was and that it was growing stronger as they walked, feeling like her eyes were going to betray her until the squawk of a seagull and Jason's voice confirmed it.

"Here we are!"

Before Leah was a large expanse of water, the smell was salty and reminded her of a swimming pool. There were a few boats that were sailing back towards the sandy beach which was dotted with seashells, a smile grew on her face as her heart started to pump lively.
She felt the sand dip a little when she stepped out towards the tide, if she wasn't holding the bag in her hand she would raise her arms and embrace it all.

As if being pulled out of a trance the slam of a door nearby caught her attention, there was a shack and coming out was a bear of a man. He was so tall Leah was sure he could cover the sun, across his back was a cloak of fur and when his eyes landed on the pair she had to force herself not to react.
Across his face were large white scars that made his nose look croaked, his lip was chipped and part of his ear was ripped off. It was taking everything inside her not to stare, she had seen many different people in the city but never this.

"Jase. What are you doing here?"

Despite his gruff voice making Leah feel like she had to be still as stone Jason didn't seem disturbed in the slightest, smiling widely.
"My friend here is new to town and I'm taking it upon myself to make sure she has the best of the best we can offer!"

The bear of a man's eyes locked onto Leah who was feeling more and more like prey, noting how dark the man's eyes were like a starless night sky. Though the sun was almost completely gone now, its remaining light caught his clothing and in her horror, she saw it was covered in blood.

"You'll have to make up for it."
Jason grinned and bowed,

"As you wish Madblood!"

The realisation sucked all the blood from her face,
This was The Notorious Old Madblood.