Fallen Melody: Fallen: Book 1

by Layna Snow

  The conversation continued, but Melody blocked it out. It didn’t matter what he said to the people on the phone. She couldn’t understand much of it. She just wanted Cay to wake up, to smile at her. Then she’d know everything was alright.

  It didn’t take long before she heard a noise. It was a buzzing noise at first, and then started to get louder. It sort of sounded like a fan, and the trees started to move a little. “They’re touching down in the field behind the house,” Seth told her, though she didn’t know what he meant.

  “I gave directions. They should be here soon. We can’t move him. He might have a spine injury.”

  Did that mean that he would have to stay here? Forever? But he needed medical attention, like the cat had. Who could help him here in the forest?

  The noise got louder, so loud that Mel covered her ears. She wanted to touch Cay as much as possible, but she worried. How could Caleb sleep through that noise?

  And then men were running towards them, with lanterns of their own, these had small beams of light, though. She could see that they all wore similar outfits, a sort of uniform.

  “Over here!” Seth yelled, pulling Mel back from Cay.

  She wanted to fight him, wanted to stay close, but she couldn’t, not when those men were crowding around Cay. They spoke in some sort of code, and carried devices and gadgets. Soon, they lifted him onto a board of some kind and Mel was worried.

  Didn’t Seth say that he had to stay here? That they couldn’t move him? Were they hurting him? Doing something wrong?

  Mel looked over at Seth, who was watching silently. He didn’t even look over at her, just grabbed her hand and pulled her close.

  His presence was reassuring, at least it reassured her about her safety, but she really wished he would talk. She wanted him to tell her that Cay would be alright. But he didn’t say anything.

  After the men got him onto the board, they rushed him back to where they came from. One looked at the two of them and walked closer. “One of you can go with him.” But Seth just shook his head.

  “We’ll drive.” Why didn’t he want to go? Why didn’t he want her to go? It didn’t make sense! She couldn’t let him go with these strange men and not be there too. What if he woke up and no one was there? Wouldn’t he be scared?

  Mel didn’t want him to be scared.

  After Seth got the information on where Cay was being taken to, he walked back to the house. There was a giant metal bird behind the house, its lights were bright and the wings were on the top! It looked like a bug and Melody could only gasp.

  “It’s a chopper. A machine. It’s taking him to the hospital. We will drive. It will take longer.” Seth said, pulling her towards the SUV. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket, and looked until he found the one that went to Cay’s vehicle, before opening the door and letting her in.

  Mel didn’t watch him walk around the vehicle, she stared at the giant thing as the wings swung in a circle, and it lifted off the ground. The sound was defining, but she couldn’t look away. She couldn’t take her eyes off the thing, couldn’t even lift her hands to her ears. She just watched as that thing lifted off, taking Caleb with it.

  And she hoped that he’d be alright.

  He had to survive. He just had to.

  27

  Shoot, Shoot, Shoot!

  All this time Seth had been worried about Melody. He had thought that she was the only one that he had to watch out for. He thought that she was the only one in danger. He should have known better!

  But of course, Cay was strong—stronger than Seth was—and he could take care of himself. He had been in fights before, Seth knew because he had to patch him up. Caleb worked out all the time, he knew how the world worked and he was usually a good judge of character. Seth never thought that Cay could be in danger too.

  But it seemed like he had missed the mark, again. He had not only failed Melody—since she could have been seriously hurt—but he had failed Cay as well.

  Now he wasn’t sure if his best friend would make it, and it felt like his heart was ripping out, like he was losing his second half. What would he do without Cay? How could he function if the other man wasn’t there? He would likely be a miserable mess, always working, never eating, never laughing. He’d lose a whole side of himself.

  And then who’d he look out for? What would be the point of the clinic if he couldn’t share it with Cay? What would be the point of being successful if he couldn’t make his friend feel secure? And what would happen to Melody?

  It wasn’t like Seth could be there for her. He didn’t know how to deal with women. He didn’t know how to make her happy. He always forgot dates, never remembered to be home on time. He didn’t often consider other’s feelings or wants. He couldn’t make her happy. And would she even want him to if Cay wasn’t there too?

  Crap!

  This wasn’t how life was supposed to happen! They were supposed to have a normal life now, and instead Seth was standing in the hospital waiting room—well pacing—waiting to see if his best friend would live.

  And they wouldn’t tell him anything!

  Melody was sitting in a corner, hugging her legs to herself and staring at nothing. Heck, she probably blamed him for not being there. Not protecting Cay.

  And he wouldn’t blame her for it. He couldn’t. He knew that she was probably right. He promised Cecilia—promised himself—that he would always look after Caleb. And he hadn’t done so this time. No, he let him wander around in the dark trying to protect Mel while there was a criminal loose.

  He should have known better.

  “Seth?” Melody asked, bringing a halt to his pacing.

  Seth turned to look at her. Her eyes shined with tears, and there were dark circles under them. Her face was pale, much paler than her natural complexion. And her hair was knotted. She had a bruise on her cheek, one the doctor looked at briefly. She held her arm close to her, one that too sported a large bruise. She could have been killed tonight. He could have lost her and that wasn’t acceptable.

  She looked tired, afraid and weary. He wished that he could take this away from her, but he couldn’t. Sure, her physical pain was already healing, her bruises better than they had been, but he couldn’t take her emotional pain away.

  “Yeah?”

  Mel stood, unfolding herself from the chair so that she could get to her feet. Her arm was braced against the counter next to her, as if that alone was holding her up. She looked so lost, so afraid. She looked like if he touched her, she would break.

  Oh, how he wanted to touch her.

  “Can you… just..” she started, her eyes moving away from his as she ducked her head. “I… never mind.” She said sadly, lowering herself back to the chair.

  Seth couldn’t take it, couldn’t take the sadness in her eyes or how lonely she looked sitting there. He moved towards her only to stop. What if she didn’t want him to touch her? What if she was upset at him?

  “What is it?” He asked, lowering his voice, hoping it would calm her.

  “It’s just… are you mad at me?” she asked without looking up.

  Her question shocked Seth. How could he be mad at her? Why would she even think that? “Of course not. Why would I be mad?” He asked, moving even closer to her, so that he was almost touching her.

  Seth knelt down, hoping that she would look at him. That she would let him in.

  “I couldn’t protect him.” She said sadly. “It’s all my fault.”

  Seth couldn’t be more surprised. Her fault? How could she ever think that? She couldn’t have done anything other than what she had done. She had gotten help. That might have saved Cay.

  Not to mention that they got her into this mess. He was pretty sure that they could have done more to protect her identity. Like the email said, they had done a bad job of concealing her. And now they would face the consequences.

  “No, Melody,” he said, leaning forward to hold her hands in his. “This isn’t your fault. You fought. You came to
get me. That’s all you could have done. If Cay couldn’t beat that guy, you couldn’t have either.” He didn’t know what else to say. “I failed you. I should have been there.”

  “But the cat…”

  “Wasn’t as important as you and Caleb.” He assured her.

  Mel finally looked up, but her eyes were still shining and her face still showed her sorrow. “If you’re not mad at me… than why won’t you hold me?” she asked, her voice shaking.

  It was then that Seth realized what she needed. She wanted comfort. She needed comfort.

  “I’m sorry.” He said, sitting in the large chair next to her. “I just pace when I’m nervous. I didn’t know that you needed me to hold you. You have to tell me these things. I don’t know women as well as Cay.” He explained, patting his lap. “Come sit with me.”

  Melody nodded reluctantly and moved from her chair to his lap. She pressed herself against his chest, wrapping her good arm around him and laying her head on his shoulder. Seth wrapped his arms loosely around her. He didn’t know where else she was hurt, and he didn’t want to cause her any pain.

  “I need you to tell me if Cay will be alright.” She then told him, her voice quiet against his shirt.

  “I can’t tell you that. I don’t know the answer.” He said, not wanting to lie to her. He couldn’t promise something that he didn’t know. “Only the doctor can tell us for sure. She should be out in a minute.”

  Mel nodded and snuggled deeper into his embrace. “I always thought of death as the start of something. When you die, you go to Heaven or Hell. That is where you are for eternity. Those final resting places are filled with wonder or torment. I always thought that death was the beginning. Because that is where I saw people begin what would be forever.”

  Seth ran his fingers through her hair, trying to sooth her and to remove some of those knots. Right now it was the only thing he could do to make her feel better. “Mhmm.”

  “But now, Cay might die, and I should feel happy. He would go to Heaven, you know. He would be in paradise. He would never worry or fear again. But I don’t want him to go. I want him to stay here with us. It’s selfish. I should want him to be happy.”

  Seth shook his head, before kissing the top of hers. “I know Cay as well as I know myself. He wouldn’t want to go and leave you, even if it was to go to Heaven. He’s lucky to have you. He’s lucky that you want him to live. Don’t ever doubt that.”

  Mel nodded but Seth had a feeling that she didn’t really believe what he had to say. She had been an Angel, someone without selfishness or sin. She wouldn’t understand that in the real world, selfishness had its place.

  Seth spent a long time just holding her, at least it felt like a long time. She felt right in his arms, but he was too nervous to really relax. He didn’t think that Cay would die, but you just never knew the extent of head wounds. It could seem horrible and turn out fine, or it could seem alright and the person could die. And there was a lot of grey in between that resulted in major problems. Brain injuries could be tricky.

  And what was taking them so long? They hadn’t taken him to surgery, they would have said something. Surely they would have some news by now?

  As if the doctor could read his mind, the woman stepped out. “Seth, Melody. Hi again. Caleb is doing better. He has a concussion, a hurt rib, and a fractured bone in his hand. I want to keep him here overnight. The worst of it is that he isn’t waking up. It will be touch and go for a while, because he’s still out.”

  Seth let out a sigh of relief. “Do you expect him to wake up soon?”

  The doctor looked contemplative. “He was hit twice, which is probably why he is unconscious so long. If he doesn’t come out soon, he probably won’t at all.”

  Motherfucking, dickhead, shit-eating, asswipe! Seth wanted to kill the guy who did this to Cay. He didn’t deserve this fate. Cay was a great guy and he should be happy. Not passed out in a hospital.

  Seth tried his best not to crush Melody to him, he wanted to tighten his muscles, wanted to hit something, hurt something, but not Mel. Never Mel.

  The doctor studied them for a while before sighing. “You two should go home and sleep, or eat something. Waiting is hard and it could be hours.”

  But Seth wasn’t planning on leaving. Not until Cay could leave too.

  “Oh, and the police are on their way here. Since it was an attack, we called them.” The doctor said before leaving. He didn’t care if she left. He had nothing more to ask her right now, nothing more to say.

  His thoughts were so focused on Cay that he almost didn’t hear what she said. Police? Yeah, he wanted to talk to them, to finally have a reason to arrest Nate, but the guy who emailed him said not to talk to the police.

  This was a difficult decision. If he talked to the officer and gets him to investigate Nate again, then would the mysterious man refuse to help Melody? Would he deny her the I.D.? Seth couldn’t have that. She needed to have an identity. She needed to be able to exist. And Seth couldn’t get her those things on his own.

  However, if he didn’t bring Nate up on charges, it would be impossible to save Mel. That was the only way to deal with him, short of killing him. It didn’t seem like he would stop until he kidnapped her, Cay hadn’t even been a deterrent.

  What else could they do?

  “Mel, don’t say anything, alright? When the police ask the questions, just say that you got split up, and came to get me because you were scared of the dark. Then we went back for Caleb. It isn’t a lie, but you can’t tell them that the guy was there for you. You can’t tell them that you have any idea who it was. Do you understand?” He asked, needing some extra time to make up his mind.

  Either way he couldn’t let them focus on her. She needed to stay out of this entirely.

  Mel nodded against his chest, pushing tears into the material.

  It wasn’t long until the police came in. There was a male and a female officer. Both looked strong, sturdy and no-nonsense. The man was a bit out of shape, holding his gut as he took deep breaths.

  Seth knew that he should move Mel off his lap. He knew that he should greet these officers with respect, but Melody was still shaking. She still needed him, and he wasn’t about to let her go.

  “Mr. de Cruce? I’m officer Haise, and this is officer Metci. We’re here to talk to you about your roommate’s attack.” The man said, nodding over to them. He looked a little angry that Seth didn’t move, but Seth didn’t care.

  “Hi, just call me Seth. This is my girlfriend, Melody. She’s been staying with us for a few weeks. She’s grown very attached to Cay.” He explained as he rubbed her back. “I’d get up but she’s really shaken.”

  The girl officer nodded before taking out her pad of paper. “So, Seth. What is your relationship with Caleb?”

  Seth sighed. He got this often. People thought that since they lived together, that they had to be gay. “I’m his foster brother. We were both orphans and both were placed with an older woman. We bonded quickly. He’s basically my brother, and best friend. We also run the Cold Wood Animal Clinic together. He’s my vet tech.”

  The girl nodded again, but the guy looked a little suspicious. He obviously never had very close friends.

  “It says here that your house had been broken into recently?” When Seth nodded to the woman, she went on, “You never updated the police about what was missing.”

  That was because nothing was missing. Seth knew it wasn’t a robbery. He knew that the guy hadn’t been looking for valuables to steal. He wanted to send them a message.

  “There wasn’t anything taken. Everything was destroyed. We bought new things and sent the list to the insurance company. I looked but nothing was gone completely.” He told them.

  “Do you think this was deliberate and personal?” The male asked, lumbering from side to side as if uncomfortable with standing. Seth assumed that the man probably spent his days sitting.

  “I’m not sure. They broke into the house but didn’t take an
ything. They also attacked my best friend when he was on his way over to the clinic.”

  The female cop looked at her notes before nodding. “Before we review what happened, do you know anyone who would want to hurt Caleb? You had expressed interest in Nathan James last time.”

  Seth shook his head. “I thought that since I fired him, that he could want to get back at us, but I’m not sure now,” he lied, “I don’t even know if these things are related.”

  Seth didn’t know if he wanted to tell the police. He was still debating it in his mind. These cops didn’t look like they dealt with much danger, surely if he told him the information would be wasted. With criminals this smart, it would take a cunning police officer to catch them. These two did not seem like the type. They were stereotypical police officers, not the kind that got high in the profession.

  The male officer sighed. “Alright, take me through tonight’s events.”

  Seth started to explain what happened, how he received a phone call about the cat. How he arrived to find the lights off. He said that Caleb was going to bring Mel along, since she was afraid of staying by herself. He then explained how Mel found him, and how she lead him back to Cay.

  When they questioned Melody, she answered the same way. She even looked at the police officers, her tears and fear real. “Nothing like this has ever happened to me,” she ended, “Do you think Caleb will be alright?”

  The male, obviously not used to women’s tears, looked uncomfortable. He cleared his throat a few times and looked away. The female just looked like she understood. “I don’t know, honey. Head injuries can be tricky.” She explained, the hard mask she had put on seemed to dissolve. “But we will find who did this. I promise you.”

  Seth didn’t know if he wanted that to be true or not. On one side, maybe the criminals would be put in jail. On the other side, things could get a lot worse for Melody. Nate knew a lot of secrets, and he could chose to share them if he wanted. Seth wouldn’t be able to stop him. No one would.