by Kaitlyn Hoyt
I FEEL SOMEONE’S ARMS AROUND me, cradling my limp body against his chest. He is jogging, trying not to jostle my body too much. In the distance, I hear the sound of running water. The closer we get to the stream, the more I come back into awareness. I can feel all the injuries on my body. Every movement sends another wave of pain through me.
Coming to a stop, near what I assume is a small creek, I feel myself being lowered to the ground. I hear what sounds like fabric being ripped, and then something cold and wet is placed on my face. I gasp at the sudden coldness and jerk away. Opening my eyes, I try to reach out and hit whoever is near me, wanting to get as far away from everyone as I can. I roll over, ignoring the pain that shoots through my stomach and arms, and attempt to crawl away. It is a pitiful attempt, but an attempt nonetheless. Arms come around my waist, and roll me over.
“Ryanne, Ryanne! Calm down. I’m trying to help you.” I try batting the person away. Steady arms pin my arms above my head. I turn to see who is holding me down, and gasp in surprise—a pair of mysterious gray eyes stare down at me.
“Liam?” I croak. I can feel more tears getting ready to spill out of the corners of my eyes. Tears of happiness.
“Yes, now please stop fighting me. I want to wash some of the blood off your face.”
He walks back over to the stream, and pushes the cloth back under the water, rewetting it. He crouches down beside me, and starts wiping the blood from under my nose and mouth, cleaning off my chin and neck as well. His face gets angrier and angrier, as he looks me over and finds more injuries.
“I’m so sorry I didn’t get to you earlier,” he whispers.
“You found me though, and at a perfect time.” I shudder at the memory; he clenches his fists and grinds he his teeth together.
“If I ever see him again…I’m going to…”
“Hey, jump in line, buddy.”
He caresses my forehead, brushing some hair that has fallen into my eyes away from my face. “Are you able to walk?”
“No, I’m too weak. I used all my energy to try and get away from you earlier.” He reaches down and lifts me up again. I snuggle into his chest, my eyelids feeling heavy.
“I’m going to pick up the pace. It’ll take all day to get back. I’m sorry if this hurts.” He starts running. It did hurt. My head keeps swinging to the side, increasing the intensity of my headache. The movement causes the cut on my neck to rip open, and start bleeding again. I don’t say anything to Liam though. The sooner we get back, the better. I can endure the pain until then.
I must have fallen asleep, or passed out, because the next thing I know people are screaming my name, and their thoughts are just as loud.
“Oh my gosh, Ryanne!” She’s back!
“What did they do to her?” She looks horrible. I can’t believe anyone would do that to someone.
“Someone go get Logan!” I’m going to kill whoever did that. I should have stayed beside her.
“Everyone, move! Clear off the couch.” Dravin. She was gone longer than me. I can’t imagine what they did to her. She looks so much worse than I did.
I groan and slowly open my eyes, surveying the room around me. My left eye is still swollen shut, so I can’t see too much. I am back at Claire’s. Everyone is in the room, except Tom and Logan. Liam is walking over to the couch in the living room, where Claire told him to put me, and gently lays me down.
Once I am out of his arms, Colton jerks him away from me and slams him into the wall. “Who are you?” he yells—his face turning red, the veins in his neck bulging.
Claire turns toward him. “He just saved Ryanne, returned her to us, and you’re going to berate him?”
Liam just stares at him, shocked that he is being questioned.
Colton, using more force than necessary, pushes him back into the wall again. “Name!”
“Liam. I’m Liam.”
“Liam? Like the Liam?” I can tell that Colton doesn’t believe him. Without loosening his grip, he asks, “What does Ryanne have of yours?”
“My pendant necklace. The flamed pendant necklace.”
I whisper, though barely audible. “Colton, leave him alone. He saved…me.” Because my throat is so dry, talking scratches it, making me cough uncontrollably. The movement of my stomach hurts my ribs, causing me to cry out in pain.
“Where is Logan?” I hear David ask frantically.
“I’m here! I’m here!” Logan and Tom run into the room. “Where is she?” Everyone who is standing around the couch moves out of the way. “Oh,” he says when he finally sees me. My coughing fit has finally subsided. He walks quickly over to the couch. “Hey, sweetheart.” He is trying to lighten the mood in the room, since everyone is so tense.
I try to smile back at him, but it feels more like a grimace. He reaches his hands out over my torso and closes his eyes, concentrating. I look toward Colton, who is standing behind the couch looking at me. I can’t form any words, but he understands what I am asking.
“He’s seeing everything that they did to you. He needs to know where the worst injuries are.” I close my eyes and start shaking my head, trying to move away. I don’t want anyone to see what I went through. I don’t want them to know.
“Someone, go get a bottle of water. She has a concussion, three broken ribs, many bumps, cuts, and bruises; she’s malnourished and dehydrated. Oh…” He shakes his head, mumblings obscenities to himself. His hands start glowing, and he places them over my ribs. I feel the bones pop back into place. I arch my back, and gasp in surprise. It hurts momentarily, but then the pain subsides. He moves his hands and places them around my face. The headache I had fades away, and I am finally able to think straight. I feel the swelling on my face go down, and the cut on my lip heal.
After a couple minutes, the only thing left that needs healed is the long cut that runs down my neck to my shoulder from Adam. I am still laying flat on my back on the couch, but now I’m able to move. Logan moves so that he is closer to my head. He reaches out and slowly moves my jacket off my shoulder.
Colton exhales sharply when he sees the cut. “Who did that?”
Logan and Liam speak at the same time. “Adam.”
“What?” yells David. I really should have hit him harder.
“Adam was there?” asks Colton.
“Yes, I’ll explain everything later, after she’s healed and rested,” says Logan. I feel my skin pulling itself together, stitching closed. He moves his hands away, grabs the bottle of water that Emma had gotten, and hands it to me.
He reaches behind me and helps me sit up. “Take small sips.” I nod, slowly sipping the water and savoring every drop. She looks exhausted. She’s lost so much weight.
Everyone is staring at me, waiting for my reaction to everything. David is in the back of the room pacing. Colton and Liam are standing against the back wall with menacing expressions. Claire and Emma look upset; their eyes are on the verge of tears. I can feel my headache starting to return. I close my eyes and put all my remaining energy into locking their thoughts away. Turning the mental lock, I open my eyes again. Logan looks very tired; there are dark shadows under his beautiful blue eyes. It must have taken a lot of energy to heal me.
“Logan, I…”
“Ryanne, don’t. You may be the one that can read minds, but I know what you are thinking. I would give up my powers to lessen any bit of the pain you just experienced.”
Tears glisten in my eyes. Again. “Thank you so much. I don’t know how….” I choke up, and can’t finish my sentence. I stand up, a little unsteady on my feet. Logan reaches out, and engulfs me in his arms. The tears start flowing out of my eyes, and I can’t stop them. All of the pain I had endured comes rushing out as I sob into his shoulder.
He holds onto me until the sound of my sobbing dwindles. He rubs my back and slowly leans away, silently asking me if I am going to be okay. I nod up at him and step out of his embrace. He places his hands on either side of my face, wiping my tears away with his thumbs, before leaning down and k
issing my forehead.
I turn around and look for Liam. Spotting him leaning against the wall, I slowly walk toward him. I stop in front of him.
Trying to joke about the situation, I say, “Well, I didn’t get shot this time.”
He reaches out and grabs me, crushing me to him. “When I saw him…on you…choking you,” his voice cracks. “I thought I was too late.” I wrap my arms around his waist, and lean into him.
“You weren’t, Liam. You weren’t.”
“If I was a couple minutes later…he would have…”
I lean back and look at him. “You can’t think about that. I’m fine. You saved me.”
I yawn, and look for Colton next. He finds me first. “Hey, Ry.”
Walking out of Liam’s arms, I walk toward him. I start babbling, “I’m so sorry I didn’t listen to you. I just saw so many people coming toward you, David, Logan, and Tom, and I didn’t want anything to happen to you guys. I love all you guys. You’re my family now. I just panicked. I didn’t...”
He covers my mouth. “You don’t need to apologize, Ryanne.” Taking his hand down, he says with a small smile, “Come on, you need to go rest. I’ll carry you upstairs.” I let him pick me up. I know that I won’t be able to walk up there on my own. “I’m taking Ryanne to her room. I’ll be back in a little bit.”
I snuggle into his chest, dozing off before he even reaches the stairs. I am jarred awake when he puts me in my bed.
“Wait, I have to change. I’m covered in dirt, sweat, and blood,” I say groggily, sitting up on the bed.
“Wait here. I’ll grab you something.” My eyes start to shut while I am sitting up. My head falls forward, jolting me awake again. I rub my eyes, trying to remain alert for a little longer. Colton is on the other side of the room, searching for clean clothes for me. I should be embarrassed that he’s going through my drawers, but I’m not. I feel disgusting and am in desperate need of a shower, but that will have to wait. He shuts the dresser drawers, and walks back to me, placing a t-shirt and pair of athletic shorts on the bed beside me.
He starts to turn around to leave, but I reach out and grab his arm, “Wait, please don’t leave me.” So many fears I have bubble to the surface, and I start to panic. I’m afraid to be alone. I’m afraid that someone is going to come and take me again. I’m afraid that when I close my eyes, I won’t see any of these people again. I’m afraid that I am dreaming, and that I’m still in the concrete cell.
I’m afraid.
“Just turn around while I change.” He listens to me, and turns around, patiently waiting. I discard my dirty clothing on the floor, and put on the clean ones. The clean soft fabric feels like heaven against my dirty rough skin.
I reach out and tap him on the shoulder, telling him it is safe to turn around. “Will you lay with me until I fall asleep? I don’t want to be alone.”
He watches me for a few moments, before crawling over to the other side of bed. He pulls me against him with one arm, and grabs the covers with his other hand. I press myself against his side, resting my head on his shoulder, finally feeling warmth for the first time in a couple of days.
“Go to sleep, Ry.”
And I do just that.