Burdened (A Burdened Novel)

by Peiri Ann

  “Glen, please just hold on. We’ll fix it. Just hold on.” I can’t hold my tears and they fall onto her face.

  “Tracey, please stop crying,” Nathan begs in a calmer voice, trying not to look at me; although, I can see the hurt in his eyes. “She’ll be okay. We just need to get Scott together first. He’ll fix her,” he says, hard-toned.

  “Nathan, please fix it.” I grab Glen’s hand, and she grasps mine, with no strength behind it.

  Scott is still shaking, still dark-red. Warm liquid starts to soak my legs and Glen’s grip grows faint.

  “Glen! Please? No. Glen, no!” I pull her closer to me. “Please, Glen. Don’t do this!” I yell as tears stream down my face.

  My chest starts to ache for her life, and the thought of losing her fills my mind. I lay over her, still holding her hand, and let out the pain. My sobs are stronger and uncontrollable.

  “Tracey. Please?” Nathan begs. “I can—oomph!”

  There is a piercing pain in my shoulder. I look to where Nathan was standing. He’s moved—now against the wall, with Scott standing in front of him. Black liquid is draining from his neck and shoulder area, staining the floor.

  “Scott, you need to—” He takes a breath. “—get back in control.”

  I fill with anger. I look at Glen and set her softly to the floor. Nathan isn’t fighting Scott back. I rise from the floor and walk over to Scott. He is still in demon form. My hands heat to the max and I grab him by his neck. It’s hard—extremely hard—and impenetrable.

  He moves and, with all the strength I have, I pull him from Nathan, trying to throw him across the room. If I can move Nathan, I can definitely move Scott.

  He goes with ease, flying through the air behind me. I don’t look to see where he lands, or if he lands. I reach out to Nathan’s shoulder to heal it. I watch it stitch back together. Nathan looks at his shoulder, taking breaths.

  “This is really turning into a bad weeke—” Pain, scorching pain, clouds my mind, coming from my stomach.

  Nathan grabs his stomach and I drop to my knees, looking down at Scott’s hand, covered in blood—my blood—sticking out of my stomach. He pulls it out, and I can’t breathe.

  Nathan moves and I hear stiffening behind me. He grabs me, laying me flat on the floor. He lifts my shirt and places his mouth on my wound. The pain takes forever to subside as my body starts to chill. He then turns me over onto my stomach, doing the same thing to my back. Healing me.

  All of my breath comes out in a rush as I cough, while blood escapes the sides of my mouth.

  He turns me onto my side, and the vomit and blood rushes out of me.

  Pulling it together, I look over at Glen. Her fingers are moving, and I run to her, still trying to catch my breath.

  “Glen, please be okay. Tell me you’re okay,” I say, knowing she can’t speak. It’s more to comfort myself. I look over to Scott, who is standing stiff.

  “Did you?” I look at Nathan.

  “Not yet.” He starts to stand. “But I’m going to.”

  “Nathan, don’t,” I say softly.

  “Tracey, he—”

  “Nathan, I know what he tried to do. But don’t kill him. He doesn’t know what he’s doing; you know that. Glen is on the brink of death. Just, please, try to calm him down so that he can heal her.”

  I look down at Glen. She looks worse. Her face is swelling and both eyes are swollen shut. Blood is still flowing from her, and I refuse to lift her up to see where it’s coming from.

  “Nathan, please?” I say through flowing tears.

  Nathan shakes his head and looks at Scott, while, at the same time, pushing his bloody hand through his hair. His face has my blood on it, which would look bad if the wrong person were to walk in. His black liquid is over the left side of his body, and I am really over seeing him with it on him.

  “Scott, you need to calm down. You just tried to kill your girl, and if I wasn’t here, you would have killed mine. I am not okay with letting you live. But, because Tracey needs her friend, it is the only reason I’m even trying.”

  He walks closer to Scott. “Let it go, and get control of yourself, before Glen dies.” Nathan’s expression softens. Scott slowly starts to loosen up. “If you try to kill Tracey again, life will end for you.”

  Scott is completely relaxed. His regular self starts to come back. He turns to Glen and me, and I move away from her when he rushes over.

  He grabs Glen from the floor and cries out in a hurtful scream. He kisses her face repeatedly and his sobs become heavy. They break through whatever hate I had against him at the moment, and his hurt kicks in. I feel bad for him, watching him place his mouth onto Glen’s wounds.

  He’s now moving slower and can barely keep up. A knot forms in my throat as I understand why he is changing.

  “Her back, Scott—something’s wrong with her back.” I help as he searches for where the life is draining from her.

  He tries to lift her but appears too weak. Nathan and I rush over to help him. Nathan lifts her upper-body forward for him. My stomach cringes at the biggest piece of wall plaster sticking out of her spine.

  If he pulls it out, she will lose more blood and, at the rate he is healing her, there is no way they will make it. I break, crying again, coming to my own realization.

  Nathan props Glen up with one hand as Scott’s hands and mouth run over Glen. He cries out again. His hands are paling.

  Nathan grabs me with his now-free hand, turning me into his neck. Scott cries out again—louder than the others—in defeat.

  “Tracey, I’m sorry I have to do this. I’ll make it up to you. I promise. Just don’t be mad.”

  Through teary eyes, I look at him. “Do wha—”

  27: Rejuvenate

  Nathan’s arms are wrapped around me as I breathe in his scent to accommodate my dreams. His breaths are short.

  “Hey,” I say, knowing he’s awake.

  “Hey, beautiful.” It’s dry.

  I move back to look at him. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Everything is fine.” He turns onto his back, letting out a harsh breath.

  I prop myself up on my elbows. “Doesn’t seem like it, by your actions.”

  “No baby, everything is fine.”

  I sit up in the bed, stretching. The sun is up. “What time is it?”

  He looks over at his nightstand. “3:12.”

  “Why did we sleep so late?” He looks over to me weirdly. “And for Glen and Scott to not bother us all day. That’s not like—.” Wait, something’s not right. He looks away from me and back towards the ceiling, eyes sober.

  “Wait, I’m missing something.”

  He doesn’t respond, still staring at the ceiling. I remember waking up. We had breakfast, but I don’t remember eating breakfast. I pull the covers from over me. I have on one of his shirts and a pair of his shorts. That’s not right. I had thrown on my own clothes this morning. Hadn’t I?

  “Nathan, I’m missing something.”

  He looks at me with hurtful eyes. “Tracey, everything is fine. Just lay back down.” He turns from me, looking back at the ceiling.

  “Everything is not fine.” I run through yesterday: we watched movies, fell asleep, Cindy was a jackal. Wait, Cindy was a jackal—a real one—and she tried to kill me today. “Cindy is dead?”

  “Yes.” Okay, I’m okay with that. Nathan fought Cindy, we won, and everything is fine.

  No, something is still off.

  Getting up from the bed, I walk over to the dresser that Nathan has my clothes in. I pull out a t-shirt, take off Nathan’s shirt, and throw my t-shirt over my head. His shorts are fine. They stay on me well-enough to run in. I pull out a pair of socks and put them on, then grab the closest pair of shoes I can run in.

  “Tracey, what are you doing?” His voice is deep.

  “My head is jumbled. Something is confusing me. I need to go for a run to clear my head.”

  He sits up. “No, Tracey. Just sit down for a
minute and it may clear up.”

  I stand up after tying my shoes. “You don’t have to come with me. I’ll go see if Glen isn’t doing anything. She and I run together sometimes.” I walk to the door.

  Glen clouds my head. I need to see her. She and Scott’s crowding of us this whole time, and them not talking to us all day—when they’re in the same house—is off.

  He is in front of the door before I make it to it.

  “What?”

  “Sit down, Tracey,” he says forcefully.

  “Nathan, what is up?” He stares at me for a moment and his eyes swirl black. “Nathan, What!?”

  “Just go sit down.”

  I step to the side and he matches my step. I stare at him. He is going to let me pass. I need to go see Glen. She’s probably tired of Scott and Nathan is pissing me off. I know she’d want to run with me. Plus, we really haven’t spent much time together all break, with the guys around.

  It’s funny how yesterday she was pissing me off—her and Scott interrupting us and all— and now that she’s not crowding me, it’s killing me to see her.

  He is frustrating me. “Come on, Nathan. Move.”

  “Tracey, Glen’s not here. Just go sit back down.”

  “Okay, so where is she? Last time I saw her we were...” What were we doing?

  Last night, when I saw Glen, we were all in Nathan’s basement, watching movies. I look at Nathan with his black eyes and he rubs his hand over his face.

  “What are you not telling me?” I ask him in a suspicious, serious tone, with low eyes.

  “Tracey, I—”

  “No!” I interrupt. “Where is she?”

  “Tracey, you—”

  “Nathan, you need to tell me where—now.” I close my eyes, having a hard time controlling myself. Images of Scott flash in my head, blurry puddles of blood on the floor.

  Hurt crosses through my thought path. Nathan is hurt. I am hurt. My heart skips a beat and it hurts.

  “What happened, and why isn’t it clear to me?” I blink and another flash—Nathan telling me he’s sorry he has to do something. My head is tucked into his neck. What happened?

  I become hysterical. “What did you do!?” I back away from him. “What did you take from me? I know you did something.” I blink again—darkness screams. It is the most hurtful cry I’ve ever heard. My hands start shaking and I no longer want to close my eyes.

  He just stands there. “I’m sorry, Tracey. Just please sit down.”

  My hands heat and, although I hate the thought of hurting him, he had better start talking.

  “Tracey, I’ll talk to you. I just need you to calm down.” I blink and Glen’s hurt fills my mind.

  “What happened to Glen? And tell me the truth.” I close my eyes to calm myself and it all comes flashing back to me, like an angry swarm of bees.

  I can’t control my sadness, and sobs and tears escape, beyond my control.

  “Nathan.” I shake my head. “Just please tell me she is okay?”

  He walks up to me and I fall into his embrace. “She is not okay. Scott wasn’t strong enough to heal her.” My knees buckle.

  “Calm down, Tracey. She is alive. She’s just in critical condition. We had to take her to the hospital. I haven’t received an update yet, but when she gets a little stronger, so will Scott, and he will be able to heal her. Everything is going to be okay.” He rubs my back. “Just please stop crying.”

  He touches my arms and I calm. I look at him. “Why did you make me forget?”

  He looks down at me. “I didn’t make you forget. I’m not sure how that happened, but I did knock you out.” He takes a breath. “I was in a bad situation that was getting worse. My head was crowded with your hurt and crying, and it kept me from thinking straight. I couldn’t help both you and Glen, and I knew you would have wanted me to help her, knowing that you were okay.” He walks into his closet. “Scott broke. The more he cried, you cried. I cannot take that pain from you. That hurt is unbearable.”

  He comes back out with his shoes on, as well as a hoody for him and a smaller one for me. “Come on. Let’s go for this run.”

  He walks over to his desk, grabbing two arm iPod bands with the iPods in them, handing me one.

  “I almost lost you today. You refused to let me kill Scott and the only other choice I had was to help him. Thank you for that.”

  I put the band on my arm, while looking at him. I scroll through the iPod. It has all the music lists and same songs as I have on mine. I look at him with mixed emotions of thrill, hurt, and defeat.

  “It’s a bad situation, but not one that can’t get better. If you want to be happy, you can be.” His calm comforts me.

  “I’m really upset with you. I don’t appreciate you putting me to sleep. Then, when I wake up, you don’t immediately tell me what happened Mr. BeatAroundTheBush.”

  He walks up to me, extremely close, and my stomach flutters. “I’m sorry, baby.” He grabs my chin, lifting my head upward. He raises his left eyebrow. “I’m sorry.”

  He kisses my lips that don’t kiss him back—which was hell to do. He leans back, and looks at me through low eyes. I cave when he comes back, kissing me again.

  His taste is satisfying to my buds. I never realize how much I need him, until he gives himself to me. His kiss is relieving, and my hurt and pain leaves, being replaced by his reassurance that everything is going to be okay.

  I wrap my arms around his neck, needing more contact. Both of his hands grab the part of my face that’s closest to my ears, with his fingers resting against my neck.

  “Hey, Nathan. Come with us to this—” Someone just walks in, without knocking.

  Nathan looks over me at him. I drop my arms. “Really? It’s a closed door,” Nathan says without anger.

  This guy, who I’ve never seen before, stands in the doorway with a ‘my bad’ face.

  “You’re right. I’ll try that again.” He walks back out the door.

  “Sorry about that. That’s our cousin, Olar. He is really an open person and doesn’t care about anything.”

  He knocks and the door opens.

  “Most people also wait to be invited in, but since you’re already in…what do you want?” he asks, as he starts to pull my hoody over my head.

  “You know, I do know how to put on my own clothes.” He looks at me and pushes my arms through the sleeves. “Really!”

  He moves his face next to my ear and says in a low voice, “I know how to put your clothes on too.” He moves closer to my ear. “And take them off.” His voice is even lower.

  I punch him and he buckles over. “Can you stop putting so much force behind your attacks? That actually hurt.”

  “It did not.”

  He stands up straight and looks at me, before he starts pulling my hair up. He pulls an elastic from his wrist. “Let’s get this hair up for this run.” He smiles.

  I swat his hands over my head. “Stop, silly.” I snatch the hair tie. “And give me that.” I turn from him and walk to the closet.

  Before I get to the closet door, he’s in front of me. “Where are you going?”

  “To look in the mirror.” He has the biggest mirror in his closet—any female’s dream mirror. It’s like the size of a front door.

  “To fix your hair?”

  “Why?”

  He points to the bathroom. “Go do that in the bathroom.”

  I give him a suspicious look, and then look behind me, realizing Olar is still here. I watch what I say. Instead I squint my eyes and look into his now hazel-brown eyes. It hazes and I’m now looking at me. Then it pops back to normal, like an elastic band. He smiles.

  I turn to the bathroom. “You’re going to teach me how to do that.”

  “So that’s Tracey?” I hear Olar ask, once I close the bathroom door.

  “Yeah, I’ll introduce you when she comes out. So what brings you around?” he asks, uninterested.

  I brush my hair, being nosey.

  “There�
�s a party tomorrow. Wanted you and Scott to come. Y’all can bring yo girls.” Glen would love to go to a party. I really miss her.

  “Nope, not happening.”

  “Why not?” That’s my question too.

  “I’m not having Tracey around drunken, burdened Sephlem.”

  “There will only be a few of us, and some of us are pretty good at not drinking.”

  “Some of us?” It’s a disapproving question.

  I walk out of the bathroom, hair in a hanging ponytail, and go to Nathan’s side.

  He puts his arm around me. “Tracey, Olar. Olar, Tracey.”

  “Wassup, Tracey? Nice to finally meet you,” Olar says smoothly.

  I look at Nathan. He nods. “Hi, nice to meet you as well.” Again, with this permission thing, it feels right until I notice it.

  “Thank you for choosing my cousin.”

  Yeah, well, he chose me too. “Anytime.” I shrug my right shoulder.

  Nathan pulls me in front of him, wrapping his arms around me, while putting his face in my neck. “I love it when you say that,” he says through muffled words.

  “Umm, am I interrupting something? If so, I can come back.”

  “Nah, you already interrupted something. And no, we are not going to the party. I would like to go a couple of days without killing somebody.” I give him a harsh look. Did he really just say that?

  “That won’t happen. Plus, you’ll have your girl with you. She’ll keep you down.” He gestures toward me. “It won’t be as bad as you think.”

  “And why are we thinking it will be bad?” I ask openly.

  “My last party was bad.”

  “Really bad.” Nathan looks up, interjecting.

  Olar rolls his eyes. “Speaking of really bad, thanks for what you did for me the other day.”

  Nathan tenses. “Yeah,” he responds slowly. “No problem. So where is the party going to be?”

  “Swain knocked out 3500 square feet of the mountain, a few days ago, so we’re going over there.”

  I feel Nathan’s interest spark. “Swain knocked out the mountain?” He turns his head towards my face. I feel his breath warming and cooling with every inhale and exhale.