I tried to get up, but something held down my arms, chest, hands, legs, and feet. Agony filled me as my muscles were cut by parts of broken bones inside me.
There was a feeling of pressure inside my arm, and the sound of clicking. Then the world seemed to melt away into streaks of indigo that grew so bright, I shut my eyes.
I opened them cautiously. I blinked slowly. The sun was bright, and I sat outside the house I'd been raised in by my Grandfather. The lake that was on the property reflected the bright daylight. I wore short-shorts and a tank top with a bikini under it. My pale skin didn't like the sun, even though I enjoyed it. Luckily, I wasn't burning yet.
It was summer. The dragonflies were hunting the gnats and mosquitoes in the lake. Kian held my hand. I leaned against him. Turning my face up to take in his beauty, I admired his perfection. He looked troubled.
Kissing my head, he asked, "Are you alright?"
I was so tired and hurt everywhere. I cried out in pain and fell in his lap. His arms wrapped around me with great care.
"Tell me where you are," he demanded.
His face was drawn and tight while he frowned at me. One of his hands stroked my hair.
The dream world faded, leaving a turbulent landscape of angry clouds, and the hard earth beneath us.
"Don't know," my voice was starting to fade.
Kian put his cheek to mine and said, "Come to me." His expression was full of desire as his lips took mine. As l leaned back to enjoy the sensations of the kiss, the sounds of nature faded along with Kian and his caress.
The birds, insects, and even the sound of the tree's leaves blowing in the light breeze were gone. Everything had fallen silent. The landscape had changed.
It was full of barren trees with dark clouds blocking the light. The far-off figure of an angel seemed to be flying in the air, coming closer. It grew larger with every second. Instinct told me to hide. I ran and knelt behind a tree.
The dark figure landed on the ground. Its face was hidden with a black hooded robe. Its enormous wings were soiled black. Bright blue eyes glowed out of a face concealed by darkness. They searched. Instinct said they were seeking me. Those same instincts kept said stay hidden. Not moving, I waited. As it was about to take off, something twisted my spine.
I tried to cover my mouth to stop the noise from escaping, but it was too late. The creature had heard my cry. Shadows formed and swirled around the obscure angelic figure as it neared my hiding spot. The shadows stilled and then shot out turning up dirt and earth as they searched fervently.
Inky black vines encircled my ankles.
I grabbed and tore at them, trying to break free.
The black bands hurt as they cut into my flesh. The figure suddenly looked around the tree.
A pair of indigo eyes trimmed with dark lashes stared at me with hatred. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he began to laugh. It was not a sound of joy that I associated with messengers of God. Rather it was the sound of a predator finding its prey and enjoying watching it die slowly.
Chapter Seventeen
The face of the Japanese woman who had been at Whisper's place stood over me as I woke up.
It hurt to keep my eyes open, so I closed them.
She said, "Twice a day, Alec. Probably." She pressed on my stomach.
My eyes opened as I cried out in pain.
Looking to Alec, she said, "You're sure she heals?"
Alec said, "Yes, Doc."
The doctor nodded to me. "Dianna, I am Doctor Yamada. An ally of the Order."
Her black eyes made it hard to tell her pupil from her iris because they were so dark. Her long hair was tucked under her shirt in the back.
"You will heal from this."
The searing pain in my spine grew worse and tightened bowing my back. I bit my lip to keep from shouting.
I didn't want him to find me. I needed to get up. I needed to run and hide.
She injected me with something and the pain lessened. "How is the pain now?"
It was too bright. Every part ached, hurt, or was in intense pain. "Okay." The word came out sounding like a squawk.
My throat and mouth were dry. The muscles in my neck felt like they'd been twisted around three sixty like an owl's. All of my muscles were tensed for flight. Who was chasing me?
It was fuzzy. I needed to hide and to find a safe place to hole up and heal. I tried to push up, but thick straps held me to a table.
"Whatever heals you counteracts the pain medication." Her eyes seemed tired, with circled under them. "I can't stop you from hurting. Can you handle this level of pain while you heal?"
Trying to focus on the doctor, my eyelids were so heavy and light painful. But I had to leave. I had to hide.
"Dianna," Yamada said.
"Undo the straps," I got out.
Yamada frowned looking from me to Alec.
I closed my eyes, listening to them talk. I needed to focus on healing. I couldn't move wounded this badly.
Yamada was telling Alec, "Keep changing the bags out like I showed you. I wouldn't use the pain medication more than twice a day. Even with her response, any more could put her in a coma."
Curious, I opened my eyes. Alec stayed next to me, while Yamada packed up to leave. Alec had blood all over him. Including a handprint on his cheek.
My lids drifted shut, even though I tried to keep them open. I needed to hide.
Chapter Eighteen
The soft caress of a corrupted feather had me awake.
Time had passed between the blinks. Doctor Yamada was gone. Every part of me felt like a steamroller had run over me. My arm had a tube in it, which connected to a blood bag. It felt like needles were trying to poke and rip their way out of my stomach.
Alec sat on a worn yellow velvet Queen Anne chair in a Clash tee-shirt under a couple layers of an open cardigan thick gray wool sweater and a leather coat. His hair was a mess as if he hadn't had a chance to style it. He was sorting through a delivery bag from Dhalaights. He stopped to rub his temples.
"Hey," it came out far less croak-ish than before.
Alec looked up. "Dianna." His eyes were slightly swollen and rimmed in red. He came over and lightly touched my hand.
There were stitches all over my hand and arm. The right arm was in a cast as were both legs. My body had never healed from so much damage before. I wondered if it could.
He brought over the sashimi.
My left arm almost lifted, but the muscles gave out.
"Here let me," Alec said.
He used chopsticks and held out the roll. The meat wasn't too salty, and it was tender. The rice had a spice added to it that was bringing out the flavor of the meat, but I couldn't place it. This was some quality fish. Whisper had never fed me so well. It tasted better than salmon or tuna.
Alec talked while feeding me, "Wasn't sure if you were going to make it." He held his non-chopstick hand and said, "Just nod yes or shake your head once for no."
"Did you have a car accident?"
I nodded.
He got another roll and held it in place.
I devoured it in two bites.
"Was it caused by a monster?"
I nodded. Yummy sashimi. The roiling acid inside my stomach subsided. This was delicious.
Two more rolls down before Alec asked, "Did you defeat it?"
I stopped eating and slightly shook my head no. I glanced around the room for shadows. My neck was healing. The muscles spasmed as they knit together.
No large pools of black. But maybe it didn't need anything large. Its body defied physics. Fear rose as I remembered the winged thing searching. For me.
"I -" my voice cracked, giving out.
Alec made a choked noise. "Dianna," Alec's eyes closed. He breathed in deeply and then opened them. "Don't fucking do that again." He put down the food and took my hand in his larger one. His touch was gentle. Rough callouses from training belied his nerdy but hip exterior.
One of his hands pushed back a stray
hair over my ear. He leaned in and touched my cheek. His eyes were stormy as he barely squeezed my hand before letting go. Then he picked up the rolls and kept feeding me.
After a dozen more rolls, I could feed myself. My casts felt itchy and heavy.
"I have some work to finish," he said in a rough voice. Not looking at me, he went back to his laptop while I ate.
After some time passed while I stuffed myself, Alec started to gather the garbage. Instead, he breathed in like he saw a ghost.
He pointed at me.
"What," I said. My voice almost sounded normal.
"Your face! Before you had swelling, and cuts, and stitches." He gestured with his hands wildly.
In a scattered pile, my stitches lay on the comforter over me. "Yeah, could you get the doctor?" I had never healed so much or so quickly.
Alec said, "I'll text her." His face flushed as the color came back. "Holy shit!"
I could hear the excitement in his voice, but the cramping in my stomach demanded my attention.
"Hand me over like two more rolls." They'd go to waste if no one ate them. Whatever magic made protein restore me worked well tonight. Might as well see if it could heal bones. My ankles, hip, and right arm still felt wrong. However, I had the energy to move my left arm and hand just fine.
Alec handed me the leftover box. Maybe I should just finish them? I started shoving the rolls in my face, while Alex sat down with his laptop again.
"Sorry, I have some research due in a week for peer review." Alec's hands flew over his laptop. But he kept sneaking peeks at me, and shaking his head in wonder.
Dr. Yamada walked in. She wore a sweater and jeans now. Taking one look at me, she inhaled sharply, "You will continue to heal." Yamada took out two syringes from a black bag she carried and injected me with them on my hip.
"Ouch!" I said.
She took more of the shots and handed them to Alec, along with a piece of paper. "These are vitamin shots. If she is healing too slowly, use them."
Alec put the syringes in his laptop bag in a front zip pouch.
Dr. Yamada nodded, and then looked at me. "Dianna. You cannot let people see you and think of your healing as a miracle. With a capital M." Her face was drawn, with her lips slightly pursed. "You need to stay hidden."
"Who else knows about my wreck? Besides, I have to go to work." Both my daytime and night job needed me.
Alec said, "That's not happening. Dominick alerted your work you were in a car wreck and that you'd be on bedrest for the next few days."
I winced. Roth would be displeased. The special project was tedious but the top priority at the moment.
"Yeah. I see that reaction." Alec said. "Your boss, Mr. Craig, is a dick. He demanded to know where you were."
"About that-" I started. Pain in my stomach stopped the words. I grit my teeth.
Yamada came over to me, putting her fingers over my pulse at my neck. She felt around my abdomen. “Lie back.”
I was still resting on the pillows, and couldn’t get much further back. I stayed still while Yamada pressed on my stomach.
As the pain lessened, she said, "Is it worse?”
“Better,” I said.
“Healing pains,” she asked.
“I guess.”
“I don’t feel anything off. I have to get to my shift. Alec, call me for emergencies only."
"Don't I always?"
Yamada made a rude noise and left.
"Thanks," I said as she exited the room.
My bones felt odd, including my spine. Like something being fused together inside my body. Pain wasn't a good descriptor, but it caused pressure in them that made it hard to concentrate. It reminded me of getting a tooth removed. The dentist numbed the area, but you could still feel everything. You know that you should be in agony and could feel the pressure, but you didn't feel the pain. That is what my ankles, legs, hip, shoulder, and arm felt like. It made it hard to focus on what Alec was saying.
Alec frowned and held a tray of rare steak, some grilled chicken, and pork chops. Drool pooled in my mouth. He put the tray on the bedside table.
Dominick came in, "Got your bag."
"Thank you, Dominick." I was trying to look at him, but my gaze went to the tray of meat. I'd just eaten so much, but my stomach growled loudly.
Alec said, "Ease up, Dominick."
"Why the fuck are you carrying around a narcotic?" Dominick ignored his brother, as he spat out the words.
"Huh?"
"Labyrinth? The newest and greatest date rape drug?" His jaw clenched as he glared at me. His voice was hard with an edge of rage to it. Circles were under his brown eyes, and his mouth was in a firm line. His handsome brown eyes didn't look warm at all. A vein pulsed on his forehead. Crap, his actual mad face.
"It was a powder I got off of this gang member," I mumbled, trying not to scream from the feeling of my bones shifting back into place. Pay attention to Dominick. "He had all sorts of stuff. This weird music box."
Dominick turned away and breathed deeply before asking, "Was the gang member a monster?" He turned around.
"Why?"
"Did you kill him?" his voice was soft, but not quite a whisper. He was looking out the window.
Red shoes peeking from the jaws of death. "No," my voice came out small like a child's. "No. The darkness ate him."
Rows of sharp yellowed teeth. The smell of maggots. That thing holding me next to it.
I was inside the kitchen. The floor slick with blood.
Brad was dead; his finger forever pointing to the exit.
Dianna! Keith looked at me, holding his own leg. It wants to eat us all, Dianna.
Dianna help! Don't leave me! Sara's voice screamed accusingly.
The feeling of my bones sliding into place jarred me back to the present. My breath came out rapidly. My head got light. I shuddered, causing the many remaining stitches in my body to tighten and hurt.
How could I run with casts on?
Dominick said, "Shit you're hyperventilating."
My body shuddered uncontrollably. "It didn't eat me."
He reached out, and his touch on my hair was gentle. "Breathe. Breathe."
"It didn't eat me." Habit had me repeating the mantra, "It is over. This is now." I kept repeating it; with my eyes focusing on my arm's cast and the blue fabric sling covering it.
"It is over. This is now." Dominick repeated softly.
"I'm fine."
Dominick made a noise and sat on a couch that was cream with large sunflowers on it.
Alec's eyes held empathy, not pity. He nodded.
I lifted up and grunted. My hips seemed to be doing better as the burden eased. I tried to test my ankles, but the cast made it too difficult.
Alec's face remained serious, stripped of the mask of happy once again. "We are here for you, Dianna." He touched my good arm before sitting back down on the chair. He opened his laptop and started typing again.
Dominick made a grunt. I guess that was his agreement. My heart pounded. A place to belong.
Max's laughter echoed in my ears. His voice whispered, Once you care about someone, they die.
I turned my head to the side. Maybe this time would be the exception that proved the rule. Maybe they would accept all of me and be family. And do the impossible. Live.
Chapter Nineteen
I woke up in Dominick and Alec's place, wearing a too big thermal pajama top and nothing else. The sunshine peeked out from the windows. The hardwood flooring was recognizable; the old parquet flooring in the Zachar’s home. The room wasn’t familiar. It looked like a guest room.
There was a queen size bed under me, fancy armoire, fancy side tables, a reading chair, a double door that was opened to a closet. Unlike the rest of the house, boxes were sparse in here and didn't litter the area. A few cardboard boxes were stacked in an open deep-set closet. My bladder squeezed and I sat up.
Wincing, I held my arm. My cast was off, but my arm was still in a sling. Judging fr
om the pain in the arm and my belly it still needed to heal.
The casts on my legs had also been removed. I cautiously rotated my right ankle. Ouch. Sprained, but no brake. Then moved my left ankle in the same slow circle. No pain.
I got up gingerly and limped to find a bathroom. It was the door right next to the room I woke in. I was going to need a wrap for my ankle until it healed up. After taking care of necessities, I looked for some towels.
Taking off the sling was painful. The arm was healing slowly compared to the rest of the injuries. But I’d never healed so quickly before. What had changed? Shaking my head, I put the curiosity aside.
Finding the towel and soaps, I took a shower. Most of the stitches had fallen out of my skin, leaving no traces of the injuries. A large set of stitches remained on my torso near my navel. It was as long as the palm of my hand, almost the complete length from side to side.
Pushing thoughts of being disemboweled by the Shadowed Man away, I busied my mind with the tasks still to do.
Wrapping a towel around myself, I searched the bathroom for a wrap for my ankle. Finding one, I put it on. I put my weight more fully on my ankle. Still not ideal, but better.
I called out, "Hello?" No response.
I went to Alec's room and knocked. No one answered, so I went in. No one here. I grabbed a tank top, a thick wool turtleneck sweater, and some skinny crops. My reflection in the floor length antique mirror made me snigger. I looked like a little girl playing dress up in her big brother's clothes.
Limping around, I found some wool socks. Putting them on my cold feet, I felt almost human.
Wandering to the kitchen, I called out again, "Hello? Dominick? Alec?"
No one answered. The brothers must’ve been elsewhere.
I opened the fridge and found a steak. Smiling, I found a plate and put it in the microwave. After a minute, I pulled it out and started eating it with my hands. It tasted overdone.
"You know, doing that to steak is a crime?"
Dominick's voice startled me, and I twisted around in a crouch position. Muscle reflexes had taken over, and I stood in a battle stance, arm up to block. The steak in my mouth.
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