Grey Thorns

Chapter 66-Fighting a war

I ended up ahead of them and slowed my pace once things started to get eerie. It's noon and we've seen no sign of  Harry and Rafael. It was foggy and no sign of animals were around. It was too quiet. I crept on my tip toes and grasped my bow tighter until the pain shot up  my arm again. Luke's method only worked for a little while. I didn't hear them talking behind me which meant they were equally as cautious as I was. I slowed even more as we reached a steep hill but I lost my footing and slid down the rocky hill util I flipped over something hard. I shook the dirt off me and looked what I hit and panicked. My eyes widened and I screamed until someone covered my mouth and I panicked even more. "Sh! They'll hear you." sounds a familiar velvety voice and I turn sharp to see who it was. Rafael. I trembled as I saw the blood stain down his cheek from a cut on his head. I jump up and throw my arms around him. "Rafael!" I whisper and he hugs me back. "Hi Max." he half groans. "What happened?" I ask pulling away and touching the blood on his face. "Three demons attacked us this morning." he mumbles and wipes away the tears staining my cheeks as I bend down next to Harry. "I tried to save him." he says and we both look up as Kurt and Luke come running down the slope I came down. "Rafael, we were worried." Luke says and Kurt spots Harry. I wipe my cheek and and turn him over on his back. His face was swollen and his neck was slit open. 

I grabbed his cold hand and sat down in the grass. Harry was the one that saved my life when Mika and Abraham tried to murder me. He came down to visit me in the hospital every day, sometimes twice, just to talk to me and see if I was okay. Harry was sweet at times and caring. And now he's dead because of me. "Max, it's not your fault." Kurt says and I drop his hand roughly and stand up with my hands in my hair, I was practically hyper ventilating. "He's dead. Harry's dead." I say shaking my head and I fall back against a tree. I sob in my knees but I didn't feel any better. Then I remember Rafael's cut and stand up again, getting my water bottle and walking up to him. I didn't say anything, I just tugged him to sit down and he does. My hands shook as the water spilled on my hands and I wiped the excess blood off his cheek and neck. "You cut your hair." he comments and reaches out to touch my upward hair. 

"They made me so people wouldn't recognize me." I mutter. He doesn't answer, just slowly nods as he moves away from me when I finish. He bends down next to Harry and digs through his pockets. "What are you doing?" I ask and he continues. "If any other demons find him and see his name, they'll know there's more of us coming, so I'm taking any form of ID." he says and shoves his wallet in his pocket along with his cell phone. Cell phones don't work out here, otherwise I'd be blowing up Liam's phone. I bend down near his head and comb his hair back from his dead face, still in half sob. "Will you guys at leased help me give him a proper discharge?" I ask and they all exchange looks before nodding, well, Kurt didn't nod. "We should be doing anything but staying around here." Kurt says coldly and I stand up. "If this was you, I'd be doing the same thing, so either you help me or you don't." I growl through my teeth and he huffs and crosses his arms. "Fine." 

Rafael picks him up over his shoulder and follows behind me with him. "Where do you have in mind?" he asks and I look around as I walk. I blinked several times to try to clear my eyes so I could see straight. "I look where the sun hit the most and my heart swelled up again at the thought. "On that hill." I say and they don't question when I walk ahead of them. The grass was thick and the trees surrounded him just right. Rafael placed him down where I pointed and they watched as I found large rock to place under his head and folded his hands on his stomach. I combed his hair with my fingers and kissed his cheek after saying a mental prayer and walking away from him. His blood on my hands is what stung the most. I killed a good friend just trying to protect me for the second time now, but this time he didn't succeed. 

I walked right past the others and didn't care if they didn't follow or not, though I knew they were. They followed quietly. I walked with my arms crossed and my eyes trying to focus but all I saw was Liam's future, like Harry. I utterly tried to push the image aside. But there was always that thought; What if my sims back in training happen? I shivered as I remembered them clear as day. I opened my eyes I didn't realize I had closed and spot a hawk in the tree, so my reaction was to aim and shoot, quickly regretting the quick movement my wrist couldn't take. The hawk fell to the ground and I picked it up by the wing before dropping it to the ground in front of the boys, who looked at me funny, and then I took a spot on a ledge and tucked my knees to my chest.