The Invisible.

(7) It's Like I'm Falling Asleep

The screaming intensified as I sprawled out on the tiled floor of his kitchen. There was a tiny squelching noise as the puddle of blood I landed in smeared across the back of my jacket.

"You!!" Tatiana looked up with a sort of madness in her eyes. "You."

I sat up, breathing heavily. I could see Shayne from here : he was lying on his side with his back to me and his arms flung wide, as if he had decided to take a nap in the thick of the fighting. "We came to help him." I said and got to my feet.

"No!" She screamed, swiping at my legs as I stood. "You did this, this is your fault! I'll have you killed, you won't get away with this!"

"What?" I took a step back, confused. Maybe she was going insane...You were supposed to reason with grieving people, right?

"I'll kill you myself!" She lunged forward, grabbed my legs and pulled me down.

"Tatiana, stop! You're not think-" Her hands wrapped around my neck, cutting me off.

The bitch did have a good grip, I'll give her that.

I rolled to one side and she rolled with me, keeping her grip on my throat. Karma was right behind me when I came out of the tunnel, so where was she now??

'What If something happens and I don't get there in time? ' James' voice echoed in my ears.

I reached down and grabbed the gun that I'd stashed in my waistband earlier.

'So be it.'

I wrapped my left hand around the grip and brought the barrel down on her head as hard as I could. Crack.

She fell still, and I pushed her off of me. Ah, sweet air. I didn't have time to enjoy it, though...Another short cry of pain reached my ears.

"Shayne!" I pulled myself over to face him, and was almost sick. Blood. Hot, sticky blood all over his face, in his hair... I couldn't tell where he was bleeding from. I couldn't even see his face until he opened his mouth - a small wall of white. And if you looked, there was blood in his mouth too.

"Oh, God..okay, okay...I'm here.. don't open your eyes..I told you to keep a doctor around, you idiot. " I peeled off my jacket, then tossed it aside - the thing was ruined, it wouldn't do any good. I pulled off my shirt, scrunched it up and started to clean his face. "The whole thing was on TV. Live. You looked great. I'm a little pissed that you never gave me a shoutout."

He made a harsh, hacking noise, and reached for my hand. Once his face was clean, I could see tears streaming down his cheeks.

He didn't want to die.

A coarse sob rolled up my throat - a half scream. "Oh, please...don't cry...I'm gonna sit here and wait with you, okay? Don't cry."

"Antwan got stuck coming up; I had to help him.." Karma said, finally clambering out from underneath the sink. "Is Kendall he- oh my God." She knelt down next to us, then sighed. "I'm so sorry, Shayne."

There was a tiny crash as Antwan crawled out of the tunnel and got to his feet. "Is he....?"

I shook my head. In the garage, a car horn sounded.

"That's Kendall!" Karma stood up and lunged for the door. "He said he'd call us when everything's set up- who the hell is this?" She said, nudging Tatiana with her foot. I'd forgotten about her..

"She's fine, just unconscious. We'll help her later."

After they left, Shayne made a small noise in the back of his throat. Blood had dried around his eyes and he couldn't open them.

"Shhh, it's okay." I said and gently wiped them for him. His blue-green eyes immediately flickered open, and his gaze fell on my face. I sighed. "I saw you yesterday. Yesterday."

His eyes widened just a little when he realized I didn't have a shirt on. I picked it up off the floor and held it out. "Oh, so when a guy takes off his shirt it's heroic. But when I do it, everyone's all surprised."

He let out another hacking noise, which I was now considering a laugh. At least he was a little amused.

Shayne stretched out his hand and placed a fingertip at the base of my collarbone, tracing a line up my throat. He gave me a knowing look, then did it again.

It took me a moment to understand...He wanted me to sing.

"I spent all my money

bought a big old fancy car

For these bright-eyed honeys

Oh, yeah, you know who you are

Keep me up 'til the sun is high

'Til the birds start calling my name

I'm addicted and I don't know why

Guess I've always been this way.."

He sighed, never taking his eyes off of mine. He was listening to the lyrics; I would too...if it was the song that I was dying to.

"All these roads steer me wrong

But I still drive them all night long, all night long

All you young wild girls

You make a mess of me

Yeah, you young wild girls

You'll be the death of me, the death of me.... Oh , I'm sorry! That was stupid of me.."

He shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his lips. Keep going.

"All you young wild girls

No matter what you do

Yeah, you young wild girls

I'll always come back to you, come back to you

I get lost under these lights

I get lost in the words I say

Start believing my own lies

Like "Everything will be okay"

Oh, I still dream of a simple life

Boy meets girl, makes her his wife -"

He drifted off slowly, then all at once. Three blinks, a fluttering of eyelashes, and those sea-foam eyes disappeared.

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