Holy War: Two Worlds and an In- Between

Chapter 48: The Aftermath

"I guess we have a deal," The Dark One sighed and rolled his eyes as he disappeared muttering something about Harlequin.

I thought it was safe to assume he had teleported somewhere. Still, I couldn't help but stay there for a moment just to make sure he wouldn't appear out of nowhere. When I realized that he wouldn't materialize and drive a knife through my neck, I turned around and looked at Arlow.

He clutched his hand to his chest as he groaned in pain. Blood trickled out of the open wounds on his chest and his torso was bruised black and blue. He seemed almost incapable of moving as he shuddered in the water he laid in. I tried to reach out for him, but I couldn't risk hurting him.

"Umm, Diana," Whisper called clutching his shoulder as he stood over Allioni's limp body.

Allioni seemed to be worse off than Arlow. Allioni wasn't even breathing as he just laid there with a body made of broken bones. His clothes were torn and his lips were slightly parted as he remained motionless. I didn't bother running to him. It wasn't like I could do anything about it.

"What are we going to do?" I asked Whisper as he looked just as panicked as I did.

He shook his head as he looked down at the blood flowing from their wounds. His eyebrows were knitted and his breaths were short and uneven. He seemed to go pale as he blinked rapidly.

"Whisper, snap out of it!" I demanded. My voice was getting hoarse from all of the screamings, "Whisper, they're dying!"

In an instant, my only hope's eyes rolled to the back of their heads as their bodies hit the floor. I groaned as Whisper laid passed out on the floor. I felt bad for not caring about how he felt, but at that point, so long as he wasn't dying I was pleased.

"Oh, come on!" I yelled at the sky as I stomped my foot against the ground.

I heard the word that Jack said to me in the diner replay in my head, "You've always had that temper, Diana," he mocked. I felt a new wave of anger rush through me as I realized how calm I had been. All through that whole endeavor, I had been calm and patient with everyone there. I hadn't even lost my cool once until that night.

I threw my hands into the air and pelted a plethora of curse words into the universe. I was outraged as I plopped myself down on the wet floor completely destroying the dress that I adored. I screamed out as I looked around at the bloody mess around me. I finally gave up screaming as I left my head in between my knees and thought of a solution.

I began to think of ways that I could find help for the boys and even considered performing a surgery myself but was halted in my thoughts as I felt a tap on my shoulder. "Are you ready to go home now?"

I hesitated before I would even look up to see the person who spoke to me. I couldn't bear to move my head from between my knees. Not because I was scared, but because I couldn't take another surprise. Surely enough, I braced myself for the worst and raised my head up.

Standing before me was Allioni. His body was barely even bruised, and he seemed to have completely recovered from most of his injuries. Aside from a limp arm and a bum leg, Allioni seemed relatively fine. In fact, by his own words, he was ready to go home.

I sprung to my feet as quickly as I could with a fifteen-pound dress weighing me down. I struggled to stay standing as the dress really wanted me to stay down, but I was able to regain most of the control of my body. As I stood before the bruised boy I curled my hands into fists and pounded them against his chest.

He seemed unphased by my attempts to harm him, but it still made me feel better, "What the hell is wrong with you? How many times are you gonna let me think you're dead, huh?" I asked as I continued to pound on his chest.

"Diana, please," he said as he took hold of my hands stopping them from hitting him and looked me in the eyes, "I didn't mean to frighten you. I just had to avenge Giovan."

I was about to start yelling at him again but was interrupted by Arlow groaning behind us. He had managed to sit up straight as he gave us a lazy grin. Blood dribbled off of his split lips that seemed to be caused by some internal bleeding. He balanced on his bloody hand and seemed to ignore the stab wounds on his exposed his torso.

"I did not kill your precious Giovan," he revealed in disgust before spitting thick dark blood out of his mouth. Allioni trained his eyes on Arlow and proceeded to walk towards him with determination hidden behind them.

"Allioni, I swear on everything I love that if you hurt Jack I will hurt you!" I raged as Allioni stooped beside the boy.

Arlow looked over Allioni's shoulder at me. I knew what was coming, but I still wasn't ready for it. I didn't think that I could get hurt by Arlow seeing as I knew that he wasn't really Jack, but he did find new ways to surprise me every time he spoke.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not Jack?" He asked aloud hoarse chocked voice that was almost inhuman, "What the hell are you not getting?"

I ground my teeth together as Allioni rested his index finger and thumb on the temple of Allioni's forehead. Instantly, Arlow's eyes fluttered shut, and he fell to the floor motionlessly. His bleeding didn't cease nor did his wounds heal. All that happened was that he was no longer conscious.

"Is he dead?" I asked as I walked over to Allioni.

"No, I just put him to rest so he wouldn't make trouble while I fixed him," Allioni explained.

"How are you gonna do that?" I asked feeling a headache coming on.

"Normally, I'd just take him to the in-between and heal him there, but he's too absorbed in evil to ever make it there. So now, I have to find some elixirs before it's too late," he explained monotonously.

I heard Whisper groan as he climbed back to his feet, "Wait, how are you fine then?" I asked Allioni, "If anything, you should be dead."

Allioni shrugged, "Death hasn't ever been an option for me."