Connected

Chapter 4 ~ Echo

"ECHO! PLEASE! LET HER GO! I'LL DO ANYTHING! PLEASE JUST LET HER GO!" I throw myself towards the cell door, bashing my hands against the steel bars as the boys pleas ran along the hall.

"ECHO!" The voice yelled again, fear and anguish coating my name. A sharp pain continuously radiated along my arm, running directly to my chest. My brand was burning constantly, lava spilling over the initials again and again, making me want to collapse to the floor and let it swallow me whole just to escape the pain, but I couldn't... I needed to fight. I needed to fight for him.

"I SWEAR IF YOU FUCKING HURT HER I'LL KILL YOU!" He growled. I heard a slam that was followed by several grunts of pain and disjointed confused voices, before I heard the words that made my heart break into a thousand pieces.

"Shoot him! I don't care what the boss says, Kill him!"

It felt like everything was going in slow motion. I managed to angle my head to look down the hallway through the bars, my heart beating a million beats per minute. The boy was on the floor, trying to regain his balance while trying to run...run towards me. There were three short men, all dark haired and wearing fitted black suits, (which I guessed normally matched their expressions) standing half way down the corridor, hiding someone from my view. Who is it? Why are they hiding?

You don't want to know. A voice echoed through my mind, shivers running up my spin.

"Echo!" My head snaps to the side meeting the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen. A mixture of different shades of green swimming before me, each shade more captivating than the last. I held my breath as I registered the panic, fear and... Love? That was projecting from his eyes. I looked closer and noticed a hint of hazel hid near the pupil when the light hit the surface in a certain way, making my heart melt and my body ache to be closer to him. What is happening to me?

I opened my mouth to shout his name. Even though I didn't know it, it was sitting on the tip on my tongue waiting for my voice box to respond and let the syllables that form his name escape.

"M-" A sudden short bang rang through my ears, making me freeze and my eyes widen. Those beautiful eyes that stood before me were wide with shock, looking into mine with tears brimming as they slowly slid towards the ground, dulling as the life drained from them with each passing second. A primal scream tore from my lips as my chest exploded, the most unimaginable pain flooding through my body like a tidal wave, breaking through every single barrier of pain that was there before. My head started spinning and my vision blurred; my brand heated to the point of no return, the feeling of lava drenching it was nothing compared to now. I felt my knees give out, but my hands were gripped to the bars, turning white under the pressure. My eyes stayed on the boys, not daring to break the connection as tears streamed down my cheeks. His body shook as he coughed up the ruby red blood that only a few seconds before had been flowing through his veins.

"Ech-Echo..." His voice shook as he started slipping away. My screams had dulled as I stood there, frozen in horror and my body flooding with heartbreak. "I-I... love..." His voice drifted off as his body stopped shaking and those dazzling green eyes dulled to the colour of my now broken heart. His chest no longer moving, his body still as if he were only sleeping. I so wanted to believe that he was only sleeping, but my mind knew better.

He was dead.

~

I shot up in my bed; my body drenched in sweat as a small scream tore from my throat and my lungs struggled to take in air. I could feel my heart beating like I had just run a marathon, rather than being asleep for a few precious hours. My body was still shaking slightly, the adrenaline rushing through my veins, as I tried to force myself to calm down so I could finally get some of the oxygen that was fighting to enter my body. What the hell was that? Who the hell was that?