Night of the Alphas

Chapter 25

I walked away from my post, holding Zaria's hand. "What was that for?" I asked.

She cast her eyes downward. Their color seemed to have dulled since the last time I saw her. "It's complicated." She sounded like she was on the verge of tears. "You'll find out when we get there."

Zaria almost never cried. Not unless something was very wrong.

I stopped. She turned to face me, her eyes wet and bloodshot. I grabbed her shoulders. "Zaria, what happened?"

"I..." She closed her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Zane," She mumbled.

"Why?!" I asked, panic seeping into my voice. "Why are you sorry?"

"It's your sister!" Zaria blurted out.

My stomach dropped. Charity...

Zaria grabbed my hand and began sprinting towards the medical center. "Come on! We have to go before it's too late!"

She didn't need to tell me twice. I ran as fast as I could, not caring about the raindrops stinging my face. When Zaria and I got to the hospital, it was completely surrounded with yellow caution tape. We ducked underneath it and barged in. We dashed through the halls past investigators and officers trying to figure out the situation. Finally, we came to a hospital room with its door propped open. In the center was a small cot with my sister lying on it. Oh, she looked terrible- Her beautiful face had a massive, gaping scar across it. Her dark blue irises had turned black from all of the blood in her eyes. Her torso was torn down the middle. She was hooked up to several machines, none of which seemed to be helping her. Her chest heaved painfully with every breath. Summer sat right next to her, trying to keep her alive. Nearly everyone I knew (Even Willow) was at her side, trying to comfort her. Everyone except Mr. Taylor and Amanda. Amanda was bawling uncontrollably in the corner of the room, and Mr. Taylor was consoling her.

I walked up to Charity. Abel was the first to notice my arrival, and quietly told everyone else to back off. I held one of my sister's bandaged hands. "Charity," I whispered.

She opened her eyes. "Zane," She said hoarsely. She reached up and tried to touch my face, but I stopped her. "Save your energy. You'll need it."

She sighed, but it sounded more like a rough whistle. "What did they do to you?" I mumbled, tears rolling down my face.

"He tore me apart. With claws." She traced her torso wound. "Claws."

I knelt down, still holding her hand. "You didn't deserve this. You didn't deserve any of this." I looked around the room. "You should have had a better life than this."

She went silent for a moment. Tears spilled out of her eyes, making clean streaks down her face. "When do I know?" She asked me.

"Know what?"

"When to stop fighting," she said. "Stop fighting for you. Stop fighting to live. When do I know?"

Never! I wanted to shout. Never stop fighting! Don't stop until you've won. Until you've repaid everything that needed to be repaid. But even though I wanted to tell her that, I knew it wouldn't be best for her. She'd always done what's best for me, even when it hurt her. I needed to return the favor.

"Whenever you're ready," I murmured. "Stop fighting when you've done all you can."

She looked into my eyes. After a long pause, she responded. "I'm ready."