Taken

Chapter 20 (Part 2)

My eyes watered as the scent of decay thickened. It grew so fast that I wasn't sure if it was real or if I was just imagining it. Nonetheless, I felt it infecting the air in my lungs as I breathed. My breaths stilled, not wanting to draw in any more of the polluted air as I started the three bodies that lay side by side on the floor in front of what appeared to be a makeshift altar. I was lucky I had fallen beside one of them rather than across all three. I wasn't sure if they would have survived the weight of my fall if I had. The last thing I wanted to do was crush the well-preserved remains of her family.

That would have only pissed Tia off more. Not that it would matter if it was even possible. She already had the worst planned for the two of us.

Though they looked better than corpses that were months old should have, even with my limited sight I could spot the signs of death that kept them from appearing to be a sleeping trio if you ignored their open eyes. They looked... plastic. If I hadn't known who they were, I would have thought they were props. Their skin was a sickly grey tone and appeared glossy. It looked slathered in oil just like the strands of their dark hair and their clothes that seemed to be saturated in the thick liquid. It spread to the concrete floor where they lay, darkening it around them.

They were easy to identify. The old wrinkled Fae that was closed and had tripped me must have been Tia's mother. Unless Tia had killed any other old ladies. The larger body beside her must have been Korren while the most devastating sight, the one body the size of a baby, must have been his and Tia's son. He was swaddled with thick soft blankets while the others had nothing but the clothes they wore and matching amulets around their necks that must have maintained their physical condition. Not that they needed anything else.

They were dead.

And I bet Tia wanted to add Silas to the collection of bodies that she had going.

The thought had my heart thrashing so hard against my chest that I was sure Silas could hear it in the silence that surrounded us. My breaths grew thin until my short gasped breaths drowned out the sound of my heart. The panic that had been growing before I stumbled across the corpses skyrocketed. It latched onto me until it was all I could focus on and grew as I pictured Silas' face staring back at me with open eyes and a slack expression in place of Korren's.

He was going to die.

Ash was going to die.

I was going to die.

And none of us would go with any semblance of peace.

The realization was a punch to the gut. I always knew my end wouldn't be kind, but I never wanted to drag anyone else to a horrible death with me. I was trying to prevent Ash's but had only managed to drag Silas to his. It seemed his was approaching fast while I still had some suffering to go through before I met my end. An end, that opposed to the alternative, I would want to meet and only would if I kept the mark on my chest hidden according to what Silas had revealed.

For once, I hoped Ash didn't suffer for long. There was nothing left to ask him to hold out for, not unless he found a way to free himself. I failed him. I wouldn't make it back to set him free. He would die trapped. Just like Silas and I would.

And it was all my fault.

I felt my chest construct, the burn that had been steadily growing as my short gasps failed to draw any air into my lungs twisted. My vision blurred as an ache started behind my eyes. A ringing started in my ears, distorting the sound of Silas's worried call.

I felt a hand land on my shoulder, shaking me as my view of the bodies was cut off by one that moved to block my sight. Breathing and alive.