Time Again

Chapter 24: Shot in the Light

Chapter 24: Shot in the Light

"Let light shine out of darkness"

~2 Corinthians 4:6

A/N: this isn't edited yet

Adelle

My arm was seized up in James's grip as he picked me up from the floor. He pulled me into his arms, holding me like a child against his chest. I gagged. This was wrong. He was not the person to be comforting me. I breathed through my mouth, unable to stand the smell of him.

I sat still, unmoving as my eyes held onto the image of Wes. He curled over, back a bloody mess that seeped crimson onto the already scarlet snow. It looked like a massacre, the amount of blood that was spilt from his body. I fought the urge to cry. My eyes burned from holding back tears. I locked in my emotions, I wouldn't let them know I was broken; that Cain had finally broken me.

Cain looked over at me, his eyes bright with triumph. I broke his gaze ducking my head, chin to my chest... tail between my legs. Submissive. I could barely breathe, the bond was so thin it was barely there. A groan fell from my lips, my chest tight, pain radiating from the space behind my heart, right from my soul. I watched silently as Cain's soldiers walked around, picking up weapons and milling about. One unhooked Wes from the post. His arms fell like weights to the snow. He was too weak to manage any sound above a low guttural groan that scraped against my insides.

His lips formed my name, tasting the letters as if I was with him. Pain had made him blind yet he lifted his face towards me, tears mixed with blood. He struggled, arms shaking as he pulled himself onto hands and knees. I bit my lip, clamping down on my emotions. Every move he made hollowed me out, I had no more strength and silent tears dropped off my chin. Cain began to laugh as Wes tried to move forward, crawling to get to me. I wanted to scream at him to stop. To just, stop. The soldiers circled Wes, taunting, jeering, laughing and mocking his pain.

James turned and walked back towards the tree line and my heart stopped beating. It stalled and I gasped and then red flashed before my eyes, my ears ringing and I found myself on the ground, staring at the skeletal branches above me. My hands fisted in the snow and the gray sky blotted out as a dark form leaned over me.

"--Adelle..."

I turned my chin up to the voice, acknowledging its cadence, hearing my name. Air rushed past my ears and the Earth released her hold on me.

"She's in shock. . . heartbeat at twenty beats per minute."

A soft surface was under me and a mask was placed over my face. I startled, gasping as my eyes finally focused and oxygen met my lungs.

"Wes," I wheezed.

"Sh, he's okay, you're okay." My grandfather appeared above me, he held my hand.

I attempted to sit up but his hands restrained me, pushing me down.

"I need to see him. Now." Something felt wrong.

"Adelle-"

"Please," I begged, panic gripped me. I pushed the oxygen mask from my face. He sighed and relented. My grandfather slid his hands under me and walked a short distance. I looked up to see that we were in a large tent. It went long and at the end I picked up the disastrous sound of struggled breathing and an erratic heart monitor. My heart lept into my throat at the sound of Wes. My eyes grappled for a place to rest on his body. They wanted to take in every inch of him. He layed on his stomach, back wrapped in thick, white bandages that, in places, crimson seeped through.