Ghost Feelings ▸ Theo Raeken

XIII ⋆ THE END OF IT ALL

"Because while they're busy wrapping a whip around your neck, or shooting a hole in your head, I'll take Eiza and we'll be running in the other direction!"

"She won't run away with you!"

"That was not a question."

Eiza recognized those voices, the thing was, that she didn't expect to hear them together. Not after what happened before.

     "I'm on your side as long as it helps me."

     That voice, Eiza knew like the back of her hand, and her heart couldn't help but beat faster every time he spoke. He was here. They were here.

     And they shouldn't be.

     "Trust me, I know."

     That other voice was Liam. Liam and Theo. But, what were they doing here? Were they planning some sort of rescue? That's why they needed the — she thought was, given the siren — ambulance?

     Eiza tried to stand up and get closer to the voices, her friends. Her hands came in contact with the cold hospital floor and started to shake, her legs wobbling. She felt weak and sleep roamed in her mind, calling to her, telling her that it was okay to let go, but she knew better than that. Since sophomore year, she had been through numerous threats: Peter Hale, the kanima, the alpha pack, the dread doctors, and so on. She had had it worse than this. She had been close to death. And she had survived. That's what Eiza always does.

     But she was on her own now. Or so she thought.

     After five long minutes, Eiza stood in front of one of the hospital's hallways, now hearing her friends' voices clearer than before. That kept her going forward, her friends, as if they were some kind of magnet that Eiza couldn't escape from.

     The hospital was deserted, and Eiza couldn't help but stare at her surroundings with her mouth agape. What happened? She had lost track of time, but the last time she was there it all was full of life, people going from room to room, chattering and shouting present. Now, the only thing she could catch a sight of were fallen leaves and rubble lying on the floor. The lights were off. Neither doctors nor patients were anywhere to be seen. She was utterly and completely alone.

     Until now.

     Loud stomps, as well as rising voices, could be heard all the way from the hospital entrance. People were running. Liam and Theo were running. Running to her.

     And she was going to run to them.

• • •

     "Fucking hell, she is not here."

     Theo Raeken found himself in the room where he last saw the one person he didn't want to lose. The person who was helplessly escaping away from his grasp. Or more like she was being pulled away, given the amount of people who didn't want those two together.

     But did it really matter?

     "Fucking hell," Theo hissed again, his heart beating faster by the second. Where the hell was she, if not there?

     Liam set a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. He deeply understood Theo, Eiza being like a big sister to him, someone to look up to. But he also knew that time was running out and if the ghost riders got to them there would be less of a chance to get everyone back.