Culling

Part III • Chapter XXII

He was here.

I knew that even if he was injured, he was still deadly. And, somehow, I knew without a fraction of a doubt that he would hurt my boys. He was waiting. They had no idea how dangerous he was, what he could do. How much he enjoyed toying with people.

As long as he was still alive, he could still kill everyone left that I loved.

I had to stop him before I lost anyone else.

I reached out with my left hand, grabbing onto the front of Kota's shirt and pulling him even closer to me. He leaned closer to me without hesitation, until his wide eyes were inches from his own.

"K- Kota!" I had to let him know, I had to tell him not to leave anyone alone him ever. They should end it, get rid of him while they had the chance.

No, wait, maybe I should do it. That way they didn't need to risk themselves at all.

"H- hurry. He's c- coming! You n- need to stay s- safe."

"Sang?" Kota looked lost. His hands shook as he touched my arm and shoulder. "Sang, please. It's alright." His eyes darkened as he ran his fingers down my cheek in a comforting gesture. "I promise you, he'll never get near you again. You are safe here."

No! He didn't understand! I had to make him understand. He had to go tell the others right now. They needed to leave. I needed everyone to be safe. "Ko-"

The door slammed open, cutting off my sentence. Kota tensed and glanced over his shoulder as a dark frame shadowed the doorway.

My breath caught in my throat from sheer terror.

He was here! Somehow, he had gotten loose! I had been too late to warn them! He had come for me again, and Kota was going to get hurt. It was my fault - my responsibility. He would hurt anyone in his way in order to get close.

"Dr Green!" Kota's shoulders slumped as relief washed over him. The feeling was so intense that it broke through my own fear and reached me - enough to take off the edge of my panic. "I am not sure what to do..."

Sean had crossed the room and nudged Kota away within the span of a breath. His hands moved over my face in a diagnostic manner before he turned his hand and snapped something at Kota.

But I was no longer paying attention at this point - I was so dizzy, scared and tired. The fact that it was Sean here, and it had not been Volto bursting through the doorway, meant that we were safe. If only for a moment longer.

It was hard to think. My head felt heavy, and I was aware that Kota was now holding my head in his lap. Blackness leaked into the corner of my vision, promising relief. Sean moved in front of me, his voice urgent as he spoke, and a dull pain radiated through my cheek.

I blinked at him stupidly. Wondering why he had just slapped me. I only wanted to go back to sleep. That was mean of him to do. After I had been so concerned and everything...

"H- hey!" I protested. This was not the kind and flirtatious man that I had grown to know.

"Sang," Sean was holding cup in front of my mouth. "You need to drink this before you go to sleep. I prepared some yarrow in the way that you told me. Your uncle also sent antibiotics for you to take, and some poultice that I'll apply."

Oh, well. That was nice of Uncle Lucas. I hoped that meant that he wasn't disappointed or hated me too much. Even though I couldn't remember why he might be angry.

Plus, it was nice to know that Sean had been paying attention. He did seem interested when I had told him about some of the common herbs that I had come across and their uses.