End of Days

Stories Shared

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Sages abdomen was not only covered in bruises but also tattoos. There was a swirling stem across her stomach with roses placed around it. There was some sort of writing inside the roses, but I couldn't quite make it out. On her side was feathers which were connected to a set of wings etched onto her back. It was all black and white and beautiful.

"Woah," I say looking back up to her face.

"Yeah, I uh I got them a while ago." She says as Azra pushes on one of her ribs causing her to wince.

"What happened to you guys down there?"

"I didn't get it as bad as Nolan and Enzo." She begins as I struggle to get my upper layers off. "It was just like those old spy movies, they had us hanging from our hands, our feet barely touching the floor. It was just Enzo and I for a while while they stitched Nolan up, but they hung him up the same way once they brought him in. Enzo got the worst, they used him like a punching bag. They brought in Blake and Alec just before they moved from Enzo to Nolan. They could tell Nolan was close to passing out just from the blood loss, so they only hit him once or twice before moving to me." Azra wraps Sages rib cage and moves to her face. Cleaning the blood off with a new bowl of water and applying the same ointment as she did mine.

"They brought in more guard and they all started yelling, some in a different language. It was hard to tell what they were asking, and they weren't very patient when it came to waiting for an answer. Blake tired explaining that we didn't understand what they were saying by it only made them hit him harder. Then Alec and Enzo both tried bargaining for our lives, saying they could keep them if they let us go." Azra moves off Sages face, having finished cleaning and bandaging the cuts, and comes to my bed. She pushes on each and waits to see if I wince, trying to judge if they're broken or not. I try to focus on Sage's words and not the stabbing pain I get every time Azra touches a rib. "They broke out these stick things and made Alec and Blake take their shirts off, I've never heard a scream like that. They were just about to move to me when a guard came to stop it after, what I got was not fun, but I can't imagine the pain Alec and Blake are in." Sage finishes just as Azra takes hold of my bad shoulder and yanks on my arm. I scream out in pain as she lays it across my chest.

"Pop out, now pop in." She says with a smile, helping me sit up.

"Yeah, thanks." I mumble as she wraps up my stomach.

"Wear wrap, one week all good." She says as she finishes and tapes the end down, looking between the two of us to make sure we both understand. She helps me put my shirt and sweatshirt on before sliding my arm into a sling and laying the strap over my shoulder. "Shoulder stop hurting, no more sling." She instructs and waits for me to nod, saying I understand.

"I'm sorry it took me so long, I should have been there with you guys. Maddox could have talked to his sister alone." I say, shaking my head. We should have worked on the plan more, should have perfected it.

"We don't know if Maddox would have been able to convince her. The only thing you being there would have done is given them another punching bag. We each knew the risk of coming here and we each had our roles. You are not going to feel guilty about this okay? I don't care what anyone else says, this isn't on you. None of it is." She sages through grunts as Azra examines her ribs.

"Sage-" I start only to be cut off by her.

"No, you're going to give some dumb reason why this is your fault like you're the one who made all these decisions. We all agreed to this plan, we all made this plan. This isn't on you Mazlynn." Sage says, giving me that 'try to correct me' look.