The Shadows

24| Continue On

Sabrina and I stand a few feet away from them and let them chat. "I'm sorry, about your father. He seems unwell." I say sadly. She nods, "Yes, he's only getting worse. The doctors can't figure out what it is. I'm not sure how much longer I have with him." Her face twists into sadness as we both look over at the sweet man. "If you don't mind me asking, where is your mother?" The question blurts out before I get the chance to think about what I'm actually saying, but she gave off the vibe that I had known her forever. Her face quickly changes from sadness to anger. "My mother left when the war began. She's a traitor, she betrayed my father and I." My face just sadens further. "That seems to be a common story. My friend Marina's father did the same thing." She spits to the side of her. "Disgusting creatures they are." I look at her confused, "Who? Shadows?" She shakes her head. "No, traitors. If I ever see her again..." I nod at her. "I know what it's like to lose a parent." She nods sadly at me this time. "I'm sorry. How so?"

Before I have the chance to answer, Zander goes into a coughing fit, making us whip our heads towards him. "Sabrina my dear, would you mind grabbing my medication please?" He says in between coughs. Sabrina nods quickly. "Of course dad. I'll be right back." She bursts into a sprint down the hall.

Zander stands up quickly and woddles towards an arched doorway. "Excuse me, I just need to get some water." Damien stands up quickly to help him but Zander waves him off. "I'm fine, I can make it to the kitchen." Damien obviously feeling uncomfortable with this, stands awkwardly, not sure what to do. "I'm okay Damien, Sabrina is too cautious with me!" He chuckles as he makes his way through the doorway. Damien glances over to me questioning if he made the right decision. "Sabrina was telling me they don't know what the illness is..." I say quietly to him. He looks at me sadly. "Damien, I have an idea. I could try to heal him." I say confidently. He looks at me like I'm crazy. "Are you ready for something like that? What if you make a mistake and make it worse somehow?" I shake my head. "If I've been able to do it in the past, I'm sure I could do it now. Marina has told me a bit about it, from what she's heard." He looks at me with immense doubt. His expression was enough to tell me that this wasn't a good idea. I sigh, "What if we suggest it to them and let them decide?" He shakes his head. "Then we will have to tell them of your identity." I shrug, "Do you trust them?" He raises and eyebrow and crosses his arms. "I don't trust anyone when it comes to you. Skye is one too many people." I search my brain for possible explanations to being able to heal him. "Can't we just say I'm a healer or something?" "A healer that doesn't really know how to heal people?"

Zander turns the corner with a glass of water in his hands, slightly trembling and spilling as he makes his way back to the bench. Damien walks over and grabs the glass from his hands, holding it while he walks. "Alright my wonderful guests. I'm sorry about the delay." Zander says cheerfully. "Not a problem Zander, please take your time." Damien walks closely beside him, just in case. Zander takes a seat and once again goes into a coughing fit. Damien hands him the water but he begins choking on it as he tries to cough in between. Sabrina bursts down the hallway in a panic. "Daddy, are you okay?" She says kneeling beside him. Damien looks down to her. "Maybe we should call the doctor?" She jumps up, "He went to the capiral to fill his medicine stock! There isn't anymore here!" She says panicking.

I look over to Zander who's face seems to get increasingly red. He is unable to drink the water. I watch as his eyes roll to the back of his head as he falls foreward, unconscious. Thankfully Damien's reflexes kicked in and he caught him before he hits the ground. He turns him over and lays him on his side. Sabrina screams as he falls and bursts into tears and I run towards him.

I kneel in front of his head as Damien is beside him, checking his pulse. "He has a low pulse." He leans down to check if he's breathing. He looks up to me nervous, shaking his head, telling me that he's not breathing. I step up and grab a pillow from the bench and place it under his dead. I look between Damien and Sabrina. She was hysterical and he looked equally as concerned. I can tell Damien is conflicted for a moment, then looks up to me and gives me a nod for the go ahead. Damien rolls Zander onto his back and I scooch myself closer to him. Taking in a deepbreath, I lean over and gently place my hands in the center of his chest, my left over my right. I didn't really know what I was doing, but it almost felt natural. Marina had told me enough basic details to know where my hands went and that I needed to zone out the surrounding scene.