Rhea Blake | DISCONTINUED

The children of Gabriel

My eyes flicker open to the blinding light of the sun, there's an arm draped across my chest that falls as I move. I look to my left to see Jordan crouched down beside me. He offers me a hand up which I quickly take but the second I'm up, I drop back down to my knees.

Murphy is lying on the ground lifeless, suddenly everything comes back to me. I glance to Bellamy who's sat on the ground with his head in his hands. He did this to us, it was influenced by the toxin but it was him.

"Murphy?" I call softly, reaching out to place a hand on his cheek. "Come on, you need to get up. The toxins gone now."

Abby kneels down next to me, it's only then that I remember our ship was stolen. I turn to see that Raven is there but Madi isn't.

"Madi, where is she?" I ask, my heart pounds in my chest as I speak. I can't lose them both.

"She's fine," A voice I didn't expect to hear responds. I look to see that my sister is stood among our friends, "She's back at the transport ship with Gaia."

I give her a quick nod then turn back to Murphy who still looks lifeless. "Abby, is he... he'll be okay, right?"

"Come on, John," Abby says softly, "Wake up."

My eyes lock onto his face, maybe if I wish hard enough he'll just open his eyes. He used to play dead all the time with Madi, he'd have her jumping all over him trying to wake him. He has to open his eyes, he has to.

"His pulse is too weak," Abby announces.

Too weak, his pulse is too weak. That can't be right, not Murphy, nothing about him is weak, it's the one thing I love most about him. No matter how much he goes through, he always stays strong. He gave me strength, he gives me strength. I can't lose him, Madi can't lose him.

I lower my head to his chest, so that I'm murmuring into his shoulder. "Murph, baby, come on. I need you to wake up, now. You're scaring me. Madi's down here, we can go and get her, take her to that beach like you wanted to. You just need to wake up."

As I pull away from him, I notice thick black lines covering his chest. "Abby, what the hell is that? What's happened to him?"

"I have no idea," Abby responds.

"Then get Jackson out here, get something from the packs, he needs to wake up and he needs to wake up now," I yell, my lips tremble as the words leave my mouth.

It's easier to be angry than to accept what's happening. If I let myself breakdown again, I won't come back, last time I almost lost myself. I love Finn with all of my heart, I always will, but I've spent six years with Murphy, we've raised a child. I don't know how to live without him, I don't want a life without him.

"Remember we're in their home, everybody keep calm," Bellamy says, the firmness in his voice pulls me out of my thoughts.

I glance over my shoulder to see a large group of children all staring at us in terror. A group of adults — presumably their parents — come running over to us, probably to protect their children from the invaders that are in there home. This is the last thing we need right now.

I turn my focus back to Murphy, I run my hands over his hair in the way that always makes him smile. He stays still, not moving in the slightest.

The voices of my people interacting with the residents of this place are muffled. The only thing I can focus on now is waking Murphy up.

Suddenly Murphy jerks, my lips turn up into a smile momentarily until I realise that he's seizing. It feels like my hearts been shattered all over again when I hear the grunts of pain escaping his lips. I try to roll him onto his side but it's too late — he's already stopped —