Give Me Courage (Give Me Series #4)

29 - Reishi

Stiles's figure peeked through the strands of hair dancing in my line of vision. He paced back and forth across the floor with his head angled toward the ground to avoid glancing in my direction. I couldn't tell if he was avoiding me because he didn't see me the same way or if he feared being near me would make me feel worse. Either way, he kept his distance from me in the vault.

My brother gently brushed the hairs out of my eyes while he held me loosely in his arms against his chest. He scooped my weakened body in his arms the moment he slide to the floor next to me. There would never be a time in his life where he wouldn't be the protective brother that came so naturally to him.

I stretched my hand across the concrete flooring to Aiden's body, fingers wrapped around his hand to comfort him in any way I could. Energy was seeping out of my body, yet I forced myself to find some to comfort one of my best friends.

"We had a good run, you know?" I whispered to Isaac with my head against his chest. "We lasted longer than I thought we would."

A small chuckle slipped at the sad realization of our lives until a sharp pain shot through my head. I groaned at the pain and curled closer into Isaac's chest. My hand instinctively tightened around Aiden's hand.

The corner of Isaac's lips fell at my whispered words. He peered down at my fragile body in his arms through misty eyes, lines forming in his forehead, understanding what I meant. Neither of us believed we would have survived this long in high school.

A pained look crossed his facial features as he gently tightened his arms around my body. He leaned back against the pillar behind him with tears welling in his ocean eyes as he stared up at the ceiling. The truth was that we expected Dad to accidentally kill us before we could reach our junior year of high school.

We thought we would have been dead already.

Isaac pressed his lips together before he lowered his head back down. "We're not dying today," he said.

I exhaled through my nose at the statement, weakly smiling up at him. "I don't think we get a choice," I glumly whispered back.

Stiles froze in mid-pace as if he had accidentally overheard our hushed exchange. He glanced at the closed vault door then to Isaac and myself.

He cupped my face between his large hands. "I'm not going to let you die, Chloe."

I lightly shook my head in his grasp and shut my eyes, tiredly. "It's okay. It's easier this way."

I stared at the closed vault doors with pure terror running through my veins once I fought through the cloudy haze and remembered why Isaac and Stiles weren't trapped inside with us.

Isaac shifted beneath my body as his hands gently gripped my shoulders and lowered me to the cool floor. I instinctively reached out for him, managing to grab onto his wrist before he could move out of his crouched position.

"I-Isaac, what are you—" I swallowed as the fever became more intense within my own skin. "Where are you going?"

"Hey, hey." Isaac brushed the back of his fingers against my cheek. "It's okay," he reassured me, masking the sadness in his face, yet unable to hide it from his eyes. "I have to go somewhere, but I'll be back, okay?"

"No!" I forced the word out at the declaration. I strongly shook my head, despite the pounding in my head and shakily pushed myself up on my forearms.