Snowfire

Monster

Jason's footsteps were soft, a koi in the shadows of the pond, not making a ripple as it swam to the light. The noise in the background were a distant rumble and Eira's breath was close and shaky. He didn't look at her. He looked down at the familiar jawline and the closed eyes. He looked at Stanley.

Jason raised his hand and reached for his neck. Before he made contact, Stanley swallowed and Jason almost couldn't believe it, there was such a faint breath. His warm hands wrapped his neck and there it was... a weak pulse. Weak but alive.

"He's breathing," Eira gasped, clearly relieved. Jason scanned the tables quickly. They were in a surgical room, and the doctors, or whoever they were, left in a hurry. Jason opened the drawers. There were bottles, boxes and new needles sealed in plastic packages. He grabbed one and searched the other drawers, checking the labels of each one quickly. As a healer, he had memorised the human drugs. Even if they had healers in the world of Gataria, he had to admit the human drugs came in handy at certain times. It was often the case where healing was combined with that treatment.

"Luke said he didn't have time," Jason knew Eira was trying to keep calm for his sake, but he could sense the nervous edge in her voice. He knew what she meant. As she said before, they were going to crush them all beneath concrete and dirt once they thought it was time.

"I know," he reassured and picked up a tiny bottle. He found it. "Pull up his sleeve."

When he turned, making sure his hands were clean, Eira was already wiping down the inside of Stanley's elbow with alcohol wipes, the purple vein obvious beneath his skin, growing white and cold by the second. He didn't wait and plunged the needle in his arm. It was just a dose to burst his energy, to make sure he was able to make it out to the medical van outside.

Stanley didn't budge. Jason patted him hard on the shoulder. "Stanley, come on..." He grew worried as he untied the restrains around his wrist, a faint pink ring around it.

It wasn't hard to tell. There was a struggle, and the struggle wasn't a fight against the other doctors in this room, it was Stanley's fight against the pain.

Eira walked closer to Stanley and hissed urgently, "Stanley, can you hear me?"

Like a miracle, Stanley's eyes opened. He took in a sharp breath, his face the colour of a white sheet of paper. He gazed around blankly, speaking with certainty, "I'm dead."

"Almost." Jason grabbed him by the arm, heaving him from the chair.

"Abbot?"

"That's me, can you walk?" It wasn't a question, it was a command. Walk, he said. Jason didn't expect another answer and he knew Stanley wouldn't give one. In a situation like this, Jason had to thank Stanley's usual confidence. He had nodded and slipped from the chair, his legs almost crumbling but Jason caught him, swinging his arm over his shoulder.

"Whoa, steady."

"You make me sound like a horse."

Jason rolled his eyes, heaved him a bit too forcefully that a pained groan escaped Stanley's gritted teeth.

"Quickly," Eira urged and they did. The door was locked and the card in Eira's hand was denied access. They had no other choice but to turn and rush down the hallway and hope for the best. As they turned a corner, Kayla appeared. She looked distraught, tired, but when her glance landed on Stanley she breathed a relief.

"Kayla, I thought I said-"

"I'm not leaving him." Kayla insisted, brows furrowed.

Stumbling out from the shadows was Justin, coughing with his body bent. The green eyes landed on Kayla, then Stanley. "Kay, we gotta run."

"Right." Kayla ignored Jason and pulled Stanley from his shoulders. Stanley's weight shifted and there was a dull ache around Jason's neck. That was normal; he had grown stiff from Stanley's pull. There was another dull ache in his chest that wasn't. He tried to shake it off, but it was there, probing him. His powers were getting irritable and Jason willed his core to calm. He tried taking a few breathes, but it was still there, provocative. He was running, and he was tired, that was probably the reason, he had thought. But deep down, his instincts won't allow it.

It was a relief when Stanley, Kayla and Justin turned the corner and disappeared. Jason somehow knew they would be safer away from him. He eyed Eira warily, his heart beating loudly in his head. He needed the sound to stop, he needed to hear his surroundings. Then, he sensed another pair of unwanted eyes and slowed his gait into a jog, into a walk, into a complete stop. Eira halted, turning, a questioning look in her eyes fading when the blue eyes widened and stared past him.

"What a jolly party."

Jason stiffened, but whirled around, smooth and fast. Eden tilted her head, watched them warily, a dangerous glint in her eyes. Eira and Jason froze, but Jason's copper eyes shifted to the side, keeping Eira in his vision, gauging the distance between them to make sure they were close, that he had enough time to step in front of her when he needed to.

Eden raised her slim fingers, a slight twitch. "What a monster inside you, Jason. Perhaps not so much a hero after all."

Jason felt the pull again, the irksome prick. His eyes rounded, the realisation washed a cold dread down his forehead. He knew what Eden's power was.

The tide turned against him, the flame inside was arousing with an aggressive jerk. Jason twitched at the painful yank, he clutched his chest, his breath escaping short.

The rest came in a blur.