John and his group arrived at the ruined remains of Perseverance within a few hours of leaving the cabin, each of them stunned by the sheer destruction of what was once their home.
"Everything's gone..." Ren quietly mumbled to herself as tears brimmed in her eyes.
John cradled little Aya closely, who by now was awake and examining the destruction with confusion in her big eyes.
"Let's just... get looking for survivors. We leave in an hour." John ordered, after having found the sight of his destroyed home to be too much for him and his daughter. But amongst all of the destruction, something caught the attention of the man.
Where the Perseverance gate used to be, the front, or more accurately what was left of his black truck could be made out underneath all of the rubble. The sight made him sigh with sadness as he stepped closer, and pressed the palm of his hand on the hood of his old truck.
"You did good girl." He whispered, giving his old, trusty truck a proper farewell before he turned around and noticed that everyone was already hard at work with their search.
Aura, Ren and Mia were putting their excellent sense of smell to good use, but any scent they caught onto only led them to more dead bodies, over and over again. It was becoming less and less likely that they would find a single other survivor.
"John, some of these people were killed recently. If we just got here sooner, maybe..." Bill started off after finding dozens of corpses a few feet away from the destruction, with bullet holes as their cause of death which were still bleeding fresh blood.
John glanced over at Bill, and sighed sadly. "We wouldn't have made it on time. And if we did, there's nothing we could've done. We can't take on the whole F.E.O army by ourselves." He said calmly.
"No, you couldn't. None of you would stand a chance." Said a quiet, unmotivated Liilith, who stood close to Bill with her head down, and her hands still tied behind her back. "Even after the Downfall, F.E.O's army is thousands strong. And that isn't even their strongest force."
"The hell do you mean by that?" Ren asked, then glared at the former F.E.O commander with her teeth bared angrily.
Lilith was silent for a moment, and slowly raised her head up to look at the group. "They're the ones who created the blood magic, thousands of years ago. I doubt either of you have heard of blood magic though."
"We have." Mia snapped, and stepped closer to Lilith with a scowl on her face. "We've lost people to blood magic... some psycho found a blood sword and killed some of our people, including a damn ki-"
"Mia!" John said deeply, his glare alone immediately shutting the white wolf up. "We don't talk about it... especially not in front of Aya." he reminded with authority.
Mia looked down, noticing that Aya was wide awake and tilting her head with curiosity to what the white wolf was about to say. "Right... I'm sorry John, I just... got angry." She admitted quietly, and shamefully.
John sighed, shaking his head. "It's alright, now let's get back on track." He replied, taking a quick glance around. "We've been looking for survivors for about an hour now and we don't have much daylight left... we have to get moving." he said regretfully.
"He's right y'all. The longer we stay out here, the more likely we're gonna run into trouble. Trouble we ain't prepared for." Bill agreed, his hands loosely on his hips. "There's a town down that way, I say we spend the night there."
Everyone nodded their heads with agreement to Bill's suggestion. As much as they all wanted to stay and search for survivors, they were all in consensus that it wasn't safe to do so.
"So we spend the night over there, and head to the Aviary at first light?" Ren asked, absentmindedly stroking Aura's ears as the wolf stood next to her.
"Sounds like a plan." John responded with a nod of his head, "Who knows... maybe our people are regrouping over there. It's our best shot." he added, thinking about how much he hoped, no... prayed that the rest of the girls were waiting there for him. Shira, Luna, Skye, Camilla... he didn't know what he would do if either of them were dead right now.
Suddenly, as the group conversed, Aura's ears flicked up and she began growling in the direction of a small patch of trees, where eventually a pack of three rabids showed themselves. They presented their usual behaviour, frothing at the mouth while they snarled viciously towards John and the others.
The man rolled his eyes, holding a hand over his desert eagle. "Bill... you got it?" he asked.
"Yeah I got it." Bill responded, taking in a deep and focused breath as he stared the rabids down fearlessly, waiting until they came barrelling towards them with murderous intent, which was when he quickly pulled out one of his precious revolvers. His movements were so quick, skillful, and precise, fanning the hammer of his gun exactly four times and sending bullets straight into the monster's big green eyes, killing the four of them instantly. "Still got it." he snickered.
"Alright, that's our cue to get out of here." Said John, cradling Aya in his arm while Bill killed the four rabids. He knew that the loud sounds of gunshots would most likely bring the attention of even more of the bloodthirsty monsters. Unbeknownst to him though... it would actually bring the attention of something far more dangerous.
"Copy that." Bill agreed, spinning his precious revolver skillfully before he slid the gun into his hip holster, and started walking in the direction of the town he suggested.
"Do you think we're really the only survivors?" Mia asked, the white wolf walked by John's side with a sad look on her face. "We had so many people... surely others esca-" she couldn't even finish her sentence, as she was interrupted by a complete barrage of bullets heading their way, startling everyone with the terrifying sound of machine gun fire.
"Fuck, move!" John barked as loudly as he could, quickly using his body to shield his daughter from the incoming bullets, while wrapping his free arm around Mia to keep her close as they searched for the nearest cover.
The group instinctually ran towards the rubble of Perseverance, ducking behind unearthed rubble and upturned, destroyed vehicles to avoid the spray of bullets. Aya bawled loudly, and Aura barked viciously at their attackers while sticking loyally by her master's side.
"Jesus fuckin' Christ!" Bill screamed with fear, having to hold his hat on his head to prevent it flying off as he bolted behind the nearest vehicle for cover. "Comin' from the woods, they got us pinned!" he yelled over to John, while pulling out both of his revolvers with preparation.
"No shit Sherlock!" Ren screamed back at Bill, covering her ears as she ducked behind a mound of rubble with Lilith, the former F.E.O commander actually helped the wolf girl with her zip tied hands, making sure her head remained down.
Using one of the upturned cars' side view mirrors, John had a decent view of the woods that the gunfire was coming from. He saw those unmistakable red eyes... of F.E.O soldiers, completely in formation all along the treeline as they fired unrelenting shots at them.
"John.." Came the weak voice of Mia, who sat with her back against the car they were behind. Her chest heaved rapidly, and... the cause would become clear when the man looked down at her. She had a hole in her thigh, which was gushing and squirting out blood at an alarming rate, the bullet likely piercing an artery.
"Mia!" John screamed with horror, gently setting the crying Aya down as he rapidly moved to hold his hands against the white wolf's wound, all while bullets continued to pelt against their cover. "Just stay calm baby, I got you." he assured, before looking towards Ren and Lilith. "You two get over here, I need your help!" he screamed with urgence, desperately trying to control her bleeding.
Ren's ears flicked up when she heard John's scream over the gunfire, and she looked over to see what was wrong... but when she saw the woman she loved most violently bleeding, her heart sank with complete fear, and she lost all common sense. She uncaringly stood up from behind her cover... and rushed over to John and Mia. Dozens of bullets whizzed past her, narrowly avoiding the wolf and by sheer luck, she made it to them unscathed.
"Mia, can you hear me?" Ren asked calmly, completely blocking out the sound of gunfire as her focus became solely on Mia... who had by now become unresponsive, unconscious, likely passed out from shock. "John... we need to get her away from here, fast!" she exclaimed, looking up to his eyes pleadingly as she held her hands roughly against the wound, replacing John's own.
John looked back into Ren's eyes, seeing the true fear within them from the thought of losing Mia... he wouldn't let that happen, he simply wouldn't allow it. So with a simple nod of his head, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his desert eagle, taking a long, deep breath... before quickly rising up from his cover and firing multiple shots at the soldiers. Luckily, his aim held true and he watched as a few soldiers in the distance collapsed to the ground after being struck by one of his high caliber bullets.
The man ducked again in order to reload his gun, but with that window... the soldiers began to converge on their position. F.E.O once again vastly outnumbered them, and continued their unrelenting gunfire as they converged. With each and every second that passed by... Mia's chances for survival decreased. Despite Ren's best efforts to stop the bleeding with just her hands, it simply wasn't sufficient.
John knew how much danger Mia was in, and with that thought to fuel his rage... his eyes glowed blue with power as he once again rose up from his cover, right as the soldiers got close enough to him. He pulled out one of Cooper's daggers... and rampaged. He grabbed the first soldier he could reach and shot him through the eye of his helmet, proceeding to use the dead, armoured body as a shield while firing more shots at the remaining soldiers.
With the soldiers distracted by John's sheer rage, Bill saw the opportunity to lend a hand. He too rose from his cover, and used his excellent gunslinging skills to fire twelve bullets from both revolvers, successfully killing twelve soldiers before ducking again to reload. Bill's assistance helped John greatly, and he let out a yell of rage as he charged for the remaining soldiers, plunging his dagger into one of their necks as he shot another one right in the eye. But just when it seemed like they turned the tables on their attackers... even more gunfire was sent at them from the woods as reinforcements came in.
"FUCK!" John yelled furiously, forced to lunge behind cover once again. He was completely covered with blood by this point after his rampage, and was fully prepared to kill every single soldier that came their way, but... luckily he wouldn't need to.
"Everybody down!" Lilith yelled at the top of her lungs, who now had her F.E.O helmet in her hands. While she was unsupervised, she managed to reach the bag that carried it.
John watched as Lilith put the helmet on, at first thinking she would use it to betray them... but she didn't. The former F.E.O commander stood up calmly... and fired two, thick purple laser beams out through the eyes of her helmet. These laser beams reached out very far towards the attacking soldiers, and wiped them out within seconds as she turned her head in all directions, making sure to not leave a single soldier standing. The lasers also caused some trees to topple over in the distance, and after a few seconds... she stopped, her helmet's eyes now smoking with heat.
There was complete silence now, aside from Aya's cries. But the gunfire was... completely gone. John cautiously peaked his head above cover, and was of course shocked by seeing every single soldier dead, most of them cut in half by the laser.
"Holy.. fuck, that was fuckin' diabolical." Bill muttered under his breath as he too looked around at the destruction Lilith just caused.
John didn't look at the massacre for long though, and immediately rushed over to Mia and Ren, crouching by the white wolf's side.
"John, she's lost so much blood!" Ren exclaimed with clear worry in her voice, tears brimming in her eyes as she still had her hands pressed down hard on the wound.
"Okay grab Aya, let's go!" John demanded as he quickly scooped Mia up, cradling her closely as he immediately sprinted with her towards the nearest building, aiming to get as far away from Perseverance as possible to avoid another run-in with F.E.O, and to save Mia's life.
Everyone quickly followed John's lead, Bill and Lilith gathering up their bags while Ren scooped up the crying Aya, trying to ease her cries as the group ran behind the man, Aura of course running ahead to scout out in case of any more trouble.
But unbeknownst to them... they had a stalker, a spectator. Someone who watched each and every little thing that they did from the darkness. It had been a long time since she found a group like this, and she would absolutely not allow her opportunity to slip away from her grasp.
-
With one hard kick, John forced the door to an old, abandoned house open and rushed inside with Mia still cradled limply in his arms. He laid her down on the dining table while the others rushed in behind him, immediately closing the door and blocking all the windows with curtains, clearly to hide from F.E.O.
Ren gently set Aya down on the old sofa, with Aura keeping the confused toddler company while the wolf girl rushed over to John's side to offer her assistance... while Mia's blood almost instantly stained the white table cloth a dark red.
"Bill, the bag!" John demanded with rush and urgence in his voice, clearly panicked by just how bad Mia's bleeding was getting.
"Uhh, which bag?!" Bill asked nervously, holding three different bags at this moment.
"The fucking bag! With the medical supplies!" John barked back at the gunslinger impatiently.
With that specification, Bill rushed over to John and handed him the bag he requested. The man immediately dug through it and searched for the items he needed, eventually finding multiple packets of gauze.
He tore those packets open to pull out the small sheets of cloth, which he then began stuffing into Mia's bullet wound. Thankfully Mia was completely unconscious for that part, since it would've most likely been very painful had she been awake.
Thankfully though, his actions had the desired effect and drastically slowed down Mia's bleeding, cutting off her blood's exit and stabilising her... for now, allowing John to catch his breath for a moment.
"She's lost too much blood, she'll need a transfusion." Lilith said with a soft, calm voice as she stepped over to the group in the kitchen. "That's if she isn't already in a comatose state."
John and Ren glanced back at Lilith in unison, both of them breathed heavily to catch their breaths from the panic they both felt. "We don't have anything to do a transfusion. And we don't know her blood type." he said simply, looking back down at the unconscious Mia.
"She's A+... same as me." Ren weighed in quietly as she gently took Mia's limp hand in her own. "Slavers always took the blood types of furs." she added with a sad sigh.
"Well there we go, if we find the right equipment we'll be able to save your friend's life." Lilith said simply, leaning her back against the wall with her still zip tied hands in front of her. "She'll be stable for now though, she could even wake up. She just won't be able to do much at all."
John thought deeply about what Lilith said, trying to think about where they could even find that kind of equipment. "Hmm, well if we can keep her stable until we find that equipment, then that's all that matters." he nodded his head, gently running his fingers through the white fur on Mia's cheek.
"Keep her fed, hydrated, and warm. That's all you need to do to keep her stable, at least for a few days. But she still won't last long with how little blood she has right now." Lilith instructed professionally.
"Well if we're gonna need to keep her warm, then we're gonna need firewood for that fireplace." Bill pointed out, pulling out a small knife as he walked towards Lilith, which he used to cut her zip ties. "Lilith and I will go get some."
Lilith rubbed her wrists with relief after her zip ties were removed, but looked at Bill with clear confusion. "You want me to go with you?" She asked.
"Hell yeah, gonna need someone out there with me, and everyone else is a little occupied." Bill chuckled, "We'll be back soon big man." he called out to John as he led Lilith towards the exit of the house.
John was very tempted to stop them, to keep Lilith restrained, but... she did just save their lives, it was because of her actions that they even got here on time to stop Mia's bleeding. And so he just let her go, not even speaking a word as he and Ren stuck by the unconscious Mia's side.
-
Bill and Lilith walked peacefully through the streets of the abandoned town they found themselves in, walking side by side while surveying their surroundings cautiously. They both still seemed a bit on edge after the recent shootout, but they kept it together quite well.
"So... why did you choose me to come with you?" Lilith asked, glancing over at the cowboy with a raised eyebrow.
"Well I wasn't gonna leave you with them all by yourself." Bill snickered, his hands tucked away in his coat pockets. "I can tell you're a bit intimidated by the big man."
"Pshhh... I'm not intimidated." Lilith mumbled, waving her hand dismissively. "I'll tell you what's intimidating... living your entire life with a power hungry sister who wants you dead." She muttered, huffing as she crossed her arms.
Bill slowly nodded his head, listening carefully to Lilith's words. "Well... you ain't gotta worry about her no more, you're with us now." He assured, smiling kindly. "These people are... decent y'know, probably some of the only decent people left in this world. If you open up to em' and gain their trust, you'll be part of the family. You can look at me as proof of that."
"Yeah well... as far as I know, you weren't a commander in the F.E.O ranks... I think there's a bit of a difference between you and I." Lilith retorted, her arms still crossed over her chest.
"Well, ain't that big a difference." Bill said quietly, looking to the ground as they walked. "There was this guy called Artemis, who caused this group some trouble two years back. Before I met these people, I fought for Artimas." He explained, regretfully being clear in his voice. "But then these folk took me prisoner. They could've killed me once they got answers outta me, but they didn't. They let me live. And hell, now I'm one of em'."
Lilith listened, and was partially surprised by Bill's story. But she still wasn't convinced. "You were a foot soldier for a F.E.O commander... still isn't the same thing." She said with a quiet sigh. "Look... as much as I'd like to stick around with these people, I'll be doing them a favor if I get out of their hair."
"Lilith, just... listen to me, okay?" Bill asked, pinching the bridge of his nose as he stopped in his tracks. "Right now, we're at war with F.E.O... and here we have someone who knows everything about em'. You can be so damn useful to us, and if you choose to help, trust me. They'll notice. They already have noticed, since you just saved all our asses." He explained with sincerity in every word he spoke. "But it's your choice. If you wanna leave us right here, right now, then I ain't gonna stop you. But I think you'd be makin' a huge mistake."
Lilith was silent, pondering on the words that Bill just spoke. Part of her didn't want to believe him, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized how truly useful she could be to the group.
"Maybe." Lilith responded, a clear attempt to make it seem like she didn't care that much. "Why does this matter to you so much anyway? You shouldn't give a shit about me." She said, turning around to walk the abandoned streets again, towards the small patch of woods.
"Well, I do. There's not many of us nowadays who are willin' to change, and I can tell... you're willin'." The cowboy replied confidently, following behind her.
"You don't know shit about me, Billy Dallas." Lilith retorted, glaring back at him right as they made it to the treeline.
"They all say that. But it's pretty easy to see what kinda person you are darlin', and it's a kind person I know all too well." Bill chuckled dismissively, crouching down to gather up some dry branches and small logs for firewood.
Lilith rolled her eyes, crossing her arms with a huff. "You talk too much." She grumbled after a short pause.
Bill slowly stood back up, nodding his head. "Yup, so I've been tol-'' he couldn't even finish his sentence as he suddenly felt something cold and sharp pressed against his neck threateningly.
"Watch those hands cowboy." Said the voice of a woman, sending shivers down Bill's spine and keeping him still like a statue. "And you stay right where you are, lady, unless you wanna see this guy choke on his own blood."
Lilith's eyes were wide as she stared at this woman, standing her ground as demanded. The woman had a shiny, razor sharp steel katana held to the cowboy's neck, and she wore a tan hood over her head which hid her face. But judging by the paws, and the long tail that swished side to side absentmindedly behind her, Lilith could tell that she was some kind of feline.
"Good fuckin' god that thing's sharp, uhh... listen, let's just use words. Don't gotta make me piss my pants like this." Bill pleaded, keeping his hands up fearfully as he felt the extremely sharp blade push slightly at his neck. "Whatcha want? We got food, water... we'll be more than happy to share with ya."
"Calm down dude, just take me to that house you guys are holding up in. We're all gonna have a nice chat." The woman replied, motioning for Bill to start walking.
"Alright... sure, whatever you say." Bill replied, keeping his hands up as he walked carefully, trying not to cut himself on the sharp blade still pressed against his neck. "Maybe you can move that thing away from me? God damn it's so sharp." He said, growing increasingly nervous.
"Nope, just a precaution dude." The woman responded uncaringly, making sure that Lilith was walking ahead of them. "I'm not gonna hurt anybody, not unless you guys force me to. Okay?" She asked calmly.
"Y-Yeah, I got it." Bill stuttered, taking very careful steps to prevent the blade from cutting him.
Lilith walked ahead, but she was surprised by the fear Bill was showing. At first the cowboy put on a very 'tough guy' act, but now she saw for herself how cowardly he could be. Oddly enough, that was a relieving thing for her to see. She'd lived her whole life surrounded by men in the F.E.O ranks who always displayed masculine dominance, but seeing the opposite of that was a pleasant change.
-
John had just finished getting Mia comfortable on the sofa with blankets keeping her warm, and had fed Aya her evening meal. She was still shaken up by what happened, but the man managed to calm her down enough for her to fall asleep. But after a while, the front door of the house slowly opened, and Lilith stepped inside first.
"John? We uhh have a visitor." Lilith said with an odd, stiff demeanor.
John and Ren couldn't even question her before Bill followed behind, with the katana still held to his neck. "Whatever you fuckin' do, don't do somethin' stupid!" He exclaimed as he knew his life was one hundred percent on the line.
John, understandably not willing to take chances after what just happened, quickly rose up to his full height on the defensive while pulling out his desert eagle. "Drop the sword." He demanded, standing in front of Ren, Aya and the unconscious Mia protectively, with Aura growling next to him.
"Not gonna happen... yet." The woman replied fearlessly, stepping into the house behind Bill. "Everyone sit back down, I've only got your friend here hostage as a precaution. I just needed to find out if you would kill me as soon as you saw me." She spoke honestly, her blade still held to the cowboy's neck.
John listened to the woman, and slowly motioned for Ren to do as she said, to which the wolf girl sat back down on the couch next to Mia. "I can promise you, we won't hurt you. Not unless you do something first." He assured, sitting down in between the pair... though he still held his gun in his hand.
Aura kept an untrusting eye on this woman as she sat on the floor in front of John, her teeth still bared in a threatening manner while Lilith obeyed as well and sat down on a nearby chair.
"Hm... alright, I believe you." The woman shrugged, and with one swift motion she moved her katana away from Bill's throat, causing him to let out a dramatic sigh of relief.
"Fuck, damn near soiled my britches." Bill said through heavy breathing, holding a hand to his neck as he slowly sat down.
The woman giggled and reached behind her to slide her katana into a sheath which was attached to her back. "I'm sorry for the... threatening introduction." She said while she pulled her hood down and revealed the face of a panther, with fur black as night and eyes green as emeralds. "My name is Iris, and I've been watching you all for a very long time."
"That's... totally not creepy at all." Ren mumbled, voicing the group's uneasy reactions to Iris's admittance.
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that! Let's just say I've been out here long enough to know how awful people can be these days. I wanted to make damn sure that you people were good, and right as I was about to walk up to your gates... F.E.O showed up and obliterated the place." Iris explained sympathetically, looking to the ground. "Watching all those people die wasn't nice. I'm sorry for your losses, and... I'm sorry for your friend." she said softly, looking at the unconscious Mia with sympathetic eyes.
"So... are you here because you want to join us?" Ren asked curiously, sitting with one leg crossed over the other. The wolf only showed a dominant stature, she wanted Iris to see no weakness within the group, only strength.
"Yes actually, being alone all this time really gets to you... so it would be nice to have friends again." Iris said with a slow nod of her head. "But I also showed myself because... I have something to tell you all, something you need to know."
"Well then tell us." Bill responded, who was still massaging his neck as if he were relieved that his jugular was still intact and functioning.
Iris was silent as she tried to think of the best way she could break the news to the group. "Okay... before I got here, I was down by that um... Aviary place. The place you're all headed to." The panther started off, hooking everyone's attention with the first words she spoke. "After the destruction of Perseverance, I wanted to try and reach the Aviary on time to warn them of the attack, but I was too late, and I had to watch a second massacre." Iris's voice was becoming more shaken with emotion as she spoke. "But some survived... and they're being hunted by F.E.O as we speak. Long story short, some of your friends are alive, and they need our help."
John's behaviour had a dramatic shift upon hearing what Iris had to say, sitting on the edge of his seat as he pondered. Could he really trust this panther after she showed up minutes ago? Could he risk not believing her? "Who escaped?" he asked curiously.
"I don't know their names, but it was definitely three crows. They were carrying the third one though, I think they were unconscious." Iris answered, standing calmly in front of them.
"Could be Bruce, Cleo and Camilla." Ren suggested with clear concern as she looked over to John.
"I didn't come here to trick you all... I came here because this is something you had to know. These people are your friends, maybe even family... and right now we're all the help they've got." Iris explained calmly, her arms crossing over her chest as her long tail swishing side to side.
There was a moment of silence between the group as they thought about this, each of them trying to come up with ideas.
"It's risky, John... we'd be goin' there in the dead of night." Bill pointed out. "But... It's also about the only place close to here that could have that transfusion equipment. That place was stocked with supplies after it was rebuilt."
John slowly nodded, realizing that Bill was completely right. He slowly stood up, letting out a long sigh as he made his decision. "I'm going, everyone else stays." he demanded simply.
"What? John no, not by yourself!" Ren exclaimed, standing up with the man and taking his hand in her own. "Please... John, you can't go yourself, it's too dangerous." She pleaded, looking up to his eyes with tears brimming on her own. Clearly with what happened to Mia... she was terrified of something similar happening to him.
John looked back into Ren's eyes with a calm stare, gently placing his hand on the wolf's cheek. "It'd be better if I go alone, to keep everyone else safe." He spoke softly, cracking a small smile.
"I'm goin' with you John, ain't no discussion." Bill stated firmly as he slowly rose to his feet, his hands idly on his hips. "You're gonna need your ol' gunslinger pal for this." He said with a respectful nod.
Before John could argue, he was surprised as Lilith slowly stood up as well. She looked confident, but nervous at the same time, maybe even hesitant.
"I'll go too... I can fight and I know how F.E.O operate." Lilith started off, glancing over at Bill with a small smile. "I'm choosing to help."
A wide, proud smile formed on Bill's face from Lilith's words, and last but not least, Aura stood next to John and gave him a simple growl to tell the man that she would come with them.
"Heh, so much for going alone, huh John?" Iris asked with an amused chuckle, placing one hand on her hip. "You should all get ready, we've gotta head out now if we wanna make it on time."
John sighed, and slowly nodded. "You stay here with Aya and Mia, don't do anything to bring attention to yourself while we're gone, okay?" he asked, placing his hand lovingly on Ren's shoulder.
"I won't John, promise." Ren replied with a small smile, before wrapping her arms around his neck and standing on the tips of her toes to gently press her lips against his, pulling him into a deep, loving kiss.
John gladly closed his eyes to return Ren's kiss, gently placing his hands on her hips. It only lasted a few seconds though, as he slowly pulled away from it. "I love you." he said softly, then grabbed his black jacket from his chair and placed a gentle kiss on the sleeping Aya's forehead, doing the same with the unconscious Mia before leaving the house with Iris, Aura, Bill and Lilith.
They walked mostly in silence as the sun made its descent, with John walking ahead of the small group. Many thoughts ran through his mind, the main thought being Skye. Words could not describe how worried he was for her, but if Skye was there... he would find her.
-
Hey everyone, just a little note here. The next chapter will be the mid-story finale, meaning there will be a small break so I can work on part 2 of this book. I hope you've enjoyed part 1 so far! ^w^
- Myth