The first thing that came to my senses as I began to awaken was the fact that there was an irritably loud sniffling going on somewhere to my right. I strained my ears to hear properly, and immediately the sniffling was taken over by a loud gasp. Someone clutched my hand tightly and squeezed, and I frowned in discomfort.
"Give her some damn space!" A voice hissed.
"Shut up!"
"She's waking up?"
I frowned as I tried to force my eyelids open but they felt too heavy, almost as if they were sewn shut. I was suddenly blinded by bright white light, and it took a couple seconds of blinking repeatedly for my vision to adjust.
There were three heads hovering directly over my body, their widened eyes staring at me expectantly. My brain was slowly working their features, trying to put them together to recognize who the faces belonged to.
"Oh, my God! She's awake!"
"You're awake!"
I groaned at their loud, high-pitched voices, closing my eyes.
"Quiet down, would you?!" Another voice scolded. "Noah, go get the doctor."
I heard scuffling as Noah walked away and left through the door. I blinked the haziness in my vision away, and finally came to the realization that Bella and Ariel were the ones standing on either side of my bed. I glanced down at my body, which was covered by a thin, white sheet.
"Hey," Bella whispered. "How are you feeling?"
My throat felt like sandpaper. "O-okay." I croaked out, my voice raspy.
"Would you like some water?" Ariel asked, and before I could answer she was already pouring some into a glass from the bedside table. She offered it to me, then hesitated as she noticed that I was lying flat. I set my arms on the bed and tried to scoot upwards, but a sharp pain shot down my leg. I winced, instantly stopping my movement.
"Careful," Bella leaned forward, gripping my arm to help me up. She fixed the pillows behind my back so I could sit upright with my legs outstretched.
"Thanks," I mumbled as I reached for the water. I gulped half the cup down instantly, feeling it ease the soreness of my throat.
When I handed it back to Ariel, I noticed her arm was bandaged. Instantly, the memories of the last time I had been awake came to the front of my mind. I saw the events flash in front of me like a tsunami.
My heart clenched painfully. "Are you okay?" I asked her worriedly, my eyes instantly welling up.
"Huh?" She frowned, confusion swarming behind her ocean-blue eyes.
"Your arm," I looked down at her as she subconsciously wrapped her hand around the bandage.
"Yeah! I'm alright. Don't worry about me." She gave me a reassuring smile.
"How's Seth? Where is he?" The tears were now rolling down my cheeks and I had no control over my emotions. The image of him lying motionless on the floor pushed to the front of my mind and a huge lump formed in my throat; I had to restrain the sobs fighting to escape my lips.
"Seth is alright; he actually woke up before you but he's in his own room, resting as the doctor had instructed." Bella informed me.
"I want to see him." I wouldn't believe it before I saw it for myself.
Bella shook her head. "Not right now, Nora. You just woke up after being out for so long; rest a little."
I frowned. "Out for so long? How long had I been out for? And if that's the case then I've rested enough anyway. I don't feel tired anymore." I rushed in explanation.
Ariel rolled her eyes at my stubbornness, "you'll see him soon. Just rest a little for now."
I opened my mouth to argue some more but was interrupted by the creaking sound of the door opening. A middle-aged man in a white coat, with a stethoscope draped around his neck, strolled in. He glanced over the papers in his hands, before looking up at me. When our eyes met, he gave me a warm smile.
"You're awake, Miss Wilson." He proclaimed the obvious. I forced a smile out in response. "My name is Dr. Nez. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine." I replied dryly, sending a glare towards Ariel, who again rolled her eyes at me.
"You suffered quite the blood loss from the shot wound to your upper right thigh, and some minor injuries to the back of your head; however, your resilience was beyond spectacular. You were very strong. And although it's perfectly normal to feel the soreness of your wounds, I could give you something to ease the pain if it turns unbearable," the doctor prodded, as if he knew I was lying about feeling fine.
I rolled my eyes, biting the inside of my cheek. "I guess I could use something."
He smiled, nodding once. "I will inform the nurses. Do you remember the events of the last time you were conscious?"
I gulped involuntarily, my throat suddenly restricting, and nodded reluctantly.
"Are there, perhaps, any blank spots you cannot seem to fill?"
I shook my head. I perfectly remembered everything that went down from the minute I woke up blindfolded in the cellar to the point where I got shot in the woods.
The doctor nodded in understanding. "Very well. I shall send you a nurse to give you some medication to ease the pain."
"Thank you," I whispered lowly as he began to leave the room. Once the door was closed shut, I was once again left alone with Ariel and Bella.
They moved over to a couch on the right side of my bed, that I had just come to notice. Ariel was the first to break the silence.
"What exactly happened, Nora?"
I gulped nervously. I knew they were going to ask for answers, and I dreaded having to inform them that I ran into the last person we ever thought of seeing again. And the fact that he was the one who had ordered my kidnapping. And the fact that I shot him.
I could already see them losing their minds as soon as I let those words past my lips.
But before I had the chance to answer, the door was shoved open so roughly it slammed into the other side of the wall. We all jumped, Ariel letting out a loud shriek.
Noah and Elliot stood wide-eyed. They scrambled towards my bed, Elliot instantly going to grab my hand.
"How are you feeling?" He asked in a low whisper. I could detect the pain behind his tone, and it nearly crushed my heart.
I gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm alright. Don't worry about me."
"Don't worry about you? Are you out of your mind?" Noah questioned, exasperated.
"I'm alright now, and that's all that matters," I reasoned. "How's Seth doing? Were you with him?"
"Seth is as healthy as a horse-" Elliot began to answer, but at the same time Noah spoke.
"He woke up dumber than before."
My eyes widened as I realized the crushing possibility of Noah's statement being true. Seth had injured his head, and I didn't only fear him never waking up, but even the possibility of him losing his memory.
When Elliot noticed my fear-stricken and frozen expression, he slapping Noah in the chest. "You idiot," he scolded, then turned to me. "Don't mind him, he's just being an ass. Seth is really doing fine; in fact, he almost jumped off his bed to come see you as soon as Noah came to inform us that you're awake. But we had to restrain him, he shouldn't move much."
I sighed, appreciative of Elliot's honest answer. Then I glared at Noah. "Be nice to him, we almost lost him."
Noah shrugged carelessly, and if the slightest movement didn't hurt my insides like Hell, I would've leaned over the bed and smacked him on the head for being so nonchalant.
"Would you tell us what happened, Nora?" Ariel spoke once more.
I gulped the growing lump in my throat, and reluctantly nodded. I had to inform them sooner than later, and so I opened my mouth to speak the words I knew they would find impossible to believe.
"It was Darius," I whispered.
Elliot's grip on my hand tightened visibly, and Bella let out a slight gasp. Ariel stared at me blankly, while Noah frowned in confusion.
"What?" Ariel asked, dumbfounded.
"When I woke up in the cellar, he was there." Ariel's eyes widened instantly. "He was just as surprised to see me. He told me that he had ordered his men to kidnap who he'd referred to as the 'new lover', but he had no idea that that lover was me."
"What?!" Noah suddenly exclaimed.
"Did he hurt you? Was he the one who did that to your face?" Bella gushed out, her cheeks turning a light shade of red due to an unknown emotion.
I nodded my head. "And I shot him."
"WHAT?!" Noah yelled even louder this time.
I winced away from his booming voice. His green eyes were so widened I feared they might pop out of their sockets any second.
"How did you shoot him?" Elliot breathed out in disbelief.
I shrugged. "After I had freed myself of my bindings, we got into a bit of a fight. I got a hold of one of his men's gun, and I shot him." My heart clenched as I remembered the ice-cold feeling that washed over me as soon as I had pulled that trigger. "I-" I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. "I don't know if I killed him," I finally whispered.
Ariel was quick to reach my bed, her hands coming up to grasp mine. She rubbed soothing circles on the back of them as a way to comfort me. "You did what you had to do to protect yourself, Nora. If he is dead, you did us all a favor by ridding the world of one of its monsters."
"I can't believe you ran into him again after all those years," Noah mumbled under his breath, his jaw clenched as he stared daggers at the floor.
"Rostam," Elliot suddenly voiced out. We all turned to look at him in confusion as he stared blankly straight ahead. His vision shifted to Noah. "Rostam was Darius's cousin, I had them in one of my classes."
Noah's eyes widened, as if realization suddenly hit him.
"Who's Rostam?" I asked.
"He was the third-in-command that Xavier's men killed," Noah replied.
"That means it's possible Darius is the second. If we can get to him, if he's still alive, all of this could be over with." Elliot was already back on his feet, reaching the door.
"What? How?" I gushed, in desperate need of answers.
"We need to inform Xavier of this, he'll know what to do." Elliot completely ignored my questions as he spoke back to Noah, who nodded and was instantly following Elliot out the door.
"What just happened?" Bella asked, but I was too caught up with the wind getting knocked out of my lungs as soon as Elliot had mentioned Xavier's name.
His name suddenly triggered back the memory of him standing feet away from me, his army of men ready behind his back, and me putting whatever energy I had left within me into fueling my legs to move me forwards in his direction. I saw the image of him yelling madly as soon as the shot was triggered, and I collapsed to the dirty ground, followed by the image of him commanding his men to go forth and fight.
But the image that stood out the most, the image that still confused me madly, was how it appeared as though not only his men had understood his command, but so did the pack of wolves standing on guard beside him, as they also launched forward into attack.
Why was it that they didn't attack Xavier? How did they know who the bad guys were? And why in the world did they only attack once the demand had been voiced?
It all seemed so surreal, like the whole act was just a figment of my imagination, a result of the trauma and the abuse; but I couldn't let it go.
I needed answers.
"Nora?" A hand was waved in front of my face, snapping me out of the haze. I blinked the images away, looking up at Ariel's face as she eyed me worriedly. "Are you alright?"
"I need to see Xavier, right now."