| Chapter 39 "What's Angel barking at?" A.J. asked, walking over to the windows and looking down at the beach. Angel was running back and forth, barking incessantly. "I dunno," Kevin said, coming over to watch. The two watched as several of the �others' ran after her down the beach. "Tracy, what's going on?" Howie asked. Tracy walked over, looking at the scene. Then her face paled and she disappeared from the room. "Something's not right," Kevin said, trying to see through the darkness in the direction everyone went. "Guys, Brian's still out there," Lyn pointed out. Everyone looked at one another, afraid of what that meant. Suddenly Tracy appeared in the room, with several others. One was holding Brian in his arms. "Shit, what happened?" Kevin asked, running to his cousin. "We're not sure, a tall blonde was with him," the man said, following Tracy to Brian's room. He laid Brian down on the bed, and everyone gasped at his appearance. He was bleeding profusely from his chest, and his skin was an ashen gray. "He's not dead is he?" Howie asked, almost in a whisper. "Not yet," Tracy said, "And I don't intend for him to be." They watched as the other angels helped Tracy remove Brian's shirt, then heal his wounds. "Lyn, honey, call uncle Ted and get him over here. He's lost a lot of blood, and we can't do anything about that," Tracy said. Lyn nodded and ran to the phone. Kevin looked at the man that carried Brian in, "You said a tall blonde did this?" "Yes, he vanished before we could get to him," he replied. "Could you see his face?" Howie asked. "No, I'm sorry," the man said, then left the room to resume his post. Tracy looked at them, knowing what they were thinking, "Guys, we don't know that it was Nick. Jered is also tall and blonde, it could've been either one of them." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara paced in her room. Nick had taken her back and left her there with her fears. She looked out the window at the night sky, "Please let him be OK," she prayed. She had to do something, she was going nuts not knowing. She looked down, realizing she was biting her nails. "Damn it," she said, then laughed, realizing that she'd picked up another of Brian's bad habits. She walked over to the bed and sat down, rubbing her face. When the door to her room opened, it startled her, and she sprang to her feet. Nick walked in with Ephah. "Aw, you're not sleepy?" Nick asked. Tara glared at him, but said nothing. She didn't want to see him right now, let alone talk to him. "You know the silent treatment will get you nowhere," Nick taunted. Tara looked at him, "If you did anything to hurt Brian, I swear I'll kill you myself," she said through clenched teeth. Nick laughed, "Now we're getting somewhere." Just then Jered appeared in the room. He was wiping the blood from his sword, smiling from ear to ear. "Well?" Nick asked. Jered smirked handing him Brian's wedding ring, "No more hubby to worry about." Nick smiled at him, "Good," then he looked over at Tara, "Oh, here. Sorry about your loss," he mocked as he handed her the ring. Tara took the ring from him, looking at it through her tears. It was definitely Brian's ring, it had the engraving on it that no one had seen but her and him. She slipped the ring on her thumb and looked up at the three before her. "Only a few tears? You sure you really loved him?" Ephah said. "Yeah, by the way you're acting, looks like I did you a favor," Jered teased. Tara walked up to them, her face expressionless. The three glanced at one another, wondering what she was doing. "Tara, say something," Nick said. She looked at him, and the look in her eyes sent chills down his spine. "If it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna kill you," she said. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "We need to take him to the hospital," Ted said, after examining Brian. "How are we gonna explain his blood loss with no wound to cause it?" Kevin asked. "Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it," Ted said, "Now let's get him out to the car. The sooner we get there, the better off he's gonna be." The guys went about getting Brian out of the house, while Lyn packed a few things. "Lyn, I'll be there with you, but you won't be able to see me," Tracy said. "Thanks," she said, packing the last item and heading to the car. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tara had barely gotten the words out, when she pushed Jered, and grabbed his sword from him. In one move she swung and caught Ephah in the side, sending him to the floor. She then turned back to face Jered and Nick. Jered reached out, just as Tara lunged forward, and caught the blade in his hand. Tara yanked back, slicing his flesh. "Bitch!" Jered yelled, holding his hand up as the blood ran down his arm. Tara came at him again, this time catching him across the stomach. Jered fell to the floor, next to Ephah. Nick laughed and clapped his hands, "Bravo," he said. Tara looked at him, "You are insane." "If you mean insanely in love with you? Guilty as charged," he said, "Now put the sword down, and I won't hurt you." Tara came at him with everything she had. Nick seemed to dodge every blow, laughing at her anger. "Come on Tara, you aren't thinking. You're letting your emotions drive you, and that will get you hurt," Nick said in his best teacher voice. "You son of a bitch! You killed Brian!" she screamed at him. "Well technically no, Jered did, but it was my idea," Nick laughed. Tara could take it no longer. If Brian was gone, then she was going too. She didn't care if Nick hurt her, even killed her. She came at him. At the last second, Nick stepped to the side and caught her hand, yanking her to him. His grip was so tight that she dropped the sword. He put his hand on her throat, squeezing, "Now that is no way to treat the one that loves you." "I... hate....you," Tara managed, gasping for air. Nick swung her around and pushed her against the wall, holding her there by her arms. "I don't believe you. I think your happy Brian's out of the way," he said. "You are sick! I will never love you like that," she said. "Never is a long time, and I'm willing to wait," Nick said, leaning in and forcefully kissing her. Tara did the only thing she could think of, she bit his lip as hard as she could. Nick pulled back, and slapped her so hard she fell to the floor. He picked her up by her hair and walked her over to the bed, pushing her down. "The sooner you stop this, the better it's gonna be for you," he said, angrily. "Fuck you!" Tara yelled, trying to get up again. Nick pushed her back down, and punched her in the stomach, "I'm trying but you won't let me," he laughed. Tara rolled to her side, holding her stomach. She was trembling, and the tears were flowing freely now. The realization of what had happened setting in. Brian was dead, and Nick had done it. All over her. Nick grabbed her wrist and forced it into the cuffs. Tara fought him, but he punched her in the temple, rendering her unconscious. Nick finished chaining her, then walked over to Jered and Ephah. They were both seriously wounded. "You know, I'm getting tired of doing this," Nick said, as he healed them. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Kevin, Howie, and A.J. stood outside the ICU. They could see Brian through the window of his room. His color was still pale, but he did look better than when they had brought him in. Lyn sat next to him, just as she had done with Nick countless times before. Ted was checking the monitors, talking to her. "How could this happen?" A.J. asked, "I mean, with all the angels around, how could he have gotten to him?" "I dunno," Kevin said, staring at his cousin. Ted came out of the room and walked over to them. "How is he?" Howie asked. "Holding his own. He lost a lot of blood, but I think the transfusions will get him back on his feet pretty soon," Ted answered. "What are all those monitors for?" A.J. asked. "Just covering all the bases. When someone loses that much blood, their organs tend to shut down. It's the bodies way of self preservation, shut everything down but what you need to survive. I just want to make sure that doesn't happen," Ted said. "Can we see him?" Kevin asked. Ted smiled at him, "Yes, just don't stay long. He's still unconscious, but I have a feeling that he'll know you're there." "How's Lyn?" Howie asked. Ted sighed, "This is harder on her than what she lets on. She's afraid and worried." Kevin patted the man on the back, "So are we." Chapter 40 |