CHAPTER 30

CHAPTER 30
I jolted awake and looked around the room for what woke me up, but I didn't see anything or hear anything. Raven was still sound asleep next to me, his breathing deep and steady, his arm draped heavily over my waist. For a moment, I lay still, listening for the sound that might have woken me up.

Then I heard a weak whimper coming from our bedroom window, which faces the woods. My heart jerked.

I slid out from under Raven’s arm and sat up, alarmed and confused. Something felt terribly wrong, and I couldn't get rid of the feeling of dread growing inside me. Who could it be and what were they doing in the woods at night? Is this person hurt may be?

I rose from the bed and walked to the doorway without turning on the light. I stood there listening with my hand on the door handle ready to swing it open if someone was crying for help. 

I heard the cry again, clearer this time. I immediately opened the door and stepped outside, the cold biting my skin. 

The world lay unnaturally still, there was no wind and no movement. I immediately saw the trail of something dark on the ground. 

Dark streaks glisten on the porch steps and stretch into the grass. The moon slid out from behind the clouds and lit the ground just enough for the truth to reveal itself.

My stomach dropped when I crouched down and noticed that it was blood and it looked fresh. 

I glanced back toward the house anticipating whether to wake him up or investigate this on my own. I decided to just let him sleep because he had to rest.

So I followed the blood. The woods swallowed me as I moved, shadows stretching long across the ground. My bare feet sank into damp earth, each step blending with a faint groan coming from somewhere ahead.

Branches scratched my arms as I pushed through a thicket. I froze as I walked into a clearing in the woods, the moonlight spilled like a spotlight.

Someone was lying on the ground in a painful position. Their body twisted, one hand pressed to her stomach. Blood soaked their clothes, spreading beneath her in a dark pool. Her breaths came fast and shallow, her eyes half-open and unfocused.

There was Lenny standing, a few steps away from this person. I took another step forward to see the person lying down. I immediately noticed Elara’s black hair and her clothes, and I gasped my heart thumping against my chest at the thought of what he might have done to her.

Lenny’s face was blank of any emotions as he continued to stare at me In his hand, he held a large knife with a silver blade stained and dripping. The knife is silver. 

My chest tightened. My mind screamed.
I stopped at the edge of the clearing, breath trapped in my throat. Lenny lifted his head slowly, like he had been waiting for me.

Our eyes locked and he smiled at me, an eerie smile that made him look insane. 

“Aine,” he said, voice smooth and light, as if greeting me after a normal day. “You finally came.” The knife glinted when he pointed it at me, Elara let out a weak groan pain-filled, desperate groan. My heart tore for her, what does this bastard want?

“What do you want from her?” I asked my voice shaking, I was literally shaking in anger at how Lenny constantly wants to kill anyone that is close to me. It’s like his cursed or possessed to come after me and my loved ones. “It’s not her that I want, it’s you.”

“But I’m not the one that you stabbed with a knife with silver, so why did you do it?” I asked, and he burst out laughing. “You are unreachable these days, so I decided to set a just-for-you trap.”He said looking at my eyes like his staring through my soul. 

“What the fuck do you want from me, Lenny?” Lenny took one slow step toward me, the knife dangling from his fingers.

Something in his eyes flickered something not human, not entirely him.
I didn’t wait for him to make the first move, immediately after he took another step I stepped forward.

I suddenly felt the rush of energy surge through my body. My speed surged through me like a lightning strike. The world blurred around me as I shot forward, closing the space between us before he even lifted the blade. 

His eyes widened in shock, fear, maybe recognition but I didn’t give him a chance to speak. I grabbed his wrist, twisted hard, and smashed my palm against the side of his head. The impact sent him stumbling, but he didn’t fall.

He snarled a low, animalistic sound and swung the knife at my throat. I ducked under it, the blade slicing the air above my head. I used my momentum, pivoted, and drove my knee into his stomach. He gasped, dropped the knife, and hit the ground.

Before he could rise, I slammed him back down with a force I didn’t know I had. My hand gripped his collar, pinning him to the earth.

“Stay down,” I hissed, breath shaking.
He tried to speak, but his eyes rolled back as consciousness slipped away. He lay still. I stumbled back, panic returning as I remembered why I ran into the clearing in the first place.

“Elara—” I dropped to my knees beside her. Blood soaked her shirt, her hands, the earth beneath her. She trembled, teeth chattering from the cold.

“I’m here,” I breathed, voice thinning. “I’m here, Elara, I’m right here.” I pressed my hands against the wound, desperate, helpless.

“Raven!” I screamed. The name tore out of me like a sob. Raven appeared within a few minutes after calling his name. He dropped beside us, his chest heaving.

“Aine, what happened—”

“There’s no time!” I cried. “We need to get her to the doctor now!” He didn’t hesitate. 

He scooped Elara up into his arms, holding her as delicately, and took off running through the woods. I followed blood trailing in streaks behind his steps. But halfway to the doctor’s office I suddenly heard the struggle in her breathing.

She started rapidly breathing fast and shallow. “Raven, stop,” I said, breathless. He continued running ignoring me. “Aine, we’re almost there—”

“STOP!” He froze, legs locking, terror flashing across his face. Elara convulsed violently in his arms, back arching, eyes rolling white. Her hands clawed at the air, at nothing.

“Put her down!” I begged.
“Aine—”
“PUT HER DOWN BEFORE SHE DIES IN YOUR HANDS!” His face shattered.

He lowered her to the ground, hands trembling. I dropped beside her instantly, pulling her into my arms. Her body trembled so violently that it shook mine. Her breath came in short, desperate gasps, each one sounding like it hurt.

“Elara, hey… hey—look at me,” I sobbed. “I’m here, okay? I’m right here. Stay with me—just stay—please—” Her fingers brushed my cheek, barely touching, trembling too hard to steady.

“Aine…” she whispered, voice breaking on my name. I cried harder. “Don’t talk. Just breathe. Just breathe, please—”

Her legs jerked. Her body seized again. Her eyes rolled back completely, showing only the whites.

“Raven, do something!” I screamed, voice cracking wide open. He knelt on the other side of her, hands shaking, eyes red from fear.

“I can’t. This is silver. Aine, I can’t—”

“Elara,” I whispered, pulling her closer. My tears fell onto her skin, mixing with her blood. “Please don’t leave me. Please don’t go, don’t go—” Her breathing stuttered.

Her breath slowed and quickly quieted down. Her body eased shoulders dropping, muscles going slack.
“Elara?” I whispered. Her chest rose once.
A tiny, fragile breath. Then nothing. Her head fell against my shoulder. Her fingers slipped from my cheek and dropped to her side, lifeless.

“Elara…” The word broke apart in my mouth. The world went silent. Raven’s breath hitched, his face draining of all color as he stared at her. But I barely saw him. All I felt was the weight of her limp in my arms.