Blood and Tears (all 9)

Chapter 25

Update with over 2000 words! I originally wanted this story to have a cute fluff moment but it turned quite sad. But this is the beginning of the men falling in love with her. 

Luke POV

I looked at the brown liquid in my cup. Swirling the cup, I watched the liquid move around. Moving but not escaping. That's what he felt like. He was going through the motions of life but he never escaped his past.

The sounds of painful screamed echoed in my brain. I could still smell the nauseating scent of smoke thick with blood. The feeling of dirt and blood was stuck to my skin, and no matter how much I wanted to wash it off, the feeling was still there. I could still remember the gritty yet wet feeling in my eyes, and the hatred mixing with sorrow writhing inside me, threatening to burst in a cloud of darkness.

Luke, snap out of it, a voice called me out of the darkness. The deep timbre of Kearn's voice filled my head. We're not there anymore.

I came to with a sharp breath. I pushed my memories and any emotion that related to them back into the darkness. I know, I thought.

Are you okay? Do you want me to take over and let you rest?

I almost chuckled. I almost wished to close my eyes and drift off into nothingness where nothing could reach me. Where my memories or even daydreams could not disturb me, but I was still needed. Not now, Kearn.

Okay, he whispered as he began to withdraw from consciousness.

I looked around seeing the meeting dwindled down. There was a clear view of who was going back to sleep and who were going to stay awake. Cups of coffee had materialized sometime through the meeting thanks to Owen who had created it with his powers. Kota and North were going over some things pertaining to Gabe's safety from Pam and King Hendricks, while Gabe, Victor, and Owen were perusing some paperwork for the kingdom. Silas was currently hunched over his cup of coffee. His shoulders were slumped over which made many of us realize that he had another nightmare. We knew that he wouldn't go to sleep any time soon. Nathan was conked out, his upper body was sprawled over the table. Soft snoring came from the sofa. Sean and Sang were sleeping, leaning against each other. Sean's arms were around her, keeping the blanket around them.

I rose, stretching my arms. I yawned again and drew the attention of those who were fully and semi-awake. "Well, I'm tired. I'm heading off to bed."

Nathan suddenly woke up with a snort and sat up. His blue eyes were unfocused as he blinked at us disoriented. He mumbled something before he started to speak coherently. "...we...gotehskul."

"Huh?" Kota asked in bewilderment.

Nathan looked at Kota, staring at him as if he didn't know who he was. He smacked his lips before his eyes rolled back. He fell asleep again, leaving all of us staring at him. I had no idea what he was trying to say and I was too tired to try to understand what had just happened.

(Funny moment: On Thursday, we had a tornado warning and my family and I had to sleep in the basement. I only got 3 hours of sleep. Anyway, I was able to take a nap around 7pm. I remember waking up an hour later and sitting up like a zombie in a grave. I looked at my mom who was looking at me with wide eyes and I groaned before flopping back and going back to sleep.)

I crossed the room to where Sean and Sang were cuddling. A frown made its way to my face. The sight of Sean smiling in his sleep irked me, and any manners had disappeared when we had to have a group meeting at 3 am. Throwing Sean's arm off her shoulders, I wrapped my arms around her shoulder and under her knees. I picked her up as if she was precious glass. Behind me, Sean mumbled and searched for Sang. Using my shadows to levitate the pillow I had brought from my bed into his arms, I chuckled softly as I saw Sean bring the pillow to his chest and started to nuzzle his cheek against it.