The Heart Collector (Under Editing)

Chapter Twenty-Two: Stone

Fare groaned as she came to. She was still in the stairwell. She felt a small pain from her side when she moved. The blood on her shirt was tacky and pulled at her skin. She placed a hand to her side to judge if she was still bleeding. It came away damp, but it was not fully covered in blood. She had begun to heal, but she suspected that she would be bleeding for a while yet. She knew that she needed to find a way to stop it and soon. As Fare pulled herself into the sitting position, she looked across from her at the Lightning Fae on the stairs. It may have just been her brain's lack of blood, but she thought that she saw his hands twitch. She did not want to stay long enough to find out. She pushed herself up and made her way out the door on the level she was on.

Fare stumbled as the door closed behind her. She steadied herself at the last moment with a nearby wheelchair. She looked around and discovered that this floor was just as vacant. That unsettled her even more. She had hoped that it was just the level that they were originally on, but now she suspected that the whole facility was deserted. While it was disturbing, Fare needed to store those whys and hows away for later. She just hoped she could find something to patch herself up enough to finish healing. She entered the first room she came across and rummaged through any drawers she found. After several attempts, she discovered several packets of heavy-duty gauzes. She winced as she peeled back her shirt. She placed several gauzes over her wound and taped it the best to her ability.

Fare slide to the ground and took several deep breaths. It by far was not the worst wound she had ever received. There was one time that she had missed calculated a jump from a two-story building and broke all her bones in her body. Agatha and Kila almost had a heart attack when she came home eight hours later with darkened bruises and a severe limp. While her healing factor had sped the process along, she was still out for about a week. As she braced herself to go into the standing position, a shadow passed over her and she dropped back down. She waited for it to pass by, but it stayed stationary. Instead of waiting for whomever it was to discover her, she decided that her best course of action was to take them for surprise. She was not in much shape to fully battle a Truthfall. She took several deep breaths, stood up and crashed through the room's window. Fare tackled the figure to the ground and managed to pin them to the ground. Just when she had her hands around their throat, a familiar voice called out.

"Fare! It's me!" Novus gurgled out.

Fare immediately got off him. Novus coughed and glance at Fare.

He took noticed of red mixed with the color of her shirt, "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine. Just got a little too friendly with a metal railing. I should be good in an hour or two. What about you? Where's Crow?" Fare noticed several darkening bruises on his face and how he favored his left side.

"I managed to lose him when we created a steam cloud. I don't know where he is, but I don't think that my head start will last long." He helped her up.

"Do you think that Crow has something to do with the murders?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure, but I would not be surprised if he is, given his recent behavior. Where's Jasmine?"

"I had to leave her in the pharmacy. It was for her safety and mine. I was under attack from a Truthfall Lieutenant."

"That explains the dead Truthfall I saw on the stairs. Your work I assume?"

She nodded at turned suddenly when she heard clapping coming from behind her.

"I say, I am impressed Ms. Blackglade. I underestimated you. Few Fae can successfully take out a Lieutenant without using their abilities.