Ink and Blood

Chapter 14

I started getting up out of bed. "Let's go find him then." Finn jumped up to stop me.

"No, you are staying in bed." I huff. "No." He stared at me, in anger. Kryian and Rufus thought it was best to leave the room before they could see if Finn would be the one to end up in a bed. Finn continued to stare at me.

"What?" He asked fiercely.

"I said no. This is my mess and I'm going to make it right."

"No, you are not. And this isn't your fault, you wrote Silas, but you are not responsible for his evil doing." I look away and Finn took my chin and made me look into his starry eyes.

"None of this is your fault." He kisses me softly. I sigh. "It's not your fault either." His face was stern, his voice aggressive.

"Yes, it is. I shouldn't have let you walk away. I'm so sorry. I love you more than the whole world combined." I look at him as if I could see every thought.

"I love you too. And it is not your fault no matter what you think. I should've told you who I was before everything. No more secrets." I promised. He smiled. "No secrets." We seeled that promise with a kiss.

" But you are staying here." He said as a matter of fact.

"But-" he put a finger to my lips to shut me up. "No, we have plenty of time for you to rest before we head out."

"Fine then let me stand on the sidelines, I want to be there for when they capture Silas. I can't sit around waiting for something to happen. I'll be right there with you." I grin at him, "please." I added. He looked at me for a long time, sighed, then stood up and held a hand out. I knew I won.

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I didn't know what to expect, the boys thought I died, and I did but what they don't know is that I am one of them now. Liam, David, and Damon hugged me tight when I came out of the bathing room, they had tears in their eyes, and was blubbering about how I was alive. I was happy to see them too. Gary nodded, hiding the lump that swelled in his throat while Bruce and his buddies bear hugged me. At the corner of my eye, I see Thatch watching me with a toothless smile. I wave and walk over to him.

"Hello, Thatch. How is your hand?" I ask with concern. He grins up at me then he wraps his arms around my middle and sniffled.

"I am sorry, I-I didn't want to leave you. I wanted to rescue you, but they wouldn't let me come back and fight." I look down into his eyes.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm fine, and I know that you wanted to save me, but I needed you alive and well. It wasn't your fault. Thank you for trying." He smiles and hugs me again. I look up to see Finn staring at me, grinning with admiration. I smile at him with a mutual feeling. When Thatch moved away to be with the rest of the children, I walk over to the wagon and Finn lifted me up into it.

"He adores you. Thatch, I mean." Finn confirmed.

"I know and I love him too. I just wish he didn't have to experience that much pain." Finn laid a hand on mine.

"He is growing up. He will experience a lot of things. Happiness, sadness, and things that will change you forever." I smile. Don't I know it. We pull out and ride to the river. After becoming a character, I feel different, more normal. I don't know what to do after this was over, but for the start, I had to destroy Silas. We arrived at the end of the river where birds were singing, and the river flows all the way down to the end of the falls. I jump out but Finn stops me.

"No, you are staying with me and we're staying here." I sigh in irritation. Why did I write such a stubborn character? I guess that is why I love him. Kyrian and the boys walk to the cave and stalk stealthly inside. Rufus stayed with the younger boys at the institute. I creep closer to get a good look at the cave with Finn over my shoulder. I saw they stopped at the end of the cave and Kyrian spoke loudly.

"Silas, we know your in there! Show yourself!" Nothing. I had a feeling that he is here but not in the caves. Then all the sudden, four guards come charging at them, they braced themselves and got ready for attack. With instinct kicking in, I look around and try to spy a weapon. I run to the horse that had a few swords hanging on the side and grabbed it. I turn around and Finn was directly there. He looked enraged.

"What do you think you are doing?" He asked, he may have popped a vein in his forehead the way he spoke. I rolled my eyes.

"Really? Do you not see they need help?" I try to walk around him, but he stepped in the way. "No. What did I say? You are staying here, please, Clara." He begged. "Why? You know I can't leave them out there. Why can't you let me help?" I said harshly. He racked his fingers in his hair.

"Because I don't want to lose you!" He roared. I stopped trying to move around him. "Because I lost you once and I can't lose you again." His eyes begged me to understand. I know he blames himself for what happened to me, but it wasn't his fault.

"I love you." He said with a voice that made the whole world stopped. I nodded. I love him too much to cause him pain again.

"Okay, I'll stay here but we need to find Silas." He agreed with that. We walk to the edge of our hiding place. Kyrian seem to have the situation under control, the boys tied the guards against the wall of the cave and the boys wiped some blood off their swords. But where was Silas? I hear a twig behind me snap and I spun around to find Silas with a sword in his hand, charging at me screaming bloody murder.