Marked (Hosie Fanfic)

[15] Absorbed

Alaric POV

     I've been staring at the ground where the love of my life was for hours. I hadn't moved, hadn't eaten, hadn't done anything. She had disappeared right before my eyes. She was in my arms, crying and I had been comforting her, only for her to turn to dust that slipped through my hands and onto the floor. But not even the dust stayed, eventually it just vanished.

     I knew that I should probably check on the children and students but I couldn't pull myself away. I couldn't seem to move my legs or my eyes. Everything stayed exactly as was and I froze. My eyes lingered on the spot without even twitching. My legs locked themselves and a numb feeling was starting to crawl up my legs but it didn't bother me much. My mind was empty along with a hollow feeling in my chest.

  I was so absorbed in my haze that I didn't even realize that someone had entered the room. I only noticed when they spoke. 

   "We found Josie. She's in shock but no major injuries." Caroline's voice rings in the silent room and I don't acknowledge her. Relief dimly blooms in my mind that she's safe but other than that, I didn't show any reactions outwardly.

   "Ric?" Her voice is more concerned now, I can hear it, the strain in her voice. I can just imagine the look on her face right now. It wasn't too different from Jo's face when she was concerned. 

   "She's... gone." My voice comes out hollow and broken. I turn around slowly, finally allowing my body to move. Caroline stands in front of the closed door with wide eyes. She walks over to me and I don't do anything. I just stare at her with tired eyes. Her arms wrap around me and I just stand stiffly.

   "I'm sorry, Ric. I know it's hard but you'll get over it. I know you will." She pulls away after squeezing once. She looks right into my eyes. "Now, let's get you to bed." She grabs my hand and starts leading me to the door but I stand my ground.

    "I, can't leave her," I state. Her face is covered in pity with a side of sadness. "She's gone. She's on the Other Side, watching you. So no matter where you go, she'll always be with you." I feel the corner of my lips curl up at the thought of her standing in front of me. "Now, let's go."

    I allow her to pull me through the school and towards my suite. She opens the door and leads me to the bed. I relax all my muscles and become a dead-weight. She gently lifts me onto the bed and tucks me in like a mother would a child. 

   She dims the lights and pulls up a chair.

   The last thing I see is her sitting there with wide concerned eyes before I completely black out. 

+    +     +

Caroline POV

    My phone rings and I quickly silence it before it wakes up Ric. I look at who's calling me and it's Dorian. I pick up and bring my phone to my ear. 

   "Any news?" "She's a druid who was consumed by a mud-like being called Malivore. Apparently, whatever it absorbs will be completely erased from the world. Right now, it's trapped as a mud pit and it needs three keys, objects to become a full being again. The knife is one of them, but no one knows the other 2. If we just keep the knife then everything should be good. Since she said that Malivore only targets supernaturals, we should probably stop Malivore from getting all 3 keys."

   "Oh... wow. That's a lot to take in." I take a deep breath before continuing. "Okay, so we just keep the knife away from it." "Yeah, he'll send monsters at us which is why the dragon asked for it. So keep a look-out for any strange beings you come across." 

   "Will do. Thank you, Dorian." "No problem." He hangs up and I put my phone in my pocket. Malivore. Hmm. The Necromancer must have been sent by Malivore since he was asking for the knife. So what'll be next? I mean, these monsters are coming for us and we don't have any information about when or what. How do we even stop this Malivore and its monsters if he erased them from history? Ugh.