Second Life: Book 1 (GxG)

Chapter 9

Emma's ears rang with every swoosh of the wind that brushed layers of chills onto her skin. An intense amount of pain radiated from her side and single-handedly inhibited her ability to breathe. Her hand found the spot, discovering a metal shard between her lower ribs. She flinched as she pulled it out, her eyes opening to take in the surrounding darkness. Her throat was dry and felt as if it was sticking together as she spoke.

"Sierra?"

She was met with silence. A silence that worried her more than the blood pouring from her body. She twisted in her seat, pain oppressing her movements as she made her way into the backseat. As she felt around for her passengers, she adjusted her eyes to the darkness. She found fingers on the floor and they curled around hers in an awkward, jerky movement. She hurried, carefully avoiding stepping on it as she shook the person. "Sierra?"

She heard a groan in return and saw the shadow of a head raising as the woman regained consciousness. "Sierra?"

Emma's heart fell at the sound of Grace's voice. Frantically, she felt around the backseat, feeling for the other woman, only to find the door ajar. Fear paralyzed her, her heart plummeting and deafening her against anything that Grace was saying. She slid out the opened door, searching the darkness, aware of her anxiety with no way to hinder it.

"Sierra?"

Silence.

"SIERRA!"

A hand rested on her arm, stilling her from the circles she was twisting herself in. She looked at the shadow of Grace, forcing an impassive expression.

"Emilie..." Grace's voice sounded strained. "I think they took her."

Grace held up a shoe. Emma's eyes found it, studied it, then found Grace again. With one dismissive glance, she went back to inspecting the shadows. "Sierra!"

Grace shook her head. "She's not here."

"Sierra!"

"You're bleeding." Was that concern in her voice?

Thunder crackled above them, stealing both their attentions for just a second. A strike of lightning lit the sky like a white sun, startling Grace. Under any other circumstance, Emma would have laughed at Grace's reaction to the sudden flash but instead, Emma stared off into the trees again. "Sierra!"

"She's gone! You're wasting time!"

Emma glanced at Grace, her expression blank. Her visions weren't impaired. She could see that Sierra was not with them yet, she had to believe she was because if she wasn't, where would she be and how would Emma find her?

Just hours ago, she'd removed Sierra's tracker. A preventative measure that now felt like a stupid decision. Grace, finding them so easily, had scared her, and she thought if Grace could do it, so could the black eagles and everyone else who wanted to kill Sierra.

"I'm thinking." Was all she could muster, a lie she told hoping it would soon be the truth. She needed to think and figure out a game plan on how to get Sierra back, but she was too irrational and panicked to even remember how to breathe.

With little effort she shut herself off, her eyes looking but blind, her body alive but unfeeling as she collapsed to the ground. Her knees dug into the soil and felt it return the favour, welcoming her.

A drop of rain hit her skull, then another until it was pouring around them. Streams ran down her face, sparing her eyes the job while she sank away into the earth. The mud beat onto her clothes, her skin, her hair, welding her from whereth she came. She stared at the sky, welcoming each drop of rain as they come and hoping that somehow they would carry hope to her or at least a solution.