The Hidden Gemstone

Chapter: 23

Alex's POV:

After Xander left the room, I looked around. The blue liquid was spreading on the marble floor, sluggishly making its way toward my feet. The syringe still lay on the ground in pieces. I knelt and carefully picked up the shards before throwing them away.

Not bothering with the liquid, I turned around and saw Troy's gun, still on the floor. I didn't know whether he deliberately left it there or forgot to pick it up. Nevertheless, I walked over to it and picked it up, wincing at the pain caused by the movements.

I examined the pistol which seemed pretty normal, but I knew something was off about it. I remembered Troy's words.

The bullet had a little something to slow you down.

I looked down at my wound whose bleeding had slowed down considerably. I still needed to patch it up though; the blood loss I'd already faced was enough to make me collapse.

I hesitantly pocketed the gun and slowly exited the room, wincing with every step. Now that the adrenaline had washed away, I felt dizzy and exhausted. I glanced at the door of Xander's room which was only a couple of yards away. Resisting the urge to go to him, I turned to face the staircase which ended hopelessly high.

Gathering up whatever strength I had left, I walked upstairs slowly, clutching my side. With every step I took, I got closer to the verge of collapsing. The pain kept increasing and I was tempted to just stop and sit on the stairs. Regardless, I kept going.

After what felt like forever, I finally reached the top and made my way into my room. Moonlight streamed inside through my window. Out on the balcony, I could see the sheet of snow which kept growing thicker as more snowflakes lingered down.

Shaking my head, I went to the bathroom and took out the first-aid kit. I wished Emma was here. She would've done a ten times more effective job than I would, ten times gentler. With her aid, the wound would likely heal in two days.

I removed my shirt and cleaned the wound as best as possible, wincing with every touch. My fingers had gotten calloused from so many years of training in the woods, but I was thankful for the soft fingertips that reduced the pain I caused myself.

While I was at it, I also cleaned the scratches I'd gotten from the stunt I pulled off by running down to the cave near Niagara Falls. They were shallow and had already stopped bleeding so it wasn't that painful. After cleaning the cuts and patching up the wound, I put on a clean shirt and walked back into my room.

As the events of the previous hour flooded into my mind, I did the most surreal thing anyone would ever expect from me.

I crumbled to the floor and began to cry.

I hated every part of it, but I couldn't help myself. My chest felt so heavy, my throat tight and sour. A knot kept tightening in my stomach. I wanted to run away into the woods and disappear for a long time, but I couldn't do either of those. So, I just sat there on my bedroom floor, crying pathetically.

I felt so tired, I wanted to go to sleep and never wake up. I didn't think my mind would be able to handle even one more day of this life. But I had to live with it and what was to come which would be even worse than what I'd faced. That thought forced another sob out of me.

For once, I just wanted to give up. It would be so much easier to let Ryan have what he wanted, to let Dad have what he wanted. Neither of them was particularly interested in what happened to me after that. That was just the way I wanted it.

But what held me back were my friends. Zoe and Elijah held me back. If I gave up, their lives would be on the line. Cody's blue eyes held me back. He would lose his powers to Ryan if he didn't have me by his side. Xander's continuous struggle held me back. I couldn't let him continue his suffering just because I demanded peace. He deserved better than that.