Shattered Horizon

16 Liam

Chapter Sixteen
Liam
A voice, barely above a whisper, cuts through the night. Panic floods my veins. I whirl towards the house, ready to wake Iris, but another word stops me.
"Wait." He steps into the feeble porch light. "Bo?" My voice cracks, a mixture of disbelief and confusion.
He's a wreck â€" bruised, battered, his arm hanging at an unnatural angle. "Bo," I breathe, rushing forward, but he collapses, and I barely catch him before he hits the ground. "Iris!" I scream, my voice ragged with fear.
The living room light blazes on, cutting through the darkness like a blade.
"I'm sorry," Bo whispers, his voice barely audible. A rush of emotions threatens to overwhelm me â€" anger, concern, relief. I shush him gently, then call out again, "Iris! Hurry!"
Joanna emerges from the house, her face etched with worry. "Oh, my dear boy," she gasps, taking in Bo's battered form. "What happened?"
His attempts to answer come out in choked gasps. Pain twists his features, and Iris rushes out with our meager medical supplies, kneeling beside him. Joanna's eyes meet mine, her expression sharp and alert.
"Go," she commands, her voice firm despite the tremble in her hands. "Check the perimeter. Make sure he wasn't followed."
By the time Iris and I return, Joanna has helped Bo inside and cleaned his wounds. His face is pale, sweat beading on his brow. Joanna's voice cuts through the tension. "Hold him down," she orders, an edge to her usually warm tone.
"Wait, why? What are you â€"" I begin, but she's already moving.
"Dislocated shoulder," she explains matter-of-factly. "We need to get it back in place."
My stomach lurches. Joanna turns to Iris, a grim determination on her face. "Darling, fetch my leather belt from the bedroom. Quickly now."
Iris scurries off, returning moments later with the belt. Her voice trembles as she hands it to Joanna.
"This will hurt," Joanna warns Bo. "Bite down on this." She offers him the folded belt.
He nods, his eyes wide with a mix of fear and pain. He reaches for my hand, his grip surprisingly strong. "Count to three, Bo," Joanna instructs.
He nods, a sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Okay."
...Before she can reach three, there's a sickening pop followed by a scream, muffled by the leather clenched between Bo's teeth. His eyes roll back, and his body goes limp in my arms.
"Bo!" I shout, panic rising in my chest.
Joanna drops the belt, her focus shifting. "He's passed out," she observes, her voice calm but laced with urgency. "Iris, wet cloth! Liam, help me prop him up."
A wave of dizziness washes over me as we shift Bo. The smell of blood and sweat fills the room. Joanna presses the cold cloth to Bo's forehead, her touch surprisingly gentle.
"He'll come around soon," she reassures me, though her own eyes are creased with worry.
"Liam, anything?" Joanna's voice is sharp with worry. "Did he say where he'd been?"
"No." The word chokes me, the scene flickering back with unsettling clarity. I stumble outside, desperate for air, and collapse onto the porch steps. My heart pounds like a trapped animal.
Minutes, or perhaps hours, seep by. Suddenly, the silence is shattered by the ominous creak of the gate. I force myself to rise. "I went to check," I call out, the darkness an oppressive weight. "He just... appeared."
Joanna's voice bombards me, a torrent of questions. "Did you see anyone else beside Bo? Was anything disturbed? Think, Liam!"
"The traps," I mumble, the memory flashing through my mind. "They were mostly untouched. At least on this street. When me and Iris, checked out the neighborhood" A chill runs down my spine, a stark contrast to the sweat trickling down my brow.
Then, Bo's voice cuts through the night, weak but clear. "I wasn't followed."
Joanna releases a long, shuddering breath. "He's safe now," she says, but there's a tremor in her voice that betrays her lingering anxiety. "Let's get some rest. Tomorrow's going to be another long day."
I sink down beside Bo. The relief washing over me is bittersweet, tinged with a gnawing sense of unease. Iris places a hand on my shoulder, her expression a mirror of my own. We exchange a silent glance, one filled with both gratitude and unresolved questions. Following Joanna's lead, she turns and heads upstairs, her shoulders slumped ever so slightly.
I stayed up, listening to his breathing, every whimper I jumped up. Finally I fell asleep, Joanna coughing in the morning woke me up, Bo was up and his arm was put in a sling. Joanna dropped a glass and he jumped at the noise, what happened to him?
"Bo." My voice is low, laced with a mix of anger and lingering concern.
He meets my gaze, his eyes wide and haunted. "I'm sorry, Liam. I should have listened." His voice cracks. He takes a shaky breath. "Annalina..." Panic twists his features. "They took her!"
Tears well up in his eyes. "Who?" I demand, my own heart pounding.
"Max tried to save her â€" he got me out â€" they shot him!" His words tumble out in a frantic rush, the sentences jumbled and barely making sense.
He stops as footsteps come down the stairs, it was only iris, she sat next to him, she didn't say anything to me, worry peaked, joanna brang in a glass of water and some pills, for Bo he took them but his hands were unsteady, the water shaking, i grab the glass and help him drink, he accepts the water.
Joanna drags a chair across the room, placing it in front of Bo. She looks exhausted, the sickness etching itself deeper into her face, but her eyes still hold a spark of fierce determination. With a tenderness that belies her own frailty, she takes a warm cloth and gently wipes the grime from his face.
"There," she says softly, "There's the handsome face I know." Bo tries to respond, but his words choke in his throat. Tears well up in his eyes, a mix of pain, shame, and devastating loss.
"Can you tell us what happened?" joanna said slowly "Take your time okay"
I rose from the couch, a storm brewing within me. It was better to leave Bo and Joanna alone, for now. As I headed for the back door, Iris materialized at my shoulder, following me silently. The morning air felt like a slap as we stepped outside.
"You okay?" she asked, her voice soft but laced with concern.
I shrugged, unable to voice the tangle of emotions churning within. Anger, frustration, a cold dread that gnawed at the edges of my sanity.
"Iris," I finally managed, "it's been one day. A day! They were all fine when you saw them. What could have gone so wrong so fast?" My hands clenched into fists, the urge to lash out at something, anything, threatening to consume me.
"I should have never let him go something felt off but I let him leave." I say blaming myself.
Iris stepped closer, her touch gentle but firm as she took my hands in hers. "It wasn't your fault Liam, if it was your family, you would have gone too." she said, her voice steady despite the tremor in her grasp. "But he's home now safe and that's all we could have hoped for. Isn't that what we do, we fight for the people we love," she continued, her gaze meeting mine, "will get back, Annalina too."