Polynatural-Book 1

Chapter 7

I fling the door open. My whole focus and worry is on The Boss.

"Boss!" I scream out pitifully.

He replies weakly with an exhausted blink.

Rushing to his side, I kneel and examine his wounds. I take in a quick breath as my hands clasp over my mouth. The wounds...they don't look like wounds, they look like art work... deep, painful, barbaric, art work. My eyes furiously trace back and forth on his body. Marked on his arm are two words. "Solvo Omnis" Beneath it is a signature? What creature would be proud of this merciless work?! But this is not a time to think of these matters. The Boss needs to be bandaged! But with what?! The whole room is shredded.

"Parker!" I call over frantically.

His shoulders are slightly hunched as he is eyeing the room suspiciously.

"Parker!" I call again, even more desperate this time.

He walks to me quickly, but still continues to eye the room.

"Give me your shirt."

"What?"

"Give me it!"

He furrows his eyebrows at my demand.

Ugh! He's so slow.

My patience is very thin. There is zero time to waste. In a swift movement, I remove my shirt. Parker's eyes widen a little. I ignore it. All my concentration needs to be focused on The Boss.  With my bare hands and teeth, the shirt gets torn into long rugged strips. Another shirt is crisply dropped at my knees. For a very brief second I look up at him. His perfectly chiseled body distracts me slightly. Parker's abs protrude out of his body at a perfect angle. It's as if a master chiseler took eons to create him, create him to perfection. Perfection...that's the only word to describe this beauty. My eyes trail his body, noticing every curve, edge, and muscle; they trail up to his eyes. He's smirking at me. Damnit.

"Stop distracting me!" I blurt out.

This only makes him smile wider.

"Go watch the door!" I yell, trying to cover up my embarrassment.

Without hesitation, I take the strips and start wrapping The Boss. To speed up the process I use my ability to help him.

First I start at the legs. There are a vines of flowers imprinted there. The cuts are very deep. The Boss must have suffered excruciating pain.

Next, I make my way up his arms. Cut into his skin are migrating birds. If this wasn't so brutal, it would be beautiful. As I make my way down to the two words and signature I notice something odd. Something I didn't notice before. These two marks aren't bleeding anymore. In fact, they don't even seem to be cuts. They are brands...The skin is raised and swollen. As if they were burned with severe temperatures. 

The Boss coughs and sputters a mouthful of blood down to the ground, contributing more to the puddle he's uncomfortably laying in. So much blood...I'm surprised he's alive...He looks like he's an inch away from death. The cruelty he endured makes me sick to my stomach. What disturbed, twisted creature would do this?

I watch as he groans uncomfortably. He intakes a sharp breath.

"R-rr-ribs." He sputters more blood.

Immediately I understand. With my mind I reach into his body. Two of his ribs are cracked. They are putting pressure onto his lungs, making it hard for him to breathe. I blow out a short breath, concentrating on mending his bones. The sweat trickles down my face and hits my crackled lips. It soothes them slightly, but I could care less. My whole entire concentration and focus is on The Boss. Nothing else. Not even the shirtless perfectly sculpted body of Parker's. I shut my eyes, allowing my ability to overwhelm me. The Boss grunts as my power shifts his bones. I can hear his labored breathing crawl up my skin. Slowly and calmly, the breathing gets softer and more natural.

"Lacey..." He speaks.

"Shh." I gently reply.

He nods at my response grimacing the whole time.

I can mend bones, but I can't heal those marks on his body. We need to find help.

"Parker!" I shout.

He turns around waiting for me to speak.

"Come here and help me get The Boss some help."

He only nods in reply.

Parker takes one shoulder and I take the other.

Slowly and excruciatingly we manage to get The Boss to stand up. The atmosphere is pure silent. The Boss staggers and limps as we take him to the exit. Parker and I try to manage the continuous shift of body weight. We finally reach the exit. Our faces are dripping in warm sweat. We stand there, both of us trying to catch our breaths quickly. We don't have much time. The Boss needs help, and fast.

"Okay Parker. Go up there first. I'll use my telekinesis to transfer him up there."

"Can you do that?"

"Yes, but it'll take more effort than usual."

He's not going to be rather heavy, but the state he's in will make it difficult. I need to be careful not to hurt him.

Parker climbs up to the shaft swiftly, awaiting me to boost The Boss up. Once he left, I could feel The Boss's weight shift onto my shoulder. His weight makes it harder to concentrate, but I'll manage. Carefully, I lift The Boss up into the shaft.

"Okay! I've got him!" Parker yells.

I let out a sigh of relief. The tension in me gets sucked away slightly. I can finally relax a little. Right before I disappear into the shaft I hear a rustle.

Then, a very strangely familiar but distant voice whispers, "Lacey..."

A voice that was neither The Boss's or Parkers...