Leave It All Behind

Chapter Thirty Five

Tristan's POV
If Zephyr's real body is here then...

Chase.

I'm so stupid! I knew something was off, but I didn't connect the two. Zephyr's sudden disappearance and Chase acting strange, it was Zephyr all along. Sneaky bastard, I should have known he was connected to all this...

I should've known our no good half-brother was involved. He never intended to let me see my mother! He was just using me... And to think I trusted him!

I dashed up the stairs as fast as I could to tell Tyson and Flynn. If anything happens to me, they might never know the truth!

They were still where I'd left them, Flynn out cold but Tyson was stirring. I ran over and grabbed his shoulder, shaking him awake.

"Mm?" He mumbled.

"Tyson! Hey, snap out of it! This is important, I know what's wrong with Chase"

His eyes flew open, and he grabbed my shirt. "What! Tell me! Tell me before I... Before I..." I could see Tyson's eyelids closing. He's still exhausted from the exposure to so much Veratrum.

Taking a deep breath, I told him about what I'd seen in a hushed whisper.

"I suspected as much..." He mumbled.

"So how do we get Chase back and Zephyr out? Tyson!"

"Hm?"

"How do we get Zephyr out of Chase's body?"

"Destroy... Kill Zephyr's... Kill Zephyr's body..."

And with that, his eyelids slid closed again.

Tyson's POV
I recall the night I went swimming with Sophia. Her smiling face, giggling as she splashed water at me. Her scowling face after I'd pushed her in. The shock after I'd dived in from the top board.

Though I'd denied it at first, I'm in love with her. I'd only just fully accepted that fact, and now I'm...

I don't have much time left, that much I knew. But if I could just see my beloved on last time...

I can still feel her skin against mine as I'd held her in the pool, until dawn had shone through the windows. I could still feel her lips against mine, so soft...

I opened my eyes slowly, determined not to let myself slip away just yet. I saw Tristan trying to shake Flynn awake, desperation clear in his chocolate brown eyes. He didn't look my way, he didn't see my silent struggle.

This was just before my vision changed as though I was looking through a kaleidoscope; seeing colors I never knew existed.

I didn't feel any pain, but I could feel my veins tightening, drying up. My lungs were also burning, though I had no need to breath, my chest was straining.

I even felt my heart miss a few beats, my pulse slowing down. I was aware that my eyelids were becoming heavier again.

Happy memories flashed before my closing eyes. Swimming with my sister. Having a snowball fight with my siblings. Seeing Sophia for the first time as a little baby. Rescuing that cute baby bird that has fallen out of its nest. Falling in love with Sophia over and over again...

I want her to know that I love her. I've never really had chance to tell her properly, and I'd probably never get the chance now. And I'll never get the chance to thank my brothers for all they've done for me. They made my life worth living, and they'll never know that is how I feel.

That's what pains me the most.

Sophia's POV
His lover? No way. Not happening.

You can't let this happen! You belong with one of your brothers! The voice screamed at me.

Cole effortlessly made his way towards me and places a hand either side of my head. "Now... You were just about to apologise, weren't you flower?"

Flynn's POV
"Come on, Flynn! Wake up!" I could vaguely make out Tristan's voice shouting at me through the haze. I ignored him, happy in my peaceful hazy world.

"Sophia has been taken by a werewolf, Tyson is unconscious and a Zephyr has taken over Chase's body! Come on, Flynn, help me out here!"

My eyes shot open at his words. Is all that true, or is he just messing with me to wake me up?

But I recalled the stench of werewolf, the crushing sensation in my skull, being dragged away by Tyson...

"Tell me you're joking" I murmured. Tristan shook his head furiously.

"No, now help me wake Tyson! I just spoke to him, but he's out cold again!"

I crawled over to where Tyson's body lay, getting more and more worried the closer I got to him. I couldn't hear his heartbeat, nor could I feel his life force.

Shaking his shoulders gently, I felt my eyes burn, fearing the worst. I shook him more roughly. "Tyson! Wake up, please!" I cried as I shook his limp body.

"Tristan, go get him a bag of that gross blood you keep in your room! Hurry!" I shouted at him, anxiety overwhelming me.

Tristan didn't move, he just stood behind me. His eyes were filled with tears.

"Go! What are you waiting for, he's dying!" I screamed at him.

He shook his head, tears falling from his eyes leaving stains down his face. Once the first tear broke free, the others followed in an unbroken stream.

"It's too late. He's already gone" he sniffed.

He fell to his knees, and punched the floor with his fist.

"If I hadn't lost control in that room, he wouldn't have needed to save me, so he wouldn't have been exposed to the Veratrum as long as he was! It's my fault he's dead!"

He began to snivel and bawl at the top of his lungs pounding the floor with his fists, repeating "Why! Why!" Over and over again.

I felt emotion build up inside me at seeing the body of the brother I'd known so long just laying there. And when I looked over at the distressed Tristan I began sob, too.

I forced myself onto my hands and knees and made my way over to Tristan and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. He turned to face me and moaned into my shoulder. I gave him a reassuring squeeze, a squeeze that said everything will be okay.

But this wasn't the truth. What it meant to lose Tyson, no one will ever understand. No one but us brothers will ever feel the true pain of his death.

I was only just holding myself together. Any moment, I felt like I'd fall apart.

I'm having trouble accepting such a handsome, kind, young man had been so cruelly taken from us. He was too young to die.

That werewolf is going to pay. We will get our revenge.