Time Again

Chapter 17: The Levels of Pain

Chapter 17: The Levels of Pain

"And in that moment I swore that nothing in this universe could be so heavy as the absence of the person you love."

~Beau Taplin

Wes

I woke with a start.

Eyes snapping open and heart pounding like a drum in my chest. She was gone. I could feel it. I failed. I let them take her. I was weak.

The pain in my chest was nearly unbearable. I struggled to breathe. This couldn't be happening. This was all a dream. But as I looked around at the broken house that surrounded me I knew that this was indeed real and Adelle was truly gone. A feeling of complete helplessness threatened to drown me. Her parents were lying dead only a few paces from me, glass and blood littered the floor. I gripped my hair in two hands and tugged. So completely lost that for a moment I couldn't think. Rationality had left me. Adelle was somewhere hurting, they could be torturing her. A roar ripped from my throat. I bit down on my fist. Punched the wall. I did not know what to do.

Slowly sense began to filter it's way in. I needed a plan. I couldn't just barge through the front doors of the castle. That would be suicide. I needed to be rational. I needed to think. Walking over broken glass I make my way to the house phone sitting on the counter. Picking it up I dialed Ronan's number. He answered on the fourth ring.

"Hello?" His voice was gruff, low.

"Roan, it's me," I answered.

"Wes your plane was supposed to land two hours ago. I've been calling your phone nonstop."

"There's been a problem. The Cumacht found us last night and took Adelle," I gave him the short version. Roan swore on the other end.

"Where are you?" I heard him typing on a computer.

"At her house still, they knocked me out cold. I just woke up," I ran up the stairs to Adelle's room. Grabbing a few extra t-shirts and the essentials I threw it all into a backpack then raced back downstairs.

"Okay, I set up a flight from Oregon to Dublin. The ticket is in your email. It leaves at 9:30 so you better get your arse over to the airport."

"Okay, thanks Roan." I found my car keys under a pile of fallen books.

"Thank me when this is all over."

"I will, see you soon." I hung up and ran out the door.

I jogged to my car and threw myself into the driver seat. I put it into drive and broke all kinds of speed limits on the way to the airport. Finding a parking stall I got out and slammed the door behind me, stuffing the keys into my pocket. Walking into the airport I located my flight and saw that they were boarding the last people in line. I sprinted to security and waited as they checked my bag. Anxiously looking around I hurried through the metal detector, taking notice of the two security guards. Stepping thru, the sensor went off and began to beep.

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you to step into this room please." The security guard ushered me into a small side room. I barely held in a groan; I didn't have time for this.

"Look, I'm going to miss my flight. Can you hurry?" I was irritated.

The guard closed the door and locked it. I grew even more anxious. He was a huge guy. All muscle, short buzzed hair and hands covered in scars. He lifted a walkie-talkie off his belt.