A Thousand Year Obsession ✔

36. Always Use Caution

36. Always Use Caution

My vision remained shrouded in inky clouds of blackness, but I could just slightly pick out several voices.

"I can't treat the boy unless the two of them are disconnected." The voice was gravelly and harsh, and strangely familiar.

"Then disconnect them!" The girl spoke with annoyance, but her tone was still bright and lighthearted.

"It isn't that simple. She has to be awake to disconnect herself from him." At the sound of this voice, my body grew very, very cold. A terrible fear tumbled through me and my heart skipped a beat.

"Then wake her up!" The girl cried.

"That isn't going to happen unless my brother appears out of nowhere. And if he does that, we're in trouble." My breath caught, and I had to refrain from collapsing into panic.

"Then break the bond or something. That's why Morgana wanted me to call you, right?" The girl hissed.

"I can't do that unless she's awake."

"Then you're at a bit of a standstill, aren't you? When do you think you four will get out of my house?" The gravelly-voiced man broke in.

"When Morgana finally decides to wake up!"

My eyes fluttered open hesitantly, and I lifted my head to glanced around me, only to groan and drop it back down again. I lay in a small, cramped cabin, the boy unconscious beside me, and Sally, Derek, and a short, fat man with a spectacle standing at my feet.

"She's awake." Derek breathed, his eyes meeting mine a moment before glancing away. He stepped back and peered through the window. "That's not good."

The fat man glanced up at Derek. "I thought you wanted her to wake up!"

Derek only shrugged.

Sally started towards me and grasped my arm, harshly jerking me to my feet. "Falkirk, get the potion. Morgana, how do we break the connection?"

I stared at her dazedly, but she shook me roughly. "Snap out of it, Morgana! We've got a time limit here."

I blinked, but then my gaze flickered towards Derek. My lips parted, but I closed them quickly and brushed off his presence.

"Connection?" I murmured slowly.

"Yes, before you passed out you connected yourself and the boy. How do you break it!?"

I stared at her for a moment longer before the fog in my brain cleared a bit. Then, my eyes widened and all traces of drowsiness left my body.

"Do you have a stick or something? Yarn, a piece of string?" I asked quickly.

"I've got string!" The fat man cried.

He hurried towards a wall of drawers and quickly rifled through them. Derek followed him slowly, glancing over his shoulder at the contents of the drawer. Derek found the string before the man did and swiftly pulled it out. The man glanced up at him, his lips parted in objection, but Derek ignored him and tossed me the string. I reached forward and caught it, then bent down beside the boy and wrapped one end of the string around his pinky finger before repeating the action with my own. I pulled back to tighten the string, and glanced up at Sally.

"Can you get a--" I broke off as I noticed Derek standing before me with a knife. I sighed loudly and turned back to the boy. Derek smoothly cut through the string and tucked the dagger back in his belt.

I sat, unmoving for a moment, waiting, almost. And then, abruptly, I cried out, tears prickling in the back of my eyes as a terrible pain surged through my chest. I felt as if some limb I'd never know I'd had had just been torn from my body. I lurched to my feet, clutching at my chest. My eyes closed as another sharp jolting pain ripped through my body, and I collapsed backwards. Derek lurched towards me and caught me, lifting me back upright, but keeping a gentle hold on my arms to assure I wouldn't fall again. But then the pain suddenly left and my eyes snapped open again, flitting towards the boy as his eyelids peeled back, revealing a soft pair of green irises. His mouth opened in a silent cry, and his eyes grew wide and distant with pain, but the lumpy man with the spectacle hurriedly knelt besides him and dumped a vile of green liquid down his throat. The boy choked a bit, but eventually fell back down, a relieved sigh escaping his lips. The wounds on his body gradually began to close and his breath evened out. I watched him for a moment more before turning back to the others.