Don't Be Afraid [manxman]

Chapter 10: Blood and Gore

Chapter 10

DANNY'S POV

We made it to the rocks slowly being licked by the moving sea. I grabbed on to one, catching Mark with my other hand, as he was too weak to push himself up. The pain of losing Jon and the long swim had left him exhausted and beaten. In that moment I knew that he would never be mine. He couldn't, how could he, when he loved someone else with such force? Perhaps it was not meant to be, perhaps it was all in vain. I should never have left my home. I wonder what my brothers think of me now, seeing me defeated by emotions we swore to never feel. They must be laughing, feeling smug at my broken heart.

"Danny..." Mark's soft voice reached my ear and I turned a bit, to look at his face.

"Yeah?" His eyes glazed over as he kept watching the ship being torn apart by the strange creatures.

"Do you think he's going to make it out of there?" His voice broke as he took a quick breath, "Alive, I mean."

I stayed quiet, not wanting to speak out of turn. If  I were to say that, yes, he's going to make it, then Mark would be devastated beyond belief if Jon would never show. And if I said, no, he's never coming back; his heart would break. In this, silence is best because it makes him think of his own answer to the question that gnaws him.

"I think he'll make it. He needs to, he promised... He did." He whispered, his eyes turning red because of the crying.

I reached over, giving his shoulder a light squeeze. "I'm sure you're right, buddy."

His head bopped up and down, making his hair swoosh around . "I know I am, Danny. I know I'm right."

***

It had been about an hour since we took shelter at the rocks and there was still no sign of Jon being alive. Mark had fallen asleep after fifteen minutes of trying to keep his eyes open, but the gentle crashing of the waves against his lower body made him fall asleep. Before he truly got swept off to dreamland, he made me promise I would wake him the second I thought he was needed - that being, the second I see Jon.

As I was falling asleep as well, the lull of the waves pulling me deeper into their embrace, I saw a sudden flick of light on the board of the ship. Then, a body crashed into the sea bellow it, but it didn't drown, it kept swimming. And it was headed towards us. I shook Mark awake, hoping, no, praying that the person coming this way was Jon.

"Hhmph?" Was the only reply Mark gave me as I nudged him in the ribs.

"Wake up, I think there's somebody coming." The thought woke him up completely.

He grabbed hold of my shoulder as he leaned over the rock, trying to get a better view of the person. "Do you think it's Jon? It has to be right? I mean, nobody else knows where we are."

My thoughts darkened as I realised something. "Yeah, but, Mark? Jon shouldn't know where we are either. So how does he know where to look for us?"

Mark's brows furrowed and he looked back at the sea. "Well, we do have the connection, Danny. He might just be following my scent or something."

His lack of conviction made me doubt him and even a second of doubt was awful at this point. We needed conviction, we needed trust.

I took a deep breath and started chanting for the arrival of Jon. It is Jon. There's nobody else. Jon is coming. He is just the fastest swimmer in the world, beating the Olympic record by minutes. Yup, it's Jon. Nobody esle. Jon. Jon. J- "Jon!"

Mark's happy voice woke me from my chanting and as my sight refocused itself, I could see Jon, only a few meters away from us, still swimmimng at high speed. Although I was happy for his return, I couldn't help but notice there was something wrong with his eyes.