DEVIANT [H.S.]

16 - Twenty Minutes

Heading back down to the compound, Harry and I walk side by side in silence. Our rooftop getaway was a bit nostalgic but soothing all the same. I almost trip down the stairs we go down, but Harry is always there to grab my wrist and pull me back to stability.

We make it back down to the Sphere and begin to walk down the hall up to Harry's room. I have a feeling he'll want me to sleep alongside him.

When we reach his door, it has already been opened. Harry looks at me hesitantly and places his fingers around the metal knob, pushing the door open and revealing a startled Malachi.

"Malachi, what are you doing in my room after hours?" Harry questions, walking towards him.

I hang back slightly; I don't want Malachi to question where I've been with Harry.

Malachi sighs. "Follow me."

Harry immediately obliges, as if he knows what is happening. I don't move from where I stand as they go through the doorway heading up to the Isolation Hall.

I watch his face as he exits. Stone cold, just like the concrete we're standing on.

"Serena, you come too." Malachi's voice echoes down the hall.

I nod to myself, and I close Harry's door behind me. I walk a few steps behind Harry, not wanting to anger him out of his trance. He's pretty focused on where we're headed.

And once we reach the Isolation Hall, I understand why.

Tara is slumped in the corner of the second window to the right, her skin pale enough to blend with the walls, her body as frail as a ragdoll. I can see sweat all over her body, her hands and legs spasming randomly. I have never seen her like this.

This is new territory, territory Malachi has brought me to for a reason. He wants me to see.

Harry is the first to make it to the window. The palms of his hands press against the window, his eyes pleading out to Tara's in a desperate attempt. I see Tara look up from her shaking state and match gazes with her brother and begin to crawl slowly to the window. I don't think she can see him through the glass, but she knows he's here.

She knows that he is here, which is all the strength she needs.

A few moments later, her hands are pressed against the window as well. They say no words to each other as tears begin to flow. Harry's palms slide down a few inches to meet Tara's on the other side.

This scene is so new and so familiar all at once, as if this has happened before, or as if they have been warned that this would happen.

I walk over to Malachi, who is observing from a distance.

"Is she dying?" I whisper.

Malachi nods. "This is her last night.. I have been helping them prepare for her final days."

Them? Harry has known? He didn't tell me a thing.

I frown, trying to grasp the whole situation. "Why is she shaking? Sweating?"

"She's been having seizure after seizure. It's the worst her symptom has been. For how severe and how young she is, this may be the last time Harry sees her alive."

Panic fuels my veins at that statement. "Malachi, we have to try to help her. There has to be a way to help her survive..."

Malachi shakes his head in disagreement. "There's nothing you can do now, Serena. She's already dead." He looks past me, past Harry, to Tara who has tears flowing from her eyes.

Harry's sniffles break the silence. I've never seen Harry cry, and I don't want to. So I stay back here with Malachi.

There has to be a way to save her. There has to be. They can't just assume giving up and letting Tara die is an option.