Hiraeth {Book 3 in The Emerald of Annihilation trilogy}

(18). So Cold

(A/N: I've realized there is not enough of Lily's parent's in this. So there will be on this chapter! I'm sorry for neglecting Alex....:( :) )

Dylan Tanner closed his eyes, rested his head back on the cement wall, and clenched his jaw as a rogue tear fled his eye, exposing the emotions he was fighting on the inside. Running a hand across his brow, Dylan let out an audible sniff.

He was trying his hardest not to break down into sobs. What good would it do him? Lifting a trembling hand, Dylan helplessly examined his bloodstained hands. Fresh. Not dripping, but still fresh. He could smell the metallic tang of sweet, crimson blood.

Dylan's heart began to speed up in a slight panic and he rubbed the back of his hand against his chin in an attempt to relieve his itching skin of the red splatters. Reaching for an old water bottle someone had thrown out, he streamed some onto the back of his hand.

Dylan then turned over his hand and with trembling hands, spilt some more into his cupped left hand. He attempted to clean his white t-shirt now splattered with red blotches. His hand quivered, his arm shook, and his head whirled.

Dylan finally gave up and dropped the bottle. By now several tears had escaped his eyes. What he had done had been etched in his mind forever. He had been sober. He had been........sane. It had been his "good day".

He had murdered. The pain in the back of his neck hadn't been there to signal an oncoming headache then darkness only to wake up with a hungover feeling and faint memories of the previous day/night.

The scene replayed in his head over and over. He had been walking through the neighbourhood when he heard a scream and a shout. A crash sounded from a nearby house. Dylan's head exploded in heated pain as a memory zipped from one side of his brain to the other.

The girl, Lily, tied to a chair, her perfect face mapped with streaming blood originating from her forehead. His heart hurt at the thought. Without thinking, Dylan had crashed through the front door.

Dylan rushed up the stairs to where a bedroom door was opened slightly. A small table next to the door held a couple empty glass bottles of beer whisky.

Grabbing a horizontal lying bottle and gripping the slender neck, Dylan pushed open the door. A tall, gruff man had a young girl's hair laced in his fist, he swung her from side to side, shoving her and shouting.

Neither of them seemed to notice Dylan till he had shoved the man back harshly. The drunkard's face was confused and slowed his movements. So when the glass bottle met the side of his head, he was slightly sobered. The girl back up, her hand flying to her mouth.

Dylan backed up a couple steps. He stared through blurred vision at the man. All he saw was a middle-aged male with a sinister smirk. The girl now cowering in the corner of the room was nothing close to Lily. But Dylan's perception was blurred by rage, confusion, and emotion.

Dylan took a step at the man again, this time more aggressively, raising his hand to the man's stomach.

The shattered glass bottle still in his grasp.

One stab wasn't enough for Dylan. He struck the shard of glass once again into the man's stomach, ignoring the scream of the girl.

Once

Twice

Thrice

Four times. And he only stopped when the girl's screams reached past his ears that were blaring with white-hot static. He stumbled back. the blurred vision cleared and Dylan's heart sank. A red-headed man with a clean-shaven chin, collapsed to the floor, clutching his now red abdomen.

Dylan's frantic eyes shifted from his victim to the girl. She was a messed up young blonde with makeup that was applied a bit too much. With a frightened glance at Dylan, the girl rushed out of the room.

Dylan stared at the dying corpse on the dusty, unswept floor. He kept backing up. His hands began to tremble, the bloody shard of glass slipping through his fingers.

Dylan's back finally hit the wall, and he sank to the floor, a strangled scream emitting from his own lips. Dylan shouted out in frustration, fright, and anger.

What had he done?! Covering his eyes with his bloodstained hands, Dylan cried out. His tears fell freely, making his bloodstained hands paint the blood of the man to his face. Dylan grasped his hair, sobbing uncontrollably. How could this have happened? 

He only murdered on his 'bad days'....He had soberly killed an innocent man!

Dylan dropped the water bottle beside him, watching the clear liquid run in rivers across the dirt scattered cement. Was his amnesia worth all this death and chaos? Was his life worth living in this messed up world?

He turned and pressed himself to the wall like a newborn to his mother's womb. Taking out his phone he dialled the only number he remembered. 

Lily's.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Alex sat in her favourite chair at her desk in her study. Her head hurt from too many frappucinos. She had struggled to stay up all night arranging taxes and attempting to pay the bills on time. They were behind on the mortgage and between worrying about Buck hanging with the wrong crowd, Lily undercover in Viper's hands, and Jack's abrupt disappearance, life had been.......not so good. 

"Any luck?" Raphael placed a fresh, steaming cup on his wife's desk and kissed her head, massaging her shoulders. Alex groaned and hung her head. "Not so much, hun." She released her pen and caressed her sore fingers. 

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Raph ran a hand through his dark hair, sweeping a few grey strands to hide in between the darker curls. Alex sighed and managed a soft, tired smile. She rested her hand on her husbands which still rested on her shoulder. She ran her finger over his tough skin and looked up at him. 

"I think I've got it, Raph. Go to bed, I'll be only a couple more minutes." 'Hours.' She thought. There was no way she'd finish this all in one night let alone a couple minutes. "All right, I'll be setting a timer for you." He teased, pecking her lips before heading off to bed. He lay there wondering. 'Would his wife become less stressed? Would his daughter come home safe? Would his son regain his right mind?' 

That night Alex fell asleep at her desk, dreaming the dream that had been haunting her for nights on end. A shadowy figure in the middle of the road. A loud honk that echoed to the darkest realms of her mind.....

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Jack Rodgers sat back on the couch as Mark was in Lily's bedroom looking for anything. clues, leads, hints, whatever you want to call it. He sighed and leaned back his head on the cushion. "I am getting too old for this." He grumbled. Lily was a smart kid. Too smart if you asked Jack. 

"I found something!" Mark shouted triumphantly. "Come see it." Jack groaned. "Bring it here!" He hollered. "I don't want to get up...." He muttered after. "No! It's not something that can just be brought out of a room! Get in here!"