Shadow Moses [Fransykes]

Chapter 35

A/N: For those who don't know yet, there's a new fransykes in plaining and just a quick update: It will be called 'It Was Written In Blood' and I've already written the prolog. It's nothing special bc I suck at those lmao but yeah... It's just a short part to establish the vibe of the story and I will probably post it soon so yeah, just notifying you guys lmao ✌🏾

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Pain flowed around my head, amassing above my eyebrows and spreading its wings of heat to my pulsating temples. My shoulders ached, my wrists burned - as well as my ankles. 

I was tied - my hands behind my back and my legs one to another.

My messy hair covered my forehead as cold moisture caressed my cheeks. My head stood buried in the soil. A salty sensation rolled over my tongue and I coughed, spitting out dirt. 

My breathing was shallow, my heartbeat still up.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in darkness, one I could see through though. The sky was still dark but the deep blue of it diluting.

Heavy breaths came from beside me in an uneven rhythm, cutting the silence.  

My muscles tensed.

"What's... happening?" Kellin's voice was dry, almost unrecognizable as he spoke between long inhales. "Why are they all... there... and we here?" 

I turned in the soil, looking at him.

He lied on his stretcher next to me. Thick lines of sweat slid down his forehead, over his face and down to his neck. His face was red, flushed. He looked like he had a fever.

My mouth went dry. "You don't look alright."

He chuckled. 

There was nothing cheerful in his voice though. It was a rough, raspy chuckle. One that sounded like his throat was sore, as if someone rubbed paper against paper. I wondered when was the last time he drank some water. 

"It's because I'm not," he said.

My eyebrows furrowed. "Emma said you were getting better."

"It's because she doesn't know about this."He raised his shirt.

The once sewed up wound on his flesh was now open, looking even worse than before. The entire lower part of his stomach was swollen and the skin lining the reddish wound leaking yellow, was now turning black.  

His wound was infected.

The hair on the back of my neck stood straight. I gnashed my teeth in disgust.

"It's alright... if it grosses you out," he said, "it is fucking disgusting."

"Why didn't you tell Emma?"

"I think she kinda knows," he said, "I've been throwing up all day. She gave me something to calm my stomach, but it only worked as a painkiller."

"You need to tell her," I said, "she can help you."

He shook his head. 

"Tell me," he said, "what's happening? Why are you tied?"

His words were like a needle stinging my back. They sparked a flow of images I wished could only be bad dreams occupying my mind and reminding me of the cruel world I lived in. 

Tension flooded my muscles, so much of it, it seemed they could snap.

"Fuck," I swore.

"Josh?" Kellin asked.