Rebels

Ch. 41

Jack and Lyla both turned the corner, nearly bumping into Arin. As soon as Arin saw it was only Jack and Lyla, he was able to breathe. Jack noticed that Luca was standing behind Arin, but his eyes were glazed over. Lyla stepped towards them both, beginning to panic. "Luca?"

Arin breathed heavily through his nose, still standing in front of Luca. "Lyla, he's a little... He's a little shaken up."

Jack knew something was wrong immediately. Luca had always been the careless one, and he usually took bad situations as something more simple and less than what it really was. The Luca Jack was seeing was not Luca at all. Lyla seemed to know this too. "W-What do you mean?" She asked, not daring to take her eyes off of her brother.

"We can talk about it when we are safe." Arin replied, looking towards Jack for help.

Jack could not help Arin unfortunately. He found that his vision was growing blurry, and no matter how many times he blinked, his vision grew worse. Jack became frustrated, for now Arin was the only one who had not been as injured. Arin cleared his throat. "We have to go. There are still people here who aren't on our side. We'll be safe once we make it back to the house."

Lyla began walking alongside Jack, keeping her eyes ahead instead of behind at her brother. Arin kept an eye on Luca as they went, walking as fast as they could towards the main entrance. The hallways were oddly empty as they went, and Jack thought that it was too quiet. Nevertheless, basically all of them were dying at that very moment, and Jack couldn't see clearly.

They reached the main doors to the palace. Jack was about to push them open when he lost his footing, stumbling to the side. Arin grabbed onto Jack, steadying him. "What's wrong with you?" Arin asked. "Why haven't you talked?"

Jack could not answer Arin. His vision had not gotten any better, and now he was losing his balance. It reminded Jack of how he was poisoned just days before, and he could not talk then. He figured he mine as well have his vocal chords clipped. He tried to communicate with Arin, however, pointing his shaking finger at his arm with no bullet, but where the shot had been injected.

Lyla stepped forward and noted where Jack was pointing. With her heart pounding and Arin still keeping ahold of Jack, she yanked up Jack's sleeve, revealing the small hole and a small amount of blood on his arm. Lyla cursed under her breath, frustrated. "He's been injected with something. We have to go." She turned and pushed open the palace doors, finding four guards who turned to look at them. They all figured that these men were not on their side.

A white van suddenly pulled up in front of the palace. Jack thought it was ironic, but yet again their entire situation was ironic.

Tom jumped out of the van, and headed towards them. He passed the four guards, giving them a curt nod. When he reached them, he spoke quickly. "We have to get in the van now, before people not on our side realize whose side we are on." He spoke quietly.

Something brightened in Luca's eyes. He stepped forward, breathing heavily through his nose. His eyes were set only on Tom. Luca suddenly slammed his fist into Tom's jaw, causing Tom to stumble back.

Lyla hissed at Luca, grabbing his arm. "Luca?"

Just like that, whatever had been in Luca's eyes before was now gone. His eyes glazed over once more, and he took a step back, focusing his attention on the ground.

Tom wiped blood from his jaw, regaining his composure. "I deserved that." He admitted. He turned to the guards around him, who had been aiming their guns at Luca ever since he punched Tom. "It's okay. I'm taking these prisoners to a more secure location." Tom explained. "It's not secure here. The King needs everyone who's at their post with him."

The guards lowered their weapons and hesitantly walked into the palace, supposedly heading towards the King. Tom began walking back to the van, and Lyla led the others towards the vehicle. Lyla swung open the van doors, and crammed herself into the back. Arin opened the passenger door for Luca, who slowly got in. Arin then stepped towards Jack, who was having a hard time with his balance. Arin waited until Jack slowly got in the van, then rounded the other side and got in.

Tom began driving away, at a calm speed so as not to arouse suspicion. He made a quick U-turn so he could avoid as much people as possibly, slowly making his way towards Lyla and Luca's house.

Jack was still unable to see. He had tried to talk multiple times, but all that came out was a weak, mumbled imitation of words. He was growing immensely tired, and with the combination of his pain mixed together, it was not a good combination. His face was aching in multiple places, and he thought he had split his lip. His head had been pounding for a while now, and he could not see out of his left eye. On top of that, he had a bullet in his arm and his chest felt bruised. He couldn't even walk, let alone speak. He understood that Lyla was pretty beat up as well, having been slashed multiple times against her will with a knife. Luca was what scared Jack the most. Jack had never heard of a brain-dead Luca, like the one who sat in the passenger seat. Jack was afraid. Though the King was being taken care of, he couldn't wrap his mind around the simple fact that they were safe. He was still paranoid that a bomb would go off and blow them to pieces, or he would drink poison again, but that the next time, he would die.

Arin cleared his throat, breaking the much-needed silence. "Tom, you may want to pick up the speed."

Tom shook his head no. "We're almost at the house." He glanced at Arin through the car mirror. "You okay?"

Arin nodded, swallowing down his fear. "I just don't know how long I'll hold up before I kill everyone in this van."