Book 1: Shattered Harmony

Chapter 27: Hold on...

!TRIGGER WARNING!: Their is torture in this chapter!

Drive

Chapter 27

Hold on

Danny felt her heart clamp shut. What happened to Zareth, why was he chasing. His eyes were bright red, what happened? Tears ran down her face. At least as an android she didn't need to stop and rest a lot. She ran into the forest. Her feet slapped the ground kicking up mud from last nights rains. She could hear Zareth pushing his way through the trees.

"At least being small has its advantages." She said and hid behind a tree. She hoped the black jacket she wore helped her hide.

"Danny..." He scanned the area and smiled picking up a large stick and hit the side of the tree. Danny gasped as it hit the side of her shoulder and her face. She hit the ground and rolled from the force. The splinters of the piece of wood hit the ground hard. She lay there for only a second. She could taste the oils in her mouth from the wound it left behind. She rolled away from his grasping hands. She got back up and kept running.

"Danny you can't run forever!" He yelled. Danny yelled over her shoulder.

"What happened to you Zareth? Why are you acting like this?" She asked. It began to rain again. Hopefully this helped, she jumped behind a tree. Zareth sailed around her and pinned her to a tree. His hands around her neck. Danny gasped grabbing at his hands. In her mind she always told herself if Zareth was the one to kill her she'd be alright with it. She wouldn't even blame him for it. But in her heart she knew this wasn't him. She reached up trailing her fingers over his face. How she had grown to love the person in front of her. Her brother was always so kind to her. What had she done to deserve this hatred from him.

"Your mistake was thinking Zarth actually wanted you around. He never wanted you, he just saw a child." Sad thing was Danny wanted to believe him. She always felt like she lived on borrowed time with both Zareth and Dareth. She felt the tears running down her face. But no...she wanted to hear it from them. Her eyes opened up again and she kicked out. Zareth made a strange noise as Dannys foot connected with his balls.

"You know I always wondered if those balls were metal...I guess not." Danny yelled over her shoulder laughing. She looked over her shoulder at the anger on Zareths face. Danny gasped and kept running. It scared her, he scared her. What could she do to stop him? She had no weapons they were within the ship. Did the ninja know they were alive? She wished she had her phone it was also on the ship and she was sure Zareths was sitting next to hers on the charger. She was on her own.

"Danny get back here!"

"Why so you can kill me?!" She called out and gasped being broadsided by a punch. Dannys feet were pushed to the side missing a foot hold. She hit a tree and spun hitting the ground. She rolled onto her back looking up at Zareth, his optics flashed red again and he smiled down at her. She felt dizzy from hitting the tree. She was sure something was broke, She could feel it.

"Dammit...I just fixed that." She mumbled getting up. She groaned getting up. She felt oil bleed from the busted lip and bleeding nose. Zareth squared off his fists in a fighting stance. Danny did the same. At least she had been taught self defense over the past year. She however wasn't as good or as fast as Zareth was. He threw a punch and she barely blocked it. It made her arm sting.

"Zareth we can talk about this. Please." Dannys heart was breaking she didn't want to see him like this. It hurt to much. His next punch was faster he hit her right in the ribs. She backed up from the force. It was the same spot the during the wreck, and then the tree. She needed to shield that spot from now on. She put her arm in front of it. Zareth smiled and took a few more shots at her in quick succession. Danny luckily dodged all but one. Her arm hung lifeless at her side.

"Zareth please..." She backed up away from him. Her best friend, her hero, her brother struck her in the chest again. This time their was an audible crunch. Danny fell to her back. She looked up at Zareth he glared down at her.

"I got you now." His smile wasn't that kind egotistical smile she had grown to know so well. It was almost sinister, dark and loathing. The smile that haunted her dreams for the last month. She took a deep breath and reached up to touch his face again. How she would miss it.

"Just die..." He punched her face. "I hate you!" He yelled picking up a large rock and raising it over his head.

"But Zareth...I love you." Her eyes stayed closed she didn't want to watch her end coming. "Brother..." She breathed out.

She however never felt the rock fall. She opened her eyes squinting through the rain. His optics were blue again, he was looking at his hands, and then back down at Danny. He looked so lost and confused.

"Danny...Wha...What happened? Why am I covered in oil and..." He saw the look of her face and the blood still oozing from wounds. He reached down to touch her face but she cringed and her eyes squeezed shut.

"Danny look at me..." he ran his thumb over her face. "Why won't you look at me Dannygirl." This was the first time that nickname ever made Danny start crying. She kept her eyes shut. She didn't want to see those red eyes again, the hatred. It made her heart hurt so much. "Danny...why won't you look at me?"

"You did it..." She cringed feeling his hand on her face again. "You hurt me, your eye went all red, and the..." She felt Zareth pick her up and hold her. It hurt, a lot. She pushed his hand off her ribs. "It hurts..." She rested her head against his chest. Weather she wanted to do it or not, she just couldn't get enough air into her artificial lungs. She was wheezing.

"Danny open your mouth." Zareth instructed. Danny just shook her head turning away from him. She gasped having put pressure on her ribs and cried out in pain. "Your ribs..." He said picking her up and carried her back toward the mansion. "Hold on Danny please...hold on. Danny took the chance. She looked up at Zareths face. His eyes were that cool blue, and the hatred had turned to concern for her.

"What...happened?" She wheezed out.

"I don't know, I don't really remember a lot. They caught me last night and did something to me. I don't know how I broke free, but I'm glad I did. Its not...fun being controlled like that...especially when you have your own sister pinned to the muddy ground." He said he placed her on the ground in the bathroom. It had the most lights and the mirrors helped cascade them. He pulled off her shirt and looked at her side. The wound was green and pink. A break. He had broken her ribs.

"Danny...They will pay for making me do this to you. I promise." He pressed his forehead to hers. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." When Danny opened her yes she could see the pained look, the tears, the apology on his lips. She wanted so much to console him, but her eyes fluttered closed on their own accord.

Danny felt so warm, even the room smelled nice, she looked up to see lavender flowers in a vase not to far away from her. She was back in that bed again. But one big difference. She felt someone's arms around her. She turned to see Zareth his eyes were closed and he was breathing evenly. But their were bags under his eyes. He hadn't slept much at all. She moved lightly trying not to wake up, but he shot up and looked around. He was scared, he had a threatening look on his face as if ready to defend her. She wondered just what happened at night here that made him think that way. His threatening pose disappeared when he felt a tender hand on his chest. He looked down seeing his sisters eyes staring at him.

"Shhh please don't move. You have broken ribs. Three of them. Luckily they didn't puncture your lungs, but I did have to go in and wire them together to insure it didn't happen." He told her.

"You...did surgery on me?" Danny asked. Her mind didn't want to think. She just really wanted to sleep. But she also had to pee really bad.

"Y...Yeah um...its not that hard on an android when you have Zanes mind. He knows what he's doing." Zareth said He yawned and curled in on Danny.

"Theirs a problem..." She said. Zareth nearly shot up out of bed. "I gotta pee..." She told him. Zareth turned a few shades of purple.

"Oh..."