Rebels

Ch. 42

Tom drove the big, white van behind Luca and Lyla's home. Before the vehicle even came to a stop, Jack flew the van door open, stumbling out of the car. As soon as the night air hit his lungs, bile slid up his throat. Jack poured out all he had left in him out into the night, his legs growing weak. When the bile ceased to come, he slid down against the van, both mentally and physically exhausted. He noticed his vision was more clear, and figured that he had gotten rid of most of whatever was in his system when he had vomited. However, his legs felt unimaginably weak, and he wouldn't care if he had fallen asleep right there, against that white van.

Lyla jumped out of the van, wincing in pain. She found Jack in his helpless state, and decided after careful thought to sit down next to him. She did so slowly, so as to not open her wounds any further.

Jack sniffed, his eyelids heavy. "You need to take care of your wounds, Lyla." Jack said, though his voice did not belong to him.

Lyla sighed. "These will only be scars."

Jack scoffed. "You were shaking, Lyla, when I found you. They cut you up with a knife. You're bleeding from all over your body."

Lyla only shrugged. "It hurts. It hurts a lot." She said quietly. "But, there are people who have suffered more than me. Luca is... I don't even know what's wrong with him. You were injected with a drug and you have a bullet in your arm, not to mention you were beat up by Arin. You were also poisoned, Jack. I'm not even going to start with Arin." She chuckled, though it was full of sadness. "Tom, who I thought was an enemy, has a bullet in his shoulder and he still managed to drive us all home. So, please, do not talk about me as if I've had it worse."

"I know." Jack sighed. "Are you okay?"

Lyla knew that Jack was not asking physically about how she was. She inhaled a shaky breath, knowing that she had to answer this question sooner or later. "To be honest, I can't take it all in. I thought that the King would be much harder to kill. I thought we were going to die. You know," she said, looking at her house. The others had already gone in, and the night was getting cooler by the second. "When that bomb went off at the other place we were staying at, I was afraid. I saw you unconscious. I-I thought you were dead. I couldn't find Luca, and then those guards came..." Her voice trailed off as she remembered what had happened to them.

"It's okay." Jack said, his eyelids growing heavy against his will. "We're safe now. We can't get hurt anymore. Luca's safe. I'm safe. You're safe, Lyla."

Lyla did not respond to Jack. She was still trying to understand what had just happened to her. She did not know how long it had been since their smaller home had been destroyed, and the unknown made her afraid.

Jack stood so abruptly that Lyla hadn't even known what was happening. Lyla stood with him, careful not to step in the muck that Jack had left on the ground. "Jack?"

He began walking towards the house, and Lyla noticed that his balance still wasn't normal. He was walking with a slight limp as well, and Lyla assumed this was due to his injuries. "I have to get in the house before I fall asleep." He explained quickly, entering through the back door. Lyla followed behind him, closing the door as she went.

Jack took in the scene before him. Lying on the bed was Tom, who appeared to be already asleep. Luca was in the other room, and Arin was pacing back and forth in front of the couch. Jack approached him, feeling more exhausted than afraid now. "Arin, what are you pacing for?"

He stopped, peering at Jack. Arin had unrealistic dark circles beneath his eyes, and he was pale. "I'm going to blackout soon. I-I can't take it anymore. I don't mean to be dramatic, but Jack, look at me." He said, his eyes bloodshot. "I physically cannot do this anymore. I can't think straight. I'm tired beyond belief and I hurt. I hurt everywhere. My body can't keep up with this. I'm starving and I can never do anything about it because I'm always going to snap and kill somebody!" His voice continued to gradually get louder as he spoke.

Jack sighed heavily, not liking how Arin's voice was so loud. "As your friend, I can promise you that you will get better."

Arin scoffed. "But what if I don't? What if this is all that there is?"

Jack did not know how to respond to him. He instinctively looked to Lyla for help. She shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Arin, Jack is right. You will get better. This is not all that there is to it." She took a step toward him, and he snapped his head toward her, seeming on edge about every single small movement. Lyla continued, "Look around. We did it. We are safe. That mark on your head doesn't mean anything. You aren't the King's pet. The King is dead. As far as I can tell, you're getting better, whether you realize it or not. You can do this. You're the strongest guy I know. If you can't pull through, then none of us will."

Arin searched her eyes for a few more moments, seeming to wonder if she was truly telling the truth or not. Finally, he sighed, heading towards the front door.

Jack stepped toward him, grabbing onto his arm to prevent him from leaving. "Where are you going?"

Arin was breathing heavily now, his hand on the doorknob. He turned to look at Jack. "The church. I'll be back in the morning. I'm going to blackout sooner or later, and I don't think you want me here when that happens."

Jack hesitantly gave a small nod to him and let Arin go. He opened the door and stepped through into the night, closing the door behind him as he went.

Jack was too exhausted to stress out about Arin. He turned, his eyes landing on the couch. Jack threw himself onto it, his eyelids already closed.

Lyla sighed, walking back into the other room where Luca lie on the bed. He seemed asleep, so Lyla headed back out of the room.

"I'm sorry." Luca said so abruptly that Lyla jumped.

Lyla turned back towards her brother, who was now staring with groggy eyes at Lyla. "I should have seen it, but I didn't. Mom and Dad were always so rude to you, and as your big brother, I should have been there for you, but I wasn't."

Lyla did not know what to say. She did not understand why Luca would bring up their past, and she hadn't expected him to apologize. "I-It wasn't your fault."

Luca squeezed his eyes shut, frustrated. "I should have been there for you. I'm sorry, Lyla."

Lyla now had to fight back her tears. She felt sympathy for her brother, and she was secretly grateful to hear this from him, even though it took too long for Luca to do so. She knew it wasn't his fault that their parents never had respect for Lyla. "It's okay." She managed to say.

Luca took a ragged breath in. Lyla could not tell if this was due to his pain or sadness. "Want to know what those guards did to me?" Luca asked, staring at the ceiling. "I'll tell you what they did to me. They dragged me into that palace. They took me to a room down an empty hallway, so no one would hear what was going on. They laid me on that table and tied me down. They knew about my alcoholic past, Lyla." He looked at his sister with sadness and fear in his eyes. "They had been planning this for a while. They reached into a cabinet and pulled out multiple bottles of liquor. They..." His voice trailed off as he got lost in his words. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. "They forced that liquid down my throat until I got so drunk I couldn't stay awake. When I would wake, they'd force more down. That's what they did to me." Luca sighed, his eyes moving over to his sister. "What did they do to you?"