GAISCE (At Our Best, Book 3, Part 2 in Baile Series)

Chapter 2 Connected

Isla

I retired to my bed late, flopping down onto the mattress, my eyes closing instantly.

My mind opened and I felt a soft hand reach out to enter my mind, relaying a connection that went deeper than blood. It was fate.

I looked on at my dear sister Eliza, lying motionless in a bed of white sheets and white pillows, her hair vanishing into the white abyss. The sound of her heart monitor flooded my senses, a constant as the scene shifted to that of some sort of lab. A hallway stretched out to the end of the world, rooms upon rooms on either side with padded walls, beds with straps holding children in place.

My heart wrenched at the sight of my beloved, my Riley, thrashing about in a chair he was restrained in, wires looking like a net over his head. His eyes shone gold as a roar worked its way out his throat, a roar of pain and anguish. I felt sick as I watched him being beaten with metal rods in a shower, blood and water swirling down the drain. Needles pierced his skin and rays radiated against his skin, recording and analysing every inch of his being. The steady beeping of Eliza's heart monitor joined sounds of thunder and rain pattering loud against sheets of metal. My fate was calling me, it was chasing me and I feared I couldn't run for the eternity I would be chased.

'Isla!'

Riley's plea woke me from my nightmare and I threw the sheets off me, sweat dripping from my body. I placed a hand against my heart, my heart hurting and my throat swallowing to dispel the rising bile crawling up from my stomach.

I looked to the window to see darkness beyond the curtains. I decided I needed to feel the cool air against my skin as I left my bed behind. I raked my fingers through my dark hair, leaving my over-sized t-shirt and loose fitting shorts on as I made my way outside. I climbed up the side of the house, stepping upon jutting jocks and gripping onto tree limbs as I made my way to the peek of the mountain.

"You're supposed to be keeping watch." My words were anything but scolding as I found Alick with an easel and a paintbrush overlooking the city.

"I am." His voice was slightly muffled by a paintbrush in his mouth, using a palette knife to apply more paint onto the canvas before him.

I took a seat beside him on a large boulder, the cool breeze easing the pervious burning of my skin.

"Do you think Callum will stay?" He removed the paintbrush from his mouth, blending blues and yellows to form a starry sky that was a modern take on Van Gough's masterpiece. Alick did him justice.

"He has no choice." I answered. "He'll die if he leaves." I paused to look out of the city, its lights overshadowing the stars above. "This city is a death trap, as all cities seem to be becoming." Hunters were increasing, coming out of the woodworks bigger and more deadly than the last. Supernatural creatures were not just being abducted from the streets but snatched mere minutes after birth from hospitals worldwide. It was a terrifying possibility that the ratio of humans who knew and didn't know about other creatures was beginning to spike.

"You know we can't save everyone right." He glanced at me.

"I know." I looked down as Puca fluttered down onto my palm, in butterfly form.

"We'll have to leave soon." Alick confirmed my thoughts. "They'll find you here."

"They will find me wherever there are stars." I agreed.

"They won't get you." Alick said confidently. He, along with April both thought I would outrun them. I was beginning to have my doubts. "Don't give me that look." He smirked.