Don't Let Go (Third Book to the Other Side)

Chapter Nineteen (The Lost Warrior)

His eyes glared down at me, those gray, lifeless eyes. I reached for my dagger before I knew where my hand had trailed down to and brandished it. It was the only thing keeping the two of us apart. His eyes flicked down to the dagger and then back to me, almost questioningly. His mouth fell open, and although he was talking, I couldn't make out what he was saying. His words were so distant, so foreign. And they would have been drowned out by the constant, deep rumbling of thunder anyway.

I didn't dare take my eyes off of him, even though he had long dropped his scythe. The knife was strangely warm in my grip, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flash of black, tar-like blood racing down its blade. Every last part of me, even the deepest valley in my mind, hungered to slash his throat with the weapon, as violent a need as it was. It was an instinct as basic as fear. I had to see him suffer for what he had done to me. To everything I loved. And I had to protect everything else I cared about from him. He was the thing standing in my way from safety, from peace. He was the monster looming in the shadows, teeth bared and claws sharpened. He was the exact thing I had to destroy.

The worst part of it was that he seemed to know it, too.

But he made no move to run, no move to hide. He didn't fight what was inevitable. He slid his hands behind his head and closed those two gray eyes, so I didn't have to look into them as I caused his blood to stain the coarse rock below our feet. But even still, I could hear his low begging, whispered just underneath his breath as though it was meant only for him. And it was impossible to miss the bloodcurdling scream that shortly followed.

~•~

I woke up with a scream on my lips and with sweat dripping down my face. I pressed a hand to my head, my eyes trying to adjust to the blanket of darkness that had fallen over me. Instead of sitting there like I longed to do, giving myself enough time to reorient the world around me, I slowly hefted myself from the bed and pulled back the curtains. The light of the moon barely flickered behind the dark clouds, and I swallowed as a flash of lightning lit the sky. I briefly wondered if this was Thomas's doing.

"Alex?" murmured a soft voice from the door. I turned, not even the least bit surprised by the figure that stood, barely more than an outline in the doorway.

"Hey, Philip," I said, returning to the bed and offering him an inviting hand. Temporarily forcing away the tears that had risen to my eyes, I smiled as warmly as I could. I'd be allowed to break down later; for now, I had to be strong. "You doing alright?"

He shook his head and joined me, tucking his body against mine. I massaged his back lightly, bringing him closer. I could be strong for Philip. Really, he was the only thing that was keeping me together. His head was pressed close to my chest, and I lowered my chin so it was resting on top of it. "Jeez," I muttered, reaching for the last shreds of light that had begun to disappear day by day. "Who said you could get so tall?"

He laughed wetly, and although it didn't fully disguise the pain and fear lurking underneath, I knew it was somehow still genuine. "I'm a real boy, now."

"As opposed to?"

I felt him relax, but I didn't stop tracing circles into his back. "You want to talk about it?" I asked.

"Yeah. Do you mind?"

"Of course not."

And so he told me. It was another horrible story of the creature that lurked in the darkest clouds, waiting for the lightning to seize its prey. He told me all about those haunting gray eyes that followed us everywhere, about hysterical words it had yet to say but weren't beyond the realm of possibility. He said how it could feel him prying against his mind, trying to slither into the last pieces of happiness and tear them apart from the inside. He was on the verge of tears, but I held him, and I told him everything would be alright. A promise I had no way of being able to keep, but a promise I made nonetheless.