Chapter 16:

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     My hands stretched out next to me as I emerged from sleep. All I felt was the coolness of the empty space next to me.

     I was wide awake now as I searched the room for Paul. He wasn't there, though.

     He wasn't at role call, and I began to get worried. I also went to his room, but he wasn't there either. Surely he wouldn't have gone to work, especially with his injuries.

     I went on with work, but my mind was elsewhere. All I could think about was whether Paul was safe or not.

     Did the watchers find out about him? What will they do if they figure out he's injured and can't work? I knew the answer to that, but I didn't want to accept it.

     The dismissal alarm sounded. I shot out of the room and started towards the fields. I was almost at the gate when I collided into someone.

     I stumbled back and looked up to see a pair of soft brown eyes.

     "Col," I mumbled, breathlessly.

     He arched an eyebrow at me.

     "Collins? What are you doing here?"

     I ignored his question, glancing at the open door. Some of the workers were beginning to leave.

     "Umm... I- I have to go," I stuttered out.

     Before Col could say anything else, I was already running through the gates. I dashed through the fields and through the corn fields.

     Not a single face belonged to Paul's. I called out his name several times, but there was no answer.

     I finally heard a faint cry of pain. I followed the noise and found Paul propped against a corn stalk.

     A little boy with red hair and freckles was sitting beside him. His big green eyes widened when they saw me.

     Paul looked at me and then back at the boy.

     "It's alright, Billy. She's a friend of mine," he said. "You can go inside."

     Billy's eyes wavered on me. He seemed to be debating whether or not he should leave. With a nod, Billy finally stood and ran inside.

     My eyes landed on Paul's leg. Blood was soaking through the bandages I had put on it last night.

     I sighed and knelt down to help him up. "What am I going to do with you?" I teased.

     He gave me a pained smile. "I don't know," he mumbled.

     I had finally managed to prop most of Paul's body weight on me, keeping some of it off his bad leg. I kept him balanced as he limped while we walked towards the gate.

     "You weren't suppose to go to work. I was going to talk to someone about letting you stay in bed today," I said.

     He looked down at me. "You know as well as I do that they wouldn't let that happen."

     I kept silent as we continued to walk towards the gate. Paul suddenly stopped, pulling me to a stop.

     The next thing I knew, he threw his arms around me. His arms were wrapped around my waist, and his chin rested on top of my head.

     I slowly wrapped my arms around his waist.

     "Why?" I whispered.

     Paul didn't pull away from me. His arms tightened around my waist. With a heavy sigh, he finally pulled away.

     His eyes held mine as he shrugged. "Don't worry about it." His lips pulled into a smile.

     "Airlia, I wanted to thank you for being there for me."

     I smiled up at him. "I'm always going to be here for you. Come on, let's get you inside."

     I tugged on his hand, but he didn't move. Instead, he placed his hand on my cheek before his soft lips pressed against my forehead.

     "Gosh, Airlia. I'm going to miss you," he whispered.

     What? My lips parted in confusion. I wasn't even sure I heard him correctly.

     "Paul..."

     My words were cut off when I heard a voice from behind me. "Aww... how sweet. Now step away from the girl, creature."

     I turned around to see Adam approaching us. He had three other watchers with him.

     My arms tightened around Paul. This made Adam frown at me. I still didn't release him.

     "You know my deal," Adam mumbled.

     I looked up at Paul with wide eyes. "What?"

     Adam let out a dark chuckle. "I don't make deals with someone like you," he growled.

     Paul's eyes shifted down to me. "Airlia, run," he whispered to me.

     With that, Paul released me before a blinding light shot out from his palm.

     My eyes widened as I stumbled to the ground. I couldn't look away from Paul as the light slowly began to fade.

     "Run!" I heard him scream.

     I shook my head. I couldn't leave him. Even though I didn't know what was happening, I had to protect him.

     As I started to crawl towards him, a pair of cold hands yanked me up against them. I turned and saw Adam. He shoved me into a watcher's arms.

     "Take her to my quarters," he growled.

     The watcher threw me over his shoulder. I threw punches at his back and kicked his torso as hard as I could.

     "Paul!"

     I fought to escape the watcher's hold, but it was to no avail. I looked up to see that the light had completely faded from Paul.

     He was holding off two watchers, but he was growing weaker by the moment. He finally managed to overpower the two watchers.

     His eyes met mine. Paul took a step towards me. The next thing I knew, he let out a gasp as a blade protruded from his chest.

     "No!" I cried.

     I was now crazed as I tried to get to him. My anger was directed at Adam, who smirked at me as he yanked the blade from Paul's chest.

     That was the last thing I saw before the gates closed behind the watcher and me.

     The watcher set me down for only a moment. That was the worse mistake he could ever make.

     I lunged at him, tackling him to the ground. My nails dug into his face before I landed hits. I tried to reach for his weapon, but he threw me off.

     He was on top of me now. The watcher landed a blow to my cheek. I tasted blood but ignored it as I fought against him.

     That was when he grabbed a fist-full of my hair and slammed my head against the floor.

     I let out a cry as my head collided with the floor. I felt something warm on the back of my head. When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry.

     "Don't you touch her!" I heard someone growl.

     The watcher was tossed off of me. I heard grunts as the watcher and person struggled.

     My eyes were becoming heavy, and dark spots were clouding my vision.

     "Airlia..."

     That was the last thing I remembered before I blacked out.

     

    
    

    

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