Sanctuary

Chapter Fifteen

Jake screamed as he felt something in his leg snap. As his scream died down into coughing, it felt as though fire was burning his throat and lungs from the inside. Judging from the white hot knives of pain stabbing into his chest, his ribs were most definitely broken. Vaguely, he heard the clattering of a baseball bat being tossed somewhere. By now it was red with his blood. All he could do was hang limply against the wall, held up against the cold bricks by two of the larger cronies. His face was bruised and he was certain that his nose was broken. Everything hurt, absolutely everything. Fractures, breaks, internal bleeding, and significant external bleeding were all more than probable. They had been ruthless, beating him for hours. Mike had ensured that he would pay for the crotch kick.

He didn't bother trying to stop his fall as Mike motioned for his goons to release him. Not that he could actually move his arms. So he just crumpled to the ground, gritting his teeth as pain flared anew. Breath only came in short gasps, not enough reaching his desperate lungs. All he could do was groan weakly when Mike kicked him in his ribs, cracking a few more of them.

"Fucking faggot. Wherever the hell you went, you should have stayed there. No one fucking missed you. No one looked or even fucking cared. I don't get why you haven't killed yourself yet." The monster in human skin knelt down beside the prone Jake, who curled up as much as he could. "No one would care if you died, right here in this alley. You're a disgusting fag that should have killed himself years ago."

Biting his lip, Jake was grateful that his matted and bloody hair had fallen over his face to hide the tears. It was like he was back in high school, the old taunts and insults digging under the skin like thumbtacks, words hitting him and resonating through his bleeding heart. More scars for his riddled soul. Maybe he was right. No one would care. Daegel would-

The thought made his body tense. Daegel... he didn't want to imagine what the vampire would do if Jake died. All too vividly, he remembered all those months ago, waking up after his last suicide attempt. Daegel had looked miserable, as though Jake had torn out his heart and sold his soul to the devil. He remembered everything after that; their first time lovemaking, the words of love and affection, the love in Daegel's eyes every time he looked at him...

Jake shifted through the pain, filled with a strength he didn't know he had. Though his vision swam and his body screamed to lie back down, he pushed himself up, glaring at the surprised Mike. "...Go... FUCK yourself... you WORTHLESS... son of... a BITCH."

When Mike grabbed him and punched him in the mouth, Jake didn't cry out, only spat blood in his face. Mike threw him to the ground, and Jake winced as he hit the cement hard. His vision swam and everything started to go black. Desperately, he struggled to hold on, for Daegel. From far away he could hear Mike screaming, and though he wasn't sure of the cause, Jake feared for his life. Maybe they were angry he was dying too quickly, before they were finished kicking the shit out of him. If he was being honest with himself, this was probably the end. That's some ironic shit, ending right back in the place he ran from.

Then other voices, the followers, started screaming too. Jake started hearing strange sounds, like ripping and screams of pain and utter terror, though they were muffled, like hearing it from underwater. A pool of someone else's blood formed by his head, making him flinch away, wincing as his body exploded with pain and his vision went dark. The last thought he had before losing consciousness was that he hoped the others wouldn't be too upset with him.

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Punching a nearby wall, Daegel let out a shout of frustration. "I can't get his scent! I've lost it!"

Scrunching up his nose, Raven sneezed. "Something's blocking his scent." Warily, he looked around, grimacing as he noticed a shop nestled in between two buildings. "It's coming from over there."