Sacrifice in Blood

Chapter 14: Psychic Connection

I woke up with a start. Everything was blurry. The room was dark but there were flashes of lights burning my eyes, I couldn't make out much of anything. The world was spinning and my whole body screamed in pain.

Am I dead? I wondered. But I soon decided I was neither in Heaven nor Hell, nor Paradise or the Underworld. The Summerlands would not hurt this much and surely I had not done so much evil to warrant being damned to the Underworld.

"Rise and shine, sweetheart" came a gravelly voice, startling me from my internal debate.

I tried to sit up but cried out in pain from the movement. My arm, the one that Lance had broken, was in a sling and it screamed in pain. No plaster available in the middle of the forest, Miriam or Zach had made a make-shift splint.

"You shouldn't try to move" came the voice again.

Was I hallucinating or did that voice sound familiar? My heart was beating fast as I called out; "Talon?"

I groaned as I waited for the dizziness and pain to fade, not daring to open my eyes again for fear of throwing up.

"Yeah it's me," he replied. I let out a sigh of relief. It was strange but I felt better...safer with Talon.

"I thought you were dead!" I exclaimed, not daring to move for fear of more pain.

"I am." He replied.

Smartass. I was about to make a sarcastic comment to match but he spoke first:

"It takes a lot more than snapping our necks to kill us" he added darkly.

"What happened?" I asked, still keeping my eyes closed, waiting for the dizziness to subside. "I thought Lance was going to kill me."

"He would have if Matthias and others hadn't shown up. I guess Severus hadn't counted on you pissing one of us off so much that we'd actually kill you." He paused. "They must have heard you screaming and came to see what was happening."

"Oh" was all I could manage. "He used venom didn't he?" I asked, although I was sure I already knew the answer.

"Yes. A shit ton of it."

"Fun times" I replied sarcastically.

"The humans did a blood transfusion." I gasped as his words registered and I tried to move my arms to realise I had a drip in my left. I felt queasy.

"You smell weird." Talon noted.

"I can still faintly feel it burning in my veins"

"I'd offer to suck it out for you but I think you've lost enough blood already,'' Talon joked. I could hear the smirk in his voice, though it wasn't as pronounced as usual. He sounded exhausted.

"Yeah, I'm going to have to graciously refuse your offer." I mumbled. He laughed slightly in return.

"How long have I been unconscious?" I asked, trying to calculate in my head but failing.

"A couple days...give or take" Talon replied, distractedly.

"Oh I missed Christmas then..." I followed the Pagan Wheel of the Year but still celebrated Christmas with my family normally anyway. What a crappy Christmas!

My parents would be wondering where I was, I suddenly realised. They would have tried to call on Christmas Day for sure. What would they be thinking? What would everyone be thinking? Were the police looking for me?

Stop it, there's nothing you can do at the moment. You'll have to worry about that later, my inner voice consoled.

I decided to try opening my eyes. The world still remained a bit blurry and I still felt dizzy but I managed to make out the room around me. I was in one of those hospital-like beds in the infirmary. But it was a smaller room and much darker. The only light was from the flames of small candles scattered around.