Salvation : Book 3

CHAPTER 12 : Hold On For Your Life

"Adrian," I whispered into the dark cell. Adrian, who was curled up in the left corner shifted, moving from his back to his side until he was facing me. His eyes slowly drew open as he searched for the source of the voice. His eyes landed on me. 

    "Mar-cus?" He croaked out as he managed to sit up. 

   "Yes, it's me," I told him as I nodded.

   "What are you doing here?" He winced as he forced his body to rise. He was still in pain and I wished I could do something to alleviate that pain, but I couldn't. I didn't have enough power left in me to do anything; I'd used up most of what I could summer up to get down here. 

     It hadn't been easy, I'd been almost caught at least three times, but I was dead set on getting down here. I had to see him, I was worried about him. How could I not be? He'd already been hurt enough and I hated that I was powerless to break these bars and set him free. He didn't deserve to be locked up. He didn't deserve to be here. 

     "I needed to see you," I answered him. He limped closer to me, his hands finding mine. I had my fingers wrapped around the bars, he placed his around mine. 

     "Are you okay?" He asked, and I gave him a small smile. 

     "Yeah, and you?" He looked away, his eyes drifting to his arm where three new cuts laid. Three cuts that hadn't been there the last time I'd seen him. I grimaced, "Did he do this to you?" I asked but I already knew the answer. 

       "It doesn't matter, I'm okay. I'm still alive," he told me, as he tried to force out a reassuring smile. It didn't work, my stomach churned as I imagined Ashon taking a blade to Adrian's arm. It made my blood boil. I wanted him dead. I didn't care how he tried to justify his actions. 

      He tried to say everything, all the bad he'd done was because he was trying to save his brother but it went beyond that. He wanted to hurt people, he liked it. It was despicable, more so when he tried to make it seem like he had no other choice. 

      Both Ashon and Geun tried to explain away their malice, by saying it was in the name of their brother. They saw themselves as the heroes. And maybe in the beginning they had been heroes. Their cause was noble but what they had turned into to carry it out made them the villains. Their actions spoke louder than their intentions. They had spilt too much blood to ever justify their mission. 

      "I'm so sorry Adrian," I told him, my forehead pressing against the steal bars. He reached between the bars, cupping my chin as he drew my focus back to him. His forest green eyes met my grey ones and for a second we held each other's gazes, letting the world around us fade away. For a second we were us again. Two boys walking through the woods in the middle of the night, laying beneath the stars promising our hearts to each other. For a second, we were not the hostages of two demented brothers who relished watching us suffer. For a second the bars dissipated and I was in his arms again.

      But it was just a second, a second that passed by faster than it came. The bars returned—a barrier keeping me from him. My heart ached, as I closed my eyes tightly fighting to keep my composure. I wanted to be strong for him, be his knight for once. He'd been my savior, my shoulder to cry on, the arms holding me together and the hands piecing my heart back together. He'd been there for me, and I wanted to be there for him, but it was harder than he'd made it seem. 

       I didn't know how to save him. I didn't know how to be strong; but he did. Despite everything he still managed to show me he could be strong. I admired that about him. 

       He smiled, his eyes glistening as a tear trailed down my cheek, "Don't be sorry," Adrian said, as he wiped away the tear with his thumb. "Really, Mark, I'm fine. You here with me and that's all I need right now. This isn't exactly the ideal setting but I thought I'd never see you again. I missed you so much," he told me, his hand squeezing mine lightly.