Phew, here it is, thanks so much for all the encouragment. Word of warning though, updates will not be quite so quick, still quick hopefully, maybe day after tomorrow? I'm not sure.
Sorry if this seems a little rushed, but, umm...it was :D
Mistakes are mine but nothing else. Enjoy :D
Chapter 3 – Running
Nikola ran as fast as he could, but he still felt as if he was being too slow. He had no idea where he was heading, except that the general direction was further south. Wherever he was going, the journey was taking him too long: Helen had been missing now for...? Two days? Three days? Less? More? He remembered now it hadn't actually been specified, and he'd been too wound up to ask. That had been a mistake. Although three days without water would mean she was dead, it was the blood loss he was most worried about: if she'd lost too much...
But Nikola wasn't going to think about that, especially as Helen had a rather good track record of beating the odds and staying alive.
The scent was getting stronger: Nikola's nostrils flared.
"Dammit." He could feel himself starting to lose control; the smell of blood overwhelming his senses, causing his brain to go into overdrive. All those carefully built safeguards and defences against exactly this being stripped away, because oh god it smelt so good-
He entered a clearing, stopped and stared; all thoughts of blood suddenly draining from his mind. The smell was still there - more poweful than ever in fact, but Nikola didn't care anymore, not when-
"Oh god, no..."
Despite his earlier hurry, he couldn't bring himself to run; instead he walked slowly over, feet making little sound on the ground, fangs retracting, nails shortening, eyes clearing.
"Helen?" he asked quietly, his voice barely audible to his own ears over the rustling of the trees, and the sounds of the night. There was no reply, but he thought he saw her move slightly. Nikola hoped it hadn't been the wind.
She was lying in the middle of the small clearing; almost as if she'd chosen that spot particularly and had just lay down to admire the night sky. Who knew, maybe she had. She was lying straight, relaxed-looking, feet slightly apart, arms loosely by her sides, face up: there were no drag marks though, so maybe it had been out of her own free will, though why Helen would lie down in such an obvious place if she was in danger Nikola couldn't fathom.
Unless she knew she needed to be found; she knew she was dying...
What if it was just him and John now?
He shuddered.
Nikola immediately tossed that thought away, angry for even having it in the first place: Helen wasn't dead, and she wasn't dying – she wouldn't dare leave him alone with Druitt. He approached her feet, pausing just parallel to the right and closed his eyes; just listening.
Soon he heard it, that beautiful sound, the rhythm of life itself: breathing. Helen's heartbeat. Everything was alright now; Helen wasn't dead; but even though he was certain, he couldn't bring himself to look, just in case. It was stupid, he knew it; he was wasting time that it was quite possible she didn't have, just because he was scared: a coward. Everyone would be so disappointed.
Instead he turned his gaze skywards. Orion, Taurus, Gemini...Castor and Pollux...
"Polly..." The words came back to him.
"Helen, if I could, like Pollux did for Castor, I would share my immortality with you."
He wasn't going to lose Helen now, not after everything they'd gone through.
He looked down.
He felt the blood rush from his face, all his previous relief fleeing at the sight of her bloodied body, and now he could hear that her breathing – far from being the steady sound of life – was actually the laboured, sporadic sound of pain and struggle.
He stepped forward again so he was level with her knees to better assess her injuries. Her eyes were open, staring, but unfocussed; coupled with the alarming amount of blood from what had to be a painful head wound she obviously had a serious concussion. Most of her showing skin was pale and bruised, except for her right arm which had three long, bright red scratches trailing down it, and a patch of trouser had been torn away from her lower left thigh revealing more of the same claw marks. There was more blood on her shirt, but from the angle and the pattern (and the lack of injury) Nikola was able to ascertain that it was merely from where she'd clutched her right arm to the chest. A quick further study left him satisfied that her arm and leg were both superficial wounds, and it was only her head that he had to worry about.
And worry he would.
"Helen?" he stepped closer, level with her hips and leant over into her line of sight, absently noting that he was casting a shadow over her, blocking out the starlight.
For a second he could've sworn she met his gaze; their piercing blue locked on his.
Her eyes closed slowly, almost as if she was sorry to do so, but they closed nonetheless, and they didn't open again.
"Helen?" Nikola whispered, crouching down. He ran one hand along her cheek, startled at finding how cold it was. "Helen?" Louder this time; he couldn't hear her breathing anymore. Still no response.
"HELEN!"
The night paused, listening to the echoes of Nikola's pain filled cry off every surface within a ten mile radius.
Some creatures howled in response; empathising with a fellow's grief.
The man himself didn't notice; didn't notice the shouts from some way off, didn't notice a light stop nearby, didn't notice that his skin had become several shades paler as his survival instincts kicked in, didn't notice anything in fact until...
Thump thump...
Thump thump...
Nikola breathed a small sigh of relief. It was faint, but it was there, and it was going to be there for a long time if he had anything to say about it. She wasn't out of danger yet though: she was cold, and she was bleeding.
His jacket would suffice to keep her warm-ish for a short while, but he needed to stop her head bleeding with something...
"Honestly Helen, this is my best shirt." Despite his words, Nikola didn't feel an ounce of regret as he took off said item and wrapped it around Helen's head. "I just wish you were awake to see the sacrifices I'm making for you." That would have to do. He was no doctor, but as soon as he could he was going to get her to one.
Carefully, oh so carefully, Nikola scooped Helen into his arms, spooled his jacket around her, making sure to keep her injured arm and leg as still as possible, and stood up.
He could see the torches of the rescue party making their way towards the clearing, but there wasn't time to wait for them or pause to listen to all their stupid questions and tell them what was going on. Instead Nikola started running, calling out as he fled past:
"Found her. London."
He just hoped they understood the message.
The nearest Sanctuary was London, and he was running all the way there – planes just weren't fast enough.
TBC
Anyone else noticed how I managed to get Helen dying and Nikola shirtless in the same fic? It wasn't planned, I swear XD
Feedback is loved, and feel free to point out spelling/grammar mistakes - I didn't check this one too thoroughly.