Chapter 6

I picked up Ellie, my right hand tucked under her knees and left hand around her shoulders, her head was on my chest and her eyes closed, her lips were ashen and I could see a few wounds, but none of those bled. I had asked Gabriel if he could walk and even though he had nodded, I knew he could not hold on much longer. "Ellie?" I kept asking, hoping she would wake up. "We will go to my house" I told Gabriel who just nodded, his eyes were almost closed and he was just dragging himself close to me.

My house was close to where we were currently, and I felt like I could protect them in my house. After all, they were in this condition because of me. "Don't close your eyes mate, just hold on" I told Gabriel, who nodded weakly. I had to find a solution for this, maybe Gabriel knows how to get them better, but the priority at this moment was to get them safe. We were almost running through the streets, trying to remain as discreet as possible. At the end of the street, I could see my house.

I pushed the iron gates with my back and let Gabriel in first, I followed him quickly and shut the iron gates close again. We rushed inside the house now and I locked the doors once we were inside. Gabriel sunk to the ground, panting heavily. "Gabe!" I exclaimed, I quickly put Ellie on the couch and rushed to Gabriel, helping him up on his feet and dragging him to one of the armchair next to Ellie. "Do you know how I can help you both?" I asked him in urgency, sitting on my knees in front of him. "Find – Find" Gabriel started, "Josh, in the – the" he continued, "Grill, he is – tall, blond, tell him –" Gabriel struggled to speak, "I need help, ask him to give – you – the herbs to heal" Gabriel completed. "Alright" I nodded, "but I can't leave you like this, you would not be able to protect yourself" I told him, "I will – put a boundary – spell" Gabriel panted. "Can you do it?" I asked him, "It is not – like I could di—die" Gabriel gave me a weak smile.

"I need – something—to tie the spell" he explained, I thought for something powerful, and looked around for some ideas and then it stuck to me, "Use me" I told him, "My ghost, spirit or whatever that I am" I told him, "That could – work, only – you will able to come inside" Gabriel nodded and stretched his hand out, palm facing upward, I took it without a second thought. The unburnt candles on the coffee table lit up, "If I die out there, I would not be able to save you" I spoke out the worst-case scenario, "If you die, we are dead anyways – so don't – die" Gabriel said before closing his eyes and chanting a spell, a wave of energy rushed through me and then it disappeared. It felt similar to what Sheila Bennett had done when she made sure we stayed off the magic radar.

Gabriel let go of my hand and groaned in pain, falling back on the armchair. "Gabe!" I hovered over him, "Go – we don't have – much time" Gabriel looked at me seriously and after throwing a last glance at Ellie, I rushed out of the living room and out of the house.

To the Grill, I would find the solution there. I rushed down the street, keeping myself in the dark shadows as much as possible. Even if I come back on time and the Pagans are waiting right outside, I would not be able to save Gabriel and Ellie. I had to keep them away from the house as much as possible. I don't think they would catch up on us this soon. The Grill is not that far away, I can be back and help them before the Pagans come finding us.

I rushed inside the Grill and looked around for a dead, blond, tall guy. How was Gabriel so sure to find Josh right here? Is this his usual spot? I tried to keep the questions out of my mind and focus on finding and getting the herb. I scanned through the whole place and in one corner, I noticed a dead, blond, tall guy seating, looking around. I darted towards him but as soon as he saw me coming towards him, he got up and tried to walk away very subtly. 'I am not losing you' I thought to myself as I darted after him.

He took the back exit of the Grill and I followed him out. "Josh!" I shouted and he came to a halt and turned around. "Who are you?" he asked me, "Gabriel needs your help" I told him, "Gabriel?" his brows were creased together, "He is injured, he needs the herb" I did not even know what herb I was talking about here. "Are you Kaleb?" Josh asked me, "Yes" I nodded. Josh chuckled and said, "I told Gabriel not to get engaged" "What do you mean?" I asked him, a puzzled look crossed my face. "You are like the most wanted person here" Josh gestured towards our surrounding, "Getting engaged with you will get people killed" he told me. "I am trying to save Gabriel, he trusts you" I told him after a pause.

"I don't trust you" Josh told him, "But you do trust Gabriel" I said. "I don't want to get involved with you" Josh turned his back on me and that is when I lost my cool, I did not have time for this, I need to save my friends. I held him by his shoulder and turned him around. I held his collar and pushed him against the wall. "You are going to help me one way or another, and I don't want to kill you but I will" I spoke from between my teeth. "How will you kill me?" he chuckled. I put my forearm against his throat making it impossible for him to move and pulled out my blade from behind me.

I put the blade against his throat and said "Let's do this again, why don't you give me the herb and we both can walk away?" "Fine!" Josh tried to struggle under my gasp and looked in shock at the blade. "It is in my pocket, take it!" he exclaimed pointing towards his jacket. I put my blade back, without losing the grip on his throat, I reached for the pocket in his jacket and pulled out a plastic bag. I looked at it and it had some green herb in abundance.

"If this does not work, I am going to find you and it would end badly for you" I gave him a little shove against the wall and let go of him before turning around. "People around you will die – including Gabriel" Josh shouted as I walked away. I stopped for a brief second and then walked away without saying a word.

To my relief, there was no one around the house and I could easily get inside. When I reached the living room, I saw Gabriel passed out on the floor near Ellie. "Gabriel!" I tried to wake him up by shaking him but in vain. I put his arm around my shoulder and dragged him to the room he had chosen here.

I laid him down on the bed and examined for all the wounds I could see. There was no blood at all, I could see the flesh. I opened the clear plastic bag and kept it on the nightstand and turned Gabriel to his side before lifting his shirt. Never had I ever thought I would be doing this. I saw huge wounds on his back but thankfully none of his chest or stomach. I made him lie on his stomach and carefully put the herbs on the wounds on his back and on his arms before rushing to Ellie with the herb.

I picked her up from the couch and rushed upstairs to her bedroom. I laid her down on the bed and pulled out the herb bag. I saw a decorative white ceramic bowl on the nightstand and I emptied some of the contents of the bag in the bowl. It was then when I turned to put the herb on Ellie's wounds that I realized that I would have to check for the wounds first.

I could see a small wound on her cheekbone under her left eye. I first put the herb there softly. I then removed the leather jacket she was wearing, exposing her arms. She had several wounds on her arms, on which I proceeded to put the herb. I noticed a long wound two inches below her collar bone. I could see her chest rising up and down very slowly and it made me hesitant to touch her. 'You are just treating her wounds' I told myself and I proceeded with putting the herb on her wound.

I saw her t shirt was torn from her waist to her stomach on the left side and a wound visible. I lifted her t shirt enough to put the herb on her wound and then I looked for any other wound left to be treated but there was none. I sighed of relief and put the bowl back on the nightstand with some of the herb still in the bowl.

When I had reached the door to leave, I heard Ellie groan. I turned around quickly. "Kaleb" her voice was weak, "Ellie" I was by her side the next second. Her eyes were slightly open, she still was ashen white. "What happened?" she asked me as I sat down next to her. "We brought you home" I tried to give her a smile. "Did you meet your girl?" she asked weakly, to be honest, I had almost forgotten my meeting with Lily and how painful it was.

"Yeah" I nodded and looked down at my hands. "Did it go well? Did she miss you?" Ellie asked me, "Let's not talk too much, you still need to rest" I told her. "I am fine" she tried to put on a brave face, "Sure" I replied sarcastically and rolled my eyes. "Did she miss you?" Ellie pressed, I sighed but did not answer. "C'mon, what is wrong?" Ellie tried to turn to her left side to face towards me. "No!" I softly held her by her shoulders to keep her straight. "I have put on some herb on your wounds, you need to wait for it to heal" I told her. "Okay" Ellie nodded and closed her eyes for a moment.

"It did not go well" I finally spoke and she opened her eyes. "Why?" she asked, "Turns out it is more complicated than I expected" I gave her a weak smile. "What is complicated?" her eyes tried to search mine. "She has moved on" I replied after a pause. "That doesn't sound good" Ellie frowned, "I would miss you if I were her" Ellie shrugged lightly. It made me feel a strange surged in my heart but I ignored it.

"I don't expect her to wait around for me, I am dead, she is alive, she needs to live her life" I told Ellie, "That sounds right" Ellie agreed. "Are you still going to save her?" Ellie asked me, I looked into her eyes and after a pause I replied "Till my last breath".

A/N: Hey Readers,

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-JT