Chapter Six

Llyde followed close behind, but kept his distance at the same time. I was leading him into the unknown that lay ahead. As we got closer, I could almost feel the scent rushing through my bones, piercing my thoughts in a deep plunge that left me filled with fear inside. I was apprehensive about what I was about to find.

Unable to concentrate clearly, I was unable to notice the log that was dangerously in my path. Llyde tried to warn me, "Samantha!"

Unfortunately, I did trip over the log. As my body flew into the air and right into the space perilous to me, I had transformed back into my human self. I had hit my head pretty hard against a rock, but still I looked up to see the person I wanted to see the most on my journey.

"Markus…" My heart nearly skipped a beat when his eyes looked down upon me. I couldn't move; I could not breathe even. My brother was alive. He was alive and well.

He grabbed me by the shirt and lifted me into the air. "How do you know my name?" His eyes were dark, and almost clouded. I had remembered those eyes many times over. Obviously Markus had not remembered me.

"It's me…" I spoke softly, trembling, "Y-Your sister, Samantha."

He growled, throwing me into the air, causing me to hit my back against the ground, "Lies!"

"Please, brother…" I got up carefully, staying in a crawling position in my defense.

"You are not my sister!" Markus yelled violently, changing into his wolf, getting ready to charge at me. I heard him intrude my mind, "Everyone in my family is dead! I saw it! I saw it!"

"Dead?" I gasped, shaking. My brother had the strength to kill me, now in my weakest state.

He threw himself at me, digging his sharp, agonizing teeth into my shoulder and tossing me like a sandbag across the forest floor. I landed closer to Llyde, who put his body in front of mine to protect me. My body struggled to get up, "Llyde… don't attack him…" I muttered, trying to keep myself together. I was bleeding badly, and if I did not do something fast, I would surely die soon, "Markus! Do… do you remember when you first transformed? We were up in your room… and bloody hell, we were such idiots… We locked ourselves in that room and waited so long until finally, you started to change… I was scared, but I still stayed by your side. When it was complete, you left out the window and I never saw you again…why did you leave, Markus…"

I was now crying. It hurt me deeply to remember. My brother was the closest thing I had to a friend back then; he was the only one who actually was able to understand me clearly. He protected me when I was unable to. I looked back up into my brother's eyes, in hope he now realized what he had just done.

It had worked. Markus now transformed back into his human state, his body uneasy and his expression perplexed. He backed away as Marcelle and Damien approached the scene. They stood in their wolf form, guarding me strongly.

"Is it true, Markus? Are they all dead?" I stared at him in disbelief, my eyes blinded with tears.

He looked away, ashamed, and then nodded, "I decided it was time to return back home… Hopefully to be welcomed warmly but… I came back to see a disaster. Blood was covered in all corners of the place. They were massacred, Samantha… and I had thought you had been as well…"

I held my breath, "Mom?"

"Dead…" He squinted.

"Dad?"

"Dead, Samantha, I'm so sorry… If I had been there a lot sooner…"

"I can't… I can't accept that! Your Lying!" As if I had an adrenaline rush, I got up and forced myself to run away. There was no way that they could be dead. Our parents were stronger than us. They had the strength to kill anything in the world.

It was a lie. I had to get away from here. This was a nightmare, a nightmare that I would not be able to wake up from.

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I continued to run, about to collapse because of my current wounds. I could not think about anything else but running away. My mind was spinning; everything was a blur.

I could feel someone or something chasing me, but I could not stop running. It only fed to my fear. My heart pounding intensely as I challenged my body to run further, there was no way I was going to stop now.

Llyde abruptly immerged in front of me and grabbed my shoulders, holding me still. I smacked his hands away, struggled away from him, and staggered back, "Go away!"

"Sam, please calm down, its okay-"

I cut him off, "Its not okay!" I screamed out. "My family is dead because I wasn't there to help!"

"Samantha, this is not your fault." He tried to grab at me again; in response I flung my fists into his chest.

"You wouldn't know! You wouldn't even understand!" I paused, gasping at my own breath, then looked up at him with a calm tone to my shaking voice, "Llyde… I'm so sorry I didn't mean that…"

Incredibly, thinking I had made him angry, he held me close and petted my head, "Its alright, Samantha. This is not your fault; please do not do anything rash. This is no ones fault, it just happened. It will be okay."

His voice calmed me down. I slowly rested my head on his chest, lying there fragilely. I was loosing too much blood, and I was falling unconscious.

Markus, Damien, and Marcelle approached us. "The Verserda are close to us… we can't just rest here." Damien spoke.

"She need's medical attention, Damien. This is far beyond our repair." Llyde explained.

"I can go into the city…" Markus looked at me, frowning, "I could possibly acquire medical supplies."

"How can we trust you to come back with the supplies and not an enemy?" Marcelle murmured.

"He's…my brother… you can trust him…" My eyes were shutting uncontrollably.

"I'll go with him." Llyde reassured.

We waited for Damien's response, "Alright. Marcelle, Scout the area to make sure that we are in a safe spot for now."

Llyde laid me down gently on the ground. He brushed the hair from my face, "It will be alright, I promise."

Nodding, I drifted off. Llyde transformed into a wolf and left with Markus. Damien took out a rag from his bag and applied pressure to my wound. So much had happened that I was unsure if I would even make it through the day.